Ki Cutters: 27
The Prophecy
Senbei shrugged thoughtfully and scribed symbols onto a block of wood. Near him a gigantic tapeworm shifted in sluggish impatience, its coils leaving slime upon the rocks of the grotto. Senbei's instrument seemed to be a tooth of the worm beside him, and he worked diligently until the entire surface and edges were inscribed and he had taken a single drop of his own blood to seal his work. "At last!" He held his work high and laughed with savage glee. "It is finished."
"What finished?" the worm said. It had a stupid, savage voice, but then it had never been a terribly intelligent being. It didn't need to be to gnaw at the roots of the World Tree.
"Do you see this board?" Senbei smirked.
"Yuh… Gimme!" The worm reared up.
(FFLLLAASH!) A gesture brought a sheet of hellfire to strike at the worm, making it flinch back.
"If there were any other way," Senbei growled. He took four swift steps and took the spasming worm by the throat. "This is not to eat. Got that? Don't eat it!"
"But it is Yggdrasil…"
"Don't eat this piece!" Senbei screamed. "Remember?"
"Yuh… Don' eat this piece…" The worm twisted slowly on itself. "Why?"
"You don't need to know dat!" Senbei chuckled. "All you need to know is… DON'T EAT DIS PIECE O' WOOD!"
"All right, all right!" the worm grumbled. "You want me to put this in the roots when I'm at work, right?"
"Das right!"
"Okay…" it said. Its mouths worked ceaselessly. "Wadja want me to do again?"
"You stupid brainless BAKA!" Senbei howled. He summoned fire and blazed it along the worm's length. "I'll burn it into your hide!"
"All right! All right!" The worm screamed in torment. "I'll do it. I bring you wood you ask for from Yggdrasil. Yes! I take piece and put it back. Yes! I do it! I do it! No more fire!"
The worm extruded a secondary head and took the carved board. Then it writhed into a curling loop, which seemed to tie in upon itself. It looped out of existence.
"Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha!" Senbei dropped back into his rocky throne. "And so it begin. Soon, very soon, Ranma Saotome, you really gonna be screwed!"
His laughter echoed and snarled in the darkness. If Nidhugg followed instructions, he would be scamming the Yggdrasil system of considerable power and at the same time, setting Ranma Saotome up for the worst experience he could imagine. It was a risk, using Nidhugg this way. The worm-demon was frightfully stupid, but if implantation of the special 'chip' with its program were successful…
In the shadows, two pairs of eyes gleamed resentfully.
oOo
With a crackling boom, Akane Tendo made a new door in the Tendo dojo. She gasped as she hit the grass outside, rolled automatically and was up and charging toward the dojo almost immediately. Ranma met her at the door, in a peculiar wide-legged stance that kept his upper body nearly horizontal with respect to the floor. She struck, and he avoided the blow, cartwheeling away, but not without delivering a rocking blow to the side of her head.
She came on, more cautious now and struck again as a feint. As Ranma cartwheeled and bobbed into her, she grappled and threw, only to have the throw reversed on her, due in part to Ranma's superior reach and leverage. She ended up on her back on the floor, her left arm held in a punishing grip that threatened to dislocate her shoulder if she continued.
"Damn!" she exclaimed, after she banged the floor and admitted defeat. "I was beating Barry two times out of three when you came back. He showed me every attack and counter we could discover that was lethal or dangerous, and explored every path that would allow him to choose less dangerous moves that were still effective." She wiped sweat from her face and looked disgusted. "Why can't I beat you?" She suddenly scowled. "And if you say, 'because I'm the best', the mallet's coming out."
"Easy, Akane," Ranma grinned. "Barry wasn't a martial artist. He could only react to what was thrown at him. He was real limited on improvisation, style-wise, since he hadn't learned the styles or forms." He stretched. "You guys only explored the attacks and defenses encountered by people using a limited set of styles not too different from our own. What I used on ya was a style of martial arts from South America. It's a little limited, but powerful and ya didn't know what ta do about it." Akane frowned, thinking back over how he had countered her attacks and used wheeling shifts of direction to break in close enough to strike. "Ya gotta be flexible in yer thinkin', tomboy," he insisted. "What if ya were fighting… oh, Phoenix Mountain folk in their bird-forms?"
"…" Akane blinked.
"They have those long legs, and their wings are strong enough that they fly without using magic or ki-boost. They're real light, though. Kiima? She's lighter in her bird form than in Akane-form." Ranma glanced at his fiancée slyly. "No surprise there."
"What did you say?" Akane exclaimed. She looked into Ranma's grinning face and knew she had been zinged.
"Pay attention, Akane," he replied, ignoring her ire. "What if ya had to fight something totally non-human in shape? Ya could get killed if yer slower adapting than it is." He stepped up close to her and put his arms around her. "I don't want to lose my tomboy 'cause I let her get lazy." He felt her anger ebb away and smiled. Two more days until Valentine's Day. True, it wasn't a national holiday like Founding Day, but it was a good excuse to do something with Akane — just the two of them — and their parents would gladly foot the bill.
He shivered as suddenly some characteristic of their surroundings changed. Akane felt it, too, but was less consciously aware of it. She tried to burrow closer to him even as he released her and backed away, his eyes, previously fixed on hers, suddenly darting from side to side. Ranma's cat, Kiku, suddenly raised her voice in warning. He crouched slightly and turned away from her. "Watch out, Akane," he warned. She nodded and went back to back with him.
While the sun fell later than it had, darkness still came early in February. Something moved in the darkness in hurried, pattering rushes. Red eyes gleamed from the shadows. Akane gulped. There were a lot of eyes in the darkness. They were surrounded. Kiku's yowls became frightened and uncertain. Clearly, the feline was unwilling to cross to where they stood.
"Kami!" she heard Ranma breathe softly. She remembered her ki-vision then and the darkness was banished. Three shifting ki-engorged blobs circled about them. Sometimes, bits would break from one to shift to another. Akane refined her vision. Rats! Big ones, little ones… The blobs grew more cohesive and before Akane and Ranma's eyes the rats scrambled atop one another as if performing a circus trick. Moments later, three short horrific forms advanced into the light.
