The Obsidian Wars Part 2: The Star of Rosskarn

by AndrewK9000

Raven, Apple and the others journey to Monster High to continue the struggle against Obsidian. Draculaura has been brainwashed by Valentine and both are working with Obsidian to obtain a powerful magical artifact that, in the wrong hands, could destroy all of creation. Will our heroes from many worlds stop this insidious plot? And what of the other vile plans against our heroes?

22. Chapter 21: Tokyo Tribulations Part 2

Chapter 21: Tokyo Tribulations Part 2

Apple found herself alone from the others, and as if by infernal design, twisted her ankle again. She fell down, clutching her wounded ankle, just as a demon landed on top of her.

"An innocent soul," said the hellish creature as it bent down, sticking its abomination of a face in Apple's terrified face, "the most delicious of souls. The Lord of Evil shall dine well today!" It then dragged Apple towards its master, taking Apple to a fate surely worse than death.

But then Ranma ran up and delivered a devastating kick that sent the demon flying like a rocket to Mars.

"APPLE!" shouted Avery as he ran up and helped her up, "are you…?"

"I'm fine," said Apple as she looked at her hurt ankle, "but I don't think I can walk." She gasped in surprise as two more demons appeared, eager to drag her towards the rift. Yet a bone shattering punch from Ranma to each face of the fell creatures quickly dispatched them. Several more demons, attracted by their screaming comrade, rushed upon Ranma, who fended them off with a fury of punches almost too fast for the eye to see.

"Kachū Tenshin Amaguriken!" shouted Ranma as he delivered hundreds of blows that annihilated the demons facing him.

"How'd you do that?" asked an astonished Avery, "how can you punch so fast without Clocking Up?"

"I'm just that fast," said Ranma, "fast enough to grab roasting chestnuts out of an open fire without burning my hands, that is." He then idly punched a demon away, then kicked away two more.

"Uh…right," said a somewhat sheepish Avery. He then shook his head to clear his thoughts, then looked at Apple, "If you can't walk, I'll carry you!" He then punched a demon in the face, only to wince and look at his hand, grimacing as his knuckles formed bruises and bled from small cuts. "Wow, these things are tough." He then smiled as Kabuto Zecter flew into his hand and his Rider Belt appeared around his waist, "but not tough enough! Henshin!" he then clicked the metal beetle into place on his belt.

HENSHIN

Energy hexagons flowed out from the belt, solidifying into the Masked form of Kabuto. He then shot several demons in the face with his Kunai Gun, then flipped the weapon around to slam the axe blade into another.

"Holy crap!" said an amazed Ranma as he helped Apple onto his back in a piggyback fashion, "he's a Kamen Rider!"

"You've know of them?" asked Apple.

"Yeah, on TV," said Ranma, "but this is real," he then kicked a demon away, "and boy is it real. Let's get out of here!" he then ducked as a demon flew past him, knocked away by an irate girl.

"You'd better not be fooling around with her, Ranma!" shouted Akane, who was wielding a massive mallet and was bashing every demon she could get at.

"Oh, shut up and fight, Akane!" shouted Ranma, "we need to get out of here!" with that, making sure Apple was secure on his back, Ranma began running out of the devastated area, dodging demons left and right and occasionally seeing our heroes and allies fight. He saw Shampoo combining her war clubs with Chinese Amazon kung fu, while Mousse used a variety of hidden weapons up his sleeves to trick and disable demons.

Apple saw Ukyo use her many spatulas as weapons, smashing demons with the big one and using the smaller spatulas as throwing knives. She saw Ryoga fending off several demons with his bamboo umbrella, then using a seemingly endless supply of bandanas as shuriken. Distracted by more demons, Ryoga was unaware that another had thrown a large chunk of rubble at him. Ryoga sensed the incoming debris, turned around and held out one finger.

"Bakusai Tenketsu!" shouted Ryoga as he jammed his finger into the mass of debris, shattering it into harmless bits and pieces, then resumed fighting the other demons.

"How did he do that with one finger?" asked Apple as she noticed out of the corner of her eye Cupid peppering the demons with arrows, while Tobias, as Sasword, protected the demigoddess from any creatures that got close.

"Where we're from," said Ranma, "you learn all sorts of weird martial arts techniques." He then dodged a demon flung by a gymnastics ribbon used by Kodatchi, laughing maniacally as she gracefully danced thought the heat of battle.

As they hurried on, Apple and Ranma saw more of their friends fighting; Kuno and Tenchi were fighting back-to-back with wooden swords, both masterfully displaying kendo skills, though both differed in technique due to their schools of swordsmanship. Off to one side, Ryoko and Ayeka reluctantly fought together, Ryoko using a red energy sword with a combination of levitation and teleportation tactics to confuse the demons, while Ayeka combined telekinesis and force fields to block and then force away the fell creatures.

"Ranma! Over here!" shouted Kasumi, who had taken shelter behind a pile of rubble with Nabiki, Sasami and Ryo-Oki, Keiko, Yukina and several civilians, while Mihoshi and Kiyone provided cover with their Galaxy Police blasters, with Kiyone calmly making each shot count, while Mihoshi, on the verge of tearful panic, kept missing as her hands shook.

"I don't wanna die!" wailed Mihoshi as she missed again and again, "I don't wanna die!"

"Oh, just give me that thing!" shouted Keiko as she grabbed Mihoshi's blaster.

"You can't do that!" shouted Kiyone as Ranma and Apple took cover, "you don't even know how that works!"

"How hard can it be?" asked Keiko as she looked at the blasted, "just point and shoot, right?" she aimed and fired a blast that hit a demon right between the eyes.

"Lucky shot," said Kiyone, who then blinked in amazed surprise as Keiko shot three more demons with pinpoint precision, "that's…not half bad, actually. Have you ever considered a position in the Galaxy Police?"

"Uh, not really," said Keiko.

"Well, think about it," said Kiyone, "if you show as much skill with the rest of galactic law enforcement as you do with marksmanship, you'll be my partner before you know it!"

"But I'm your partner, Kiyone!" complained Mihoshi.

"Don't I know it!" grumbled Kiyone.

Just then they heard a girl screaming in pain, followed by Faybelle crashing next to them.

"Oh my gosh!" exclaimed Sasami as she and the others saw how badly wounded Faybelle was. Not only did Faybelle have several minor cuts and burns across her arms and legs, but part of her wings were burned off, while the remains of her wings pulsed with dark red energy.

"Faybelle! What happened?" asked Apple as she limped over.

"My wings! They took my wings!" wailed Faybelle.

"They're not all gone," said Apple as she rummaged through her first aid kit for her healing glove, "they'll grow back, I hope. But let's get you well first, then we'll worry about your wings." She found the glove and prepared to use it to heal Faybelle's wings.

"Don't!" shouted Yukina as she forced Apple's gloved hand away, "she's been hit by a high-level demonic curse. You see the red glow on her wings? That's the curse, working its way into her body where it'll burn out her soul."

"I don't want my soul burned out," said a terrified Faybelle, "I'm bad, but not that evil!"

"Then let me cure the curse before it kills her!" said Apple.

"Don't you understand?" asked Yukina urgently, "this is demon magic! If you try to cure it with human magic, it'll infect you and burn out your soul!"

"Can you cure it?" asked Apple.

"I can try," said Yukina as her hands glowed with healing energy, "I've never tried something this serious, but I'll do my best."

"Just do something!" sobbed Faybelle, "it hurts so much!"

Yukina held her hands over Faybelle's wounded wings, channeling healing energy into the burned appendages. The blue light entered the wounded wings, dispelling the red energy. But then the red energy glowed stronger and flowed up into Yukina's hands. She gasped in pain as the energy began burning her hands, but she fought back, channeling more of her own spirit energy into the healing. The red energy of the curse was forced from her hands, then dispelled further from Faybelle's wings.

Within a manner of seconds, the curse was dispelled from Faybelle's wings, who gasped in relief as the pain left her body. Yukina also gasped, with exhaustion that is as she collapsed.

"YUKINA!" exclaimed Kuwabara as he dashed over and caught the Ice Apparition before she hit the ground.

"Kazuma," said Yukina weakly as she smiled up at him, "I'm alright, just tired."

"She saved Faybelle," said an amazed Keiko.

"Oh sure," said a slightly dazed and significantly irate Faybelle as she sat up, "I'm gonna live," she then looked over her shoulder, "but look at my wings!" she tried to flap her damaged wings, then winced at a sharp pain, "I can't fly with these!"

"They'll grow back," said Kasumi, she then looked at Apple, "you said they'd grow back, right?"

"I said I hope they grow back," said Apple, "I honestly don't know."

"Well, that's just perfect!" snapped Faybelle, "I'm a flightless faerie! What's a faerie who can't fly?! Nothing, that's who!"

"At least you're alive with an intact soul, you ungrateful idiot!" snapped Keiko, "you should be on your knees thanking Yukina for saving your unappreciative life and soul!"

"It's alright, Keiko," said Yukina as Kuwabara helped her sit up, "I know she's grateful, even if she doesn't know how to express."

"Excuse me?!" exclaimed Faybelle, "I'm fully capable of expressing gratitude, you blue-haired bimbo!"

"Don't call my girlfriend bimbo!" snapped Kuwabara, "you can't talk to her like that!"

"Or what? You'll hit me?" asked Faybelle daringly, "you don't fight girls!"

"That's right, I don't," said Kuwabara, "I stick by my code of honor," he then glared at Faybelle, "but you, missy, you I'm tempted to give a good spanking!"

"I'd like to see you try!" said Faybelle venomously as her hands crackled with dark magic, "I can't fly right now, and I may never again, but I can still kick your keister over the horizon!"

"You and what army?!" exclaimed Kuwabara as his hands glowed with spirit energy.

"Kazuma! Please, don't!" cried Yukina, "don't let her rile you up and make you break your code! She's not worth dishonoring yourself! Besides, she's just…LOOK OUT!"

