Disclaimer: I do not own Ranma ½™ or Sacrifice™ or any related characters, terms or concepts.
Author's Notes: whoa, okay, struck a nerve with the endnotes to that last chapter. Don't worry; so long as you all keep reviewing like that, I'll keep writing this. One of you did suggest I make this the last chapter though. Oh, and I know I probably shouldn't ask this, but I'd really like to see artwork based on this story. I know it's an impossibility… but it never hurts to ask, right? I'd do it myself, but I posses neither tools nor talent.
Part 25: New Houseguests
The Ranmas silently slipped over the walls into the garden of the Tendo Dojo, waiting for the right moment to strike. They didn't have to wait long before Ryoga emerged from the house, clutching his head as though he had a splitting headache. And if that weren't the case, then he'd soon add it to whatever his problem was. As one they leapt to stand behind him.
Storm tapped Ryoga on the shoulder and, the second he turned around, savagely punched him in the face. Not at full strength, even in his weakened condition that would have probably torn Ryoga's head from his shoulders, but with sufficient force to hurl Ryoga into the wall and produce a spurt of blood from his nostrils. Ryoga shook the impact daze from his skull and gingerly lifted a hand to his bleeding nose. He stared at the crimson smear on his hand in disbelief and then turned his head towards Storm, somehow failing to see the other Ranmas standing behind him.
"What the hell was that for?"
"It's better than you deserve you miserable bastard! I teach you a cure, I train you in the Saotome Anything-Goes style, I willingly reveal secrets of the arcane to you that I never would have done for anyone else and how do you repay me? You steal from me! And by doing so, you almost got everyone here killed! But I'm not going to get revenge on you."
Ryoga blinked at that, but couldn't help giving a sigh of relief. Storm noticed this and smirked grimly, gesturing towards the other Ranmas to step forward. They did so and grinned menacingly as they cracked their knuckles in perfect synchronicity, Ryoga staring at them and barely listening as Storm continued.
"I'm not going to get revenge because I have other things to attend to. However, I think it's time all of you got acquainted. Boys? Oh, and keep the property damage down; this place gets wrecked enough as it is."
Storm turned and entered the house as the sounds of a brutal beating began emanating from behind him. He had to see if everyone was all right, and then he had to try and break it to them that there was going to be four more versions of him staying for a while. He whistled a special tone and his Manahoars raced from wherever they had been to cluster around him. He spent several minutes calming the traumatized creatures, which evidentially remembered exactly what had happened with perfect clarity. Once they had settled down and delivered their entire stock of mana into Storm, he then went in search of the other "housemates". He found them all gathered together in a confused state in the dojo.
"Looks like I succeeded in time; you're all still alive."
"What are you talking about? What happened?"
Asked Lina, grimacing as she rubbed her head.
"What's the last thing you remember?"
"Well, Ryoga yanking the lid off that jar and… something came out. I tried to blast it with a spell, but my magic wouldn't work, just like you warned me. It lunged for me and… that's all I can remember."
"Let me guess, all of you have similar stories?"
The Tendos, Genma and the other Slayers nodded.
"It was Ryoga's fault; he stole that jar from me in the first place. I didn't know it was a Soul Jar or that there was a monster inside. Long story short, he released the monster, the monster absorbed you all, and most of the city, but I destroyed it and freed you."
He could see that they were plainly having a hard time coming to terms with that information. Lina glanced first at Gourry, then at Amelia and finally at Zelgadis, after which the four of them nodded in unison before Lina returned her attention to Storm.
"Listen, we don't want to sound ungrateful or anything, but… can you send us back?"
"What? Why?"
"It's nothing personal, really, but frankly we can't really handle this world of yours. Especially with our magic not working. I mean, there was this lunatic in baggy blue clothing running around bare-footed and carrying a wooden sword. He saw Miss Lina and charged her, shouting something about dating her. Luckily Gourry was there; he sliced the maniac's sword into toothpicks then knocked him unconscious with the hilt."