"You," came a breathy whisper intermixed with chittering. "Red Horse…" The three blobs of massed rats were now vaguely humanoid, the rats linking their bodies together in patchwork patterns that convulsed and shifted to mimic human form and movement. "Power…" the whisper added.
"Mine…" snarled another whisper. The focus of the three monsters shifted slightly. They threatened one another.
"Mine…" insisted a different rat-monster. "Mine… Red Horse…" There was a growing snarl.
"Let's get outa the way, Akane," Ranma whispered. "Real slow. Let 'em fight it out." She felt his grip on her arm. The rat piles struggled to present a threatening image to their peers. The piles suddenly shambled forward and coalesced into a writhing, screaming ball. Ranma dragged Akane away as she tried to cover her ears in horror. As they leapt into the yard, the ball of vicious rodents lurched after them even as their battle continued.
"What is that?" she shuddered. She felt his aura switch from the cold of horror to the super-cold of the Soul of Ice. He darted away from her without warning to begin a narrowing spiral around the hot flare of the horrors' ki. "Ranma!" she barely swallowed her cry for fear of warning the fighting rats.
The aura of the squirming battling rodents grew hotter and hotter. Ranma finished his spiral, dodging into the struggling mass, sending a spiraling fist thrusting skyward. "Hiru Shoten Hai!" A tornado roared out of the Tendo yard, sailing the rats, and presumably whatever controlled them, into the skies over Nerima.
The front door banged open and Soun scowled out onto the night. "Ranma! What do you think you are doing?" he shouted. Then he grunted as Akane hit his chest in a weeping bundle.
"Oh, Daddy!" she wept, her nerves jangling from the weird experience.
"A-Akane?" Soun, startled, held her. He would have thought that, with her recent training, nothing could faze his little girl any more. "Ranma!" he snapped, certain of the source of the trouble. "What have you done to your fiancée?"
Ranma staggered up to him, bleeding from several cuts, his clothes shredded, then turned and looked back to the crater where the Hiru Shoten Hai had been performed. Kiku darted close, seeking comfort by his legs, her amber eyes searching the darkness for more threats.
"Goodness, Ranma!" said Hinako in a shocked voice as she exited the house. "What happened to you?"
Ranma ignored her at first. "I think we better cancel lessons for tonight," he observed. At the extreme edges of his ki vision, tiny bright sparks of hot ki began raining down. "Could someone call Keiichi and give him my regards? I'm gonna take a long bath and change."
"What reason do I give?" Soun asked. He looked at Ranma again. "You're hurt. What did this?"
"Rats," Ranma muttered. "It was just a bunch of rats."
oOo
"Hey, Akane!" called Ukyo. She was holding hands with Ryoga as the latter lugged her portable grill. "Did you hear about the freaky thing that happened last night?" she said with relish.
"What?" Akane didn't really want to hear. The rats from the night before felt like a bad dream and she didn't want to hear about anything worse. Ranma glanced at her then motioned to Ukyo to continue.
"It rained rats all over the shopping district. Big ones!" Ukyo said, grinning as she watched Akane flinch. Akane was horrible about spooky stories and was fun to tease about weird and unusual events. The reaction she got was not quite up to par, though.
"Oh," Akane replied with a white face, "So that's where they went."
"Huh?" Ukyo and Ryoga looked puzzled. Ranma described their encounter and his use of the Amazon cold dragon technique. Ukyo's hair was standing on end by the end.
"Omigod!" Eyes huge, she shivered and ducked closer to Ryoga.
Ryoga looked puzzled, but he didn't neglect to take advantage of her nearness, hugging her tightly against his side. "Why would rats act like that?" he said reasonably. "You're pulling my leg, Saotome." He grinned down at Ukyo, his eyes teasing her for her gullibility.
"Ranchan!" Ukyo snapped, angry at being gulled. She let her anger die as, instead of laughing, Ranma and Akane grimaced and drew closer together, themselves.
"No joke, Ucchan," Ranma said in a low tone. "I had to dive into the middle to finish the spiral. There were other… things in there, using the rats in some way. I don't know how and I'm not sure I want to know what, but they wanted something." He shuddered. "They was tradin' rats back and forth in their fight and I think the winner woulda controlled all the rats. Ain't no way I was gonna wait for that to happen."
They shivered and looked about the schoolyard where ordinary things were happening in a manner that denied last night's experience.
"AIIIIEEE!" They nearly jumped out of their skins as Shampoo snuck up behind them and shrieked. She laughed at them and told them about the rats that had fallen out of the sky last night. Ranma and Akane, hearts pounding, told her where the rats came from and what she could do with them. Shampoo's hair stood on end. "AIIIIEEE!" she screamed, all over again.
Ranma jerked and flushed. "Wadja do that for, Sham…" He followed her pointing finger. Behind him, clutching Ryoga's free arm was Mao Mu Lin, the ghost-cat. Eyes larger than normal and teeth chattering, the huge white apparition was clinging despite Ryoga's angry efforts to dislodge it. Ranma blinked.
"Let go, dammit!" Ryoga growled. "I am not goin' through that again."
"Please? Let me s-s-stay at your place," it cried. "It's s-scary out here!"
"Leave Ukyo alone!" Ryoga demanded.
"Fine! I don't feel like bri-yide hunting ri-yight now!"
"I have a dog in my house," Ryoga declared. "She doesn't like cats."
"That's f-f-fine by miyee!" the ghost cat asserted. "She can chew on mi-yee if she wants. Just so I can hi-yide."
Ranma started to worry.
Mao Mu Lin caused no little comment through the morning. Hinako Tendo walked in and glared at it suspiciously, demanding to see its papers. Was it a student or a pet? Ryoga took pity on the creature and allowed it might be considered a visiting student.
