The Cursed Fans
RNRPG: The Cursed Fans
Started by: Akane Tendou
One Week after the Christmas Party
It had been a pretty calm week in Nerima. Not much Chaos had occurred and everything seemed relatively quiet. Of course it would not last long.
For some odd reason every person who had received one of Akane's odd fans felt a compunction to be at the Kunou Manor.
Everyone arrived one at a time and Kodachi dutifully let them in. Everyone was walking in an almost hypnotic trance.
As soon as the trance wore off, everyone realized that they were in the Kunou manor, and were staring at their fans.
Akane opened her fan experimentally.
An eerie dark glow radiated from the fan that intensified
with
each flutter. "What?" Akane asked while she saw everyone stepping away
form
her. The fan started to feel warm to the touch and she brought it down
to
inspect it closer. The large eyes of the frog gave off a red light and
stared back at the young Tendou with a chilling hatred. "What's going
on?"
People seemed at ask Akane from all directions, but she had no answer.
Her
brown eyes could only watch in horror as her gift shot out of her hands
and
grew larger while it hovered in midair. A beam shot out from it's
center,
blinding everyone in the room. When the light dissipated, Akane gasped
when
she caught sight of what it left behind.
"RIBBIT!" The small toad croaked at her as it sat beside a blank fan. It
stuck out it's tongue at it's observers and promptly hopped over to land
right on top of Kodachi's coffee table.
Happi-Chan had
never
seen fans do this, paintings yes, Fans no. "Well, an educated guess here, but I would say that
these fans
were magical, Probably used to store whatever is painted upon them. "
That's
when Happi thought about her fan.. the one with the geisha girl.
She flipped the fan open. "C'mon Baby! Come on out!"
Ryuu sweatdropped as he stared at his fan. He didn't own many of them,
in
fact none, but he was sure that the picture printed on them NEVER bulged out
and shifted like this one was. Another thing he was sure about was that
they NEVER started to claw their way out of the fan...
Kodachi tore her attention away from Ranma long enough to notice that
the
fans were doing strange things. "What the.." She trailed off when she
realized that the black rose was missing from her fan.
"What is going on here?"
Fujiko looked at the chaos and then looked at her fan. "Ok. I'll bite.
Come
on out." Fujiko flipped open her fan. Nothing happened. She tapped her
foot, waiting. Nothing still happened. She laughed. "Nothing's happened
with this fan. I think it's a--ACK!!"
Fujiko saw herself in the fan. She quickly pulled out one of her
compacts.
Fujiko now looked exactly like the girl in the fan. Quickly she closed
the
fan. The blue-haired girl had returned. Fujiko looked at the compact
mirror and saw her own reflection once again. She breathed a sigh of
relief. "I think I'm keeping MY fan closed, Akane, no offense."
Happi-Chan wasn't paying much attention considering she was still
focused on
her fan. "C'mon out already!" She was starting to get irritate at the
fan.
"hey, mine doesn't work!"
No sooner than she said that, then she became the Geisha girl from the
fan.
"I should have seen that coming!" Happi growled bitterly.
"None taken!" Akane yelled back to Fujiko as the rose from her fan
tightly
curled itself around her body. "This...isn't...supposed to HAPPEN!" The
thorns upon it grew larger and sharper, constricting her movements and
cutting
deeply into her skin. Suddenly, Kodachi noticed the black rose lying
beside
her feet...
Silk wasn't sure exactly what was causing the fans to go haywire, but
since
hers had yet to do anything weird, she decided to help Akane escape from
the
malicious rose. The thing fairly glowed with unhealthy energy, like a
festering sore. But it smelled of Magic, cursed magic. So Silk combined
a
combined a Healing energy with a dispelling trick and waited to see what
would happen. The rose loosened it's grip on Akane momentarily, and Silk
increased the pressure... but that was short-lived, as she heard a hiss
and
soon had her own troubles: In the form of a two meter long coral snake
the
wrapped itself around her arm and torso. Silk wasn't worried about it
constricting, it was a poisonous killer, but she knew that at least one
person in the house was deathly afraid of snakes...
Ryuu got ready to fight the two forms as they clawed their way out of
the
fan and the face faulted as he realized that they were ignoring him.
They
seemed to be intent on the epic battle they were doing before they were
interrupted. Ignoring the fighting duo he went to help Akane and started
to
rip the thorns off her body.
Kodachi was more fascinated than frightened of the odd Black Rose
attacking
her. She just did what came naturally to her, she let the other Kodachi
take
over to fight.
No one saw where it came from, but Kodachi pulled out her patented
'Razor
Hoop' and slashed at the monster rose. "Hohohohohohoho A Black Rose has
come
to take THE Black Rose? I think not!"
Silk noticed the fighting horse and platypus, though, since the horse
nearly
trampled her. this was going to get messy, she thought. She tried to
remember what the other fans had on them. "Ukyou!" she called "Open your
fan
and hold it out in this direction."
Silk herded the battling animals
towards the painted mountain scene and forced them into the fan's
picture.
Unfortunately, she was sucked in as well. The picture on Ukyou's fan now
included a horse, platypus, snake and a startled Silk. Silk hoped Ukyou
didn't close the fan as she landed in the picturesque world within it.
"Huh?" Ukyou managed to say when she saw what her fan now contained.
"S-s-silk? B-b-but you're in the..."
Spatula girl herself felt her head starting to ache a little. This was
just
a bit too much, even for Nerima.
A short yell distracted Ukyou and suddenly Ryouga shoved her to the
side,
moments later he pulled up his umbrella *where did he get that from?* to
block a nasty sword thrust from someone who looked almost identical to
himself. The empty fan he held in his other hand explained where this
sword
wielding maniac had come from.
"Hey! Whatcha-?" Ukyou started, stopping when she saw the predicament
Ryouga
had pushed her out of. "Thank you Ryochan! " she said as she drew her
spatula and and rushed to help him.
Alex had been frozen in mortal terror for a few moments at the sight of
the
snake, but calmed down when the whole madness went into Ukyou's fan.
Then he
noticed Silk in the fan, and his anxiety level began to rise again.
"Silk,
let me try to get you out of there..." He said as he leapt from where he
had
been sitting at the piano, and into the fan. But he accidentally bumped
the
box the fans were in, causing the last one to fall out and open. The
design
was a angry-looking, large, black western-style dragon, which was
breathing
out flame and lightning. The dragon began to glow, and started to pull
itself out of the fan.
Happi/Geisha started at the emerging Dragon. "Now this can be a
problem!"
She readied a Happo fire burst.