Kuwabara looked up and saw a demon about to slash him across the face, just as Yusuke punched the fiend and nearly rip its head off.

"Sheesh, Kuwabara," said Yusuke, "you let a girl from another dimension distract you and you nearly get the facelift to end all facelifts."

"I wasn't distracted, Urameshi!" snapped Kuwabara, "I was just keeping Yukina from getting her face ripped off, that's all!" he then looked at Yukina, "I gotta get back in the fight, but I'll be back soon." He kissed Yukina and stood up, "SPIRIT SWORD!"

A blade of spirit energy ignited in Kuwabara's hand light a lightsaber and he dashed into a group of demons, hacking and slashing them to pieces.

"Hey! Save some for the rest of us!" said Yusuke. He then saw a large demon with six arms and armed with various rusting weapons, "on second thought, there's plenty for all!" he aimed his finger in a pistol manner at the large demon. The tip of his finger glowed as spirit energy condensed into a single point.

"SPIRIT GUN!" shouted Yusuke as he fired a bolt of spirit energy that vaporized the six-armed demon, only for two more of the same type to march up and challenge Yusuke.

"Now I remember these guys!" said Ranma as he alternated between watching Yusuke and Kuwabara, "for a while I heard rumors about these two; Urameshi Yusuke and Kuwabara Kazuma, two of the toughest, meanest street fighters around. But then they stopped fighting local punks and then the rumors got really crazy."

"You call fighting demons crazy?" asked Nabiki.

"That kind of fighting is," said Ranma as he looked at Yusuke and Kuwabara, "I've got to learn how they do it! How they're channeling their Ki like that."

"Ki? You mean spirit energy," said Keiko.

"Ki, spirit energy, chakra, it's all the same; power," said Ranma, "and they have it!"

Just then Washu ran up to our heroes, "there you guys are!" exclaimed the mad genius from space as she worked on a tablet, "boy, we really goofed the floop this time!"

"Washu, please, what is going on?" asked Sasami.

"Yeah, what happened?" asked Kiyone, "did your generator open a portal to hell or something?"

"In a nutshell, yes," said Washu as she read the data on her tablet screen, "a combination of Mihoshi's accentual button pushing, Akane's reckless kicking and the overall power of the diamond, which upon retrospect I should have studied more, my bad, created a rift to a dimension very similar to the Judeo-Christian idea of Hell; a demonic wasteland known as The Nightosphere."

"And that horror that first came through the rift," said Apple as she glanced over the rubble, witnessing the demon in the suit devour soul after soul as his demonic minions brought him human victims.

"The most vile and foul abomination in all of creation," said Washu, "an evil that has existed since before the dawn of time and will exist long after the last star falls from the heavens; Hunson Abadeer. And now, thanks to a series of unfortunate events, we rang the dinner bell, and he answered."

"Well, we've got to stop it!" said Ranma, "we've got to stop that thing before he eats any more souls and brings any more demons come into our world!"

"Too late!" said Keiko as she looked and saw the rift expand, allowing more demons of various shapes and sizes, all armed with rusting but still lethal swords, axes and polearms.

"No, you don't!" shouted Kiva after punching a demon in the face. She then pulled out the purple wolf whistle from her belt and put it in Elissabat's mouth.

"Garuru Saber!" shouted Elissabat as she blew the whistle, sending out its call across the battlefield, to where Clawdeen, Howleen and Clawd were vanquishing demons with tooth and talon.

"Oh, not now!" exclaimed Clawdeen as she heard the whistling call. With a flash of purple energy, she turned into the wolfish whistle that Kiba caught it in her left hands, the whistle morphing into a sword. Ghostly chains wrapped themselves around Kiva's left arm and chest plate, solidifying into purple armor. Elissabat's eyes flashed purple, while Clawdeen's spirit howled with righteous fury as it merged into Kiva's body.

Growling and then howling with battle lust, Kiva charged into the oncoming throngs of demons, hacking and slashing them to pieces. Yet this only slowed the infernal hordes as more and more demons poured through the rift.

"Oh, this is bad," said Kiyone as she saw the thongs of demons encircling the area, effectively trapping our heroes and allies. "They'll soon smother us with sheer numbers!"

"Don't underestimate my friends!" said Ranma.

"And mine," said Keiko.

"And mine," said Apple. But then she saw just how many demons were already surrounding her and the others, then how many more were pouring through the rift, "then again, things are looking rather dire."

By now the encircling demons had forced our heroes back to where Apple and the others were hiding. The demons, licking their foul lips, readied themselves for a final push to overwhelm and destroy those who dared to oppose them.

Suddenly, a massive blast of purple fire destroyed at least a hundred of the fell creatures, a blast that came from outside the ring of demons

"APPLE!" shouted Raven as she stood atop a tall pile of rubble, flanked by the masked forms of Drake and Gatack. The two Riders then opened fire on the creatures, the former with his Drake Shooter, the later with his Gatack Vulcan cannons. At the same time Cerise, Ramona and Ashlyn provided support around the rubble pile, pulverizing any demon that got close with fists, feet and broomstick staff.

"Oh, am I ever after glad to see her acting wicked," said a relieved Apple as Raven threw another massive purple fireball at the demons.

"How is saving our lives wicked?" asked Nabiki as the combined firepower of Raven, Gatack and Drake opened a corridor through the encircling demons.

"I told her to stay behind," said Apple as Ranma helped her up onto his back again. With that she and the others hurried through the corridor, defeating the demons that tried to stop them along the way.

But then an enormous demon with massive fists, stood in their path.

"Oh man!" said Kuwabara breathlessly, "I really…really don't…want to fight…that thing!"

"Getting…tired, Kuwabara?" asked Yusuke.

"Just…a little…out of shape…Urameshi!" replied Kuwabara, "same as…you!"

"Oh, that thing ain't so tough!" shouted Ryoga as he walked up to the oversized demon, "I can take care of it with one hand tied behind my back!"

"Ryoga! Don't!" shouted Ukyo, but was too late to stop the demon from grabbing Ryoga by the legs. The creature then swung Ryoga about like a ragdoll, slamming him repeatedly into the ground, before tossing him back towards our heroes. Ryoga slid to a halt in front of Ukyo and Akane.

"Oh, Ryoga!" exclaimed Akane as she and Ukyo cran over to comfort the battered boy.

"You big dummy!" shouted Ukyo, "why'd you take on that thing alone!?"

Ryoga, bruised from head to toe, sat up to glare at Ranma, "and let him have all the glory? I think not!" with that he passed out.

"Fool! There's plenty of glory for us all!" shouted Kuno.

"You wanna fight that thing? Be my guest, brother!" said Kodatchi as she pointed at the massive demon, which was moving towards our heroes, "I'm mad, but not that mad!"

"It's either fight it or fight the smaller ones!" said Ryoko, "and there's way more of them than the big one!" she then smiled mischievously, "oh, have I got a great idea! Ryo-Oki!"

"Oh, no, Ryoko!" pleaded Sasami as she held Ryo-Oki in her arms lovingly, "don't make Ryo-Oki fight these things! They'll kill her!"

"You want your pet cat to fight?" asked Kodatchi, "and they say I'm mad!"

"Just wait until you see what Ryo-Oki can do," said Ryoko.

"Don't you dare, Ms. Ryoko!" snapped Ayeka, "it is bad enough we're in this situation! If we can't get out of it ourselves…then…"

"Uh…Ayeka?" asked Tenchi.

"Ryo-Oki's one of us, Ayeka!" snapped Ryoko, "her power is just what we need to get out of this!"

"Uh...Ryoko?" asked Tenchi.

"That's still no excuse to put Ryo-Oki in unnecessary danger!" exclaimed Ayeka, "can't you see she's terrified of the creatures?"

"She won't be so scared when she's at full power!" exclaimed Ryoko.

"Will you two shut up and listen!?" bellowed Tenchi, getting the attention of the two girls, "I think we're gonna be alright."

"Huh? How?" asked both Ayeka and Ryoko. But then they noticed a pink and yellow blur moving among and destroying the demons.

"What sorcery is this now?" asked Kuno.

"It's not magic," said Apple as she smiled brightly, yet her eyes held concern, "that's my best friend."

TheBee easily moved through the throngs of demons in hyper time. The creatures were helpless before her near light-speed combat and could only watch as the pink and yellow blur destroyed their comrades, before they were destroyed themselves.

"How long can she stay like that?" asked Clawdeen.

"I don't know," replied Avery as he, Tobias and Clare powered down to conserve their energies, "We've never Clocked Up for more than a minute or two of real time. Who knows what extended hyper time combat will do to her?"

CLOCK OVER

TheBee returned to normal time after vanquishing hundreds of demons to face the huge one. The oversized abomination bellowed in fury as it charged at her.

"Rider Sting!" said TheBee as she pressed the button on her Zecter, creating a charge of Tachyon energy.

RIDER STING

"Clock Up!" shouted The Bee as she pressed the button on the side of her belt.

CLOCK UP

Accelerating into hyper time again, TheBee rushed at the large demon, delivering a Tachyon-powered haymaker that sent the creature into the air like a rocket, before exploding harmlessly in low orbit.

CLOCK OVER

"That showed them!" said Briar after powering down and walking up to Apple, before looking at Raven, "you see? Apple's fine. You had us all worried over nothing, and…" she then gasped in pain and collapsed to the ground.

"What's wrong with her?" asked Ayeka as Tobias, Cupid, Dexter and Hunter clustered around Briar.

"She's feeling symptoms of decompression sickness," said Apple as she hobbled over with Avery's help, "long story."

"It'll pass," said Raven in a reassuring manner, "but right now we need to get out of here."

"Why? The baddies are running away!" said Ukyo. True enough, the remaining demons were falling back towards the rift, while Hunson Abadeer looked at our heroes with unholy loathing.

