Chapter 12: The Battle Royale

"Slow down!" one of the assassins called to the others using a ton of curse words. "This hurts!"

"No crap," his compatriot said. "But if we don't want it to become permanent, we need to hurry. We have to find that hidden stairwell before those idiots find us. This place is starting to literally fade - look at the walls!" The colors around them seem to be thinning towards black and white.

"We're walking into a trap!" the third insisted.

"No, we're already in a trap," the second replied. "Not only that, we're the bait. Move it!"


Othan closed his flip-phone. He studied the phone for a moment and admitted to himself that Jakaro equipped his teams well.

"Well? What did Lord Jakaro say?" Pauls asked.

"It's begun. With the newlyweds gone, the Power is starting to fade. The Kitsunes are using what power they have left to try and control the process. Call everyone up here. We sweep and secure each floor as soon as the shifting stabilizes. We force everyone into the stairwell down to the third floor," Othan answered.

"How do we know when the shifting stabilizes?" Pauls pressed. As soon as he asked, all the color leeched out of their surroundings. "Never mind."

Othan grinned. "Let's do this."


Sensei Miyazaki opened the stairwell door and heard voices speaking from somewhere below. He urged his companions to be silent. After a few moments of listening, he nodded to himself and started forward. "Are you sure?" one of his companions, a fellow Martial Artist, asked.

"The ninjas and the mercs have all been speaking Japanese. This is English - and they are talking about locating their targets. If it's not the assassins, they know where the assassins are."

"Good enough," someone behind him said. The sensei nodded and led his five companions into the stairwell.

As they went down the stairs, none of them noticed a large fox watching them from an upper platform.


Lord Jakaro answered his phone: "Yes, Inspector Ojima?"

"I need an Ace in my pocket. Is there some way you can Shield Ranma so others can't detect him magically? Like Akane?" Ojima asked.

"That could be hazardous to someone's health – like everyone's," the Kitsune Lord stated gravely. "She'll rip the place apart if she thinks someone is hiding him from her. She's young, but the Power within her is enormous."

"I need Ranma alone for five minutes. I can't have her interfering," the Inspector explained.

"O.K…that I can arrange. I can create something general enough where she doesn't think Ranma was attacked. But I warn you, your own Sight will be disabled temporarily too," Jakaro told him.

"I'll live," Ojima said sardonically.


Noa raced along the hallway pursuing the glimpse she had caught of one of the assassins. She turned a corner and ducked as the man tried to strike her with a nunchuck. She launched a kick that knocked him through a nearby wall and into a void beyond it. She checked her impulse to immediately follow and took out a flashlight instead. She quickly pulled back as three objects whizzed out of the darkness and struck the wall behind her. One of them bounced off the wall and struck her on her back. She looked at the item as it rolled on the floor.

"A baseball? An assassin threw a baseball at me? What the hell?" she thought. She pulled out one of her knives and looked at it. Since it seemed normal, she tossed a flare into the darkness and waited for the ignition flash to pass. Then she popped up and threw the knife with deadly aim. The assassin tried to dodge and almost succeeded - the knife struck his arm. She heard him curse and then saw him run out a door. Noa leaped into the lit room, but a suspicion slowed her. She snatched up her knife and looked at it. The blade had turned to rubber, just like a joke shop knife.

She studied the blade and pondered the implications. "The Kitsunes will not allow death on their property," she mused. "It's possible that they cannot - it may be an enforcement of a Truce in honor of the wedding. So be it. It means he won't be allowed to kill Ranma or anyone else either. So, I'll catch the assassin and drag him out alive." She took out a throw net and ran out the door, no longer worried about knives or bullets.


Jacobs felt the tether grab his foot and trip him. He went down with a curse as one of Kuno's ninjas leaped over him. "You should have stayed at the compound's gates and waited for us to give you scraps!" the ninja sneered as he turned a corner.

Jacobs growled: "That's it! Now I know why Ojima hates Kuno's men. Once I put those assassins to sleep, I'm gonna bash that smart mouth's teeth in." He got up and tore after the ninja.