Akane could barely see Ryuu tearing away at the vines and thorns that
covered her body. Desperately she tried to kick the blank fan closed
with
her feet, but it was no use. The Rose simply cut deeper into her skin
with
every move. Ranma looked around the room in search of his fiancée. "I
told
her not to bring those stupid fans, " he thought to himself as he rushed
pass Kodachi's black rose and an emerging dragon. Reaching his
destination,
the kempoist struggled with his companion to free her from the deadly
plant's grasp.
Ryuu got mad at the vines as he seemed to be having NO luck despite the
added help of his nemesis. "Wait a sec..." he muttered as he remembered
something. He turned away from Akane and took the fan Keisuke had in his
hands. Quickly he opened it and pulled out the gleaming blade it held.
Holding the perfectly balanced blade he started to chop and cut the
thorns
from Akane's body, ignoring the chaos around his except for the
occasional
glance.
Kodachi watched her darling Ranma Sama run to her rescue, then run right
past her and help that wicked Akane Tendou instead. Anger spurred her on
as
she sliced the last of the Black Rose away from her shapely body. She
laughed as she freed herself, but decided not to help Akane get free at
all.
The dragon, now free of the fan and grown to about 15 feet and still
growing,
swatted Happosai with its tail, knocking him out of a window. Then it
roared
as it charged Ryuu and Ranma, who were attacking the rose that had Akane
pinned.
Inside Ukyou's fan, Alex was hovering several feet in the air, away from
Silk and her snake. He concentrated, and the air between Silk and the
snake
solidified, causing the snake to fall to the ground. Alex then hovered a
bit
closer to Silk and extended a hand. "Need a lift?"
As Happi-Chan was thrown through the window she pitched her
Happo-Fire-Burst
like a softball. Landing it right through the Dragon's roaring mouth and
down his gullet. "He's gonna have indigestion". Happi shouted as she
landed
on the ground.
Piece by piece, masses of vines fell to the floor as Ryuu hacked away at
the
cursed rose. His blade came close to Akane's skin several times but
missed
due to her quick reflexes and only managed to rip her silver dress in a
few
provocative places. "Hey!" The infuriated young Tendou called out to
him.
"That's my dr--" Her cries were quickly muffled by two massive leaves.
"Seems like even the rose wants you to shut up!" Ranma joked as he grew
more
and more frustrated by the persistent plant. The fact that his rival
tackled
the vines with more ease and precision than him, only rubbed it in
further.
"Nice," the pig-tailed boy commented while the sting from a thorn cut
lingered on his right hand. Ryuu merely looked at him questionably and
continued slicing away. This was getting Ranma nowhere. You can't fight
a
vine in fist to fist combat. Suddenly, he remembered what his fiancée
was
motioning towards earlier. Grabbing the metal fan firmly in his hands,
Ranma's deep blue eyes lighted up when the rose fell into more pieces on
the
floor with every slash. Ryuu pulled Akane out of the plant's grasp while
his
competitor was busy cutting the remaining leaves into dust.
The brown eyed girl bowed respectfully to both of them, thanking each
one
for her rescue. They widened in horror once again when she saw the tiny
particles slowly regenerating behind their backs. "U..U...Uh guys,"
"What?" Ranma questioned.
"Oh forget it. Just give me the fan!" Akane yelled as she yanked the
weapon
out of his hands and threw it towards the center of the large rose bud.
Hitting its mark precisely, the flower faded out of existence and slowly
reappeared back on the fan. "Maybe it'll work on the others," she
thought to
herself as the threw the fan across the room to get the other black
rose.
She winced when she heard Kodachi's shrill voice ring through her ears.
Apparently the fan had missed its mark, slicing the hostess' ribbon in
half
and leaving in it shreds.
As Ryuu helped out Akane he felt something big was coming at him.
Something
big and hungry. Turning around to see what it was, Ryuu barely managed
to
dodge the fifteen foot dragon charging at him.
"Oh cra...." he said as he parried a vicious claw strike aimed at his
head.
"Dokuja Tanketsu Sho!" he shouted as the dragon over extended itself,
leaving it open for a strike. As he shouted he hit the dragon perfectly
in
its chest, about where its heart would be....and felt his fingers bend
in
ways nature never intended because of the extremely tough scales
protecting
it.
Taking advantage of Ryuu's shock, the dragon whirled around quickly and
smacked Ryuu hard in the chest sending him flying and into a wall.
Meanwhile, inside Ukyou's fan, Silk dislodged the snake from her arm by
grabbing it by the back of the neck and disentangling it. Then she
launched
herself at Alex, landing a solid shoulder blow in the center of his
chest
that tossed them both back out of the fan-world and back into the
mansion.
Silk used Alex as a launch pad to flip onto the back of the dragon that
Ryuu was fighting.
The dragon burped at the Happo-Fire burst went off, and said, "Spicy."
as
Silk landed on its back. It responded by wrapping its tail around her,
and
flinging her into Ryuu, and letting lose a blast of flame and lightning
from
its mouth to incinerate the pair. But the flame blast was blocked by
Alex,
who stepped in front of the pair and absorbed the attack with a yell of
'Semku Mamoru Kyyoko'. "Somebody please get this guy some breath mints,
quick!" Alex then rushed the dragon, hitting it with a ki-powered flying
kick, which made the dragon take a couple of steps back. "Somebody want
to
get that fan ready?"
Ryouga was just a few steps away from where Ryuu and Ranma were
standing.
Grinning he ducked a sword swing from the almost-identical-twin of
himself
and delivered a fierce kick that sent the twin flying across the room.
turning he yelled to the dragon.
"HEY! TARGET!"
The dragon turned to look at him out of one eye. "What?"
"TAHE THIS! Shi Shi Houkoudan revised! Multi bullet!" With that out of
the
way he proceeded to fire several miniature ki blasts into the dragons eye
unfortunately he completely failed to notice the sword wielding manic he
had
kick earlier coming up behind him.
As luck would have it, Ukyou did, however. With a mighty swing of her
spatula, she connected it with the sword-maniac's head, making a loud
CLANG
upon impact.
"Ryouga! Behind you!"
Ryuu recovered quickly and attacked the blinded dragon. Seeing as how
the
scales pretty much nullified regular attack, he decided he would have to
get
around that little handicap. "KIJIN RAISHU DAN!" he shouted pulling his
arms away so fast it created a vacuum blade slicing toward the dragon's
chest. Slicing deeply into the scales, the blade did little to harm the
dragon, but it DID cut away a large chunk of them away, revealing a
unarmored section in the chest area.
Suddenly a blast come from above and behind, hitting the dragon squarely
in
the head. The blast hit the dragon, but not enough to knock it
unconscious.
It was meant as an attention getter. When the dragon and anyone who
chose to see what hurt the dragon, looked up, they saw a long blue
haired
woman floating above them with her eyes glowing solid blue, wearing a
purple
druid's robe.
