Haigeki

by Xylix

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

9. Gods and Monsters

Beta reader: obsidian_fox

-oOo-

"Thank you Saotome-sama," Emiko said. "Thank you."

I grimaced again and opened my mouth to give a response. A new voice cut in. It was honey sweet, sticky, and filled with acrid sarcasm.

"Isn't this a touching scene."

The speaker giggled sadistically. I turned to face her, but I already knew who it was. Chiyo Mori.

And I still had the damn choker around my neck.

-oOo-

Chapter 9: Gods and Monsters

-oOo-

The crowd flowing through Tokyo's subway evanesced, a falling tide of humanity vanishing into the corridors and exits. In the emptying room stood Chiyo, an adorable angel from the flaming pits of hell. Her smile shined with malice, and her fluffy pink dress, with all its lace and sparkles, only accentuated an aura of corrupted innocence.

"Chiyo Mori."

"Lovely to see you too, Ranma-chan. That was cruel of you, running off to fight Gondul instead of me. I was so disappointed. But here we are, together again! Oh, this is going to be so much fun."

Chiyo twirled, her arms spread wide. Her mocking giggle echoed through the vacant hall. It was midday, in the middle of the week. The chance a place like this would be empty was infinitesimal. But probability knelt before Chiyo. This was her magic at work. I could feel it in the air, a thin film scented with cinnamon, distorting reality to suit her whim.

Emiko untangled herself from my leg. She set herself before me. Light bent around her. Clothes evaporated into a hazy mist only to reform as solid, metal plates. The newly transformed magical knight set a gauntleted hand on the hilt of her sword.

"Saotome-sama, I'll h-hold her off." Emiko trembled as she spoke.

I stared at Emiko. Idiot. Chiyo would swat her like a fly. Hell, Emiko wouldn't buy me more than three steps. This was beyond stupid.

That was a sentiment Chiyo shared. Upon hearing Emiko's words, Chiyo threw back her head and loosed a gale of raucous laughter.

"You? Fight me?" Chiyo said between snickers. "Oh, isn't this cute. I'll tell you what. Since I'm a loving senshi, I'll take just one your limbs. Which would you prefer? Your left arm? Your right? Perhaps a leg instead?"

I stepped forward, calling attention to myself.

"You are here for me, Chiyo," I growled. I shot a glance at the magical knight. "Emiko, get the hell out of here."

"S-Saotome-sama," Emiko protested weakly.

"Leave. Now. That's an order," I barked. "And don't tell anyone anything. Got it?"

Emiko nodded, her face pale. She turned to the side and took a step toward the stairs. Whsst! Thung! In the blink of an eye a candy cane axe, half as long as I was tall, was embedded in a concrete wall. The shaft of the axe reverberated centimeters from Emiko's head. Across the hall, Chiyo smiled, her hand extended in a throwing motion.

"Now, now. I don't remember saying you could leave," Chiyo sang sweetly.

My hands tightened into fists. I stalked forward, my high heels sounding a staccato beat. I stopped within arms length of Chiyo and glared into her chocolate eyes. The two of us were nearly the same height, my taller heels giving me a slight edge.

"Let Emiko go, Chiyo," I said icily. "You didn't come here to play with bugs."

Chiyo tilted her head to the side. "I don't know," she wheedled. "I've always found squashing insects to be great fun. The way they wiggle and squirm, trying to scurry away on their broken limbs. The best part is how they keep twitching, still alive, glued to ground by their own guts."

With a huge, demonic grin, the girl pulled a second candy cane clip free. The ornament grew slowly. The haft thickened into a grip. The cute crook transformed into a cruel, double bladed hook. The blade's edge gleamed like steel.

My eyes returned to Chiyo.

"Would you rather play with her or me?" I challenged.

Chiyo set her axe against my cheek. The blade was warm and sharp. I stood still, fearless. If Chiyo wanted me dead, I would be dead. The woman was a monster, strong enough to make Saffron shiver and skilled enough to make Kodachi sweat.

I wasn't in her league.

Even if the choker was gone. Even if I was transformed. Even then the chances of victory would have been zero. The gap between us was too great. Raw spiritual power was a harsh mountain to climb. If I could not break Chiyo's aura, she remained invincible. To try would push me to my limits, leaving me void of strength – an invitation for counter attack.

It was hard to imagine what it would take to beat a demon like Chiyo, but triple teaming her with Saffron and Herb sounded like a good start.

"How terrible, asking me to choose," Chiyo cooed. She slid her axe across my face so the crook brushed against my neck. She paused and leaned to the side to peer behind me. "But, since the rat has already run, things are simple aren't they, dear?"

"I guess they are," I answered. The movement incurred by speaking caused the axe to bite. A tiny droplet began to worm its way across my flesh. "Since we are alone now, how about you tell me what you want?"

Chiyo's eyes shinned with glee. "What do I want? Oh. I love questions like that. I want so many things. Hmm..., where to begin? I know!" Chiyo leaned forward so that her nose nearly touched mine. "How about we finish what we started on the roof?"

My eyes narrowed. "The cocoon? That won't work. My spiritual matrix has crystallized. There is no changing my tenki now."

A bluff. One backed by fragments of truth. Frankly, I had no idea if Michiko's modifications had rendered me immune to Chiyo's cocoon. The theory was sound, but there were a boat load of unknowns involved.

"Oh? Is that what you think?" Chiyo said with false innocence. "And here I was planning to redo our tea party. But, since you brought it up, how about we give it a little test?" The sadistic girl waved a gloved finger under my nose and sweetly spoke her spell. "Cotton candy cocoon."

Thin threads of pink spiraled from the ground beneath me. The sticky strings wrapped around my legs in a thin shroud. The maw crept its way up, grabbing my waist. The attack was a hundred times slower than when she used it on the roof.

Chiyo was playing with me.

... No. I was wrong. It wasn't me she was playing with.

"Step away from Saotome," barked new voice.

Heavy steel boots clanged on cement. Mail armor rattled with each step. Gondul. The Valkyrie stopped half a dozen paces from us. In her right hand she held the almighty spear, Gungnir.

"Gondul!" Chiyo said cheerfully. "What a surprise, meeting you here."

Chiyo danced around me so that I was between her and the Valkyrie. She kept her axe pressed against my neck the whole time. Chiyo leaned against me, her petite breasts pressing into my back. In a playful gesture, she slung her free arm over my shoulder. Threads of cotton candy vanished into mist.

I turned my head carefully and hit the girl with a glare.

"Step away, Chiyo Mori," Gondul commanded a second time.

"Oh? And why should I do that?" Chiyo asked. "Saotome was mine first. Besides, she was just telling me how much she wanted to be a candy princess."

I gave an inelegant snort. "I don't belong to anyone."

"Don't say that, sweetie," Chiyo whispered into my ear. Her breath washed across my left cheek even as her axe dug into the right side of my neck. A wet tongue slithered along my earlobe leaving behind a cold chill. "You and I, we could have so much fun together. Two cute girls. There's no end to the games we could play," Chiyo breathed. "Or, if you don't swing that way anymore, there's always Hikaru. He's been so lonely without me."

I shivered. I was almost grateful when Gondul took two steps forward and her lowered spear into a ready position. The Valkyrie's feral eyes met mine, glimmering bloodlust buried within. Her gaze move past me and fixed on the foe dangling from my shoulder.

"I will not ask again," Gondul declared. Gungnir began to crackle as lighting played along its haft.

"Isn't this grand!" Chiyo laughed. "You are going to fight me. And here I was worried that the dog would heel to its master's orders."

Joyfully, Chiyo stepped back. Her axe blurred but failed to bite. Instead, the crook caught the band of my choker, severing it cleanly. The stone fell away and the flow of my ki normalized.

Suddenly I felt alive.

"Ranma-kun, I've changed my mind. What I want is to kill Gondul and her little dog too! You'll help, right?" Chiyo asked between cackles of mad delight.

I scratched at my neck while giving Chiyo a suspicious glance. She must have planned this from the start. But, choker gone or not, I was a long way from feeling comfortable with her at my back. My gaze shifted to Gondul. The Valkyrie's eyes met mine, awaiting my answer.

"Better than the Institute," I grunted. "One thing, though." I pointed at the giant spectral wolf that sat behind Gondul. "That is not a little dog."

Garmr chuckled, his deep, gravely voice booming off the chamber walls. "We meet again, slave girl. Will you impress upon me your worth? Or will you be crushed between my jaws?" he taunted. "Show to me your strength."

"Hold, Garmr, her life is not yours," Gondul interjected. Her feral eyes settled on me. "Saotome, do you impinge your honor by fighting with a traitor?"

I snorted. "Chiyo is far from my first choice, but I'll work with her if it means leaving the Institute."

Chiyo giggled gleefully. "See, Gondul? She chooses me."

"Silence, wretch!" Gondul roared. "You have gone too far, Chiyo. I will stay my hand no longer. You die today, as you should have died when you first set foot on the sacred grounds of Her Majesty."

A vile smile spread across Chiyo's lips. The pink dressed girl leaned forward. The air thrummed with the incredible pressure. "Beautiful. Beautiful. I've longed for this moment. The dog has slipped her leash. I knew it. It truly is best to kill you after you have betrayed the word of your master."

"I am no traitor, Chiyo. I merely act of my own accord. I will allow a treacherous snake near my Queen not a moment longer."

