Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction ❯ Total Shock ❯ Satsugeki Bukou Ken ( Chapter 3 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Story finally becomes centered on Ranma, the Senshi, and the Chaos Emeralds, as I orginally intended. Don't worry if you wanted to see the other stuff as it will be there, but later, as part of different arcs.

Disclaimer: None of the series, characters, or locations mentioned in this story are owned by the author of this story unless stated otherwise.

Anime/Manga: Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Martial Arts / Adventure / Action | Type: Crossover | Uploaded On: 09.02.2006 | Updated On: 10.30.2006 | Pages: 28 | Words: 22.3K | Visits: 931 | Status: Work In Progress

As you all know, my writing is very inconsistent. Although I do intend to finish this story, that could literally be years from now. Fortunately, time and creativity have found me for now, but whether or not I'll get out another chapter soon depends all on how I'm feeling…

Also, any glaring errors will be fixed tomorrow 'cause I'm too lazy to fix it right now and I would like to get a response soon.

-->Go<--

Ranma groaned as he slowly sat up. The rays of the morning sun had decided that he'd had enough sleep. Hadn't he been through enough lately? He glanced at the nearby digital clock and nearly cursed. It was official; he hadn't gotten any sleep at all that night. On the road, he'd had to handle long amounts of time without much sleep at all, but that had been quite a while ago.

Now, however, he had gotten used to the pampered life(or so his father often called it, anyway) and he rarely had to go longer than twenty four hours without sleep. Add to it that he'd been deathly tired from all that running the day before, Ranma felt like he could do nothing that day but lie there until sleep finally came.

However, one irate Akane Tendo had other plans. Not ten minutes after he'd woken up, the girl joined him in the world of the conscious. Ranma noticed immediately and turned up towards her.

“Oh, hey Akane-”

“Don't you `Hey Akane' me,” She growled as she stood up from her sleeping position.

“Akane?” He asked, frowning.

“Where were you yesterday?!”

“I-I was out training,” He said.

“Training? Training for an entire day?” She repeated, calming down. That wasn't too unusual for Ranma, but he only really trained like that when he'd lost at something, or something serious happened. “Why, what happened?”

“Nothing…” He muttered, looking away.

“Ranma,” She clenched her fist in aggravation. “Tell me what happened.”

“Nothin' happened, alright?! The new kid at school, Touya, he's just really fast, and I wanted to learn how to be as fast as him!” He said, standing up. “Jeez, just because I spend an entire day trainin' don't mean I lost a fight or nothin'!” He complained. Akane looked at him, surprised.

“Oh…I see.” She looked around. “But, the whole day? Why would it take you so long? It's not like there's some kind of technique that makes you inherently faster, is there? You just train, right?” She looked at him, confused.

Ranma nodded, excitedly. “Yeah, that's what I'd thought. Until three days ago and I figured out what I'd been doing with the Katchu Tenshin Amaguri Ken for so long, and I tried to make my whole body faster using the same technique. But it made me tired so fast I nearly lo-er, passed out.”

“And Touya knows the technique for making yourself faster?” She asked.

“Yeah…”

“So you were there the whole day trying to learn that one technique?” She asked, awed. Sounded like some technique…

“Well, no, I spent the first few hours at Usa-chan's, but she wasn't there. Something about-“

“Usa-CHAN?” Akane was seeing red. “WHO IS THAT?”

“Er, that is,” Ranma paused, realizing he'd never told anyone about Usagi or her sister… “Tsukino-San,” He corrected himself. “She lives over in Juban, but I get to see her pretty often these days,” He said.

“Is she some kind of weekend floosy or something?!” Akane asked, irked.

“Hey, Akane, calm down already! It's not like we're—“ Unfortunately for Ranma, Akane, considering last night and having just woken up, was not in the mood for listening.

---

Ranma groaned as he climbed out of a newly made crater. He surveyed the area trying to get a grasp on the situation.

“Stupid tomboy, gettin' all mad so early,” He grumbled and finally realized where he was. He recognized this part of town; one of Akane's friends, Higurashi Kagome lived around here. She'd hung out with Akane shortly after he moved to Nerima but after about a month or so she stopped visiting. The girl was a year away from High School but from what little Akane'd been telling him lately it didn't seem like the girl would make it through.

She'd come into contact with many different chronic illnesses that made Ranma honestly consider if she had AIDS or something, but dismiss it, as she was so young. He'd offered to come and scan the girl's aura to see exactly what was wrong(maybe she was cursed and the old ghoul'd have been able to help or something), but the girl's family had politely declined on several occasions.

Oh well, now that he was here, he may as well visit.

He stuck his hands in his pockets and walked down the sidewalk, looking for the steps that lead up to her shrine. He'd been to her house with Akane on more than one occasion, so he knew where it was and what it looked like(Not that it was hard to forget).

He finally arrived at the base of the shrine's steps and looked up. With practiced ease he leapt up, clearing ten to twenty stairs at a time and quickly came to the top. He looked around and felt the aura of the place; there was the spiritual energy that usually came with temples and shrines, but…unlike the last time he was here, it was entirely too large to belong to any of the residents of the Higurashi shrine.

Ranma stood there for a good ten seconds; the pure chi was so much in volume that it encompassed the entire area. He briefly wondered why he hadn't felt it before arriving but decided to reason that later.

He leapt up to the roof of the house, surveying the area, trying to figure out exactly where it could be coming from. He crawled over to the side where he knew Kagome's window was.

`Maybe,' he thought, `someone with intense spiritual powers has come to heal Kagome?' It was a reasonable explanation. As it was, he did atleast want to meet whoever could hold such a large amount of spiritual chi. It was nearly as large as his own and as far as he knew monks and mikos didn't always get their power from fighting.

Ranma leaned over the roof of the house and peered into the house that led to Kagome's room. The room looked like the typical teen girl's room(Not that he lived with any typical teen girls; he could just tell) full of girly things and assorted posters. There was an old looking alarm clock and a normal looking desk with some clutter on it.

What caught his attention, however, was the small glowing jar on her desk. It was a small vial with maybe three or four pinkish jewels of some sort.

Whatever they were, they were emanating an intense and odd chi…but they were just jewels; why did they even have chi of their own? Chi only came from living things, not rocks…

Ranma slid back up to the roof, confused. Why would Kagome have something that powerful in her room? “Maybe she just thinks they're regular jewels… but what if she was attacked, and they were stolen by some whacked out martial artist or sumthin?”

There was a pause as Ranma considered all of this.

“What the hell are they?”

---

Shadow was currently leaning against a light pole, absently watching the huge crowds around him go about their daily business. Not one of the people who'd passed by all day were carriers, but he figured if he just waited the whole day and watched people that went by he'd see something, and if not, stick it out in another section of the city for another day.

It wasn't as if he had anything better to do.

---

Ryouga grunted as he pushed forward through Yamaguchi. He was making good speed today, especially considering that Fukuoka was over 50 kilometers away.

For once, things weren't going particularly bad for him; as a matter of fact, his luck had been sporadically increasing recently. He realized exactly what this meant, though.

