Late in the evening, the inn customers slowly dispersed and left, one after another. The Vault Keepers and their assistants also went home. Kasumi and Genko waited at the door and said goodbye to each and everyone. Kasumi was so proud of Genko's manners that she complimented the pandaren girl, making her blush.

Afterwards, Genko ran to Nodoka, a big smile on her face. "Mistress? I have great news. Some of the customers have expressed interest in becoming students at our dojo."

"That's wonderful, dear," Nodoka beamed. "Well done, Genko-chan. Are you ready to call it a day?"

"Already? Are you sure there aren't some beds that still need to be made?" Genko eagerly asked. "Some floors that need to be scrubbed? Some laundry that needs to be done?"

"You've done more than enough this evening," Nodoka said. "Now get some well-earned rest. Also, I need to talk to your other half."

"Oh, I see," Genko nodded. "Then let me heat up some water…"

A few minutes later, Genma was back to his regular self, his head still a bit damp from the hot water. He had a slightly sour expression on his face, but also filled with hesitant approval.

"Weeeeell?" Nodoka approached him with a big grin. "Now do you think letting Genko-chan out was a good idea?"

Genma sighed. "Okay… fine… I guess accepting new students into the school is an acceptable outcome of this situation." He crossed his arms and grumbled. "I still think the dress is too frilly."

Nodoka gave her husband a hug. "Don't worry, I'm pretty sure the new students don't want to see their martial arts instructor in an outfit with frills." She chuckled. "By the way, have you also considered hiring a fighting instructor who's specialized in armed combat? A lot of adventurers coming through town use weapons, after all. And we are the only official dojo around."

"I really don't like the idea of having the noble art of Anything Goes share the spotlight with… unconventional practices, but I'll give it some thought," he said. "Maybe Ranma's new form can be of help. Where are the kids, anyway?"

"Kasumi's cleaning up the rest of the serving room," Nodoka said. "Akane and Ranma are in the dojo for some late practicing… Akane even put up some targets for her archery. As for Nabiki, she hasn't come home yet."

"That girl does whatever she wants," Soun said with a sigh as he entered the room. "And every time she's out late, I'm worried for her safety. Not every non-human immigrant in Nerima is friendly."

"Nabiki is a headstrong young… pony, old friend," Genma told him. "I'm sure she can take care of herself."

"You don't know how it is," Soun sighed. "Your son is a skilled martial artist and knows how to deal with trouble. So is Akane… but Nabiki never learned how to fight. I know I can't teach her regular martial arts, but can't she at least find a tutor for her magical skills? There are more than enough skilled mages and wizards in town."

"Maybe they can't teach her because she uses unicorn magic?" Nodoka guessed. "I couldn't say, I never had a magic user in my family."

Genma reassuringly patted his friend on the shoulder. "Well, don't worry, Soun. I'm sure she'll be back home before dinner."

Suddenly, screams and other loud noises from outside caught their attention. Nodoka gasped. "What in the world…?"

They ran outside. Ranma and Akane came running from the dojo as well. "Dad? What's going on?" Akane asked.

"Your guess is as good as mine," Soun said. "Wait, is that… fire over there?"

"I hear fighting noises," Nodoka said. "This is a town raid!"

"Dangit Kodachi…" Ranma swore. "Can't you go one week without sending your goons to attack and plunder? C'mon, Akane, we've got to help the townspeople…"

"R…ranma…" a weak voice called out. Ranma almost didn't hear it. But when he turned around, he saw a cloaked figure slowly staggering towards them.

Akane blinked. "Wait, is that… Gosunkugi? What's he doing here? Isn't he working for Kodachi?"

"Hey, warlock boy," Ranma frowned. "What's the big idea? Are you the one in charge of this raid?"

"M… me?" the pale boy's eyes widened. "N-no, you have it backwards… I'm here to warn you. The raid leader… he's a powerful demon summoned on the mistress' behalf earlier today. The Horned Reaper… you can't hope to defeat him in battle… he's an unstoppable maelstrom of bloodlust…"

"So what, do you expect us to simply let it happen?" Akane shouted. "If this demon is more dangerous than anything Kodachi has ever sent before, then people's lives are in danger."