Said Amelia. Storm twitched as he realised precisely who had been stupid enough to accost Lina. If that was the sort of experience they'd had in Nerima, coupled with being attacked by the Sineater, then he wasn't surprised that they wanted to go back home. Truth be told, it wasn't exactly upsetting; he had no idea why they wanted to come here in the first place. With them gone, it would be a lot less hassle to try and put his "Others" up for a while as they drew mana from him to recharge their own reserves. He nodded to himself.
"I can't say I blame you for wanting to leave. I'll send you back."
He quickly and quietly invoked a spell and opened a shimmering portal. The Slayers, with only the slightest hesitation, walked through, all except for Zelgadis, whose shoulder Storm grabbed before he could enter the portal.
"Wait just one moment before you go. I'm sorry about Jusenkyo, but there might still be a cure waiting for you somewhere, so don't give up hope. Even if you find nothing, there are those who care for you despite your curse. Like a certain princess, hmm?"
Zelgadis flushed at Storm's suggestion.
"I'm not, I mean, she's not, we're not…"
"Save it. I'm the one with three fiancées, remember? All I'm saying is don't keep her waiting for too long, all right? Now git outta here."
Storm gave Zelgadis a friendly slap on the back, delivering it with sufficient force to make the Chimera stagger, and Zelgadis quickly stepped through the portal, which closed behind him. Storm dusted his hands and turned to meet the curious gazes of the Tendos and his father, who hadn't been able to hear his conversation. As he wondered how he was going to break the subject of his "guests" the sound of fighting began to draw nearer. He partially turned towards the wall, a scowl growing on his face.
Oh no, they wouldn't….
They would and they did. The clamour of battle grew louder as it drew closer, culminating in a badly beaten Ryoga smashing through the wall to land flat on his face on the floor. Blight jumped after him with a snarl, landing flat atop Ryoga's back with his arm sneaking around to grasp his front in a strangely Glomp-like manoeuvre. Of course, the way he sunk his fangs into the gap between Ryoga's right shoulder and his neck, drawing blood and a scream of pain, was far from romantic or friendly.
The other Ranmas quickly rushed into the room and pulled the snarling Blight off the screaming Ryoga, at which Storm darted forward to heal the bite; he might be angry with Ryoga, but he didn't want the Eternally Lost Boy dead! Ryoga promptly fainted from a mixture of pain, relief and blood loss, at which Storm glared at the other Ranmas, all of whom looked sheepish, the sole exception being Blight, who simply began licking the blood from his chin. None of them paid any attention to the expressions of Genma and the Tendos, which (except for Kasumi) mixed shock, horror, confusion and fascination.
"You do realise that you are going to fix that damage, don't you? And what the heck where you thinking Blight? I wanted him punished, not dead!"
Blight pulled himself free of the others' slackened grips and licked the last drop of crimson from his chin before shrugging.
"So I got a little carried away. What's the problem? He's still alive and he has all his important parts. Speaking of which, I guess I'd better finish the punishment."
Blight started towards Ryoga, only to have Storm intercept him.
"Wait just one moment; what do you plan to do to him?"
"Well, initially, I intended to show off my torturing skills, I had a whole routine planned out but, well, I had to cancel it. Just as well; where am I going to get a bucket of soapy frogs, a skin-diving suit or a rampant wildebeest around here? Then I figured I might as well give him the Hope Shattering Claw Strike and put an end to his aggravation."
"Hope Shattering Claw Strike?"
Storm did not like the sound of that. He liked the way that Blight grinned even less.
"A special Ki Technique of my own design, the Hope Shattering Claw Strike lances the user's ki into the victim's body and directly targets their ki 'veins', ravaging the natural pathways and passages through which the body's ki flows, the very source of a martial artist's powers. Essentially, it erases the victim's martial arts prowess, and the effect is permanent. Once they've been subject to the Hope Shattering Claw Strike, your opponent will never be able to use martial arts again. It's the very technique I used against my world's version of Akane…"
Blight trailed off, lost in his memories as all of the martial artists present shuddered at the very thought of such an attack; to them, that would be a fate worse than death. Storm forced himself to concentrate on his current situation as Blight came out of his reminiscence.
"Forget it, I want Ryoga to be punished, but not that much. I think you've done enough to him now anyway; I doubt he'll try something like that again."