Something big was happening. He'd noticed the trend long, long ago; whenever some impending doom or something was happening to Akane or sometimes even Ranma, his directional sense led him right towards them and he was always there in time to help save the day, then get shafted, credit wise.

Oh well, all for the greater good; such was the code of the martial artist, even those with heavy hearts.

He figured he'd be in Nerima by late afternoon if not sooner.

---

Chibi-Usa sighed as Usagi went on and on about being worried and what not. Really, it was annoying; the girl wasn't even her mother yet, so why should she feel so protective? If anything she was more like a surrogate big sister, which made her want to disregard everything she said.

“Uh-huh, Yeah,” She sighed in agreement with whatever Usagi had just asked her. It usually worked whenever she wasn't listening to her “Mother.”

“Are you even listening to me?” Usagi asked, annoyed. Chibi-Usa innocently looked up at her.

“Yes?”

“Oh really? What did I just say, then?” The blonde asked with more than a hint of suspicion.

“Erm…well…” The smaller girl looked around nervously. “That…it's not safe…for little girls…to go out at night?”

Usagi blinked. “Well, that doesn't change the fact that you still disobeyed me,” she intoned. The smaller girl crossed her arms, turned away from her and Hmphed. “If you don't change that attitude…” Usagi growled.

“You'll what? Spank me? And get Aunty upset with you?” Usagi growled and Chibi-Usa stuck out her tongue.

“Why you little brat…” Usagi fumed. “I ought to--”

There was the beeping sound of Usagi's communicator. Actually, Chibi-Usa's was ringing too. Usagi sighed and her “Daughter” snickered as she reached into her pocket, revealing the device. She opened it and sighed at the face that showed. “What is it, Ami-chan? I was just giving Chibi-Usa a good scolding,” The other girl giggled at that.

“Well, as funny as that sounds, we need you here, Sailor Moon,”

“I see,” The blonde sighed. “I'll be there,” She said, closing her communicator. “You stay here for now,” Usagi pointedly told the pink haired girl before her. Chibi-Usa scowled at not being included in the fight. “Mama said you're grounded so that means no senshi business,”

“Whatever,” the girl rolled her eyes and sat down her bed, opening some random Shounen manga. Usagi blanched at that, shook her head and left the room in a hurry.

Chibi Usa watched the door for a few seconds and then approached the window to watch Usagi leave the area. She sneered and set the manga down on her bed, then walked over to the window and opened it before climbing out and closing it. She jumped from her window sill to a tree and deftly jumped down to another.

Heh, those martial arts classes with Ranma were definitely paying off. She dusted off her hands and started walking away from the house, not once looking back.

After all, regret was caused by worry, and she obviously had nothing at all to worry about. Right?

---

Ranma had an odd feeling of Déjà vu as he put one of her shards in his pocket. He knew someone like Ku Lon would probably know what it was, but he honestly didn't feel like meeting the old ghoul today. He'd decided he was going to try and find out as much about it as he could on his own.

Unfortunately, that meant going back to Nerima was a huge no-no. The entire district would be after him in less than a second and then some.

He shrugged and jumped down off of the Higurashi household's roof. No one was home, so there was nothing worth staying for. He turned and looked at the house he'd just come from before jumping down the shrine stairs.

That was when there was an odd ringing noise.

"Huh?" He blinked as he recognized the ringing to be a phone, and turned. The pay phone hear him was ringing. "That's weird…" He approached the phone and looked around before shrugging and picking it up.

"Moshi Moshi," He said.

"Saotome," Tendo Nabiki replied. Ranma nearly dropped the phone in surprise; actually, he fumbled it several times and then caught it. "Quit acting stupid," she sighed.

"How did you know I was here?" He asked suspiciously. "Are you watching me or sumthin?"

"Yes, the city has cameras all over. Following you all morning has been quite easy, I might add. What, by the way, what were you doing in the Higurashi shrine? And you came back so soon," She said.

"They weren't home," He said. He wasn't surprised at all; using the city's cameras to follow him(or finding someone technologically competent enough to haggle into doing it) was Nabiki's style. "What did you want, and why have you been following me with the cameras?"

---

Nabiki Tendo smiled down at her new swivel laptop and switched her cell phone to the other ear so that she could hold it with her head while she typed. "Right to the point, are we, Saotome?" She asked. "Well I have a job for you. A paying job," She said. She snickered at his onscreen reaction and sighed. "Yeah, that's right. I'll be helping you earn money instead of lose it this time," She said. There was a short pause as he responded. "What kind of job? Hmm, Saotome…Tell me, have you ever been a bodyguard before? No? Well, as of tonight, you can consider yourself a professional," She smirked. "It pays five thousand an hour," She offered. There was a short pause and she smirked at his reaction again. "So you're in?"

---

Touya checked his watch as he walked down the street and sighed. There was nothing to do for the next three hours and he was bored as all he-

"Oof!"

He blinked and looked down in front of him. A pink haired girl with an odd get up was sitting down in front of him. "Watch where you're going!" The irate girl nearly yelled.

"Oh, I'm sorry," Touya knelt down and helped the girl up to her feet. "I was just distracted, that's all," he said as he looked down at her.

"Well next…time…" Chibi Usa looked up at him. "Hey, you're our neighbor, aren't you?"

"Yeah," Touya said, rubbing his head.

There was a pause as both stared at each other. A Chill passed over each of them, but for different reasons.

"E, to…”

“Uun…”

The two looked at each other. “Yeah, I guess I'll see you later…” Touya waved as he walked around her.

Chibi-usa blinked and shrugged, walking ahead on her way. She couldn't just up and tell him that one of the sailor senshi had told her to become friends with him. And she hadn't really thought of a way or reason to actu-

She froze. Chibi Usa turned around and saw that Touya had just done the same.

---

Ranma blinked in surprise as Touya and Chibi-Usa came running from around a corner. “Oi! Chibi-Usa! Touya!” he waved them over.

“Ranma,” “Saotome-san,”

“What's up guys? You look like you're in a hurry or something…” He looked worried for a second. “Is something bad happening?”

“Ranma…” Chibi-Usa looked at him suspiciously. “Can't you feel that energy? It's so…huge,” She asked. Touya looked down at her before turning back to Ranma.

“Oh.” He nervously chuckled before reaching into his pocket. “You mean this.” He held it out for them both to see. Chibi-Usa gasped and Touya seemed to be thinking something.

“Where did you get that?” Chibi-Usa asked. `It's full of dark energy…'

“I…found it,” Ranma looked around. “Do you know what this is?”

“No,” Chibi-Usa shook her head. “But…”

“That thing…”

“What is it, Touya? Have you seen it before?”

“Something like it,” He mumbled. Touya looked around nervously. “Hold on,” Touya looked from Ranma to Chibi-Usa. “Tsukino-san, could you hold that for a second?”

She looked up at him in confusion and then looked at Ranma with a shrug. Ranma held out the jewel and she put her finger on the offered edge. Suddenly the jewel's energy changed completely and the dark purple jewel turned an almost whitish pink.

“I knew it…” He muttered. “Ranma, touch one end of it while she holds it,” He commanded. Ranma, seeing part of what was happening, agreed and held one end.