Akihiro Kodo felt he was a young up-and-coming Martial Artist. He had worked hard and risen in the rankings so that even Ranma Ono would treat him seriously on the dojo floor. He had yet to come close to defeating Ranma, but even Ranma had told him once that he had done well. "And no assassin is going to take Ranma Ono from me - not until I beat Ranma and have Ranma demand a rematch from me!" he swore.

Miwa Abe was a young up-and-coming Kunoichi from the House of the Fallen Star. Mistress Hoshi had asked her to come along on this little adventure, promising Miwa that there would be an excellent chance to exercise her skills. So far, the little Kunoichi was disappointed; the very walls seemed to shift and change to keep everyone at a distance.

However, things were changing. The floor layouts were starting to form predictable patterns and some of the stranger aspects - like exploding mayonnaise jars - were no longer evident. The bright colors on the walls were fading into more normal patterns. Once or twice, she even managed to get close to a rival and end up in a quick tussle. A kick to the jaw here, a kidney punch there - it was definitely more interesting.

Now she saw a young man of about twenty wearing a red gi and tracking something in the hallway ahead. "Young fool," she thought, even though she was about the same age. "Any tracks here are obvious fakes." Miwa was going to use a kick to the kidneys and blow past him. However, the young man turned to face her, somehow detecting her, and she was instantly smitten with him. So smitten in fact that she chose not to disable him, but stopped and pulled back her hood instead, revealing a beautiful face and causing the young man to stand there with his mouth hanging open.

She beamed and then bounced along the hallway to pop up in front of him. Despite the fact she was only two-thirds his height, she leaped up, grabbed him around the neck and gave him a hearty kiss that bowled the young man over. She followed him to the floor and continued to kiss him until his eyes glazed over. Miwa broke the kiss, looked him in the eyes, and proclaimed: "Now that was definitely worth it! Bye!" With that, she ran off down the hall.

Akihiro slowly sat up after she was gone, shaking his head. "O.K., I agree. That was definitely worth it…"

He might have sat there stunned a little longer if it wasn't for the mercenary who doped slapped him as the big man ran by. "Idiot!" the merc shouted back at him. "Never let a Skirt wipe your brains like that!"

Akihiro shook his head again and got up. "Jackass," he thought. "Who are you to tell me anything?!" With that, he ran after the merc.


Down in the ballroom, Ranma surveyed the room, developing an uncomfortable feeling in the pit of his stomach. Most of the room was filled with two groups: Tofu's mercenary friends (at least those not on duty), and friends of the married couple who just happen to be Nerima Martial Artists. Those friends and family not gifted with Strength and Stamina (but most likely gifted with Common Sense) had said their goodbyes and left. There were assorted Kitsunes here and there going through the motions of leaving, but they didn't seem to be in a hurry. Most of the wedding party was hanging very close to the remaining Tendo clan and Ranma, except for Daran who was talking with Lady Hoshi.

Nabiki picked up on Ranma's uneasiness. "Our Honor Guard has surrounded us," she noted quietly. He just nodded.

Akane's eyes were wary. "I wonder if it's because of the assassins that got away."

"Not sure," Ranma said tersely. Before he could say anything else, Lord Jakaro approached them with Tomo in tow, and the three of them straightened up to receive him.

"I must be on my way now," he said in a warm and soft tone. "Unfortunately, with your elder siblings' departure, it is getting harder and harder to maintain the Spell that holds this House here. I must leave to make sure the Spell shuts down in an orderly fashion. I've ordered the bar shut, so the rest of the Guests will quickly get the hint and leave. The spare food has already been sent to Mrs. Ono's. The cleaning crew will take care of the rest. You should really head home."

Akane shook her head and replied: "It would be very impolite to leave before our Guests."

"True," Lord Jakaro acknowledged with a sigh. "Still, I think many of the remaining Guests really have other things on their minds - you may want to get the hell out of here. There are scores they want settled. They don't necessarily involve you. If they do, you can settle them another day - not on this wedding day."

Ranma nodded in acknowledgement, but answered: "We still need to stay until the wedding party has ended."

"I'll stay with them, Master," Tomo said. To their credit, neither Nabiki nor the teenage couple rolled their eyes.

"You may want to stay out of the way," Jakaro said firmly. "You don't really know who's settling scores tonight. You may find yourself on the receiving end of a payback you didn't expect," he added cryptically.