"Looks like we've taught them a lesson," said Ryoko.

"Yeah, 'don't mess with our dimension!'" said Mousse.

"Infernal infidels!" snapped Kuno at the retreating demons, "cowardly creatures! Come back here and take what is due to you!" he was then hit on the head by Akane's mallet.

"Don't encourage them, Kuno!" snapped Akane, "we don't want them to come back."

"Oh, they'll come back," said Yukina fearfully, "and in greater numbers."

"Then let's go kick their ass before they do!" said Kuwabara.

"And kick his ass too!" said Yusuke as he glared back at Hunson Abadeer, "there's something about this guy that really pisses me off!"

"You can't fight him!" snapped Washu, "not if you want to keep your soul! None of us can fight him and survive, not without a plan that is."

"She's right, we need a plan," said Avery, "we need to fall back and organize to meet the next attack when it comes!"

"And we can use this brief respite from the enemy to get any remaining innocents out of harm's way," said Apple.

"And hope to God that The Devil doesn't come out to play," said Ranma as he looked back to the infernal red glow of the rift, where Hunson Abadeer had taken up position.

"He may well," said Washu fearfully, "He may very well."

---

"Go on and run away, Little Washu," said Hunson Abadeer as he watched our heroes retreat from the battlefield, "take your friends with you, you won't stop me this time. I'm gonna eat every soul on this world, all except yours. You I'll keep whole so you can watch as I leave this world and make the rest of this universe mine!"

---

A short time later found our combined heroes and allies at a nearby hotel that served as a makeshift aid station for the survivors of the destroyed convention center. The local police and emergency services had descended on the area and were making best of the situation, and they weren't doing a very good job of it. While the medical professionals were helping those in need of attention both physical and psychological, in truth, no one in charge had any idea what was going on or what to do about it.

"I see the military is on their way," said Ayeka as she and the others, having found a rare quiet spot in one of the hotel convention halls, looked out the window to see several JSDF jeeps and trucks pull up to the command center outside.

"They have no idea what they're up against," said Yukina.

"Hey, don't underestimate us humans," said Hunter.

"Yeah, some of us are quite extraordinary," said Ashlynn.

"And don't underestimate us Monsters!" said Frankie, whom also had come from The Steam Vault, along with Venus, Lagoona, Gil, Ramona and Cerise.

"But even extraordinary humans have their limits," said Ukyo as she looked at her trusty large spatula, wincing at the many dents on the blade, while the wooden handle had several cracks. Many of our hero's new friends looked as if they had had enough, that they did not relish another fight with the forces of The Nightosphere.

"I mean…can't we let the military handle things from now on?" asked Ukyo.

"Or maybe we should call the church or something," said Ranma, "that's what we need to do, call The Pope!"

"Don't be stupid, Ranma!" snapped Akane.

"Damn it, Ranma!" snapped Ryoga, "you're always upsetting Akane."

"No, he's got a good idea," said Ayeka, "this is obviously a theological crisis, so the religious authorities of Earth should at the very least be consulted."

"And just what will they tell us to do? Pray?" asked Mousse, "oh sure, that's a great idea, Ranma!"

"Since when has prayer really helped, Ranma?" asked Kodatchi.

"Such an imbecilic idea, Saotome," said Kuno.

"Hey! Why are you all picking on him?" asked a recovering Briar, now able to sit up without wanting to vomit, "what'd he ever do to all of you?"

"Got a pencil?" asked Akane irately.

"As a matter of fact, I do," said Briar as she pulled out a pencil and a pad of paper.

"Mind if I listen in on it?" asked Cupid as she too pulled out a pad of paper and a pen.

At that Akane listed her grievances against Ranma, starting with her father and his father arranging the marriage to unite the two family schools, followed by his 'deception' and the incident in the bathtub, all the way up to their fiasco of a wedding.

"So, you hate him because you walked in on him naked in the tub?" asked Cupid, "perhaps you should have knocked first."

"How's catching a boy in a compromising situation a deception?" asked Briar, "and you really should have knocked first."

"You want to know how he deceived me?" asked Akane as she stood up and grabbed a nearby jug full of water, "I'll show you!" At that Briar and the others were confused by the nervous look on Ranma's face.

"Oh, Akane, please don't!" pleaded Kasume.

"Yeah, they don't want to see that," said an annoyed Nabiki.

"See what?" asked a curious Ryoko.

"This!" exclaimed Akane as she threw the water at Ranma, splashing him, as well as Ryoga, Shampoo and Mousse.

"Holy Crap on a Friday!" exclaimed Yusuke as he, Keiko, Yukina, Kuwabara, Tenchi, Ryoko, Ayeka, Sasami, Ryo-Oki, Washu, Mihoshi, Kiyone, Apple, Avery, Tobias, Cupid, Raven, Dexter, Briar, Ashlynn, Hunter, Faybelle, Frankie, Lagoona, Gil, Clawd, Clawdeen, Howleen, Rochelle, Clare and Elissabat, all were left flabbergasted by the sight of the wet Ranma. Where before he was a tall, well-muscled boy in his late teens with black hair and brown eyes, he was now a she, a girl several inches shorter with bright red hair, blue eyes and a very well-endowed figure.

As if that were shocking enough, our heroes saw in place of Shampoo, Mousse and Ryoga, there now stood a lavender-furred cat with Shampoo's hair ribbon tied around its neck in a bow, a duck with Mousse's coke bottle glasses and a black piglet with Ryoga's bandana around its neck.

"You see?!" exclaimed Akane wrathfully as she ignored the three animals, while Ranma looked highly embarrassed, "you see the crap I've had to put up with for so long?!"

"Is…is that really you, Ranma?" asked Raven.

"Yeah, it's me," said Ranma in a depressed tone, as if she would rather be somewhere else, "a while back my old man and I were training at the cursed hot springs of Jusenkyo. Dad fell into 'Spring of Drowned Panda,' and I…well…" he indicated his female attributes.

"PIGTAILED GIRL!" exclaimed Kuno as he glomped Ranma, "I knew you would come and be mine in this time of crisis!" He then cried out in agony as Ryoko grabbed him by the ear and dragged him off of Ranma.

"What did I just tell you earlier!?" exclaimed Ryoko irately, "don't make me kick your ass again, boy!"

"You can kick his ass a thousand times over and he'll never learn," said Kodatchi, "not as long as there are beautiful girls for him to lust over."

"My lust for The Pigtailed Girl knows no bounds!" said Kuno, "for she and Tendo Akane both stir my heart to…" that's as far as he got before Ryoko grabbed him by both ears.

"Incredible," said an astonished Raven as she looked at Ranma, "a polymorph curse activated by water."

"Cold water to be exact," said Kasumi as she heated some water in a coffee maker, "hot water turns him back to normal."

"I'm still me up here," said Ranma as she tapped her head, "I'm really a guy, but having to turn into a girl every time I get hit by cold water is really embarrassing."

"'Embarrassing?!'" exclaimed Akane, "you humiliate me every chance you get!"

"I humiliate you?!" exclaimed Ranma, "I'm the cursed one here! How am I embarrassing you?!"

"You lied to me about your curse when you and Mr. Saotome first showed up at my house, you jerk!" snapped Akane, "you should have told me you were really a guy when you showed up as a girl!"

"Like you'd believe me if I told you right out front!" snapped Ranma, "I never wanted to get engaged in the first place, especially to an uncute tomboy who hits me whenever she gets a hair up her you-know-what about the stupidest of things!" she then cried out in pain as the black piglet bit Ranma on the hand.

"Oh, there you are, P-Chan!" said Akane happily as she cradled the piglet in her arms. She then glared at Ranma, "you ought to be ashamed of yourself for upsetting P-Chan like that!"

"He bit me!" said Ranma incredulously.

"Does she not realize that that pig is Ryoga?" Frankie whispered to Kasumi.

"Unfortunately, no," sighed Kasumi as she walked over with a pot of hot water and splashed some on Ranma, restoring him to his male form. She then splashed some on Mousse and Shampoo, returning them to their human form as well.

"Hey! P-Chan!" shouted Akane as the piglet wiggled out of her arms and scurried away. "Come back, P-Chan! It's not safe!"

"Oh let him go," said Ranma, "he's always fine."

Akane then slapped Ranma on the face, "just like you to not care, Ranma!" Akane snapped, "always thinking of yourself! For all you know, there could be a demon outside, waiting to grab P-Chan and do god knows what hellish thing to him!"

"Uh, I do believe he's alright, Akane," said Kasumi as she saw P-Chan grab another pot of hot water and splash himself, returning him to normal.

"Shut up, Kasumi!" spat Akane, "I'm having a fight with Ranma!"

"Don't talk to her that way!" insisted Ranma, "she's your sister, for crying out loud!"

"Oh, so now you're calling me stupid!?" exclaimed Akane, "you think I don't know my own sister?!" she then threw the coffee pot at Ranma, whom barely avoided getting hit on the head with it. Instead, the coffee pot went on towards Clawd, hitting and shattering on the back of his head, the hot water scalding him and the shards of glass lacerating his head and neck.

"Oh my Ghoul!" exclaimed Howleen as she rushed over to her dazed, bleeding and burned brother.

"Is he…is he?" asked Frankie.

"It's not good," said Apple as she and Yukina examined Clawd, "but it's not too serious."

"I'm alright," said Clawd as he gritted his teeth through the pain, "I'm just unlucky, that's all."

"You're lucky it didn't kill you," said Gil.

"HEY YOU!" barked Clawdeen at Akane, "You fathead normie! You could have killed my brother!"

"I…I…it's Ranma's fault!" exclaimed Akane.

"Yeah, it's Ranma's fault!" said Ryoga, "he made her mad!"

"Such a cad as Satotome Ranma seems to live to irritate the fair Akane," said Kuno.

"Oh, leave him alone!" said Ukyo, "it's not Ranma's fault Akane can't control her temper!"

