The homeroom teacher pointed to Jadeite, who was scowling as he sat on a stool to the side. "Today we couldn't get a hold of anyone useful or interesting, so we'll be interviewing this guy instead: Professor Jadeite!"

The Dark General glared up at the nekomata as he crossed his arms over his chest. "Your introductions leave much to be desired, feline," Jadeite growled.

Shizuka ignored the complaint as she leaned over and shoved her microphone in front of him. "So Professor, my first question is: are you really even a professor?"

Jadeite snorted. "Of course I am, fool. I got my graduate degree at Terra University, coming fourth in my class." Then his face darkened as he added, "Right after all the other generals..."

Shizuka didn't seem convinced. "I've never heard of a 'Terra University'. Is that even properly accredited?"

"Of course it is! Or, was, at least," Jadeite admitted. "Educational standards may have... shifted somewhat in the ten thousand years or so since I completed my courses. And although I hate to say it, by intergalactic standards it was generally considered a safety school... but still! The degree is as valid as any!"

Shizuka cocked her head to the side. "So what did you major in, anyway?"

"Japanese literature," Jadeite said proudly, clasping his hands together in front of him.

Shizuka's ear-like hair tufts twitched. "Didn't you say this was ten thousand years ago? Did the Japanese language even exist back then?"

"Of course it did," Jadeite scoffed, "why do you think everyone in the Negaverse speaks it despite us having been sealed away for millennia? Only modern English has been around longer, as it's spoken by most alien races across the universe."

The homeroom teacher looked skeptical, but decided to move on. "So how is it that you ended up at Youkai Academy?"

"Well, after I was entombed - quote, FOREVER, unquote - in crystal because a bunch of teenage idiots got lucky in their battle against me, I happened to be found by a few inter-planar prospectors. After they destroyed my crystal prison, they said they wanted to be compensated for their efforts, since the crystal apparently would have been much more valuable with me still locked inside."

"Really? How?" Shizuka asked, intrigued.

"Apparently I make a rather enchanting black light, and the elder beings have always lagged a few decades behind as far as furnishing trends go," Jadeite mumbled bitterly. "But never mind. Upon learning of the sum I was expected to pay and exactly how resistant my rescuers were to having their souls burnt out of their skulls, I managed to negotiate a payment plan. Naturally, that meant I had to find a job that would pay me in whatever absurd currency those prospectors wanted. After getting in touch with some old contacts and then exterminating them for their assets, I found some papers indicating that one had just been hired to teach at Youkai Academy. From there all it took was some white-out to secure my place among our esteemed faculty."

Shizuka nodded, seemingly unperturbed by the story of extortion, murder and fraud. "Okay then, I have one more question: if your degree is in Japanese lit, then shouldn't your class be-"

"Japanese lit, yes," Jadeite confirmed, "that is the official title of the class, as put before the faculty manager. But that would hardly serve my purposes, so I changed the material and course catalog to make a class about devil hunters."

"So are you even qualified to teach about evading devil hunters?"

Jadeite looked insulted at the question. "I'm more than qualified! I'm experienced! There's no one more suitable than I am when it comes to being obliterated by teenage magical girls!"

Shizuka frowned. "Isn't the point of your class to AVOID obliteration?"

Jadeite shrugged. "I never really got the hang of that part."

Shizuka suddenly swung around, smiling brightly again. "Well, I'm sick of talking to this lunatic, so that's all we have for you! Enjoy the chapter!"

Black Dragon Productions proudly presents
a Ranma and Rosario Plus Vampire crossover

Disclaimer: This is the chapter where the monsters all complain about humans as if we're the monsters. Like it's our fault we're so awesome that we leave only devastation and Starbucks franchises in our wake.

Key: Writing/Emphasis, Sounds, 'Thoughts', "Speech", (Comments that you can freely ignore), 'Inner Moka'

Big Human on Campus
Chapter 10
Predator or Prey?

"Atten-SHUN! Enforcers, fall in!"

The voice was sharp and crisp as the cool morning air, and had a similar effect of making those nearby shudder.

Standing outside one of the main dorms, and pointedly ignoring the students that had started milling around the area to watch them, stood a full dozen Enforcers, every one of them standing ramrod-straight in a ranked formation.

Dark eyes and square shoulders set, the members of the Protection Committee's compliance squad glared contemptuously at their destination as a single one of their number paced back in forth in front of them.

He had dark gray eyes, almost black, and ruddy brown hair with a white shock running through it. A thin beard, concentrated on his chin and stretching down to his chest, leant the figure an aged look, although he otherwise didn't seem much older than any other student. He was large enough to stand above his soldiers, but not enough to draw attention, although the gigantic police baton on his back, more resembling a two-handed club than any modern enforcement tool, would have demanded attention should his uniform and air of authority fail to do so.

Taking a deep breath, Jin Kaishuu began his speech.

"Fellow Enforcers! Members of the compliance squad! We have gathered here today to complete a very important mission at the behest of Lord Kuyo himself!"

"YES, COMMANDER!" The squad barked as one, individual voices helplessly swallowed up by the surge of noise.

"This school has been infiltrated! Attacked! CORRUPTED! Within these precious halls skulks one of the hated humans! Having snuck by our presumably formidable defenses and possibly extensive precautionary measures, he even now plots to destabilize and corrode our beloved campus!"

With a sharp turn on his heel, Jin stared hard at his men. "And what do we think of that?"

"That pisses us off!" The rank of monsters shouted, some of their eyes flaring red with anger.

"Indeed! And tell me, my fine subordinates, what is the penalty for being a human on school grounds?"

"DEATH! Same as everything else!" The Enforcers barked.