"Very well, as you wish."
Storm relaxed as Blight sauntered past him to where Ryoga was finally regaining consciousness. His face contorted in a malicious grin, Blight deliberately held his right hand out with the fingers splayed in a strange pattern. In the still silence of the dojo, it was possible to hear it as five serrated, blade-like growths of bone slipped through the flesh of his fingers to a length of about five-six inches. He bent over impossibly at the waist so that his upper body was looming bare inches over Ryoga's, and then slid the tips his newly spouted claws with surprising gentleness over the exposed flesh of Ryoga's face and neck, each talon leaving a trail of blood behind it. Ryoga, who was by now fully awake, blinked in confusion but didn't dare move.
"Look's like your ass is safe. For now. Just remember pig-boy; I'm watching you. Screw up like that again, and I get me a new leather jacket. And a gourmet meal too."
Nobody but Cinder, Grit and Sooth understood what Blight was talking about, though his next actions spelled it out. Blight's mutilated tongue slithered out past his sneering lips and gently brushed away the faint trickles of blood his claws had left behind. Ryoga stared at Blight in mingled fear and disgust as Blight straightened himself and laughed.
"Ah yes, properly seasoned you will make a truly handsome dish."
"I'm not edible!"
"Oh, you're not a full meal, certainly, I never claimed that, but you'll make a decent light snack. In fact, maybe I'll take a piece or two from you now… which arm, eye and organs will you miss least?"
Ryoga's eyes bulged, as did those of the non-Ranmas, as Blight drew a large, heavily stained and very sharp looking knife from subspace and began sharpening it against his claws. The instant Blight drew it back as though he truly intended to sever one of Ryoga's limbs, Ryoga darted to his feet and fled out the exact hole he had made when the other Ranmas had thrown him through the wall. Blight's face took on a sulky, disappointed expression and he placed the knife back in subspace and retracted his claws. The other Ranmas marvelled that Ryoga had actually managed to find his way on the very first try.
Soun Tendo tentatively took several steps forward and then spoke in a tremulous voice.
"Uh… Ranma?"
"Yes?"
Five perfectly identical voices responded and five equally identical faces turned towards him, both in perfect synchronicity, as Soun suddenly wondered about whether that had been such a bright move. As he watched they turned to each other in confusion, one of them speaking up.
"I think he was talking to me."
"Why you? He might have been talking to me."
"What's to say he wasn't talking to me?"
"Or me?"
"He obviously didn't want to talk to you Blight."
"Oh like you're any better a candidate Sooth."
"Stop it, all of you! He clearly meant me because this is my world of origin. And speaking of which, thanks a lot for barging in. I was just trying to work out how to explain you all to them and then you come charging through the wall before I could start."
By now Soun and the other non-Ranmas were completely confused. As they watched, the Ranmas seemed to realise that they had an audience, and all of them bar Blight turned towards Soun and the others with identical sheepish grins (Blight did so with a smirk) and rubbed the back of their heads in embarrassment.
"I expect you're wondering what's going on?"
If he hadn't been so unnerved by what he'd seen mere moments ago, Soun would have rolled his eyes sarcastically as he nodded, and he was sure the same applied for Genma and his daughters.
"Well, to cut a long story short, these are the people who I went to meet earlier. They are my parallel selves, alternate versions of me who took… shall we say, a different path in life? Basically, we're all Ranma Saotome, but we're also all different."
Soun didn't really understand what Ranma was talking about, but decided to nod and fake it. Ranma clearly caught his unspoken question though.
"We each use… well, I guess you could call them codenames, to differentiate between ourselves. Because I am an Elementalist, a master of the heavens, they call me Storm."
The Ranma who had threatened to skin and eat Ryoga took a step forward, baring claws from both his hands as his clothing took on the blackish-red of something steeped in dried gore. He grinned a menacing grin.
"I am Blight, a Necromancer. Suffering and fear are my meat and drink, stand against me and you will regret it."
Another Ranma, this one with red highlights to his hair, stepped forward, strangely technological bracers of glass and metal materializing around his wrists.