She just stared at the dragon and said "ye shall return to the fan from
whence thou came or ye shall die in this mortal realm." The lady in
question also carried a fan that was closed. The design on the fan was
Fujiko Tamamiru, still in her green velvet dress.
To say Ryouga was mad would be an understatement, the twin from the fan
had
already begun attacking Ukyou just because she had got in the way.
Slowly he
stepped up to the twin and grabbed him from behind, scowling Ryouga
lifted
the twin up above his head.
"SHI SHI HOUKOUDAN!!" The full blast of the Shi Shi Houkoudan launched
the
twin through the roof as well as hurting him a lot.
Ukyou stopped fighting the evil twin when Ryouga lifted him away, and
couldn't help but follow his journey through the roof and up into the
sky
with her eyes, blind to all the madness around her.
"Wow..."
Rinse and Won Ton were busy eating to notice all the commotion, suddenly
as Rinse reached for one of Kodachi's confectures, another hand grabbed
the cookie. At first he suspected Happosai because of his legendary
hunger but realized, to his surprise, that there was another Rinse
standing before him. The ornate design of the small blue kitten and the
large panda had appeared in the form of Rinse's and Won Ton's twins.
Rather than fight, the pair of twins looked at each other, shrugged then
returned to eating most of the food at the beautiful buffet table.
"What manner of sorcery is this?" Tatewaki Kuno exclaimed as he stood up
and gripped his bokken. "Surely this foul magic is the product of the
vile Saotome! Come forth, vile sorcerer!"
Glad for the small break from the dragon's attention, Ryuu shoved two of
his finger's deep into the unprotected area above the heart while
shouting "Dokuja Tanketsu Sho!". When worked upon on humans the move
can either knock them out of the fight instantly or kill them. Dragon's
it seemed only got hurt badly. Ryuu started sweating when the dragon
didn't fall down. "Dokuja Tanketsu Sho! Dokuja Tanketsu Sho! Dokuja
Tanketsu Sho! Dokuja Tanketsu Sho!" He shouted wildly as he repeatedly
jab his finger's into the dragon heart.
*****
Trying to think quickly on her feet, Akane ran over to Ranma who
was on the other side of the room doing his best to keep Kodachi calm.
"Don't worry 'bout ya ribbon! You can get a new one," he
reassuringly
told her. His fiancée's little throwing accident earlier had destroyed
Kodachi's weapon and left the long silk ribbon in shreds on the
floor. Sensing that her presence in the conversation would only agitate
things further, Akane merely grabbed her metal fan and got up on a chair
positioning herself to strike the overgrown lizard that Ryouga was
battling. The Lost Boy's attack proved to be ineffective and only made
the dragon more annoyed with each second.
As she darted forward, the black and green creature noticed her
loud
footsteps that were absent-mindedly made while running on the marble
floor. Pretending not to notice her, it's eyes flashed with a cold
metallic glare of delight when it heard Akane approaching ever so closer.
It turned around sharply and caught the short haired girl off guard, but
the initial shock was soon remedied by a cutting slice of her fan across
its face. Her fiancé's ears picked up the sound of the dragon's horrible
scream instantly rushed over to help her.
His dark blue eyes flashed with arrogant sparkle while he playfully
taunted the beast. "You have worse breath than Akane! I already have to
smell hers," leaping upwards the pigtailed boy landed squarely on its
head, "do I hafta smell yours too?!"
It was one thing to have an expensive dress torn by thorns, swords
and cursed creatures. It was another thing to have your presents at a
Christmas party turn on you and your friends. But when the cocky
kempoist insulted the already irate Tendou, something just...snapped.
Akane held the fan up high above her head while a fiery sensation
passed through her body. It was anger, total unrestraint anger that she
could feel coursing to the tips of her fingers yearning for a moment of
release. Unable to hold it any longer, she let the metallic weapon
radiate with her ki and hurled it at Ranma while yelling "RAGE WAVE!" A
beam of blue energy followed the fan leaving a powerful trail that
almost hit Ranma and Ryouga as they barely jumped out of the way. It
winded its way around its scaly form, creating a barrier, the beast
could not escape from her attack as each coiling motion caused the fan
to cut deeper into it's skin. The attack was draining Akane mentally and
physically while she stood in unfocused thought. Naturally allowing her
temper to cool down, she looked at the stunned individuals who were
staring at her unique display.
"Didn't know you could do that, kawaikune," Ranma joked. Actually he was
quite proud of her. She'd managed to weaken the dragon considerably.
"Guess you don't need me then, macho chick!"
Her mouth moved to say a cutting remark but she was too tired to say
anything at all. Making a few steps forward, Akane tried to find a place
to rest but collapsed on the floor before even reaching a chair. Seeing
this as an ample opportunity to regenerate, the dragon suddenly flew
upward and grabbed its attacker with its long tail. He held her limp
body and wanted to strangle her then and there but decided against it.
Watching her suffer would be more to his taste; after all, what better
way to thank the person who freed you than by ending her pitiful life?
"Creatures of the Cursed Mark, join me in our realm." Seeing Ukyou's fan
lying beside her, he darted towards it and escaped into the scene while
the other evil forms tore down Christmas decorations and demolished the
massive tree in effort to keep up with their master.
Alex finished channeling the absorbed energy from the dragon's attack,
and shook himself to clear his head. "Ok, that tears it, you overgrown
gecko! You're mine!" Alex dove into the fan after the dragon, announcing
his presence with a punch to the top of the head, which left the dragon
seeing stars.
Kodachi finally recovered from the catatonic state she was in. The rose
attacking her and Ranma ignoring her was bad enough. NOW they had
destroyed her ribbon AND her wonderful living room. Plus she was going to have
to clean up this mess later, and she did not possess Kasumi's level of
patience.
Some people think with their muscles instead of their brains, we won't
go into what Kodachi usually thinks with, but for the moment it was her
brain.
She ran across the room closing every fan. As each fan closed the Image
or Creature that came forth disappeared. Until at last all the Fan
monsters were gone and everyone was back to normal.
"THAT MADE FOR A MERRY FREAKING CHRISTMAS!" Kodachi was completely
pissed about the damage to her lovely home.
Well, Kodachi missed one creature, although if Kodachi called the
blue-haired sorceress a creature...well, let's just say it wouldn't be
pleasant. The sorceress looked at Kodachi. "Well played, mi'lady.
Alas the trick will not return me to my fan. Unlike the others, I had
the foresight to make a deal. Now I offer all of you one. In exchange
for some refreshment and some edibles from your "Yuletide festivities",
I will be happy to undo the damage and to reveal how to prevent this
from happening in the future. What say ye?" The blue-haired lady asked.