“Chibi-Usa,” Ranma started. “Can you put your Chi in it the way I am right now?”

The girl nodded. Ranma had shown her a little bit about Chi manipulation, saying that both she and her sister(Er, mother) had abnormally high amounts of Chi, which she herself guessed came from being a senshi. She did as he said and there was an odd feeling as Touya put a finger on the brightly glowing gem. There was a bright flash and the gem was suddenly green, glowing and emitting an odd whirring noise.

“Chaos…Control!”

There was an even brighter flash than the first as Chibi-Usa and Ranma felt and odd pulling sensation on their entire bodies before everything stopped.

Everything except for them.

Touya let go of the green jewel shard and it became pink again. Chibi Usa let go of it and it returned to the dark purple color that it had been before.

“That's weird,” Ranma said. “It was that pinkish color when I first grabbed it, but after I had touched it became like this,” Chibi-Usa nodded.

“That Jewel has a powerful demonic aura,” Chibi-Usa said.

“And when you touched it, it was even more pure than how I found it,” He told her. “Touya, do you know what's goin' on?”

“Chaos,” Touya intoned.

“What do you mean?”

“Look all around us,”

Both Chibi-Usa and Ranma for the first time noticed exactly what had happened.

“Why ain't any thing movin'?” Ranma looked around.

“We stopped time. When you put in all that positive energy,” Touya looked at Chibi-Usa, “And you all that negative energy,” He looked at Ranma, “You created a reaction within the jewel that created a process that was similar to a Chaos Emerald,”

“Chaos Emerald?” Both repeated. Touya nodded.

“It's a gem that is the source of unlimited energy.”

“But that…that's impossible!” Chibi-Usa interjected. `Even the Ginzuisho has a limited amount of energy,' she thought. `For there to be something this much stronger…”

Suddenly, everything around them started moving again.

“I guess it's over,” Ranma said. “But huh…”

The three looked at each other, neither knowing what to say.

---

Akane blinked at Nabiki several times. “You found me a job?”

“Yeah, that's right. You get to do security at a party,”

“Pfft, I'd rather--”

“For five thousand an hour,”

“—I'd rather not miss out. When is the party?”

“Today in five hours,”

“Five HOURS? Today?” Akane looked at her sister, irritated. “You should give me more time to prepare for this kind of thing,” Akane shook her head. Oh well, that's Nabiki for you… “Who's party is it? Someone I know?”

“No, an associate of mine's son is turning twenty and he wanted the best there was,”

“And naturally, you thought of m-”

“That's why Ranma's going with you,” Nabiki interjected.

“WHAT?! I don't need him-”

“Now now, think of it this way. You're the best girl and he's the best guy,”

“Hah,” Akane snorted. “'She' is better than me, and you know it,” She said bitterly.

“But Ranma thinks of himself as a boy,”

“Nabiki…”

“Come on, sis, it's 5000 an hour!” Akane's mood lightened up considerably after that reminder. “You're the only two martial artists I can -really- rely on; Ryouga gets lost too easily, Shampoo's too violent, Happosai would want more than En, Ku Lon would…who knows what. It gets way too complicated.”

“I guess that makes sense,” Akane nodded. “Well then, I guess I should go find Ranma and tell him,”

“That's alright, I called him and he's already on his way here.”

“How'd you call Ranma?” As far as Akane knew, Ranma didn't have a cell phone…

“That's for me to know. Although, maybe I should just get him a cell phone, it'd be way easier…Hmm, with all the money we'll be making off of this, I could do a lot of stuff--”

“Tadaima,” Ranma called out. He walked into the room with two unknown people behind him. “Oi, Akane, Nabiki. This is Usa-chan I was talking about earlier,” Ranma said, motioning Chibi-Usa. “And this is Watanabe-san,”

Chibi Usa bowed politely while Touya just waved.

“Touya's fine. Watanabe-san makes me feel like my…brother,” he shuddered.

“Ah, Ranma-Kun,” Kasumi said appearing from the kitchen. “You have guests,” The boy nodded.

“Un,” Ranma motioned Nabiki with a casual wave. “This is Nabiki,” He pointed at Kasumi. “That's Kasumi, and this,” He said turning to Akane, “Is Akane…my fiancé.”

“Ano… THAT's `Usa-Chan'?”

“YES,” Ranma said, annoyed.

“I…I see…” The girl blushed.

“As you can see,” Ranma started, still quite annoyed. “There's no way she and I are romantically involved…”

“Well…Well…”Akane looked around nervously.

There was silence for a few moments before Chibi-Usa spoke up.

“So,” Chibi-Usa said. “Ranma's told me so much about all of you. It's a pleasure to finally meet you,” The girl bowed again.

“Ah,” Akane stuttered.

“Well that's quite odd,” Nabiki said, giving Ranma an odd look. “He's never told us anything about either of you before,”

“Ah, well yeah,” Ranma said, rubbing the back of his head. “Heh heh…”

“Idiot,” The pink haired girl mumbled. Touya shrugged.

“Ano, Nabiki-chan,” Akane said. “This is Touya-kun, he's Ranma and My new classmate,”

“THAT Touya? The new track star of Furinkan High?” The boy chuckled nervously while Nabiki sized him up. “You wouldn't happen to be a practitioner of some obscure, never before heard of martial art, would you?”

“Er, All I practice is Karate and some Aikido. I'm just a 5th dan in both,” the boy answered honestly.

“Eh?” Nabiki said, completely surprised. “That's…different,” She said, shaking her head in confusion. `I'll have to watch this one…' “Well if you have any interest in learning the advanced art, I'm sure Akane or Ranma would be willing to help. For a fee, of course,” Both Ranma and Akane frowned at Nabiki.

“Uh, I dunno…my brother said not to spend so much money,” The boy said, ever nervous.

“Well, since you're a friend, I'll give you a discount,” Nabiki said. “You'd only be paying as much as you made if you got a simple morning job, like say, delivering newspapers…”

“Really?” Touya asked. “Well, I'll think about it,” He said honestly. Nabiki inwardly cheered as him being a student of the dojo would not only bring them more income, but if he did come, and was satisfied with what Akane and Ranma taught him, tell his other friends, and maybe, just maybe, they'd get more students…

Then again, people already knew about the dojo; unfortunately, the dojo had stopped taking students so long ago that no one knew of its status anymore. She'd also have to convince her father to get back into shape and help with the dojo. Saotome-Ojisan and Nodoka-obasan as well…As soon as the three of them got back from their little vacation, That was the first thing she was going to do.

After all, she had no intention of staying in this house forever, and when she finally left high school, she was going to be paying for her university tuition…someone would have to take care of the house, and Ranma nor Akane would be home all day long the year she left.

“Right. Well, remember, Saotome, you have five hours. It's a high class party so you're going to have to go dressed up as best as you can manage,” Ranma groaned. "Remember how much money it is,” Ranma instantly cheered up. “Now go have fun,” She turned and went up the stairs to her room.

