Author's Forward – First off, thanks to everyone who reviewed last chapter. I really do appreciate it. Every review is another crystal I can gaze through to judge the reactions of my audience and determine if the audience's mood is as I intended. It doesn't matter what form the review comes in, all of them are useful, be they strange musings, story predictions, playful analysis, favored highlights, or constructive criticism.

So to all of you, thanks.

As a general note, since the reaction to the third chapter has been generally good, I'll assume, for now, that the second chapter's low traffic was a rare fluke.

Beta reader: obsidian_fox

-oOo-

Chapter 4: Turning Point

-oOo-

"So, what's Hecate like," I asked, my question driven more by boredom than interest.

It was a beautiful Thursday morning. The sun shined down from a brilliant sea of blue, spotted only by thin ribbons of white, fluffy clouds. I had recovered quickly from last night's electrocution but had tucked in early anyway. The last thing I needed was a long night worrying about Akane and Ukyou.

After an earlier morning workout, and a short discussion with Hikaru, I met with Chiba to be taken to the mysterious Hecate. Hecate, a time witch whose powers were fearsome enough to make Hikaru shudder. He summed her up with a simple statement. Kid, whatever you do, don't piss off a woman who can jaunt back in time and discuss the merits of an abortion with your mother.

Point well taken.

Dangerous as she may be, I had little choice but to speak with Hecate. The woman was a leader of the 'sailor senshi', the only remaining sect of free magical girls in Japan. If Hikaru was to be believed, these senshi packed enough firepower to fight the PPI head on. With strength like that, I'd be more than equipped to face the Institute.

And that brought me here, to a small cheery corner of Tokyo just outside an outdoor cafe.

"You'll know when you meet her," Mamoru Chiba answered uninformatively.

Chiba, or Tuxedo as I often thought of him, was no longer wearing his formal battle garb. Instead, the college aged adult was dressed in a green, knit coat that hung open over a black shirt. Every time I took note of the man a jolt shot through my mind. For half a second, Tuxedo and Chiba failed to equate. Then, logic would reassert itself, and I would see the undisguised features: the shape of his body, the structure of his jaw, the strong but confident posture he held. Tuxedo and Chiba were unquestionably the same.

Yet, no matter how many times I looked, it felt like I was staring at a stranger.

I knew the cause. There was a subtle aura that hung around him, but even after ten minutes of trying to puzzle it out I didn't have a clue how it worked. Poking at it though had proved a great way to pass the time. I certainly needed one because, no matter how much I prodded, Chiba refused to be drawn into conversation.

Ignoring Chiba for now, I refocused on the cafe. I swept my eyes over the tables, scrutinizing their occupants. It was too late for breakfast and too early for lunch, so the cafe's white, woven wicker chairs had few inhabitants. On the left side, an old man sipped coffee while reading a newspaper. Three tables over, a pair of ladies chatted while surrounded by shopping bags. A boy lurked in the far corner. He was a year or two younger than me and, given it was a school day, clearly playing hooky. Not that I had a lot of room to criticize. I was pretty sure Hinako had convened our class, destroyed room or no.

"So, where is she?" I asked, scanning the cafe one more time.

"Right here," a voice breathed into my ear.

I jerked. Instinct made me spin, and training caused me to lash out with the back of my fist. A green haired woman swayed out of range even as I pulled the punch. She wore an amused smile, and her ruby eyes danced. Hecate. I took in the sight of the woman. A violet business suit, black pumps, and heavy crystal earrings, a combination of fashion, power, and respectability. It was like catching a glimpse of Nabiki, ten years in the future.

"You're lucky I didn't take off your head," I said dangerously. I wasn't happy with being surprised. "I'm guessing that you're Hecate?"

"That is a name I use, but it would please me if you called me Setsuna," she answered. Setsuna's eyes drifted to the man beside me. "Mamoru, if you'd wait."

Chiba gave a faint nod and silently walked away.

I stood there for a long moment. There was something in Setsuna's posture that gave me bad vibes. A confidence, similar to mine, but different in its subtleness. The woman held herself as though the world was filled with marionettes, and it was she who held the strings. That presence chafed. I wanted nothing more than to prove that I could not be controlled. I did my best to smother that feeling. We were here for business, not to fight.

"So, what's the answer?" I asked, jumping to the heart of the conversation. "Are you going to help raid the Pretty Princess Institute or not?"

With light gesture, Setsuna dismissed my question. "Refreshments first, Saotome-san. I took the liberty of ordering for us." There was a slight pause and Setsuna's smile quirked the tiniest bit. "I'm not imposing too much, I hope?"

The way she said it left me with the impression that Setsuna was, in fact, trying to impose too much. I glared at her. I'm not here to fight, I reminded myself.

"Lead the way," I growled.

Grumpily, I followed Setsuna into the cafe and up the stairs to the balcony tables. Here, on the second floor, we were isolated from the other customers. It was perfect for a private conversation. Setsuna took the seat across from me, gracefully sliding into the chair, her long, dark green hair swaying with each motion. I dropped into my seat and folded my arms across my chest.

A waiter arrived moments later, quickly depositing a pair of steaming cups. Then came a broad, white platter... and another... and another. Each of the three dishes held a heap of breads and pastries. The tense atmosphere between Setsuna and I eased as I took in the sight.

"I trust that'll be enough to satisfy your appetite, Saotome-san?" Setsuna said. There was a gleam in her ruby eyes, a cat staring at a mouse.

I broke the gaze and looked again at the platters. Croissants, cakes, danishes, and donuts decorated the dishes. Each was a delectable morsel and not a single one defied my tastes. It was eerie. The knowledge of me Setsuna had shown thus far could have come from Chiba. Was Setsuna's selection a coincidence? No. Her smug confidence said it all. I know everything, and here is my proof. I could practically hear the words.

It was creepy. But a free-food creepy was something I was more than willing to put up with.

I made a wide gesture over the food to confirm my impression. "This is for me?"

"Of course. A lady like myself could never consume so much. Though I recommend that you save the sweeter rolls for later. It wouldn't do for you to suffer an unintentional relapse."

I peered at Setsuna, but her polite smile gave nothing away. The manner in which she had worded her reply left little question that she knew the nature of my plans. I found myself growing more irritated but beat back the feeling by shoveling food into my mouth.

"Saotome-san," Setsuna began. She stopped. "May I call you Ranma?"

The request for familiar address made me pause. I stared then grunted an affirmative.

"Ranma-kun," Setsuna continued, "There are so many things you need to be told but, alas, now is neither the proper time nor the proper place. But, before I drag this conversation on too long, allow me to give my answer."

I stopped, my fingers paused over the second platter, the first already demolished. I took the time to swallow and met the woman's ruby eyes.

"Well then, what's it going to be?" I asked.

Setsuna did not turn away, her gaze remained steady while her face conveyed regret which, even to me, looked forged. "I'm afraid, Ranma-kun, that the senshi will not assault the Institute."

Silently, I pulled my hand away from the platter and pushed back my seat. I felt a spike of resentment, and berated myself for it. When had I started thinking I'd be doing this with anything but my own strength? How was it that I was irked by the refusal of a stranger? Hope. That was the answer. Hope had snuck its way into my thinking.

I crushed my emotions and stood. "Can't say I'm surprised," I said, doing my best to remain polite. "Thanks for the food, but if you aren't helping, I have things that need doing."