"Then where is your uniform?" the acting principal demanded. Mao gulped and strained, and suddenly wore a gray school uniform. It smiled and sweated under her critical gaze. "Very well, then. But you better not be delinquent!" She returned to her rounds.
oOo
Mrs. Morisato, who had taken over teaching English from the former Miss Ninomiya, smiled and gave the creature a droll look. "You're a shinentai, aren't you?"
"Y-yes, ma'am," it said meekly. She shook her head and laughed, then began the English lesson.
oOo
During History, Ms. Kamiko took one look at the leering, shivering beast and glared, hands on hips. "What do you think you're doing here?" she demanded.
"Hiding," it suggested quietly.
"Did you manage to tick off Garm again?"
Mao Mu Lin jumped and looked guilty. "Oh! You heard about that?"
"You better not be wife-hunting in my class, you pervert," Ms. Kamiko growled.
"Ple-ease, I won't cause any trouble," it whined.
"Pervert?" Hiroshi asked, eyeing the cat.
"This creature was once a little pervert, like you and Daisuke," Ms. Kamiko said with relish. "He was a human in those days and decided he would choose a bride by hiding in the women's bath and spying out the prettiest girl."
"Oh, no," muttered the cat. "Don't say anymore!"
"The girls didn't appreciate his forwardness and beat him any time they caught him spying," the teacher continued. "Which was constantly. I don't think he ever got a good look at a girl."
"I never did," miaued the cat sorrowfully.
"He lived near Jusenkyo and decided to jump in the pool of the drowned cat. Girls like cats, he reasoned. He could just waltz right in there and gawk all he wanted."
"It was a good plan!" The cat flinched as girls near it growled.
"But one of the girls had brought a pet with her that day, a small dog," Urudu said with relish. "It saw the cat coming and began to chase it."
"I'm still traumatized," Mao Mu Lin muttered.
Ms. Kamiko continued her story, beguiling the class. "A huge flowerpot was knocked off its stand and fell, crushing the little beast. He never did get to see any of those girls nude, and walks, to this day, a shinentai, searching for a girl to peep at."
"I'm looking for a bri-yide," the cat corrected indignantly. "Mi-yi intentions are purr-fectly honorable."
"Sure they are," Kamiko drawled.
The cat glanced at the girls around the room and swallowed nervously. It was met with flat unfriendly looks and suspicious murmuring that sounded like plans for violence. It finally let go of its death-grip on Ryoga's arm and edged toward the door. "Purrr-haps it would be wiser to stand in the hall. Excuse me!" It sketched a short jittery bow and slipped out the door.
"Aiya!" Shampoo said, eyes wide. "I lived near Jusenkyo — never hear that story before. Teacher is good!"
"I sure am, honey," Urudu grinned, "and don't you forget it!" She returned to her desk and opened her book. "Now that the distraction is gone, we'll find out how much you remember about how the influence of the witch-queens waned as Japan entered its early Imperial state. What is it, Ranma?"
"Is it just me, or is a lot of weird stuff goin' on lately?" he asked.
Urudu Kamiko looked puzzled. "Weird compared to what, Ranma?" He shrugged. "How about my sister and I stop to discuss it with you at lunchtime, then? Right now, we have a quiz."
Everyone groaned. Ms. Kamiko's quizzes had a tendency to be detailed, explicit and unyielding in their demands for exact knowledge of history.
oOo
Ranma, Akane, Shampoo and Nuku Nuku sat down by their tree to await their teachers. Ukyo flipped okonomiyaki not far away.
"I miss Kodachi," Shampoo said mournfully.
"It was her choice, sugar," Ukyo said. "She took her tests, passed with flying colors and took off with Taro for America." She sighed and looked distant. "I hope her decision to have the baby works out all right." There was a round of agreements.
"Funny how Tatewaki took it. He acts like he'll never have children of his own," Akane said.
"Speaking of whom… Look over there," Atsuko commented. They looked.
"Kuno?"
"Hey, Tachi!"
"Tatewaki!"
The kendoist turned and waved, a look of mischief on his face. "Greetings, one and all. I fear, however, that such welcome hail-and-good-cheer will soon flee, for mine errand speaks to former days rather than these."
"C'mon, Kuno," Ranma grumped. "Don't be more obtuse than ya hafta."
"I think the word you seek is 'obscure'?" Kuno offered.
"It must be, if I haven't found it," Ranma quipped. "What's under the tarp?"
"Indeed? Well, never let it be said that I granted greater honor than one deserved." Tatewaki flipped off the tarp to reveal an astonishingly ugly statue of the former principal, tree and all. "It is my dubious sire's wishes that it be placed at the school entrance. I apologize in advance for having anything to do with such an excess of bad taste, but it was certainly preferable to his return from government to academia."
"Ha-ha!" Akane laughed. "It will stand like a bogeyman for all those kids who imagine the reign of Hinako Tendo is tough!"
"By the way, how is your stepmother doing?" Tachi asked. "Is her condition at all affecting her… talents?"
"I'm doing fine, thank you, Tachi. And you?" The tall woman swayed up behind them. "Not being a delinquent, are you?"
"Me?" Tatewaki gasped. "No! Of course not! Wouldn't think of it!" He gulped as she twitched the tarp back. Her sly smirk became a frown.
"Hmmm… What makes you think I'm going to let you get away with this?"
"What?" asked Ryoga, who was dividing his attention between walking with Ukyo and dragging his leg, on which Mao Mu Lin had a death-grip. "Will you let go already?"
"I can't believe that even you could do something this… tasteless.
"Eeuw… What is it?" Mao Mu Lin asked.
"Good sensei, it is not as if I had any choice! My insane sire planned to deliver this in person! In the name of common decency, I managed to convince him that it was beneath his dignity to act as a delivery man."
"Uh… Why didn't ya just tell him ya'd do it… then leave it in storage?" Ranma asked.
Tatewaki looked astonished then crestfallen. "I… I didn't think of that." A hand went up to his forehead dramatically. "Tendo-sensei, might I inquire if the beauteous Nabiki Kagazumi is available for an early dismissal. I…"
"No, Tatewaki," Tendo-sensei said coolly. "She has class. You may pick her up afterwards, but until then, she's mine!"