Jagged lightning gathered at Gungnir's tip. The bolts stretched from ground to ceiling. The weight of Gondul's power increased until it blanketed the tunnel in raw ki. Air screamed with the pressure as Chiyo amped her aura in turn. Wind poured out, buffeting my dress.

The Valkyrie hefted her spear, the point aimed at Chiyo's heart.

"Prepare yourself, Chiyo, for this is your end."

Chiyo ripped a candy cane clip from her hair. With a battle axe in each hand, the girl strutted forward. "A snake? How kind of you to say so. But your master is far more treacherous than I. Why, from the very moment we laid eyes upon one another, we have done nothing but plan how we would stab each other in the back."

Bang!

The chamber shuddered when Gondul released her power. Lightning, as broad as a tree's trunk, shot forth in a shimmering river of destruction. The blast slashed through Chiyo's shadow and crashed into the wall behind her. Stone liquefied, then exploded. Globs of white hot matter rained down. A haze rose from the bubbling magma, vaporous earth.

In the echo of electric light, Chiyo struck. Axes flew from her hands. Each of the candy cane blades split into a trio of tomahawks. The projectiles scattered wide then boomeranged in from odd angles. The Valkyrie's spear blurred so fast it divided in two, shattering a pair of candy cane axes in midair. Another flashed past, catching naught but wind, while a fourth broke on the Valkyrie's buckler. The last of the blades landed solid blows, only to be repelled by Gondul's mail shirt.

The cacophony of battle ensued, but I had no time to watch. The giant wolf, Garmr, hurtled at me from across the room. I dived to the right. Huge jaws snapped shut, dagger like teeth cutting through air I had occupied an instant earlier.

The beast's mighty head swung, thick muscles contracting around its neck. Garmr's mouth opened a second time, zeroing in on my position.

I jumped back and stumbled. Towering heels crimped the shift of my ankles, turning my dodge into a barely controlled fall. Panic was dashed by sputtering steps that gave me the last centimeter. The wolf's teeth raked the ruffles of my dress, hot breath – smelling of rotten meat – spilling over me.

I caught myself and danced away. Garmr hung back, a low mocking rumble rising from his throat. The creature stalked me with slow, padding steps, careless of the wanton destruction playing out behind.

"Entertain me, witch," Garmr said. The lips of the beast peeled back in what was either a wolfish smile or the threat of death.

I leaned to the side. Electric discharges and candied chunks whizzed by. The battle between Gondul and Chiyo had turned into a chase, Gondul in pursuit and Chiyo in flight. A sound tactic: Gungnir was at its most deadly when one was within its reach.

Snap! I flashed to the side of Garmr's lunge, my inattentiveness a facade. Instead of biting again, the wolf reared up. A pair of paws descended, forcing me to fly around them. I dodged forward instead of back, slipping beneath the beast. Once there, I dipped low then snapped up with a mighty kick.

My foot hit vapor. Fur fled like fog, and I floated up through it. Shit! A ghost. I had but a moment to recognize my error before Garmr dissolved into silver flame. The cold fire warped around me only to reappear a meter away.

Yellow teeth flashed. A maw gaped wide, threatening to swallow me whole.

Crap! I twisted in mid air, slinging my legs in a wide spiral. The crook of my heels, imbued with glowing ki, caught on the creature's lip. Surging force shoved me backward. I kicked off, adding to my velocity.

Whssh! I undulated around a candy-cane axe a millisecond too slow. The blade slashed through my dress and cut a coin's width into my flesh.

I pivoted in the air, touched down, and jumped for the ceiling. Garmr crashed upon my wake, crushing cement as though it were sand. The beast rose up, impossibly fast. It chased me into the air, accelerating as it ran. I bounced off the roof a second ahead. The ghost hound slammed into my prior position, melted through stone, then pushed off as though it were a fish in water.

Damn. I couldn't win like this. I needed a game changer.

I needed tenki.

Thought froze. Tenki? Why did that- No. Don't think. Do.

But could it be done?

A month ago, tenki would have been the height of madness. Now? Freed from the choker, my aura flowed strong. I dominated the zone around me with my fighting spirit. But the nature of that spirit had changed. Confidence was laced with beauty. Without thought or effort, I exuded a megami no ooi by far surpassing my first.

It could be done.

Garmr haunted my heels while I continued my rapid retreat. I zigged and zagged, using my lighter mass and greater acceleration to my advantage. Always I stayed a single misstep from looming death.

Surrounded by destruction and caught in brutal battle, I turned my focus inward.

Stillness came first. My aura calmed, the rage of combat fading. The purity of my spirit deepened, and the faint lavender glow surrounding me softened into pink. I recalled my most hateful memories. The icy clamp of metal on my brow. Frigid eyes that watched while my pride broke. Pieces of me fading away, sold to the devil for another shot at victory. My spirit broken. Helplessness. Frustration. Hatred.

Crawl.

Artemis's voice echoed in my ears.

With it, I created haigeki.

I burned. Raging fire washed through my veins. But this time it did not sear flesh or cook organs. Instead, it cleansed. Dirt and grime were turned to ash. Sickness was expunged and foreign magic expelled. The ache of my muscles eased, as though I were relaxing in a bath.

It felt good.

Reality interrupted pleasure. Garmr's jaws crashed down, nearly ripping me in half. I threw myself to the side then redoubled my focus.

I seized upon shuken. The tiara torn free. My first step through the Institute's gates. The roar of ki and confidence. The taste of freedom. I drenched myself in those emotions. Shuken flowed like ice. It numbed pain, cured wounds, and restored perfection.

I transformed.

Haigeki and shuken twined around one another and burst into sparkling light. My dress puffed as the magic passed through it. Pinks spread like water. Black thread wove through the surface, forming a pattern of jagged, tessellated hearts. Ribbons, ruffles, and lace burst into existence.

I twirled in the air, cute streamers chasing my movements. My hair whipped behind me, lengthening into a pair of silky ponytails. I landed lightly on the ground and skated across its surface. Nimbleness was restored. Magic cast aside the laws of physics allowing an agility the defied the clothing I wore. Garmr crashed down beside me, his neck extending in a bite. Shuken kicked in, and I evaded with angelic elegance, sliding around his attack with effortless grace.

I found myself at Garmr's side, my aura surging with the incredible energies of my transformation. The beast twisted to face me. He was too slow. My feet slid into a stance and heels suddenly found perfect traction. I stopped on a dime, my hips rotating to impel all my momentum into my fist. Ikisasu, enhanced by haigeki, coated the limb. A blazing pink meteor shot out.

Boom!

The ki-punch exploded on impact. Garmr's ribs cratered. Flesh, fur, and muscle were blown away. The giant wolf was blasted across the room. He tumbled in midair, his paws scrambling to gain grip. Then Garmr caught himself. His body slowed, and the wolf righted.

"Tenshi Osakebi!" I yelled.

A torrent of power roared through my arms and pooled between my hands. All the excess energies of tenki were let loose. A brilliant beam of pink lanced through the tunnel, catching Garmr just as he faced me. The wolf howled as he was tossed back a second time. The creature hit the ground and rolled, blurring under Gondul. The Valkyrie skillfully jumped her mount while unleashing a javelin of lighting.

Bang!

By chance agreement, the fight came to a halt.

"Do not toy with your enemy, Garmr," Gondul reprimanded. "Saotome is a warrior and should be treated as such. But do not dare to slay her. The Director's wrath would be magnificent."

Garmr stood and shook his silver coat. Blood and bone lay exposed, flayed open by my magic. But the beast did not mind. His lupine smile grew wider as he faced me. Silver flame licked the torn skin, knitting ghostly flesh. Mortal wounds were washed away in a handful of seconds.

"I fight as I wish, Chooser. As I always have. As I always will," the giant wolf retorted. "This witch has proven herself interesting. It may be that I enjoy myself so much that I forget about you. So take care that you do not die."

"How wonderful. Ranma-chan has finally transformed. That means we can start things in earnest," Chiyo interjected teasingly. The adorable girl had a white parasol in her right hand and a candy axe in her left. "But let us get some swinging room first? That way our fights won't get mixed up."

Gondul froze, tension flowing down her steel clad form. "You wouldn't dare."

Chiyo's cute smile turned malicious. She twirled her parasol. The frilled umbrella shed an unholy light. "Starlight starfall."

Boom!

The ceiling trembled. Lights flickered and dust rained down. Boom! Another thud. Boom! Boom! Boo-Bo-B-B-B-Boom! Explosions thundered in rapid succession. The underground chamber shook. Girders rattled. Rows of lights went dim. Glass tubes crashed to the ground.

Thoom! A ball tore through the roof. A bright blue gobstopper cratered the earth. It was big, too wide to wrap my arms around.

Ka-boom!

Shrapnel shot off in every direction. Shuken kicked in. Spider like threads formed from thin air. They wove themselves into a checkered tapestry of black and white. The cloth acted as a steel wall. Tiny fragment dimpled the surface. Larger hunks tore through. My hands blurred to intercept.

Awareness caught up with magic. Huh? Since when did-

Boo-boo-b-boom!

Tch! Fight now. Think later.

The gobstopper hail continued. Giant spheres of red, white, and green pierced the ceiling. Candy shrapnel ricocheted throughout the chamber, shattering glass and shredding every surface.

Steel buckled. The roof fell.

I raised my hands to meet it. "Tenshi osakebi!"

