Ranma 1/2, High School DxD, Darkstalkers and the rest are owned by their respective owners. I own nothing.

If only I did, that would be awesome.

I hope you all had a good Easter.

Chapter 9

"Here." Nabiki handed Yohko the bracelet. "If you're facing Gasper, you'll need that." Yohko nodded and slipped it on. "He's still got Vampiric powers, so don't underestimate him."

"I won't." Yohko nodded as she slipped the bracelet on her left wrist. "I'm a bit nervous, actually." Nabiki gave her a confused look. "Against Demons, Devils or anything else that hurts humans, I have no problem with performing, but I've never actually done this in front of a crowd." The brunette laughed and rubbed the back of her head. "Plus Gasper's not a bad kid, I don't want to hurt him."

Nabiki tilted her head before laughing. "Oh! Don't worry about that. There's systems in place that monitor our health and as soon as we take enough damage that might be dangerous, we're teleported off the battlefield and given medical treatment."

"Oh, well, that's good." Yohko smiled as it seemed like a large weight was removed from her chest. "What about you? You're against Issei. From what you were saying, he's on par with some really powerful Devils."

Nabiki crossed her arms under her chest and grimaced as she closed her eyes. "In terms of combat, he's got me beat by a huge margin. Boosted Gear is a God-slaying weapon," she opened her eyes and shook her head, "even without being in its more powerful Balance Break form, it can still give him the power to kill a God. I got no real chance against him if I play fair."

Yohko raised an eyebrow. "...The way you framed that..."

Nabiki just winked at her. "I've got some ideas on how to face him. I don't know how effective it will be, all things considered, but I'll be fine. Either it works and we win because I took him out or I lose in one punch."

Yohko nodded and looked at Atsuko. "How about you? Asia has Dragons that she can summon."

"Hmm, two of them." Atsuko nodded and grimaced. "If she summons Fafnir, I won't be able to win. I don't know, I'll just have to be careful." Yohko and Nabiki both nodded as Azazel announced it was time to begin.

Not far away, Lilith smiled at Ranma and gave him a quick kiss on the lips. "Good luck."

"You too." Ranma nodded as she walked to the platform. He turned to Mittelt, who looked nervous. "Just relax, you'll do fine." She nodded, but still looked nervous. "...What's wrong?"

Mittelt sighed and felt her shoulders slump. "I don't know. I got a ball of nervousness in my stomach, I'm jittery, I feel like I need to throw up and I just want to lash out. What is this?" She held up her hands, which were shaking slightly. "I can't stop, what is this?"

"Adrenaline." Ranma told her as he walked up to her and hugged her to him. "Take a deep breath," he instructed as she nodded and hugged him back, "let it out..." He could feel her trembling as she did so, "twice more." As she did, he felt the trembling slowly subside. "Better?" She nodded against his chest. "Okay, you need to go up now." He gave a nervous smile to Griselda, who had a knowing smirk on her face, "your opponent's waiting."

"Can't believe we're all fighting at once." Mittelt muttered as she let go of the hug.

Ranma shrugged as Mittelt walked out of the locker room. "Something about a battle royal or something." He had an idea as to why the fights were all happening at once instead of one after the other, but he doubted most people did.

Bulleta grinned as she looked at Kiba, who gave her a neutral look. "This will be fun."

Kiba screwed his eyes shut and smiled. "Well, please go easy on me. Bullet wounds are such a pain to treat."

Ranma looked at Irina and nodded and then at Issei and smirked as he walked up to where Nabiki was and the two disappeared. "That'll be fun." He looked at Vasco who disappeared with Shampoo and sighed. "Kind of wish I could face him. Oh well." He shrugged and walked up to the platform where he disappeared.

Azazel grinned as screens appeared all over the stadium. "And the first round can begin!"

(-)

Appearing in an open grass field, Mousse looked around for his opponent, only to frown in confusion. "Did she run away?" There was a coughing sound and Mousse spun around, only to see a blur several feet away. "Shampoo? What are you doing here?"

There was a giggling sound. "I think your eyes are broken, sir." A voice he didn't recognize spoke up. Mousse reached into his over-sized robe sleeves and pulled out his coke-bottle glasses and put them on his face. "Now do you see?" The voice revealed itself to be Akeno, who was smiling at him while dressed in her shrine maiden outfit.

"Ah!" Mousse pointed at Akeno. "You're the lightning girl!"