Jin turned around sharply and glared up at the dorms. "Aono Tsukune... Your campaign of disorder ends today! Compliance squad, forward!"

Marching in perfect unison, their heavy boots pounding across the ground, the Enforcers started to advance on the dorms. Those few students that had stuck around to watch the proceedings quickly found other things to do, not willing to risk being in the line of fire once the Enforcers got serious.

"Here is the plan! Sicarus and Nijima will hold position behind the dorms, with an aim on preventing any escape from the windows! Gamano and Filipe! You will take up the rear and prevent any outside interference while awaiting my signal in case reinforcements are needed! The rest of you are with me!"

As Jin spoke, his subordinates peeled off one by one to carry out their orders.

Despite the seriousness of the situation, Jin smirked as his plan went into action, marveling at the fluid efficiency of his team.


Unlike the regular Enforcers, who did their job with little to no attention to efficiency or results, Jin prided himself on the brutal competence of his compliance squad. Perhaps it was because their job strictly involved violent subjugation of those already judged to be guilty by the senior Enforcers, but whatever the reasons Jin's team was known for being reliable and bringing results among a committee mostly known for corruption and uselessness.

Kuyo didn't pay any attention to such a discrepancy, if he was even aware of it, but if he were to ask Jin what the secret of his team was, he'd receive a simple and useful answer: planning.

To Jin, a plan of action was the line that separated barbarism and chaos from peace and discipline. It was the glue of civilization, the shield of law and order.

It was this shield that he held before him as he ascended the stairs to Aono's room, and it was thanks to his extensive planning that he felt no fear even as he drew closer and closer to his prey.

'To think one of the infamous humans should find his way here into Youkai Academy itself! What sorts of terrors does he have in store for our campus? What treachery does he plan to unleash upon our hapless students?'

Despite the danger he was surely in, he couldn't help but feel mildly excited by the inevitable encounter. Unlike many of the other students, he had never lived among or near humans before, and his image of them was molded by rumor and stories.

Jin looked ever more excited as he walked down the hall to the target room. Would the human have plans of his own to stave off an assault? Would he have traps built, and defenses filled with the humans' dreaded weapons?

Jin felt his teeth start to swell to their actual proportions and his skin start to bulge from the tension in the air, and he quickly put a reign on his thoughts. 'Careful! You can't lose control so easily! Stick to the plan!' Jin thought as his clothes slackened again. 'If all goes well, I'll be able to cut loose soon enough.'


Bam! Bam! Jin pounded a fist on the door in front of him as the compliance squad lined up behind him, their arms clasped tightly behind their backs.

"Attention resident! This is Kaishuu Jin of the Youkai Academy Protection Committee! We have been served an order for your immediate arrest! Come out and surrender at once or we will detain you with force!"

Jin backed up and started flexing his arm, preparing to hammer down the door.

To his surprise, within seconds the lock clicked and the door opened up.

Jin was even more surprised to see someone other than Tsukune standing in the doorway glaring at him.

"And a good morning to you, too," Ranma said icily as he crossed his arms over his chest. "What do you clowns want?"

One of the Enforcers bristled with indignation at the insult, but hesitated as Jin put up a hand.

"We're here on official business, Saotome. Very grave business. We have been served a warrant for an immediate arrest and execution!" the senior Enforcer declared, drawing himself up. "As I'm sure you're aware, only the highest of crimes demand such measures!"

"I was not aware," Ranma deadpanned, "I thought you guys just killed off whoever you felt like killing, no matter what stupid rule they violated."

"We do!" Jin confirmed shamelessly. "But only the highest crimes warrant actual paperwork!"

A vein popped up on Ranma's head. "Right. Okay, hurry up and say your piece so I can kick your ass and get on with my weekend," the martial artist growled, "and make it snappy; I have a new technique to learn before I get busy taking down the entire Protection Committee."

"Of course," Jin said, apparently unperturbed by Ranma's attitude and stated intent to destroy his organization, "the crime is that of being human."

Ranma's expression went blank. "Wh-What? Say that again."

Jin smirked. "That's right. In this school, nay, this dorm! What's more, in this very ROOM I stand before, a human dwells! And in fact, he's been here ever since the beginning of this semester!"

"Then... you believe me?" Ranma said in wonder as he grabbed Jin's hands tightly, his face glowing. "You believe I'm a human? The Enforcers know?"

The hallway was fairly still for several seconds, the awkward silence broken only by uncomfortable shuffling and stifled snorts.

"You're not here for me, are you?" Ranma asked, his expression darkening.

"We are not," Jin admitted. "I was told Aono Tsukune shares this room with you?"

Ranma took a deep, calming breath as multiple veins throbbed on his forehead. "So you think he's a human? What about me?"

Jin composed himself before he shrugged. "Although I'm vaguely aware of you having some... Encounters with the Protection Committee in the past, I have not been instructed to deal with you. Unless you give me immediate cause to apprehend you-"

"I'm a human," Ranma said bluntly. "Like I said a thousand times! It's a crime, right? You should be here to execute me, not Tsukune!"

One of the Enforcers in the back slapped a hand over his mouth to keep from laughing.

Jin looked apologetic as he shrugged. "Without some kind of evidence..."

"I just confessed!" Ranma shouted, throwing his arms up.

"A confession from an unreliable source cannot be used to have someone arrested," Jin explained.

"Why am I unreliable?" Ranma demanded.

"Well, for one thing, you're making outrageous claims like you being a human," Jin reasoned, "that's ridiculous. You're clearly unsound and any testimony from you shall henceforth be disregarded."

Ranma's patience broke and he seized Jin by the collar, hauling the Enforcer up in the air.