********
"The markings on the fan will not permit either one to leave unless the dragon is defeated. Few have actually encountered the creatures and lived to tell about it. I can help ye..." She hovered over to Silk who was leaning against the wall. "YE was the reason she made the deal with me, therefore it is your council I shall seek. What say ye? Are these mortals worth saving?" she asked, holding the closed fan with Fujiko inside.
Kodachi was still trying to recover from the damage to her house and the strange fans. What the blue haired woman said really had her worried. She knew that Alex was in danger.
"You can have all the refreshments you want, Lady. Tell me how we can
help Alex."
The group heard the dragon roar in pain from in the fan, where Alex had kicked it in the balls, causing it to drop Akane. He grabbed her and took off at high speed, and dropped her off inside an empty cave. "Stay here, it's safer and I don't want to have to worry about you being in the line of fire." Alex then raced back out, to face off with a now VERY pissed off dragon.
Perfume sweatdropped when she heard the dragon roar in pain. "I'm with
Kodachi on this one, how do we save Akane-Chan and Alex-Chan?"
Happi-Chan ran back into the house finally recovering from being thrown out of the building. She didn't expect the room to be so quiet.
"What Happened?"
Silk pushed herself away from the wall and looked at the blue haired
woman, "Alex and Akane are trapped in the fan with the Dragon, and you
cut some sort of deal with Fujiko? And Fujiko named me for some reason."
She stopped ruminating and spoke forcefully, "Yes, both of them are
worth saving. What do you ask of me for that service? I assume that's
what you're offering."
Perfume had been stunned by the strange turn of events at the party. She was finally starting to come out of it all. "Alex-Chan" was all she could whisper. He had saved her life once before, and now it was her turn to try to repay him.
She stepped up beside Silk, a grim look of determination etched into her face. She had taken her Naginata from hammerspace and was ready for anything.
"I'm with you Silk-Chan."
The sorceress looked right at Silk and spoke. "All I required was
some...clarification on the deal with the one you call Fujiko. You have given me that. Nothing further is required." The sorceress walked over to the fan and grinned a predatory smile. Secretly, she would have gladly done this without the deal, she owed the dragon for a previous defeat.
At the fan, the dragon looked at Alex with rage, but somehow caught a
glance at the lady in the fan in the corner of his eye. He turned
towards her and attempted to escape once more. Alas, she would have
none of it. Quickly, she painted six brushstrokes in a violent manner, then pulled out some dust and blew it on the picture of the dragon. The dragon stopped dead in his tracks and sank to the ground like a stone (or Akane, take your pick ^_^). The blue-haired fangirl turned back to the group. "It is quite safe now. My rune of paralysis should keep the dragon under sedation for at least six of your hours. Plenty of time to get rid of him, once and for all. You may open the fan when you wish."
Akane stumbled out of the cave still weary from her last ki attack on
the dragon. It was a new technique that focussed her anger into a
concentrated beam of blazing light. Unfortunately it would take time to
perfect it and control the after-effects of exhaustion.
"Wha-- Where...am I?" Stretched out in the valley below laid the
reptilian beast apparently subdued. "Did Alex do that?" She didn't
realize that his power was so strong.
"NO!" Answered a voice from above, "Thou companion did not defeat the
dragon. I did, but only for a period of time. Ye are free to leave the
fan but because ye did not slay the dragon, the consequences shall
forever be on ye head." A tense feeling of anger radiated from the voice as it spoke. Apparently it had recognized Akane as the source for all the turmoil that occurred.
"Consequences?! Why do I have to be punished? I didn't do anything!"
"YE BROUGHT THE FANS AND BROKE THE SEAL!" Gold cuffs appeared on Akane's wrists and ankles. "And if YE DO NOT FIGHT THE BEAST...YE SHALL BE A SACRIFICE!" Golden chains bound the weakened girl to rocks behind her while a black metal sword materialized in front of her eyes. "YE ALONE SHALL FIGHT THE DEMON and forever bear the mark of DARK LIGHT upon your head, or die. MAKE YOUR DECISION." The chains around her body disappeared while the only light on the mountain came from the weapon that floated in midair. Grasping its cold handle, a surge of black energy flowed through her fingertips rejuvenating the young Tendou. She took a firm battle stance, facing the beast as it's eyes slowly opened.
"Ye who possesses the Griffin spirit," the sorceress addressed Alex. "Ye work here is finished. Return to your realm mortal." A blinding white light surrounded him and carried him back to the Kuno manor through a portal. The metal fan that contained Akane opened wide and released Alex who landed on top of Ranma and Ryouga.
"Hey! Watch it," the pig-tailed boy yelped. "Where's Akane?! Did you
bring her out with you?" Alex merely shook his head "no." With that
said, Ranma jumped into the portal created by the fan before it closed
up completely again.
Kodachi ran to Alex, Thankful that he was alright. Then she saw Ranma
jump into the portal. A true ethical quandary, she was willing to let
Akane stay where she was, but wasn't willing to sacrifice Ranma-Sama for it.
It didn't take her long to make her decision. "wait for me Ranma-Sama!
Your not doing this on your own!" She two ran into the portal after him.
Ryouga glanced at the fan, then at Ukyou, then at the fan again.
"Ranma... you're gonna owe me bigtime for this!" he yelled as he ran
towards the portal.
The blue haired sorceress looked at this with surprise. She never
uttered those words. Her concern wasn't justice against the openers of the fans, but maintaining the deal she had made. The deal specifically said ALL of Fujiko's friends had to be safe before she got her part of the bargain. It had to be somebody else. Instantly she knew whom.
She turned to the remaining group in the room. "You opened the fan with the 'geisha girl' didn't you? That's most unfortunate, you were safer with the dragon. She's very dangerous and behind this round of
frustrations." Then to the room aloud. "You have NO right to do that.
They made a bargain with me. It's MY concern. Reveal thyself, harridan or I shall be forced to summon the Seelie Court."
Alex winced at the Seelie court reference. He had NO intentions to
letting any faries show up if he could help it. --Wait a sec, that was
Oberon of the Unseelie court I ran across.-- He leapt back into the
portal, deciding to let someone else deal with that mess. "Hey, I want a piece of that walking luggage set!"---
Meanwhile outside any fans whatsoever, Ukyou looked at the fan with
despair in her eyes. First Ranchan, then... Deja vu. Damn those Tendo
girls.
