Haigeki

by Xylix

His friends kidnapped by magical girls, Ranma is pushed beyond his limits to retrieve them.

2. Dusk

Author's Forward – There were a few questions about my one chapter every two months release schedule. Sorry, but I'm sticking to it. The two months release rate was chosen because it was a time period I felt I could keep up with. I will reconsider this stance when the last chapter is in draft state, but not a minute sooner.

Author's Warning - This story is Ranma-centric but most interaction is between Ranma and original characters. There is also a moderate crossover (and several minor ones), but I don't consider the crossover important enough to put this story in the crossover section.

Beta reader: obsidian_fox

-oOo-

Hikaru threw the van into a hard right. The tires screamed in brief protest before the vehicle began to roll. As the insides tossed about themselves I flew out the back doors of the van, riding Tuxedo's coattails. I escaped not a second too soon because just as I jumped into the air a lance of light appeared beneath me, ripping clean through the tumbling van.

Ka-BOOM!

-oOo-

Chapter 2: Dusk

-oOo-

The van tumbled end over end, and torn hunks of metal flew across the street. The gas tank ignited, exploding into a rather neat fireball. One of the van's tires came loose. The flaming rubber bounced high and then vanished behind the smoke of the burning vehicle.

I was glad to see that Hikaru and Fumio had made it out. The two wasted no timing, diving for separate alleys, all the while keeping their profiles low. Chiba, or Tuxedo as I think of him, was busy landing on the road next to me. I didn't need him to tell me to seek cover. The newest magical girl made that quite apparent when she blindly fired multiple laser pulses through the smoke and debris.

"Get to the roofs," Tuxedo advised.

Without hesitation, Tuxedo jumped to the top of the warehouse next to us, rising two stories in a single bound. I followed reluctantly. The roofs were a double edged sword. In this part of Tokyo, every building was roughly the same height. That meant there was nothing to break my line of sight. In fact, I could spot the dark shadows of Hikaru and Fumio fleeing in their own directions.

I wasted no time making my worry apparent. "We're really exposed up here, ya know."

Tuxedo glanced at me. "Michiko cannot jump to this height."

That made me pause. "Really?"

Tuxedo's eyes flashed toward me, and then his hand whipped out sending a trio of roses streaking through the air. A pair of silver dishes, about twenty meters distant, swiveled around the attacks. Even as the disks dodged a terrible glow grew at their tips. I didn't need to guess what that meant, and I figured that now would be a great time to start moving. My instinct was confirmed when a beam of light pierced my afterimage and dug a shallow trench in the rooftop.

"I'll deal with them. You keep running," Tuxedo said.

I shook my head, and danced out of the way of a few more strikes. "I can handle myself."

It was a good thing the mini-UFOs were bad at adjusting their aim, because if they could keep up with my movements I would have been down after the first shot. I'm fast, but I'm not faster than light. As it was, I found myself facing a number of close calls.

Worse, the disks retreated into the air the moment I tried to chase them down. I could leap up after them, but even thinking about it gave me a bad feeling. For all that the Saotome branch of the Musabetsu Kakuto Ryu declared itself to be an aerial art, I couldn't fly. That meant my maneuverability once off the ground was limited. That wasn't a disadvantage I'd be wise to impose on myself when my only defense was to dodge the enemy's aim.

"Retreat," Tuxedo repeated. "You lack the necessary long range attacks."

I winced, and angrily shot a blast of ki at the closest disk. The range was terrible, and I didn't for a second believe the attack would actually hit. That probably explained why the bolt was a pathetic thing the size of a small bird. I scanned about for something to throw, but the roof was irritatingly devoid of weapons of opportunity.

"Fine," I relented. "We'll meet up later then."

With one last look back, I dashed away from the tuxedo wearing warrior. Tuxedo didn't seem to have much problem dodging the UFOs' attacks, and his cane was more than capable of deflecting beams of light. I'm not sure exactly how that worked, but from the way the man's aura was flowing, he had something similar to magical girl powers on his side.

I kept my eyes on the disks for a few minutes longer, until they vanished into the distance. I had to duck once when I saw a red corvette. Thankfully, magical girls don't seem to have any special senses, because 'Michiko' the silver-suited beach babe didn't so much as bat an eyelash at me when she shot by.

I traveled for about half-an-hour without further incident before it really occurred to me that I had no way of catching up to my earlier saviors. Left at loose ends, I amused myself by roof hopping across the increasingly large buildings of down-town Tokyo. There's a real thrill when jumping across six lanes of road ten stories below. Though, I had to admit that I would quickly find the constant climbing annoying if I made a habit of traveling by roof in this part of the city. The stupid civil engineers apparently didn't have the decency of requiring all the sky scrapers to be the same size. Yeesh. Making life hard on martial artists. What were they thinking?

I didn't waste all my time having fun. I thought, and I planned. How would I attack a magical girl? The weaker ones I figured I had solved, but Michiko's disks brought up a new problem. What would I do in a ranged fight? Then, of course, were girls like Akina who had non-negligible spiritual strength.

Most of my standard techniques didn't work. Hiryu shoten ha was pretty much out: megami no ooi wasn't the kind of technique that led to hot auras, and four of the five magical girls I'd run into so far preferred ranged combat.

Now, moko takabisha was actually pretty useful against magical girls. The attack was ranged, and had an intense ki presence that distorted the protective aura of my opponents. Unfortunately, as ki attacks went, the moko takabisha was terrible. Confidence was something I only had when fighting enemies at or below my level, and even that drained when a battle turned against me.

The other end of the spectrum was even worse. I would never have the emotional nature or the mindset to use shi shi hokodan, even though it was a much better technique. It took me several days trying to master the shi shi hokodan before I realized it, but I actually was a pretty happy guy, and that was despite the fact it would be practically impossible for my life to be any more screwed up.

That left me with theories and dregs. Pop's favorite fall backs - the crouch of the wild tiger, the howl of the demon dog, and the Saotome final attack - were barely worth mentioning. Following right behind was my old, experimental 'wandering spirit' ki-blast. I liked that technique. I never could make it battle ready though. Pity, because it suited me even better than the moko takabisha.

The real points of potential were the yamasenken, the umisenken, and my faded memories of Herb's ki manipulation. The yamasenken I'd never trained in, but my understanding was deep enough to duplicate the techniques given sufficient time. The umisenken I had more experience with, but while it was the stronger school, it lacked offensive ki techniques. Herb's magic, and ki wielded at his level of mastery deserved that title, was beyond me.

I decided a place to start: the dokuja tanketsu sho. The dokuja tanketsu sho was one of the yamasenken's deadlier attacks and involved coating the hand in ki to give it increased penetrating power. I could play with that, reduce the destructive potential while increasing the spiritual aspects. I pondered some theories and spent half an hour trying to layer my hands in thick auras. Once I managed to do that I moved onto the next part of my training.

Climbing.

Specifically, I picked the tallest building I could find and scaled it. Not the normal way, either. Instead, I repeatedly gathered my ki around my hands and drove them into the concrete exterior of the tower. It wasn't the nicest thing to do, and I doubt the civil authorities of Tokyo were going to send me letters of appreciation, but I needed something nice and strong to practice on. It was simple, really, there were big buildings here but no big boulders, so I trained with big buildings.

Certainly my choice had nothing to do with the fact that I wanted to climb a skyscraper. Nope. That didn't effect my decision at all.