Akeno just nodded at him. "Indeed, please show this shrine maiden a good time."

Mousse scratched his head in confusion. "Can you really be called a maiden though?" Akeno looked confused and tilted her head. "Well, I mean, I heard that shrine maidens do lots of sex ceremonies in Japan, so..."

Akeno's face turned bright red as she screwed her eyes shut and smiled. "Mister, I'll have you know that I've never done any of that stuff. And just for insinuating that I did, I'm going to have to hurt you." She held up her hands as lightning crackled around them. "Please, try to not die when I blast you."

Mousse held his arms in front of him. "Don't think it'll be that easy!" He yelled as several metal chains rushed forward and wrapped themselves around Akeno's body. "I got you."

"You know I use lightning powers and you use metal chains on me?" Akeno asked with a smile on her face as Mousse's face had a growing look of dread on it. "Who's got who now?" She asked while holding her left hand up with her fingers extended before she squeezed them into a fist, causing lightning to crash down onto the chains and rush towards Mousse who stared in shock and dismay.

"Too easy." Akeno smiled happily as Mousse was engulfed in an explosion.

(-)

Elsewhere...

Issei and Nabiki ended up in a grassy area surrounded by partially destroyed stone walls and various debris all around them. Nabiki didn't waste time and quickly ducked behind some debris while Issei formed Boosted Gear on his left hand. "Well, Issei, isn't this what you always wanted? A girl with you, all alone and at your whims?" Nabiki asked as she peeked out from behind the debris to look at Issei, who was looking right at her.

"What kind of person do you take me for?" Issei asked her.

"A pervert." Nabiki shot back, causing Issei to pause and nod. "But even if you're one, you're not that good of one."

"HUH?!" Issei gawked as Nabiki smiled at him. "What do you mean?! I'm..."

"Less of a pervert than Lilith or Ranma." Nabiki interrupted. "Plus you don't even come close to Odin, Zeus or Happosai." Issei sweat-dropped heavily as he listened to that.

"Well, even if I'm not the biggest pervert, I can beat you with ease." Issei proclaimed while squeezing his right hand into a fist. "Besides!" He pointed his left finger at Nabiki. "Your Sacred Gear was sealed for this, so..." He trailed off as Nabiki started to chuckle. "What?"

"Did you think I didn't know Azazel was going to seal my Sacred Gear for this match?" Nabiki asked with an amused look on her face. "Don't you think that I could find a way around the sealing?" Issei jerked in surprise. "That's right, I've already undone it and I can see the future again."

"S-so what?!" Issei took a nervous step back. "Even if you can see the future and probably know what I'm going to do, it won't help you."

Nabiki put a hand to her lips and giggled. "You're cute when you're flustered, I can see why Rias likes you." She stopped giggling and a sharp grin came to her face. "But you're not only a pervert, you're a Dragon, aren't you?" Issei took a nervous step backwards as Nabiki reached her right hand into her pocket. "And I happen to have a particular rock on hand that Dragons are really weak to. Even Ophis nearly died after being exposed to it for so long."

"You're bluffing." D'draig called out while Issei gulped.

"Am I?" Nabiki grinned at Issei. "Of course, the only real way to know is to read my boobs, isn't it?" She frowned at Issei's conflicted look. "...Oh, that's right. Rias banned you from using that in Rating Games didn't she?" Nabiki shrugged. "Feel free to use it. Perhaps I should take my shirt off to make it easier?" Nabiki asked as she grabbed the bottom of her shirt and started to pull it up.

"I'm not against seeing boobs, but, something's wrong." Issei muttered and charged up a Dragon Shot. "If you have that rock that hurts me, then use it to protect you from this!"

Nabiki narrowed her eyes as Issei fired an energy shot at her. She flexed her fingers in her left hand before pulling her right one out of her pocket with something in it that glowed, causing the blast to disperse and fizzle. "I was kind of hoping that I wouldn't have to use it."

"Dang it, she wasn't bluffing?!" Issei asked in surprise and jumped back.

"I still think she was, that wasn't that strong of a blast, Issei." D'draig told him, "she could have used a simple shiny rock and a defensive spell to make it seem like the attack was useless."

"Dang it, sorry, Rias." Issei muttered as he focused his power. "Boobielingual!" A field erupted around him and focused on Nabiki. "Now let's see what you're hiding."

Nabiki grinned as she felt Issei's mind reading ability come over her. "Got'cha." She whispered.