I screamed the attack, channeling maximum power. Pink light gushed from my hands. Perfected spirit, roaring with the destructive chaos of haigeki, rammed through falling earth. Stone splintered. Dirt was shoved aside.

Into the gap, I jumped.

Cloaked in shuken I ascended through the tunnel dug by my magic. Broken hunks of road, pipes, and mounds of earth rained down around me. I climbed the falling solids like stairs, pushing upward with all my will. Reality bent to my whim, impelled by the dominion of shuken. Daylight opened for me.

I was out.

I flew into the sky, my velocity so great that I rose five stories above the sinking ground. My eyes flitted over the battle field. Six lanes of intersection had collapsed into the underground. Tall buildings stood gutted, their faces ripped open by a rain of candy meteors. Crushed cars were tossed about like toys, chassis smashed and windows broken.

The heart of Tokyo had become a warzone. Yet, the streets remained silent.

At the battle's edge, half a dozen girls ran interference. Kodachi stood astride a flipped eighteen wheeler. She laughed manically while spraying a stream of liquorice bullets into the engine of a vehicle stupid enough to circumvent her barricade.

But it wasn't enough. Not nearly enough. Unless everything in a hundred meters had been evacuated, the casualties would be enormous.

My body reached its peak. I glided down, sailing on the puffs of my dress. My hand snapped out and glasses appeared between my fingers. I slapped them over my nose then pounded the rims, cycling through the selection menu until I reached aura mode.

I found it not a second too soon. Unhindered by the rubble rose a giant wolf cast in ghostly red.

A nasty smile spread across my lips.

Garmr burst from the earth. A pair of pink bullets met him head on. In a flash, the wolf dived to the side. The first lance struck rock, unleashing a puff of dust and rubble. The second bolt, hidden in the light of the first, struck home. Garmr's forehead bowed causing the wolf to stumble. Bone peeked through silvery flames before vanishing into fur.

I touched down a meter away. Garmr shook his head then dashed forward. Giant teeth gnashed on empty space. I slid beneath, passing under the wolf's body. I twisted as I ran, my leg lashing out to catch Garmr's hind ankle. The joint shattered.

The beast hardly cared.

The wolf's rear kicked up. The hinds rose even as the snout twisted down and below. Yellow teeth surrounded me left and right. Garmr's jaw crashed down, delivering certain death.

It caught my shadow.

Shuken cracked. Burning splinters of pink were shed in my wake. Truth was overwritten by illusion. I was no longer between Garmr's teeth. Instead, I floated just out of reach, my heels centimeters above the ground after a perfectly timed hop.

"Tenshi osakebi!"

My hands recoiled as though I had fired a cannon. I tumbled back, bright light obscuring my vision. I blinked then caught sight of Garmr as he slammed into the wall of a nearby building. The monstrous wolf pulled himself to his feet and lunged anew. A chance gobstopper blew through Garmr's chest, driving him to the ground.

Boom. Boom. Boom.

The explosions continued. Stray bits of candy slipped through the frayed edges of my shuken. Sharp pains cut along my shoulder, chest, and face. The continuous barrage allowed no cover. I gritted my teeth and gathered my will. My fragmented aura solidified. Nothing more made it through.

The ground beneath me exploded.

Jagged, swords of electricity ripped through the dirt. Static ran through my legs, and my hairs stood on end. The earth heaved upward. I was thrown into the sky. The elegance of shuken overwhelmed my surprise. My balance did not falter. I pushed off, flipped once, then landed atop a light pole ten meters away.

Standing in the smoking crater was Gondul. With one hand she held aloft a hunk of road that massed more than I could bear. With almost casual ease, the Valkyrie tossed the rock aside. The crumbling concrete shattered on impact.

With relief, I glanced back to find Chiyo. The cute demon danced among the broken stones while twirling her parasol. She twisted and turned, gazing upon the shattered battlefield with a smile of delight.

The slow thud of falling gobstoppers petered out.

My eyes flickered to Garmr. The wolf leered at me with his wolfish grin. With a giant hind paw, he scratched behind his ear.

"Oh," Chiyo breathed. The girl stretched her arms and arched her back. "This is so much better. Now we can throw our strength around to our heart's content. Don't worry about the civilians, my girls are taking care of it. If they missed a few? He-he-ha-ha!" Chiyo's laughter turned from giggles to mad guffaws. "That'll just make things even more exciting!"

Gondul grunted and gripped Gungnir with both hands. "Despicable. It is a warrior's pride to kill only those intended. But if it is to slay you, Chiyo, I would gladly wade through a sea of corpses."

Chiyo tossed her parasol aside. The discarded umbrella dissolved into nothingness. With her now freed hand, she whipped out a second candy cane axe.

Chiyo's grin spread until it threatened to split her face in two. "You say the most wonderful things, Gondul. Now die!"

Chiyo slashed with both hands, unleashing waves of distorted air. Gungnir swished twice and split the wind in two. Like elastic bands the vacuum blades sprang apart. The curling whirlwinds slammed into the buildings beyond. Steel and concrete exploded, flayed open by a quartet of gargantuan blades.

Neither of the two paid it any mind.

In a flowing motion, Chiyo flew back, the angle of her arc defying gravity. Dozens of projectiles rained down as she fled. Gondul chased after, her feral eyes gleaming with delight. Candy shattered all around her. The axes broke upon her spear, shield, and armor. The earth liquefied in Gondul's wake, a swamp of stone formed by the thousand blades that cut it apart.

"Aroooo! A-a-roooo!"

Garmr howled. My chest shook. Gravel danced at my feet, and windows rattled in their casings. The sound dwarfed all others. Even the battle between Chiyo and Gondul was silent before its might.

Arooo! A-a-rooooo! An echo. That was my first thought. Then I saw them, hundreds of spectral wolves. They stepped out from every shadow in bursts of silver light. The mass padded forward, forming a line five deep. The army stretched across all six lanes of intersection.

Garmr lowered his head. The colossal beast let out a deep, reverberating chuckle. "The hunt begins, witch. Do not disappoint."

The pack rolled forward, a swarm of gray ghosts that rippled over the terrain like a blanket. Towering above it all was Garmr, huge and massive, yet far smaller than the pack combined.

Oh shit.

In less than a second, they were on me. Scores of wolves pounced. They struck at my ankles. They leapt high to rip out my throat. They circled around and nipped at my calves. Not a gram of flesh was left unchallenged. Deadliest of all was Garmr. His maw broad enough to swallow me whole. His teeth tough enough to tear through steel. His jaw an arcane force that could shatter my shuken.

Drowning in a sea of wolves, I fought.

Bright light fanned out. My tenshi osakebi cut like a sword, slicing through a cone of wolves. Ectoplasm was rent in a shower of transparent blood. I whirled onward, unable to observe. With fists and feet I lashed out. Spines snapped, skulls cracked, and wolves were sent flying in every direction.

Only to be reborn from silver flame.

It was an endless mass of immortal ghosts. No amount of skill or speed was enough. Hungry jaws clamped down, tearing away splinters of pink light. Shuken faded with every second, false law giving way to a world that sought my destruction.

Crunch! Garmr's maw closed on my head. I evaded by a bare millimeter. My hands flashed out in a blur, smacking three wolves from the air. Teeth sank into my ankle. The sudden weight caused my dancing steps to falter. A dozen wolves lunged. I ripped my foot free and span away. Brilliant light blasted out, smashing the wave from the sky. But it was too late. The hungry hoard piled on, dragging me to the ground.

Wolves bit down, seizing flesh and grasping cloth. With their teeth, they sought to keep me pinned. I rolled. Ten wolves rolled with me. With my right arm, I heaved, dragging the beast clamped onto my elbow into the air. Its teeth tore from the wound, leaving behind ripped flesh and dribbling blood.

Crap. Crap. Crap. I jolted to my feet, ghostly bodies hanging off me in a mass of silver fur. Through sheer stubbornness, I focused. Get off! Pain transformed into haigeki. Raw, unfocused will expanded in every direction. Lupine jaws melted. The wolves were blasted away.

I shuddered and slumped. Air wheezed in and out of my lungs.

Move!

Weary muscles threw me into the air.

The wolf pack charged after me, bound to the ground by unknown limits. I retreated higher, utilizing the terrain to amplify my leap. Garmr ascended with me, too far back to halt my escape. Instead, the beast angled to cut me off then drive me to the ground.

Bare seconds were bought with my retreat. I breathed and calmed myself. A plan. I needed a plan. Come on, Ranma, a plan. Ideas flashed through my head. A mad notion caught. I gazed down once more. A legion of wolves waited, their slim mouths slicked with saliva.

Stupid. Mad. Completely nuts. But, it could work. I would make it work. I had to.

I had nothing else.

With a sudden jolt, I touched down. A stiletto heel drove itself into the back of a leaping wolf, sending it crashing to the ground. Arc altered, I flew amongst the aerial ghosts, rebounding between them in a deadly display of acrobatics.

Then I was amongst the pack.

I abandoned haigeki. I beat down the slavering horde with fists and feet. Punches were used to knock wolves aside. Kicks existed to drive back the pack. A fragile ikisasu was my only offense, and that barely enough to contact ghostly flesh. Every effort was focused on retreat, and all the ki I saved was devoted to shuken.

The world bent to power of my law.