"She's not sending him to kill people… but he will do it if he feels that anyone might impede his mission," Gosunkugi explained. "I have the feeling the mistress bit off more than she can chew this time… If the Horned Reaper is as cunning as the old texts say, he will try to manipulate her, and there will be hard times coming for Nerima."

"So he won't kill anyone until they resist, at least for now?" Ranma frowned. "So what are we supposed to do, then?"

"I don't think there's anything you can do," the warlock sighed. "When a Reaper strikes, he strikes swift. The raid might already be over and they're on their way back to the dungeon… I took a big risk by giving you this warning. I need to head back soon… if they find out I helped you…" He gulped. "Another warlock working for Mistress Kodachi disappointed her not too long ago, and believe me, her punishment was not pretty."

"Is there anything else you can tell us before you go?" Akane asked.

"W-well, the mistress imprisoned her sister…"

"Akiko? Again?" Ranma rolled his eyes. "Well, I know I'm not going near Kodachi's prison block anytime soon. Those Kuno girls are more clingy than Shampoo."

Gosunkugi raised a finger. "W-well… the orcs the Reaper commanded also captured Nabiki-san…"

"What?" Ranma and Akane shouted at once.

Soun and Nodoka looked at Genma. The Saotome patriarch scratched the back of his head. "Well, okay… maybe she won't be home until breakfast."


A duo of brawny orc warriors laughed in their deep-throated voices as they entered the dungeon's prison block. The taller of them carried a big burlap sack, which contained something struggling.

The prison warden was a vampire, just like Kodachi, but much more skinny and ugly, with a bald head and long, spindly fingers. "Well, well, well…" he said as he got up from his chair. "What did you fools bring me this time?"

"Tasty food!" the bigger orc said and licked his lips.

The shorter one whacked his companion on the head. "Idiot, it's not for eating," he growled. "It's for prison."

"Yes, I assume so," the warden sighed wearily. "Or else you wouldn't be here. But what IS it?"

"Oh," the bigger orc said. "Is little pony." He opened the sack and emptied its contents in front of the vampire.

The prison warden looked down at the bound and gagged form of Nabiki Tendo. Nabiki glanced up at him and groaned.

'Another fine mess you're finding yourself in, Tendo,' she thought. 'This is starting to get old…'

He sighed. "Another one of those? No wings this time, though… oh well. I guess the interrogation master will still find some amusement with this one. Throw her to the other equine." He made a commanding gesture.

The taller orc scratched his head. "To the what?"

"He means the other horsey," his companion explained.

Nabiki managed to spit out her gag. "Hey, I'm not a horse!" she shouted. "And watch the horn next time you grab me, buster… that thing's worth more than what you're paid."

The orcs looked at one another. "You getting paid?" "Me thought beating up small creatures is payment."

"This seems to be a feisty one," the vampire chuckled. "I'll be looking forward to breaking your spirit, unicorn. Now, throw her in the cell!"

The orcs grabbed Nabiki by her legs and carried her over to one of the prison cells. The warden unlocked the door, and they threw her in.

"Ow!" Nabiki winced as she landed on the hard stone floor. "Maybe a little gentler next time, please?"

"Oh, there won't be a next time," the warden chuckled as he locked the door. "You'll be staying in this cell… forever!" With a mean cackle, he turned around and left, followed by the two orcs.

"Well, this is just great," Nabiki snorted. "They could have at least taken off the ropes."

"Maybe I can help with that," a gentle voice spoke up.

Nabiki was lying in a position that made it very difficult to see the back half of her cell. She stretched her neck as far as she could to take a look at her new cellmate.

The first thing she saw was the upside-down face of a walleyed, blond-maned pony with grey fur.

"Are you okay?" the pony asked. "You don't look so good."

"I… I've had better days," Nabiki groaned. "Are… are you a unicorn, too? Who… are you?"