Ryouga stumbled blindly out of a closet. Somehow the Hibiki sense of
direction had made him get lost on the way to the portal! How he managed to get lost whilst moving less than fifteen meters was a mystery to him. At that point he heard something, looking up he saw that it was the sword-wielding manic he had launched earlier, plummeting, sword-first towards... Ryouga's eyes widened. "UKYOU! MOVE!" Seeing that she hadn't noticed Ryouga dashed forwards
grabbing Ukyou and running through the portal. Whilst simultaneously
firing a Shi Shi Houkoudan at the sword-armed maniac.
Ukyou sensed multiple things. First off, happiness that Ryouga wasn't
lost in the fan. Secondly, confusion about where she was now.
Thirdly, Ryouga had rescued her from danger, it seemed. That was a
_good_ thing.
Silk took this golden opportunity to retreat to the other room and
gather her thoughts. After due consideration, she decided that her
wisest course of action would be... to find a first aid kit and then
just wait. Part of a healer's trade is patience, and the sure knowledge that if you wait long enough, patients will come to you.
Inside the pocket fan dimension, Kodachi glanced about warily. She had
followed Ranma-Sama in here willingly enough, but wasn't so sure about
it now. She was willing to let Akane stay in here forever, but couldn't take that kind of risk with Ranma-Sama.
"Ranma-Sama!" She shouted a bit of fear creeping into her voice. "Were
are you?"
Near the foot of the mountain, Ranma followed a weird beam that overcast the mountain in a cold dark light. After several minutes of walking, he found the source to be an ornate sword resting firmly in Akane's hands while she faced the large beast in front of her. A chilling wind began to blow, unraveling her bluish strands from the silver ribbon that held them in place; but she seemed to take no notice. Lost in her own thoughts, the young Tendou broke her fighting stance and charged towards the dragon.
Her fiancée decided to make it harder on the creature by making this a
double attack from both sides,front and back. Thinking calmly in order
to pull this off, Ranma focussed on the dragon's apparent hatred for
everyone and began to concentrate his ki on his opponent. "HIIIIIIIIRYU SHOOOTEN---" But his Rising Dragon Hurricane was interrupted by a loud voice in the distance.
"Ranma-Sama," it repeated again. Recognizing it to be Kodachi, Ranma
barely had time to look in her direction before he heard Akane scream in pain. Bloody and torn from the monster's sharp claws, its attack had backed her into a corner while she struggled to hold on to her mystical weapon. The intricate design embedded upon it radiated from its dark metal and unbeknownst to the ill-fated child, instead of helping her in battle it only aided in draining her energy further.
Looking on from above, the mock sorceress smiled in content while her
image faded from the air. Her plan had worked and Akane, the bringer of the fans, the source of the curse, would now die thus eliminating any chances of her closing the box. Now the demonic Geisha girl spirit had only one other obstacle in her way, the TRUE sorceress herself. Quietly she teleported back to the real realm to have a little "talk" with her rival.
Just as the dragon reared its head back for the final blast, it got
slammed into the walls of the mountain by a streaking red flaming
ki-blast. As the dragon looked to see what had hit it, Akane saw a
fist-print on the dragon's face, and it was now missing a tooth. The
blast faded in power, revealing Alex floating in mid-air cracking his
knuckles. "You wreck someone's house. You try to fry my friends, and you RUIN MY SUIT!!! Oh no, lizard boy. You're mine." Alex mentally disarmed the safeties on his ki, and let his full power be revealed, shocking everyone who could detect such things with just what he'd been hiding. The dragon sweatdropped, realizing that it was now facing a foe that was just as strong as it was, and a pissed-off one at that. Alex started his attack with a Othori, aimed for the dragon's face.
********
Happi-Chan had a quick idea. She had become the Geisha girl when she
opened the fan. She also retain control of the body in that form. Maybe that was the key to defeating her.
Happi opened the fan and attempted to change into the Geisha girl.
******
Back in the fan, the dragon took Alex's blast and shrugged it off,
before smacking Alex with it's tail into the side of the mountain. IT
quickly followed up with a blast of flame, which Alex barely rolled away from. "Well, fire doesn't seem to do too much...let's try something else..." Alex hefted a large chunk of stone, and smashed the dragon in his still-open mouth, blocking it up. While the dragon tried to dislodge the stone, Alex slashed at the area Ryuu had exposed earlier with a set of ki-claws. "Say Uncle!"
Kodachi had finally caught up with the rest of the group. There was no
way that this overgrown suitcase was going to harm her Ranma-Sama or
Alex.
Dachi had coated her famous Razor Hoop with a special type of reptilian poison. She used it to capture Morigrain some time ago. She had enough on the hoop to put out a Brontosaurus.
"Good Night Dragon." She laughed as she threw the razor hoop with all of her might right into the dragon's exposed area.
*******
The true sorceress tapped her foot and pulled out a rune out of a pouch on the side of her cloak. "I'm waiting...If I don't see you in five seconds, I activate the rune and bring this matter to Obereon's
attention. The last time I checked, he still lacked a sense of
humor...1..."
Happi transformed into the Geisha girl. Of course he still had total
control but the geisha girl was out of action for a moment.
"Sorceress I think I have your evil geisha captured. "
********
Ryouga (and Ukyou) appeared just in time to see the dragon swat away the hoop with one large claw. Carefully placing Ukyou back on her feet
Ryouga ran to join in the fight. Now that both he AND Ranma were there
this dragon was toast.
Perfume had taken a different route into the portal and was now
approaching the besieged dragon from behind. It was so busy fighting the others, that it never noticed the amazon standing behind him.
Perfume leaped into the air, landing firmly on the dragon's back.
Spinning her Naginata upwards and then slamming it into the reptile's
back. The ancient, Magical blade of her weapon sinking deep into the
dragon.
The monster roared in pain and frustration. It began thrashing t try and dislodge its tormentor.
Sweat and blood intermingled to form a terrible salty taste in Akane's
mouth. Wiping the faint trail from her lips, the battered Tendou
struggled to stand using the boulder behind her for support.
Overwhelming pain followed her every move and made each wound sting as
if it was on fire. Despite the cuts and bruises across her body, Akane's mind would not let her rest until the beast's last breath was made. "I got everyone into this..." Her thoughts were molded by guilt and a harrowing sense of dread that would not release its grasp. "I brought everyone into this battle. Now it's time for me to end it."
Ranma and Ryouga vehemently fought the dragon with rapid fists and a
barrage of blows, yet neither one seemed to make any progress. Perfume's Naginata did not hinder its speed but only succeeded in annoying it further. Still holding her sword in hand, Akane managed to get to her fiancée and whispered into his ears. Nodding in agreement, the pig-tailed boy waited for others to wear down the monster even more, letting Akane gather her strength for their final attack.
Ryouga cracked his knuckles, he could see that Akane had some sort of plan in store and needed time. He glanced at where Ukyou was still standing and sighed to himself. "Who ever thought I'd go out like this..." he muttered.