"Cinder is my name, burning my foes to ash with Sorcery is my game."
Another Ranma, this one lacking a pigtail and with his eyes kept closed, introduced himself. Strangely, no new clothing materialized for this one, though his hairstyle would be enough to tell him apart anyway.
"I am Sooth, a Mystic. Blessings upon you all."
Strangely, the Tendos and Genma felt a feeling of warmth and comfort infuse their beings at Sooth's words. A well-worn bandanna materializing around his neck, the final Ranma introduced himself.
"They call me Grit, and I'm a Geomancer."
"I see… Well then, Ranma- our Ranma, I mean. What are they all doing here?"
"You remember how I left a while ago to take care of some business? Well, I had been summoned to a meeting with these guys. When Ryoga unleashed that monster- and don't ask how I knew, because I don't really know myself- they insisted on coming with me to face it. Unfortunately, they've exhausted their powers and they'll have to stay here for a while."
"Well, not that long, all we need to do is draw strength from Storm here and we'll be out of your hair. So to speak."
Cinder smirked at Genma as he said this, his very posture daring Genma to retaliate. Genma wasn't that stupid; he knew, even if he wouldn't admit it, that he couldn't beat one Ranma, so he didn't stand a snowball in hell's chance against five of them. Storm looked apprehensive, something that the other Ranmas quickly noticed.
"Something wrong Storm?"
"Well, about that mana … I can't give you any."
"What!"
"I only just found out for myself; with my Altar damaged, I'm barely getting a trickle of power from Dalara Peaks. I've completely drained the stockpile of energy from my Manahoars and I spent most of it sending the Slayers back to their world. I have enough power left to send one of you back, but the rest of you will be stuck here until I repair my Altar."
The other Ranmas blinked, looked Storm, looked at each other, looked back at Storm and then looked at each other again. Immediately, Grit and Sooth stepped back as Blight and Cinder began arguing about which of them should be the one to get sent back first. Storm just blinked in confusion as Blight and Cinder's argument quickly degenerated into a free-for-all before turning his attention to Grit and Sooth.
"Is there any particular reason why you two aren't taking part in that?"
"Yep; we don't care if we have to stay here a while, we don't have any important business to attend to, not like them."
Storm didn't really understand what they were talking about, but decided not to let them know that and simply watch the fight, which was turning pretty nasty. Cinder managed to trap Blight's left arm in an arm-lock behind his back, but the Necromancer simply snarled with fury and spun around, heedless of the fact that by doing so he practically tore his trapped arm out of its socket, and clawed furiously at the Sorcerer's face with fangs and the claws of his good arm, succeeding in startling Cinder bad enough he released Blight. The fact Blight managed to bite off one of Cinder's ears and swallow it like a candy treat may have had something to do with securing his release.
Storm watched the brutal battle, heedless of the presence of his father and the Tendos, with growing trepidation; was he going to have to get himself involved in that? After all, he really didn't want to have to get involved in something like that (he pointedly ignored the fact he'd been in worse since he'd first been sent to Otherworld). As he started preparing himself to plunge into the unholy melee it began to die down, the two Ranmas glaring hatred and defiance at each other, blood pouring from their wounds, as they ceased their battle. Their gazes were held with unrelenting will even after their bodies ceased their savage dance, but finally their eyes softened and turned away from each other.
"So then, it is agreed?"
Said Cinder, his complexion more flushed than usual with triumph, and quite unnaturally so given the amount of blood flowing from the ragged tear where his ear had been. But then again, head wounds did bleed pretty badly, usually far worse than the actual damage inflicted. Blight scowled, his eyes still turned away from Cinder's, but nodded.
"Fine. I guess I can study for my Narco-Alchemy exam here."
He grit the words out from between his teeth and Cinder grinned in triumph, his chest swelling with pride as he haughtily walked over to Storm, heedless of his injuries.
"Well, you heard the freak; hit me with mojo. Come on! I have a production deadline to meet!"