I moved to leave, but Setsuna spoke up.

"If you'd remain, Ranma-kun."

I stopped, one hand on the back of my chair while I glanced back at the woman. My feelings had been right. Setsuna was playing with me. Now it was time for her to reveal her hand. But I was no longer in the mood to listen.

"Whatever you are selling, I'm not interested. I've got too much on my plate right now. I don't need more games."

"Even if I were to offer assistance in your endeavor?" Setsuna asked while cradling her cup.

My eyes narrowed, but Setsuna's smile remained serene. The bitch was manipulating me. No sooner did I think that, then did Setsuna's lips curve wider as though she were aware of my thoughts and pleased with my realization.

"Let me guess. This is the part where you name your price."

Setsuna didn't answer. Instead she quietly sipped her tea. Waiting. Waiting until I sat. I stood stubbornly for a while, trying to win the unspoken contest. In the end it was I who gave in, my pride yielding to my desire for help.

"There is no price, Ranma-kun. From the very beginning I had intended to aid you in your task," Setsuna began. "How could I not? The Institute is a cancer – one that is quickly becoming malignant. To leave the Institute unopposed would be to invite the destruction of mankind as we know it."

"Yeah," I drawled. "That's nice and all. The Pretty Princess Institute is an ultra evil organization that's going to destroy the world. Whoop-dee-doo. Now maybe you can clear up my confusion here, cause I'm pretty sure I heard you say you are and aren't helping. So which is it?"

"Oh, but Ranma-kun I never said I wouldn't help," Setsuna answered. "I merely said that the senshi would not assault the Institute. A more limited role, however, is acceptable. If you agree, my companions Uranus and Neptune, as well as myself, will provide protection to any young lady that escapes."

I leaned forward and glared across the table. "Let me see if I got this straight. You think the PPI is going to destroy the world and the only thing you're willing to do is escort prisoners to safety? What the hell is wrong with you?"

Setsuna failed to answer. I stewed in my seat for a while, watching the woman drain her tea with slow sips. The only reaction I could detect was one of amusement.

"Well?" My question was a demand.

Setsuna delicately plucked a pastry from the only remaining dish. She played with it for a silent second. "If you had the chance to travel back in time and kill Hitler, would you?"

"What does that have to do with anything?"

"Everything," Setsuna answered without hesitation. "It is a classic hypothetical question. Is it right to slay a single man if it guarantees the lives of millions? Is it right, even if he has yet to commit the crime?

"Of course, killing Hitler wouldn't accomplish anything. A fate set in motion by the will of tens-of-millions is not swayed by so small a thing as a single life. A pity really. If it were, my job would be much simpler."

Setsuna paused while the waiter refilled her cup. Then she dunked her pastry into the amber liquid, allowing it to soak before taking a bite.

"But let us set that aside for a moment and pretend that slaying Hitler would, in and of itself, prevent the second world war. One man's death and millions are spared. Would you do it?"

"No," I answered. I leaned back in my chair. "I'd probably just kidnap the bastard, use some techniques to wipe his memory, and then dump him in a city on the other side of the world."

Setsuna laughed. "A lovely answer, Ranma-kun. Lovely. But, that is where we differ. You see, I would do nothing. Nothing at all."

I snorted a half laugh, wondering why I was letting myself to be dragged into this conversation. "So you'd let everyone die then?" I shook my head. "Not that I am here to philosophize. In fact, I don't really care about any of this, but I'm assuming that somewhere in all this you have a point. Other than that you're a cold hearted bitch."

Setsuna didn't flinch at my insult. Instead she gave an indulgent smile, an adult looking down upon a naive child.

"You misunderstand, Ranma-kun. My choice was not born from callousness. I merely considered what you have not. You weighed the obvious consequences, but in doing so neglected that which was hidden. Consider, for a moment, what would happen if the second world war didn't occur. Certainly, millions would be saved, but at the same time the status quo would have been preserved. Imagine, for a moment, a world where all the hostilities that caused that war persisted, waiting to be unleashed by the slightest spark. Imagine a world where racial hatred, bigotry, and eugenics had not yet been painted with the brush of indescribable evil."

A chilling smile crossed Setsuna's lips, "Imagine a world filled with nuclear weapons, whose power man did not yet comprehend. Do you, Ranma-kun, think that world would be a better world? Would that world teeter on the edge of the abyss and pull back? Or would it fall in?"

Setsuna waited, letting her words sink in. "That is why I let Hitler live. That is why, I cannot, and will not ask my fellow senshi to go to war with the Institute even though it must be destroyed."

Setsuna's last three words echoed in my head. I sought an answer, but found none. Instead, I began to wonder what were the dire consequences Setsuna believed would result from involving the senshi. Did she fear they would lose? Did she fear they would be captured?

I shook my head. It didn't matter. I was being sucked into a trap. There was no need for me to think about useless things. Yeah, it was hypocritical, but I wasn't here to play hero. I was here to save my friends.

When put like that, things became simple. Whatever Setsuna offered, I'd take. If she used me? So what. It wasn't like I wasn't using her. If her goals were good, and I ended up saving the world, great. If this was all one great big scheme to substitute one evil organization with another, I'd deal with it later. For now, all I needed to think about was saving Akane and Ukyou.

"You know what, I really don't care. Your reasons are your reasons. Whatever help you are offering, I'll take it," I said, putting my thoughts into words. "Now, if we're done here, I've got a lot of things that need doing."

"There is more, Ranma-kun," Setsuna answered.

Irritation flashed across my face. I had enough deep thinking for the day. "What is it? And make it quick."

"Gifts," Setsuna answered.

From her purse Setsuna pulled two manila envelopes. In purple pen the words 'Retreat' and 'Attack' were written in graceful script. She pushed the thinner folder labeled 'Retreat' toward me.

"The first is-"

"No," I said, shoving the envelope back. "I have no intention of leaving. I wouldn't run if I was the only target. I definitely won't while Akane and Ukyou need rescuing. I don't run away."

"As you say," Setsuna said, returning the manila envelope to her purse. Then she pushed the folder labeled 'Attack' forward. "Please accept this then, Ranma-kun. Feel free to use it in any way you wish."

I stared at the fat folder for a long time, considering how much help I really wanted to take. Finally, I decided that I shouldn't be looking gift horses in the mouth and snatched it up.

"Don't think this means I owe you any favors." I glared across the table, daring her to say something different.

Setsuna didn't answer. Instead she waved the waiter to our table and settled the bill. My curiosity got the better of me and with some effort I opened the manila envelope and peered inside. A single thin magazine was scrunched to the side, held in place by a thick bundle of paper. I recognized the bundle instantly, but spread the folder wider just to confirm it.

"Is this a joke?"

My eyes shot to Setsuna, who was now two paces from our table. The woman paused, and looked back.

"Certainly not," she answered. Then she began to walk into the darkness of the cafe. She was at the threshold when she stopped and looked back a second time. "Oh, one last thing, Ranma-kun. When you are lost in the darkness, and an enemy offers a hand. Take it or be destroyed."

I jumped up from my seat. "What?"

Setsuna didn't look back a third time, and continued walking as though she hadn't heard me. I scurried after her, quickly disentangling myself from the table before making a rapid pursuit.

"Wait!" I called out. "I can't accept this."