“…She's in a good mood,”

"She's always in a good mood when there's money to be made. I'm sure we're getting shafted for our money, but she'll probably just take it out of our debts…"

---

Ryouga fished around in one of his pockets for change and finally found enough for what he was getting. He paid the vendor and waved as he walked away, clutching his meat bread. “Come back soon, Hibiki-San!” the old man called out with a smile. Ryouga laughed nervously and waved at the old man.

“I will,” He assured.

Why did it seem like every city he'd been to, atleast half of the locals he'd come across knew him by name?

Oh well, it's not like it mattered. He pulled out a map and marked off with an X where he was before leaving the city limits and finding a nice, peaceful spot to rest. Right now, he was in Okayama. His projected schedule landed him at Kyoto in an about half an hour once he left.

“I wonder what everyone's doing,” He sighed. “Heh, it's weird, but this speed might make one think I'd get lost as quickly as I did, like with the Kinjakan…” He shuddered, remembering how he'd somehow ended up in Moscow… “But I've been keeping a straight line this whole time, and I'm going faster than I first thought I was…” He thought about their curse and how cruel it was… “What about mother and father? Is the curse cured for them as well? I haven't seen either of them in years…” He thought. For once, thoughts of his parents brought hope instead of the usual endless despair…

Which brought up another point. His Shi Shi Hokudan had been getting weaker and weaker; and the reason for this was obvious. His depression had been going away, and whether or not it was tied into his dreams, he didn't know. He did know that his dreams were trying to convey some type of message…it was more like they were memories than dreams, really. Ryouga sat back and ate his meal while contemplating the latest dream…

“Status report,” A young man clad in regal black armor ordered as soon as he entered the deck to the Sat-XII. His short black hair was ruffled in a way that made it obvious he didn't take very good care of it.

“Sir, main thrusters are offline and the Hyper drive has overloaded,”

“That's to be expected,” the man with black armor sighed as he ran a hand through his hair. “We shall set to land on Luna,” He intoned. “Once we land, you and the rest of the crew may leave once I have left the ship. As a matter of fact, make it an order,”

“But sir-“

“But nothing. We can't have all of our people dying…you must go and make do with Earth; the rest of the planets have been totally and utterly destroyed and are in no condition to support life,”

“…What about you, sir?”

“I will defend the queen `till my last breath and beyond. Such is the duty of a Knight of the Astral order,” He stated with grim tones.

“…Aye, sir.” There was a pause as the crew worked about. “Sir, we've made contact with Luna. The Queen is still alive and she's attempting to evacuate the palace…”

“It's much worse than I thought, then,” He said. “The Queen won't abandon Luna. It's her stronghold; I know she has some plan to salvage it.” The stressed out looking knight turned and left the bridge. “I'm sure they'll be glad to see me,”

“Satsugeki…Bukou Ken!” Yelled out a voice. There was a flurry of slashes and kicks as a single attacker slaughtered groups of men in a bizarre yet intriguing display of skill.

“You lazy bastards aren't going to get in here with that attitude,” taunted a young man with long black hair. His garb was a simple black arrangement that looked comfortable and maneuverable. He hefted a fairly regal looking sword onto his shoulder and sneered. He walked over to a pile of maimed creatures and men that were invading his palace.

“You idiots can't even kill a weakly little prince like me? I'm just pampered royalty, aren't I? Ha!” He kicked one of them in the face. “You don't even comprehend what's going on, you just follow orders. Hmm,”

“We're no different from your own forces then,” The injured man spat.

“I would like to say my mother treats all of her men and women with equal respect, kindness and consideration befitting a great ruler of the Moon Kingdom,” He started. He calmly put his foot on the man's head and pushed down. “However, that'd be a horrendously large lie. It's true commoners like you get shafted, but that's because she and other nobles are blind to your suffering.”

“And what do we get for trying to fix our problems?” the man asked rhetorically. “Swords in our guts and a boot out the door,”

“Hnn, yes. That's what you get for trying to start a revolution in this up-tight kingdom, especially as stupidly as you did. War usually solves nothing, it's all just a bunch of posturing and needless death.” He pushed on the man's head with his foot. “Oh, that's right,” He seemed to be remembering something. “You just insulted my mother, didn't you?” He calmly pushed down on the man's head again.

“…So did you,”

“Perhaps I should end your suffering for this insolence. Then again, allowing you a long and painful death sounds better.”

“…”

“Nah, I've decided I don't like your face.” With a sudden, powerful motion his foot smashed the man's skull and splattered his gore along the ground. “Hnn.”

“My prince,” Came a voice from the behind. “You've…You've become uncharacteristically cruel,”

“War does that to a man,” the prince responded as he turned around and faced the black armored man. “Emilio.”

“Where is your mother?”

“She's busy with some pond scum,” the prince spat.

“…”

“Well? Let's go clear the place out,” He turned around and left the room to seek out another hall.

“…” Emilio only shook his head and obediently followed.

Ryouga stared at the bread in his hands. His most recent dream hadn't been as good as the previous ones. He honestly hoped that they wouldn't keep on this way, or he might return to his previous state, which had been self destructive(and the knowledge of it being so made him even more depressed).

“What is all this stuff anyway? And why did it all start, even?” He dusted off his hands and stood up, ready to begin his trek to Nerima. “Hnn,”

---

The dojo was loud with feminine kiai as Chibi-usa, clad in a white dogi, sparred with Akane, in her own yellow doji, as Ranma coached and Touya watched. The two girls traded punches and kicks, until finally, Akane saw and opening and put the smaller girl on the ground in an instant.

“You're doing better,” Akane said encouragingly. The girl's agility was nearly as good as Ranma's, but her strength and toughness weren't even up to par with her own. Chibi-usa weakly groaned from the ground. “Oi, Ranma, how much do you train her? She's pretty good,”

“Actually, not much,” Ranma admitted. “So far, I've only shown her things and tell her to practice them.”

“That was still pretty impressive,” Touya added. “I don't think I could have gotten that well with just practice and basic instruction,”

“Well, look at her teacher,” Ranma said pridefully.

“Ranma, Akane,” Nabiki poked her head into the dojo. “You've got about an hour left until we have to leave,”

“Oi, Nabiki,”

“Hm?”

“Is it okay to bring guests?”

“As long as they're dressed for the occasion,” Nabiki said, eyeing Touya and Chibi-Usa.

“Uh…do we have enough time for something like that?” Akane asked. Her own clothes had been lain out ahead of time, so all she needed to do was take a bath and get dressed.

“Oh, I think I have something just for this situation, but it's at my house,”

“Isn't your house in Juban?”

“Un,” The pink haired girl called in affirmative from the ground. “But trust me, between Touya, Ranma and I, we can get there.”

Ranma shifted nervously while Touya just chuckled.

“What are you talking about?” Nabiki asked with her eyes narrowed.

“Err, that's not important,” Ranma said. “The thing is, we'll be there on time, don't worry.” He helped Chibi-Usa to her feet. Nabiki raised an eyebrow and shrugged.

"Whatever, Saotome," She said apathetically. "Akane, we don't have that much time, so it'd be better if we went and washed ourselves right now," She said. "You go ahead, I have something to get from my room," The girl left the dojo as Akane nodded and did as she was told.