Storm didn't understand what had just happened, but decided to spare his sanity and not bother trying to unravel it. Instead, he simply settled for transferring the mana from his badly depleted reserves into the Sorcerer, who wasted no time in teleporting back to his own dimension. Not really wanting to talk about matters that were, in his opinion, no concern of theirs, he brushed off the queries of his father and the Tendos and told them to talk to the other Ranmas. Though they weren't foolish enough to question Blight, who stalked off to the living room muttering something about studying, they wasted no time in beginning their interrogation of Sooth and Grit while Storm went and started working on his Altar.
Once the initial excitement was over, things got surprisingly quiet. Grit and Sooth managed to chase off Genma and the Tendo's curiosity through a mixture of misdirected questions, half-truths and veiled threats. Storm spent the day working on the badly twisted and cracked near-wreck of his Altar, running a constant stream of curses under his breath as he worked -he had yet to repeat himself once- and Blight spent his time at the dining table, apparently "studying". All in all, it was a scene of surprising peace.
Naturally, it couldn't last forever.
"Nihao- what are you doing here Ukyo?"
"I could ask you the same thing sugar, what are you doing here?"
"I came to see Ranma. Stupid Mousse tagged along."
"Can I help you?"
Ukyo, Mousse and Shampoo blinked and then turned to look at Sooth, who met their curious stares with his own blankly inscrutable (naturally, considering his eyes were closed) gaze. The four stood there for several minutes before Shampoo broke the uneasy silence.
"Uh… Ranma? Is everything all right? You look… different."
"Everything's fine. And why do you say I look different? I always look like this."
Shampoo and Ukyo could only stare uneasily at that remark, silently wondering to themselves if Akane had knocked the wits out of Ranma again. Sooth suddenly thumped his open palm with his fist as he understood their confusion.
"Ah, I see the problem, you've mistaken me for your Ranma. Come on in."
Their Ranma? The trio were really confused now, but they followed Sooth into the Tendo Dojo without speaking a word. Their confusion turned to bewilderment as he led them to the Koi pond, where Storm was still working on his Altar. Doing so meant he brought them past the dining table, where Blight was working with an ancient tome and a mass of chemistry-looking things, and Genma and Soun's Shogi spot, where Grit and Storm's Yeti were playing Shogi.
"Hey, Storm, guests for you."
Storm swore audibly as Sooth's speech distracted him in the middle of key incantation, the miscast spell producing a mystical feedback that was the metaphysical equivalent of smashing his thumb with hammer swung with all of his strength. His angry gaze turned to Sooth, but melted into an "uh-oh" expression at the sight of Ukyo, Mousse and Shampoo standing there, looking with growing disbelief at first him and then the other Ranmas. He spoke the first thing that came to his mind to break the growing uneasy silence.
"So, uh, what brings you here?"
His words went unnoticed however.
"Four Ranmas? What's going on here?"
"It's the harbinger of the apocalypse, that's what! It is the beginning of the end of everything!"
Storm, Grit and even Sooth all glared at Mousse; how dare he call them the harbingers of the apocalypse! He was lucky that Blight was too absorbed in his books –and that he probably would have taken the remark as a compliment- or he would be in serious trouble. Bad as his sight was, Mousse could still make out enough of the expressions on the three Ranmas' faces to make him take several cautious steps backwards, his arms raised in a warding gesture. Unfortunately for him he walked back a step too far, and ended up bumping into Blight just as he had held up a vial of some fluid or another, resulting in said vial flying from Blight's grasp to shatter on the floor.
"Whoops, sorry."
Said Mousse, at which Blight spun around and fixed him with his most malevolent glare, the expression on his face enough to make Mousse back off even without knowing what Blight was capable of.
"You clumsy moronic incompetent-"
Here Blight stopped speaking Japanese and reverted to High Stygian. Though only the Ranmas knew what he was saying, the sheer venom in Blight's voice was enough to make Mousse retreat. Finally, after about seven minutes of non-stop insults, Blight finally stopped, inhaling deeply and forcibly turning away from Mousse, apparently to aid himself in resisting the urge to attack the terrified Chinese Amazon. Storm blinked when he realised that Sooth had a notepad and pencil in his hand, and had apparently been writing all through Blight's tirade.
"What's that?"