No answer. I reached the cafe's interior a second later and glanced around while my eyes adjusted to the dimmer light. Setsuna was nowhere to be found.

Stumped I looked down at the envelope. What was I supposed to do with a Kuno-sized bundle of cash? Dizzy from the thought of how much money had been thrust into my hands, I stumbled back to the table and picked up the paper sack that contained what remained of brunch.

I paused and glanced at the envelope a second time. I opened the folder again and slipped out the thin magazine. A single glimpse was all it took to make my mind to go blank. A second later my cheeks were flushed with embarrassment. Quickly, I shoved the catalog back inside so it would be hidden, and shot a glance in every direction to make sure nobody else had seen it.

I was alone.

I let out a breath and stared at the envelope. Well. Beggars can't be choosers.

-oOo-

Sitting upon a cold stone bench, I viewed the last station of my venture. Unassuming glass doors embedded in brick delineated my final destination from the great outdoors. All that remained was for me to step inside and make my purchase. With that simple act, I would procure what I needed to triumph over the Pretty Princess Institute. Ukyou and Akane's freedom was so close I could taste it.

Yet, here I sat, trembling, muscles leadened, and limbs locked in place. I could not make myself rise. I was bound by the shackles of my mind.

Foolish, I berated myself. I needed to do this. Back in the bathhouse, I had made my choice. But those simple platitudes were not enough, and I could not hide from myself their faint falsehood. I had been victorious over Michiko and Kodachi. I could be victorious again. But that thinking was naïve. Arrogance and pride sought to lead me into delusion. I knew that well, because I could not forget the bitterness of my previous defeats.

The possibility of stealth, however, was a far more alluring fantasy.

On the surface it was simple. A quick trip in and out of the Institute. A sneaky bastard like me could pull that off with little trouble. Even were I wrong, I had the umisenken. With that technique's ghostlike aura, I doubted any magical girl would have a hope of stopping me.

But that was where the idea died. It wasn't my sneakiness that mattered, but that of the girls. Ukyou at least, had potential. Akane, however, was a powder keg waiting to blow. If she didn't tamper down on her emotions, she'd give us away without a second thought. That was only the start of my problems. I'd seen both of the girls fight enough to know their training in stealth was slim to none. That was a problem I couldn't overcome. Stealth couldn't be coached on mission, and the umisenken only affected the user.

Strange, how recognizing that made me feel better. I didn't like the idea of unleashing the umisenken. My reasons for sealing the technique hadn't changed: too tempting to use and too easy to duplicate. That my Pop chose to bury the technique said a lot, and I wasn't eager to undershoot my father when it came to personal responsibility.

And that left me here, staring at certain doom. Funny how doom could take the form of a small shop wedged between others in an open air mall. It looked so innocent like that, as though its existence was ordinary. Personally, I'd have preferred a pet shop. Compared to this, petting cats sounded pleasant.

... okay. That was a lie. This was better than petting cats. Marginally.

Still glued to the concrete bench, I went through my internal mantra another time. It had to be done. I've already decided. Get up Ranma, enter the store, buy what you need, and obtain the power to face the Pretty Princess Institute.

My legs refused to budge, and I found myself courting an even greater delusion. That, without additional power, I could win.

A monsters like Chiyo? No sweat. I could handle it. Akina and her magical lullaby? Hah! That was an easy one. I'd just crush her before she could sing. Gondul with her lightning spear and flying wolf. I'd just jump up and kick both of their asses before we hit the ground.

Yeah. Right. I nearly croaked while facing Saffron, and I'd been wielding a magic stick at the time. Some of these girls were playing in the same league he was. Even those that weren't – Akina, Michiko, and Kodachi – were still plenty dangerous.

I had to face it. This fight was stacked in the favor of my enemies. That didn't scare me, but I wouldn't be half the fighter I was if I didn't do a little cheating myself.

Which meant I had to walk through the double doors and into hell.

But, before I could do that, I had to confirm that there wasn't an out.

"Hey," I shouted at the rooftops. "I know you're shadowing me, so come out where we can talk."

It was Hikaru that dropped from the top of the building across the courtyard and to my right. He gave me a lazy grin, not looking the least bit apologetic.

"Damn, you're good," Hikaru said with a note of praise. "When did you spot me?"

I scowled. It had been Chiba who had been ghosting my steps this morning. Apparently, I missed the moment when the two had switched out. Not that I was going to tell Hikaru that.

"What are you doing following me, anyway?" I asked.

"If you haven't noticed, the PPI has been pulling out the big guns. It's pretty obvious you're being targeted," Hikaru explained.

"I'm neither blind nor stupid," I replied. "Besides, at least half the girls flat out told me they were after me. So it isn't exactly a secret. That still doesn't explain why you are here."

Hikaru gave a tight smile. "I'm just keeping an eye on things."

"I don't need your protection," I grumbled. "In case you missed it, I can damn well take care of myself. I even had Michiko down until the stupid brat shoved himself into the fight."

Hikaru cocked his head to the side. "No shit?"

"No shit," I answered.

To prove my point I pulled Michiko's glasses from a pocket, and twirled them in my fingers. I grinned as Hikaru's face lit up with recognition.

"You stole her glasses!" Hikaru said, his words obscured by laughter.

"Yeah." My grin turned to a smirk and I placed the glasses on my nose. Adopting a blank expression I pushed lenses up and said, "The probability of victory is zero per- Holy crap!"

Orange lights raced across the lenses, and wire frame boxes were etched into the glass. The glasses had come alive, activated by the touch of my fingers. Now the world was highlighted by a heads-up-display. Numerical entries appeared over objects, and Hikaru was highlighted with a ghostly orange light. I glanced down at myself, I was also highlighted, but in green with orange speckles. I shifted my eyes around, but the throng of humanity gained no such designation.

"What is it?" Hikaru asked.

"Michiko has some nice glasses," I explained.

On the top of the lenses, near the rims was a series of selection boxes: zoom, auto-adjust, shade level, and many others I did not comprehend. I probed the frames for a few seconds, and found that tapping the tops of the rims activated the 'buttons'. I hit zoom a few times, and the world sprang closer increasing to a four times factor before cycling back. I moved my fingers to the auto-adjust, but my exploration was aborted when Hikaru jerked the glasses from my head.

I turned to glare at the dirty blond, who now had Michiko's glasses on his own nose. Hikaru smiled with child-like delight as he toyed with the device. I grudgingly gave him twenty seconds before snatching them back.

"Those are mine, buddy. Spoils of war."

Folding the glasses, I slid them into a pocket so Hikaru wouldn't be tempted into nabbing them again. I gave him another glare and then fell silent. It took me a second to realize that I had yet to broach the conversation I'd called him down for.

"How did you end up with your powers? I mean, the whole magical boy thing?" I asked.

Hikaru grimaced. He glanced at the store and back at me, his expression twisting the whole way. Finally, he let out a sigh. "I suppose I owe you the conversation about this," he said, fishing out his candy bar phone and waving it around briefly.

My eyes caught the phone. I'd forgotten about that. "Yeah, you do," I said, voice grim.

"Where to begin?" Hikaru let out a long breath. He scratched his chin. "You know, when I stop and think about it, the story is actually really long and complicated. I'll try to make it short and stick to the highlights."