"But I only wished to take her to lunch…"
As Kuno wheedled, the martial artists examined the former principal's offering. "It's as ugly as hell," Ryoga commented. "A good likeness."
"Boy!" Ukyo exclaimed, looking at the thing. "You'd almost think he was ready to step off that pedestal and walk away. Huh!" They all stared at it suspiciously. The elder Kuno had done something like that once.
"Trust me, I already checked that out," Ranma growled. "It's just cement and rebar."
"That's a relief."
"Yes…"
(Krickt! Pop! pop! Krackle! Ping!)
"Ummm… Excuse mi-yee, but is it supposed to do that?" Mau Mu Lin pointed.
The statue of the principal stepped off its pedestal and fell to the ground. Slowly it raised itself again and began to take stumbling hesitant steps toward them.
"Damn! I don't know how yer doin' it, fruitcake, but…"
"Look, Ranma," Hinako exclaimed. She pointed toward its feet. One was a mere stump, the statue having broken at the ankle to gain its freedom. "I really don't think that's Tachi's father."
"Red Horse…" It was as if sliding gravel were given a voice.
'What is going on?' thought Ranma. 'Why me?' He dodged a clumsy swing by the thing and moved in fast. His shots did nothing but raise dust and crack the concrete a little. Akane swept in with Nekoken but the statue pivoted appallingly fast and sent her flying back. "Akane!"
Snarling, Shampoo beat him to the punch, her bonbori crunching at the surface of the animated statue. Nuku Nuku followed. Then he joined them and between them they pounded huge holes in the thing, finishing it with simultaneous snap-kicks that sent it soaring into the boundary wall. It crashed to the ground in several pieces.
Ranma spun toward Akane. "Akane, are you…?" He breathed a sigh of relief as she was already regaining her feet. He noticed the steady crunch of gravel too late. "OoooFF!"
A massive weight pinned him to the ground. Ranma shifted and brought his hands up to block the punishing blows a serious opponent would be directing at his head and neck. He squawked as the hands ripped at his shirt and wrenched at his leg.
"Get off Ranma, foul thing!" Tatewaki struck with ki-assisted slashes, each blow crushing the substance the statue. Paradoxically, with each blow, it seemed to get faster, more flexible. Ranma felt his shirt rip up one seam.
To the rest of the class, Ranma was being wrestled to the ground by a stone Principal Kuno, while his friends attacked with everything they had. Suddenly, Ranma moved very, very fast and the pile of animated gravel was hurled into the air. "Mouko Takabisha!"
The ki-blast caught it in mid-air and sent it higher, further crumbling its integrity. It landed cat-like and, bearing little resemblance to the statue it had been, looked more like a pile of gravel trying to be a man. Ranma was uncomfortably reminded of the rats the night before. As he hesitated, Ryoga and Akane stepped forward with calculated precision. "Kagayaki Shindoo!"
The oncoming gravel being was caught in the crossfire of a ki technique designed to pulverize homogenous substances. Made of the finest grade cement, it powdered and swirled cloudlike. The school wall beyond splintered.
"Finally!" Mrs. Tendo said, nervously holding out her coin. "What was… Uh-oh!"
The dust coalesced into a distorted caricature of a human figure and charged. Ranma tried to dodge, but now that it was working with loose particles, it was as fast as he was. He struck and watched his arm sink unimpeded through his opponent. Then it stuck fast. He kicked and began to think of a story he had heard about a tar-baby.
Mrs. Morisato and Ms. Kamiko came running up, eyes wide. Urudu snarled. "What a time to be suspended! Beldandy! Why don't you blast it?"
"It would hurt Ranma!" She glanced across and saw a student gaping at the action. She had been in the midst of writing a letter. "May I borrow that, please," Mrs. Morisato exclaimed, plucking a sheet of paper and the brush from her hand. She stroked out a series of symbols on a sheet and ran forward, drying it in the wind.
She dodged as Ukyo went sailing out of the mix. "Watch it, Ryoga!" The angry 'yaki-ya rolled to her feet, mega-spat in hand, and began to charge back in.
"Wait," Mrs. Morisato said. "Use this!"
"A demon seal?" Ukyo boggled then nodded. "Why not!"
Seconds later, the remains of the statue were shifting past the feet of the astonished martial artists. Ranma coughed and gagged. The nasty stuff had literally fallen apart on top of him, dousing him with powdery sand as if he were a child with annoying friends at the beach.
"It… it worked!" Ukyo gasped, and then coughed as a breeze kicked up some of the dust.
Ranma rolled over, gagging and choking. "W… water…" Akane and Shampoo picked him up under the arms and rushed off to find the water he required, judging it would save time and get him out of the open.
"That was an earth elemental of some kind, wasn't it?" Baradandya asked her sister.
"Sure was!" She threw back her platinum locks and glanced at the stunned, but still aggressive crowd of martial artists. "I wonder if this is what Ranma wanted to talk about?"
oOo
Akane and Shampoo guarded the entrance to the boy's locker room while Ranma rinsed off. At one point, they heard racking coughs and Akane called out to see if he was all right.
"Just stay out for now!" he coughed back. Lunch was nearly over by the time he returned.
"What you do in there?" Shampoo asked.
"Laundry," he replied shortly. She looked puzzled, as his clothes, though wrinkled, were patently dry. "I put 'em on and used my ki to dry 'em," he said.
Shampoo grinned and stroked her hair in memory. "Who need hair dryer?" she agreed.
Akane was relieved that things seemed back to normal, but frowned at the time. "We're going to miss lunch. Worse, there isn't time to talk to Mrs. Morisato or Ms. Kamiko."
oOo
The rest of school dragged on for them all.
At one point, as Ranma was passing the janitor's closet, the door banged open and an apparition of mops, buckets and cleaning supplies barged out.
"Ahhh!" (Crash! Bang! Pow!)