"Ranma should forget Akane," said Shampoo, "forget kitchen-destroying girl and be with Shampoo."

"Yes, he should forget Akane and be with Shampoo," said Ukyo. "Wait, what am I saying? He should be with me!"

"Yeah, he should be with you so I can be with Shampoo!" said Mousse, only to have Shampoo knock him upside the head with one of her war clubs.

"Ranma is mine!" shouted Kodatchi.

"Akane is mine!" exclaimed Kuno as he broke away from Ryoko, "Her and The Pigtailed girl!"

All at once Ranma, Akane, Kuno, Kodatchi, Shampoo, Mousse, Ryoga and Ukyo, all began shouting at each other.

"Wow, this is like a really bad soap opera," said Mihoshi as she watched the arguing teenagers.

"Yeah, one that's gone on too long with a storyline," said Kiyone.

"Yeesh, and I thought my life was chaotic," said Yusuke, at which Kuwabara, Yukina and Keiko nodded in agreement.

"This is wrong," said Sasami, "they're all friends and they're letting such stupid things tear each other apart."

"I know it's foolish, Sasami," said Ayeka, "but unfortunately we cannot interfere with the matters of the heart in others."

"Can't you fix it, Cupid?" Ashlynn asked, "can't you make them stop fighting?"

"My arrows can't stop quarreling friends, unfortunately," said Cupid, "but I can tell the root of the problem," she pointed at Ranma, "him; he's been dragged through so much chaos and unhappiness, it's a miracle he's still sane."

"Well, can't you make Ranma choose who he'll marry?" asked Lagoona, "maybe if he picks a girl, it'll settle things once and for all."

"I would if it were that simple," said Cupid, "my powers help me encourage love between two destined hearts, but with Ranma, while he has genuine affection for Akane and the other girls, he simply isn't in love with any of them."

"Then why does he put up with such garbage?" asked Kuwabara, "and why does he let those boys walk all over him? If it were me, I'd kick them in the ass so hard, they'd never bug me again!"

"Tell that to them!" said Cupid irately as she pointed at Kuno, then at Ryoga and then at Mousse, "they're so caught up in their own irrational obsessions, they wouldn't see reason if it danced naked in front of them! No, my friends, I'm afraid there's nothing I can do."

"But I can," said Nabiki, who looked as if she had had enough. She walked over to Akane and slapped her across the face, startling Ranma and the other arguers into silence.

"Oh my gosh!" said a shocked Kasumi.

"Nabiki!" said a disbelieving Akane as she felt where she was struck, "why?"

"You know damn well why, little sister!" snapped Nabiki, "but I'll spell it out for you in case you're too stupid to know yourself! You and Ranma just won't work out, so you should forget it!" she then looked at Ranma, "that's right, you should forget about the engagement! Forget about the pact your dad and mine made, forget about joining the two family schools and just plain forget about it!"

"Nabiki," said an amazed Ranma.

"Well, it's about time someone spoke up about it!" said Kodatchi, "of course Ranma is incompatible with Akane! A blind man could see it, just as a blind man can see that Ranma and I are destined to be one!"

"I'm destined to be one with Ranma!" snapped Ukyo, "I'm his best friend!"

"Ranma and Shampoo are one!" said Shampoo, "he and Shampoo have been one since he defeat Shampoo in combat! Amazon tradition says outsider male must marry Amazon he defeats in combat!"

"Oh, just like you swore to kill him when he beat you as a girl!?" exclaimed Ukyo, "you make me sick!"

"You make me sick!" snapped Kodatchi.

"Shampoo purge both of you from stomach!" snapped Shampoo.

"Oh for the love of Kami, Jesus, Mohammad and the rest of The Super Best Friends!" shouted Nabiki at Kodatchi, Ukyo and Shampoo, "will you girls listen to yourselves? Ranma doesn't love you! He doesn't love any of us, not you, not me, not Akane or anyone else he got engaged to! At the most he sees us as friends, and the more you fight over him, the less he wants to be around us, and to tell the truth, I'm sick of it!"

"Nabiki," said an astonished Kasumi, "when did you…"

"Grow a pair and used my brain?" asked Nabiki, "I've been at the end of my rope for a while, like, just after the wedding fiasco. This madness has gone on long enough, so I'm putting my foot down and ending it. As soon as I see daddy and Mr. Saotome, I'm telling him they can either break off the engagement and let Ranma choose for himself, or I can file a lawsuit against them for forcing two minors to marry against their will." She then looked at Shampoo, Kodatchi and Ukyo, "and I'll sue you and the other fiancées for harassment and reckless endangerment."

"Since when can you afford a lawyer?" asked Ukyo.

"I've my resources," said Nabiki, "oh, and if you're not too busy trying to kill each other and threaten the lives of everyone in the complex, you might want to smother Kasumi with attention for a change; Dr. Tofu asked her to marry him."

"How did you know?" asked Kasumi as she covered her right hand with her left, "I was keeping it a surprise."

"Oh please, you showed up from your date last night with a nice-sized rock on your finger," said Nabiki, "daddy and Mr. Saotome are idiots and the others are too absorbed in their own problems to care, but my eyes are open."

Nabiki walked up to Ukyo, "you call yourself Ranma's best friend, but that was over ten years ago. He barely remembered who you were when you two met up again. Yes, I know Ranma's dad humiliated your family and you sacrificed your womanhood to pursue revenge, but you should know by now that Mr. Saotome is a backstabbing panhandler who's such a scumbag he resorts to offering his son as a fiancé to pay for a meal. If you love Ranma, you will let him make his own decision, especially if you want to stay friends. The more you push him to love you, the more he'll push back and the more strain you'll put on that friendship."

"My god, you're right," said Ukyo who looked as if she had just made a heartbreaking revelation. She looked at Shampoo, "we're too stuck in our personal ruts to realize just how much we're hurting Ranma; we're killing him with love."

"Shampoo no want to hurt Ranma," said Shampoo in a pleading, "Shampoo love Ranma! Shampoo give Ranma 'kiss of marriage.' Shampoo love Ranma."

"Do you really love him?" asked Sasami, encouraged to solve the biggest friendship problem she or her magical alter ego from another dimension had ever faced, "or are you just physically attracted to the first outsider male who defeated you in combat?"

"How small girl with weird cat know about Amazon tradition?" asked Shampoo.

"I learned how to read Chinese," said Sasami, "and Ryo-Oki isn't a cat, she's one of a kind, aren't you, Ryo-Oki?" at that the black-furred cabbit meowed in affirmation.

"Yes, about your quote unquote tradition," said Nabiki as she walked over to Shampoo, "I know your people have customs going back thousands of years and I want to respect them, but not when you force them on outsiders whom had no idea what they were getting into. Yes, I know Ranma defeated you in combat twice, once as a girl and the other as a boy. But he didn't know that outsider girls were marked for death if they beat an Amazon, and he certainly didn't know outsider men had to marry Amazon girls if they win. And don't get me started on all the times you and Cologne used magic on Ranma,"

"Wait, wait, stop!" said Raven, "she used magic to make Ranma love her?"

"Oh yeah," said Nabiki, "she and her great-grandmother Cologne used all sorts of ancient artifacts and love potion recipes to make Ranma fall in love with her."

"Well that's just plain stupid!" snapped Raven, "even the worst of dark magic users in Ever After knows that forcing love with magic always backfires! They do it anyway but that's part of the story they're in."

"How does using magic to make someone fall in love backfire?" asked Lagoona.

"It's not real love the spell or potion makes," said Raven, "it's more like brainwashing and enthrallment. The potion or spell creates a strong infatuation in the target or takes away his or her will to resist. Outwardly the victim loves the magic user, but inwardly they're fighting back. Eventually the victim overcomes the spell or potion and breaks free, more often than not with true love's kiss, but sometimes the infatuation gets so strong the target's love becomes violent, or worse, turns to hate."

She looked at Shampoo with serious eyes, "that's what's going to happen to you if you keep using magic on Ranma. He'll keep resisting and break away, or he'll come to hate you so much he'll try to kill you, either to break away or out of irrational lust. The more you use magic to grab him, the more he'll slip away and grab back. You'll either end up with a broken heart or worse, dead."

This left Shampoo speechless, leaving Nabiki to continue venting her frustration. "And you," said the middle Tendo sister to Kodatchi, "you're a freaking psycho!"

"I won't deny my madness," said Kodatchi, "it's part of who I am, but who are you do say that Ranma and I are incompatible?"

"The fact that you keep poisoning him and anyone who gets in your way," said Nabiki.

"That's also just plain stupid," said Raven, "and dangerous. Do you at least use protection?"

"I beg your pardon!?" exclaimed Kodatchi, "I have been saving myself for marriage, but I do carry protection with me whenever on a date."

"Not that kind of protection, you idiot!" exclaimed Nabiki, "you just want Ranma for the sake of having a trophy husband! Screw your insanity!" she then glared at Ukyo, "screw your childhood crush," then at Shampoo, "screw your hillbilly tribal traditions, and screw the pact my dad made with Ranma's dad! Ranma isn't gonna choose any of us, not even Akane, not if he has any sense left in him in all the insanity in our lives!"

She then looked at Kuno, Ryoga and Mousse, "and screw you boys too for wanting to kill Ranma so much! Just leave him alone!"

"I'll never leave him alone!" exclaimed Ryoga, "he has to die for what he did to me!"

"What did you do to him, man?" asked Yusuke.

"Nothing!" said Ranma, "it's not my fault he was always too slow back in junior high."

"Slow? What do you mean slow?" asked Hunter.

"Lunch in junior high was an adventure itself," said Ranma, "there was never enough bread to go around and everyone fought to get a piece, but I was lucky enough to grab the last piece each day."

"And knock me over in the process!" snapped Ryoga, "day after day you stepped over me, for real, and steal the last piece of bread!"