Hikaru paused and gathered his thoughts. "Okay. When I was young, dumb, and twelve, I thought I was in love. The girl in question, well..., she thought the same thing. Sounds good, right? Unfortunately, the girl was a magical girl. Neither of us really understood what that meant back then, so we hooked up, not much different than normal kids that age do. Shit happened. Adventures, hijinks, you know the drill. Next thing we knew, the two of us were caught in the magical equivalent of a marriage."

"Ouch," I interjected.

I winced in sympathy. For all my complaints, Pop had saved my engagement until I was sixteen, and part of me still held hope that the entire affair would miraculously disappear.

"Yeah, well, sometimes life sucks," Hikaru said with a shrug and a wan smile. "After the whole marriage thing it was like 'bang', super Hikaru. Actually, that was kind of the point. We only figured out the whole 'destined to fight at her side for all eternity' thing later."

Hikaru chuckled, his eyes focused on distant memories. "To tell the truth, in the beginning it wasn't so bad. I kind of liked the 'battling the forces of darkness' gig. Then, like with many marriages, reality settled in. One day I woke up and realized that Chiyo was an evil, twisted bitch. It was maybe a month after that when Chiyo figured out that she batted for the other team. Things went down hill from there."

I couldn't help but interrupt. "Chiyo?" I asked, incredulous. "Really, Chiyo? Isn't she, like, fifteen?"

"Chiyo is five months older than me. She doesn't look it, though. One of those magical girl things." Hikaru leaned back and stared at the sky. "Life is a strange thing. Even though I hate her, I love her. I suppose she must feel the same way. Not much choice, really, since the two of us are bound by the red shackles of fate."

I couldn't help but shake my head. "You might actually be the first person I've met with a love life more screwed up than mine."

Where Hikaru leaned back, I leaned forward. I couldn't help but grimace. I'd been looking for another way to 'power up' so to speak. Getting permanently and magically married to random girl D was not on the list of acceptable methods. Not that the answer I had was a whole lot better.

"What about Chiba, how did he get his powers?"

Hikaru snapped out of his reminiscing. "He is the destined love of Sailor Moon, either that or he's the Prince of Earth. I was never too clear on which of those two resulted in his powers. Why?" Hikaru asked, frowning. "You aren't planning on going in there, are you?"

Hikaru made a thumbing motion to the store I'd been looking at earlier. My gut lurched just thinking about it.

"I'd rather not, but I'm not seeing any alternatives," I replied. "How about the homicidal brat?"

"His mother was a magical girl. She got captured by the Pretty Princess Institute and killed herself to help Fumio escape. Don't ever tell him I told you that," Hikaru said. Then he leaned forward with a serious expression on his face. "You do realize what tenki will do to you, don't you?"

I gave Hikaru a nasty look, "I trained in a couple of monasteries when I was younger. Had more talent for priest techniques than Pop, but that's like saying snakes fly better than rocks. Believe me, I know what is involved. There wouldn't be a point to purifying yourself over and over again if the effect wasn't cumulative and permanent. So, yeah, I've got a pretty good idea what the consequences of tenki are."

Hikaru waved his hands in front of his face, "I'm not trying to start a fight here, I just wanted to make sure you thought this through. You know, you don't have to go there. Most girls wouldn't wear that kind of stuff. Not in public, anyway."

"I've met a few that would," I scowled at the store.

Angelic Pretty. That was the name of the boutique. Along with two-hundred-thousand yen, Setsuna's manila envelope had contained a catalog for that store. In any other circumstance, I would have been pissed that she sent me here. But I had already planned something similar myself, as such, I was a little grateful that Setsuna saved me from having to ask around.

If the store's name was bad, the contents were worse. A glance through the glass doors revealed a scene born from my nightmares. Pink, frills, lace, dresses, skirts, and bows, every garment contained within was woven from retched sweetness. The store was an eldritch abomination. A place like that was not built with human hands, but rather summoned from a netherwold by means of an unspeakable ritual.

Angelic Pretty. A place of horrors. A man could go mad simply gazing upon it.

I didn't belong in such a place. If I crossed that threshold, if I donned such garments, a precious innocence would be torn from me. Dared I do such a thing? Surely, the fact I had even thought of it showed how deeply into madness I had already descended.

And yet, what I was planning was even worse. Tenki. The willful act of taking that toxic cuteness and carving it into my soul. Tenki, profane as it was, would give me monstrous power, but, in turn, leave me irrevocably changed. I'd sooner strike a deal with the devil.

But Akane and Ukyou were in need of saving, and a devil had yet to present itself to me.

"You don't need to do this to yourself. Even if you're going to go magical girl, you don't have to go as that," Hikaru explained.

I sighed. Hikaru was only repeating things I had already thought, and it wasn't helping to shore up my resolve.

"If I had a week or two, yeah," I answered. "With that much time I could train myself to act all girly and throw together a tolerable costume. Maybe I could become Dojo Doll Ranko, or Battle Angel Ranko, or something else equally stupid but infinitely more tasteful.

"Hell. Give me a few months, and I could develop an array of techniques based off my ikisasu and avoid the whole magical girl question all together. If I got real lucky, maybe I would stumble upon something just as good as tenki with less severe drawbacks. But, Hikaru, I don't have that kind of time. I saw Kodachi. Chiyo messed with her pretty bad, and Kodachi couldn't have been in the PPI's hands for long. If she had been, I'd have known. Kuno would have made his sister's disappearance nice and clear."

Which meant dressing in cute frills, pink, and enough sweet-lolita fashion to make Akane retch. Tenki required a megami no ooi, an aura of beauty, and that wasn't something I could create from scratch in short order. For better or worse, Chiyo had hit me with her cotton candy cocoon. I'd confirmed, after my visit with Setsuna, that some of it had stuck. My female form's hair had grown several inches and had pink highlights. More than that, my aura as girl had been twisted into a radiance of angelic sweetness.

It wasn't much, and it definitely wasn't the way I'd have liked it, but it gave me something to work with.

"It's my damn choice, Hikaru," I said. "I know you mean well, but you don't know me well enough to be sticking your nose this far into my affairs."

Hikaru closed his eyes and turned his back to me while shaking his head. With three leaps he'd climbed back up to top of the buildings that towered around us. I didn't even look to see where he'd gone. Instead I stared at the double doors, my stomach doing cartwheels the entire time.

Then, reluctantly, I stood and walked each torturous step toward to the nearby fountain.

-oOo-

"Hey, Syaoran," Hikaru called out waving an arm.

A lanky, brown haired man in green, chinese battle-robes stepped away from the brick wall of a Akihabara electronics store. Syaoran was clearly older than me, but not by a whole lot – mid twenties at most. Despite being in the heart of Tokyo, the warrior monk had a jian sheathed at his belt. I also caught glimpse of ofuda stashed up his sleeves, so the man had mystical power to back his martial strength.

The bustling crowds ignored Syaoran, passing around him with little more regard than a long glance. Here, where cosplay was common, he was dismissed as just another man playing pretend.

Syaoran approached, his eyes sweeping across us. They didn't slow as they passed over Fumio and Chiba, but they paused noticeably on me and the duffel bag I had slung over my shoulder. I returned a friendly grin, and was summarily ignored. I guess not everyone had heard of Ranma Saotome. I'd have to work on that.

"Nigata," intoned Syaoran, nodding to the dirty-blond. He merged with our group and matched our pace. "Give me more warning next time. My wife couldn't make it. I nearly didn't myself."