"Oh, I'm not a unicorn, I'm a pegasus," the walleyed pony said with a smile. She didn't appear to be too worried about their situation. "And my name's Derpy, Derpy Hooves. I didn't know they kidnapped another pony. Are you from Ponyville, too?"

"Pony… ville?" Nabiki muttered. "Where in the world is that? Also, can you help me get these ropes off? I'm getting dizzy looking at your face like this…"

"Oh, sorry, right away." Derpy quickly gnawed through the ropes until Nabiki was free. With a sigh, the unicorn sat up on her haunches and took a better look at the other pony.

She then noticed that Derpy did indeed have wings… or at least the remains of wings. "What did they do to you?" she gasped.

"They cut off my feathers as soon as they threw me in here," Derpy explained. "I think they'll grow back eventually. Still, that was pretty mean. Who are these guys, anyway? They don't look like diamond dogs or changelings… so what is this place?"

"I really don't know what you are talking about, but this is the dungeon of a vampire named Kodachi. She…" Nabiki hesitated. "Well, let's just say she's not the nicest person. Also, she's insane."

"That's too bad," Derpy explained. "Oh well, maybe Princess Twilight and her friends will come to save us, using the Elements of Harmony or whatever they use at the moment. Princess Twilight did save me once!" She smiled brightly at the memory. "I was a statue!"

"Princess… Twilight?" Nabiki wondered. "What princess? There are no princesses here. Well… if you don't count Kodachi and her bratty sister…"

"Sure there are!" Derpy giggled. "We have four princesses in Equestria. Well, five, but one's a baby. That makes four and a half, I guess? Or four and a quarter?"

"Equestria? Never heard of it… this is Nerima," Nabiki said.

"Don't listen to her," a gruff voice came from the cell to their right. "She's pretty ditzy and scatterbrained… I doubt she's right in the head. When she came in here, she told me all kind of crazy stuff." A laughing snort was heard. "Nonsense about magic ponies that move the sun and moon and defeat evil with the magic of friendship… what a moron!"

"I'm not a moron…" the grey pegasus said sadly and looked at the prison floor. "I just have trouble paying attention sometimes…"

For some reason, the image of the sad pony upset Nabiki. "Hey, don't call her that, whoever you are!" she shouted over to the other cell. "Just leave her alone, or else…"

"Or else… what?" the voice growled. The creature in the other cell stood up to its feet, and now Nabiki realized just how massive it was. It was a ginormous minotaur with a pair of horns that were almost as long as her entire body. Standing up, the beast was probably taller than even Ukyo's worgen form.

"Um… nothing…" Nabiki said in a tiny voice. She felt a bit intimidated. "You're… Pantyhose Taro, aren't you?"

"Keep using that name if you want to make me really angry," the bull-like creature roared.

"Yeah, he's a bit touchy when it comes to that," Derpy said. "I tried calling him Panty once. He was so mad, the warden had to cast a sleeping spell to sedate him. Not really sure why that makes him so angry, but I think it's just better to call him Taro. Other than that, he's actually quite nice. Minotaurs just like to be loud from time to time." She snickered. "I visited a confidence seminar run by a minotaur once, you know?"

"She's talking nonsense again," Taro groaned. "Well, better get used to it. You'll be here for a looong time."

"But isn't there a way out?" Nabiki asked. "With your strength, couldn't you just break down the doors?"

"You think I didn't try that?" Taro snorted. "I tried ramming, punching and stomping, but the damn thing wouldn't budge."

"The cell doors are magically enhanced," another female spoke up from the cell to Nabiki's left. "You cannot break them with brute force."

"And who are you?" Nabiki asked. The voice sounded familiar, if a bit mysterious. She walked closer to the bars separating them to get a better look. The figure was even more shrouded in shadows than Taro was. It was definitely a girl, crouching in the far corner of her cell. She wore a tattered cloak with a hood, so Nabiki wasn't quite able to see her face.