"You want to murder him over bread?" Avery asked, "that's disgusting!"

"And stupid," said Raven.

"Very stupid," said Apple.

"If only it were just stupid," said Ranma, "one day Ryoga had enough and challenged me to a one-on-one duel, and he never showed up."

"You should have waited for me!" snapped Ryoga.

"I waited three freaking days!" snapped Ranma, "you got lost! You always get lost! It's not my fault you've got bad direction genes or something!"

"I'LL KILL YOU!" bellowed Ryoga as he charged at Ramna. Frankie got between them and threw her right fist, literarily, at Ryoga, her fist charged with electricity, delivering a shocking punch that knocked Ryoga to the ground.

"Wow, Frankie," said an impressed Lagoona, "where'd you learn that?"

"It just came to me," said Frankie after her hand scuttled back to her and she began stitching it back on her arm. What she didn't tell her friends that she was tempted to slip on her Celestial Weapon glove and use it on Ryoga. Inwardly Frankie kicked herself for wanting to waste her gift from Indra on such a target; it would probably have killed Ryoga and a lot of others in such close quarters.

"Did someone get the license on that lightning bolt?" asked a dazed Ryoga.

"Fool, lightning bolts don't drive," said Kuno, "even I know that."

"Which brings me to you, Kuno baby," said Nabiki, "you should be institutionalized for your behavior! You're always molesting girls and claiming it to be love!"

"That's right!" said Briar irately, "he touched my breasts earlier! I kicked him in the nuts!"

"And mine!" said Frankie, "I also kicked him in the nuts!"

"Us too!" said Clawdeen, while Howleen nodded in agreement.

"And me!" said Ashlynn.

"Wait, he molested you?!" demanded Hunter. He then ran over and slammed his foot into Kuno's groin, earning a squeal of pain from the so called 'Blue Thunder' as he fell to the floor.

"Well, he didn't touch me," said Rochelle.

"Give it time," said Faybelle, "He tried to get his hands on me, so I kicked him in the nuts in anticipation. But he bounced right back up and went looking for someone else to molest. He's not human! So, anyone here he hasn't molested yet?"

"Not me," said Clair, while Elissabat, Cupid, Cerise and Raven, Venus and Lagoona shook their heads.

"He touched me!" growled Ramona, "I almost bit his nuts off!"

"And none of it did any good to stop him from touching anyone else, right?" asked Nabiki, "it never does," she walked up to Kuno, "there is something deeply wrong with you in your brain, Kuno baby, something screwed up in your mind that one day will get yourself killed. One day you'll glomp the wrong girl and she'll either have a father, a husband, a boyfriend or a brother with a gun," she then aimed her fingers at Kuno, "and BANG! Goodbye Blue Blunder."

Before Kuno could reply, Nabiki rounded on Mousse, "and you, look at me when I'm talking to you! Focus on the sound of my voice, do you see me now!?"

"Uh…yeah," said Mousse after cleaning his glasses, "right."

"Either get new glasses or have laser surgery," said Nabiki, "it's really not that expensive."

"I heard laser surgery messes with your night vision," said Tenchi.

"Not if it's done right," said Keiko.

"It doesn't matter what he does with his eyes," said Nabiki, "what does is that he stops trying to kill Ranma over Shampoo. She doesn't love you! She only sees you as a friend and an irritating one at that. If you really want her to love you, try being nice to her for a change instead of acting like an irrational jerk!"

"I'm not irrational!" snapped Mousse, "I love Shampoo! But tradition says I have to either beat her in combat or kill Ranma!"

"And how's that working out for you?" asked Nabiki, "yes, I know you came close a few times to killing him, for which you should be locked up for attempted murder," she looked at Ryoga and Kuno, "same for you two!" she looked back at Mousse, "and…look at me when I'm talking to you, for crying out loud!"

"Oh, sorry," said Mousse as he realized he had been looking at Howleen.

"You need to realize that you can't beat Ranma, no matter how hard you try," said Nabiki, "you're too clever to fixate on an impossible goal; he'll always be too strong for you, so get over it!" she looked at Ranma's fiancées' and rivals, "all of you, get over it already! I'm taking control of my life, so should you! And especially Ranma, because if I know him, he's as fed up with all your irrational bullshit as I am!"

"I…but…but the duel and the bread," said Ryoga.

"Did it ever occur to you that if you asked I might have shared?" asked Ranma.

"Uh…no, I didn't," said Ryoga in an astonished tone, "I never thought of that."

"Oh, leave him alone, Ranma!" snapped Akane, "Ryoga's never done anything to you! You're always antagonizing him and everyone around you! You're so rude and selfish, you make me sick! I hate you! I wish we never met!"

"Then why do you still hang on to him?" asked Nabiki, "if you're so disgusted by Ranma's faults, why not dump him?"

"Yeah, Akane," said Ranma, "you don't like me that much, and I don't like you for your faults that much, so why bother sticking together?"

"Well, Akane?" asked Nabiki as she and the others looked at the irrational girl as she tried to come up with an answer.

Frustrated, Akane crossed her arms and turned her back on Ranma, "I don't have to justify myself with you! You don't even deserve an answer."

At that several of our heroes, including Frankie, Clawdeen, Raven and Briar, were about to verbally come down on Akane like a 16 tone weight, when an ominous low rumble and a sinister red glow, both of which came from the site of the destroyed convention center distracted everyone. "Now what?" asked Howleen.

Our heroes hurried to the roof of the hotel for a better view and they all wished they had not. A sphere of darkness a thousand feet across with a hellish red aura had formed over the rift.

"What is that thing?" asked Sasami, "is it the demons?"

"I'm afraid it is," said a girl with long blue hair, wearing a pink kimono and riding a wooden oar like a broomstick as she appeared in the air a few yards from the edge of the roof.

"Boton!" said Yusuke in a surprised and happy tone, "am I glad to see you!"

"Aww, Yusuke, I didn't know you missed me that much," said Boton in a teasing manner as she landed her oar on the roof, "but that's all the playing I can afford to spend time on. I'm sorry to be the one to deliver the bad news, Yusuke, but you've been reactivated as a Spirit Detective, Koenma just needs to fill out the paperwork."

"Figured as much," said Yusuke, "it wouldn't happen to have anything to do with that thing out there, right?" he pointed at the dome of glowing darkness.

"It has everything to do with it," said Boton, "We're dealing with a crisis of such apocalyptic proportions, both King Enma and Prince Koenma both agreed that you're our best hope."

"Both of them?" asked an amazed Yusuke, "wow, they barely get along as it is."

"Hey, what about Kazuma!?" asked Yukina, "he's Yusuke's partner and quite the hero himself!"

"Oh, you're making me blush," said an embarrassed yet grateful Kuwabara.

"And we're heroes in our own right too!" said Hunter, at which the rest of our heroes nodded in agreement, "and who are you anyway?"

"Oh, forgive me," said Boton, "I almost forgot you brave young heroes were here. I am Boton, Shinigami and Yusuke's liaison with Spirit World."

"Shinigami? No way you're a god of death," said Ranma, "Shinigami are supposed to be hideous monsters who reap souls to extend their own lives."

"No, they're all like humans but wear black robes and carry big swords," said Tenchi.

"No, those are cartoons," said Boton, "but that's not important. Now, since you all are involved in the case, I'll explain the situation," she pointed again at the sphere of glowing darkness, "I assume you've all guessed that on the other side of the rift is a dimension very similar to the Judeo-Christian idea of Hell, right?"

"What was it that gave it away?" asked Ukyo sarcastically, "the demons? The fire and brimstone? Or the screams of the damned?"

"Well, you're half right," said Boton, "let me put it this way; you're all aware of the theory of parallel realities, right? Well, it's no theory. On the other side of that rift is The Nightosphere, and its king, Hunson Abadeer, has come to this world to eat every human soul he can get his hands on."

"We know that," said Ayeka, "but what does that horrible fiend want? Why does he eat souls?"

"Because he can," said Washu, "I met Hunson Abadeer a long, long time ago. I may not look it but I'm over 20,000 Earth years old, thanks to suspended animation and cellular regeneration techniques, some of which I invented, thank you very much."

Washu's expression became much graver as she continued, "but Hunson Abadeer, he's truly deathless. He's lived for billions and billions of years and has survived every attempt to kill him. He doesn't need nourishment as we know it, but it pleases him to suck out souls, to feel their suffering as they're slowly digested over a thousand years."

"But what about that dark dome or whatever it is?" asked Ryoko as she pointed at said dome, "and why is it getting bigger?" True enough, our heroes saw that the glowing darkness had increased in diameter.

"What the hell are those demons doing?" asked Yusuke, "no pun intended."

"Try these out, Yusuke," said Boton as she handed him a pair of binoculars, "Spirit Glasses, they should allow you to see the other side of the dome. Please be careful, this is a prototype piece of equipment and the boys in Research and Development will be ever so cross if I don't return with them."

"Yeah, I'll take care of them," said Yusuke as he put the Spirit Glasses to his eyes and looked at the dome, "oh…that's really not good."

"Let me see, Urameshi!" shouted Kuwabara as he grabbed the binoculars from Yusuke, "Holy Crap, that's evil!"

Our heroes and allies passed the Spirit Glasses among themselves, peering into the dome of darkness. One the other side of the dome the area was changing; morphing into reddish rock that spewed yellowish vapors and spurted fire and lava in random spots. Thousands of demons had positioned themselves behind the edge of the dome, occasionally moving forward as the dome expanded.

"They're corrupting this world," said Boton gravely, "making it like The Nightosphere. It's happening slowly now, but Koenma and I both fear that Hunson Abadeer preparing something that'll accelerate the dome's corrupting influence further and faster."

"How?" asked Apple, "how is he doing this terrible thing?"

"There! At the center!" shouted Raven as she held the Spirit Glasses.