I rationalized the remaining guilt away by reminding myself of Furinkan. Yuka, bleeding on the floor. That boy, pinned beneath concrete. If my training let me stop something like that, even once, I would more than cover my civil dues.

Step by step, hand thrust by hand thrust, I ascended. After about twenty stories I began training my feet as well. With short kicks my toes penetrated man made rock, giving me increased grip and accelerating my progress. Even with that the going was slow. It took another half hour to reach the top of the skyscraper, by which time I was feeling pretty comfortable with the technique.

So, instead of rushing off for more training, I relaxed and enjoyed the view from my enormous height. I gazed across the city, and amused myself by staring down at the little cars far below. There was something intriguing about being so high. From here a fall could cause me injury, a rarity even when I was roof hopping. If I plunged here, the velocity of my fall would be enough to crack bone, but, like a two story drop for a normal mortal, only by landing horribly wrong could the fall prove fatal.

Boredom found me laying on my back, staring up at the great sea of blue. As my worries slipped away, the most serious of my problems hit me. It wasn't my inability to defeat magical girls. No. It was that I didn't have a clue where they had taken Akane and Ukyou. For that matter, why did they want us in the first place? Recruitment is what Lilac said and Akina confirmed.

'Recruitment' was what they had intended for me, as well.

Recruitment for what?

In the group that assaulted Furinkan High there hadn't been a single non-magical girl. So, why would they want Ukyou, Akane, and myself? If my theory of corrupted priest techniques held water, it was possible for the three of us to transform ourselves into magical girls. Not that I'd willingly do such a thing, but for a magical girl group, I supposed that was enough reason for interest. Still, why bother? Surely there were actual magical girls to recruit.

I strained my brain and tried to remember what I knew about magical girls, and realized I didn't know anything. I'd heard mentions about magical girls from my classmates and occasionally they made the evening news, but it wasn't something I paid attention to.

And even if Akina's crew was interested in Akane and Ukyou for their potential, why bother recruiting the unwilling?

Another question followed that, how many girls were working for the Pretty Princess Institute, as Akina had named it? I'd run into five magical girls so far, and I got the distinct impression that I haven't seen anywhere close to the complete set. If the PPI truly was an institute, a few dozen girls wouldn't be out of line. How many of those had been forcefully recruited? Who else was on their shopping list? For that matter, exactly how many girls were hunting me, specifically?

Questions without answers. The only thing I knew was how much I didn't know.

If the Pretty Princess Institute was grabbing people off the street, there were others I needed to worry about. Shampoo was the most obvious candidate. But, if I was willing to give enough leeway even Ryouga, Mousse, and Pop could be at risk. I didn't see why a magical girl group would be interested in guys, but I had seen stranger things. I considered each in turn. Pop I didn't need to worry about - my old man could survive a nuclear holocaust. Ryouga was too dumb to win against Carrotcake, but he was also too lost for anyone to have a prayer of finding him. Shampoo?

Hah! If only I'd be so lucky. If the Pretty Princess Institute grabbed Shampoo I would have the old ghoul on my side. That kind of firepower was a game changer. Same rules applied to Mousse, though I wasn't sure how much of the Cologne's protection that boy actually had.

Not that it mattered much. Even if others were at risk, what was I going to do about it?

Which led to the most important question, what could I do? I could swing back by Furinkan and get grabbed by my hunters, let them take me to their lair. I didn't like that idea. Getting caught sounded too much like losing. Plus, the get captured and then escape tactic could turn sour real quick. There was always that chance that the path to freedom would never open. I had no desire to end up 'recruited', whatever that meant.

I could also keep my eye out for magical girls, drop a girl quick, and pump her for information. Might work, if I didn't run into another Akina equivalent and get a lullabied to oblivion. Of course, even if I grabbed a girl there was no guarantee she'd talk. I wasn't an expert interrogator, I couldn't tell lies from truth, and the idea of beating the stuffing out of a cute, and fragile girl didn't hold any appeal.

All in all, my best bet was to find one of the three guy's I'd been riding with. They knew a lot, and two of them, at least, seemed friendly. Easy, accurate information. Problem was, I didn't have a clue where to start.

Except canvassing the rooftops.

Heh. If I was lucky, Hikaru and crew would be looking for me. If I wasn't, then one of those magical girls would show up sooner or later. Either way, I would get the information I needed. A win-win proposition.

-oOo-

Two hours later, the sun sat a mere hand above the Tokyo skyline. The orange light of the dying day reflecting off the glass buildings towering around me. The hunt left me tired and annoyed, but I finally spied down at Hikaru on the roof of a ten story building. The dirty blond was sitting in a white wicker chair under a frilled umbrella. With him were a pair of girls, sipping tea.

For a second, I wondered if Hikaru had sold his group out, but when I landed on the concrete parapet I realized the truth. Hikaru was glazed eyed, and drugged out of his mind. Though, given he was at a tea party, Hikaru's zombification may have been an entirely natural occurrence. The dirty-blond salary man made no motion to acknowledge my presence, instead he sucked silently on the lollipop hanging from the corner of his mouth.

Sitting at the same table and directly across Hikaru was a young, teenage girl with adorable brown hair held back by cute, candy-cane clips. The brunette was outfitted with a what may have been the most girlish dress I had ever seen. Folds, frills, and ruffles of brilliant white sparkled in the fading sunlight. The dress itself was solid crimson, broken by the delicate shapes embroidered on its surface. She was a vision of sweetness poisoned by the cruel smirk that graced her delicate lips. Her posture conveyed arrogance and the twirling of a red lollipop between the fingers of her right hand was all but a swagger.

The second girl faced me directly, sitting between Hikaru and little miss lollipop. She was dressed in the color counter part of her companion, her dress dark as midnight and decorated by sparse, scarlet ribbons. But her clothes bore not stitch less lace. Long, lustrous locks of ebony hair were entwined with red liquorice. Where the brunette might be called sweet-lolita, the second girl was pure gothic. But, more than the dark attire, the feature that attracted my attention was the gothic-lolita's face. Her aristocratic bone structure reminded me strongly of Kodachi Kuno.

The brown haired girl took a dainty sip from her floral cup. "About time," she said. "As much as I enjoy catching up with Hikaru-kun, I was beginning to think you'd never arrive."

While the brown haired girl spoke, the black dressed gothic-lolita stood. Gloved hands gracefully lifted an elegant pot and refilled the brown haired girl's cup with a steaming amber liquid.

"Who the hell are you?" I asked.

"Crystal Candy Princess Chiyo. That is my magical girl name anyway. Atrocious, isn't it? These days I prefer Chiyo," The brown haired girl gave a devilish smile. "Now, take a seat."

My senses pulsed, and world was hued with a pinkish tint. The beguiling scent of cinnamon candy teased my nostrils, pulling me with its seduction. I lurched forward, first one step and then more. Whirling emotions dulled thought, but the question slipped through. Why? Caught in the cinnamon fog I pondered it, while my feet carried me across the roof.

Ah. I knew. Chiyo must have used some magic to control me.

Isn't that nice.

An echo, faint in a vast cavern of darkness, told me to fight. But why bother? I could sit down and have a nice cup of tea. No need to fight when I could relax and enjoy the company of two beautiful ladies. Yet, as rational as those thoughts were, the annoying insistence that I fight persisted. It was a bug that I couldn't swat.

I indulged that idea for a second. A brief contemplation, to show its error. Why fight? Surely there was nothing I could do against magic. ... Well, come to think of it, since magical girl powers relied on an aura, if I forced my own the magic might break.

