Chapter 15: The Summoning
Cat received a blow from the Dragon and was knocked away. Although Cat's head rang from the strike, she immediately landed on her feet and ran at the Beast again. She was bruised and battered from head to toe and she had to heal a broken limb three times now, but she would never surrender. Fortunately, the Dragon also looked somewhat worse for the wear – there were patches of missing scales and the Creature had at least two broken ribs It was trying to repair. The Dragon was guarding that side trying to prevent Cat from puncturing a lung, putting It at a tactical disadvantage. One more attack and Cat would feign retreat to try and lead the Dragon into the next trap. If the Dragon stayed put, Cat would drop another tree on It.
Suddenly, bright blue flame exploded about the Dragon and It screamed in agony. Cat was blasted away by the brilliant fireball, but somehow landed whole and sound. However, the ground was shaking from the blast which knocked Cat down. The Dragon burned too brightly for Cat to look at it and the heat drove Cat back away from her Enemy. Screaming in tremendous pain, the Serpent thrashed about leveling trees in its agony, but the flames would not abate. Finally, the Dragon rolled off a stone ledge hidden by the foliage and into a small lake, extinguishing the flame and sending a ton of steam into the air. Cat was knocked back further by the rush of water and steam. The Dragon thrashed in the lake and finally climbed out, but it was critically burned – most of its white body now had large patches that were completely black and charred. Even in patches that were still white, the Dragon's scales had curled at the edges, peeling back away from the Dragon's skin. Its eyes were nearly puffed shut from the burns. It bespoke of the Creature's great power that it was alive at all. Its wings were permanently crippled and so were its legs, so it slithered off in pain into the Jungle, hiding from Cat. Cat wanted to pursue it, but something was wrong. Cat had to return to the World NOW.
The whole hospital building shook with the force of the blast. Back in the hospital room, Ryoga and Akari were literally thrown from their sleep. Kasumi stopped herself from falling, but many of the policemen were not so lucky – there were nine of them in the room. Ranma sat up on the bed and opened her eyes. The blue cat-eyes were still with her. She leaped to the floor, standing on two legs, and looked at the cops still blocking the door. "Move" she hissed at them, long teeth showing.
One of them swallowed hard. "We can't do that Ranma. We are under orders not to let you out."
Ranma studied the man for a second and then turned to look at the pillar of fire outside her window. She closed her eyes and raised her hands over her head. There was a blue flash from the girl and a blue shockwave of light erupted from Ranma, staggering everyone in the room, but otherwise leaving them unhurt. When Ranma opened her eyes again, they were blue human eyes and her teeth were normal sized. "I'll be right back," she told the officers in her normal voice and then vanished.
Several of the officers rushed forward as she vanished. One of the men near the window yelled, "No, don't leave the door!" But it was too late. They felt the breeze as Ranma shot over their heads, the girl appearing momentarily, and then was gone.
Ryoga looked up and cursed, and then he too vanished.
Toshio Kuno ran forward after the initial blast past. He saw Akane standing in her pillar of fire, despair and determination etched on her face. He couldn't understand how she could maintain the fire, but he had his suspicions and they scared him much more than the fire did. Maybe it wasn't too late; maybe he could hit her with a hose and knock her out. As he blew past the young men scattered about the plaza, he heard moaning from several of them. Despite everything they had put her through, they had not broken her – Akane Tendo was not a murderer.
He was about halfway across the plaza when Ranko shot out the hospital door. Immediately a whirlwind seemed to lift the pillar of fire, exposing an unhurt but tearful Akane, her eyes closed tightly. Ranko ran up to Akane, then grabbed and shook the blue-black haired girl. Akane opened her eyes and saw Ranko, then embraced the red-head fiercely. A new shockwave of blue light exploded out from the couple, knocking down the few who had managed get up. Kuno had instinctively hit the ground. Ranko and Akane were now on their knees, holding each other. Instead of a pillar of fire, they were now surrounded by a pillar of blue light that shot into the sky. The raw power emanating from that pillar staggered Kuno. "No, no, no…it's too much!" his mind yelled. Fear filled his system as he felt the first stirrings from the ground and knew an earthquake was starting. The city would be flattened!