"Right…I guess this means we can go now," Ranma lead Touya and Chibi-Usa out of the dojo to the front of the Tendo estate and looked around before holding his hand out. The pink haired girl mimicked him and Touya reached into his shirt before revealing the dull glow of a jewel shard. He joined hands with the other two and there was a bright flash of light as the three disappeared with a united shout of "Chaos Control!"

---

Ryouga smiled in earnest at the fleeting scenery as he almost literally flew through the skies. His lunges could carry him a good thirty kilometers at top speed, which he estimated to be well over 100 KM/h. He'd just left Nagoya, so Koufu was atleast an hour or two ahead at this point.

He could really tell that something big was going to happen when he finally landed…something huge was going to happen. He could feel it…

---

Akane's eyes bolted open as she sat in the furo next to her sister. "W…what…"

Nabiki opened one eye and looked at Akane. "Akane? What is it?"

"There was…a huge chi…just outside our house!"

"Where?"

"It was in the front of the house but then it disappeared almost as soon as it was out…"

"How big was it?"

"I'm surprised you didn't notice it, even with your limited martial arts training," Akane said in a low voice.

"Oh?" Nabiki opened both eyes. "I thought that was just me," She muttered. Then she smirked and climbed out of the furo. "Well, it's been long enough for a quick bath,"

---

Chibi-Usa walked out of her door and walked over to Touya's house where both boys had been waiting for her. She knocked twice and stood back, waiting. The door opened and Ranma walked out, looking irate.

"You said to wait for you and just put on our regular clothes when we were done in the furo. Nabiki said it was a high class party so-"

"I know, I know. Where's Touya?"

"He's inside," Ranma sighed.

"Well then, go get him," The girl waited patiently as Ranma left and shortly returned with Touya.

"Okay, let's go," Chibi-Usa said putting out her hand. Ranma and Touya followed and the three stopped time with the makeshift Chaos Emerald and Touya hid the jewel in his shirt again.

"Okay, what now?"

"Patience," Chibi-Usa smirked as she reached into one of her pockets and took out an odd looking pen.

"What's that thing?"

"Just watch,"

---

Shadow froze and turned his head in a certain direction. "Chaos Control," He thought. Had Touya already found a Chaos Emerald? If so, why was he using Chaos Control? He summoned his own from subspace and mimicked the technique, heading full speed towards where he could tell Touya was headed.

---

Akane smiled and nodded at most people as they entered the building that she and Ranma would be working together in for the night. The party's host was every bit as well-off as Nabiki had said, and all of the people coming in were as well dressed as she had thought they would be. Tuxedos and dresses she was sure cost more than she could have afforded were the norm in this get together.

"Oi, Ranma…where are you?" She looked around with concern and froze as she heard a familiar voice.

"Verily, the life of this party has arrived!" Shouted an over-eager voice from the entrance. Akane flinched and her mood fell several levels as she turned and saw the Kuno clan enter the building. What she saw surprised her; Kuno was actually dressed like a normal person while his sister donned an impressive black dress. Their father was wearing an unorthodox white tux, but oh well, it was to be expected that atleast one of them was out of the ordinary, even if in a small way.

"Ugh," She groaned as the three walked by.

"Ah! Tendo Akane!" Tatewaki exclaimed upon entering the foyer. "I truly did not expect to see you in this grand event! Surely the heavens are smiling upon me today, for I will-"

"You will," Kodachi started, grabbing her brother by the back of his tuxedo, effectively and literally reigning him in. "Refrain from your usual idiocies while we are under Cousin Yoshida's roof," she dragged him away from the girl and nodded at the Tendo girl while her father followed the two.

Akane had seen some strange things in her life, but right now she was terrified.

"…that was a pretty neat trick with the pen," Ranma's voice came from the entrance and she blinked and tried to peek over the small crowd in the foyer. When she spotted the three her jaw dropped.

Ranma's hair was out of it's braid, which accentuated his features in a way she'd only seen once. The result was a very bishounen looking male who she knew other girls would be drooling at, the kind of man in her manga that always rescued the maiden from harm with some kind just speech.

Of course, his attitude was far from that, so it was just the looks, really.

Touya was also looking very different; his impossibly long hair had somehow been shortened beyond belief, though it was cut in a way that reminded her of someone Ranma'd once fought in something called the Iron Fist tournament.

Chibi-Usa was almost completely different though. The girl's heels added a good seven and a half centimeters to her height. Her dress was crimson, and it looked to be made of a material she was sure she'd never seen before. The girl had just the right amount of makeup to go with her dress and her long hair fell around her shoulders. All in all, the fourteen year old looked a good two or three years older than she really was.

Ranma, Chibi-Usa and Touya walked towards the door.

"I gotta admit," Ranma started. "That was a pretty neat trick with the pen,"

"That wasn't a trick," Chibi-Usa snickered. "That was real magic,"

"You know what I mean," Ranma growled as they entered the building.

"My, but this place is huge," Touya chirped in to change the flow of conversation.

"Oi, Ranma!" Akane called from the foyer. They all walked into the room where Akane was and stopped.

"Sorry I'm late," Ranma said sincerely.

"You're not, actually," Akane informed him. "Our jobs start in an half an hour. We're not bouncers, so our job is really just to make sure no one gets a little too wild, and if they do, we have full authority to kick them out,"

"Wild?"

"Well, it's an adult party, there's gonna be booze,"

"I see," Ranma nodded.

"Well, let's all get something to eat and drink while we wait, shall we?" Touya suggested.

"That sounds good,"

"This is wrong," Akane complained. "We're all too young to be drinking this stuff,"

"Oh calm down," Chibi-Usa rolled her eyes. "I drink a glass of wine with all of my meals," She intoned. Akane's eyebrow rose in suspicion as she considered that.

"I think I could get to like you," came a familiar voice from behind the two. They both turned to face Nabiki. "Hey, Imouto-chan, Tsukino-san," She smiled and sauntered over to join the two. "Where're the guys?"

"They're here somewhere," Akane grumbled.

"Well, that's good I suppose," Nabiki joined the two looking over a railing from the second floor.

"Nabiki, I've been wondering," Akane started. "How could one person afford this whole place," She said, motioning the entire complex, "For just one little event?"

"Well, it's for two events, actually." Nabiki said.

"Oh?"

"Well, it's for one of my associate's twentieth birthday."

"Uh huh, and…?"

"I'm not at liberty to reveal the second one," Nabiki smirked. "Well, I was just checking up on the two of you, so if you'll excuse me…" The older girl left the two to themselves. Akane sighed and turned back to lean over the railing.

"This place is just too big," she groaned.

"I don't know what's wrong," Chibi-Usa said. "It feels homey to me,"

"What?" Akane asked, incredulously. That was something she'd expected to hear from Kuno or his equally loony sister.

"Ah, nothing," the younger girl laughed nervously. "So…"

"Hey, Tsukino-san-"

"Call me Chibi-Usa,"

"Eh?"

"That's what my friends call me. If you knew my mom you'd know why," She sighed.