"All right, moron, this is your last chance to make yourself scarce," Ranma growled. "It's way too early in the morning for this. You're not getting Tsukune, so you can either leave out the front door or through the wall."

Jin waited until Ranma had delivered his threat, and then his hands seized Ranma's arms.

Ranma was only slightly surprised as Jin's arms and fingers bulged, slowly prying himself free from the martial artist's grip. As soon as he had enough room, the Enforcer captain bolted backward toward his men, his eyes hard.

Ranma kept his position, cooling his temper as he glanced between the Enforcers. It didn't escape his notice that Jin's men had barely budged when he was manhandling their leader, neither fleeing or helping him. In his experience so far, it was rare to see such discipline from monsters.

Jin adjusted his collar and then stared coolly at Ranma. "So it seems you still intend to stand against us. Very well."

He dusted off the chest of his jacket roughly. "Naturally, I had planned for this eventuality. Don't think I'm easy prey like that fool Haruo."

Ranma's eyes narrowed. Taking out so many monsters, when he had no idea what kind they were, would be tricky enough, but this lot actually seemed organized and prepared for him.

"Compliance squad! Prepare for plan E! Begin anti-Saotome measures!" Jin shouted as he held up an arm.

Ranma tensed. "Anti-Saotome" measures sounded fairly dangerous. He couldn't keep a tremor of excited anticipation from racing through him, however, at the thought of fighting more capable adversaries whom he could cut loose against without restraint or interruption. Would they be independent powerhouses like Moka or Chopper? Clumsy brutes like Saizo? Or something new?

The Enforcers also tensed as they stepped back from the doorway, some of them crouching while others fell to one knee into a runner's starting pose. Each of them knew their role in the plan unfolding before them, and each man, woman, and genderless freak of nature was ready and eager to lay down their lives for the success of their leader's chosen strategy.

Jin chopped his hand down. "FLEE FOR YOUR LIVES!"

Ranma almost fell down in surprise as the Enforcers bolted, each one dashing for the stairs right after the other in a curiously efficient full retreat.

Before long Jin had joined the rout, bounding down the stairs a dozen at a time. "Don't forget, screaming is allowed, but not mandatory!" The captain shouted.

At his prompting, several of the Enforcers released howls of terror as they barreled out of the dorm, shoving aside the perplexed and confused students who were in their way.


Ranma shut the door to his dorm as he scratched his head, wondering what he should make of the encounter. It wasn't that strange to see an opponent flee so suddenly and deliberately, as the Saotome school of Anything-Goes made ample use of strategic retreats, but he was still surprised that the Enforcers had given up so easily. After a few seconds, the bathroom door opened and Tsukune came out wearing a towel around his waist.

"Did something happen? I heard someone knocking," the younger boy asked.

"Eh, a bunch of Enforcers came lookin' for you," Ranma grumbled.

Tsukune reached for his clothes drawer, and then froze. "Wait. For me? What would they want with me?"

It had, of course, occurred to Tsukune that the Enforcers might figure out his role in agitating the fight club against them, but given the Protection Committee's reputation for incompetence, he had expected it to take much longer for them to pay him any attention, if at all.

Ranma clicked his tongue. "They wanted to arrest you for being a human."

"Urk." Tsukune's fingers started to tremble slightly as the color drained from his face. "They... They know I'm human?"

"Yeah. But they won't believe that I'm human!" Ranma complained. "How did you do it?"

Tsukune resisted a small urge to berate his roommate for voicing such petty concerns while his life was in danger; annoying his most reliable friend and ally wouldn't help anything at this point.

"I'm a little worried about how they figured that out myself," Tsukune mumbled as he started getting dressed. "I certainly didn't tell anyone else."

As he pulled on his undershirt, Tsukune grimaced. "This doesn't change much, although we'll need to hurry. If they can't get me themselves, then they might try spreading word about me and hoping that the other students do me in for them."

Ranma frowned. "Ah. I can see that." Then he walked over to the far wall and slid the window open. "Oi, Mizore? You hear that?"

Tsukune twitched as a head of mussy purple hair rose over the window sill.

"He's a... human?" The stalker asked, cocking her head to one side.

As Tsukune groaned weakly, Ranma nodded. "It's a secret though, so don't tell anyone, okay?"

Mizore frowned as she pulled herself up onto the window sill, staring expressionlessly at Tsukune.

"Aren't humans... dangerous?"

Ranma snorted. "Well, sure, I am, but Tsukune's harmless. He couldn't hurt anyone if he tried."

Mizore looked like she had a response to that, but was cut off by a shout from above that quite literally knocked her senseless.

"GET LOST, STALKER!" The demand was accompanied by a rippling wave of force that blasted Mizore from her perch and sent her tumbling down the side of the dorms.

A moment later, the ice fairy shoved her hand into the exterior wall, her fingers instantly sinking into the surface as a patch of ice rapidly spread around it to stop her fall.

Looking up, Mizore's eyes narrowed as she saw Kana descending gently downward, her soft white wings spread wide above her.

The siren looked like she was about to say something else, with potentially painful force, when an arm lashed out from the window and seized Kana's ankle.

Kana shouted wordlessly as she lost her aerial balance, and then pitched forward, eventually ending upside-down as she flailed her wings and arms.

"Ah, Kana, it's you," Ranma said, breaking the siren out of her initial panic at being grabbed.

Kana stopped flailing as she looked into the window, seeing Ranma above her and Tsukune standing behind him with a heavy blush on his face.

Kana quickly moved to hold her skirt down... or rather, up.