"Nice to see you too, Syaoran. Did you make arrangements?"

"Sakura and Tomoyo are renting flats in Hong Kong," Syaoran answered. "No news yet on how we'll get the girls there."

"Don't worry, we're working with Hecate," Hikaru said, slapping the other man on the shoulder.

Syaoran nodded thoughtfully. "Transport and retreat are covered. What's the plan?"

"He's the plan," Hikaru said, gesturing to me.

I smirked. "Best plan you'll ever get. Ranma Saotome," I said, introducing myself.

"Syaoran Li," Syaoran replied. He gave me a measuring gaze. "How are we going to do this?"

"I sneak in and snoop around until I find where they keep their prisoners. I blow the shit out of the walls. You guys fly in after that and scoop everyone up. Then we make a fighting retreat to wherever Sets- ...err.. Hecate has stashed herself."

Syaoran nodded, and looked contemplative. "Simple. But it could work. Our role is pretty small in this." Syaoran's eyes shifted to the tall blond-haired man at his side.

"This is more of a personal affair for Ranma," Hikaru stated, his disapproval evident.

I gave Hikaru my best scowl. He meant well, but I was getting tired of his all too clear desire to protect me from myself.

"I said I'd grab all the girls I could, didn't I?"

My answer didn't make Hikaru look any happier.

Hikaru sighed. "I'm not trying to tell you what to do, but you really don't fully understand what you're risking here. Hell, what I'm risking, Chiba is risking, and even Syaoran is-"

Hikaru suddenly went silent. Syaoran had placed a firm hand on the man's shoulder, and now was gently shaking his head.

"Nigata, he has those he must protect," Syaoran said, as though it explained everything.

In a way, it did. It wasn't how I'd have phrased it, but it carried the essence of my feelings. I had to save Ukyou and Akane. Doing so was not something as simple as merely caring for them or wanting to protect them though. For me, it was as though my soul would die if I didn't pour every breath and ounce of strength into trying. To refuse or back down was against my nature. No matter the risk, it was impossible for me to do so. A Ranma Saotome that could leave Akane and Ukyou to their fate, was no Ranma Saotome at all.

I don't know how much of that Syaoran understood. Hikaru, however, didn't get any of it. I could tell that much from his belligerent expression.

"What will you do if you can't save them?" Hikaru challenged.

I met the dirty-blond's eyes and stared right into them. "My choice, Hikaru. I'll save all the other girls I can. I owe you that much, and I'm too nice to do otherwise. But I won't leave without Akane and Ukyou."

Even if that meant I never leave, I finished internally. Then I broke my gaze with Hikaru. I would waste no more words on that man. No matter what I said, he would never grasp what it was that drove me. Instead, I strode forward on our path, momentarily taking the lead.

I stopped a dozen steps later, and my face transformed into a fierce scowl. We had crossed this intersection thrice already. I twisted to vent my wrath, but froze when a cool, mysterious voice spoke up.

"Twenty more steps."

How I had missed her, I didn't know. A woman with long green hair, a dark miniskirt, and a white seifuku style top was standing in the center of a busy two lane street. She smiled at me knowingly. My mind wobbled at the sight of her. Part of me was saying I recognize this woman, while the rest of me made it quite clear that we had never met.

The green haired woman tapped her key shaped staff of the ground once. Even over the traffic, the soft thud could be heard, as though the blow had been to my head. With a jerk, my thoughts rearranged themselves. Suddenly, I knew who I was looking at. Setsuna. Hecate. Those were the names the woman used.

I wondered briefly, how it was that I had forgotten her distinctive features even while knowing the answer. Then, my thoughts shattered when I noticed something stranger. Setsuna was standing in the middle of a busy city street. She was standing in the street and cars were passing through her.

Setsuna's smile only became more mysterious. "Twenty more steps," she reminded.

With a touch of hesitation, I moved forward, only for the others to brush by. As one they stepped into the Tokyo traffic as though it didn't exist. As I followed, I realized that it didn't. With every step the landscape faded away. The concrete blocks of the side walk transformed into a cobble path. The cross street ahead vanished entirely. Tall buildings that loomed over us turned to fog, and then that fog broke revealing gentle, green slopes sheltered by the shadow of well spaced trees. Wrought iron fence appeared out of nowhere, encircling the hills.

Stunned, I stopped and looked back. Behind me was Akihabara, crowded and bustling. My eyes returned to the fore, light woodland surrounded by an elegant gate. My gaze went higher. Sprawled atop the tallest hill was a western manor. The building's center was that of a castle, with steeples and towers. Branching off from the building were two wings: The eastern wing was blocky, three stories tall, and evoked the image of a Japanese school. To the west was a squat, elongated arm that stretched out, looking tagged on to the otherwise artistic structure.

This was the Pretty Princess Institute.

"The fence is the boundary of Artemis's dominion," Setsuna explained. "All within it, the hills, the trees, and the school itself are things she has willed into existence. Everything you see here is the product of her shuken."

Setsuna faced me when I stopped beside her. Her ruby eyes met my own and gave nothing away. I looked to the side a second later and focused instead on the school.

"Neat," I said. "But where the hell did all this come from?"

"The Pretty Princess Institute exists within a locked space. The path you walked acts as a key, allowing entrance to this place. Simple, but sufficient to dissuade casual visitors. The only passage to Artemis's realm is through that gate."

I nodded, and peered through the iron bars. No guards on the other side. I didn't see anyone hanging around the school either. I was a bit surprised. With Setsuna and her two similarly uniformed companions, Uranus and Neptune I presumed, our group was up to eight. I would have thought a gathering of that size would have attracted at least a little attention.

"They've got crappy security," I noted.

"Your presumption is reasonable, but not entirely correct," Setsuna countered. "While the space beyond is Artemis's realm, the space we stand in now is mine. A bubble over a bubble. An impenetrable fortress that only allies can reach. But this realm comes with consequence. While we stand here, within my space, we see only a fragment the Institute's truth."

I nodded, and did my best make sense of that information. "So, I take it that means somebody could be standing on the other side of the fence and we'd never know?" I gazed again past the gate, with new appreciation of the dangers that lay beyond. "Heh, and here I was thinking this might be too easy."

"Correct," Setsuna answered. An enigmatic smile crossed her lips. "However, there is a second advantage we possesses. Artemis's realm is also a prison. As I am a warden, I am allowed special privileges."

Setsuna punctuated her speech by tapping her staff on the grass beside the cobble road. All at once, the world began to spin. The gate vanished to my left, the fence blurring into transparent darkness as the iron bars lost distinction. The manor turned more slowly, twisting until it's back faced us. All the while the ground underneath my feet stood still, even as the grass less than an arm's reach away flashed past in rolling hills.

Then, as quick as it started, the rotation stopped. Setsuna tapped her staff a second time, and solid iron fence started to twist. The low brick wall tore itself apart forming a frame, and metal bars stretched out into a welcoming arch.

"This will be our entrance," Setsuna said. "More importantly, as long as I stand within this realm I can open a portal for you anywhere along the Institute's fence. While you undertake your task, Uranus and Neptune will remain with me, stepping out as necessary to provide covering fire to anyone fleeing the Institute."