"Oh, well…Chibi-Usa, how did you meet Ranma-kun?"

"Well I guess you could say he fell right into my arms," She answered.

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me. He fell, screaming and hollering, from the sky and right into my arms."

"You caught him?"

"And regretted it immediately," the girl nodded grimly. "I've never really been in the center of a crater in this fo-, err, before,"

"That must have been odd," Akane laughed, too nervous to have caught the other girl's mistake.

"Heh, yeah…" They both watched the people on the floor below until Chibi-Usa spotted someone. "Ano? Hey, what's she doing here?"

"Did you see someone you know?"

"Yeah, that's Usagi, my…relative," She coughed. "She's here with her fiancé. Who's that they're talking to?"

"I think that's…Kuno!" She said surprised. "Small world, I guess."

"Hahaha, you have no idea…"

"Huh?"

"Uh, err, nothing."

"Chiba-san, it's been such a long while since we last met," Tatewaki Kuno greeted Mamoru.

"Oh, Tatewaki," Mamoru said, blinking. "Yeah, it has been a while…How're things going for you?"

"Quite well, quite well…indeed, since last we met, I have risen above all peers in the Art and Kendo, becoming the number one fighter of my entire city, nay, country! My glorious self has even basked in the glory of His majesty the Emperor, and-"

'I forgot how much this kid likes to talk, especially about himself,' Mamoru thought to himself while smiling. When Kuno was done, he finally noticed Usagi standing beside Mamoru.

"And who is this fine maiden? Your date for the night, perhaps? But wait, for is it not considered rude for one to ask questions without introducing oneself?"

"Ano, but you just-"

"Behold, woman, for you are in the presence of the noble samurai Kuno Tatewaki, Blue Thunder of Japan!" There was a blue flash and one could see Kuno in his samurai garb, holding his bokken high above his head. The illusion faded, leaving Kuno standing in his tuxedo with his arm raised above his head.

"Ano…" Usagi bent over to Mamoru and whispered, "How did he do that?"

"I have no idea…" Mamoru stood up and gestured towards Usagi. "Ano, Tatewaki, this is my fiancé, Tsukino Usagi," Mamoru introduced his iinazuke and Usagi bowed.

"It is a pleasure to be meeting you for the first time," She said. Kuno bowed back just as deeply.

"As it is for me, your majesty…"

"Huh?" Usagi faltered.

"You must excuse me," Kuno said, returning to his upright position. "As much as it would delight me to bask in your presence, I have my own duties I must attend to," He said, turning away.

"Wait, what did you mean…just now?"

"Excuse me?" Kuno said.

"You just called me majesty," The blonde girl whispered. Mamoru looked as surprised as she did.

"You must be mistaken, for I do not remembering doing such a thing," Kuno waved it off as he left them to themselves.

"Your friend is weird," Chibi-usa said as she and Akane watched Kuno leave the couple behind. "He talks too much too."

"Yeah," Akane said, shaking her head. "His whole family is nuts."

"Ranma, what do you think the girls are doing?"

"I dunno," Ranma took a swig from his half empty bottle. "This cheap stuff is actually pretty good," he swirled the bottle around several times.

"I didn't know you liked alcohol," Touya said.

"I don't."

"Then what do you mean?"

"I mean that this stuff, among all the other crap I've been forced to drink, ain't quite as bad,"

"…Why are you drinking it?"

"I have to keep up appearances. According to most everyone here, I'm just another rich guy here for the party. If I walk around sporting a badge and a hat, no one'd give me a break, and besides, it'd just look dumb."

"I see," Touya said, understanding on his face.

There was silence for a good thirty seconds.

"So…"

"Yeah…"

---

Ryouga sat down right outside of Koufu. "I should take a break," He thought aloud. "My chi is drained, almost completely," he took took his pack off of his shoulders and sat down against a rock, ready to doze off from the lack of energy.

Within moments he was out.

"My prince, your swordsmanship is flawless as always," The black armor clad man called out to his young companion.

"I would thank you for noticing, but this is neither the time nor place," the young man deftly dodged and sliced in one smooth motion. "We're in the middle of-" and suddenly the prince was still. The man clad in black armor took a step back in shock and turned his head in a random direction.

"What…what in Serenity's name was that?!"

"That was my mother," The prince said in a calm voice.

"So…she's still alive," the man in black armor sighed. "But that means she's fighting…this is not good, something that could make it to the queen…"

"I know. This is very bad." The prince sighed. "Emilio, come here." The man in black armor blinked and obeyed immediately. "Do you trust me?"

"With my life-"

"Good," The prince said. "Then you must know what I'm about to do to you is in the best interest of the kingdom,"

"Huh? Dai…I don't understand…"

"You don't need to," the prince said, suddenly turning and embedding his blade into the heart of his comrade. He began chanting something and the sword glowed with lunar energy as he wove his spell.

"M…my prince," the man coughed. "I must apologize… but I fail to see how this helps the kingdom,"

"Don't worry, you will one day. Try to hang on for as long as you can, if you die before the spell is complete you won't…"

"I'm sorry my prince…I can't hear you…" the man's heart had stopped already and he was quickly dying.

"No! Dammit! Hold on just one second…"

"Ugh…"

"…There! Emilio, you can…"

Ryouga woke with a start and clutched his chest. He lifted his shirt and felt the area where he knew his heart to be.

"I'm alive," He panted. "But…"

"But I definitely felt his sword in my chest…"

---

Shadow simply walked into the building, glaring at anyone who even bothered to look at him and his style of dress…

"Why the hell would Sonic be here? This is not his style at all," he muttered. "Perhaps I am in the wrong place, after all." The man with black hair and red highlights decided to take a tour around the building. The party did look rather impressive, and while it wasn't Touya's style, he wasn't going to go out and look for the boy now.

"Cousin!" Tatewaki turned and his eyebrows rose.

"Oh," He said. "You must excuse me, ladies. The time hath come for me to rendezvous with my honorable cousin," he nodded and left the two girls he had been talking to. He approached a young man and girl. "Verily, the guest of honor hath arrived," Kuno said.

"Aye, he has," the young girl said.

"Ah, Kagome-chan, my younger cousin from mother's side. It does me good to see you well,"

"And me you," The younger girl bowed.

"Ano," the young man started. "Why are the both of you speaking like that?"

"Huh? Oh, I'm sorry," Kagome blushed "Shinshige-kun, Tatewaki-kun, how long has it been?"

"It was three years since last we met, cousin,"

"Indeed, it is as I remember-"

"Okay, both of you stop, please," Shinshige said. "Please, for my twentieth, I'd like to have the both of you and your families acting as normal as possible,"

"I'm so sorry," the girl blushed again. "I just got used to talking that way because of a hobby of mine…"

"This hobby of yours, does it involve poetry?"

"No, actually," Kagome said. "Although at times I wish it was something that tame," She said.

"Is it violent? Dear cousin, have you finally decided to take up martial arts?"

"Kuno…"

"Okay, okay," Kuno said. "But only because it's your twentieth. If it were any other day, and you were any other person…"

"Yeah, I get it," Shinshige rolled his eyes.