"Sorry about that. I didn't know who it was at first," Ranma said, frowning slightly as he stared into Kana's eyes. "Uh... Did you hear what we were talking about earlier?"

Kana cocked her head to one side, looking confused.

"About Tsukune being a human?"

Tsukune promptly smacked a hand over his face and groaned.

"He's a WHAT?" Kana shouted, the last word causing a slight tremor to run through the room and rattle the objects on the shelves.

Ranma winced and twisted a finger in his ear. "Yeah, he's a human. Like me."

Kana sighed in relief. "Oh, like you."

"No, no, he's really a human," Ranma said before he caught himself. "No, wait, I'm a human too!"

"Of course you are," Kana said indulgently, obviously lying as she glanced at Tsukune suspiciously. For some reason Tsukune was staring at her with unusual intensity and some surprise, similar to how Ranma was staring at her before.

"But Aono is REALLY human?" Kana asked hesitantly.

"So am I!" Ranma shouted in frustration. "I'm just not that good at it yet!" He added, remembering what Fran had said to him.

"Okay, sure," Kana mumbled, still looking skeptical, and apparently still so perturbed that her voice was coming out normally. "By the way, why are you two staring at me like that?"

Ranma and Tsukune looked surprised and embarrassed for a moment.

"S-Sorry! It's nothing!" Tsukune said quickly. "It's j-just, um..."

Ranma gestured awkwardly to the left side of his head. "It's just, you know, we never get to see half of your face. We kinda thought there was, maybe... something there."

Kana blinked, uncomprehending, as her long, dark purple hair hung down from the top of her head. This left her face completely exposed, and revealed for the first time that her left cheek and eye were smooth, symmetrical, and utterly flawless.

"Wait, something there?" She asked, not noticing as several scythe-like claws of ice slowly rose up from either side of her. "What did you think was-"

The rest of her question was cut short as the claws clamped down onto her, and both Ranma and Tsukune flinched back as the siren's scream slammed into them, causing the former to finally let go of Kana's leg.


Ranma ignored the ensuing sounds of enraged screaming and shattering ice as he turned toward Tsukune. "Okay, I think we're good."

Tsukune groaned. "I doubt it. But if this is where we're at now..." He hesitated. "Are those two gonna be okay?"

Ranma looked out the window just as Mizore had grappled Kana in close, and he flinched back as the siren retaliated with an almost soundless, jaw-distending screech that sent a rolling shock wave up the wall of the building and sent shudders through the superstructure.

Crash! Ranma winced as the window collapsed into a perfect web of shards, and Tsukune jumped to the side as the giant spiders taking up residence in the corner of the room suddenly bolted away from the outside wall in a frenzied panic.

"Let's not worry about them for now," Ranma said nervously. "So what's the plan?"

Tsukune started pacing as he considered the sudden urgency of their situation. "How quickly can you find Kouma?" It was a Saturday, so obviously Ranma and his partner wouldn't be meeting via normal club activities.

Ranma shrugged. "I have no idea. Miss Wildman isn't holding extra practice today, and I don't know where his room is."

"Then I guess we're doing this without him," Tsukune said firmly. "Do you think you could make do if Kurumu or Yukari were to help you?"

Ranma snorted. "Who do you think you're talking to? I can take on this Volos jerk on my own!"

"Of course you can," Tsukune said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world, "but can you take Volos plus any allies he might have AND keep everyone else safe from attack or Enforcer traps?"

Ranma's cocky expression wilted as he seriously considered such a conflict. "Well... Probably."

"I think I'll bring Kurumu and Yukari along then. Just in case," Tsukune deadpanned.

"Yeah, that's a good idea," Ranma admitted. "Maybe Moka, too."

Tsukune looked surprised by the idea. "What? Why? This could be dangerous!"

"Yeah. If things get ugly, just call up Evil Moka," Ranma reasoned.

Tsukune staggered backward as if struck, and then staggered again as another sonic tremor shook the house.

Once he had regained his footing, he offered up his incredulous response. "Summon Evil Moka? Are you crazy? What if she turns on us?"

"Just as a last resort!" Ranma said quickly. "It's better than being pasted by the Enforcers, right?"

Tsukune stopped to think about that idea, first considering the Enforcers that had pinned Yukari to the wall and beaten down Kurumu, and then recalling Moka kicking the head off of Professor Richard.

"I can't answer that," Tsukune murmured. "Although that does give me an idea. Come on."

Ranma looked confused as Tsukune walked toward the door, but quickly followed the younger human as an icy wind blew through the open window, followed by more shouting. "Right behind you!"

Back at the Protection Committee office, Haruo and Kishia were awaiting Jin's return eagerly as Keito lounged in a hammock of thick webbing in the corner.

"I really don't need your help to accept the prisoner and take him to Lord Kuyo," the dreary-looking Keito mumbled, clearly annoyed by her two overexcited subordinates. "You can leave."

"Leave? And miss this?" Haruo scoffed, flexing his freshly healed arm. "I've never even HEARD of a human getting into Youkai Academy! No way am I going to miss his apprehension and execution!"

"You forgot judgment," Keito said sharply. "Before we can punish the accused, we must, after all, ensure that they are guilty."

Haruo and Kishia stared at their superior in surprise, their mouths moving wordlessly.

Then Keito snorted. "Ha! Did you actually believe me?"

Haruo and Kishia both collapsed into chuckling.

"Heh heh! You almost had me for a moment, there!"

"Judgment! That was priceless!"

Keito let a smug smile cross her lips. "All right, all right, now quiet down. It sounds like Jin has returned."

Haruo and Kishia gave her blank stares, not being nearly as sensitive as she was to the slight vibrations caused by a dozen monsters all rushing up the stairs at once.