Of course, there was no reason for me to try that. I'd just happily drink some tea.

I set a hand on the white wicker chair, and pulled it back. There I paused. Confused, I tried to move, but I couldn't do it. Deep within, part of me was resisting. I frowned. Fine. I'd give it a try then. But just once, and then I'd drink some tea.

Half-heartedly I drew my ki and pushed outward. Chiyo's magic resisted, exerting pressure against my own, but even my weak efforts caused the spell to crack. The world became more orange, the smell of sweets more faint, and my will grew stronger. Again I pushed, this time with all my strength.

Resistance lasted a second, and then snapped entirely. I wobbled while the roof whirled around me. I looked down at the chair, and then snatched my hand back as though burned. I lifted my gaze and met Chiyo's chocolate eyes.

"I'd rather not," I growled.

Amused Chiyo sipped her tea. "You have potential at least. I see why the Director is interested in you. But please, take a seat, or my lovely servant will put you there by force."

"Taking what you want, when you want. All you girls are the same," I gave a smirk filled with false confidence. "What makes you think the outcome is going to be any different?"

Chiyo laughed. It was a sadistic giggle that should have been sweet, but instead conveyed mocking superiority. "Dear, you have no idea of what kind of forces are arrayed against you, do you? Hikaru-kun, didn't you tell her? Or did Michiko interrupt?"

Zombie Hikaru had no answer. I wasn't surprised.

I scowled. Chiyo's disregard added to the beating my pride had taken today. I was tired of backing down, sick of running away, and done with defeat. With sudden resolve, I decided that this time I'd fight to the bitter end.

"I don't really care. It doesn't matter how many girls the Institute you work for has got. Six. Sixty. I'll flatten the lot of you."

Amusement turned scorn and Chiyo's cherubic visage was spoiled by a sneer. Somehow, this did not detract from her beauty, but instead lent an unhallowed aura. "Strong and talented, yet arrogant and stupid. Coming here was a waste of my time." The red lollipop in Chiyo's hand stopped its spin, and the girl made a sharp motion toward me. "Deal with her. I do not wish to hear the ramblings of a fool."

The gothic-lolita rose again from her seat and curtsied to her master. "As you wish, Chiyo-sama."

Then the black dressed girl stepped around the table and I skipped back a few steps to give myself more room to fight. I met her gaze and the gothic-lolita returned a look of pity.

"Ranma-sama, how unfortunate that our fates are entwined in battle. Though we long for each other's embrace, we are so cruelly denied by circumstance. But do not fear, my love. Once I have defeated you for my mistress, I will allow you to ravish me with your animal lust. Oh-ho-ho-ho-ho-ho."

I was wrong. The gothic-lolita didn't resemble Kodachi Kuno. She was Kodachi Kuno. There was no mistaking that crazed laugh of hers, nor the twisted delusion that we were in love. I cringed. Kodachi was not on my favorite person list.

A moment later that cringe faded in dismay. Wait this couldn't be Kodachi, could it? Kodachi would never serve as another girl's handmaid.

Brainwashing, then. Chiyo, or the Institute backing her, had brainwashed Kodachi. No. The Institute had done more than merely brainwash Kodachi, because I could feel the same sharpness in Kodachi's aura that I had felt in every magical girl so far. Not that I needed to sense ki to tell that much. Between the gothic-lolita dress and the red-liquorice whip Kodachi was wielding, Kodachi's conversion into magical girlhood was patently obvious.

The Pretty Princess Institute's recruitment drive gained a new, sinister twist. Akane and Ukyou were no longer merely inconvenienced, but in actual peril. I would have to prepare myself for the possibility they would refuse my assistance...

...Okay, in Akane's case, refusing my assistance was pretty much a given. Also, I wasn't too sure that the two wouldn't jump at the chance of becoming magical girls, even without the brainwashing.

The lightning lash of Kodachi's candy whip put my attention where it belonged.

I evaded the low swing with a hop, and then back pedaled to the edge of Kodachi's range. Two lashes followed, the whip cracking on either side of my head when I swayed around them. A wide swing missed, but sliced effortlessly through metal ducts. The severed metal clattered and clanged to the concrete surface.

I eyeballed the distance between us. This wouldn't be an easy fight. Kodachi was an experienced martial artist with a nasty bag of tricks. I wasn't sure how many underhanded tactics Kodachi could put into play outside of rhythmic gymnastics, but I'd better keep on my toes.

Side stepping Kodachi's whip, I decided upon my attack. When she lashed next I snatched her weapon at its most extended length and tugged with all my strength. My sudden tug lifted Kodachi off her feet and into the air. As she flew toward me, Kodachi swung her arm in twisting loops that rippled through the liquorice string. With Kodachi's ki amplified by her magical girl nature, I had no illusions about the force the behind the newest attack. So I abandoned my grip and stepped in, lashing at Kodachi with a side kick.

The gymnast turned gothic-lolita twirled, bouncing off my extended leg with a soft palm. Her evasion didn't give much distance, and placed her above me in height. I used that to my advantage, and struck with a ki-infused fist.

My right hand plowed into Kodachi's hastily formed guard, imparting no injury but ruining her landing. I pursued the stumbling girl, jabbing thrice more with my right before crossing with my left.

Except, at the last moment, I realized my left hand wasn't clenched. I aborted the attack, spinning away. Kodachi reacted to the opening with the lash of her whip. I vaulted over the liquorice ribbon and again retreated out of range. Once there, I tried to move my fingers on my left hand and failed. My left arm from hand to elbow was numb. Kodachi's liquorice whip was poisoned.

Crap. One limb down and the fight had just begun. Wait. Was this a biological poison, or a magical one? The limb was already wrapped in a gauntlet of ki that formed my anti-magical girl technique, but the flesh beneath was not so saturated. With a surge of my life force, I changed that, sending ki roaring through the blood vessels. The huge flow cleansed the intruding magic and numbness gave way to pins and needles.

I maintained the heightened ki flow, reevaluated my plan, and ducked an air conditioning unit. The heavy metal crashed across the concrete, skid several feet, and then bounced over the concrete balcony that marked the edge. Three lashes of Kodachi's whip followed, each swing wide yet sharp. The last dug a shallow groove into the roof's surface before the liquorice ribbon drew back and coiled itself in Kodachi's hand.

The battle fell into a natural pause.

"Oh-ho-ho-ho. As I expected. Your swiftness is the envy of the wind, and your prowess unmatched by all those deemed mortal," Kodachi declared poetically. "But it seems that the power gifted to me by Chiyo-sama exceeds even yours. Fall to your knees and beg from me mercy, Ranma-sama, and for you, my love, I will grant it."

I smirked in return and raised my clenched left fist, letting Kodachi know that I had mastered her poison.

"Beg for mercy?," I scoffed. "The fight has hardly begun."

Kodachi's whip flashed out and I leaned back, barely evading the tip. Then I leaned back further when liquorice stretched to close the distance. Nice try.

The strike left a brief gap in Kodachi's barrage, and I used it to close the distance. Realizing my tactic, Kodachi shifted her attacks to force me back. With a twirl of her hand she turned long strands of red liquorice into a horizontal tornado. The effort was wasted; I lazily skipped over the spiraling loops, keeping my body titled far enough forward that the tall hoops swept over me. At the last instant Kodachi jerked her whip, sending a undulating strike across my body. I countered with a sword arm slash. My ki infused attack severed her whip thirty centimeters from the handle.