The janitor looked at his sectioned tools and then at Ranma. "Can't ya just wait and let 'em wear out? It don't take long with you young morons breakin' up the place all the time! How in tarnation…"
"Ah, heh!" Ranma smiled and looked embarrassed. The water in the buckets was warm, so he hadn't changed. He backed away and hurried off, powering up his ki to get the damp out of his slippers and pant legs.
A little later, a cloud of yellowish choking dust came billowing around a corner. Akane and Shampoo, who were walking ahead, began to choke. Ranma assumed the worst. "I'll save ya, Akane! Shampoo! Get back!" He barreled around the corner and found himself, charged and aura flaring, facing…
"AHHHH!"
"Hiroshi? Daisuke?" Ranma blinked as they leaped into each other's arms. He looked at what they had dropped. "Erasers?"
"We didn't do it! We didn't do it!"
"Well, why aren't you?" demanded Tendo-sensei, her coin coming out.
"We did! We did!" they turned and exclaimed to her.
"Then why isn't it done?" Then she looked at Ranma.
"Eeep!" He backed away hurriedly. "S-Sorry 'bout that!"
oOo
Finally Ranma, backed by Akane and Shampoo, met with the sisters in the teacher's lounge. Briefly, he explained what had happened the night before to add to their knowledge of the trouble.
"What you fought this morning was an earth elemental," Urd said quietly. "Normally, they don't bother people at all. But this one was a bit aggressive."
"What about those… rats," Akane asked shuddering. She explained quickly. Shampoo was also thoroughly creeped out by the idea of a pile of rats walking like a man.
Mrs. Morisato looked troubled. "There are several types of supernatural beings that can take control of small animals. What you describe sounds as if you had three different spirits arguing over precedence. Were you hurt?"
"Just some cuts…" Ranma almost jerked back as Mrs. Morisato reached forward and touched his forehead with a cool hand. He endured her touch but gave her a curious look as she stepped back.
"I doubt they were plague demons," the teacher said finally.
"P-Plague…?" Ranma stuttered.
"That is one of the types that specialize in using rats. They must have been nature spirits of some type. I doubt a plague demon would have resisted infecting you."
"Plague demons?" Ranma took in the gently smiling face that seemed so innocent and unconcerned. "What the hell is goin' on?" At Mrs. Morisato's disapproving look, he felt like a heel. "Sorry… Something about this is just makin' me nervous." He glanced sidelong at Urd who looked furious for some reason.
"You watch how you talk around my sister!" Urd warned him.
"I said I was sorry!" Ranma grumped.
"What if more trouble happen?" Shampoo asked, hoping to avoid more trouble.
"Here!" Mrs. Morisato handed them a stack of ofuda. "I made them up, just in case."
"We just slap one of these on whatever is attacking?" Akane asked.
"If it's demonic, that'll do the trick," Urd admitted.
"It might be prudent if we used our resources at the Temple," Mrs. Morisato suggested. "Perhaps we can discover the cause of this sudden interest in Ranma."
"We'll get back to you when we find out anything," Urd added. "In the meantime, sit tight."
oOo
Ukyo and Ryoga were waiting for them at the gate.
"What did they say?" the okonomiyaki chef asked. Ryoga stood silent, the portable grill across his shoulders. Ranma nodded acknowledgement of the question and they all fell in step, walking back toward their section of Nerima. Ranma's already ragged clothing was scorched and blackened. Ryoga and Ukyo took their cues from Akane and Shampoo and decided not to ask.
"Demons," Ranma replied after a moment. "For some reason, I got a bunch of demons after me."
"You think maybe Happosai…?"
"Nah!" Ranma answered shortly. "He tends ta go for over-kill and wants everyone know he's behind it. If he'd done this, you'd have the demons giving 'magic-girl' speeches before attacking."
"Hey!" Akane frowned.
"He's right though, sugar," Ukyo admitted. "Happosai's a big blow-hard and wants everyone to know when he's got something."
"Spatula-girl make good point," Shampoo injected.
"Why do you think they're just after you, though?" Akane felt a bit irritated by Ranma's continuing disdain of her favorite animé.
Ranma stopped and blinked at her. "You were there, Akane. They came at me."
"But why?" Akane demanded. "We don't know anything yet."
"You think that Senbei creep has something to do this, Ranma?" Ryoga offered.
Ranma frowned. "I don't know. I'd think he'd want to do it himself. He's more likely to be secretive than the freak, though."
"Look out," Akane remarked as they came up on the old woman who so often splashed the cursed with her ladle. She engaged the old woman in polite conversation as they edged past, then gave the old woman a polite goodbye and returned to the gang. "Do you think we should cancel classes at the dojo today?" she asked as they continued down the street.
"I don't know Akane," Ranma said doubtfully. "I just have a bad feelin' about this."
The old woman smiled and continued to ladle out water on her walk. Such nice young folk, though it wasn't as much fun now that all the boys changed into girls. She'd seen the bunch of them wandering the fair they'd had earlier in the week. Kenkoku Kinen-no-Hi, to celebrate the founding of the nation. It had been quieter this year than last. The young folk seemed to be maturing and settling down. Young Akane was a sweet thing, and she'd even gotten her fiancé to sit down and talk to her when they recognized her at the booth she'd run. She wondered if there would be more fuss on the fourteenth. The youngsters these days seemed to like excuses for cuddling and St. Valentine's Day seemed designed for that. She ladled out more water.
The water poured, but did not splash. Instead it closely resembled gelatin in a mold. It looked like… a foot? She splashed some more. Another foot formed and the first developed an ankle and calf. They stood there, as if waiting. Her ladle passed through them as if through a waterfall. It made an impression, but not a very permanent one. She frowned. It just wouldn't do to have a set of feet standing out there on the sidewalk. She stalked back into the house.