A defensive battle cannot be won. I knew that. Garmr knew that. The great silver beast haunted the sky, a hunter biding its time. Soon enough, the prey would grow weak. That would be the time to pounce.

And, while he waited, I drew everything into a circle.

It was madness. Hot did not collide with cold. The laws of nature did not side with me. But I had shuken. Sovereignty. The power to impose illusion over truth. Into that power, I poured my ki. And through it, I established dominion. For the briefest moment, the world became mine. I was god almighty. With that power, I laid down a new law.

The frozen auras of the spectral wolves would be drawn into the tightening spiral.

With a final step, I arrived at the center of the churning energies.

"Hiryu shoten ha!"

I swung my fist in an uppercut. The blow pierced the heart of the whirling magics. Rise, I commanded. Rise up, and tear my foes to bits.

Ki was sucked from my body with such suddenness that I nearly fell to my knees. The air trembled. The battlefield went silent.

Nothing.

No wind. No movement. Weak and weary I stood at the center. The wolves rushed in as one. The mass blurred into a wave of gray. I readied myself for the tsunami.

It never reached.

The throng slammed into a wall of ribbon. The threads captured everything. Ghostly wolves fought to free themselves from the tangles. It was useless. This was not mass of lifeless string, but rather a swarm of serpents.

Gravity vanished. Wind exploded. Everything was dragged into heaven.

I tumbled through the air, the gale buffeting my clothes and hair. Compared to the hiryu shoten ha, this was a breeze. Yet, in the unnatural gravity, it felt a dozen times stronger. An angry tornado formed around me. Dirt and stone were swallowed alike. The whirling debris gathered at the edges in a cloudy mass of spinning death.

Pink light crackled. Energy surged down ropes of black and white. A second burst echoed from the tornado's heart. The wind whistled with greater strength.

I stared in shock. What had I created?

This was no hiryo shoten ha. The two techniques shared only the barest elements. The enemy's strength drawn in. A whirling mass of energy driven upward. But this was not a weather phenomenon. This was distorted law. A false realm cut through the heart of reality. Shuken made manifest. A monstrous spiral that devoured everything.

All around me, spectral wolves whined and whimpered. Tiny threads cut into their skin, sinking into fur and flesh like the roots of a giant plant. With pulsing gulps, the threads drank misty energy. Then, when the mass became great enough, each thread unleashed a bolt of pink lighting. The stolen energy cascaded back into the heart of the storm empowering it further.

I was floating in the gullet of dragon. Disgusted, I named my technique. Tenkui ryu. Heaven eating dragon. A magic only a demon would use.

Danger.

Shuken reacted before awareness. Black thread exploded from my wrists. String became ribbon, and ribbon a kite. A sudden gust caught the sail, jerking me so hard that my arms were all but ripped from their sockets. A wave of flails, pikes, and halberds tore through my afterimage.

Garmr. He, my tenkui ryu did not devour. The great wolf charged through the storm unheeded. Thick ropes and long threads were coiled around his limbs. With mighty muscles, he pushed through, snapping string with every step. The beast's head twisted to the side. With a single bite Garmr devoured one of the wolf minions. Then he turned his enormous maw toward me and spat a spread of spectral weaponry.

A new surge of wind dragged me up and away. Shuken nearly fractured. If I continued to rely on it alone, I would be stripped of my defense in seconds.

Garmr's laughter boomed over the whirlwind. "Come, witch! I will not be defeated by a spell as weak as this."

"I figured that," I shouted back, my voice filled with false confidence. "But, a girl can hope, can't she?"

The tenkui ryu had achieved more than I had expected. Garmr's minions were out of the game. But that, at best, evened the field. Right now, I was suspended a hundred meters in the air. There were no surfaces to push off of. There was no cover to hide behind. All my mobility stemmed from an unguided kite.

Odds like that weren't to my liking. I needed to turn this into a melee. If I stuck it out at a range, I would end up in little Ranma bits.

"I am Garmr, son of Fenrir, guardian of Hel's gates. If I am bound, the shackles will break. If I die, I will be reborn. When I howl, even the gods tremble, witch," Garmr roared. "Show to me your worst. Tear my flesh. Shatter my soul. Bloody my coat until its sheen shines scarlet. Strike me as much as you wish, witch, and through it all I will laugh. Laugh, then crush your fragile bones between my teeth."

Garmr's booming taunts paused when his head swung to and fro. With five bites, he swallowed as many wolves. Then the colossal monster faced me once more. Huge, golden eyes glared upward. Silver flame seethed through the monster's teeth.

Garmr opened his maw.

The wolf's throat was an infinite abyss, illuminated by white flame. In that hell, a hoard of weapons were forged. Swords longer than I was tall. Arrows, more numerous than those unleashed by an army. Spears and javelins, tipped with sharp points and wicked barbs. Every weapon wielded by mankind was disgorged – a storm of destructive implements, any one of which could slay me outright.

I needed no more than a glance to see my death reflected in the steel sheen.

Cold calculation was followed by instant decision. My methods had to change. I could no longer let magic wield itself. To escape this doom, I needed more than a guiding hand and a gentle will. I needed to take control.

And that meant, in turn, I needed to let it control me.

For the first time, I embraced shuken. I let the magic fill my thoughts as well as my soul. I allowed it to contaminate my skill and taint it with inefficient elegance. I surrendered to fancy. And, in doing so, I saw a path.

Magic whirled around me. Black ribbons, trimmed with white lace, rippled from the back of my dress. Two kites caught the wind. Left, I thought. Wind whisked in response, dragging me five meters away. I danced through the air, a beautiful ballerina pirouetting through the clouds. Knives and swords flashed by, kissing my flesh.

Another gust. I jerked again, this time eight meters down. A thousand lines of ribbons pranced at my side. In their coils, they caught spectral weapons, smashing them from the air or skewing their aim. I snagged a claymore as a I flew, my airfoils dragging me deep into the gap.

C-clang. Metal crashed upon metal. I whirled through the swarm of death, deflecting weapons with the spectral sword.

Then it passed.

The kites disintegrated. Ribbons rewove. In their place formed a pair of silky wings. I twisted effortlessly in midair. There was no learning curve. Shuken made dream into reality. Here, in my realm, even the tiniest details obeyed my expectations.

I sighted Garmr, then plummeted.

The wolf charged through the depths of the tornado, snapping up all the minions within his reach. Between bites, he spat out shotguns of death.

Tch!

I rolled in response, my body cutting a wide curve that mimicked flight. The first blast I dodged cleanly. But, in the vanishing distance, the four that followed could not be evaded so easily. With a glance, I calculated a hundred trajectories. I angled my descent so that I would pass through the least of the chaff.

Faced with an endless storm of death, I willed a new truth. Imagination took form. A spindles of twine swung out in elegant loops. The threads coiled around the hilts of flying weapons. I spread my arms and the puppets came to life. Magic yielded to them impossible skill. My skill. Garmr's weapons became a wall of spectral steel that denied everything.

The fourth wave hit.

A dozen spears slashed through my aura. Porous shuken unraveled. Suddenly, I was bereft. Flight turned into fall. Threads vanished into mist. I tumbled desperately. Arrows skimmed my limbs. Spinning swords slashed as they passed. Scores of knives pierced my shadow. With blurring hands, I cast the weapons aside.

Pain. A blade slipped through. A ghostly knife cut into my collar. The shock slowed my movements. Only instinct saved me from the javelin that followed.

I flashed over Garmr's head. The wolf turned to face me, his throat glowing with impending death. The last of my ribbons went taught. My fall came to a sudden stop. Instead, I traversed an elongated curve.

I smirked and swung my legs to add to the motion. I've got you now, mutt.

My curving loop turned into an orbit. In an instant, I was at Garmr's height again. Then above. Then at his side. Then below. Around and around. Faster and faster. Garmr's head twisted to keep up, but with each pass my velocity increased, and the threads binding him became more numerous.

Thud.

I smashed into Garmr's back with a force so great it knocked the breath from my lungs. With my diaphragm seizing, I snagged a pair of ropes. With those reins, I secured my position.

I took a few breaths and regained my center. "You know, it is pretty comfortable up here."

Garmr bucked beneath me casting me a meter from my seat. I dragged myself back down. My collar cried out in pain from the sudden force.

"Dismount me, witch," Garmr howled.

"Ha. You will have to heel first, mutt. A dog serves its master. I'm looking forward to having a flying wolf," I taunted gleefully.

"Tame me?" Garmr growled. The beast whirled in midair, fighting against the ropes entrapping it. "Greater than you have tried."

Solid matter turned to vapor. I slipped through a sea of silver flame. Garmr's shadowed form flickered above me, still wrapped in thread. The ghost hound twisted. His mouth rematerialized. He bit down.

I plunged. Yellowed teeth caught a trailing pigtail. I lurched briefly, but the silky hair slid through the gaps like water. I fell further, the string tying me to Garmr expanding with my will. I tightened my body, ready to fling myself into another spiral.

Garmr moved first.

With perfect timing the wolf stepped back. The great mass surged through the ribbon, jerking me into the air. Garmr lunged for my rising body, the curve of my arc drawing me into his jaws.

My threads stretched again. Maintained velocity increased the distance between us. Garmr's bite fell short. But the defense came at cost. The renewed slack prevented my counter attack. Garmr seized upon that moment to spew a wave of spectral weapons.