"My name is Miyo," the girl said in an almost melancholic voice. "I used to be one of Mistress Kodachi's warlocks, I specialized in clairvoyant spells. But then I did something to incur my mistress' wrath… she cast a spell on me that twisted my form and made her servants throw me in here. It's impossible to escape from here, believe me…"

"Why are you hiding over there?" Nabiki asked. "Come on over here, okay? I don't like talking to someone who's sitting on the opposite side of a room."

"I'm sorry…" Miyo said, her voice almost a whisper. "But I think it's better if I stayed in the dark."

"Then at least take off that hood, I can barely understand you," Nabiki said. "Hold on, I'll do it…" Her horn started glowing as she prepared to pull Miyo's hood off her head.

"NO, WAIT! DON'T DO IT!" Miyo suddenly yelled, her voice filled with panic. But Nabiki's spell was cast and her hood was pulled backwards… revealing a head that was not covered in hair, but in a mass of writhing, hissing snakes!

Nabiki gasped. "Y-you're a…"

"I'm sorry!" Miyo wailed as she turned her head around and looked at the wall. "I'm so, so sorry, I tried to warn you…"

Nabiki took a deep breath of air. "A g… g… gorgon…" Now that she had seen Miyo's face, she wished she hadn't… but it was too late. After she had stared at the slitted, reptilian eyes of the transformed girl, she felt how her whole body started to freeze and solidify. Slowly, she changed from a living, breathing pony into an inanimate statue.

Derpy walked up to her. "Don't worry… she's okay," she said. "When you're made of stone, you can't talk, eat or breathe… but you're still alive and aware of everything that happens around you. All we need to do is to find something to heal her." She smiled. "Or we wait until Princess Twilight saves the day again."

"You want to wait until an imaginary pony princess from an imaginary land shows up to heal her and save us?" Taro grunted. "Oh, and here I was getting worried. Wake me when she shows up." He sat back down and leaned against the wall.

Derpy was right, though. Nabiki was unable to move, but she was fully conscious and saw and heard everything that happened around her.

'Well,' she thought to herself. 'My day just keeps getting better and better. At least it can't get any worse than this…'


When Ranma and Akane came past Ucchan's, they saw that the okonomiyaki store had been one of the raid party's targets. Several windows were broken and multiple weapons and cooking utensils were littering the street. Ukyo and Konatsu were busy helping some customers and pedestrians that got caught in the crossfire. Konatsu tended to a young woman with several bruises, and Ukyo helped the reptilian salesman from before straighten up his tipped-over cart.

"Ucchan, are you all right?" Ranma asked his childhood friend with worry.

"Yeah, don't worry about me," the worgen-girl said. "Konatsu and I made sure to send those orcs running with their tails between their legs. Lizard dude here helped out too, he's actually a decent fighter."

"Would you stop calling me a lizard?" the merchant hissed in annoyance. "I'm an Argonian, my name's Dyle. I used to be a mercenary before the vampire lady pulled me through her portal, so yeah, I know a thing or two about fighting. Even though the orcs back home were a lot tougher than those wimps."

"Yeah well, you still did a swell job protecting these people," Ukyo smiled. "I guess I'm not too mad at you anymore for setting up shop in front of my restaurant."

"Ucchan, we're on our way to Kodachi's castle," Ranma informed her. "You wanna come, too?"

Ukyo frowned. "Ranchan, seriously. You need to stop playing the hero at every opportunity. You realize Kodachi is only doing that to lure you in in order to get her undead claws on you, right? The damage her goons cause is always short-lived and she knows it. Wrecking Nerima isn't really one of her main goals."

"Usually I'd say you're right, Ukyo," Akane said. "But this time, she captured Nabiki. And Gosunkugi warned us that she summoned a real nasty demon that might become a big problem."

"She took Nabiki, you say?" Ukyo gritted her teeth. "That unicorn can't last one day without getting herself into trouble, can she?" She let out a deep sigh. "All right, I'm with you. Konatsu, you're on cleanup duty. Help these people and get the wounded ones to Dr. Tofu. Afterwards, clean up store."