I rushed in, stealing the offense. Kodachi backpedaled several steps before reinforcing her defense with a pair entwined liquorice rods. The new weapons gave me pause, then I brute forced through them, keeping my arms covered in a thick aura and my veins roaring with ki to repel Kodachi's magical poison.

Now it was I who dominated the fight. With every kick and every punch, Kodachi gave ground. Yet, her guard did not yield. True skill combined with her magical girl enhanced defenses allowed Kodachi to survive my greater speed and strength.

But that was changing. With each strike I refined my technique, and my blows gained effectiveness. Now when guarding against a heavy kick, Kodachi's arms trembled. Her counters grew rarer, and slower, while my answers faster. I pushed and pushed and pushed. The constant abuse of my ki wore me down quickly. I could feel the leaden weight of weariness spreading from my limbs, but I could taste victory now. Kodachi's aura tore with every attack, this battle was eating her ki faster than mine. I could win this fight through sheer endurance if I had too. Sooner or later Kodachi would find her spiritual energy just short, and when that happened her tenki would collapse leaving her a martial gymnast well below my level.

That, however, wasn't my plan. Every punch, every kick, and every counter attack Kodachi attempted pulled us inevitably to our destination - the roof entry.

There wasn't anything particularly special about the roof entry. It was a small concrete box with a metal door attached. Inside there would be a set stairs that led into the building that we were fighting upon. I didn't care about that. I didn't care about the door either. I cared that the roof entrance was a solid concrete structure perfect for pinning an opponent against. And that was exactly what I did.

Kodachi realized my goal a second too late. With her back pressed up against the concrete she attempted to flip over it, but I moved first. Before Kodachi could jump, I was a meter in the air. A fast but heavy side kick ended Kodachi's flight and sent her back to the ground.

Kodachi replied with a thrust of her liquorice rod, which I batted to the side with the edge of my forearm. The numbness of poison disintegrated into pins and needles instantly. The rush of ki I wielded now was too great.

I had her where I wanted her, close, on the ground and back to the cement. I smirked and named my technique. "Kachu Tenshin Amaguriken."

My arm, and the shoulder to which it was attached, accelerated to a blur. The full force of the amaguriken was unleashed, and my hand's speed increased impossibly. More than a hundred strikes rained down in the time frame of a second, each punch hooked from different angles, targeting all the vulnerable points of her body.

Kodachi's magical girl defense reacted instantly. Her hands and the liquorice rods within them became lightning, meeting every punch with pinpoint precision, but that defense didn't last long. Each punch I threw was filled with penetrating ki that sliced into Kodachi's aura. By the time the first twenty punches had landed Kodachi's defensive magic had crumbled under weight of the repeated blows. Bereft of magic, Kodachi's movements slowed. The girl still tried, straining her skill and speed to keep up, but the substitution of martial arts prowess for magic wasn't enough.

My fist made it through. Each strike was light, soft punches to the gut, to the face, to the blocking arms and shoulders. Damage accumulated quickly, but the enormous momentum of the repeated attacks was too much. The concrete I'd pinned Kodachi to broke, and without it, she was sent flying into the stairwell and through the wall on the opposite side. Once there she bounced off the ground and then skidded a few meters before rolling head over heels twice again as far.

I walked after her.

Dress torn and shredded, Kodachi stood, leaning heavily on her left leg. "As I would expect from my Ranma-sama," Kodachi said with a ragged breath. "My skills are no match for yours."

I stepped over the rubble of the entryway and stopped well out of Kodachi's range. Her gothic-lolita dress was repairing itself, sheared fabric stitching together. Tenki was still in play. Damn. I'd hoped to win the battle outright.

"I'm not here to fight you, Kodachi," I said. "And I can't think of any reason for you to fight me. So why don't you just sit this out and let Chiyo and me settle this."

"Ranma-sama, how this battle between us pains me. My heart longs for your love. I offer you my lips. Take them, and I will fight no more." Kodachi tilted her head back and closed her eyes.

"I haven't forgotten your poison lipstick, Kodachi."

"You accuse me of treachery?" Kodachi face looked frail, as though the words had broken her heart.

"Yeah," I deadpanned. "I'm accusing you of treachery."

"Oh-ho-ho-ho-ho-ho! My darling Ranma-sama has seen through my cunning plan. I expect no less from the man who will be my husband. But, my dear, I must warn you that I've been holding back. Hence forth, I will show the true extent of my power. Raspberry liquorice twist!"

Something moved around my ankles. I looked down to see the severed portion of Kodachi's whip snaking around my legs. The weapon moved with celerity, winding too fast for me to escape. Numbness spread where the candy contacted, and I spent the next moment concentrating on using my ki to fight the paralytic magic.

"Now, Ranma-sama, face my liquorice bit bullets!" Kodachi announced.

Huge halos of twined red liquorice materialized, centered at the tip of Kodachi's raised hand. The candy started to spin and as it did so the lines of liquorice began to break. The twined rings became a disk made of hundreds of liquorice bits. Kodachi lowered her hand and pointed the spinning disk at me.

The disk stretched into a translucent cone and then, with thundering cracks, the bullets exploded out. The liquorice bits tore through the binding ropes, shredding it like swiss cheese.

Ouch! Good thing I wasn't standing there.

In the second it took Kodachi to gather her attack, I Houdini'ed my way free from the confectionery cable. Once unbound, I jumped high in the air, my battle aura a blaze of blue flame. Kodachi was not oblivious to my movement, and unhesitatingly swept her arm towards me, bringing with it an invisible stream of candy death.

Undulating dodges would not save me here, so I pulled my immense aura into a single point and expelled a ki blast to my aft. The release of supernatural momentum flung me forward and down, while Kodachi's aim swept up and over. With my remaining aura, I stole a page form Herb's book, reflecting a second ki blast off the damaged roof and straight into Kodachi's gut.

The blast flung Kodachi off her feet and into the air. Her gun arm swung, and the remaining liquorice munitions perforated the rooftop. Kodachi hit the ground hard, barely stable on her feet. Still, her guard remained solid enough to meet my roundhouse with a hastily raised forearm. It was enough to defend Kodachi from the kick, but not to save her entirely. Her defending arm twisted, and I bowled her over with my strength sending Kodachi tumbling across the ground like a rag doll.

On the ground, Kodachi's aura shot black sparks, her spiritual presence wobbled in odd shapes. Instantly, I realized that Kodachi's megami no ooi was nearly broken. She was at her limit, and I was going to capitalize on that fact.

With Kodachi down, I stood above her and stomp kicked her face. Kodachi shielded herself with crossed arms, but I didn't relent. I repeated my attack again and again, following her when she rolled out to the way, and kicking Kodachi down again when she tried rising to her feet. Slowly her guard gave, until the heel of my shoe pressed her nose when it came down.

That was when the roof caved beneath me.

I blinked and coughed, and took a few moments to readjust my senses to the new environment. Cold water rained down from a broken pipe above, dribbling on my head. Great hunks of rubble surrounded me, concrete chunks from the collapsed roof. Most importantly, Kodachi had not fallen with me. The jagged edge of the break stopped where she'd been laying, but extended far behind where I once stood.

The fall didn't hurt, but never-the-less I didn't throw myself back up into the fight. Instead I relaxed, looking back at the faces of men and women that peered over the top of their cubicals. Normal folk, dressed in suites and ties, who would never have imagined that their little office world could be shattered by the crazed fighting of martial artists on their rooftop.

I couldn't imagine what it was like in their shoes. I was far too divorced from normality to grasp the perspective of a cubical drone.