Bereft of an answer, I scratched the back of my head. Guilt nagged at me. At yesterday's brunch, I had gotten angry at the minor role Setsuna had taken. But my impressions had been wrong. There was nothing minor about the support Setsuna was offering. She had single handedly reversed a major tactical disadvantage.

Yeah, she wasn't taking any real risk, but I had been a bastard for not appreciating her support.

"Thanks," I mumbled. I looked away. To tell the truth, I was a little uncomfortable with the level of help I was getting.

With nothing left to say, I took a few steps forward and gazed through the fence and at the building on the hill. The Pretty Princess Institute. Akane. Ukyou. I was here now, ready to free the girls who had been kidnapped in Furinkan. I hoped I wasn't too late. I closed my eyes and imagined what I would do if, like Kodachi, they were enemies I had to defeat.

Yeah. If it came to that the answer was clear. I'd take them down and drag their asses out, kicking and screaming.

With renewed focus, I opened my eyes and drowned myself in the whirl of tactics. While the front entrance had been relatively open, the back gate was hidden by loosely grouped trees. The cover was far from good, but it would probably be enough assuming that the PPI didn't run constant patrols.

There would be guards of some sort. Sure, the Institute was a school, but the students weren't willing participants. They would need a few good men... err.. women to keep things in line. Also, the Institute had enemies. Enemies like me. There was even a chance that Artemis was aware of Setsuna and her ability to attack from any direction.

Patrols. Guards. A defensible building. How would I approach? The trees were obvious. If I got up and into branches, the cover would be pretty good. That would get me close. Close enough to cross the last bit of open ground. From there, the roof, assuming it was clean. Once atop the Institute I could get in through the windows, if they weren't locked. If they were, well, I could risk compromising my stealth by cutting a hole through the roof.

After that, my plan got real simple. Floor by floor, room by room, I would search the Institute while trying to remain unseen. I'd start with the east-wing, mostly because it looked like a school. After that, the center and then the west-wing. Assuming I found Akane and Ukyou, then, bang, I'd blow out the nearest walls and start taking down girls until the calvary arrived.

Easy enough.

Shifting my weight, I let the duffel bag swing off my shoulder. I set the bag on the ground and grabbed the zipper. Avenues of failure continued to assault me. How thick were the walls? What if I couldn't break them? Hmm. If it came to that, I break the windows instead. If I fired a few ki blasts into the air I was sure to get Hikaru's attention.

I opened the duffel bag and cringed. Folds of bright, glittering pink and white cloth popped out. My cheeks burning, I quickly shifted my body to block the bag from the sight of the others. It was a stupid reaction, they'd all see the pool of frills, ribbons, and lace that were the bag's contents soon enough.

I glared at the dress that was shoved inside for a long moment. Yeah, I should have treated it better. Folding the dress poorly would only make tenki harder. I didn't regret the decision, though. It was a small, petty vengeance against an inanimate object, but it made me feel better.

For a moment, delusion hit me again. I didn't need tenki. I was strong enough on my own. If everything went right, I wouldn't have to fight anyway. Besides, things were looking up. Setsuna had tilted the odds further to my side than I had anticipated, and we had one more gun than I had been expecting.

But, the key words were, if everything went right. Things never went right. Hell. For me that was practically a law of nature. In all my life, I couldn't think of a single exception. The neko-ken, Jusenkyo, Herb, Saffron, even the time I spent with my mother. Things went wrong. It was a guarantee. That I survived all the crap life threw at me was a product of my strength, my ingenuity, and a good bit of luck.

Too much luck. I understood that now. Watching Akane come so close to death at the hands of Saffron had awoken me to the fact that things could go wrong permanently. I could die. Akane could die. Ukyou could die.

More than anything, that was the root of my decision. This rescue plan was a gamble, and it was a gamble I couldn't afford to lose. Tenki would do a lot to shift the odds in my favor at a price of introducing new risks. But those new risks affected only me, and I was more willing to put myself in danger than Ukyou and Akane.

So, the bag remained unzipped.

I reached inside and past the thick cloth of the dress. Fumbling around for a few seconds I found my target, a plastic bottle of water. I pulled off the cap and stared at the crystal liquid with a grim expression. Then I tilted the container and dumped it on the back of my neck.

I shivered at the cold water's touch as the change swept over me. There was no sensation to mark it. That had always seemed strange to me. Before Jusenkyo, I would have thought a metamorphosis from male to female would have been an unmistakable event. Instead, I had found that it was easy to miss the alteration altogether despite the eight centimeters of height I lost and the rather large pair of knockers Jusenkyo added to my chest.

Change complete, I started stripping my clothes. The red Chinese shirt was halfway over my head when two pairs white gloved hands seized me by the elbows and dragged me two dozen paces into a tent. I struggled against their grip the whole way, but my heart wasn't in it. It was only once I was in the tent that I was able to get the shirt the rest of the way over my head and see my captors. Uranus and Neptune.

"A lady should be more modesty," the sailor girl with pale green hair chided.

"Not that lacking modesty is a bad thing," the second sailor added.

The second sailor girl had short cropped blond hair and was leaning on my shoulder while leering down at my naked breasts. I jerked away from the girl and, feeling a bit awkward, obscured the organs with my forearm.

"In case you missed the transformation, I'm a guy," I snapped.

I glowered at the pair. I didn't like being treated as a girl, or worse, being expected to act like one. Two years of my curse had done little to change that.

The girl with pale green hair had an amused smile. "Now, now. A girl's charms are a special kind of magic, and shouldn't be shared so easily, lest they lose their power. That's true even if the girl in question is really a boy."

"I don't mind if you share your charms with me," the blond interjected, flashing a predatory smile.

The pale haired girl's teal eyes turned dangerous and focused on her companion, "Uranus, that isn't where your eyes belong."

The blond, Uranus, left my side and sauntered up to her partner. Uranus then wrapped an arm around the green haired girl's waist and pulled her close.

"If you want my eyes on you, Neptune, you'll have to offer something more enticing," Uranus teased.

Smack! With a sharp movement, Neptune slapped the blond haired girl. "I most certainly will not," Neptune snapped. Then her voice became quiet. "Not in public, and not tonight if you can't control yourself."

A sly smile crossed the blond's face. "Tomorrow, then?"

"Incorrigible," Neptune huffed before dragging her companion out of sight.

I stared and wondered what an appropriate reaction to a scene like that was. In the end, I shrugged and glanced around the canvas tent. It was big, with more than enough room for a couple of people to walk around in, but otherwise empty. Last time I checked, there hadn't been a tent outside the Institute's gates, so for there to be one now meant Setsuna must have magicked it up. I pondered that briefly, then gave another shrug, and started stripping. It wasn't as though I cared.

All my clothes, even the boxers, gathered in a pile on the nylon covered ground. After that I turned back to the open duffel bag. It was laying just off center of the tent. I hadn't seen which of the sailor girls had brought it in, but I wasn't going the complain about the convenience of not having to get it myself.

Stooping down, I began the task of unpacking. The clothes were set to the side, unfolded and organized. It was only once those were free that I gained access to my real targets. A small, cheap, hand mirror and a rectangular box stuffed with sweet tarts.

I paused to catch sight of myself in the mirror. A night had done a lot to blunt the effects of Chiyo's magic. Yesterday, when I had visited the grotesque boutique, Angelic Pretty, my hair had been streaked with pink and had teased my shoulder blades with the lengthened strands. Now, my hair had lost several centimeters in length, so that it was only marginally longer than that of my male form. The pink had faded further as well, vanishing into washed out highlights.