A few seconds later, the pair of junior Enforcers too could hear the sounds of heavy boots against the floor, and they stepped respectfully to the side as they awaited Jin's victorious entrance.


The door was almost smashed off its hinges as Jin burst through it, and the senior Enforcer leapt into the middle of the lobby before turning around sharply.

The compliance squad piled in behind him in a rush of bizarrely orderly panic, immediately forming up into ranks before the Enforcer in the back shut the door securely behind them.

That same student then turned around and saluted. "Lord Jin! Retreat completed successfully!"

Jin nodded firmly. "Textbook withdraw, men! You may now commence terrified gibbering and other approved acts of cowardice!"

Half the squad promptly collapsed into the fetal position and started mumbling to themselves as they rocked back and forth, while the others found absurdly inadequate hiding spots behind pieces of furniture or cradled security blankets.

Thus it was a very pleased and satisfied Jin that finally turned away from his subordinates to look into the eyes of a very displeased and irate Keito.

"Ah, Miss Keito," Jin said evenly. "As you can see, I have successfully returned." Behind his fellow senior were a few junior Enforcers that looked completely confused for some reason, but Jin paid them no mind.

"I can see that you're back, yes," Keito said icily, "but I see very little in the way of 'success'. Where in the Demonweb Pits is Aono Tsukune?"

"I haven't the slightest," Jin said, as if the matter were an irrelevant detail. "We fell back before we even laid eyes on the fiend."

"You... ran?" Kishia mumbled, looking somewhat dizzy. "But you're the compliance squad! There's no way you could lose!"

Jin promptly turned his full attention on the younger Enforcer, his voice erupting as a rumbling growl. "Did you not hear me? We didn't lose, we retreated!"

As Keito massaged her forehead, Haruo crossed his arms over his chest. "Let me guess: you ran into Saotome Ranma."

"Of course," Jin said shamelessly. "Naturally, as I did my research on my target ahead of time, I had a plan in place for just such an eventuality. And I'm not ashamed to say that it worked perfectly!"

"You SHOULD be ashamed!" Keito growled. "Retreating at the first sign of resistance hardly qualifies as a plan!"

Jin looked offended by the comment as he stepped back and spread a hand over his chest. "I don't expect a base schemer like yourself to appreciate the art of strategy, but don't disparage it!"

"What kind of leader plans to fail?" Keito demanded. "You didn't even try to put down Saotome!"

"Why would I bother wasting valuable time and blood trying to BEAT the star of the freshman class?" Jin demanded irritably. "Rather, I evaluated my chances of successfully capturing Aono, and once they fell below the acceptable threshold, I withdrew from the situation with minimal conflict and damage!" Jin gave his juniors an especially smug look. "I'll have you know that none of my men suffered so much as a splinter during this operation!"

Haruo blinked at that and then turned to Kishia. "Actually, that doesn't sound too bad. If I'm going to lose, I'd rather not have to end up on a stretcher at the end."

"Though it's a little difficult to take you seriously with your squad writhing around in horror behind you," Kishia pointed out.

Jin shrugged. "It's standard procedure."

"I've heard enough of this!" Keito snapped, a vein bulging on her forehead. "We gave this task to you for a reason, Jin! Because it needed to be done even if we had to assign half the Protection Committee and carve a building apart to do so!"

Keito felt her fangs growing due to her frustration, and she forced herself to calm down. "Do you have any idea what it could mean that a human has found his way here, into Youkai Academy? It could herald the destruction of this entire school and everyone in it! What are you going to do when the rest of the humans have found us?"

Jin snorted dismissively. "I have a plan for that too, of course. Observe," he said haughtily, withdrawing a manila folder and opening it before the other Enforcers.

The trio stared for several seconds before Keito decided to state the obvious. "This is a Cuban passport and a Spanish-Japanese dictionary."

"Naturally, I've already mastered the basics of the language ahead of time," Jin said smugly. "Me llamo Jin! Como estas?"

Keito promptly tossed the folder behind her. "I've had enough of this. Aono Tsukune has to die, and by now Saotome Ranma has indirectly caused me enough grief that I'm willing to sign his death warrant too."

Haruo raised an eyebrow. "Wait... Was that a figure of speech, or do we actually have paperwork for that?"

Thwip! The gargoyle was answered by a patch of webbing that sealed his mouth shut.

"He's been getting a lot of practice in removing those, so I'll make this quick so I don't have to hear his voice again today," Keito said irritably, "I am going to take care of Aono personally. You have until that time to do SOMETHING about Saotome to get him off our backs, and I really don't care what." Her eyes narrowed. "If this not done, I will dispose of him myself. And THEN, I will dispose of each of you worthless cretins that failed me. Is that CLEAR?"

Kishia gulped nervously. She didn't know Keito very well, but she had been in the Protection Committee long enough to hear rumors and make a few observations about Kuyo's right-hand woman. Keito held significant rank despite not doing better work or showing more talent than her peers, and Kuyo only seemed to rely on her because she had been by his side longest, rather than because of any sort of special favor or trust.

No, Keito wasn't respected because she deserved it. She was respected because she was feared, much in the way that Kuyo himself was. Those that annoyed her seemed to suffer the worst assignments (which, among the Enforcers, mostly consisted of legitimate work), and those that made her mad had "accidents".

Such was the train of thought that led Kishia to grab Haruo's arm and quickly drag the gargoyle into the hallway, stepping over and around those members of the compliance squad that were still in the middle of their false catatonia.


"All right Haruo, I think it's time we took care of this problem once and for all," the elemental said seriously as she rounded on her fellow Enforcer, her eyes hard, "Saotome must be stopped or it's more than just our rank on the line."