Then Ryoga Hibiki was there. Kuno feared his appearance yet hoped for it – the process had been started and had to be finished or everything would fall. Ryoga ran into the blazing light and dropped to his knees, embracing the two girls. The pillar of light began twisting and rotating. The ground around the trio began to glow as well. Toshio knew that Ryoga was a student of Hideo Jouda, and likely an Earth Mage. Toshio felt the ground stop shaking. But, the power had to go somewhere, and Ryoga was feeding it into the pillar of light. The pillar began to rotate faster and faster and the trio all began to glow brightly – then became too bright to look at. Toshio felt the charge building in the atmosphere.
The blue pillar became white and the three teenagers were lost completely in the ball of light that emanated from them. Toshio stood up and pulled out a set of dark sunglasses. He sheltered his eyes against the light at the base of the pillar and studied the pillar itself. As he watched, three semi-transparent golden figures rose from the Trio's ball of light and floated about the pillar. The figures resembled two men and a woman. They stood about four meters tall and were very indistinct, but the sex was obvious. The shadows stepped into the pillar of light (as if stepping off an elevator) and knelt in a circle, each with their hands clasped in front of them. The three figures then leaned forward in their circle until their heads were touching, and held the pose. Toshio despaired as he knew who They were and knew that They were NOT the teenagers. Above the indistinct figures, a four-way scale balance slowly appeared within the pillar of light, badly out of balance towards one of the four cups. As Toshio watched, the Balance righted itself, and a Voice called out of the pillar, stunning everyone: "SO BE IT." The pillar lit up like a bolt of lightning, blinding all witnesses and knocking Kuno down again. When the flash cleared, there were three mortal teenagers slumped on the ground, half leaning on each other, where the pillar of light (Light?) had been. The plaza was absolutely still.
Rage filled Kuno. He had failed because he had been undone by his idiot nephew. Tatewaki had pushed Akane so deep into a mix of despair and determination that she had tapped into the Nexus directly. It would have destroyed her except she had been rescued by Ranma and Ryoga, but they had also been forced to extremes and unconsciously tapped into the Nexus as well. The three provided a clear channel to the heart of the Nexus, and with so much Power free, the Spirits and their Children of Fate were able to complete the Summoning. Fate would not be denied. Now the Storm would come, and there was nothing Toshio could do about it anymore except prepare for its arrival.
Briefly Toshio fantasized about killing Tatewaki, but that was useless. Kuno would just send the moron back to Hokkaido and lock him away for good. He, his sister, and his father would never set foot in Nerima again. Meanwhile, he had things to do. He got up and strolled towards the three downed teenagers as Akane's admirers just sat up in shock. He looked at the trio huddled together and then knelt down to check their pulses. All alive, just knocked out. Good.
Then he went over to where Nodoka Saotome lay stunned and checked her pulse. Part of him noticed that she was a beautiful woman, but he had no time for that nonsense now. At least she was also all right and was starting to come around. He helped her sit up then stood to look at the lowest level of the hospital. Amazingly, the glass wall had been cracked, but not shattered. He'd get a team to fix that immediately. They were going to need the building soon. He walked over to Sasuke and checked his pulse – also good. His ninja would have to stay here while the little man's charges all went north. Sasuke would now watch over the teenage trio instead. He supposed a lesser man would blame Sasuke for this outcome, but Kuno knew that wasn't fair. The little ninja had acted accordingly to orders precisely and obediently – it wasn't his fault that following the orders couldn't stop this.
Finally, Kuno looked over at Judge Sanu. Ryuu was helping the Judge sit up and Sanu was looking around in total bewilderment. Kuno walked slowly over to the two men. "Judge Sanu. Ryuu. Good afternoon," he said while taking out a cigarette and lighting it. "I suggest you go back to the apartment and pack. Neither of you is equipped to deal with Nerima. It will never bend to your will – it certainly hasn't bent to mine," he added while shaking out the match. "Go back to your safe logical world, and let me deal with the real one. While I'd love to say this is all your fault, that's not even close to the truth, but you certainly haven't helped."
Kuno turned away from the two as policemen began to flood into the plaza. Some of the men were from Ranma's room and immediately ran over to the teens. Others were coming in from the street. Imia and Ojima climbed out of an arriving squad car. Kuno walked back to Sasuke and picked the little man up. Ojima just stared at him. With a shrug at the inspector, Kuno just turned and walked away.