Wings exploded from my back. Sudden wind caught their surface. At the same time, my ribbons tightened. I jerked and my trajectory changed so that I orbited to Garmr's right. I strengthened my grip and readied to reel myself in.

Ice crawled down my spine. Death.

An ominous power brewed below. The presence was suffocating. Die. Die. Die. The air itself seemed to howl those words. Terror squeezed out all thought leaving me with instinct. I let go, severing my ribbons. Tangential velocity remained. My flight continued, sending me tumbling through the walls of my tenkui ryu and out into open air.

Heaven was torn open.

A shroud of dark clouds filled the sky. The heart had been ripped out. Left behind was a tunnel of roiling black, an eye of a hurricane. Crackling blue rippled over the wall of spinning clouds. Rolling thunder shook the atmosphere and rattled my bones.

With each passing second the magic grew greater. My eyes were drawn to the source. Gondul. The Valkyrie stood amongst a sea of sticky pink. Her spear was missing, and her hand was held high as though to grip the sky.

Her arm fell.

From heaven poured a waterfall of lightning, a ceaseless river that rushed through the crook of my tenkui ryu. The torrent was broader than a building and brighter than the sun. At its center lay Chiyo, pinned to the rock by the spear piercing her gut.

BOOM!

The sound was a hammer. It smashed me from the sky. My tumbling flight turned erratic. I span, deaf and blind. Sudden force crashed through my shoulder. I bounced off the concrete roof, tumbled a few more times, then plunged to the side streets below.

Black.

Darkness swallowed my vision. Pain pulsed from my numbed arm and collar. A shrill siren pierced my muddled ears. Dazed, I shook my head. I rolled and fell from the roof of a sedan. Shattered autoglass crunched under my heels. My knees all but gave way. I seized the car's door and held it for balance. Slowly, the world stopped its wobbling.

With blurry eyes, I gazed upon the devastation.

Buildings towered over me, vast monsters torn open. Their ribs were exposed and their organs sloughed onto the streets. Holes and craters peppered everything. Twisted beams of steel jutted out, their frames torn by long trenches. It was a wonder that these skeletons had yet to crumble.

At my feet were roads of rubble. Dark smoke rolled off smoldering asphalt. The streets glowed orange, stone melted into a slurry of heated liquid. A wispy tornado twisted through background. It flashed pink as energy crackled within.

My ears popped. Hearing returned. Car alarms cried out in an infinite choir. Siren howled over the cacophony, emergency vehicles rushing down hidden streets. The wind let out a throaty roar as my tenkui ryu continued its endless whirl. Choppers circled above unleashing a heavy thud thud thud.

Shit! Chiyo

With a lurch, my brain rebooted. I shot out of the side streets and onto the battlefield. There, I found the worst. Gondul ripped Gungnir from Chiyo's gut. Blood and intestines poured from the wound. Chiyo stumbled back. With a mad smile, the girl stabbed a parasol into the ground. With a shaking hand, she raised her battle axe.

Wounded and weakened, Chiyo didn't stand a chance. Gungnir's law neutralized the defensive aspects of shuken. In hand-to-hand, the victor was certain. Chiyo was good. Gondul was a master. The next blow would end things.

And if Chiyo lost, I lost.

Gondul was not invincible. Unlike Chiyo, she could not stomp out the possibility of defeat with raw power. But that made little difference. In terms of skill, Gondul was my match. In terms of strength, she surpassed me. In terms of armaments, Gondul had Gungnir.

Victory here would not be a lucky stroke. It would be a miracle. So, should I fight or flee?

A simple choice. The answer was obvious. My pride was broken. I had no need to prove myself here. Instead, I was left with fear. Loss meant returning to the Institute. That hell would destroy me. As for Chiyo? Let her die. That girl was a cold blooded murderess drunk on power. The world would not mourn her loss. I had half a mind to kill her myself.

Yet, where would it end? Gondul and Garmr would be no weaker a year from now. In ten, they would be backed by an army. Artemis would never stop her hunt. I believed Kamiko when she said that.

Fool. That was the same reasoning that had led me to fight Chiyo on the rooftops. There was nothing to be gained by-

My breath froze. I looked upon the world new eyes. Chiyo had defected. Gondul and Garmr faced us in battle. The three – no four – strongest fighters in the Institute were gathered upon the same battlefield. If Chiyo lived, if Gondul was defeated, if Garmr died, if any of these things came to pass, everything changed.

This was an opportunity worth dieing for.

My choice was made.

I sprang forward, flying across molten earth with unfaltering grace. I rushed Gondul outright, the destructive power of haigeki coiling between my hands.

"Tenshi osakebi!"

The pulse blindsided the Valkyrie. Gondul slid two meters to the side before digging her feet into the earth. She whirled to meet me, her spear snapping into position. It was a millisecond too late. I smashed into her like a charging bull.

Surprise tore Gondul from the ground. While she floated in midair, I focused inward. Ki responded to will, and, with all my might, I rejected Gungnir's law. Gondul touched down, her hands shortening their grip on her weapon. I didn't give her the chance. I stepped forward and unleashed waves of blows that pummeled her face.

The rush held for a second. Then the tides turned. Still reeling from the repeated blows Gondul thrust with her spear, then cleared the area with wild swings. I surrendered the offense without care. This was not a fight. This was a stalling tactic.

Chiyo was the instrument of Gondul's doom. The girl was injured now, but shuken would vanish her wounds as surely as mine. If I could hold Gondul long enough, Chiyo would be back in the fight. I didn't have to win. I just had to survive.

Survive and pray Garmr did not show up. If the wolf made an appearance, all hope would be lost.

Gondul grunted, her eyes gleaming with the want for blood. She surged upon my retreat in a storm of death. Thrusts fell like rain, and Gungnir blurred into lightning. My eyes watered from strain of keeping track. My hands moved so fast it seemed I had a dozen arms. Time and again, I beat back the spear's tip. With mad stubbornness, I pressed inward. I couldn't let Gondul retreat. Focus onme, I willed her.

Seconds ticked by. Air seared my lungs. Blood drained from my arms in dribbles. The knife wound at my collar, long since sealed, burned. Slowly, I was driven back. Already we had crossed half the intersection. But every motion made my win more solid. Then, with a smirk, it became assured.

As skilled as Gondul was, there were limits to her motion. I knew the timing of her strokes. I knew what techniques had to follow others. It was a matter of time before she made the set I had been waiting for. Three thrusts, each longer than the last. Retreat or die. The technique came at a cost. In exchange for the third thrust Gondul paid the price of a slower withdraw.

That tiny gap was all I needed. I threw myself into it.

The opening closed in an instant. Gungnir flew forward. I swayed to the side while pressing inward. The blade scrapped against my ribs, cutting flesh and drawing blood. My foot slammed into place. Position achieved.

A tenth of a second, that was all I had before Gondul adjusted her grip for the reduced range. A blink of an eye. In that moment, my aura changed. Shuken bent to my will, and threads flowed from my wristlets. The spindly strings coiled around the spear's haft, trapping it in a cradle of magic rope.

Gondul paused and considered, Gungnir still extended. I gave a cheeky grin. The Valkyrie returned a grunting laugh. In a flash, she jerked back and stabbed forward. I flowed with the motion, shifting the spear so that its thrust went well to my side.

"Please. You didn't honestly think that would work, did you?" I said, rolling my eyes.

Gondul's amusement faded. She swung Gungnir up. With effortless strength I was tossed into the air. The Valkyrie spun then slammed me into the ground. I twisted at the last moment, landing square on my feet. The only thing that had changed were the sides we were facing.

"Fighting an opponent intent only on defense is... irritating," Gondul observed. She made no effort to hide the distaste that flavored her voice.

"It's not exactly my favorite way of doing things, either," I admitted. "But beggars can't be choosers."

Gondul glared, her eyes sharper than steel. "Tell me, Saotome. Why do you fight? What drives you to turn your back on the Director?"

"Turn my back on the Director? The Director turned her back on me," I spat without thinking. I reeled. Those were my feelings? I shook my head and cast the emotions aside. "I never agreed to serve Artemis. I owe that woman nothing."

Gondul's feral eyes glinted with rage. The woman stepped forward and thrust with all her strength. Twine tightened on Gungnir's shaft, and I rode the momentum backward. The blade kissed flesh but pierced nothing.

"We are warriors, you and I," Gondul thundered. "Blades to be wielded by a worthy lord. The Director has claimed you. She has granted you your rightful place as senshi, knight of the Queen. Do you deny this, Saotome? Do you deny your station? Do you cast aside both duty and honor?"

"I'm a martial artist, not a samurai," I growled back. "Which means a lot less doing what I'm told and a lot more doing what I want."

Swish, swish, stab. Gondul dragged me side-to-side then tried to skewer me. I mirrored her motions perfectly, allowing Gungnir no more than a centimeter of give.

"And so you side with Chiyo Mori."

"As if Artemis has a monopoly on morality," I retorted. "Frying pan, fire, and all that jazz. After a month in the Institute, the fire has started looking pretty damn cozy."

"You choose treachery for no gain but your own?" Gondul roared back.

The Valkyrie stepped in and swung her shielded arm. I leaned back, narrowly avoiding the blow. A side swipe followed. I lifted my arms. Glung. The haft of Gondul's spear rang when it met the edge of her shield.

Gondul smashed me back with the broad face of her shield. Gungnir crackled. Cringing, I extended my ribbons and smashed the spear's tip into the ground. The lightning dispersed safely.