With a grunt, Haruo finally managed to tear the webbing from his mouth. "And why is that again? Let her fight him, maybe we'll get an apology out of her after we scrape her body off the pavement."

A puff of steam came from Kishia's mouth as she snorted. "Fat chance! Look, whatever Saotome is going to do to us for defying him, there's no way it can be worse than what Keito will do if we don't stop him!" Her eyes narrowed. "Remember, however powerful Saotome is, he hasn't killed any of his opponents yet. Not only does that mean that fighting him is probably less dangerous than disappointing Keito, but it also means that she'll probably still be alive to make good on her threats, even if she loses."

Haruo grimaced, quickly accepting the elemental's logic. "All right, you have a point. We do have Lord Kuyo's idea to work with. But do you really think he'll believe us and turn on Aono if we say he's human?"

"It couldn't hurt to try," Kishia said.

Haruo raised an eyebrow.

"Okay, fine, it will probably hurt like skinny-dipping in the Abyss while basted in virgin's blood," Kishia admitted, "but my earlier point still stands!"

Haruo nodded reluctantly. "Yes. It's still a better plaaaAAAAUGH!"

Kishia lurched backward as lightning suddenly blasted into her companion from behind, and her eyes widened as Haruo collapsed into a twitching heap at her feat.

Behind Haruo, leaning against the wall with one hand in his pocket and the other hand alive with lashes of electricity, was a skinny boy she'd never seen before wearing a frayed T-shirt.

"Wh-Who the hell are you?" Kishia demanded as her hands turned into bulging orbs of smoking rock. "Do you have any idea who we are?"

The intruder snickered as he held up a hand, a single spark of electricity dancing from fingertip to fingertip. "You have the arm band, don'cha? That makes you PREY, babe."

Kishia bristled as seams of magma began to cover her fists in an angry web of smoking red. "Prey? PREY? Nobody makes PREY out of the Protection Committee!"

"There is one bunch, darling," came a smooth, female voice from behind her. "We're fight club."

Kishia turned around in a backhand swing, but never saw, much less struck, the other assailant before a pair of huge, brown talons descended on her and her vision went dark.

"All right, here we are," Tsukune said as he approached Moka's room, feeling a little nervous despite himself. Though he had known Moka's room number for some time, he had never actually seen the interior or ventured inside.

Ranma came up behind his roommate silently, wondering what Tsukune was planning if he wasn't going to simply ask Moka to help take down the Enforcers.

Tsukune knocked on the door, and the two humans waited patiently as they heard movement from within.

"Senpai! Tag-along! Welcome!" Yukari said cheerfully as she swung the door open, dressed in a dark red negligee that left the underwear beneath just barely visible. "What brings you here this fine morning?"

Ranma and Tsukune stared.

Yukari flushed and clapped her hands on her cheeks. "Oh, come on now, don't stare!" The young witch said playfully. "I'm sure that at least Senpai is used to a lot more sex appeal than this!"

"That's not why we're staring," Tsukune deadpanned.

A moment later Moka came out behind Yukari, although the vampiress was properly dressed in her uniform, as usual.

"Tsukune! Ranma! Hi! What brings you by today?" Moka said cheerfully as she quickly shoved Yukari behind her. "Yukari, get dressed before you catch a cold!"

"Well, I WAS here to talk to you about renewing bonds of friendship and seeking forgiveness and stuff like that," Tsukune began, "but I have to admit that now I'm more interested in why Yukari is in your room half-naked."

Moka blushed slightly, but drew herself up defiantly. "It's those spiders."

Ranma's interest piqued immediately. "Spiders? What spiders?"

Moka frowned as she planted her hands on her hips. "Those spiders that you put in her room as a prank came back, and now she's afraid to sleep in her own room!"

"No they're not," Ranma responded bluntly. "They sleep in our room. I even trained them to stay in one little corner so they don't wander around the room anymore."

Moka blinked in surprise. "But Yukari said that you were keeping them there as some sort of bizarre training exercise, and that she had no other place to stay!" Moka insisted, not noticing as a black sheet wafted by her legs and floated through the doorway, as if carried on the wind.

"Moka, I can guarantee that either Ranma didn't do anything like that, or he has twice as many pet spiders as I thought he did," Tsukune said, stepping on a corner of the black cloth as it tried to float by him.

The cloth went taut immediately, and Yukari let out a yelp as her cape and collar came off, ruining her illusion spell and leaving her to fall onto her face.

"Uh... This sounds rather important, so I'll leave you to your deliberations," Yukari said shakily as she tugged her cape free, sweat beading on her brow.

"Not yet runt, we might need you later," Ranma said before he pointed to her cape. "Also, work on your escape routes. If you can't get past Tsukune, what are going to do if you tick off someone dangerous?"

"Yes, Senpai," Yukari said with a sigh.


Tsukune shook his head to clear it. "All right, look, we're getting sidetracked. This is more important than Yukari telling stories to..."

He trailed off uncertainly, glancing back at an increasingly embarrassed Moka. "So, wait, does she just sleep on the floor, or do you two-"

"What's more important than my stories?" Yukari demanded suddenly, interrupting his tangent.

"Right, sorry!" Tsukune said, straightening. "Ranma, do you have some thing you want to say to Moka?"

Ranma seemed surprised by the request, but that quickly gave way to discomfort as he rubbed the back of his head. "Uh, well, I guess I should say that I'm sorry."

Moka stepped back, looking completely stunned. "You are?"