"Let me see, Raven," said Cupid as she grabbed the binoculars, only for Ryoga to grab them. There then followed a scuffle between our heroes and allies as they all wanted to use the binoculars at the same time.

"Hey! Stop that!" shouted Boton as she tried to break up the fight, "those are really expensive binoculars! It's my head on a plate if you break them!"

"It's both fascinating and disgusting how people are so eager to witness something as horrible as Hell on earth," remarked Kodatchi.

"Don't you want to look?" asked Ayeka.

"Of course I do," said Kodatchi, "I'm just waiting my turn for these idiots to wear themselves out before I grab the binoculars. Strategy and cunning, my friend from the stars, that's the key."

It was then that Washu, clearly having had enough, blasted those fighting over the binoculars with a stunning weapon that froze them in place.

"There, one problem solved," said Washu as she walked up to our immobilized heroes. She reached up to grab the binoculars and then connected them to her tablet, "now, I want to try something with these."

"Now wait just a moment!" said Boton, "those binoculars are from Spirit World. I sincerely doubt modifying them with mortal science will improve our situation."

"Mortal items or spirit items, magic or science, it's all one form of existence or another," said Washu, "it's all relative."

"Yeah, but you really shouldn't mess around with other people's things, Washu," said Tenchi.

"Yeah, don't you have enough toys back home to fool around with?" asked Ryoko.

"Not like these, I don't!" said Washu triumphantly as she held up the binoculars, now hardwired to a hologram projector, "someone use these, I'm too short to look over the edge."

"I got it!" said Mihoshi as she grabbed the Spirit Glasses.

"Oh no! Not her!" exclaimed Washu, "give them back, Mihoshi! You'll drop them!"

"No I won't!" said Mihoshi as she walked to the roof edge, "I'm just gonna take a little peek and…woops!"

"NOOOOO!" exclaimed Washu in slow motion as the Spirit Glasses slipped through Mihoshi's fumbling fingers and fell towards the ground. They didn't fall, fortunately, thanks to the wires attacking the binoculars to the hologram projector.

"That was close," sighed Mihoshi as she saw the binoculars dangling over the edge of the roof, "I'll just pull them back up and…"

"I'll get them, you idiot!" said Kiyone as she shoved Mihoshi aside. Carefully Kiyone pulled the Spirit Glasses back up and used them to penetrate the dome of darkness.

"I think it's working, Washu!" said Sasami as the hologram projector activated.

"Of course it works!" said Washu, "I'm a genius after all!"

"Oh, that's not good!" said Kiyone as she peered through the Spirit Glasses, what she saw transitioning to the hologram projector. Before our heroes eyes they saw a circle of twenty-four humanoid demons wearing black and red robes, standing around the rift, which had condensed to the size of a small house. Streaming up from the portal was a torrent of hellish energy that spread out at its peak to form the dome of darkness, while off to the side stood Hunson Abadeer, grinning with wicked eagerness at what he set in motion.

"That's it," said Boton, "that's how the corruptive power of The Nightosphere is spreading onto the world."

"And to stop it, we have to seal the rift," said Yusuke.

"Bingo," said Boton.

"How?" asked Ranma.

"I don't know, but we'd better come up with something pretty fast," said Kiyone as she used the Spirit Glasses to focus elsewhere in the city, where a column of tanks and armored vehicles drove towards the dome of darkness.

"The JSDF," said Keiko as she looked up to see military helicopters flying towards the dome, "they're gonna try and attack the darkness!"

"That's suicide!" said Ryoga, "they have no idea what they're up against!"

"Indeed," said Boton, "that dome is energy from The Nightosphere; its power will either absorb or reflect any ballistic attack made against it."

"Or pass right through," said Washu, "and we have no idea what the dome's corrupting power has on mere humans. It could kill anyone who enters the dome, or worse, corrupt it into something so horrible, they'd wish for death."

She then looked at Avery, "then again, some of us have protection against such foul forces."

"Of course! The Riders!" said Boton, "I almost forgot about them! Avery Manning, you and your fellow Riders may just have the right stuff to keep you safe!"

"What, our transformed selves?" asked Tobias.

"It may just be that," said Avery.

"Hey, what about me, Boton?!" Yusuke complained, "don't I have the right stuff?"

"And me!" said Kuwabara.

"And us," said Ranma, while Akane, Ryoga, Ukyo, the Kuno siblings and the two Amazons, all animosity forgotten for the moment, nodded agreement.

"And what about the rest of us non-Riders?" asked Ashlynn.

"Well," said Boton thoughtfully, "with Yusuke and Kuwabara, their spirit powers may just protect themselves as well," she then looked at Tenchi and Ayeka, "as will the abilities granted by your Juraian bloodline," then at Ryoko, "and your own powers too. As for Mr. Saotome, his friends and our visitors from another dimension…"

"What about my magic?" asked Raven as she summoned her spellbook, "there has to be some sort of spell or enchantment for something like this, I just need to find it."

"Well, look fast, Raven," said Apple, "the dome is getting bigger."

"And faster," said Washu as she made some calculations on her tablet, "at its rate of exponential growth, it'll cover all 23 Special Wards in less than five hours, followed by the rest of Honshu island in just over a day. And before any of you ask, it won't be long before it covers the entire world. Even if we get past the corrupting influence of the dome, we still need to seal that rift. Fortunately, I am a genius!"

"We know that! So what?!" exclaimed Ryoko.

"So, I am a genius!" said Washu as she smiled with innocent mischief.

"You already have something that can help," said Ayeka.

"Bingo!" exclaimed Washu as she triumphantly held up one finger. "After our little Time and Space Adventure, I cobbled together a gadget capable of canceling out artificially generated alternate dimensions, just in case we end up chasing too far after our dreams again."

"And you believe this reality canceler or whatever it is," said Mousse, "it can seal the rift?"

"With the right modifications, yes," said Washu, "but the problem is it's back in my lab at the Misaki house. By the time we get there and back, and modified the device, the area of hellish corruption will have expanded too far; we'll have too large a battlefield to fight through to reach the rift. And as for teleporting while inside the dome, well…I honestly don't know if we can, there's still too much we don't know about this. Remember, it was a long time ago since I fought and banished Hunson Abadeer back to his hellhole; he's had plenty of time to think up new tricks."

"The Steam Vault!" said Lagoona, "we can use our portal generator to get to your lab and back here faster than a dolphin after a mackerel!"

"And it'll give us a chance to get reinforcements," said Avery, "this is an All Riders situation, so we need Dorothea and Madison from The Base to help."

"And get Chad to help too," said Clare.

"Chad?" asked Clawdeen, "he's still messed up from fighting that Dark Rider."

"I know, but he's moped around by himself enough," said Clair, "it's time he got back in the game."

"Whatever we're gonna do, we gotta hurry!" said Raven as she flipped through her spellbook, "oh, there it is, the pages were stuck together. Okay, I can cast a protective spell to ward against corruptive evil, but it won't last long, and I'll only have once chance to do it."

"Why?" asked Ashlyn, "does it need rare ingredients or something?"

"No, it'll just exhaust me," said Raven, "this spell is so complex, so powerful, I won't be able to use any more magic for at least a day."

"It'll drain you that much?" asked Dexter, "maybe you shouldn't use it, you've been pushing yourself hard enough as it is. There's got to be another spell, something less dangerous, something…"

"There's no time, Dexter!" snapped Raven, "the plan's already started!" she indicated the open portal where the door to the building stairway was, which showed an amazed Washu looking around The Steam Vault. With her was Clair and Elissabat, who urged the eccentric genius from space to hurry along, just before the portal closed.

"They'll be back with Washu's device and the others soon," said Avery, "if Raven's going to cast her spell, she'd better get ready for it."

"And we need to decide among us mere mortals who shall dive into the depths of hell," said Kuno.

"Well, I'm not going," said Nabiki, "I have no special powers," she looked at Kasumi, "and you're not going either, not with that ring on your finger."

"Neither are you going, Sasami," said Ayeka, "and don't argue with me! I know you're far braver than your average girl," she then knelt down in front of Sasami, "but you're not an average girl, and I'm not saying that because you're a princess of Jurai. You're my sister and I would never forgive myself if anything happened to you. Besides, I need you to stay here for Ryo-Oki," she then smiled, "and to keep Mihoshi and Kiyone from driving each other to insanity."

"Where's insanity?" asked Mihoshi.

"Too late," groaned Kiyone as she face palmed.

---

…The Steam Vault…

"I hate to admit it," said Washu as she admired the work of Hexiciah Steam, "your dad was a genius, not as great as me of course, but he was good."

"Modesty was one of my father's better virtues," said Robecca, "you could learn quite a lot from him. I'll try to make a copy of his less intimate journals for you to study, if you'd like."

"We've got bigger things to worry about," said Elissabat, "how much longer until we open the portal to Washu's lab?"

"Just as soon as Ghoulia finishes working out the coordinates Washu gave us," said Robecca, while Ghoulia irately worked at her computer. The genius zombie girl moaned in frustration as an error message appeared on the screen.

"What do you mean you can't lock onto my lab?" asked Washu, "I gave you the space-time coordinates. Oh wait, sorry, I forgot to mention that my lab is in another dimension entirely, silly me!" she gave a soft laugh as she imputed new coordinates into Ghoulia's computer, "there, that should do it!"

The screen displayed a confirmation message, and the portal opened onto the Misaki residence.

"Come on, Chad," said Clair as she grabbed him by the hand and pulled him towards the portal, "you've been in the depths of despair long enough; time to fight the good fight again."

"I don't want to," said Chad mutely.

"Too bad, you're coming," said Elissabat as she and Clair shoved Chad through the portal.

At first glance the Misaki residence seemed like an ordinary large house in rural Japan, made more ordinary and homey with a vegetable garden and the nearby family shrine. One would hardly think that this was home to several beautiful alien women; one the heir to a space empire, another a semi-reformed super powered space pirate, another a mad genius and so on.