"No gain but my own?" I snorted in answer. "I can think of a hell of lot of people who would gain from Artemis's death. What about you Gondul? You talk of honor but I hear nothing of right and wrong. Will you stand aside while Artemis murders innocent girls? Will you lend a hand when she slaughters humanity? Honor that begets evil is worth less than trash."

"It is not a warrior's place to question!" Gondul's voice echoed with her fury.

"Yeah, well, like I told you, martial artist," I explained. "We're big on the whole questioning thing."

Gungnir jerked up, tearing through stone as though it were sand. The blade slashed through my dress but failed to touch skin. I rolled to the side, shortening the threads while sliding the loop down the spear's haft. I lashed out. A high kick flashed past Gondul's head. The Valkyrie countered by crashing into me. I tumbled to the ground, rolled, then regained my footing just in time to divert Gungnir's thrust.

Gondul paused in her assault. "Tell me, Saotome. Are you senshi?"

My mouth opened. Words froze in my throat. Th-thud. A pulse ran through my head, and a purplish color washed over the world. Dizziness took hold of me. I dared not let it show. I stayed stalwart while my senses recovered, a pounding headache drowning out all pain.

"Answer me, Saotome," Gondul demanded. "Are you senshi? Do you deny that Her majesty is your lord and master?"

I grit my teeth. "Artemis is not my queen."

"Then who do you serve, warrior? Name for me your master."

Gondul stood tall, her body a seething mountain of strength. Her spirit smothered mine. The air grew so thick I could barely breath. Despite myself, I stood tall and matched her fury.

"I am my own master."

Gondul stilled. "I see my words fall on deaf ears. If parley does not suffice, I shall settle this with arms."

"You can try," I retorted. I gave a broad smirk. "But I won't make it easy."

"Your tactics define your defeat," Gondul replied, utterly calm. "You enter battle with no intent beyond defense. So, from hence forth, I shall fight with reckless disregard."

An eager smile spread across the Valkyrie's face. Static crawled through my dress. The air between us grew thicker. An incredible weight pressed down. Light faded into shadow. The sky rumbled.

She wouldn't... She was standing next to me.

"Hear these words, Saotome. You condemn my honor. You proclaim my path unjust. I say upon you, likewise. A soldier without a lord is no better than a brigand. When you raise arms, you sow chaos. When you take your daily bread, you grant famine. In your wake, you leave nothing but suffering. Your kind is a plague. A plague to be scoured from this earth."

Gondul raised her spear and the sky tore open. Twirling clouds cut a tunnel between Heaven and Earth. In that rent Thor and Jupiter awaited, their arms loose and ready to throw.

"Know this," she proclaimed. "What I mete is divine justice. I shall break you upon my knee and teach you to kneel!"

Bang!

The suddenness left me startled. An axe, not thunder, cracked. The candy weapon shattered upon Gondul's hastily raised buckler and splinters of sugar flashed past my head. Chiyo stepped in, bringing her second axe to bear. The Valkyrie scrambled back. Her attention was divided. Her eyes locked onto the newest threat.

An opening.

Action proceeded thought. The threads binding my right hand wilted. My left arm swept to the side, dragging the spear wide of my body. I reached forward. My palm settled on Gondul's face. In slow motion, I saw the twist of her expression. She moved to counter.

Tenshi Osakebi. My arm recoiled. Gondul's head blew back. Her body followed.

The Valkyrie hit the ground in a tight roll. She flipped once then sprang to her feet. I did not pursue. My arm was numb. My fingers were bent back at odd angles. The pulse released at point blank range had done as much damage to me as Gondul.

Chiyo didn't chase either. Instead, she materialized a cute parasol and opened it above her head.

Shit!

In a flash, I recalled my error. Gondul's spell. I coiled my legs and sprang back.

Heaven fell upon my wake. God's faucet opened up, drenching the world in an endless torrent of lightning. My eyes burned at the strobing light and my ears burst at the thunderous roar. My evasion was narrow. Chiyo's was not. Lightning rolled around the girl, breaking atop her flimsy parasol as though it were a light rain.

My heart thudded in my chest. Whew that was-

The column undulated. Gondul caught the electric river with the tip of her spear. The stream twisted like a snake, tracking Gungnir as it span. The blade's point turned toward me.

Move! My body condensed. Too slow. Too slow. Huh? Gondul's aim shifted. She was going to miss? ... Oh. That. Well, crap.

Lightning surged, conducted by the wires tying me to Gungnir. Faster than I could blink an electric dragon seized me in its jaws. I burned with its fury as plasmatic teeth sank into my flesh. Tenki fought to save me, but my ki was a candle in a firestorm.

My mind went blank.

Awareness fluttered at the edges. I flew. How far? I did not know. I hit the ground. Once? Twice? I could not count. I was on my back, staring at the sky. How long? Seconds? Minutes? Hours? Time held no meaning.

Lapsed silence was broken by sudden sounds. A tornado, darkened with debris, gyred through the sky, passing over me. The length wavered, moving in stilted jerks. Explosive pops, as sharp as cannon fire, sounded. A building swayed right. Steel snapped, and concrete cracked. The tower quivered then rolled back, tilting to the left. There, it collapsed. Wreckage fell in a wave. Rubble poured over the side street and crashed into the six story structure still standing at its side.

A cloud of dust rushed over me. I breathed, hacked, and coughed. Irritation gave way to barely functional thought. I dragged myself to my feet only to slump anew. Heavy gusts scattered the dust. A roar assaulted my ears. My tenkui ryu was touching down a street away.

Oh god. My stomach twisted. Don't kill anyone. Please don't kill anyone.

I picked myself up. Jarring sounds leaked through the cacophony. A brutal battle continued not far ahead. I struggled to move so I could rejoin it. My body ached. Every muscle hurt. Pins and needles ran across my skin. Tenki sputtered around me, an engine starved of fuel. Motes of pink danced at the edge of my aura, energy wasted by the inefficiency.

I stumbled forward. My mind was a fog. Thoughts and feelings dribbled out in an incoherent mess. Move. Fight. Win.

The stillness broke.

Yellowed teeth, as long as daggers, crested the earth. A spectral jaw, formed from mist, gaped around me. It rose, eclipsing my height. Desperately, I jumped. The wolf gave chase. My hurried leap carried me a bare three meters off the ground. It was there that the jaws clamped down.

I tried the impossible. With the hook of my heels, I caught Garmr's gums. Jarring force shot through my limbs. My hips creaked. I could feel bone bending under the assault.

It was there that I stopped, a stick caught within Garmr's maw.

"Pathetic, witch," Garmr said. "To think you would fall for a trap so trivial." The fully formed words flowed from the wolf's throat, unhindered by the human jammed in his craw.

"Give me a few minutes and we can try again," I offered. "I'm sure I'll do better."

My joints ground against each other and my eyes blurred with pain. I found myself wavering at the edge of consciousness. My torso wobbled slightly. The alternating force sent splinters of torment through my bones.

"Tenshi Osakebi," I grunted.

A feeble bullet of pink blasted from my hands. My arms jerked, but my body did not. The attack tore through the wolf's guts. The black abyss flickered with silver flame. Garmr was unharmed.

Deep, booming laughter rolled over me.

"Was that the last of your strength, witch?" Garmr mocked. "If you are to escape, you best be quick, or your bones will crack and I will snap you in two."

To emphasize his point, Garmr increased the force of his bite. My legs began to bow. Pain built to torturous levels.

I trembled under the strain. I needed something. Anything. My ki was all but exhausted, and tenki claimed that which was left. Shuken abhorred my blemished body. It sought to restore it to perfection. The last bits of my energy were being thrown away in pursuit of a frivolous quest. It was an effect that could not be fully suppressed.

Cracks spread through my right leg. Hope diminished with the specter of death.

Crash! Tosh, sheeiing!

A car fell. It bounced off the ground then slid a dozen meters. A victim tossed by my tenkui ryu. The tornado whirled along a nearby street, adding to the wanton destruction. It was so close and yet so far. The whirling funnel seethed with spiritual energy. Power stolen from Garmr's minions. It flared pink as it absorbed that magic and transformed it into...

... my own.

Ah. Like a faded dream it came to me. I reached out. Come. Come to me.

My shin snapped.

I lunged. Hands clamped down tight, forcing the bone back into place. My teeth ground. The fractured fragments shifted under the steady force of Garmr's bite. Against my will, my shin began to slip. It moved millimeter by millimeter, grains of sand passing through an hour glass.

I increased my grip. My fingers pressed down so hard it seemed they would cut through. With short breaths I battled the pain, my vision bleeding into gray.

The tornado whirled closer, following my call.

"Any last words, witch?" Garmr rumbled.

"You know," I gasped out. "Once upon a time I fought a dragon prince."

Wind tore at my face, washing away tears of pain. I could taste the power rushing through my tenkui ryu. A distant utopia just out of reach.

"He was a real arrogant bastard. Kicked the crap out of me too," I continued. "I won in the end though. Surprised him with a neat trick. You should have seen the look on his face."

"Oh? And are you going to show me a 'neat trick', witch?" Garmr chuckled, deep amusement reverberating through his throat.

The tenkui ryu halted. The eye of the storm was directly above. Raw energy flowed upward in an endless fountain, only to be drawn down once more by a million threads. I drank the power, feeling stronger. A gleeful smile spread across my lips.