Back at the hotel, Kuno handed Sasuke off to his support staff. "Get him checked out, and then make sure he rests. Tell him I'm proud of him and I have some jobs as soon as he's ready – there are three teenagers that need guarding, possibly more. Get the Situation Team Captains in the main conference room in fifteen minutes."
"Yes, sir. Anything else?" a man asked.
"Yes…Make it known that there is a ten billion yen bounty on the head of the Amazon Henna, but the Amazon village is not to be touched. Otherwise I'll put that bounty on the head of anyone who destroys it. I'll pay a billion yen to anyone who destroys Henna's home, even if they don't kill her, but they better leave no stone unturned."
Two hours later, Kuno left the conference room and retired to his own room to review the new data flowing in from outside Nerima. As he entered his room, the door slammed shut behind him and a bright white light shone out from one corner of his the room. He looked at the source of the light and saw a well built male figure standing about 190 centimeters tall. The figure was dressed in a white gi tied with a black belt and had a bo staff carried over one shoulder. The face was more or less human, except for the white fangs showing in its mouth and the fox ears on top of the brown hair. The hair itself was in a pony-tail. Both the hands and feet, although human looking, were covered in thick brown fur. The brown fox tail, sized appropriately for the figure, completed the ensemble. "You!" Kuno yelled.
"Hail Toshio Kuno," the Entity said. "You get full points for trying to stop the inevitable, but you couldn't possibly win." He paused and then growled: "Now stay out of my way."
"Did you know who the Children were?" Kuno demanded.
"No. And I intend to kill Happosai when I catch him. They are my friends. I would have turned Heaven and Earth to stop their pain. As it is, I have much to do now to heal them. Call Nerima Hospital and tell them to get out of my way," it demanded in turn.
"Or what?" Kuno shot back.
"Or the Children die under doctors that can't possibly treat them. What do you think will happen to all of Tokyo, never mind Nerima, if the Spirits become Unbound? The Binding to the three mortals is the only thing holding back total destruction. Your call," the Kitsune dryly.
Kuno let go of his belligerence. "All right, you win. I'll make the phone call."
"Thank you," Ono said, and then vanished.
At the hospital, total chaos reigned. There were doctors, nurses, EMT's, firemen, and police officers all over the place. The official story Ojima put forth was that a gas main had exploded. Luckily no one was killed. The boys that had charged Akane were covered completely in first degree burns, about the intensity of sunburn. They were also somewhat bruised and battered, but nothing serious. However, they were in a world of hurt, something Ojima had very little sympathy for. Normally, he'd have them all arrested for sexual assault (now that he had camera evidence from the hospital – Ojima had immediate seized it before anyone could get to it), but after talking to many of them, he decided simple assault was more fitting. "Stupid, clueless jocks," Ojima thought. "Defeat a woman to gain the right to woo her. I can't even blame the Amazons for this nonsense. It apparently started before Shampoo arrived." He knew all of them would get probation since they were underage, and eventually the records would be sealed, which aggravated him a little. However, most of them were now bald, having had the hair (and most of their clothes) burned off of them. All of them were being yelled at by police officers and then by their horrified parents. The pain would go on for days too, as most of these idiots were not among the Gifted of Nerima – there would be no speed healing. Ojima smiled grimly at that thought.
Despite having been the closest one to Akane Tendo when the pillar of flame erupted, Nodoka Saotome was unhurt. The mother was staying with Ryoga, Ranma, and Akane. The three teenagers could not be separated from each other. Any attempt to move them to different rooms would cause moans of pain and anguish from all of them as they lay on their stretchers. Pulses would race and breathing would become labored. The doctors were baffled. One genius had insisted that this was just psychosomatic nonsense and tried to wheel the unconscious Akane away from Ranma. Akane had actually screamed and turned blue, starting to suffocate. Imia promptly decked the doctor and wheeled her back next to Ranma; Akane's breathing immediately became normal. Imia tried to offer his badge to Ojima, but the Inspector said he never saw anything. The Inspector then ordered seven men off duty, including Imia. The men took off their badges and immediately sat down, insisting that they were visiting the patients. The rest of the doctors took the hint and cleared out. Ando was the only doctor the off-duty cops allowed near the three.
Ojima walked to the front of the hospital and glanced outside through the cracked windows. Kuno (may the devil take him) had the "blast area" ripped up and a hole dug. The newspaper photographers were taking pictures for all they were worth. Kuno's men were also securing the broken glass sheets that made up the front of the hospital's first floor, so they could fix them one at a time properly.