Looking up he screamed at the dragon. "HEY! PEANUTBRAIN! TRY TAKING A BITE OUT OF ME!" And with that Ryouga jumped forwards, straight towards the dragons open mouth. "SHI SHI..." he didn't complete his sentence as the dragons mouth snapped closed around him, cutting off his voice.
Now that stirred Ukyou into action. "Hey!" she yelled, the anger in her voice rising, "You ate Ryouga, you oversized chunk of raw material for purses!" Drawing her spatula, she began to close in on the big lizard.
It was at that point that a screaming Ryouga was launched THROUGH the
dragons teeth propelled by a large blast of - not depression but - fear based energy. He was also screaming in terror.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!"
(To understand why Ryouga was screaming you must remember that his cursed form is eaten all over the world, to him being eaten is his worst nightmare) Ryouga impacted against something hard, realizing it to be the floor he quickly began scrabbling away from the dragon, shaking in terror as he did so. To tell the truth Ryouga had just planned to jump up, get the dragons attention and shove a Shi Shi Houkoudan down it's throat, not get almost eaten! He let off a second Fear-based blast before he became to scared to look at the dragon.
"Ryouga!" Ukyou yelled in terror as she rushed to his side. In a worried voice, she added: "Are you okay?"
Ryouga could not even look at Ukyou since his gaze was locked towards the dragon in fear. Almost incoherently he mumbled. "... Don't let it eat me..." the words were filled with fear and terror. With that Ryouga began to black out, the fear already overloading his mind.
"Ryouga!" Ukyou said worriedly as she grabbed a hold of him to prevent him
from falling to the floor.
Kodachi was fast losing what little patience she had left. She just couldn't
believe this giant reptile was that tough. She was also hoping that Ryouga
was alright. He is a brave one.
That's when she noticed Perfume on top of the dragon. A plan leapt into her
mind. She tossed the bottle of reptilian poison to the pink haired amazon.
"PERFUME." She shouted over the roar of the dragon. "POUR THAT INTO THE WOUND YOU HAVE MADE! IT SHOULD KNOCK THIS LIZARD RIGHT OUT!"
The dragon heard Kodachi's yell, and decided to take Kodachi, and the other that were near her out then and there with a massive blast of plasma from its mouth, too large to dodge. But the attack encountered an barrier, which caused the attack to ripple around the group without damaging them. As the
smoke cleared, Alex could be seen standing in front of the others, glowing
brightly and sweating. "Hurry up, will ya?!?! I can't handle much more of
this, ya know!"
Perfume caught the bottle that Kodachi tossed to her. She smiled grimly at
the dragon's back. "Time to Die!" She practically snarled as she yanked her
Naginata out of the creature's back. She dumped the entire contents of the
bottle into the wound and moved to stick the lizard again.
The dragon, feeling the Naginata leave it's body rolled to one side to try
and dislodge Perfume. She managed to leap from his back at it rolled, barely
avoiding being crushed under it's bulk. She jumped to her feet stirring up
dust in all directions. She found herself staring face to snout with the dragon.
*******
The blue-haired sorceress turned to Happosai. "Good, and please call me Reihime. First things first." Reihime took Happi-Chan's fan and drew another rune, this one much quicker. She then touched the wet ink so the pattern was copied on her hand.
Once that was completing she started reciting this arcane ritual. Happosai couldn't tell what it was for. The geisha demon thought it had something to do with light and maybe purification. Anyway, it didn't matter. In the middle of it, Reihime hit Happosai as fast and as hard as she could, knocking the demon back in the fan. Reihime knew it was only a quick fix.
"Close it quickly." She said as she handed the fan to Happosai. "Then go to the temple and wash it in holy water. That should be enough until we retrieve the box opener."
Happi Chan did as she was told and quickly closed the fan. Without another word she ran straight to the nearest Temple to find a priest and some holy water.
********
The short haired Tendou flinched in pain while pressing down on one of her many open wounds along her side hoping it would stop the bleeding.
Periodically her vision became fuzzy, clouded making it difficult to stay concentrated on the battle at hand. She fought to stay conscious and alert. The guilt of bringing this curse upon everyone in the first place would not let Akane give up so easily. "Ranma...," she called out weakly while using his back for support. Holding her in his grasp, his blue eyes silently stared at her for a moment realizing that it was time to put their plan into action.
Slowly, they made their way over to Ryouga and Ukyou. Bending down on both knees, Akane held up the Lost Boy's head rubbing her hand over his sweat soaked bandana. "I'm so sorry, " she whispered to her friend before helping Ranma and Ukyou move him over to a safe area nearby. Placing themselves in position, both kempoists waited patiently for an opening to enter the fight. Suddenly, the dragon gave out a deafening roar as it flung Alex into a boulder with a swipe of its claw.
"Ready?," her fiancée asked powering up for their attack. Akane merely
nodded, grasping her black sword in hand which would determine the outcome of the fight. Moments earlier, Akane determined that the mock sorceress had given her a weapon that only drained the energy of its user, thus the reason why she was so tired and weary from battle. But now she'd figured out that if it drained her energy, then maybe it would drain the dragon's as well. She would use the Geisha spirit's sword against its own ally.
Focussing on the beast's anger, Ranma released his ki in a powerful tornado of ki. "HIRYU SHOTEN HA......REVISED!" Upon hearing his last word, Akane leaped forward on the horizontal blast, using its momentum to hurl her towards the dragon's chest. For a second, she heard nothing... then an incredible scream of pain as her sword lodged itself into the beast's heart. Still hanging on to its handle. the dragon shook Akane off, throwing her into the air while desperately trying to grasp the small piece of metal that had weakened it so. The pig tailed boy quickly caught his fiancée who had already passed out from the blow. Now was the time to finish cursed lizard and place it back into the fan.
Ryouga grimaced in pain and fear as he fought his way back to consciousness. Seeing Ukyou leaning over him he managed a weak smile.
"Ukyou... I-I got to help Ranma..." Ryouga had just passed the boundary of terror, he was now at the point where there was just a calm acceptance that whatever happened no couldn't be much worse that what he had gone through. Standing up he staggered past Ukyou to where Ranma was standing.
"Ranma... I'm gonna need help when we get outta here... but I think I got an idea... to finally get rid of that... overgrown lizard... now that it's weakened..." Ryouga paused and took a deep breath. "Get everyone to distract it first. Then use your Hiryuu Shootan Ha... On me... Don't worry, if my plan works, we'll be outta here... if not... then tell Ukyou that I'll miss her..." With that Ryouga stopped speaking and began to concentrate A powerful green-and yellow aura flaring into life it was obvious what he wanted Ranma to do, he wanted Ranma to launch him above the Dragon whereupon he himself would become a bomb of depression and fear energy.