"Yeah. That's exactly what I'm going to do. In fact, its pretty much the same as the one I showed him."

I let go of my leg. My shin went crooked in an instant. Bone penetrated flesh. Crimson sprayed. My hips sank downward. But, for the briefest moment, my torso rose. I raised my left arm so it could pierce the heart of the spiritual spiral.

Mighty jaws closed on me like a guillotine. I closed my eyes, prayed, and punched.

The flow reversed and I became the bed of a mighty river. All the power caught within my tenkui ryu rushed through me in a torrent. A beam exploded from my hand, a blast that dwarfed a thousand tenshi osakebis. I shot into the air, a rocket propelled by magic.

Instead of me, Garmr swallowed the sun.

Bands of pink, made of burning light, were rammed down the Garmr's throat. Not ki. Not haigeki. Not even shuken. This was pure, transformative force. An entire universe that reflected my distorted soul.

The giant wolf jerked back. His spectral form flickered erratically. He bit down and cast his head side to side. Mighty teeth severed the magic river. The tornado evaporated. Dust rained down. Garmr spat out a mouthful of pink. He hacked, then hacked again. Coils of rope where coughed out.

Garmr dragged himself from the earth so that his entire frame was visible. The giant swayed drunkenly. His body flickered, vanishing into translucence. The beast solidified then shook its ragged coat. Thin streamers of pink were shed in every direction.

"Is that-" Garmr stopped. The wolf coughed and disgorged a spray of string. "Is that your limit? I- cough, cough, wheeze -will not be defeated by..."

Garmr's legs slumped, his words cut off in mid stream. Pink threads wiggled out of his silver coat before diving back in. Cloth sewed itself into his hide. Garmr twisted his head and tore a great curtain of it free with his teeth.

It wasn't enough. Garmr's body once again faded into translucence. A webbing of pink was spreading over his form. Thread after thread wove itself through the wolf's coat, becoming ever thicker and deeper.

With deep chuckle Garmr gave up. The giant wolf settled on the ground, an old pup ready for a nap. "I stand corrected, witch. What foul magic you weave. Today, I am defeated... Tomorrow?"

The last was left hanging. Garmr vanished, his body dissolving into silver light.

Relief was followed by fatigue. I fell to the ground. I lay there, back to the dirt, eyes to the sky, breathing. It was all I could do to keep my eyes open. Maybe I should just let Chiyo handle the rest, I thought, half asleep. Ha. Like that would end well.

With a grunt, I forced myself into a sitting position. Carefully, I unrolled my right stocking. I glared at the bloody mess. The glare twisted into a grimace. No choice.

Clenching my teeth, I gripped knee and ankle. My arms flexed. Bone was wrenched apart. Fiery pain roared through my nerves. Air hissed through my teeth. Trembling, I waited until the black spots faded from my vision. I squinted. Skin stretched in an unsightly manner. With great care, I aligned the splintered fragments. I shoved them back into place.

"Gah!" I breathed out.

I huffed and fell back. My head throbbed, the pain drowning out weariness. Tenki remained. The last ebbs of my ki held the magic in place. Shuken spread through my wounds, an icy touch that imposed false perfection. I laid there for a some time, breathing in the life of the world. The scattered remnants of my tenkui ryu flowed into me, a spark of life to replace the bonfire I had expended.

I healed. A partial illusion. The wounds I bore would ail me for days. Cuts, when tenki was released, would reopen. My shattered shin would break anew. But not all would be lost. Shuken would speed my recovery. Weeks of damage would heal in days.

I waited minutes before I dared to stand. With a cringe of anticipation, I stomped my right foot. Needles jabbed my bone but the structure held. Assured my leg would not break anew, I plodded forward. Above all else, I needed to ensure Chiyo's victory. I could not let myself be dragged to the Institute a second time.

I scaled a mountain of rock and rubble – the crushed remnants of a building. It was a novel struggle. For once, mortal limits weighed me down, forcing me to climb hand over hand rather than rising to the top in a series of bounds.

I claimed the summit just as the battle ended. Gondul rested against a bent sign post, blood seeping through her armor in a steady dribble. A long gash had been cut across her torso. The wound started shallow but, by the time it reached her hip, bone showed through clear as day.

And that wasn't the worst of it. Gondul's arm had been hacked off. The discarded limb lay twenty meters away, buckler still attached.

From a safe distance, Chiyo gloated. "Oh, how I have dreamed of killing you, Gondul. But I'm disappointed. Your face is supposed to be scrunched in pain. Your eyes should be leaking tears. Beg, Gondul. Won't you beg? Just a little? For me?" Chiyo pleaded. Her vile grin spread anew. "If you do, I might even let you live."

"Burn my flesh and tear my limbs, if that is your desire, Chiyo. But I shall never show to you the slightest weakness," Gondul replied. "I am a warrior. I embraced death the moment I lifted my spear. There is nothing of mine you can take that I was not prepared to lose."

"Aahh!" Chiyo cried. "You are so irritating. It makes me want to scream," Chiyo complained. "Oh well. If you won't beg, I'll just have to amuse myself by killing you slowly. I better start with your legs. That way you won't be able to run away."

Gondul released the sign post. She shifted her weight so it settled into a steady stance. The Valkyrie's head did not turn but, for an instant, her eyes met mine.

"This battle is not over, Chiyo. I still stand. In my hand, I grasp Gungnir. And, with the last bit of my strength, I shall inflict upon you a wound. A wound from which you will never recover."

Chiyo unleashed a storm of cackles. Her laughter cut off a moment later. Gondul's spirit spiked. The energy broke into the visible spectrum, a roiling darkness. The foul cloud was sucked into Gungnir.

Chiyo clenched an axe in each hand. Sudden wind dragged at her pink dress. The girl's aura surged, filling the air with the cloying scent of cinnamon. The two aura's met, forming between them a storm front.

"You think to slay me outright with Gungnir? Fool." Chiyo's voice was laced with scorn. It failed to to hide the tremble of her hands.

"Chiyo Mori, know that I have foreseen your death." With her remaining arm, the Valkyrie lifted her spear. "Gungnir will carve out your heart. This I say as the Chooser. Your doom is set."

Gondul took three, running steps. Her entire body bent back then slung forward. Gungnir was cast.

A black meteor of howled across the battlefield. The lance smashed into Chiyo's aura, unleashing distorted waves of light and darkness. It pushed through, a torpedo passing through water.

The universe ground to a stop.

Gungnir lay suspended mere centimeters from Chiyo's heart. Time fractured. A thousand visions were played simultaneously. A kaleidoscope of fates were put on display as the world was written and unwritten. Death and life. Victory and defeat.

Then, all at once, it resumed.

Chiyo fell to the side. Her body hit the ground in an uncontrolled roll. A spray of blood splashed upon the earth. The droplets were too few. Gondul had failed.

Or had she?

Gungnir's flight did not end with Chiyo. Like a laser, the spear refracted. My eyes went wide. All I had seen was wrong. Gondul had not thrown her spear at Chiyo. She had thrown it at me.

Undodgable. Unblockable. Gungnir was cloaked in power. My petty defense was nothing before it. I was dead. Finished. Done. The weapon slammed home. The blow plucked me from my rubble summit and cast to the foot of the mountain.

My head bounced off concrete. My vision went blank. Awareness returned. Pain. My right leg throbbed. My collar burned. My muscles were leadened weights.

Missing was the pain of a gouged out heart.

With dazed confusion, my head rolled to the side. There I found Gungnir. The spear sat secure in my open palm, wrapped in a shroud of sakki. The fetid aura crawled across my skin, feeling like rotten fingers, reeking of death.

Unable to understand, I stared.

The spear stared back.

Gungnir's aura roiled. The presence gathered as though it were a living thing. The hungry monster cast its eye upon me. Then, with spectral jaws, it swallowed me whole.

Ki was torn from my heart. It fled my flesh in strands of pinkish light. Darkness gobbled it all. I was too weak to fight it. All I could do was scream while my back arched and my muscles tensed.

With a dull thud, I slumped to the ground.

Gungnir went silent. The dark aura gone, leaving behind cold steel. I drew long, shuddering breaths. Tenki collapsed. A cascade of sparkles drifted down around me. My pink dress melted into blue. My hair shortened. Life flowed back into my veins. A fragment of tenki's price returned with its parting.

I allowed myself three breaths before standing.

I hissed and stumbled. My right shin shifted under my weight. I leaned upon Gungnir. The mighty spear served as a crutch.

My eyes lifted. I looked upon the mountain of debris. It seemed a dozen times taller than before.

I decided to take the long way around.

Step after trudging step, I approached the battlefield. In mindless wonder, I gazed upon the broken streets. Here and there were signs of humanity. Nervous people peered through their windows. A scattered few rushed across the street. Chiyo's girls stalked the alleys, watching me with wary eyes as I stumbled passed.

Not a single one dared to attack.

It took minutes to reach ground zero. Gondul was dead. Her arms and legs had been chopped off. Chiyo paraded in front of the limbless torso. The saccharine demon held aloft Gondul's head, a trophy for the victor.

"Dead. Dead! Finally dead. Now all that is left is your master. After that, everything will be mine!" Chiyo proclaimed gleefully.

The girl twirled in place, her scarlet stained dress puffing out cutely. White lace dripped with crimson. Ice crawled through my veins. Chiyo's tenki was intact. Yet there she was, covered in blood.