The crossdressing ninja nodded. "Got it, Ukyo-sama."

"I'm gonna help her," Dyle said. "You kids go on and help your friends, but be careful. That castle's a nasty place." He nodded towards Konatsu. "All right, let's get to work, girlie."

"Excuse me," Konatsu spoke up. "But I'm male, not female."

"Huh," the Argonian scratched his frills. "And here I thought I got the sexual dimorphisms of humans figured out."

"We'll be fine," Ukyo said. "See you guys later." And she ran off with Ranma and Akane. "How do we even get into the castle?" she asked. "Not the front gate, I assume?"

Akane shook her head. "No, Gosunkugi told us that it's always locked and there are animated suits of armor guarding the entrance. However, there's a secret entrance on the west wall. Most of the adventurers who plan to raid her dungeon enter through there."

"For real? I wonder why Kodachi never decided to seal that entrance off, then," Ukyo frowned.


The Horned Reaper threw the door leading to Kodachi's personal quarters open. "It is done, Dungeon Keeper," he proclaimed with a sneer. "The town is pillaged, a prisoner was made and no life was taken. It was as dull and boring as you wished it to be."

"Don't you have any manners?" Kodachi snapped. "Knock next time before you enter! Also, I demand a little bit more respect. I am your mistress, after all."

The Reaper grimaced. "As you wish... mistress. Now, have you decided whether or not you'll condescend to telling me the next step in your brilliant plan?"

"I suppose I might as well," the vampiress said. "As you already know, my main goal is to lure my beloved Ranma here into my domicile. And with one of my friends in my grasp, I won't have to wait for much longer to see his manly face." She sighed.

"Please let's not get into details," the demon shuddered. "But that's it? Forgive me for saying this, but that's not the most creative plan I've heard. So what do you want me to do next? Wait for the hero, subdue him and bring him to you?"

"No, I don't think I'll need a demon to do that," Kodachi said. "I have more than enough minion for that task. Besides, you brute would only maim his handsome body. Instead, I want you to start working on those improvements for my dungeon you told me about."

The Horned Reaper grinned with glee. That was exactly what he wanted to hear. "Your wish is my command. I'll leave you to your… games with your little hero. Should you need me, I'll be near the dungeon heart."

"Yes yes, you are dismissed." Kodachi waved her hand. "Sasuke? Accompany the Horned Reaper and make sure he doesn't touch anything he's not supposed to."

With a flash, the imp ninja appeared and bowed before Kodachi. "As you wish, mistress."

"Wait, what?" The Horned Reaper glared at Sasuke, making the imp cower nervously. "You are placing me under surveillance of an IMP? The lowest caste of demons that exists?" He let out a furious roar. "How much disgrace are you trying to subject me to, youngling Keeper?"

"Know your place!" Kodachi shouted. "Sasuke has been a loyal servant of this house for years and he is trained in the ways of the ninja. While he is just a lowly servant, he has rightfully earned his place under my feet… a place you still need to learn, demon!"

The Horned Reaper shook with rage. He was very tempted to just pick up his scythe and kill the vampiress and her imp minion on the spot. 'Patience,' he told himself. 'She will be your willing puppet soon enough… and then you will have your bloodbath. So just play along for a bit longer…'

"Very well…" he snorted and glared down at Sasuke. "Show me the way to the dungeon heart at once, imp!"

The imp bowed his head again… towards his mistress. Then he walked outside and the Reaper followed him. Kodachi sighed in relief. "Finally, that brute is gone. He might be a good fighter, but he definitely needs to learn that a Kuno's word is absolute. Also, he has no flair for romance. Now, to prepare for a night with my darling Ranma…"


Some time later… Ranma, Ukyo and Akane were making their way through one of the tunnels in Kodachi's dungeon. It was dirty, wet and only dimly lit with torches hanging from the walls.

"I'm really shocked no one tried to stop us from getting in," Ranma muttered. "This seems too easy, if you ask me."