I looked up. Kodachi hadn't rejoined the fight, which meant she was still recovering. I could use a breather myself after expending so much ki. At least I had proved my variation of dokuja tanketsu sho functional. I could hurt a magical girl. Not as easily as I'd hoped, but I could do it. I decided to give the technique a name: ikisasu.

I took one more long breath and then stood. With a hop I was back on the roof.

Kodachi was easy to find. She was back on her feet, barely, and using a still unbroken air-conditioning unit as support. Her gothic-lolita dress once more showed heavy damage. This time the dress was not repairing itself. Instead, it was slowly unraveling. I had won.

Kodachi stepped away from her support, her face twisted with anger. She was as mad as hell. "Pigtailed harridan! What have you done with my Ranma-sama!"

Kodachi, crazy as usual.

"I'm standing right here," I explained.

I was in my cursed form, thanks to the cold water. Kodachi hated my female form as much as she loved my male form. Her brother was the exact the opposite. I didn't expect Kodachi to figure out that female Ranma and male Ranma were the same person. Not today. Not ever.

"I see," Kodachi's dark eyes narrowed with evil intent. "You believe you can hide my lover from me. No doubt so that you may seduce him at your leisure. That leaves me with no choice but to torture the information from you. Oh-ho-ho-ho-ho-ho!"

I was about to give a retort, but Chiyo spoke up first.

"Kodachi-chan. I thought we had talked about this."

Chiyo didn't sound amused. In fact, she was now walking toward us. That marked the first time she'd bothered leaving her little tea party.

"Mistress. I'll deal with this interloper, and then I will fetch my darling Ranma-sama for you."

"Kodachi-chan, what did I say I would do if you couldn't get over your delusions?" Chiyo asked, voice dribbling sweet venom.

Kodachi's eyes filled with fright and the gothic-lolita took a step back from her mistress. "B-but, I've done everything you asked. I don't understand. Please, mistress. Please."

My eyes alternated between Kodachi and Chiyo. I didn't know what was going on here, but whatever it was I didn't like it one bit.

"Hey," I barked. "Back off."

"I'll deal with you in a minute, dear," Chiyo said fixing me with her devilish smile. Then she turned back to Kodachi. There was the slightest gesture of Chiyo's hand when she said the next. "Cotton candy cocoon."

Gossamer fibers sprang up around Kodachi's feet in a red-dyed tornado. The threads of crystallised sugar swallowed Kodachi whole, enveloping her in the cocoon of cotton candy for which Chiyo's spell was named.

I dove in, intending to pull Kodachi free. My effort failed when, with a blunder, my foot caught a shallow groove sliced into the concrete by Kodachi's whip. The second it took for me to recover from my stumble was enough for Kodachi's form to vanish entirely. In her place was a giant red bundle of fibrous candy.

Chiyo giggled mockingly from behind a discrete hand.

My face was red with embarrassment which quickly turned to anger. I flashed my eyes to Kodachi's prison and decided to focus on the perpetrator instead.

"What did you do to her?" I demanded.

"You could say that I'm purifying her," Chiyo replied. Her eyes gleamed with malice, and she laughed lightly. "Most magical girls believe that's how their power works. But, the truth is, I'm rewriting her existence."

"Mind control," I said with disgust.

"Oh, I'm changing far more than her mind, dear. My cocoon will transform her very nature." Chiyo stroked the candy surface of the cocoon lovingly. "The last time I captured Kodachi with this spell, Lovely Liquorice Kodachi was born. As sweet, loyal, and demented as that girl was, I couldn't stand that hideous laugh a moment longer. I do wonder how she'll turn out this time? Whatever the case, it is certain that only a little of 'Kodachi' will remain."

My eyes narrowed. "I don't give a rat's ass about your excuses. And while there isn't much I like about Kodachi, I'm not about to let you turn her into your toy."

"Turn her into my toy? Aren't you mistaken? I have already turned Kodachi into my toy. Now I'm trading her in for a better one." Chiyo eyes were wide, and her grin maniacal. "As for stopping me, I think its time to erase that ignorance of yours."

The Daisuke-Saffron pegged when Chiyo released her battle aura. Incredible, raw spiritual force spilled forth, as blinding as that of the phoenix king himself. Chiyo's aura was an ocean that swallowed the entire rooftop and then poured over the edges in fine, glowing mist. All around me air and wind screamed with the monstrous power.

My mouth went dry, and I tried to swallow but couldn't. Impossible. Power like this was impossible, beyond human, boundless, deific. How could I fight against this colossal strength? How could I possibly win?

I had won against Saffron.

It was a frail mental defense. An echo of delusional self confidence. Saffron, I didn't need to reminded myself, did not possess a veritable cloak of invulnerability. I was not wielding gekkaja.

Animal instinct screamed at me to run and training demanded that I use the Saotome final attack. Run, every sense, rational and not declared. Run and don't stop. Run and keep running until I had mastered the ikisasu, learned the yamasenken and had entire arsenal of techniques developed for the sole purpose of destroying magical girls.

But, how long would I have to run? Days? Weeks? Months? If I ran too long Chiyo would finish her destruction of Kodachi. Akane and Ukyou would be reduced to toy soldiers by the Pretty Princess Institute, a few more mindless minions to buff the ranks of a growing magical girl army.

Part of me said, don't worry about it. Brainwashing, in my experience, was a reversible process. Could I risk that? Could I risk Akane and Ukyou on the chance that they could be fixed? I couldn't.

I wasn't going to gamble Akane and Ukyou's lives.

So, I couldn't run.

No. I wouldn't run.

Determination surged and with it confidence. Not that I needed motivation to fight, to throw myself into the maw of destruction and tear forth victory. To tell the truth, the only reason I needed was the smirk on Chiyo's face.

"I've fought stronger," I said nonchalantly. "Didn't turn out so well for him."

Chiyo gave a disdainful look and vanished. One second she stood across the roof from me, the next she was standing to my left, just barely within my peripheral vision. In the blink of an eye her right hand tore free a candy-cane hair clip, though, the moment the clip left Chiyo's hair it ceased to be clip. Instead, the clip became a mighty, candy-cane battleaxe complete with a gleaming double-bladed edge and pointed hook. Chiyo's wide swing and years of training saved me, causing me sidestep and duck under the diagonal slash.

It was a near thing, and a line of blood running across my cheek and neck proved it. The roof was not so fortunate. A great gorge, as wide as my forearm, had been carved in the concrete, the guts of the building made visible through the rent. An even taller building, separated by a busy highway, took greater damage. Chiyo's swing blasted out the windows, and shredded steel and stone as though her axe were a hundred meters long.

She swung again with her left arm, wielding her second candy-cane clip as another battleaxe. It was a sweeping horizontal cut and I didn't need anyone to tell me that simply being out of range wasn't good enough. I back flipped out of the way and over the distorted air that stretched from her blade. When I landed, I took a few extra steps back so that I could more clearly see Chiyo's follow up strikes.

Not that I was content to just evade. While I retreated I returned fire. With my feet, I scooped up rubble and then kicked the broken debris at the cute girl. Chiyo didn't bother to dodge. It turned it she didn't need to. Instead, Chiyo watched with amusement as each projectile met its fate.

The first, a huge hunk of concrete, was batted to the side when the roof suddenly collapsed and thrust an I-beam into its path. The second, the small metal remains of a sheered duct, was smashed to the ground by a dive bombing crow. The third projectile was dragged to the right by a stiff wind, so that the hand sized rock flashed past Chiyo ear instead of nailing her between the eyes.