She returned with an old fire brigade helmet and a huge hose. She had been captain of her fire brigade in the days of the War when flames were daily circumstance to inhabitants of Tokyo. She activated the hose and swept the offensive things away. Coincidently, she gave a passing convertible a sudden high-pressure wash. Staggering, she turned the hose off again, and nodded in satisfaction. They were gone. She didn't notice, as she put the hose away, the wet footprints that glistened on the sidewalk.
Wet feet slapped the pavement, bringing stares from the citizens of the Ward. February is still a chill month in Tokyo and feet are usually shod at least inzori. They flinched at what they saw. Those who noticed the passage of a group of teenagers earlier did not wonder where it was going. They only wondered how the Saotome boy had managed this one.
oOo
Shampoo was thinking about Mousse, who had told her he was planning to join them after school. His powers in ki had grown steadily under Ranma's tutelage, and his own martial skills had developed as well. But she was beginning to wonder if she had a blind spot for him. While he almost never tried to glomp her any more, he occasionally showed up unexpectedly, close enough to kiss, before stepping away with a secretive smile. If he kept that up she would kiss him, darn it! She wondered if he was trying to save her from herself. She was getting closer and closer to matching Akane's skill; Cologne's years of instruction in the arts of war were too much for even Ranma's brilliant but inexperienced improvisation to overcome. Each time they fought, with or without the ki-enhancements, she could feel how much closer she was coming. She estimated that barring mistakes, they had six months at best, the middle of summer, and Akane would have to prove herself an Amazon by body, mind and spirit or she would be dead. Only if Shampoo threw away her family's honor could she refuse to deliver the deathblow. Was Mousse trying to manipulate her? She growled softly. She'd give him a piece of her mind if that were his intent.
Ranma heard the sound first, but Shampoo had been looking behind. She boggled at the onrushing form that gleamed and shifted in the light. Ranma caught her tension and heard the slapping sound. He turned, wondering what was coming this time.
He boggled. It looked like… himself, carved out of water. He dodged and stepped out of the center of the gang. No need to involve them until they could assess this opponent. The thing was fast. He was quickly forced to start blocking and countering the strikes. The feel of the thing was like Jell-O. Two strikes later and the dampness set off the curse. Now Ranma girl-type countered the glassy image of her male form. It redoubled its efforts to close with her.
Ranma grunted as it threw her back on the sidewalk. She twisted and struck then grappled trying to force it off of her. It pressed closer still and she felt the surface of the body begin to engulf her. "Get off! Blub!" She couldn't breathe!
Ukyo peeled off one of the ofuda and slapped it on the water sprite's back.
It screamed. The entire body suddenly spun like a washing machine on turbo. "Gaah!" Ranma was thrown across the street to impact a concrete wall. The ball of water stopped spinning and reformed into human shape. A piece of soggy paper, sans ink, dropped from its 'hand'.
"Uh-oh!" Ukyo backed away. For an instant, it seemed as if it would attack them, instead. Then it rushed at Ranma who slid off the wall to lie in a crumpled heap.
Ryoga was there, umbrella swinging. He divided the running form in half with a heavy squelching sound, but the body seemed to flow around his strike, the surface passing through with little loss of form. Akane and Shampoo struck as a team, Akane's neko-claws matched with Shampoo's ki-sword. This was even less effective, but the form paused long enough to strike at them, sending them staggering back. Then it closed on Ranma again.
She was struggling to her feet, aware that the threat was not past, frightened that Akane would attack it, if no one else did. It struck her and drove her back to the wall, engulfing her in a watery second skin and pinning her against the vertical surface. Through the sheath of water, she saw Akane and her friends tearing at the thing, trying to release her.
'Demon,' she thought. She saw Ukyo hanging back with another ward, her face a mask of worry least the demon go into that spin again and tear Ranma apart in the process. This thing wanted something. Whatever it was, she had to do something fast. She finally sought the ki techniques so effective against Senbei and, with a hint of malice, added something that might be effective against water.
"Ow! Hot!" Akane and Shampoo snatched their hands away. Ryoga tried to hang on but finally jerked away with a snarl. Ukyo darted forward with the demon ward as a last resort, then hesitated. The water was bubbling? She backed away a step. Ranma was glowing.
"Back off," Akane yelled. "Ranma's…"
(FOOOOSH!) Steam engulfed them all, and Ranma was free, male and amazingly dry, gasping for breath and glaring in suppressed fright.
The steam lifted in the cool air to hang overhead, a misty cloud of menace. It writhed, trying to reform. It reached for Ranma, and water began to condense in the air. Ukyo wrapped an ofuda to one of her mini-spats and threw it into the heart of the shape. A tornado of motion wracked the cloud and then it was drifting off, harmless and dissipating in the afternoon breeze.
Ranma shivered as Akane's arm went around him. His fiancée's skin felt icy compared to the heat he had projected to attack the demon's watery form. He shivered for another reason. Whatever the demon's purpose was, he had felt its elation, then anger mixed with pain. Whatever it wanted, it had come close to achieving it. "Let's get home."
oOo
They found Keiichi and Baradandya Morisato waiting for them at the Tendo gate.
"That was fast," Ranma observed. Kasumi played hostess as they sat around the table. Baradandya nodded and sipped her tea. They were not reassured by the fact that her normal smile seemed to be missing.
"We consulted several sources," Baradandya began. "Apparently, a prophecy has germinated that is the cause of these attacks on Ranma."
"Germinated?" Kasumi asked, as she took her place. Hinako had asked Soun earlier to escort her on a shopping trip, leaving Kasumi in charge.
"A euphemism if you like, dear, common to our ummm... beliefs," the teacher replied. "In any case, the demons were, for some reason, aware of this prophecy before their kami-opposites, and it's given them the initial edge."
"Oh, great! What's this one about?" Ranma groaned. He banged the table with his fist, making everyone jump. "I've been attacked three times now by demons, so I want to know what's going on, before another shows up." At Mrs. Morisato's surprised look, he said, "Yes, I was attacked on the way home. I don't know what it wanted, but it didn't get it."
"That's good," Baradandya whispered, grimacing.
"Are you all right, Baradandya?" Kasumi asked, concerned. "You're not feeling ill are you?"