In the meantime, Alex was pulling himself out of the rubble, with a large gash across his chest where his suit had been ripped by the dragon's claw and spitting out some blood. He heard Ryouga's statement and added, "I'll give you a lift up there. Then I'll let off all the power that I've absorbed from the dragon's attacks. Hopefully, the crossover combination should put him down."
Kodachi pulled out several of her explosive balls from Hammerspace. She may not be able to level cities like some of those fighters, but she was going to do her part. She distracted the weakened dragon away from Perfume and the other fighters by Hitting the overgrown pair of boots with several of her explosive balls.
" Come along lizard brain, you will rue the day you tangled with the black rose!"
Perfume was in all means grateful for everyone distracting the beast away from her. Another second and she would have been the dragon's main course. She remembered Alex telling her something about focusing Ki through her Naginata. Now was the time to put it to the test and try the technique she had been practicing.
Focusing her will through her Naginata it began to glow dark red. --it's working-- "DRAGON HEART THUNDER STRIKE!" Her ki took the form of a dragon in flight and slammed into the dragon's flank, blowing away Scales and Sinew. The dragon roared in pain and frustration.
Perfume passed out from using all of her Ki in one volley.
Ryuu, who was recovering from the Dragon's last attack on him, heard what Ryouga had said to Ranma. To think that he would be helping out that aquasexual perv. Well, it was either that or death so...it was all for the good of the Kumon Dojo. Can't have a Dojo with out a Sensei. Ryuu started to charge up with energy. ALOT of energy. If a regular Kijin Raishu Dan wouldn't faze it then a much larger one was needed. "HEY DRAGON!" he shouted to distract it from the others, "Special Technique #2!!! Sai Dai Kyuu Kijin Raishu Dan!!!" As he was shouting out the name he swung his arms out as far as he could and as fast as he could. The result was a much larger and MUCH more powerful blade.
The dragon, unfortunately, dodged just in the nick of time and was only nicked. This resulted in a shower of scales and a bit of skin as the blade grazed the side of the Dragon and put a large hole in the Kuno wall.
********************
Reihime said to all those remaining. "Now is the time. Gather those fans which all of ye have opened and place them in the box. The female with the ancient masculine aura should be back with enough water to cleanse these fans of their curse."
She wrote down a series of notes, then handed it to Silk. "These are instructions on how to stop the fans once for all. Please heed them."
The sorceress than drew a circle with yet another rune, then double-checked her handiwork. Satisfied, she grabbed some powders out of her pouch and spread them around the outside of the ring. She turned to Rinse and Silk. "Young one, your job is to make sure that your friends do not knock out any of the powder from outside the ring. If you fail in this, the dragon may return to your realm."
"Healer. Ye know your duty. All I hope is that resurrection is not necessary on this midsummer night. I will enter the fan. Neither the dragon nor I shall return."
Reihime then grabbed a dagger and cut her hand in a similar pattern to the rune in the circle. Next, She used what was left on her hand. It burned and she winced in pain once, then put a glove on her hand. The sorceress then walked into the fan and saw the battle in full swing. She smiled when she saw most of the warriors were still fighting the dragon. This was good. It meant that Reihime could work unmolested.
She kneeled down near the unconscious Perfume and took off her glove. The hand that she cut glowed a soft blue. Reihime touched Perfume with it and whispered. "You did well. Thank you."
Perfume disappeared from the fan and reappeared in the middle of the magic circle Reihime drew in the Kunou Mansion.
Happi Chan came running back in the mansion with a huge bucket of water. Holy water of course, she took the entire stock at every temple she could find. She hoped it would be enough for the fans.
"Silk-Chan, do you need more Holy water?"
Silk took the notes and read them quickly. "If I do, Happi, there's a keg of it in the basement at the shop." Silk picked up the fans and dumped them into the bucket, then took her red scarf and started scrubbing. Some designs came off easily, others were more stubborn. Soon the only two fans left were the sorceress's, the fan the others had been trapped in, and the dragon. Silk washed off the dragon's head quickly, then the rest of its body.
*********
Ranma listened to Ryouga's plan half-heartedly as his unconscious fiancée remained motionless in his arms. Placing her on the ground in a covered area, he grasped her hand lightly while her faint breathing became less frequent with each passing moment. As if she noticed his presence, Akane clasped his hands in response... and let go again. Despite the many wounds that covered her body, the expression across her face made it seem like she was merely dreaming. "Hold on," he whispered while powering up for his attack. "I'll kill that dragon for what he's done to you." With his eyes transfixed upon the beast, Ranma unleashed his same blast with greater intensity. "HIIIIIIRYU SHOOOOOTEN....HA!"
------------------------------------------------------
In the meantime, Alex had lifted Ryouga to where he needed to be for his attack and sent a quick message to the others on the way up. --As soon as Ryouga performs his attack, EVERYONE needs to clear out of the immediate area so I can cut lose too.-- "Ready, Ryouga?"
Ryouga nodded as he moved into Ranma's attack. The blast lifted him higher and higher, after a few moments Ryouga nodded to himself and managed to get out of the blast so that he was now plummeting toward the dragon.
"Shi Shi Houkoudan revised..." he said to himself in a weak voice. "falling star bomb..." With that he left the energy he had built up surround him in a sphere shape.
"bye Ucchan..." He muttered as the intense energies threatened to rip him apart there and then, with great concentration he force the pain to subside and concentrated on building up more power before impact.
The dragon roared in pain from Ranma's attack, and staggered into the perfect position for Ryouga's attack. As soon as Ryouga began to build up power to prepare, Alex followed suit from his current position in mid-air. A large dragon made of pure ki began to appear in mid air, around Alex's body.
Kodachi dropped to the ground when the Ki blasts began flying. She was completely in awe of the power the other martial artists had to draw upon.
She almost felt sorry for the dragon.... Almost.
"RYOUGA!" Ukyou yelled as she ran to the Lost boys side, dragging him out of harms way. "Ryouga? Ryouga?"
Alex, seeing that the others were moving away at top speed from the dragon, grinned. "And now, it's checkout time for you. FUNRYU SUISEI!!!" The ki-dragon roared as it slammed into the fan dragon, causing it to roar in pain. When the smoke cleared, the dragon was down on the ground burned battered and out cold. Alex reached out and took the fan where it came from, and smacked the KO'ed dragon with it, forcing it back into the fan.
Some distance away, the others felt a large ki surge, before they saw a large mushroom cloud appear where Alex had been fighting the dragon. A few moments later, they saw Alex, walking unsteadily towards them. "Medic," was all he said before he passed out, landing on his face in front of Kodachi and Ranma.