"So, Shin-kun, how's it been up in Fukuoka?"

"You'd never believe it, but you remember that UFO? Apparently the thing landed right outside of Fukuoka,"

"So the media is still…"

"You know it," Shinshige sighed. Kuno scoffed.

"What a joke. Everyone knows there's no such thing as aliens,"

"Well, that's the thing. Several eyewitnesses, people I know who would never lie, have claimed to see the crater. People were later sent to investigate but the crater was gone. And that's not the odd thing, the dirt and grass that there is slightly different from what's around it, so there are suspicions of a coverup,"

"Really? That's intriguing," Kuno said, rubbing a chin. "Although, I guess the whole conspiracy thing has been done before. Kagome, your thoughts?"

"Huh? Aliens?" the girl looked up. "Oh, well I suppose if demons and the like are real, it's possible for aliens to exist as well," She nodded.

"…Does that have to do with your new hobby?" Shinshige asked.

"Huh? You mean demons? Ah, well my hobby…it's archery," She said.

"Archery? You'll have to show me sometime," Kuno said.

"And you'll have to show us both just how much you gotten better with that sword of yours," Shinshige teased.

"Don't worry, I will, before you leave. Kagome-chan will have to show us her miko powers as well, though."

"Huh?" Kagome asked, surprised. "But I didn't' tell you guys that I'd…"

"Yes, but I can tell. Your Chi is far too pure to not have holy ties," Kuno informed her as someone came up to Shinshige and whispered something into his ears.

"Huh? There's a weird guy outside dressed in all red with silver hair?"

"Ah…I see," the girl blinked. "Well, excuse me, but I need to find the bathroom. We should get together sometime tomorrow; I don't think my mother will permit me to stay for the entire duration of this party,"

"Ah, that is understandable. You are still but a year away from highschool, not quite an adult," Kuno said, ruffling her hair. When Kagome left, he put his hand on his cousin's shoulder. "You must excuse me as well, cousin, for I have a thirst to quench," he turned and strode out, holding the hilt to his bokken as if he was on duty or something.

Shinshige was left standing there. "Man, what a weird family I've got," He muttered.

"Inuyasha, what are you doing here?" Growled Kagome as she peeked out of a second floor window.

"I'm here to take you back, you stupid bitch-"

"Osuwari," The girl said calmly. Inuyasha's necklace glowed with a holy light as the curse pulled him down from his perch on a tree towards the ground at full speed. She could hear him groaning from the ground and thirty seconds later, he was back up, angry as ever.

"What'd you do that for, you dumb-"

"Inuyasha, would you just let me EXPLAIN why I am still here?" the girl asked. Her aura was showing her face had quite the fearsome look on it.

"…Okay," He said, looking a little nervous.

"Good," She started. "First off, it's my cousin's twentieth birthday. The day he becomes a man. You might not know it because you've never met him before, but he and I are very close. He moved to Fukuoka three years ago and I've only been able to send letters and call him from time to time. Now…" the girl sighed, "The second reason is…one of my jewel shards was stolen," She said.

"What! We have to find it right away, you've got no time to be lounging around here-!"

"You dope, don't you think I have my priorities straight?" She asked, irritated. "I know what comes first, baka. Jewel shards, duh. But oddly enough, the shard that was stolen is somewhere in here."

"…Huh."

"Yeah, I know, that's really weird."

"Do you think your cousin…?" Inuyasha started.

"No," the girl shook her head. "He hasn't been to my house since he moved to Fukuoka, and I was just talking to him. He didn't have it."

"I see,"

"If you had come to my house earlier, you'd have been able to rent a tuxedo and get ready properly enough to be in here, but the way you're dressed…" She sniffed the air and scrunched up her face. "And the way you smell right now you'd stick out like a sore thumb and security would toss you out," She said.

"Hah, like some dumb humans could ever 'toss' me anywhere," The hanyou snorted indignantly.

"Osuwari," She stated simply.

"AGH!"

Ranma frowned and rubbed his head while overlooking the crowds from the railing on the second floor. "It all adds up now…All that chaos that HASN'T come my way; my curse not summoning ungodly amounts of water all day long, and me, finally getting a paying job. Everything looks like it's going well but in reality it's all building up. Something big is happening tonight," He said.

"What was that?" Touya asked, looking up from a bottle of fermented rice wine.

"I said, something big-" There was a scream from the ground floor. "is happening." He sighed. "C'mon, let's go. We need to change into better suited clothes for something this big,"

Usagi and Mamoru turned towards the source of the commotion and gasped. "There's a huge shadow in the ground…with an arm sticking out?" Nearby, a young man was complaining.

"Of course, this would have to happen at MY twentieth birthday," Shinshige sighed and ran with the flow of people escaping.

"Come on, we need to find a place," Usagi said, pulling her companion's arm. He quickly began following on his own.

"Inuyasha, that's our cue," Kagome said, looking over her shoulder.

"Yeah, I can smell it," Inuyasha climbed in through the window. "Blegh, and what a stench it is."

"Akane-san, don't you think we should find Ranma and get out of here?" The small, pink haired girl asked.

"Chances are Ranma's going to stay and fight, and since I'm the only person up to par with him around here, I've got to help him. Chibi-usa, I know you're a martial artist too, but as your sempai, I'm telling you to get out of here."

"But-"

"No buts," The older girl smiled confidently. "Trust me, Ranma has handled things like this before. Now go," She said, running towards the stairs. "And don't worry! We'll be safe!"

"…I can't just leave them here like this," She said. "I've got to transform and help them…even if they do recognize me, it's not worth them dying!"

Ranma jumped down off of the railing with Touya right behind, flexing his muscles. That restrictive tuxedo hadn't been his taste at all. He stretched some before approaching the monster. It was a huge, atleast two meter tall, green, human shaped creature with huge black eyes, rows and rows of sharp teeth. In place of it's fingers were impossibly long razor sharp claws and it's legs were bent backwards.

"Hey, ugly," Ranma said, getting it's attention. "Why don't you go somewhere else? You're not wanted here."

"I desire…your soul fire…"

"What?"

"Your soul fire is great…It will serve my master well," the creature's monotonous voice was starting to annoy him.

"Well, I dunno about that 'soul fire' you want so much, but if you want it, you'll have to take it from my dyin' stiff fingers," He taunted. 'I think I said that right,'

"And so I will," It said, holding up one of it's claws. "Come, Amethyst!" A dark purple crystal spire rose up from the ground beside it and immediately began spilling out a dark fog.

"What the heck's that stuff?" Ranma said. "It feels so…wrong,"

"It does not matter, for in a few seconds, you will be too dead to care."

"Try me!" Ranma held up his fists in a stance and the creature laughed.

"Simple human, you can not hope to stand against a denizen of Niflheim!" Ranma rolled his eyes and jumped in the air, preparing to fire his trademark Chi blast.

"Verily, the Blue thunder makes his presence known!" Cried out Tatewaki Kuno as he ran out from a hall, clad in his usual samurai garb, swinging his wooden sword like crazy. "I strike thee down, demon!"