Inside the main hospital reception area, Judge Kato was talking to all the parents of the idiot boys, and accepting bail checks on the spot. The judge had a clerk following him issuing summons and bail agreements. All nice and legal and the jail was not overflowing. The judge was taking the time to read each and every boy the riot act. "About bloody time," Ojima thought again.
The Inspector slammed his fist onto a nearby table – Tatewaki Kuno had gotten away. "Damn, damn, damn!" he whispered. All the boys swore Tatewaki Kuno had set this up, but when Ojima confronted Toshio Kuno, the elder had lied and said that Tatewaki was up north under medical supervision. Toshio had said that Kodachi was also there, and he was in town to take their father away north as well. Toshio claimed that he had finally persuaded the family to get help for the three. Ojima had people checking phones belonging to the idiots and pulled surveillance video from businesses surrounding the hospital but to no avail. There was not a single shred of evidence that the blasted boy was in the city. Indeed, there wasn't a common number in the phones either. "Bloody hell," he said to himself.
He sighed and turned to stare out at the outside plaza, trying to plan his next move. As he stood, a strange song started to move through the air. It seemed to come over the loudspeaker system, but no one was reacting to it. "Odd," he thought. "They usually don't play music on a hospital system like that." Actually, he was pretty sure that no one played music like that. It was a string instrumental. Ojima was sure he heard a harp, perhaps several. The fingerings rippled endlessly from one flowing phrase to the next where each was a little different than the one before it, but there were no repetitions, just endless progression. Ojima sight began to blur and he began to see threads connecting all the people in the lobby together. Some people had many threads, some only a few, but everyone had at least five.
Suddenly, a voice accompanied the music singing strongly, or at least Ojima thought it was singing – there were no words there that the Inspector recognized. The voice anticipated the endlessly flowing music perfectly, neither leading nor following. Despite the pleasant sound, there was something eldritch about the song which set the Inspector's nerves alight. As Ojima listened, he recognized the voice, and was not surprised when Doctor Tofu Ono walked through the front door carrying a bo staff over one shoulder. The doctor was wearing a white gi tied with a black belt, and sandals. The healer smiled at folks as he walked through the lobby, but otherwise kept moving.
One of the hospital administrators tried to block Tofu saying, "Now see here Tofu, this hospital has protocols and dress requirements…" That was as far as the official looking man got. Tofu soundlessly snapped his fingers and the man slumped against the wall, but did not fall. The doctor moved past him still singing. Ojima immediately followed the doctor.
They walked down to the large room where the three teenagers were sleeping. Ranma was resting between Akane and Ryoga, their stretchers having been pushed together. Akari held Ryoga's hand, and Kasumi held Akane's. Nodoka stood by Ranma's feet. Ando stood to one side with Imia, and the other six cops were against the far wall. Everyone straightened when Tofu entered and Ojima went to stand by Imia and Ando. Ono's voice deepened and he walked behind the stretchers until he stood by Ranma's head. Slowly, Ojima began to see more and more threads between the three teenagers. Then he began to see ropes and cables.
"What the hell is that?" Imia asked.
"You can see it?" Ojima quizzed.
"Of course I can. You mean you can't?" Imia shot back.
Ojima didn't answer him – it was obvious that everyone in the room could see the huge multi-threaded overflowing knot tying the three together. Gently, Ono used his staff to push the stretchers apart, and then began to probe the knot with the staff. The knot encompassed the teenagers completely. It was tough to follow where a thread started or ended, but Ono kept pushing and pulling with his staff. Finally a loop seemed to snap into Akane, and the girl twitched a little. Ono watched her for a second, and then nodded in satisfaction. He continued singing and probing the knot. About ten seconds later, a loop snapped into Ryoga causing the Lost Boy to twitch. Ono continued to do this for about fifteen minutes, freeing loops here and there. Finally, he pushed the stretchers back together and beckoned the eight policemen over. Using hand signals only (because he was still singing), he had the men lift Ranma up and pass Ryoga under Ranma, so Ryoga was now in the middle. The Doctor pushed the stretchers apart again and freed more loops. From then on, it became easier. Since the men could also see the knot, they instinctively knew what the Doc was trying to do, so when the Doc made a gesture, they carried through on what he wanted and moved the patients accordingly.