"My lab's just this way," said Washu as she showed Chad, Clare and Elissabat to the doorway to the closet under the stairs, "Oh, and say hello to Tenchi's dad and grandpa."

"Hi, Tenchi's dad and grandpa!" said Elissabat.

"Uh, Washu?" asked Misaki Nobuyui in a confused manner, "who are these kids?"

"I sincerely hope you're not bringing in more houseguests," said Misaki Katshuito, aka Yosho Masaki Jurai, a distant relative of Ayeka and Sasami.

"Nope, they're just dropping by to help out," said Washu as she opened the door to her lab, a pocket dimension filled with scientific equipment and computers lightyears ahead of anything on Earth.

"For the love of all things sacred, don't touch anything!" said Washu to the awe-struck Chad, Clare and Elissabat, "it's bad enough when Ayeka and Ryoko mess around in here, and don't get me started on how much a mess Mihoshi makes."

"We won't touch anything," said Elissabat.

"I'm afraid to touch anything," said Chad.

"Good, you should be," said Washu as she began rummaging through several nearby piles of papers and gadgets, "now, where did I put that thing?"

"Uh…do you need help?" asked Clair as Washu tossed some papers onto the floor. She bent down to pick the papers up.

"Just leave them!" said Washu, "I've got a system!"

"Yeah, chaos," said Chad as she helped Clair pick up the papers. He then frowned as he looked at one of the papers, "wait a second. 'Smart Brain?' Aren't they the ones who originally made the Faiz tech?"

"Oh, those guys," said Washu, "they approached me a while back to help them take over the world for The Orphnochs. I stamped out that infestation of Kaijin before it got serious."

"You defeated a Kaijin tribe without a Rider?" asked Elissabat, "how?"

"And just how do you know Hunson Abadeer?" asked Clair.

"Both are incredibly long and convoluted stories," said Washu as she walked over and took the papers, "I'll tell it sometime. Or rather, a certain writer will tell it, right, AndrewK9000?"

You can hear me, Washu?

'Of course I can her you! I'm a genius, and maybe a little bit crazy.'

"A little!? You're nuttier than an entire Christmas of fruitcakes!"

Oh, not you too, Maddie! Just let me tell the story!

"But I'm not even in this chapter! I should be and you're keeping me out of it!"

I don't have time for this, Maddie! Look, I'll try to work you in later, but right now I need to get back and finish this chapter!

"Okay, but I'm watching you!"

"Where was I? Oh yeah!" said Washu, "long stories." She then paused in thought, "you know, I think I may have one or two gadgets Smart Brain asked me to cobble together. I already took them out like the trash they were, but I built the gizmos just because I could. I think I still have it, hang on," she walked to another pile of gadgets, rummaged through it and pulled out a black and red stopwatch that looked like it could fit onto a wrist brace.

"What is it?" asked Elissabat.

"It's an accelerator, at least I think it is," said Washu, "I'm not entirely sure, I think I may have had a little too much saké that night. Now, where did I put the nasty little thing?" she shoved the watch into Chad's hands and resumed rummaging through her gadgets and junk.

"If that stopwatch works with The Faiz Gear," said Clair to Chad, while Washu began tinkering with the remote, "you should use it."

"We don't know if it is compatible," said Elissabat, "Washu admitted to being drunk when she made it."

"But what if it is?" asked Clair, eager to encourage Chad, "what if it's just what you need to beat Kaixa?"

"I…I don't know," said Chad as he looked at the stopwatch. He then handed it to Clare, "I don't even know if I can transform again. We should give it to Ian or Jessie. They should be Faiz, not me."

"You're Faiz whether you like it or not!" said Clair, "you're chosen, so deal with it! Yes, you got your ass kicked by a Dark Rider! Big deal! You survived so you can fight again!" she then shoved the stopwatch into Chad's hand, "Now stop feeling sorry for yourself and pull yourself together!"

"I don't even know how this thing is supposed to work," said Chad.

"Then we'll think of something else," said Clair, "look, we've been friends for as long as I can remember, you were always there when I needed you, well, we all need you right now, so don't pussy out on us!"

"Ah! Here we go!" said Washu as she found a large remote-like device, "My Emergency Reality Canceler! I just need to tweak a few settings, enhance a few features and we're good to go!"

"Uh…Washu?" called Nobuyuki from the hallway, "are you alright in there?"

"Nothing to worry about, Tenchi's dad!" said Washu, "just canceling the apocalypse, nothing new."

"Oh, alright then," said Nobuyuki. He then did a double take, "say what?!"

"Just leave it be, dear son," said Katsuhito, "young Tenchi and his friends can handle it." He then paused in thought, "though, if this is as serious as I fear it may be, then Tenchi and his friends will need all the help they can get." He then went to a nearby phone.

"Who're you gonna call?" asked Nobuyuki.

"Some old and dear friends," said Katsuhito, "some older than others, and one whom I had hoped to never speak to again."

---

…Tokyo...

"What's taking them so long?" asked Madison as she and Dorothea stood with Avery and the others. Our heroes had assembled less than a mile from the expanding edge of the dome of darkness, readying themselves for the fight that will determine the fate of every soul on the planet.

"You called us all the way to Ever After to come fight and we're not fighting!" said Madison as she stretched and limbered up, "I'm rearing for a fight!"

"We can't attack the darkness until Washu gets back with her device, we've been over this!" said Briar, "I want to fight to, but it'd be just plain silly to go into demon territory and not be able to seal the rift. Besides, Raven needs a few more minutes for her spell."

"She's going as fast as she can!" said Maddie as she stood next to Raven, who had assumed a meditation position to prepare for the protection spell, "peas and crackers! Are all your clocks running a week slow or something?! She'll be ready when she's ready!"

"Well, she'd better be ready soon," said Ukyo, "at this rate we'll have to move back from the dome before it reaches us."

"We've still got a couple minutes before we need to pull back," said Tobias.

"Which gives us plenty of time to tie up any last minute lose ends," said Ayeka, "Tenchi, the time has come."

"Time for what, Ayeka?" asked Tenchi.

"You know what I'm talking about," said Ayeka, "the time to choose; me or Ms. Ryoko?"

"That's right, Tenchi," said Ryoko, "you've had long enough to mull it over, so now you have to pick; Me or the stuck up princess?"

"I am not stuck up, you unreformed criminal!" snapped Ayeka.

"You're asking me to choose now?!" exclaimed Tenchi.

"Why not? We could all die or lose our souls pretty soon," said Ukyo, "might as well get it over with," she then looked at Ranma, "you may never get another chance, Ranma honey, so if you're going to pick someone to be with, now's the time. I'll understand if you don't pick me, I want you to be happy no matter what. But if this is our last minutes, then picking me will make me the happiest girl on Earth."

"Shampoo be happy if you pick her," said the purple-haired Amazon, "even if it is end of world."

"If it is the end," said Kodatchi, "then the two of us together shall go out in such a blaze of glory!"

"Well I intend to live," said Akane.

"Oh, so you can keep abusing Ranma in your failure of an engagement?" asked Ukyo.

"Shut up! I'm being serious!" snapped Akane, "this may be my last chance to put things right and I don't want to screw it up!" she then walked over to Ranma, took a bracing breath and spoke, "look, I'm sorry for how I've treated you today, Ranma. You were right, I have been gloating that I got my driver's license and you failed the test. Don't say anything yet! I'm not done.

"Also, I've been thinking it over a lot just now and I really have been horrible to you. You've always been there for me and I've abused that loyalty and friendship. I do care for you but let's face it, whether you mean to or not you just piss me off, a lot. I'm still not done so keep your fat lips shut!

"If we had gotten married that one time, we'd be absolutely miserable with each other. I guess it took the end of the world to make me realize that we're just not right for each other. Okay, I'm done."

"Are you sure you're done?" asked Ranma, "you don't want to go into how incompatible my faults make me?"

"You see? This is what I'm talking about!" said Akane, "you keep pushing my buttons and I push yours! We should call off the engagement before we end up murdering each other!"

"Wow, Akane," said Ranma, "you're really serious."

"Yes I am," said Akane, "I'm serious when I say that I'm sorry for hurting you so much for so long, even if some of it was your fault."

"Only some of it?" asked Ranma, "well, I'm sorry for grinding your gears so much. I guess I should have told you the truth about my curse when we first met."

"And I should have knocked on the bathroom door," said Akane, "so, even if it is the end of the world, friends?" she held out her hand.

"Friends," said Ranma as he shook her hand, "and if we both survive this, then we should definitely see other people."

"Speaking of seeing people," said Yusuke, "listen, Keiko, if I don't make it…tell my mom…tell my mom…"

"I'll think of something to tell, Yusuke," said Keiko, "but you're coming back from this one way or another, even if I have to break into Spirit World and convince Koenma to give you another Spirit Egg!"

"Just as you're coming back too, Kazuma," said Yukina, "I'll never forgive you if you let that horrible Hunson Abadeer eat your soul!"

"Eh, I'll probably make him choke on mine," said Kuwabara.

"You know," said Cupid, "I think these guys are gonna be alright, our new friends I mean."

"You may be right," said Avery, "assuming we survive this."

"We'd better," said Briar, "we've come too far to give up and die."

It was then that Washu showed up with Clair, Elissabat and Chad, "sorry it took so long, you guys weren't at the hotel."

"We pointed out where we were gonna wait for you," said Ranma, "it's not my fault if you didn't forget. In fact, I'm amazed a certain someone didn't get lost on the way."

"Oh, shut up, Ranma!" said Ryoga irately, "hey you, space genius, you got the thing or what?"

"Oh, I got it alright," said Washu as she handed to Avery the remote device, "just get within ten meters of the rift and press the big red button, you can't miss."

"And this will seal the rift for good?" asked Avery.