I stared in shock.

Chiyo lazily set her left hand candy-cane battleaxe on her shoulder, and jammed the right into the ground. "Stupid girl, I'm luck type, so things like this shouldn't surprise you. Especially with power like mine."

Chiyo paused and popped some gum into her mouth. After about five chews she blew a pink bubble. Unlike normal bubblegum bubbles this one floated away from her, rising in the air as though it were a helium filled balloon.

My muscles remained tense while I watched. I needed a plan. My ikisasu wouldn't be enough when pitted against Chiyo's raw power, and I didn't like the odds of making this an endurance match. That meant I had to over come her defense by using its logic against her.

Luck. How could I defeat luck? For me, chance was an enemy, a foe dominated by skill and preparation. Luck, however, could never be completely vanquished. Legends were filled with great heroes slain by the weak when their fortunes turned.

But luck, by definition, was uncertain. Which meant that her power couldn't block all my attacks, just a percentage of them. I grimaced. It was an idea, but not a particularly useful one. I was having a hard time imagining landing enough strikes on Chiyo to take her down if nine out of ten were automatically deflected by chance. To make matters worse, Chiyo seemed more than capable of fending off the rare attacks that made it through.

"Hikaru gave me the rundown, just hadn't seen anything like that in action before," I said, replying after a long delay. "Magical girls have a special defense and all that. Didn't do Kodachi much good though."

My eyes slid briefly to the red cocoon in which Kodachi was trapped. Deal with her later. The crazy girl wasn't going to thank me for saving her, not with Chiyo holding her leash.

Pop! High above the roof, the pink bubble exploded. Rather than falling in a tiny, thin film, the explosion stretched the broken bubble even larger, so that it formed a sheet that stretched across half sky. Briefly, I worried that it was about to descend on me. Then it became clear that the sheet was only falling at the edges, forming a second gargantuan bubble that devoured the top of the building whole.

"Nowhere left to run now, dear," Chiyo said. "If you surrender immediately, I'll keep your punishment minor."

"I'm not going down without a fight."

Chiyo scoffed, "You faced my toy, Kodachi, and barely won. You have felt my strength, and know what it means, and still you try to fight. I was wrong. You aren't stupid. You're delusional."

Screw analysis. Playing it cautious never won any fights, and certainly wouldn't win this one.

Instead, I threw myself at Chiyo, my battle aura roaring with all the pain and frustration I had faced today. I rained punches down on Chiyo in a whirlwind of attacks. Every strike was fast and light, seeking to overwhelm her guard rather than crush it with raw force.

Chiyo gleefully abandoned her axes and met me fist for fist. She was swiftness and lighting, her hands only a shade slower than my own despite my amazon training. It was easy, at first, to forget Chiyo's magical defenses, because she fought like a warrior not a puppet.

That illusion disintegrated as we traded more blows. Chiyo's strength and speed failed to make up for her lack of skill and finesse. In terms of the mastery of the martial arts, Chiyo was just under Kodachi. It hardly mattered. Every time I gained an advantage, or moved to seize an opening, circumstances intervened. A misstep by Chiyo would salvage her failed dodge. If she was off balance, a strong gust would blow and right her body. At times where my pressure became too much, the roof would crumble between us, causing me to lose a precious fraction of the second.

Still we fought. Blow after blow our attacks met each others guards, but never made it passed. The exchange though, was far from fair. Bruises covered my arms where I'd deflected Chiyo's brutal fists. Her strength was simply incredible. I felt as though I were facing down the charge of Pantyhose Tarou in his full cursed glory instead of fighting a cute girl a centimeter shorter than myself.

Then, all at once, the battle shifted.

My first warning was Chiyo's aura stretching out and violently attacked mine. The second warning was the scent of cinnamon candy. After that, everything went to hell.

The next step I took, my foot slipped out from underneath me when rubble, which I was sure was stable, rolled. I saved myself with an aerial flip, only to have my left foot punch straight through the weakened roof. Though it caught at a bad angle, my leg didn't break, thanks to my father's crazed martial arts training, but I was in deep trouble. I was trapped.

Chiyo didn't take advantage of that fact. She strolled toward me, walking across a length of rebar that, by all rights, should have torn free even underneath her tiny weight. I used the slow approach to my advantage and pulled myself free.

At which point, the roof underneath me crumbled, dropping me once more into the floor below. I glanced up to look for Chiyo, but aborted the search when a more immediate problem made itself apparent. Behind me, a portion of the concrete roof had balanced itself on one end. No sooner did I spot that fact then did the it fall. I scrambled to get out of the way, but broken debris caught me effectively and I was helpless to stop the large slab from crashing down on top of me.

The blow left me dazed and annoyed, but not really hurt. With minimal effort I repositioned my hands and shoved the heavy concrete block off and to the side.

I pulled myself free and brushed some dust from my shirt. Chiyo wasn't there to stop me. Why would she be? This, I now realized, was her attack. Chiyo was using her aura to forcefully cause events to move in her favor. In effect, Chiyo had become a living manifestation of Murphy's law.

Except, today, Murphy was on Chiyo's side.

I decided right then that I really, really hated Chiyo's ability. It was almost appropriate that I picked up the distinctive scent of gas at the same moment. I didn't need to glance to know what came next. Sparks flew from water soaked circuits and the room around me ignited. I jumped free from the flames, only to be smacked aside by a second gas explosion.

I hit the roof low, stumbled, rolled, and then skid to a stop. A fit of coughs cleared smoke and dust from my lungs. It was only after that I realized I was at Chiyo feet. Chiyo smiled down at me, like that cat who had finally cornered the mouse. She swirled a lollipop once in her mouth and then popped it free and spoke sweetly.

"Cotton candy cocoon."

I sprang to my feet, but the pale threads were faster. They shot up in an open, swirling maw, that seized my legs. Fibrous sugar dragged me down to the ground and, in a great gulp, swallowed me whole. I struggled briefly in the blanket of glittering pink, but lethargy grew quickly and I fell into darkness.

-oOo-

I awoke on a warm, puffy surface. I blinked bleary eyes, feeling dazed. My mind swam. Everything felt distant and unimportant. If the whole world floated away right then, I wouldn't have cared. Or maybe I had everything upside down. Maybe it was me that was floating away. Away and away until the world was gone.

It wasn't bliss, but contentment. I was more relaxed than I'd ever been in my entire life. It made me smile.

Smiling and serene, I stared up at fluffy clouds. Here and there were puffs of marshmallow floating in a great pale-pink sky. Strange. Pretty though. I watched for them for a long time, but there was a nagging feeling that wouldn't leave me alone. There was something I needed to do. I didn't know what it was, but in the end that feeling was enough to pull me to my feet.

My balance shifted when I stood, and I glanced down to see I was standing upon wispy blankets of cotton candy. No, not blankets, earth. All the hills as far as the eye could see were made of cotton candy. Each slope had its own pastel colors. Soft blues, lavenders, washed out greens, spotted the ground in even humps. The hill on which I stood was the cutest pink.

Other features broke apart the land. Giant candy canes, and enormous lollipops jutted from the cotton earth like mighty trees. Towering mountains of gum balls filled the horizon. A stream of milky chocolate flowed between hills. Most prominent of all, was a rainbow filled with twinkling, translucent shapes that arched above a gingerbread castle.

Watching the land left me with a funny dissonance. It was as though part of my brain was telling me that pink sky, fluffy hills, and candy trees were perfectly natural. Yet, the other part of me was objecting, and insisting that, if all this was natural, why couldn't I remember seeing anything like this before?