"I can still help them," Tomo half-pleaded.

"On your head be it," Jakaro said as he tapped Tomo's noggin lightly. With that, he said his formal goodbyes and vanished.


Ume heard running from one of the two staircases and hid behind an opaque glass divider. "Sounds like a pursuit," she thought. She heard a body hit the turn in the staircase hard and then bounce away. The door from the bathroom burst open and a man fitting the description of one of the assassins ran out into a parlor area in front of the maze. Ume pulled out a knife, leaped up on top of the divider, and launched herself at him in one smooth motion. The assassin turned as he saw her and lashed out with his fist, ignoring the knife entirely. His fist caught Ume in the chin even as her knife stuck him in the chest. He staggered back even as she reeled from the punch. Amazingly, he kicked her in the stomach dropping her to the floor.

Just then, Noa burst out the bathroom door. "Weapons don't work here," she shouted as she covered half the distance to the still standing assassin. Behind her, one of the parlor walls exploded as the Dojo Destroyer also failed to take the hidden stair's turn, causing everyone to pause.

The moon-faced giant staggered out into the open area and then re-oriented on the assassin and the two women. "He's mine!" Dojo roared.

"Screw this!" the assassin yelled as he ran off into the maze.


Ciren stood with Mausu and Olaf keeping half-an-eye on Ranma as he and the two Tendo women waited for the remaining mercenaries and Martial Artists to notice that it was time to go home. Suddenly, Yul suddenly stood up and gave a fox warning call. Every Kitsune in the room vanished, leaving the Humans very confused. Ciren looked up at the ceiling as the noise started: somewhere above them, there was a series of tremendous crashes and shattering sounds. Shortly thereafter, Olaf's phone started ringing. "Yo!" the giant said as he answered his phone. Mausu's and Ciren's phones rang before they could eavesdrop any further.

"Ciren," she answered.

"It's Jacobs," a male voice replied. "We got an issue. Any chance you can get Ranma out of there?"

"Dude, when it comes right down to it, he's Japanese. Courtesy compels him to stay put," she told him. Other phones were starting to ring among the remaining guests.

"Feck. There's a battle royale happening on the third floor. We got ninja, Kunoichi, and every Martial Artist not invited to the wedding going at each other - and us. Somewhere in this mess is at least one assassin," Jacobs said.

Ciren cursed and then noticed the "free" mercenaries and the Martial Artists in the room studying each other. "Oh hell," she mumbled as she finally realized what was going on. "I'll see you a battle royale and raise you a Mexican standoff. Hanson's team and Burger's team haven't left yet. Neither have the Martial Artists Tofu and Kasumi invited to the wedding. Lady Hoshi's in the room too - I'll bet she has others here. Kuno's got men here too."

"We need Ranma to leave," Jacobs hissed. "The assassin's coming for him."

"You don't understand! He can't!" Ciren insisted. "He's Tofu's official brother. He's obligated to stay until the last guest leaves. It's family dishonor if he doesn't."

"What about the Chinese lad?" Jacobs asked. "Isn't he older? Couldn't he do the job?"

"Ranma is an acknowledged Master. Mousse isn't," Ciren explained. "With Tofu and the head of the Ono clan gone, it's Ranma's obligation to close things out. Nabiki is on the hook too as the eldest Tendo daughter - Soun's drunk off his ass."

"Crap - let me call Jakaro!" With that, Jacobs hung up.

Ciren sighed as she closed her phone. Akane came over then. "Ciren," the young woman whispered. "Any way we can get them…" she nodded at the remaining guests. "…to go home?"

Ciren was about to answer when her phone went off again. She looked at it with a puzzled expression - Ojima was calling her. "Don't go anywhere Akane, but I have to take this," Ciren told her. Akane nodded and Ciren answered her phone. "Ojima? Where are you?"

"I need a big favor, Ciren - a really big favor," the inspector replied. "One that may endanger life and limb."

"What's wrong?" she pressed.

"I need you to get Akane away from Ranma," he stated gravely.

"What? Why?" she asked, glad Akane was focused on the unwanted guests.

"We need Ranma out of there. His presence is stopping the House from leaving. We need to end this before real damage is done and there's only one way that he'll allow that," Ojima answered.