That would change.

My fingers grasped the top of rectangular sweet tart box, my nails slipping under cardboard and then prying it open. Lifting the box, I tilting back my head and poured the colorful, candies into my mouth. Crunch. Crunch. Crunch. My jaw worked hard to break up a mouthful of solidified sugar. Each bite unleashed a burst sweetness, and soaked up my saliva. Mouth drier than a desert, I gulped several times to swallow the contents, the powdered remains sticking to my throat. Desperately, I fumbled for the water bottle, ripped open the top, and drained it with one long swig.

"Ah," I let out in a breath of relief from the rush of cool liquid. Then I scowled down at the empty plastic container, and cringed at the half empty container of sweets. Bravely, opened my mouth and filled it once more. I chewed slowly this time, waiting for the rush of saliva to wet the absorbent sugar.

As I chewed, I watch myself in the mirror. Slowly at first, and then with a quickening pace, the effects of Chiyo's magic renewed.

In less than a minute thin streaks of pink swelled until the glittery streams washed away the bright red of my hair. The strands stretched and lengthened as my jawline softened, making my facial structure more delicate. Other changes swept through my body. Calloused hands, rough and hardened from years of intense martial arts training, turned to tender flesh. Scars, most little more than faint streaks of white, smoothed into unblemished skin. My prized musculature lost its concreteness though, I hoped, little if any of its strength.

From cute to cuter, more than anything that was the nature of the changes Chiyo had wrought. I could grudgingly admit that there was some enhancement, but I wasn't fond of it. Strong, sexy, and athletic had given way to adorable, fragile, and feminine. That wasn't the direction of my preferences. Then again, the foundational concept of the megami no ooi was already foreign to my nature. I had little room to complain, for all that I might despise it, the changes wrought by Chiyo's cotton candy cocoon had given me an enormous head start.

I glanced at myself one last time using the mirror, then tossed it into the bag. The now empty box of sweet tarts joined it. I eyed a second box for a moment, then decided I didn't need it. The candy I had consumed had engendered the necessary shift in my aura, and, with the vestiges of drugged happiness already bubbling at the edges of my mind, I didn't want to risk further alteration. If I let myself go too far, I might be overcome entirely. Perhaps worse were the potential side affects of attempting tenki while within the grip of Chiyo's mental changes.

I shook my head and snapped my thoughts free. Instead, I turned my eyes to the clothes laid out on the ground. I grimaced slightly, but smothered the emotions while I took the time to get dressed.

Piece by piece, I assembled the ensemble. Undergarments, woven of frail fabrics, were slipped into place. I unrolled long, pearly white stockings around my toes and up my legs before securing them in place with the belts of the garter. Next, I pulled the dress of white cloth, pink ribbons, and plentiful lace, over my head, setting it firmly into place before starting the arduous task of tying the two dozen ribbons that held it into place. Last of all, I added the requisite makeup.

I paused then, staring down into the bag. Then, suddenly I smirked. With a flick of my wrist, Michiko's glasses teleported out of a sleeve. Daintily, I placed them on my nose. Might as well enjoy my new toy.

Picking up the hand mirror once more, I double checked myself. I looked exactly as I had imagined, disgustingly sweet. The dress I had chosen was over-the-top in a girly-girly kind of way. It didn't quite work with my complexion, either. I had a long way to go before I was ready to challenge Tsubasa to another cuteness contest. Hmm... should of gone with blue. I'd have to remember that next time.

A shudder ran down my spine. No next time. Never, ever, ever.

Satisfied, I discarded the mirror for the second time. Then I closed my eyes and took several long breaths to refocus my thinking. Everything up to this point was easy. What came next was far more terrifying.

Tenki.

The technique made me nervous, and for good reason. Tenki would change me physically and spiritually. That was scary enough, but what really had me scared was that I didn't know if I could pull it off.

Now, I wasn't a complete fool. I had spent a good bit of yesterday, cooped up in the warehouse Hikaru called headquarters, training. I'd learned the steps. I had burned hours forming and reforming my megami no ooi, helped along by a pastry induced sugar high. Afterwards, I had tried my hand at haigeki and shuken, the twin arts of wrapping an object with my aura, and then imposing my will upon it either by rejecting that which did not match, or empowering that which did.

There hadn't been a whole lot of time, but it had been enough to get me comfortable with the techniques.

Tenki, however, I hadn't dared to try. I was certain that, after last night, I knew how to pull it off. The principles behind it were simple enough. All I had to do was apply haigeki and shuken to myself with enough spiritual pressure and in the right proportions, and then I would 'transform' into a brand new, magical girl Ranma.

Of course, saying it was simple was a deception. Surgery is also simple. Cut only what needs to be cut, connect only what needs to be connected, and stitch only what needs to stitched. Stick to that, and finish before the patient bleeds to death, and everything will work out. Easy.

Easy. Only a madman would think that.

Tenki was similar. In the warehouse I had used both haigeki and shuken on target objects to test the technique. The most memorable of my experiments had involved nothing more than a crumbled up note with a dubious translation. The result had been... disturbing.

I had watched my chicken scratches straighten, the newly legible words reforming into an elegant script punctuated by cutesy hearts. Crumbles and creases vanished, only to be replaced by a pair of crisp folds. The lines that delineated the page crawled to the sides and rewove themselves into a pretty, pink border of vines and flowers.

Then, I had released the technique.

What came next told me everything I needed to know. Tiny tears opened in the paper, blackened, then curled. The ink bled, my scribbles blurring into unreadable blots as the lines restored themselves only partially to their prior existence. The borders faded into discolored water marks. The original page was rendered unrecognizable.

It was all too easy to imagine the same happening to me. My liver, ripping itself apart. Arteries forming tears that spurted blood out internally. The valves of my heart becoming misaligned. Tenki could kill. Even if it didn't kill, it transformed. The pink of the paper hadn't fully faded. If I used tenki, my soul would be stained by the effect. Forever.

My health, at least, I could guard. I had looked up the addresses of the nearest hospitals, and had resolved that when I released the technique, I would be standing in an emergency room already surrounded by doctors. My spirit, I could do nothing about, but a single tenki shouldn't cause changes that were more than irritating. My curse, however, was something I truly feared for. Who knew how those magics would interact? Turning myself into a magical girl was practically a request for the gods to make me female, permanently.

The risks of tenki were enormous. But so were its powers. Tenki would massively improve the potency of my spiritual techniques. Ikisasu would be amplified in its effectiveness and rendered strong enough to shred through auras like a hot knife through butter. I would gain the same invincibility as my foes, and an empowered aura which would passively resist the intrusive magic of my enemies, granting me resistance to Kodachi's poisons, and Akina's lullaby.

With tenki I would be superior offensively and defensively. That was exactly what I needed to win this fight.

So tenki it was. My decision was made. The time for hesitance and rethinking had ended. Through tenki, I would transfer the dangers and risks of this operation to myself, and in doing so improve the odds of saving Akane and Ukyou. That was all there was to it.

Time to begin.

I drew breath. Warm air flooded my lungs with the scent of greenery before flowing deep into my bronchial system. A million microscopic sacs expanded. Oxygen was exchanged for carbon dioxide. With it came ki, raw life force, thick and vibrant born directly from my core. It condensed inside me, saturating my breath so that when it poured forth, it did so in a seething mist filled with glowing particulate.