"Where am I?" I asked in a sweet, dreamy voice. I couldn't help it. I sounded the same as I felt - utterly serene and content.

"You are here," A voice answered.

I turned and found the speaker, a red, gelatinous, gummy worm. I cocked my head to the side seeking the riddle of why a talking gummy worm bothered me.

"And where is here?" I asked.

"Here is here."

I nodded slowly. Of course, here is here. Why didn't I think of that? And what was that emotion that sparked and died when the worm gave that answer? Annoyance? How strange. Why would such a reasonable response make me annoyed?

I scanned the horizon once more. That something that had been nagging me refused to give up. I had been doing something. Something important. For the life of me, I couldn't remember what that important thing was, but I wanted it to go away so I could be all content and relaxed, forever.

Hmm. Maybe the worm knew.

"Why am I here?" I asked.

"Ah," the worm said. "Same reason every girl comes here: to become a candy princess."

Of course. That must be what was bothering me. I'd come here to become a candy princess. That made perfect sense... except... I didn't remember wanting to be a princess, much less a candy one. In fact, the idea sounded rather horrible.

I felt confused. Why did I come here to be a candy princess if I didn't want to be one? Thinking about it was giving me a headache. Perhaps it'd be better just to forget my objections and go with the flow...

No!

A shudder ran through my body, and I found myself voicing my concern. "I don't think I want to be a candy princess."

The worm shrugged. "Doesn't matter. You go to the castle, you become a candy princess. That's the way it works."

What the worm said should have bugged me, but instead I focused on a different detail. How could a worm shrug? I had no memory of seeing the worm shrug. What would a worm shrugging look like anyway? Maybe a contraction of its body so that it became smaller. But that wasn't what happened. I just knew the worm shrugged. It was as though the knowledge had been stuffed directly into my brain.

Which, beyond that constant background sense of wrongness, seemed perfectly reasonable. Worms shrugged, and they did so without moving anything.

That nagging sensation became more insistent. Something inside of me really didn't like the idea of becoming a candy princess.

"Why?" I asked quietly, mostly to myself. It stood in for all the questions I wanted to know.

The worm though, answered it anyway, "Well, you couldn't very well become a princess unless there was a castle. That wouldn't make any sense at all."

I ignored the worm. Instead, in a flash of determination I turned my back to the castle and started walking. Inside me the war renewed. I was certain I didn't want to be a candy princess, but if I'd come all this way to become a candy princess then walking away was the wrong thing to do.

Wait. If I'd come all this way, then where had I come from?

"What are you doing?" the worm asked. It didn't sound angry, merely curious.

"I'm leaving," I explained. Though I had yet to figure out where I was leaving to. For now, just heading away from the castle seemed best.

"Leaving?"

"Yes, I don't think I want to be a candy princess, so I'm leaving."

The worm's head nodded a few times as though understanding. "That makes sense. But..."

I stopped, and a sudden spike of tension ran through me, banishing tranquility. "What? You think you can stop me?"

"Oh no," the worm replied. "No, I was merely going to point out that you are still heading toward the castle."

I stopped, stared at the worm, and the looked at the castle. The castle was, indeed, a lot closer than before. The great gingerbread arches all covered in frosty icing and the pillars of crystallised sugar were now clearly visible. The smell of the palace was intoxicating. My mouth watered, and my body leaned toward the structure as though I'd been magnetized.

"That doesn't make any sense," I muttered. "I should be further away, not closer."

The worm shrugged once more. "All paths lead to the castle."

I frowned at the worm and then purposely sat down. I needed time to think. There was something important. I had been doing something important and then I came here. I came here from...

... A roof?

I shook my head and then wiped my brow. It was getting hot. I glanced around and realized that I had passed beneath the gingerbread gate and was now within the bowels of the castle. The air here was sticky and carried an intense scent of ginger, sugar, cinnamon, and a hundred other tasty treats. In the distance was the thunderous roar of machinery. The sound of a factory.

Briefly, I wondered how I'd gotten into the castle when I was sitting. Then I berated myself for being silly. Of course staying still led to the castle. I giggled at the silliness of me forgetting a simple truth like that.

"We're to the mixing pot now."

Those words seized my attention. "The what?"

"The mixing pot. Where you'll be melted and mixed."

Melted and mixed... The notion being melted down caused primal emotions to tear free from the tranquility. Panic and fear took control. Melted! I definitely didn't want to be melted.

Suddenly, I was on my feet once more, running as fast as I could away from where I was inevitably being pulled. It didn't make a difference. I descended deeper into the castle with each passing second. When my eyes jerked back, I could see the melting pot. A huge copper cauldron with flames licking up the sides. I ran even faster.

Moving faster didn't help. Soon, I was at the edge of a conveyor belt and about to be dumped into the pot. I jumped. For a second my leap carried me away from the pot, then my body moved backwards as though all gravity originated from the bottom of the bowl. Helplessly, I fell within.

Hot. Hot! It was insanely hot within the cauldron. The pot was like the surface of the sun, not even Saffron's flames could compare. My skin boiled on my arms and then began to slide off.

I screamed for three second. Then my brain registered that, despite the heat, and despite the fact my body was literally melting away, there was no pain. Again there was that sudden feeling that things weren't making sense, but that was swept away by the even greater terror of my flesh turning to liquid. With horror I watched my chest pool at the bottom of the pot. Shortly thereafter my head was gone. I was left unable to do anything but stare straight up at the gummy worm that floated in the air.

It didn't make sense. Nothing here made sense. With force of will I shoved aside that false impression rightness, and grabbed ahold of intellectual dissonance. This wasn't real. It couldn't be real.

And, if it wasn't real, then what was it?

A dream. No. It was too lucid, and something... I'd been doing something important on a roof. A fight. I had been in a fight.

"Now to mix in the ingredients," Worm said from above. The gelatinous creature stretched its tail beyond the edge of the pot and then hefted a big paper sack. Rotating it's torso, the worm began to pour a fine, white, granular substance.

"Lots and lots of sugar for you, and some coloring too." As the worm said in a sing-song voice. It then extended itself a second time and dumped a bucket filled with potent pink into the pot.

The touch of the ingredients was revolting. My throat gagged, or it would have if I still had a throat, when the substances tainted my skin. Slowly, the pools of the ingredients dissolved, spreading like oil through my liquid flesh. They were becoming me, and I was becoming them.

No!

I tried to fight, but what could I fight with? I tried to thrash, but I no long had any muscles. There was nothing I could do to stop the ingredients from combining with me.

Not real. Not real. It wasn't real. It couldn't be real. Don't think about it. I calmed and focused my mind once more on what was truly important. I had been on a roof. Fighting. Fighting what? Fighting a magical girl. I ran? No. I didn't run. I had stopped running. I had faced her. I had faced...

... Chiyo.

All at once clarity returned. I had been fighting Chiyo, and she'd nailed me with her cocoon attack.

This was no mere dream. Instead, this was the inside of Chiyo's cotton-candy cocoon. A world, or an illusion thereof, that was dedicated to the purpose of slowly transforming me into Chiyo's pretty new toy, just as it had Kodachi.

"Now its time to, stir, stir, stir everything together," The worm sang. "And blend, blend, blend until everything is one."