"Just make sure you throw that immortal imp Hunson Abadeer into the rift before you do," said Washu, "I don't remember the ritual to open a portal to The Nightosphere and I'm sure none of us want to risk any more demons coming through. Just kick him in the nuts for me before you send him packing."

"You're not coming with us to fight?" asked Tenchi.

"Oh, afraid are we?" asked Ryoko in a teasing manner.

"Darn right I'm scared!" said Washu, "you heard Hunson Abadeer, he wants to make me watch as he does a savage burn on the universe. He may just suck out my soul just for spite. No, I'm gonna watch and wait with Sasami and the others. Best of luck to you!"

---

"That's right, Little Washu," said Hunson Abadeer was he watched via a viewing spell as Washu retreated to a safe distance. He saw as Raven stood up and cast a highly complex spell that infused protective magic into her friends from Every After High, Monster High and the gang from Nerima.

Exhausted from her efforts, Raven nearly passed out. Dexter caught her before she hit the ground. Apple then helped Raven away from the encroaching dome, along with Keiko, Yukina, Sasami, Mihoshi and Kiyone.

"And so it begins," said Hunson Abadeer as he watched the Riders transform. But when it was Chad's turn to become Faiz, he hesitated, then ran away, much to the disbelief and anger of his friends.

"Now there's a smart one if I ever saw," Hunson Abadeer as our heroes, resigned to Chad's absence, charged into the dome of darkness. They were immediately attacked by the waiting demons.

"These kids are suicidal," said Hunson Abadeer, "they'll never make it to the rift, not if I have anything to say about it." He then frowned, "I'm talking to myself, aren't I?" He sighed, "oh, Marceline, why can't you get over the fries and be with me? You'd have found this so ironic, you'd be laughing!"

A demon then nervously approached him, "uh…forgive me for interrupting your reminiscing about your daughter, oh great and terrible Lord of Evil, but…"

"But what?" asked Hunson Abadeer. He then gave the demon a look it found so terrifying, the creature became nauseous and vomited bananas.

"Ugh! Seriously?!" exclaimed Hunson Abadeer as some of the bananas landed near him, "Just tell me and go clean yourself up already!"

"We captured intruders inside the dome, your imperial viciousness," said the demon as it wiped its mouth, "A pair of vampires. There were several lesser abominations with them that we had to destroy but we captured the vampires for you to deal with as you please, oh...excuse me!" it then turned its head to spit out a few more bananas.

"Two vamps made it into the dome uncorrupted?" asked Hunson Abadeer, "unless…they were evil to begin with. Bring them to me, and clean yourself up for crying out loud, you're gonna make me throw up!"

The hapless demon bowed and ran. A minute later more demons showed up, escorting Draculaura and Valentine, both bound with demonic chains and looking exceptionally irked.

"So, you two dare to intrude in the business of The Nightosphere," said Hunson Abadeer as he looked over the two vampires.

"The Nightosphere?" asked Valentine, "never heard of it."

"You must have come from a very primitive dimension to not hear of The Nightosphere," said Hunson Abadeer. "Well, for your information, I'm the ruler of The Nightosphere. Hunson Abadeer, Lord of Evil, at your service."

"Then take these filthy chains off us and give me the diamond!" snapped Draculaura.

"Impudent vampire!" snapped one of the taller demons, "do you have any idea who you're talking to?! This Hunson Abadeer! The Devourer of Souls!"

"Piss him off enough and he'll suck your soul out and make you his slave," said another demon.

"I don't care!" shouted Draculaura, "he has the next Star piece!" She struggled and nearly freed herself from her chains, only to be dogpiled by several demons.

"Don't you hurt her, you lowly infernal scum!" snapped Valentine, "we've got powerful connections with Dai-Shocker and The Obsidian Council!"

"Oh, you work for Obsidian," said Hunson Abadeer, "they approached me a long, long time ago to join them. Truth be told they were trying to kill me." He smiled a smile that made Valentine and all the demons present shudder, "it didn't work. And so, Obsidian and I came to an understanding; we stay out of each other's business."

"Just give me the diamond!" shouted Draculaura.

"What diamond?!" snapped Hunson Abadeer, "oh, this diamond," he pulled out Washu's Star piece from his pocket, "I found this little gem in the rubble of the convention center, figured it'd make a decent apology present for my daughter."

"Like she'd ever forgive you," muttered one of the demons.

At that Hunson Abadeer glared at the hapless demon, his mouth expanding to have multiple rows of fangs and two tongues, "DON'T YOU EVER DISRESPECT MARCELINE!" he bellowed in a reverberating roar. With a zap of demonic magic from one finger, he turned the demon inside out, the sight of which disgusted several nearby demons into voiding bananas from various orifices.

"Sorry about that," said Hunson Abadeer to Valentine and Draculaura as he morphed back to his humanoid form, "I have a shaky relationship with my daughter. Now, what to do with you two?"

"You can give me the Star piece, you unholy piece of excrement!" snapped Draculaura as she burst free of the demons holding her down. She then began to tear the creatures apart.

"You'd better give her the diamond," said Valentine, "she tracked it across time and space and she means to have it."

"I could," said Hunson Abadeer. With a flick of his wrists, he immobilized both Draculaura and Valentine, "or I could suck out your souls!" he then levitated both vampires over to him, "It's just a question of which one to do first. I can tell you're both deeply infatuated with each other; I can smell it." He sniffed both Valentine and Draculaura, earning revolted shudders from them.

But then Hunson Abadeer frowned in concerned confusion. He sniffed Draculaura again.

"Get away from her!" snapped Valentine as Hunson Abadeer continued to smell Draculaura. "Seriously, stop sniffing my girlfriend! It's rude!"

"You have no soul," said Hunson Abadeer flat out to Draculaura.

"What?" asked a confused Draculaura, "what do you mean I have no soul?! Of course I have a soul. I'm evil but I have one."

"I know that," said Hunson Abadeer, "just as I know all Vampires have souls, or rather, they did in life. It depends on which species of vamp you're talking about. But you, you're empty on the inside. There's a void where your soul should be. It's almost as if you never had one to begin with. What are you? Are you a doppelgänger or a clone? You're not a robot or a golem. Were you made with dark magic? Were you grown in a test tube or something?"

"MASTER!" shouted one of the demons, "they're breaking through!"

Hunson Abadeer used the viewing spell to see our heroes pushing through the throngs of demons, with Kabuto, TheBee, Drake, Sasword, Gatack, Hercus and Ketaros and Kiva spearheading the charge.

"Are they now?" asked Hunson Abadeer. He then tossed Draculaura away like a bag of garbage, "I don't have time to deal with a soulless freak like you," he then tossed away Valentine, "and you can keep your crummy soul for hanging out with that thing!"

"You infernal pig!" snapped Draculaura as she and Valentine got up, "how dare you treat me like this! Do you have any idea who I am?! Who my father is?!"

"Look, can we please have the diamond?" asked Valentine irately, "you're obviously busy and the diamond isn't really that valuable. Well, it is, but…"

"We'll talk when I'm done with those young heroes," said Hunson Abadeer as he saw Cupid, Faybelle, Frankie, Lagoona, Gil, Ashlyn, Cerise, Ramona, the Wolf siblings, Ranma, Akane, Ryoga, Ukyo, The Kuno siblings, the Amazons, Tenchi, Ayeka, Ryoko, Yusuke and Kuwabara, dash towards the rift and the twelve demon priests around it, leaving the Riders to deal with the regrouping demons.

"Now, how to deal with them?" asked Hunson Abadeer, "I could go full demon on them and suck out all their souls at once." He then smiled viciously, "or I could use the most vulnerable of the lot of them. Oh yeah! That's what I'll do!" He then jumped into the air and morphed into a sphere of demonic light. The sphere then rushed at and hit Ryoga in the chest, knocking him down.

"Ryoga!" exclaimed Ranma, Akane and Ukyo at the same time. Our heroes stopped their rush and ran back to the unconscious Ryoga.

"What was that thing?" asked Howleen.

"Something bad," said Faybelle fearfully, "something very, very bad. We need to get away from him, now!"

"Are you crazy or something?!" exclaimed Akane, "We're not abandoning Ryoga!"

"No, she's right," said Kuwabara nervously, "I've got the tickle feeling all over! He got hit by some really bad demon juju or something!"

"You run if you want, I'm not leaving my friend behind!" said Ukyo.

At that Ryoga sat up and opened his eyes, the eyes of Hunson Abadeer that looked at our heroes.

"Uh…hey, Ryoga," said Ranma nervously, "how…how are you?"

Ryoga stood up, looked at Ranma and gave a sinister smile as he held his palm face out towards Ranma, "Shishi Hokodon!" said Ryoga in Hunson Abadeer's voice. A sphere of negative ki energy formed and shot towards Ranma, hitting him in the chest and sending him dashing across the battlefield.

"RANMA!" exclaimed Akane, Ukyo, Shampoo and Kodatchi.

"What the hell, Ryoga?!" exclaimed Mousse.

"Explained thyself, Ryoga!" exclaimed Kuno.

At that Ryoga, or rather, Hunson Abadeer, let loose an insidious laugh as he fired more negative ki blasts at our heroes. Clawd and Howleen were hit, as well as Ramona, Ryoko and Yusuke, while the others dodged and scattered.

"Oh yeah!" exclaimed Hunson Abadeer as he fired more and more negative ki blasts, "this boy's body is awesome!"

"Would you look at that," said Valentine as he and Draculaura watched at a safe distance, while several demons cheered for their dark leader.

"I'd say he's got the brats well in hand," said Valentine, "so, Draculaura, we should let him destroy our foes and wear himself out in the process. Once he's weakened enough, we'll dash in, smack him silly, take the Star piece, go home and celebrate before we search for the rest of the pieces. What do you say, Draculaura? Draculaura?"

Valentine then realized that Draculaura was looking at him in a manner that was both shocked, outraged and murderous at the same time, "what did he mean that I have no soul?"

…The End Is Just The Beginning…