"You mean from the baby, dear?" Baradandya smiled. "No, my baby is fine, though she does limit me in some ways." She turned back to the impatient Ranma. "Perhaps if I give you a rough translation of the prophecy, you will understand." She composed herself. "It is called Field of the Roan Horse."
"Scarlet hair, a virgin bides
Behind a cloak of stallion cries.
Whoever first her fields shall sow,
Shall power gain to lay them low,
His enemies like grass shall mow."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Ranma's shaky query went unanswered as Baradandya sipped her tea pensively.
"Well, a scarlet-haired virgin would be a girl who has red hair and hasn't made love to a man," Baradandya pointed out with a grimace. "The cloak of stallion cries would indicate a barrier or dissembling by a male horse or someone who is symbolized by a male horse."
"Field of the Roan Horse?" Ryoga snickered. "I sorta got the part about the virgin and the stallion. That describes Ranma, I guess." He gave Ranma an innocent look as the other scowled at him. "But what does the rest of it mean?"
"Fields are a fertility symbol often used to indicate a woman's womb. A farmer sows his fields with grain, a man…" She stopped as Ranma suddenly gagged, eyes wide in understanding.
"Yer kiddin' me!" Ranma shouted.
"I wish I were."
"What was that last analogy again?" Ryoga was a bit dense today. As everyone blushed, Ukyo leaned over and whispered in his ear. His hand snapped to his nose. "You can't be serious?" he shouted. His eyes, huge, went back to Ranma, who flinched. Slowly a trickle of blood escaped his fingers.
Ranma flashed into rage and punched him. "Get yer mind outa the gutter, P-chan! It ain't like I'd be askin' you ta do the honors!" (WHANG!)
"Don't hit Rychan, baka," Ukyo growled at the heap on the floor. "It isn't his fault." She turned back to their teacher. "What's that bit about power mean?"
"These demons have been trying to gain power by… having s-sex with Ranma…" Akane's trailing voice put it into simple words. Everyone around the table looked disturbed.
"Gaah!" Ranma choked. "Didja hafta say it out loud, tomboy?" He shivered again, especially thinking about that water-demon, and how it must have tried to soak past certain barriers. "I think I'm gonna be sick."
"Wait," Shampoo exclaimed suddenly. "Maybe prophecy already fulfilled! Kodachi is same as Ranma! Taro maybe already win…"
Baradandya shook her head. "Even if that were true, Shampoo, it could be said that Taro has indeed gained power, through his influence on Kodachi and Kuno Industries. It doesn't change the fact that this prophecy has come to light now, nor that Ranma, alone of the Jusenkyo cursed, fits the description."
Ranma hung his head. "Aw, shit!"
"Till now, only a few of the demons were aware of this information," Baradandya said in the following silence. "That changed when we made our inquiries. Nor will your visitors be limited to demons." She swallowed nervously. "Because of the, uh… methods of our research, the kami are now aware of the prophecy as well."
Ranma's eyes came up hard. "But I'm a guy! Ain't no way I'm gonna do that! No way!"
"I guess I better get some permanent markers," Kasumi sighed, rising to her feet.
"Why?" Akane asked her sister.
"It would help if the ink didn't wash off the ofuda, wouldn't it?" There was a knock at the door. "I'll get it," Kasumi said. This entire situation was very upsetting. She hurried to the door trying to recover her serenity on the way. She opened it and gulped, her serenity deserting her entirely.
"Hel-Lo...," the tall muscular man with golden hair said in tones of liquid gold. "My goodness, have we met? I'm certain we have." She noted the unfashionably long hair, the harp or lyre that hung from his shoulder. He was gorgeous! His eyes, a blue very similar to Ranma's, were smoky and full of the promise of passion.
Kasumi tried to tell herself that she was not melting, not ready to fall panting at this man's feet. "W-who should I say is c-calling?" she stammered out. Whatever he wanted, she could not conceive of refusing.
"My card," he said smoothly. It was gold-embossed on the finest white vellum imaginable. "Apollo, Apollo Zuesson of Olympus," he explained as she gazed at him, ignoring the card in her hands. "I need to speak to Ranma Saotome, on a matter of some importance."
"Ranma, someone to see you!" Kasumi's voice rang loud in the room. The revelation by Baradandya Morisato that a prophecy had arisen that power would come to the male who took girl-type Ranma's virginity had been a bombshell even in the chaotic lives of the Nerimians. Kasumi's voice, bright with hope and joy immediately caught their attention. They eyed the tall stranger following her and felt their spirits rising. Every girl in the room sat up straighter with the exception of a certain teacher.
Ryoga smiled. Though a top martial artist, he never had a self-image as a leader and the presence of the newcomer gave a sense of hope in a hopeless situation.
Ranma sat up straighter himself. He noted the musculature and easy movement. He took note of the blue marks on forehead and cheekbone. He immediately associated those with the marks painted on faces during a certain set of rituals. Apollo's forehead had a golden sunburst on a blue circle. The martial artist suspected that these were not painted on.
Unlike most Japanese, the super-powerful aura of authority the being projected hardly touched him. A self-made leader, his initial impression of the stranger had him reacting like an alpha wolf facing off against an intruding male. It was with difficulty that he restrained himself from challenging this interloper immediately.
Keiichi groaned. He had hoped they could at least get through the explanation about what was going on without one of these blowhards showing up. Immortal less than four months, he had already gained a sour impression of many of the older kami. This one reminded him uncomfortably of the Plum Tree Spirit who had nearly cursed him years ago.
Baradandya turned and raised an eyebrow. "Apollo, how did you get free so quickly?"
The newcomer hesitated and looked her over carefully. "You seem familiar. Have we?" He glanced aside at Kasumi. "Your sister?" The kami frowned at the quick shake of her head. "No, that hasn't been allowed…" He glanced at Keiichi. "It appears I was not as quick off the mark as I thought, if someone has preceded me."
"You could say we're the local sales representatives," Baradandya Morisato said softly.