"What's that?" she asked.

He told her.

"Are you absolutely mental?!" she hissed.

"You have a better idea? And you better hurry - Jakaro found up what I'm up to and wants to coordinate things," Ojima said.

"But…." Ciren started and then stopped. "I have an idea," she said slowly. After a pause, she added: "Give me five minutes to get in place," she said.

"Move fast," Ojima urged and then said 'goodbye'.


Akane scanned the ballroom. There was no way to mistake the glares going back and forth. "Each wants the other to leave," she thought. "And there's ninja waiting in the shadows. I can feel the fighting somewhere in this building. This has something to do with this morning. People are waiting for some call to action…"

"Akane," Ciren said, cutting into the young woman's thoughts. "Let's go find Daran and ask him to shutdown the music. We're also going to find the lights and start turning them down. Enough's enough."

"But I need to stay…" Akane started.

"No, Ranma and Nabiki need to stay," Ciren interrupted her again. "You and Mousse have the freedom to move. Let's get him involved too. Go tell Ranma."

Akane wasn't sure about this, but something had to be done. "Maybe it will convince them to wait outside," she thought. She walked over to Ranma and told him Ciren's plan.

"I'm tired and I want to go home," he told her looking a little frustrated. "Give it a shot. If nothing else, the locals will start to get very uncomfortable."

She nodded and joined Ciren who was talking to Mousse. The Chinese man was looking very skeptical. "What have we got to lose?" Ciren asked persuasively.

"The mind-boggles," he answered. "But I'm tired of waiting," he added echoing Ranma. "If nothing else, it may force those two groups to get on with it. Let's go."


Daran noticed the thumping and banging from upstairs was getting louder, even out by the bar. Lady Hoshi was also well aware, but continued to act as if nothing was odd except for the occasional wince at a particularly loud "Boom". He was about to call her on it when Ciren, Akane, and Mousse came over with Tomo following curiously. The trio suggested he pack up the sound system.

"It's time," he agreed. "Besides, I'd like to protect my equipment - that stuff is good quality." As he started back toward the open doors of the ballroom, a buzzer began ringing from his jacket pocket. Confused, he pulled out the small object; it was a small flat square about six centimeters on each side and about ½ a centimeter thick.

"What's that?" Lady Hoshi asked curiously.

"It's a spell detector," he answered shortly. "It buzzes in response to magic…" he had to stop as the center of the ballroom ceiling gave way in a loud explosion of bright light, spilling combatants onto the ballroom floor. "Oh crap," he thought as the doorway to the ballroom became blocked by debris.

The shockwave hit Akane. Her head rang with the noise of it, blinding her other senses, and causing her to stagger. Vaguely, she was aware that Ciren was also stumbling. Strong hands reached out to steady her and she found her center again. She looked to see a Kunoichi woman holding her. As the female ninja saw Akane straighten up, she released Akane and then winked at her. The Kunoichi then ran off down the hallway since the ballroom door was blocked.

Tomo steadied Ciren who was still holding her head. "Beggar!" the woman exclaimed. "That hurt! I'm all Blocked."

"What's wrong?" Lady Hoshi demanded.

"That explosion was magical," Daran explained looking at the blocked doorway. "Anyone with the Sight just got blinded."


Ranma watched in disbelief as people broke through from the ceiling. The first wave was at least twenty people tumbling over ten meters to the floor. They barely even noticed as they were fighting even as they fell. The ninja and Kunoichi were self-evident by their fighting attire. Ranma personally knew many of the Martial Artists. There was even a mercenary Ranma knew as part of Othan's team. They all seem to be fighting over one man who was tossed back and forth among them like a trussed heifer. "Got to be an assassin," Ranma thought. "If the others down here, figure it out…"

Too late. The mercenaries and Martial Artists already in the room jumped up to join their comrades. Not only that, more fighters were leaping down from the hole in the ceiling to join the rapidly growing fight. Others were racing in through the doors not blocked by the explosion. As Ranma watched, one unknown man in particular leaped down. He was dressed in black combat fatigues, which was markedly different from Othan's team. At least a dozen people, a mix of the fighters already in play, were following him. The man looked wildly about the crowd as he hit the floor and ran. He spied Ranma and ran straight at him with a knife in his hand.