The Doc beckoned Ando over and handed him two short thick wooden wands. Ando began to use the wands to tease more of the knot apart. It was obvious that Tofu only wanted the loops that started and ended with the same person separated out from the knot. Strands between the three people were not the problem. This work continued on for three hours, with Tofu singing the whole time. Kasumi and Akari just stood and prayed, holding the hand of whatever patient was closest to them. Nodoka stood at the bottom of the middle stretcher, massaging the third patient's feet and lower legs.
Finally, Tofu nodded with satisfaction and had everyone step back. With mischief showing on his face, the doctor made a sharp change to the tune and Akari gasped as threads (ropes?) appeared between her and Ryoga. He gestured to Akari to move closer to Ryoga (she was by Akane at the time). When she was next to the Lost Boy, Tofu touched his staff to the thickest rope, which was red. A power chord sounded, filling the whole room, startling everyone. Ryoga woke up with the sound and gazed at Akari. Tears flowed down Akari's cheeks as Ryoga sat up and hugged her, forcing Tofu to remove the staff. The note cut off.
The Doc looked at the many strands between Akane and Ranma, and picked the biggest again. As he touched the rope (again red), another power chord filled the room, waking Akane and Ranma. The two girls gazed at each other and then embraced fiercely. Tofu withdrew his staff and gestured for everyone to leave the two couples alone. Kasumi, Nodoka, Tofu and the men all filed out of the room wordlessly. Once he closed the door, Doctor Ono stopped singing and sank to the floor in exhaustion. Wordlessly, Dr. Ando bent down and handed Tofu a bottle of water, then squeezed Ono's shoulder. Kasumi knelt down besides her fiancé and hugged him. Nodoka, the Inspector, and the rest of cops just began applauding. "I've never worked with magic before," Ando said after a bit once the applause had died down.
Tofu finished drinking and said wanly, "It probably won't be the last time either if you stay with me." The doctor closed his eyes for a minute and seemed to gather himself. Tofu then opened his eyes and tapped Ando lightly on the head with his staff. "You did good, Isamu. Real good. And I don't mean just in there."
Ando cracked a smile: "You owe the staff dinner, Boss."
"Done," Tofu said. He looked at the Inspector and the other policemen. "You'll keep this quiet?" Tofu asked.
"As long as you keep treating police officers…" Ojima told him. The others nodded.
"Done, again." Tofu said. He gave a Kasumi a squeeze and then stood up using the staff and her support. He leaned back against the wall. "O.K. Those three have to be kept together for a while. I sorted out the major Chi tangles, but there are still minor Chi tangles. Those will sort themselves out as the three talk among themselves. Akari needs to stay with Ryoga, too. She is a major support for him. Akane and Ranma will support each other. They all have to stay here for a few days. On Tuesday, I should be able to exorcise the last of that magic out of the clinic. On Wednesday, we can move the four of them there. Ranma's still stuck in his female form until the potion finally fails – probably a week or two. Where's Genma?"
"I have him," Ojima said.
"Keep him then," Tofu responded. "When the potion fails, there will be more repercussions. If we have Genma locked down, there will be fewer." Ojima nodded.
"What's next?" Nodoka asked.
"Honestly, I don't know, Nodoka," Tofu admitted. "We clean up and move on, I guess. There's a lot to clean up. First thing is to regroup. Nabiki and company are at the dojo. Shizuka and Hideo are guarding them." He stopped and seemed lost in thought for a moment. No one felt like rushing him.
Finally he said: "Ando, please stay with them until 9PM. I'll relieve you then. I need to make a few phone calls. Nodoka and Kasumi should come with me for now."
"Bull," Nodoka said. "I'm staying here."
Tofu just shrugged. "That's a mother's prerogative." He looked at Ojima. "What do you have to do?"
The inspector thought for a second. "I need to station two men at the door. Ranma's still under court protection," he said. His men started to speak up, but he shot them down: "No, you lot are going home to your families. I'm pulling two from the night shift. None of the kids will cross them anyway. Once I have the duty roster set, I'm hitting the sack too. I'll be back in the morning to check on things before I start the day."
A/N: This is where we will pause for a mood and tempo change. Before I wrap up this section, let's check on Henna...
A/N: 04/15/14: Some edits suggested by Saggit included. Improved one technical aspect relating to music and matched a characterization better (sometimes, the right word(s) makes all the difference).