Chapter 18

Darkness enveloped the clouded night's sky of Nerima. The buzzing from the streetlights was the only sound that filled the air. But this night was not as peaceful as it would seem, as a prowler silently made his way across the rooftops.

Slinking from tile to tile, the prowler moved above the streets with purpose. Leaping over the roof of the Nekohanten. Sliding down the canopy outside the Okonomiyaki restaurant and finally stopping in front of the doors of the Dragon's Eye Magic Store.

The lock on the window proved little challenge and the diminutive prowler made his way inside. The inside of the store was dark with only a few small candles being visible. The contents of the shelves would be enough to make any thief happy. But this particular thief had over interests. And those interests were tucked away in the back storeroom

Sneaking into the storeroom, the thief's eyes widened at the sight of the cupboard at the back of the room. The sign on the cupboard door read;

Keep closed. Don't let any light in, or I'll break your thumbs!

-Kiagi

Turning on his torch, Happosai grinned. "Heh, heh!" He chuckled to himself. "I've found it!" He then opened the cupboard door and prepared to loot its contents. Suddenly, the light came on and the back door opened. "The Mushrooms of Time! With these I can reclaim my youth and continue my dark perversions for all eternity! Hahahahahahaha!"

"Akane?" Kiagi called looking to see who was in the storeroom. "How was your vacation...YOU!" Happosai quickly stuffed as many mushrooms as he could into his pockets and bolted for the door. "GET BACK HERE, THIEF!" Kiagi shouted launching fireballs at the old master.

Jumping up the corner of the ceiling, Happosai stuck his tongue out at the sorcerer. "Hah Hah!" He shouted "Can't catch me, sulphur breath!"

"You want sulphur breath, you old bastard," Kiagi roared, his mouth filing with flames. He then blasted the flames into the ceiling. "TRY THIS!"

Happosai dodged the flames with ease and reached into his pockets. "Here," he said throwing an unlit firebomb, "Have a taste of this. HAPPO-FIRE BURST!" Kiagi's eyes widened as the firecracker made contact with the flames coming out of his mouth and ignited, causing a massive explosion which shook the walls of the Dragon's Eye magic store and sent both fighters to opposing ends of the room.

Dazed by the effects of the blast, Kiagi sat up and scanned the room in search of Happosai. And when he spotted the old man making his way to the door, he leapt up and lunged toward him. Equally dazed by the blast, Happosai tried to head for the door and make his escape. But when he spotted Kiagi heading towards him, panic began to over take him. Reaching into his pocket, he grabbed what he thought was another firecracker and threw it at the sorcerer.

"Oh no, you don't!" Kiagi shouted preparing to incinerate the oncoming projectile. But before he could breathe more flames, he saw it for what it really was. A small mushroom heading straight for him! Kiagi tried to dodge it but was too late and the small mushroom flew perfectly into his mouth and down his throat. Ah, crap! He thought as the transformation began to take place.

"Ranma?" Akane said, rolling over to her husband's side of the bed and nudging him."Did you hear that noise?"

"Huh?" Ranma groaned, lifting his head up from the pillow "What noise?"

"I don't know, it's stopped." Akane said.

Well then, what did you wake me up for? Ranma thought to himself settling back into his pillow. I was having a good dream. Now how am I gonna get back to sleep? But as quickly as he was awoken, he was back deep in his slumber.

"Typical." Akane said looking on at her snoozing spouse. She then looked at the clock on her bedside table. 1:30am, She thought to herself. Well, I'm going to check on the kids and get a drink.

Stepping out of the bedroom door, she closed it behind her and turned on the hallway light. She walked quietly down to Kaori's door first and opened it slowly. The small redhead was sleeping soundly in her bed, clutching onto the giant goldfish plush Kasumi and Tofu had given her from their trip to Hokkaido. The slight smile on her face showed that she was having a good dream much to her mother's delight.

Akane smiled at the sight before closing the door gently. Now to check on the twins. She thought, making her way to Hideo and Chihiro's room. Popping her head in, she looked at the babies in their cots and saw them both sleeping peacefully. Chihiro lay still on her back and snored slightly where as Hideo wriggled from one position to another but was still quite happily asleep. Akane smiled again and closed the door quietly to go downstairs.

Turning on the kitchen light, she picked up a glass from the cupboard and filled it from the sink. But before she could take a drink, a booming sound echoed from the distance and startled her, causing her to spill some of the water onto her shirt. "There's that noise again" He said taking off his shirt, throwing it into the hamper and moving towards the window take a better look.

Looking out to the distance, he could see a bright light illuminating the night sky. "It looks like it's coming from the Dragon's Eye." He said, picking up one of Ranma's shirts off the pile of laundry and putting it on. "I better go see if everything's alright."

Stepping outside, Akane could see his breath in the cold night's air. I probably should've put a coat on. He thought to himself as he ran down the streets towards the town centre. Hopefully, I'll warm up by running down.

Arriving at the Dragon's Eye, Akane could see that all was quiet from outside of the store. The lights were out and it seemed as though everyone was either in bed or not there at all. Well, it seems ok. I'll just head home and go back to bed. I bet Ranma's not even noticed that I've gone. Ranma sneezed in his sleep and rolled onto his other side. "Stupid Pop!" he mumbled, twisting his face. "That's my teriyaki."

Just then, the ground rumbled slightly causing Akane to turn back around to face the store. The large glass windows glowed red and exploded right in front of him, allowing a crimson pillar of light to fire into the sky. That was Kiagi's Dragon's Wrath! Watching the beam, he noticed that something small and wrinkled was being pushed away by it. Is that Happosai? He thought to himself watching as the old master flew off into the distance further and further away until he was lost from sight within the stars.

"COME BACK AGAIN AND THEY'LL NEVER FIND YOUR BODY!" A high pitched voice shouted from inside the store.

"Who was that?" Akane said climbing into the store window to find the source of the voice.