"Oi, Kuno, this is convenient," Ranma said. Even though Kuno could be annoying at times, Ranma knew he could count on him to choose the greater of two evils at this moment. "I guess I didn't notice you because you weren't wearin' your usual stuff,"

"Indeed, Sorcerer, for my cousin, the man whom this party was organized for, insisted that I fit in as much as possible. Now, however, that is not an option!"

"Two humans with great soul fire, will still not be enough to stop me,"

"SANKON TETSUSOU!" Cried out an unfamiliar voice. The demonic creature in question jumped back just in time to dodge a man donning an old fashioned red costume. "Dammit, I missed," The hanyou spat as he unsheathed and transformed the demon fang Tetsusaiga.

"Inuyasha, try not to demolish the place!" Called out a voice from above. Ranma and Kuno turned up to the familiar voice and blinked.

"Kagome?" Both said. They turned to each other.

"You know her?" They blinked again.

"Whatever, you dummy!" Inuyasha said as he brace himself for the demon to attack again. "You two are just humans, so you should butt out," He said arrogantly to Kuno and Ranma.

"Just humans?" Ranma asked angrily. "What does that make you?!"

"Demon, I'll have you know that the righteous blade of Kuno has slain-"

"SHUT UP AND FIGHT IF YOU'RE GONNA HELP!" Inuyasha lunged at the green creature then suddenly stopped. "Hey, what's that sound?"

"What sound?"

"I don't hear anything."

"Indeed, that is a most unsettling sound…" The green creature looked up. The ceiling was at least ten stories up, but the entire thing was a dome of glass. Inuyasha also looked up.

"Whatever it is, it's incoming fast-" Inuyasha said, jumping backwards.

"Huh? What are you two talking ab…hey, what IS that sound?" Ranma and Kuno both looked up as they both registered the sound of something falling towards them at great speed.

"RANMA! PREPARE YOURSELF FOR THE GREAT BEYOND!" Cried out a familiar voice.

"Oh SHIT-" Ranma jumped even further away, while Kuno and Inuyasha, thinking Ranma knew what was happening, followed his example.

The green creature was left standing there as suddenly, the glass broke inwards.

One second after the glass broke, Hibiki Ryouga had already fallen an entire story. In the next second, he was foot-to-face with the green creature. In the next second, there was a crater that looked entirely too large that anything inside would have survived.

Remarkably, one Hibiki Ryouga and one green demonic creature were both okay, although Ryouga was standing on the latter.

"Err…"

"Do your friends normally fall out of the sky?" Inuyasha asked Ranma with a weirded out look on his face.

"Sometimes…I've done it myself before," He muttered.

"Is it fun or something?" Inuyasha asked.

"Only if you're doing it on purpose," Ryouga jumped out of the crater and landed in front of Ranma. "Ranma, what the hell did I just land on?"

"You landed on a weird demon thing," Akane said, walking from behind the shadows.

"You are starting to anger me with all of your petty attacks," The green creature growled, crawling out of its little hole.

"And it's still okay?" Ryouga asked incredulously as he turned around to face it. He tossed his pack aside and held out his umbrella, before looking around. "I think we're all competent enough to get it, though."

"Wow," Sailor Chibi-Moon said as she watched Inuyasha, Kuno, Ryouga, Ranma, and even Akane take on the green demon creature. They didn't seem to be very well coordinated, but even still they were pressing on an attack that she knew even the senshi would be hard pressed to defeat. "I don't think I'm really needed here, then," She said, turning away to leave.

"Enough is ENOUGH!" Cried out an aggravated denizen of Niflheim.

The green creature flexed and slammed the ground with a hammer fist. The resulting was an explosion of energy that knocked back all of his attackers. "You impudent humans will get a taste of true power tonight-"

"Demon! Interrupting this tasteful party and attacking those who would stop your vile acts is despicable and evil! In the name of justice-"

"SAILOR CHIBI-MOON!" Cried out an Irate voice. "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING HERE?!"

"Ugh," The demon muttered, putting a hand to his head. "Not more of this crap…"

"Um," Sailor Chibi-Moon blinked. "I'm stopping this creature from killing those nice people down there,"

"DON'T GIVE ME THAT BULL! I TOLD YOU TO STAY HOME!"

"Um, Sailor Moon," Said a man clad in a tuxedo. "Perhaps it would behoove us to allow her assistance in the destruction of this abomination,"

"ABOMINATION?" Cried out the demon.

"Maybe you're right," Sailor Moon sighed. "Young lady, when we get home-" Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Kamen both jumped to different sides in order to dodge the green creature.

"YOU ALL TALK TOO MUCH! WHAT IS THIS, SOME KIND OF SOAP OPERA? I CAME HERE FOR SOUL FIRE, NOT A DAMN-"

"KAZE NO KIZU!" A large ground hugging projectile was launched from Inuyasha's great fang as he slammed it to the ground and it impacted the demon. The demon put up its arms and a transparent green shield came up in it's defense.

"MOON GORGEOUS MEDITATION!" Chibi-usa used her own wand to perform a weaker version of one of Sailor Moon's attacks. The creature in question merely shrugged it off, however.

"Hmph, all of your attacks are like the kicks of a baby,"

Ryouga growled at that comment. "Why you…"

"Here!" A blue blur streaked over to Ranma. "Hey, I've got something that will help us- Whoah!" Touya tripped over Kuno's barely conscious body and dropped what was in his hands.

"That's…" Inuyasha spotted the tiny green shard flying through the air. He instantly launched towards it but was too late.

The tiny green shard flew at Ranma, at the speed Touya'd been going and lodged right into his neck.

"Ow! It's in my neck- AH!" Ranma suddenly fell to the ground as a dark purple aura over took his body. "AUGH! AHHHHHHHH!" His body moved violently as the now dark purple shard's demonic aura influenced it.

"I picked the wrong day," Grumbled the un-named demonic creature.

"What the hell's happening to him!?" Ryouga asked. "What was that little thing?"

"It was a shard of the Shikon no Tama," Inuyasha supplied. "But he's a human, it shouldn't have done anything to him…Why would he have so much negative energy?"

"Jewel of four souls?" Akane asked. "This doesn't make any sense?"

And suddenly, Ranma's flailing stopped.

"Would anyone tell me what's going on?" Sailor Moon interjected as she joined the group.

"I thought we were all supposed to be fighting," The greenish creature sighed and shook it's head. "But your guess is as good as mine."

Ranma stood up.

"Is he okay?"

"He…He's projecting Youki!"

"A demonic aura? What could that mean?"

Ranma was suddenly standing behind the green creature. Everyone turned to look at him, in confusion at his sudden, drastic increase in speed. His Youki flared and he turned his head. His eyes were a bright red with dark blue pupils and he had fangs sticking out of his mouth. He raised a clawed hand and the green creature finally turned to attack him.

"This is much better," The creature said. "Now we can finish this."

"No way…His eyes are red," Inuyasha mumbled. "It's just as I thought,"

"Satsugeki…" Ranma whispered.

"What's he doing?"

"Oh no…" Ryouga took a step back. "It's about to get bloody…"

"…Bukou Ken."