Apollo straightened up. "Ah! Of course you would be here!" He smiled and asked, "Might I be seated?"
Before Ranma could say 'No, get lost,' Kasumi chirped, "Of course! Let me get you some tea." She hurried out, blushing.
Apollo sat and fixed Ranma with a smile. "You would be Ranma, I suppose?"
The martial artist eyed him. "What if I am?"
"I'm glad I got to you in time. Have they told you…?" With a subtle shrug, he indicated the teacher and her husband.
"Yeah, and yer outa luck."
Apollo blinked. "The demons came already?" At Ranma's nod, he blanched. "By Zues' beard! What horror! I'm so sorry."
Ranma frowned. "Watcha talkin' about?"
Apollo stopped and really stared at Ranma. "Oh, I see. You're a hero. You defeated those that have attacked you so far. Well done!"
Ranma's glower reduced somewhat. Apollo's concern seemed genuine. Kasumi entered with more tea, then turned at a knock at the door. "I'll be right back!" she sang, bestowing a smile on their guest. She hurried off.
"Yeah, I beat 'em," Ranma said shortly. "But there's a catch, isn't there?"
"Quite. A huge catch." Apollo sipped his tea. "You are mortal. You need to rest periodically. As time goes on, more and more demons will learn of your plight and come to defeat you and take the prize." He stared into Ranma's eyes. "You won't care for the result."
"What he means, Ranma, is that the demons will eventually dog-pile you," Keiichi injected quietly. "What he's carefully avoided saying, is that there are plenty of kami, himself included, who would be perfectly happy to relieve you of your... condition."
"What!" Ranma blushed and leaped to his feet. Apollo leaned back and frowned at the interruption.
"That's hardly how I would have put it," the kami said. An interruption prevented a recitation of how he would have put it.
"I was here first!" a musical voice sang.
"Yeah, right," snarled a deeper powerful voice. "As if I'd let you become an obstacle to anything I chose to reach for." A tall slender figure with a harp like Apollo's and a big massive presence with a hammer Akane would envy crowded into the room. Each had symbols on his forehead and the big one had symbols on his cheekbones as well. "And if he's a hero like I've heard, keep your mitts off! You know my rights."
They looked up and noticed their audience. The big one grunted and fell silent. The tall one leaned forward and then exclaimed, "Beldandy! How wonderful!" He glanced about. "Uhhh… Urd isn't here, is she?"
"Not at the moment, Plum Spirit," Mrs. Morisato replied easily. She frowned at the larger guest. "Thor, what are you doing here? Is Sif with you?"
Thor grunted and blushed. "Ummm… No. I just…" He dug a toe into the floor like a little boy caught sneaking out of the house before homework was done. "You know how I like a good fight, little one; and with the boy around… and that prophecy…"
"That's all you're here for?"
Thor guffawed and shifted further in. "What else? Won't catch me trying to get into some guy's pants, not like our friend here," he added, jabbing Apollo in the ribs.
"Excuse me?" Apollo looked outraged. They began to exchange insults.
Ranma glared at the Plum Spirit as he stepped up beside him. "A Jusenkyo curse, is it? What do you look like?" Cold water poured.
"Jerk!" Ranma spluttered. The wall suddenly acquired a Plum Spirit-shaped hole.
Thor and Apollo stopped bickering and stared. "Not bad," Apollo commented, straightening.
Thor grinned. "It could have been worse. What if your girl form was ugly? Better to be cute."
"Yeah? Better for who?" Ranma snarled. She felt the full power of whatever glamour the kami were using to impress the others in the house, but thrust it aside. "Don't even think about it, jerks!" she shrilled.
"Ranma!" Akane and Ryoga barked angrily.
"Oh, my! How rude!" Kasumi fretted.
"Ranma very rough! Please forgive," Shampoo added.
"Don't be a jerk, Ranchan!" Ukyo frowned.
"What's with you guys? They're playin' with yer minds! Fight it!" Ranma snapped, glaring at the disapproving females.
Thor smirked, shrugged and poked Apollo in the side. "Give it up, Olympian. He's the only one you need to impress and he's too strong for that." Apollo looked sour. With a nod, he stepped back with an oddly understated wave of his hand and everyone suddenly swayed, dizzy. Shampoo was the first to recover.
With a yell she came to her feet, staring in dismay at the tall humanoid. "You try that again and Shampoo kill!"
Apollo yawned. Now that there was little chance of a victory here, he seemed bored. A hand reached through the hole in the garden wall, then another. The Plum Spirit stumbled back in the room. "Niesh garden," he slurred. "What hit me?"
"I did," Ranma snarled. "Want another one?"
"Oh, heavens! What is it with these mortals who think they can get away with crossing an immortal? I have a song for you, since you seem intent on denying me the prize." He swung his lyre off his shoulder.
(TONK!) Everyone looked at the huge hammer held over the collapsed heap of Plum Spirit.
"Ooops… Did I do that?" Thor asked innocently. He tucked the hammer back in his belt, and bent down, picking up the slender frame and throwing it over his shoulder. "I don't mind a song or two but that is one song no one needs to hear."
"Bugs…" muttered Keiichi.
"Oh, you've met this one before?" Thor sighed, "C'mon, Sunny, let's get out of here." He jerked his head toward the door.
"But…" Apollo looked back at the cute redhead. He hadn't expected this prophecy business to be more than a chore.
"You're never going to get him to agree. Let it go," Thor insisted. "Come on, drinks on me."
Apollo brightened. "Why not." Before they left, he turned back to Ranma. "I warn you, Saotome, Hell itself is beginning to break open. Soon you will have trouble moving a step without having some supernatural entity trying for you. You should consider the alternatives."
"Yeah, yeah!" Ranma eyed him suspiciously. "Like there's a difference to me if I get screwed by a kami, demon or human! I'd rather not."
"Your only other alternative is death," Apollo told him flatly. "Bedded by a kami, overpowered by a demon, or death." He left before Ranma could think up a retort.