Ranma nodded. "Yeah. It's not like it was my fault, but still, when you went all evil and crazy, I didn't think twice about cutting loose and it looks like I really hurt you." Steeling himself, the pigtailed boy bowed. "You didn't deserve that, and I'm sorry."

Tsukune nodded silently as he put a hand on Ranma's shoulder in encouragement. "Now, Moka, do you have something to say to Ranma?"

'Tell him that I still hate him,' grumbled a voice in Moka's head.

Moka squirmed for a moment, but any resistance quickly crumbled under Tsukune's stare. "Ranma, I'm sorry too. I know we haven't always gotten along perfectly, but I've never trusted you even though you've done plenty to deserve it. And whether or not you deserve to be trusted, you definitely did NOT deserve to be attacked like that," the vampiress admitted before she too bowed. "Maybe if I had come clean earlier that fight could have been avoided entirely. I'm sorry."

Tsukune smiled as his friends straightened, both of them looking relieved.

"Now give each other a hug," Yukari said, popping up from behind Tsukune's legs.

Tsukune's smile vanished. "Well, you don't have to-"

He trailed off as Moka stepped forward and firmly embraced Ranma, and the martial artist promptly returned the gesture.

"Oh, okay, yeah. That's fine. Let's just get this all out of our systems," Tsukune mumbled weakly.

"Now let's finish with a make-up kiss," Yukari said seriously.

"Yukari!" Tsukune shouted.

"Is the cheek okay?" Ranma asked.

"RANMA!" Tsukune shouted again.

"Joking, joking!" Ranma said as he and Moka parted somberly.

Tsukune regained his composure before he continued. "Thank you both. I know that things have been a little tense since Evil Moka appeared, and I wanted to make sure the air was clear before we continued."

Ranma shrugged. "It wasn't that big a deal. I mean, if your life is in danger, it's not really important whether or not Moka's evil shadow-self or whatever hates me."

"No, it is important," Tsukune protested. "Ranma, you've been our protector ever since we got here. We rely on you a lot, and it's not right to do that if we're not willing to trust you. As we've already seen, that could put you in danger, and we can't do that to you."

Ranma stood silently as he weathered Tsukune's concern, lost for words.

Moka, on the other hand, gently clutched her Rosario before she spoke up again. "On that note, I have something else to say, actually. My... 'Other self' isn't placated. She's been... speaking to me since the battle, and she hasn't given up on beating you."

Ranma and Tsukune looked surprised. "Wait, she's been speaking to you?" Asked the latter.

Ranma's question was less redundant. "What's she saying right now?"

'Tell him that I'll carve out his eye sockets the next time I see him,' a voice hissed from the Rosario.

Moka sweatdropped. "She says... She doesn't want to see you again."

'No paraphrasing! Tell him his eyes are mine!'

Tsukune looked concerned as he considered this new information. "So we can be sure that if Evil Moka emerges again, she'll attack you again."

Ranma nodded slowly. "I understand."

Then he backed away a few steps and took a defensive stance. "Okay, I'm ready. You can let her out."

As Moka and Tsukune gaped in shock, the Rosario twitched.

'Do it. PLEASE,' Evil Moka snarled.

It was Tsukune who recovered first to ask the obvious question. "WHY?"

"Well, I looked over those photos that Mizore took, but they weren't as much help as I'd hoped. So I think maybe if I could see another one of her kicks in action again, I might be able to figure out the secret," Ranma reasoned.

'Come on, let me out! He's literally asking for it!'

"Don't worry! I'll take it easier on you this time," Ranma reassured an increasingly vexed Moka. "No water! I swear!"

Tsukune decided it was time to change the subject again before they got stuck on another tangent. Or put a new hole in the building. "We can work that out some other time, Ranma. For now we have more important concerns." He glanced behind him. "That means you can stop, Yukari."

Yukari, who had been assembling a makeshift bunker on the wall from hallway lockers and maintenance supplies, pouted at the wasted effort and put away her wand.

"Okay, so what's this about Aono's life being in danger?" Yukari asked. "Did the Enforcers figure out that he's been plotting against them?"

Ranma shook his head. "Worse. They found out he's a human."

Clunk! Yukari's wand slipped from her numb fingers as her eyes went wide in shock. Behind Ranma, Tsukune and Moka facepalmed.

"Ranma, would you stop doing that?" Tsukune pleaded.

"Why? I figure we should be straight about it and get it out in the open, like what you did with me and Moka," Ranma reasoned.

"This is a little different from that," Moka interjected, quickly backing up Tsukune, "some students have deep-seated personal and racial grudges against humans. And many of those that didn't have started to fear and resent humans from having to attend Youkai Academy."

"What's the big deal? What did humans ever do to you?" Ranma asked, scratching his head.

"When I went to a human school, the other kids were always making fun of me for saying I was a vampire," Moka said, looking gloomy.

Ranma waited for a few seconds before he realized that she was done speaking. "Wait, that's it? They made fun of you?"

"It was a big deal to me, okay?" Moka said hotly, wringing her hands. "Do you know how it felt to have people denying your species like that?"

Ranma's eye twitched, and Moka promptly blushed.

"Oh, right. Well, since you have had to go through that, you should know how bad it makes a person feel!"

As Ranma rolled his eyes, Tsukune considered Moka's argument. "Did it make you feel worse than being harassed by Saizo, attacked by the Enforcers, or being forced to explore deadly ruins by a teacher?"

Moka blinked. "No... Not really..."

"Then give it a rest," Ranma snapped. "However bad you think humans are, monsters are mostly worse."

"Humans have persecuted witches for centuries," Yukari interjected, narrowing her eyes at Tsukune, "hundreds of us have died because of you!"