Ki pooled at my feet. New tendrils joined it. Worms of spirit force that wiggled up and out of the pores of my skin. The gathering aura crackled as the sources joined, forming an atmosphere that glided around me. I exhaled again. The aura grew more intense. Brilliant sparks manifested, shooting across the creases of my clothes, and rippling through my hair. Clouds formed around me, a murky storm of pink, punctuated with flashes of my normal blue hue. It was a tainted nimbus, a distortion made real by the magic I wove.

My face scrunched in distaste and then, instead of breathing out, I breathed in. I drank my own aura. It stank of sweat and was poisoned by a sickening tartness. Ki, polluted by Chiyo's power, burned my throat and lungs. My inner spirit reacted instantly, treating the intruder like nuclear waste. It launched in all out attack, burning away the invading ki with its greater power.

I made it stop. I forced my body to accept the distorted energies. I devoted myself to aiding the invader. I felt my soul twist under the force. I twisted it further.

All at once, the shroud of storm broke. Thick clouds dissipated into sparkles of white light. Tempest opened into sky, and my spirit cleared into a placid lake of crystal pink. Tension slipped from me, and I took this rare chance to let myself relax. I didn't wait long, the kink I had put in my soul grated on me.

Tedious described the next step. Appearances aside, the megami no ooi I had formed was well short of the quality demanded by tenki. Overcoming that obstacle required intense concentration. I had to will my spirit into place, fixing the tiny flaws, and adjusting my megami no ooi closer to perfection. There was no science to this technique, not for me. It was nothing more than tweak, and tweak some more until my aura resonated with the concept of physical beauty I had embraced.

Minutes past. I made changes, only to watch older ones slip through my fingers, again and again. It was frustrating, but I didn't allow that emotion to grip me. I pressed on until finally I reached it, the sweet spot. There was no mistaking the moment as anything else. What else could a sudden burst of glittering white hearts and pretty pink petals formed from my ki be?

I allowed myself to relax a second time and paid the price. Distaste marred the beauty of my face, and the megami no ooi so alien to my soul shattered. I grimaced, and the refocused myself. I buried my emotions in a soul of ice before trying again. This time the technique held.

There was no time to pause after this step. While retaining enough concentration to hold my megami no ooi in place, I now dedicated myself to the final step. I reached inside. Deep inside, hunting down the darkest pieces of my soul. From there I dredged up hatred, revulsion, and memories of all the things I despised. I took those emotions, distilled them into abhorrence, and then empowered them with my ki. The irony was tangible. Haigeki, the power to reject all things that did not match the beauty of my megami no ooi, fueled by my aversion to the same.

Against my will and my better judgment I hesitated. It was impossible not to. This was truly my final chance to back down. My hands shook with the importance of that moment, nervousness and fear running rampant. The power of haigeki was poised above my heart, and with a single thought I could slay myself.

I absorbed that preponderance, and rejected my own existence.

Haigeki, turned upon me with a puritanical zeal. It judged everything that defined me and found it wanting. Spiritual power met flesh and tore it apart. I had dipped myself in napalm and set it alight. For the briefest moment the torment of haigeki eclipsed consciousness, and my megami no ooi wavered. With grit, I ground my teeth and I renewed my focus. I would not be mastered by pain. Suffering was an old enemy, practically a friend, and Pop had often forced me to operate through torture only marginally less excruciating.

Nevertheless, what I did next was quite possible the hardest thing I had ever done. While in the throes of haigeki I refocused my will and prepared haigeki's opposite, shuken. To fuel shuken, the incarnate of dominion, I drew upon my most familiar of emotions: absolute confidence. I allowed shuken to build inside even as flesh blackened. Holding it. Feeding it. Nurturing it. Letting it grow to a crescendo. Then I set it free.

The first touch of shuken was like being dunked in cold water after a long hot day. Where haigeki was fire and pain, shuken was healing balm easing my wounds. Pain dulled and vanished as shuken flooded broken cells and reassembled what haigeki had destroyed. Two powers, opposite in nature, worked hand and hand. One, haigeki, tore apart the fortress call Ranma Saotome, the other, shuken, used the discarded stone to build a princess's palace in its stead.

In that respite, I pondered what tenki looked like. Was I, right now, undergoing a stereotypical magical girl transformation? At this moment my body was literally being reconstructed, so it wasn't impossible. I never got a chance to find out however, because right then the relief of shuken ended.

The healing chill of shuken changed in a single moment. What was once a blessed force grew treacherous and disgusting. Shuken no longer healed, instead it was a putrid ooze seeping into my open wounds. The slime crawled in through broken flesh, spreading toxic tendrils through muscle and then penetrating into my veins. The intruder flooded me, coating my insides, supplanting my organs with twisted mockeries. This was shuken's truth. A poison that changes. A force that dominates. The will to impose falsehood over truth.

Haigeki was bliss in comparison.

I hated it. Haigeki was fire, pain, and destruction, but shuken polluted. Shuken evoked in me a primal rejection. That hatred served to magnify haigeki. New pain surged as my destruction proceeded at a faster clip. Captured within this torment, shuken became the healer once more, and I longed desperately to be wrapped within its arms, and that longing became truth as the emotion empowered shuken further allowing it to hurtle ahead of the destructive force called haigeki.

And so the cycle continued. No longer was my will involved the process. I had no thoughts beyond the momentary torture of haigeki and the horrors of shuken. It did not matter. I had passed the turning point. Even without me willing it, haigeki and shuken continued their relentless work, never stopping and never yielding until perfection was reached. My magic was now a force in and of itself, a black hole that inescapably consumed, and consumed, and consumed...

... and then, nothing remained.

Ranma Saotome was dead. I, Ranma Saotome, killed him.

-oOo-

Ending Notes:

Trivia

Two-hundred-thousand yen – Approximately 2,000 dollars (us). A tidy sum, especially to a poor martial artist like Ranma. It is more than enough to purchase a rather expensive outfit and have plenty of money left over. For a fairly wealthy adult like Setsuna however, that sum of money wouldn't be especially large.

Red Thread of Fate – An Asian myth. This myth states that two individuals destined to be married are tied together by a red thread of fate. The notion is similar to the western idea of 'soul mates'. Hikaru references this indirectly, by saying that he is bound to Chiyo by the 'red shackles of fate'.

Akihabara – A district of Tokyo, famous for the high concentration of electronic and anime related goods. Appears often within anime and manga.

Jian – A Chinese doubled-edged longsword.

Ofuda – A paper talisman. In anime and manga these are commonly used as a base for anti-demon magics and other onmyoji / shinto priest style powers.

Characters

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

Syaoran Li [Resistance] – Husband of Sakura Li, and from the canon Card Captor Sakura, though it has been many years since the card captor days. Syaoran is a skilled (by normal terms) martial artist, but only has moderately superhuman physical capabilities. He is a powerful wizard and is one of those rare humans that is a natural at true priest techniques.

Syaoran and Hikaru have known each other for years, and between the two of them they run the 'magical girl underground railroad'. Usually Syaoran only handles transport and settlement, but on occasion he has offered direct assistance against the PPI. Syaoran has a personal beef with the PPI for forcing his wife to flee Japan, but is more interested in raising his two little children than fighting a war.