"Maybe it's a trap," Ukyo assumed. "She's probably preparing her troops for an ambush."

"Would you two be quiet?" Akane whispered. While the other two were talking to each other, she was already going ahead, carefully inspecting the floor and the walls.

"Um, Akane?" Ranma spoke up. "What're you doing?"

"Searching for traps and secrets, obviously," Akane said in a hushed voice. "I've read a couple of books on the subject ever since I got the orb from Hiroshi. And I realized that I've started to pay more attention to small details that tell me when someone was somewhere. Little dirt trails… footprints… scattered leaves and other things."

"You can do that?" Ukyo was impressed. "Wow, looks like you really did become a true forest ranger, huh?"

"But this isn't the forest, it's just a simple corridor," Ranma assumed. "If there's something here, we can easily see it. Let's just hurry up and search for Nabiki…"

"Ranma, stop!" Akane hissed. She firmly put her arm in front of her fiance. For a moment, she felt the familiar urge to pull out her mallet in anger… but she managed to subdue that urge.

"Hey, what's the big idea?" Ranma groaned. "I told you, there's nothing there."

"If you would just listen to me for once in your life…" Akane said through gritted teeth. "Look over there and see what you almost ran into…" She took one of the torches from the wall and illuminated the path ahead.

At first, Ranma and Ukyo didn't see a thing. But then they realized that there was a thin wire stretched across the floor. "See that? It's a trap," she said. She reached into her pouch and took a small pebble from it. Aiming carefully, she threw the pebble onto the wire.

A barrage of arrows came shooting out of the left wall and pierced the wall to their right.

"See?" Akane said. "A hidden arrow trap. Had we just kept on walking carelessly, we would have triggered it. This is a dungeon… Kodachi's dungeon. We need to be very careful, her troops aren't the only danger in here."

And for once, Ranma actually was glad he listened to Akane. "I… I'll be more careful," he said. "But that… that was truly amazing, Akane. I would've never seen it myself."

Akane looked at him with joy. "R… really? You really mean it?"

"Yeah, of course," Ranma smiled. "Those ranger skills of yours are definitely very useful down here."

While Akane beamed at her fiance happily, Ukyo couldn't help but frown. While she agreed with Ranma that Akane's tracking skills were pretty useful, she instantly got jealous when he complimented her. But this wasn't the time and place to settle this, so she swallowed her jealousy for now and walked past the two. "Let's go," she said. "I'm smelling something ahead… wet leather and troll stench. Looks like a couple of Kodachi's goons are in the next room…"

Ranma cracked his knuckles. "Then let's be nice guests and say hello."

"This will be over soon, " Akane said, drawing her short sword. "Nabiki will have to wait just a little longer."


"It's getting really boring down here, don't you guys agree?" Derpy asked. "Oh, I know… let's play a game!" She grinned. "I know a fun one Pinkie Pie taught me. It's called '20 million questions'. You'll think of something and I'll try to guess it. Taro, you're first… Is it the ceiling? Is it the floor? Is it the iron bars?"

"Find someone else to play your silly games with," the minotaur grumbled.

"Oh, fine!" Derpy frowned. "You know what Pinkie would call you? A big party pooper! Oh well, I guess it's your turn now, Nabiki. What are you thinking about? Is it that wall? Is it that other wall? Is it that patch of mold? Oh, wait a minute… you can't actually tell me what it is, huh? My bad…"

Inwardly, Nabiki groaned. 'Ranma, Akane… please tell me you're here to get me out of here soon…'


Ranma ½ belongs to Rumiko Takahashi.

The Dryad (NPC) and everything Terraria belongs to Re-Logic.

Derpy Hooves and My little Pony belongs to Hasbro.

Wonder Woman belongs to DC Comics.

World of Warcraft belongs to Blizzard.

The Legend of Zelda belongs to Nintendo.

The Horned Reaper and Dungeon Keeper belong to Bullfrog Productions.

Argonians and The Elder Scrolls belong to Bethesda Game Studios.