Issei's eyes widened and he took a staggering step backwards. "What? What is this?" Images flashed through his mind that had him trembling and he felt himself getting sick to his stomach.

Nabiki sighed in relief as Issei trembled. "I was worried that you'd realize that I was bluffing." Nabiki chuckled as she opened her palm, revealing a white crystal-like rock. "I didn't unseal my Sacred Gear and I don't have any Dragonice on me. Good thing rock candy can look like Dragonice, huh?" She asked while walking out from behind the debris and throwing the candy over her shoulder as Issei fell to his knees and threw up. "But you can't hear me, can you? You can only see those horrible images, can't you?"

Issei's eyes had shrunk to pinpricks as he shuddered. "The...The women... They're so... UGLY!" He screamed in dismay.

"Yeah," Nabiki scratched her head. "There's a reason they're called Land Whales after all. Complete with unnatural blue, red, green and purple hair, huh?"

Images of women who all had badly dyed hair, who were extremely fat, with short, upturned noses, wearing wide dresses and other unflattering clothing on, who treated people that they found offensive in horrendous ways flashed through Issei's mind. Women who were so miserable and disgusting with how they didn't exercise at all and blamed everything for their lifestyles ran through his head.

"Stop it!" Issei screamed in despair. "Stop it! Where did you find these horrible women?!"

Nabiki smirked at Issei as he threw up again. "California, mostly." Saying that, she ran up and kicked Issei in the side, knocking him over as he cried out in pain. She knew that the kick wasn't painful, but the image of a fat woman that had arms and legs that looked like tootsie rolls screaming in anger at something she found offensive, causing her body to jiggle and flop around while she was sitting still.

"HOW CAN ANYONE ALLOW THEMSELVES TO GET SO FAT THAT THEY BECOME A BLOCK OF FLESH?!" Issei screamed in dismay as he rolled from side to side and kicked his legs up and down. Of all the battles he had faced, seeing women who allowed themselves to get so ugly was one he had no defenses against.

Nabiki grinned as she charged up a magic spell. "I doubt what I used would work on anyone who wasn't super perverted." She held her hands in front of her. "Sorry, Issei, nothing personal." She said before firing a magic blast at Issei's prone form.

She watched as the attack connected with Issei, causing an explosion and sending his body over a partially destroyed wall. "...I'm not stupid, Issei. I'm not going to turn away and act surprised when you get up in your armor form, completely unharmed. So save us some time and come on out, huh?"

A green flash of light and Issei, in his scale mail armor, jumped out from behind the wall, panting as he landed on the top of the wall. "You jerk! That could have hurt!" He screamed while pointing at her.

Nabiki merely shrugged helplessly. "But I'm nowhere near as strong as Sairaorg or Cao Cao, even if I was to promote to Rook or Queen." A savage grin came to her face. "But you want to know something more horrible, Issei?"

"What?" He asked, wondering why she was looking like that.

"All those women?" Nabiki grinned while holding up her left index finger, "have had sex." She watched as Issei jerked in surprise before images assaulted his mind and he found himself falling to his knees in despair. "Many times with multiple guys."

The gems on Issei's armor seemed to go dark as he went still.

"Huh..." Nabiki tilted her head and tapped her chin. "That went better than expected."

(-)

Meanwhile...

Appearing in a meadow, Shampoo pulled out her chui weapons and took a defensive stance with her left arm held in front of her while her right arm was raised up.

She had every reason to, her opponent was just so large that she couldn't help but feel intimidated by him. She knew that he was supposedly between seventy and a hundred years old, but with the youth restoring concoction that he took, he looked to be merely twenty-five or thirty years old at most.

Vasco, dressed in typical Vatican robes, smiled at the purple-haired girl with his eyes closed. "Just relax, young one, we're here for competition, not to kill each other. That's said..." he opened his eyes and Shampoo had to fight the urge to take a step back or pass out as she felt his presence flood the area and start to overwhelm her. "I'm going to fight you seriously."

Despite herself, Shampoo grinned at him as she replied in Chinese. "I would have it no other way. As a warrior, I won't be easy to beat."

"I hope so." Vasco smiled as he leaned forward and moved with such speed that he seemed to disappear. Shampoo's eyes widened before she dived forward as she felt rather than saw his open palm aiming for her head. "Good instincts." He complimented her as he turned to look at her, only to find her in the air, her mace-like weapons aimed at his head. Reacting quickly, he grabbed the chui with his left hand, stopping it cold and causing Shampoo's eyes to widen in shock. "Nice try though, child." He smiled pleasantly before punching Shampoo in the stomach with his right fist.