"Just a list of how many different types of insults Blight used. So let's see, 16 derogative comments on parentage, 14 seditious suggestions regarding sexuality, 50 questions about mental health and intelligence levels and 26 comparisons to, frankly, unflattering anatomical components and/or animals."
"Okay, maybe I over-reacted. I'm sorry, but the final exam for me to get my Grandmaster's degree in Narco-Alchemy is soon, and I need to study for that test. That was my last dose of Lytrian venom too. And where am I going to get a new batch from?"
Complained the Necromancer. Storm shrugged, even though the question had been rhetorical, and went to clean up the broken glass and spilled fluid. At least, that's what he had intended to do; quickly as he could, Blight had shot over and gripped his wrist, stopping him from moving.
"Don't touch it, you don't want to get affected by that stuff, let me tell you that. I'll get it."
Blight quickly walked over and sopped up the clear fluid with a rag before scooping up the broken glass with his fingers. As he walked away to dispose of it Storm couldn't help but ask a question.
"So what does Lytrian venom do anyway?"
Blight blinked at the question and started to blush, the crimson really looking odd on his face, as he started to babble, which was also pretty unusual.
"Lytrian venom augments the receptors responsible for translating the sensation of coitus but also disrupts the electrical receptors of the cardiac musculature, resulting in severe reactions to over-stimulation that result in fatal cardiac arrest."
Storm, Akane, Shampoo, Mousse and Ukyo all blinked in unison.
"Say what?"
"What the twisted monster is trying to say is that Lytrian venom supercharges the pleasurable sensations produced by having sex but the sheer pleasure that results is too intense for the toxin-weakened heart, resulting in the subject suffering a fatal heart attack. Paired with extract of Passionflesh fruit, it's quite effective."
The six teenagers blinked again, looked at Blight, looked at Sooth, and then looked back at the madly blushing Blight again.
"What does Passionflesh fruit do?"
"Basically, eating Passionflesh fruit is like experiencing a bout of extremely stimulating sex, the fruit itself can be somewhat addictive and is poisonous if consumed in overly large amounts."
Said Blight, still blushing madly. Evidentially Blight, Necromancer or not, still possessed the same… "modesty", as Storm himself did, though Sooth apparently did not. That was really odd, though perhaps no odder than anything else in Nerima- or any Nerima. Storm shook himself back to reality as Shampoo leaned in closely to Blight, a strange expression on her face.
"Do you have any of that Passionflesh fruit with you?"
"Well… yeah, but you can't have any."
Shampoo, Ukyo and Mousse all looked crestfallen. Mousse's hand shot and grabbed Blight by the front of his shirt, pulling the Necromancer from his seat until he and Mousse were face-to-face. Storm mentally applauded Mousse for his courage –and the fact he got it right on the first time- while at the same time he made a silent vow to bring flowers to Mousse's grave. Blight was not going to take something like that very lightly.
"Give us that fruit!"
"Release me or it will be the worse for you."
Storm understood the inherent menace to that soft, silent tone even if Mousse didn't, and discretely but hastily began to slink out of the room. He'd been present when Necromancers lost it before, and it was not an experience he wanted to go through again. He had just reached the doorknob and started trying to turn it when Blight held up his right hand in front of Mousse's face and slowly extended his claws, one by one. In the same calm, soft voice as before, he spoke again.
"Kuno tasted of stale fish drenched in sour pineapple juice. The old freak tasted like mouldy Takoyaki. I wonder what you will taste like?"
The implied menace of that statement began to sink into Mousse's head just as Blight drew his claws back in slow, deliberate preparation to bring them scything across Mousse's face. However, rather than doing so he simply held them at ready while Mousse gently lowered him back to his seating position, made a show of brushing off the spot where he had gasped Blight's shirt, and then delivered a polite bow and backed off. Blight, a triumphant sneer on his face, retracted his claws and resumed studying. As he worked, he spoke over his shoulder.
"I wouldn't mind giving you some of what you seek, but I don't have any to spare, besides which, I don't trust you not to overdose on it and kill yourselves."