Before Kodachi and Ranma could do much more then gasp, Fujiko's blue haired girl appeared in front of them. "This won't do at all." the sorceress said as she touched each person in turn, sending them back into the Kunou manor and the real world.
First there was a long wait, then everyone started coming back at once. Happi and Silk were both everywhere at once. Happi was doing bandages and the usual mundane first aid while Silk was using both her hands and her mind to repair internal injuries and restore depleted ki levels. With multiple injured and uninjured people lying around, trying to get up when they shouldn't have, and entirely to few completely healthy people trying to help, the place was a madhouse.
Perfume was one of those stubborn people who refused to stay down. She struggled to her feet and glanced about at the chaos surrounding her. She wasn't at 100% but she was going to help the others.
Most worrying however was Ryouga's refusal to move or, for that matter, breathe. He just lay there unmoving, unbreathing on the floor, his tunic had been pulled off to reveal the fact that he had been burnt by his own energy from earlier. It was possible that he had used more energy than he actually had to give.
Reihime bent down to Ryouga. "I'm sorry, you dying breaks my deal with the redheaded one. It's very specific on that point. I thank you for your services." She reached down and examined him. She didn't have the time to heal him, but could tell by the aura that he would survive the experience. At least, if the dragon didn't get him first.
The sorceress wasn't going to let that happen and Ryouga's body soon found itself inside the mystic ring in the real world (or as real as Nerima gets anyway.)
Silk heard the last few people come through the portal and looked to see who it was. "RYOUGA!" Silk saw that he wasn't breathing and dropped what she was doing. "Don't you dare die on me." she growled as she checked his pulse. None. "I don't think so." Silk placed her hands on either side of his chest and pressed. A jolt of electricity shot from her hands, jerking Ryouga's body. She did it again, then checked his pulse. It was there. "Ukyou, help me out here." she called.
Happi-Chan ran over with some herbs and other medical implements to assist Silk. "By the Gods, you know how much money you'll save on defibrillators with that Technique?"
"Where do you think I got the idea?" Silk shot back as she started chi healing the worst of Ryouga's burns. "I saw them used at the hospital, got Keisuke to show me that lightning trick of his and modified it." she took an herb leaf from Happi and placed it on a burn, concentrating on it for a long moment. "For my next trick, we have, turning tree." The burn faded under the leaf, taking the leaf's life energy into healing itself. Silk continued with this procedure for the rest of Ryouga's bad burns.
Reihime looked around once more and saw the next two candidates for removal. Kodachi would have been first, but when the sorceress saw the concern on Ukyo's face, the order changed. She looked right at the chef. "You're doing me no good in the fan like this. Gonna get yourself kilt for not paying attention. All right, lass, home with ye." Reihime touched Ukyo with the rune and Ukyo soon saw Silk trying to revive Ryouga.
Next she wandered to Kodachi, avoiding a few missed shots from the dragon and the other martial artists. Turning to the gymnast, Reihime simply said. "It is time. Thank you" and transported Kodachi to the real world.
The roaring of the dragon woke Alex up, groaning in pain. He looked at the dragon, thrashing about on its last legs. "Enough is enough of this! Die already!" Alex concentrated on the nearby stream, and splashed himself with the cold water and transformed into his cursed form. Zuberi called up his aura, before pouncing on the dragon. He attacked with the Neko-Ken at full power, showing a good example of what happens to fruit in a blender as his body blurred around the dragon. When he stopped the attack, the dragon was out cold, from a combination of head injuries and severe blood loss. "Overgrown luggage set."
Reihime looked on with a smile. "Aye. The dragon's down for good this time and ye all have overstayed your welcome." The blue haired sorceress walked over to each of the remaining fighters in the fan and thanked them for helping to save the box opener. Reihime wasn't stupid, though and she had made sure Akane was the next to leave the fan.
Akane, like those who had proceeded her, found herself inside the mystic ring. Soon, Ryuu, Ranma, Alex, and everyone else found themselves home (or close enough to it not to gripe). Soon it was just Reihime and the dragon inside the dragon's fan. "Okay, ye scaly beast. We have an appointment with the Seelie Court." With that, the blue-haired girl pulled out another ruin and activated it, making both her and the dragon disappear to someplace else, like Avalon or whether the fey hang out.
Silk left the further tending of Ryouga to Ukyou when she appeared, going over to examine the others who had just passed back through the portal. everyone seemed to be accounted for. The blue haired sorceress was as good as her word. Silk revived Akane with an expert touch. She wasn't hurt beyond what a little Chi rejuve didn't quickly cure. Silk checked each of the others over and found no major problems beyond fatigue. Everyone would recover, everyone was safe. She could relax a little. "Good to have you back in one piece," she said to Alex, the last one through the portal, before her eyes rolled up into the back of her head and she passed out from chi drain.
"Tell Oberon and Lady Titania I said hi." Alex said as the sorceress faded away. Then he heard Silk's comment as she fell over. Alex-griffin poked Silk with a paw. "Well, I guess it's my turn to return the favor..." Alex gently laid a paw on Silk, and began channeling ki back into her. As she woke up, Alex said, "Nice to be back." He looked around. "Next time, let's leave the magic items ALONE, ok?"
"But there was animals popping out of fans and a bluehaired flying lady... don't laugh at me! there were dragons and chi blasts and.. I SAID DON"T LAAUGH AT ME!" Silk mumbled and then shouted incoherently as she slowly woke up at Alex-griffin's feet. She looked around at the others. "It wasn't a night mare at all, was it?" she asked no one in particular.
Late as usual, Fujiko appeared in the magical circle just in time to see Silk drunk. "I'm back guys and it looks like everything came out okay. Sorry, Silk, it's very real. Reihime just reminded me that we still need to destroy those fans, except mine of course. Also, she thanks you again and looks forward to next month when she can spend a full day with all of you." Fujiko said with a grin as she walked out of the circle.
Silk sighed the sigh of the either drunk or so chi drained there was no difference. "I Don't WANT it to be real." the others had no comfort to offer. "Stupid Cursed Fans!"
---------
Epilogue
The grounds of the old temple had been cleared completely for their use. The elders wanted to build a new temple, and had accepted their offer of a free demolition.
Silk set the box of cleansed fans on a pile of dry wood and stepped back into line. She fired a chi blast at it, making it smolder. next to her, Happi-Chan readied a flare arrow. the box burst into flames. Then a fireball. The whole area went up. She started to chant a dragon slave and Silk freaked, ducking behind a dirt embankment.
When the smoke cleared there was a large crater where the box had been... and the temple was demolished quite handily.
"Nice work."
-End