Shampoo's eyes widened as she let out a cry of pain. There was a cracking sound before Shampoo went flying away from Vasco, her weapon breaking at the hilt.

Vasco looked at the iron ball in his left hand and then at Shampoo's body as she bounced on the ground before sliding to a stop. "Interesting, you didn't let go." He said as he noticed that she had a stump of a handle in her hand.

Shampoo coughed as she struggled to get to her feet. "Letting go of your weapon means death on the battlefield." She spat out as she stood up.

Vasco chuckled softly as he dropped the metal ball to the ground. "I agree with you. Some of the scars I have are because I dropped my weapon when I was younger." He took a boxing stance and tensed up before launching himself forward at Shampoo.

The purple-haired girl grimaced as she was able to follow his movements a little bit better, but she knew that she had no chance as things were going. 'He's at least as strong as any elder in our village.' She thought to herself. 'Too bad great-grandmother suspended Amazon law for this event.' The thought of this guy's children mixed with the Amazons would make them even stronger than ever before. "Still..." She tensed and jumped up just as his fist slammed into where she had been a moment ago. When he looked up to where she was, she was coming down with her leg extended.

Vasco reached up with his left arm to grab her leg and was surprised when she bent her knee at the last second to avoid the grab before smashing his wrist. The blow stung slightly, but wasn't worse than anything he had taken before in his life. Swinging his arm up, he knocked her back and off balance. "You're quite adaptable." He chuckled as she landed on her feet.

Shampoo didn't answer as she took off in a run. It didn't help as Vasco managed to catch up to her in an instant, causing her to grimace as he kicked forward and barely managed to graze her side. Even so, the small touch was still enough to send her tumbling over the ground.

Vasco lowered his leg as Shampoo spun to a stop on her knees. "I think that this fight's over." He said as he walked towards her.

"Not..." Shampoo coughed and looked up as he got close. "Yet." She let out a yell and launched herself into the air, throwing her chui at his face, forcing him to bat it away. Vasco's eyes widened as Shampoo revealed that was a feint as she came barreling down at his head with a sword.

Taking a step back, Vasco mis-judged the distance slightly, as Shampoo's sword tore his robe open in the front, revealing his incredibly ripped physique. "Well, I didn't think you'd get rid of your weapon."

"When you have a plan, it's acceptable." Shampoo responded, grateful that there were translation spells all over the place, because she knew that her opponent wasn't speaking Chinese or Japanese.

"In that case." Vasco snapped his arm out and a large sword, similar to Xenovia's Durandall appeared in his hand. "With Xenovia becoming a Devil, the Church created a replica of her Holy Sword." Vasco explained to Shampoo. "If you're going to use a sword, then so shall I."

"...That thing looks absurdly tiny in your hands." Shampoo commented as she rushed towards him and ducked under a swing, grimacing as she felt the air pressure alone tear at her dress, causing tears to come across her back. Swinging up, she hoped to at least get a few bit of damage in, only to grimace as he recovered far faster than she had anticipated and blocked her attack.

"Not bad girl." Vasco smiled at her. "You've got good instincts, you just need experience." He jerked in surprise as Shampoo flipped onto her hands and pushed upwards, trying to drive her feet at his face. He quickly grabbed her leg with his left hand, stopping her short. She then bent her knees and bent at her waist as she rolled forward, getting close to his face and forcing him to move his head in to strike her in the head.

The blow was so strong that Shampoo let out a scream of pain as she was blasted away from him.

Vasco grimaced and rubbed the side of his neck. "What is..." He paused as he felt something was stuck in his skin. Pulling it out, he stared in surprise at the remains of the shaft of her chui weapon that had broken. "...Impressive." There was a small amount of blood on the end and Vasco knew that if his muscles weren't as thick as they were, he would have lost right there. He threw the shaft away and gave Shampoo an appraising look. "You'll be a fine warrior in the future."

Shampoo was struggling to get to her feet as she panted. Looking up, her face went pale as Vasco was in front of her.

The beating he gave her after that was so brutal that the last thing she knew was her body teleporting off the battlefield and the pain stopping, which she was thankful for.

'Even the Bakusei Tenketsu training wasn't enough.' Shampoo thought to herself as she lost consciousness.

End Chapter 9