At the bottom of the pot paddles began to turn. My insides swirled as liquid flesh was pulled into a spiral. The heaping pile of sugar was swept up with the motion, and quickly vanished inside of me. An eruption of sweetness drowned my senses, and for a second it was the only thing I could perceive. The bursting flavor left me dizzy, and turned my brain to mush. At the edges of my awareness a bubbly emotion rose. It was a sparkling, giggly happiness. A generic delight and contentment I'd never before contemplated.

Thick strands of pink joined in. The deep, wondrous, gorgeous color grew paler as it amalgamated with my sweetened flesh. With each turn of the paddles, my melted body became a solution, a synthesis of the ingredients. I dissolved into gooey, sugary, pink-tinted Ranma.

Enmity twisted, convictions shattered, and new ones grew in their place. I was becoming a candy princess and I suddenly wanted that. I wanted it more desperately than I had wanted anything in my entire life.

I fought against these manufactured emotions. I focused on pink. I loathed pink and what it stood for. Pink was femininity. It was girlish obsession with cuteness. It was little hearts, pretty dresses, and the sweetest smiles. Pink. Pink was pretty. Pretty. Perfect. Pink. I... I loved pink.

I wrenched my mind back from the daze I'd fallen under. A will to fight surged. Empowered less by hatred and more by the rejection of surrender. I wouldn't lose to this. I wouldn't allow it.

I was in Chiyo's cocoon, I reminded myself. I needed to escape. Escape where? I couldn't leave the pot. I had no arms, no legs. Even if I did, running away and running forward were the same thing here. How was I supposed to reach the edge of the cocoon?

Wait. The cocoon. Stupid, stupid, stupid. I was in the cocoon, not some alternate dimension. People don't melt in real life, and even if they did they would certainly die. This place wasn't real, but it wasn't a dream either. The castle, the pot, all of this was nothing more than a manifestation of Chiyo's magic.

Which meant the cocoon was right in front of me, where it had always been. Arms and legs were unnecessary here. My enemy was Chiyo's magic, and I already knew magical girl powers could be displaced by a sufficiently strong ki.

"You're all mixed up now," the worm commented, "Time to pour you and mold you."

The opening of a valve at the bottom of the pot sucked away my concentration. There are no parallels to the experience that followed, my body oozing and dripping through a pipe. It didn't hurt. Instead there was a cramped feeling, as though I were being pushed through a mountain of pillows.

More than anything though, it was the separation that was distracting. Sporadically a part of me would fall from the end of the pipe and plop into a shape. In those moments the gap was tactile. Then there was the oddness as toes, feet, calves, and thighs reformed. The pairing between the intense heat of the melting pot, and the chill of the bronze mold. It wasn't until my the last of my brains dripped down that I could think clearly once more.

Darkness. In darkness I settled, the new solution of sugar, pink, and me reforming into a person. A person with feminine curves and buoyant breasts. A giggly, sweet girl who loved the color pink and everything it stood for. Here though, I was temporarily divorced from all other sensation. Here I could concentrate and break free before I lost the will to fight.

With a breath, I called on my ki, and my life force responded. Reality intruded upon illusion, and the lie of Chiyo's manufactured world was laid bare by the contrast. The shattered parts of my mind pulled themselves together, fighting against the false serenity, and denying the bubbly, giggly longing to become a candy princess.

Spirit met cocoon and the mold around me vanished. I was once more on the roof, propped upright by a shroud of sugar. I flexed my arms and the sticky, fibrous candy resisted. My strength alone was not enough, and the cocoon ate my life force with every passing second. The vestiges of the bronze mold insinuated themselves into my renewed reality. A distant sound of metallic ringing teased my ears. I felt myself slipping.

No! With a final wave of strength I forced my ki into my newly developed ikisasu. Cutting ki gathered around my right hand, and I jerked the limb up. Sugary threads severed, and I spilled free.

-oOo-

Ending Notes:

Techniques:

List of techniques mentioned or appearing. Common Ranma ½ techniques are not included. All martial arts / ki / ki-like techniques are in (crappy) Japanese. Most magical girl powers are in English.

Dokuja Tanketsu Sho [Canon] – Part of the Yamasenken, this technique is a fierce hand strike that is intended to rip out an opponent's heart.

Ikisasu [lit. Spirit pierce] – A technique derived from the yamasenken. It involves forming a solid penetrating aura around the offensive limb(s). The enhanced limb thereafter acts as a form of spiritual weaponry and deals damage to metaphysical auras. Unlike its source technique, the ikisasu, when used correctly, does nothing to increase physical attack power. The ikisasu was created specifically to breach the defensive aspect of a magical girl's aura. It is only somewhat successful in this endeavor.

Liquorice Bit Bullets – Kodachi fires a swarm of little liquorice bit bullets. The bullets form as a cloud on her hand and are released one at a time at machine gun speeds. Kodachi can control her release, and release in bursts, but each bullet must leave one at a time (shotgun style is not possible).

Raspberry Liquorice Twist – Kodachi animates a rope of liquorice which attempts to wrap up the opponent. Presumably the liquorice becomes raspberry flavored when this power is used...

Cotton Candy Cocoon – A transformative power that forcefully uses haigeki and shuken to transform any girl wrapped within it. The effect is a forced tenki, except that the tenki follows the nature of Chiyo's megami no ooi. Specifically, girls captured within are transformed into a 'Candy Princess'.

The cocoon's effects fade with time, much like tenki itself. However, this techniques does have a permanent side effect of shifting the subject's natural aura closer to the 'Candy Princess' state. When used with enough power, and duration, this change becomes permanent.

Only girls with high spiritual power are able to become magical girls through this method.

Jinx – Ordinarily, Chiyo's luck manifests as events that prevent her from being harmed. By extending this natural armor, and intensifying the haigeki aspect, Chiyo is able to cause random events to occur to the detriment of the opponent. Essentially, this ramps up a magically induced and super amplified version of Murphy's Law (anything that can go wrong, will go wrong).

Because jinx is luck based, it is impossible to control how it manifests. Chiyo, however, is able to give some degree of direction. For instance, deadly or non-deadly. Drive the enemy away, or drive the enemy closer.

Bubblegum Barrier (unnamed) – Chiyo chews some magically created bubblegum, and blows a bubble. The bubble floats high above the battlefield and explodes. The point of the explosion becomes the apex of the barrier, and bubblegum blocks off all other access points except underground. The barrier's surface is magic, so it is deceptively resistant against simple physical attacks.

Characters

This is a brief guide to characters to help you keep track. Major Ranma characters will not be mentioned.

Yuka [Canon] – One of Akane's friends.

Hikaru Nigata [Resistance] – The 'salary-man'. Hikaru is in his mid-to-late twenties. He has a somewhat foul mouth and a relaxed attitude. He is a veteran combatant with years of experience fighting magical girls and demons, and his skill have been somewhat refined by practice and martial arts classes.

Hikaru is fundamentally a man without ambition. His job for the last decade has essentially been hunting demons, and helping girls escape the clutches of the Pretty Princess Institute. In combat Hikaru can draw in large sources of natural energies and release them as ultra-powerful attacks. Beyond that, he has superhuman speed and strength.

Mamoru Chiba [Resistance] – Tuxedo mask. The magical 'boy' who is the reincarnation of the 'Prince of Earth' and the destined lover of Sailor Moon. He keeps to himself and isn't very talkative. In the small group led by Hikaru, Chiba is the only one who can consistently keep Fumio Miyagi under control. He aids the small band at Setsuna Meioh's request. Mamoru throws roses as projectile weapons, and is an effective fighter when wielding his cane as a sword.