This was the depth of her madness.

Laughing, Chiyo faced me. She cast aside her toy as though it were garbage. Gondul's head clanged off the concrete. It rolled half a rotation then stopped, propped up by the wings of the Valkyrie's helmet.

"Ranma-chan," Chiyo sang in delight. She flounced forward a single step. Joy evaporated. Her eyes fixed upon the spear. "Ranma-chan, why do you have Gungnir?"

I glanced to my side. Gungnir rested in my hand, a thick spear made from solid steel. It had an elongated blade shaped like a leaf. The weapon was long enough to cut but was designed to pierce.

Gungnir had changed. When Gondul had held it, the spear had appeared as rugged as the Valkyrie herself. Now, the blade shone like a mirror. The haft was white and covered in vines and flowers. At a glance, I understood what had happened. Gungnir had refashioned itself with the power of my tenki.

The spear was mine.

But why? We had been enemies divided by our views of the world. Then my gaze shifted to Chiyo. Ah. The answer was obvious. Better me than her.

"Give me the spear, Ranma-chan," Chiyo said sweetly. The girl grasped a hair clip and formed a new axe.

"Like hell."

The retort was instant. I wasn't giving her Gungnir. The spear was power in its rawest form. With it, I could shred the auric defense of magical girls. Against the weakest, Gungnir granted instant victory. Against the strongest, Gungnir threatened death. With Gungnir, even Chiyo could be defeated.

But not right now. I was exhausted. Tenki lay beyond my reach. With my broken leg, I could neither fight nor retreat. In this state, Carrotcake constituted a deadly threat.

"Ranma, Ranma, Ranma," Chiyo tutted as though talking to a child. "And here I thought you were getting better. But it seems you are as stupid as before. Allow me to rephrase that. Give me Gungnir or die."

"Heh," I grunted. "You will off me either way. So I think I will go down fighting, thank you very much."

Chiyo let out a sweet giggle. "You can learn. But don't worry, my sweet, I have better things planned for you than death." Chiyo's smile turned malicious. "But that doesn't mean I won't kill you if you continue to refuse. Give me Gungnir. I killed Gondul. It belongs to me."

"No," I answered again.

"Oh." Amusement drained from Chiyo's face. "A pity then."

Chiyo raised an axe. Power gathered along its edge. I lifted Gungnir in response, holding the spear crosswise in the hope it would stop her attack.

Dead Scream.

A whisper, spoken from far away, yet clearly heard. A bolt of purple light shot from the top of a mutilated building. It struck the ground at Chiyo's feet. The girl hopped back, her axes falling into a defensive posture.

In the blink of an eye, Setsuna stood at my side.

The fuku wearing woman was utter calm. She held a key shaped staff at her side. There was no indication that she felt any need to prepare for battle.

"Hecate," Chiyo spat. Her face twisted with hatred. "Are you done playing in the shadows, then?"

"Ranma-kun is necessary, Chiyo-chan," Setsuna said simply. "You must not kill him."

Chiyo gave an angelic smile. "But I wasn't going to kill her. I was only going to punish her a little for keeping Gungnir from me."

Yeah. Sure you were.

Setsuna set a gloved hand on my shoulder. A foreign aura pressed against mine. I batted it aside and shot a glance in Setsuna's direction. The woman's face gave nothing away. The presence remained, insistently probing.

"That Ranma-kun possesses Gungnir is the most suitable outcome. Ownership can be decided at a later date. Perhaps when the matter with the Institute is settled? Is that not sufficient, Chiyo-chan?"

"How convenient," Chiyo retorted. "I am not so naïve as to accept a deal that only plays out after I have become unnecessary, Hecate. I have not forgotten how you used Hikaru and I." Chiyo's ugly visage turned friendly again. "Ranma-chan, I would step away from that witch if I were you. Hecate is the type that sends cute little twelve year olds to their death."

I raised a finger. "Let me think about that for a minute," I said. My expression dropped. "How about, no." I turned to Setsuna. "And thanks, but no thanks. Gungnir isn't yours to offer. If Chiyo wants it, she can pry it from my corpse."

"And there you have it," Chiyo said. "I will take Gungnir today. Willingly or unwillingly. Don't think you can stop me, Hecate. I know how strong you are, and I am stronger."

"Will you betray our alliance for a spear?" Setsuna asked, her words mild and her posture unconcerned. "Which is more important to you, Gungnir or Artemis's death?"

"I have to choose?" Chiyo asked with wide eyed innocence. "Both. I'll take the spear now and kill Artemis later. Better than sticking with your plans, Hecate. An unloved girl like me, why, I might end up dead."

"I see," Setsuna observed. "But, Chiyo, you have little choice in this matter. The plays in progress are already beyond your control."

"No choice? I'm making one right now," Chiyo retorted. She lifted her axe a second time.

Setsuna smiled in response. Her magic gathered. I felt it tighten in my body. The world jerked.

We were gone.

For a moment, I span through infinite emptiness. Then, just as quickly, I returned. My body dropped half a meter through thin air. I hit the ground. Hard. My broken right leg buckled. I fell to the floor, hissing with pain.

Carpet? I looked around with blurry eyes. Rich furniture and classy furnishings surrounded me. An upper class home if not a mansion.

"I apologize, Ranma-kun. The landing can be a bit difficult the first time. You can relax now. You are safe. For the next few days, at least."

The tension did not drain until I forced myself to let it go. I had no more strength with which to fight. It was pointless to not trust Setsuna now.

"Thanks," I mumbled.

Free.

Please, let me be free.

-oOo-

Ending Notes:

Characters

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

Garmr [PPI, Divine Beast] – The ghost hound and steed of the Chooser. Garmr is child of Fenrir, and litter mate to Skoll and Hati. In terms of raw spiritual strength, Garmr is nearly a match for Gondul making him a terrifying companion. His powers include regeneration, neigh immortality, the ability to become insubstantial at will, and the power to call forth the phantoms of the world's fiercest wolves as his allies.

In combat Garmr fights primarily by biting. He can also disgorge the weapons of fallen armies, but only after swallowing a soul. Garmr's greatest magic can only be used on a true battlefield. With his howls he can part the boundary of life and death, forcing any soldier recently slain to fight again as an einherjar.

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.

Unmei Nuu Ito [lit. Fate Stitching Thread] – The fundamental form of Ranma's magical girl magic as reconstructed per the XT-11 experiment. This spell generates threads that pierce into the victim's flesh, and weave themselves through the victim's physical and spiritual matrix. The result is to convert the target into a magical girl slave..., at least that was the intent of the XT-11 experiment. Whether the power is complete and functional is something Ranma does not know and intends to never find out.

Tenkui Ryu [lit. Heaven Eating Dragon] – A variation of the hiryu shoten ha that was unintentionally combined with the unmei nuu ito spell. This is first technique of Ranma's that constitutes a full mesh of martial arts and magic.

The tenkui ryu is formed by creating a devouring spiral that draws the enemy's energies into a central point. The spiral is then pierced with a transformative haigeki/shuken combination, forcing the transformation of the prior energy. The resulting magic then shoots upward in a spiritual fountain. Since the new magic remains 'tenki-like', it distorts physical reality replacing it with a 'realm' imposed by shuken.

While superficially similar, the tenkui ryu and the hiryu shoten ha are fundamentally different. The tenkui ryu's wind and tornado shape are low level side effects. Where as, in the hiryu shoten ha, the shape and form are the the primary destructive force. As a result the tenkui ryu produces a weaker tornado, though the uplifting force is stronger due to the fact that the tenkui ryu also distorts gravity.

The tenkui ryu inflicts damage by using the threads filling the tornado. Each of these threads is a weaker version of those produced by the unmei nuu ito – Ranma's fundamental magic. These threads work by entangling any victim caught in the tornado. Thereafter the threads pierce the victim and siphon the life-force.

The consumed life-force is then drawn down the threads and poured into the tornado's heart. There they are used as fuel for the spiritual fountain, empowering the entire technique further. In essence, this makes the tenkui ryu a grand sealing spell, one that uses the opponent's strength to bind the enemy until it is either destroyed or converted.

Executing this technique requires that the enemy has dispersed a sufficiently large amount of spiritual energy. However, unlike with the hiryu shoten ha, the energy need not be 'hot'. It merely needs to be convertible (sufficiently deviant from that of Ranma's tenki). If the scattered energy is insufficient in volume, the tornado will not form. Further, if the scattered energy is too small – with regard to the spiritual strength and mystical resistance of the enemy – the technique will fail to deliver fatal damage even if the tornado forms.

Starlight Starfall – A broad area attack spell best described as anti-army. Chiyo creates a parasol and summons a rain of giant gobstopper mortar shells. The gobstoppers hit like penetrating cannons, cratering the ground, only to explode a few seconds later. The attack is mostly ineffective against magical girls as the unconcentrated energy does little to break down defensive auras. However, the attack is devastating when used against fixed defenses and soft targets.

(unnamed) Divine Thunderbolt – A divine class magic wielded by Gondul. The Valkyrie calls forth a thirty meter wide column of lightning. The bolt discharges in a continuous current over a period of two to three seconds. Due to its breadth and intensity this hyper destructive spell is effective against strong individuals as wells as moderate sized groups. Unfortunately, the spell is difficult to use in combat. Divine Thunderbolt has a large charge time and, as such, is vulnerable to disruption.