Having said his piece, Blight resumed focusing on his tomes and chemicals with the almost insane intensity that was characteristic of both Necromancers and Ranma. As he was now, the house could catch on fire and Blight probably wouldn't notice until the flames were lapping at his flesh. And given the fact Necromancers couldn't actually feel pain, there was every chance that he would have ignored that and kept on studying until he was sitting in a mound of ash and cinders. Storm in turn directed his attention to Shampoo and Ukyo.
"So, what did you come here for anyway?"
"I was wondering if maybe you'd like to come on a date with me."
Both girls spoke the exact same words at the exact same time, at which they promptly glared fiercely at each other while Storm silently prepared for the inevitable fight. Blight glanced up from his work and cackled softly.
"So you still haven't chosen a girl Storm? That makes you unique."
"Huh? What do you mean?"
Storm, Shampoo, Mousse and Ukyo said simultaneously.
"Precisely what I said. All the rest of us alternate Ranmas have already chosen the girl we want to marry. But still, I guess one of us had to be behind. After all, things are different in our worlds. I mean, take a look at my world for example; I don't have to put up with Mousse anymore."
"Why not?"
"Because he and Ukyo got married while I was training in Gloom's Vales, that's why."
Had they been drinking, this would have resulted in spit-takes all around. As it was, it the natives of Nerima who heard Blight's glib reply settled for face-faulting, after which one could say that all hell broke loose as Mousse and Ukyo both tried to simultaneously deny any attractions to each other, accuse Blight of lying and questioning how they could have possibly gotten together, mixed in with their questions to explain the whole "other worlds" things.
Storm kept looking backwards and forwards between Blight and the "insulted" duo, while Shampoo kept quiet, privately wondering how something like that could happen and if it might be an idea to duplicate the event here. After all, if she could pull it off, then she'd kill two birds with one stone.
Unfortunately for Ukyo, Mousse and Shampoo, Blight refused to answer their questions. Storm eventually explained the existence of his other selves to the trio, after which their breaks were over and they had to return to their respective cafés. With that over and done with, Storm resumed his repairs of the Altar, though he was still a long way from finished by the time he was called to dinner, which Kasumi had made with the help of Sooth. After a surprisingly peaceful meal, there came the questions of sleeping arrangements. Despite the fact Storm had expected a lot of fuss, things turned out quite differently.
Blight simply curled up in a corner of the living room. Sooth leapt up into the branches of a tree in the yard and lay there as though he were sleeping in a fine featherbed. And Grit simply drew a cloak from subspace, went out into the garden and, in a single move, flung it about his shoulder and collapsed to the ground. It was a "blink and you'll miss it manoeuvre", which resulted in Grit looking like nothing more than a mound of earth. Storm looked from one bizarre sleeping spot to another, looked at his father and the Tendos, and shrugged helplessly before heading for the bathroom. Once he'd finished there, he stared at his reflection in the mirror.
"And here I thought life would get simpler once I'd mastered Elementalism."
"Fat chance."
Storm spun on his heels at the unexpected voice, but there was nobody there. Shrugging it off, he went to bed, wondering what bizarre things tomorrow would bring.
Wow, perhaps my longest chapter yet and absolutely nothing happens. Ah well, damn writers block to the infinite hells, that's all I can say. I have some scenarios for the next chapter; which ones would you advocate? Also, do you have any suggestions for future chapters? I'm always eager to hear your ideas!
Overhearing that one of Blight's Narco-Alchemy recipes can transform "base matter" into solid 24-karat gold, Nabiki tries and succeeds in stealing the book. Unfortunately for her she isn't the greatest at following the instructions…
Nodoka Saotome comes to the Tendos for a surprise visit, which is not good news for Storm; how the heck is he supposed to explain three more versions of him running around the place? What's more, Blight seems absolutely terrified of the possibility of meeting Nodoka –what's his problem?
Cinder got sent back to his dimension because he had to meet a mysterious deadline. So why has he come back to Storm's version of Nerima? Turns out that the project Cinder was working on his accidentally created a shape-changing monster forged of living metal. Now this twisted "robot" has come to Nerima on a goal of destruction and mayhem; it wants to destroy all flesh-based life and replace it with mechanical slaves. Can the Ranmas stop the metal monster?