"Sorry, kid! But you're my ticket out of this mess!" the assassin said as he leapt at Ranma, knife raised.

Ranma easily disarmed him and took the knife away. The blade was sagging as if made of rubber. "What the hell?!" Ranma demanded as he twisted his attacker's arm behind the man's back and clamped an arm around the assassin's neck.

"You're about to find out, kid! That's why I apologized," his captive told him.

"He's mine!" a Kunoichi screamed at Ranma. The pigtailed Martial Artist remembered seeing her before at the House of the Falling Star. She dived at Ranma and he was force to let go of the assassin.

"No, he's mine!" Akihiro Kodo yelled out as he tackled the freed prisoner.

"Kodo! Wait a minute!" Ranma tried to shout, only to be drowned out by the shouts of other pursuers. Meanwhile Ranma had to block the Kunoichi again as she realized who she was fighting. Her eyes burned at the chance to face Ranma Ono. "Damn it!" Ranma swore. He needed to concentrate on the assassin, not get involved in a rivalry. Then Mausu was there. He tapped the Kunoichi behind the ear and knocked her out, allowing Ranma to try to find the assassin again. Unfortunately, the man seemed to be at the bottom of a pile-on.

Olaf caught another rival - a martial artist this time - running at Ranma and tossed him back into the crowd. "Now's not the time to be popular, lad!" Olaf mock-scolded.

"Yeah, I'll work on that," Ranma shot back sarcastically.

Off to the side, he heard a shout: "HAPPO FIVE-YEN SATSU"

About a dozen fighters floated to the ground before an adult Hinako.

"Hinako!" Ranma shouted. "Get Soun outside!" She nodded and easily picked up the drunkard. Ranma turned to Mausu: "Guard her! She's not a fighter!" Mausu rolled his eyes and threw a thumb gesture at the downed men, but went to Hinako's side anyway. Ranma took time to slam another Martial Artist away. Olaf blocked another Kunoichi. Nabiki had placed herself so she had Ranma and Olaf between her and the free-for-all. "Olaf! Just block for Nabiki! I've got to get that assassin." Olaf shook his head in exasperation as Ranma ran at the pile of people. The pig-tailed martial artist tossed people aside trying to find the bottom of the pile. When he succeeded, he found no one there. "What the hell?" he wondered aloud.

"It's Ranma!" another Kunoichi shouted. "Get him and take him back to the House! We can keep him safe there!"

"I don't need to be kept…" Ranma started only to be cut off.

"No! He belongs with us!" the Dojo Destroyer shouted as he dived at Ranma.

"Ah, come on! Hold up!" Ranma shouted as he leaped aside. He tried to invoke the Umisen-ken, but people were bumping into him and breaking it. "Damn it!" he swore as he had to jump over more people. Very quickly, he was moving and dodging at high speed. He had a vague goal of trying to locate the trussed assassin, but there were too many people fighting back and forth. His best guess was there were about two hundred ninjas, mercenaries, Kunoichis, and Martial Artists most of whom he knew, but, even so, it was hard to keep track of who was where.

Suddenly, a shout of "BANZAI!" cut through the room. Ranma turned to see about seventy cops wearing riot gear and carrying plexiglass shields and short wooden batons charging into the ballroom. At their head was Inspector Ojima carrying a "skull and crossbones" flag.

The thought "Oh gods…" flitted through Ranma's mind. The effect on the rest of the ballroom fighters was electric though. Ojima's men had captured everyone's attention, stopping the fighting immediately. The policemen were using their shields to push back the crowd, shoving everyone out of their way. They held their batons at the ready, but the short weapons were unusable as no one tried to get around the shields. The number one unspoken rule of Nerima kicked in: No one attacks a police officer.

Ranma stood stunned as Kunoichi, ninjas, mercenaries, and Martial Artists began to flee the ballroom. He watched as Sergeant Imia pushed his way over to him and seized Ranma by the upper arm. In a huge voice, Imia boomed out: "You're under arrest, Ranma Ono, for disturbing the peace!"


A/N: We'll wrap this up next week. See you then!