"Not that it's a contest or that this excuses anything," Tsukune mumbled, rubbing his head, "but don't the monsters do that too? And didn't Professor Jadeite say that witches killed off, like, a quarter of Europe?"

Yukari bristled. "Well... the humans started it!" She proclaimed, pointing at Tsukune accusingly.

"Relax, runt," Ranma said as he rubbed the young witches head through her hat. "Even if some humans are jerks, you know me and Tsukune. We're not like that."

"Don't be fooled, Senpai!" Yukari said, edging closer to the pigtailed boy, "humans may be weak and fragile, but they're also treacherous and cruel! I'll never trust a human!"

Yukari kept glaring at Tsukune until she felt the pressure on her head start to increase, and her face darkened as she began to sense a cold fury burning above her.

"Ah, Yukari, I think that was a bit much," Moka said nervously as a blue haze encircled Ranma. "Humans aren't THAT bad! I would know!"

"So would I!" Ranma growled through clenched teeth. "I'm one of them!"

Yukari glanced down at the floor. "Anyway, if Aono really is a human, then isn't getting rid of him legitimate? This means that the Enforcers are actually doing the right thing, for once."

"The right thing, huh?" Tsukune said quietly, causing Yukari to snap her head up and lock gazes with him.

The younger human rubbed the back of his head slowly as he stared down at the witch. "Do you really think that way? That it's okay to hurt someone based on the reputation of their race?"

Yukari grimaced as she felt a sinking feeling in her stomach. "N-No, it's not that you deserve to die! I'm just saying that, well, you've deceived us for this long, so obviously you're not as harmless as you appear!"

"Deceived 'us'?" Ranma deadpanned, again squeezing Yukari's head to get her attention. "Me and Moka always knew he was a human, and you've never cared about him before. He's never lied to you."

Yukari started to falter as her shoulders slumped. "B-But we can't just-"

Her voice failed her as Tsukune placed a hand on her shoulder before dropping onto one knee before the young witch, so that he could look her eye-to-eye. "It's okay. I know you don't think like that. You're the smart one, right?" He smiled gently. "You might get scared and say something cruel, but you don't mean it. You wouldn't send someone to their death just for being a human. A witch would never stoop to that level, right?"

Yukari felt a flush crawl over her cheeks, and she cleared her throat before turning her head sharply away from Tsukune. "Of course I wouldn't! I just got a little carried away! I wasn't expecting to hear that boring, useless Aono had such a secret, and I was surprised, that's all!"

She sniffed as she brushed Tsukune's hand off her shoulder. "Anyway, if Senpai and Moka can trust a human like you, then I can at least trust them! So I'll cooperate!"

Ranma seethed as a vein popped up on his head, resisting the urge to grind his knuckles into Yukari's scalp. "I'm a human too, damn it..."

Tsukune smirked as he stood up again. "Thank you, Yukari. I'll try not to disappoint you." Then he nodded to Ranma. "Let's hurry. We need to find Kurumu and move out before the Protection Committee has any more time to prepare."


Ranma nodded and moved ahead of the girls to walk alongside Tsukune as he led the way down the hall.

"That was a pretty good speech back there," Ranma mumbled quietly enough so that Moka and Yukari couldn't hear, "I didn't think that Yukari might've said all that just because she was surprised."

Tsukune nodded firmly, feeling energized at the praise. Given how capable Ranma was at dealing with Youkai Academy, being complimented by the martial artist was extremely encouraging. "Well, genius or not, she's still a pre-teen girl," he whispered back, "you can't take all her outbursts so seriously."

They walked in silence a few more paces, and then Tsukune added, "Although now that I think about it, it's possible that she wasn't really scared of me at all and just saw an opportunity to get me out of the way so she wouldn't have any more obstacles between her and Moka."

Ranma sweatdropped as he watched his roommate's mood darken. "Ah. Yeah, I guess that also sounds like something she'd do. But either way you talked her out of it, right? Good job!"

As they reached Kurumu's room, Ranma stepped forward and rapped his knuckles on the door.

After a few seconds it cracked open, and Kurumu blinked as she saw her friends standing outside her room in the hallway, all of them looking unusually grim. "Huh? Tsukune, everyone... is something wrong?"

Tsukune was about to speak, but Ranma suddenly held up a hand and went first.

"Kurumu, Tsukune's a human," the pigtailed boy said bluntly, causing the others behind him to stagger.

Kurumu's eye bugged out. "What? He's... He's a human?"

"Yeah. Do you have any long-winded complaints or cheap prejudice that you need to get out in the open?" Ranma asked, stuffing his hands in his pockets.

Kurumu cocked her head to one side as she considered the question. "No, nothing I can think of."

"Awesome. Then come with us. The Enforcers found out about him being human, so they're going to try and kill him."

"What? Those creeps!" Kurumu growled, stepping through the doorway and slamming it shut behind her. "Let's take them out, then!"

The succubus stormed off ahead of the others, and Ranma followed swiftly as the others stood silently in the hallway, gaping.

They recovered fairly quickly and followed after them, with Tsukune again moving to walk alongside Ranma.

"Well... your speech wasn't bad either," Tsukune admitted awkwardly after a few seconds. "It was very... efficient."

Ranma grinned. "Hey, thanks!"

"Huff... Huff... You're not... Huff... Bad..." Kana admitted between gasps, her throat burning.

"Haah... Haah... You too..." Mizore admitted from where she was squatting on the ground, her own breath coming out in short puffs of frosty mist.

Both girls were situated outside the main dormitory building, the surface of which had been scarred by blades of ice and disturbed by repeated sonic tremors. Every single window had been shattered by stray sonic blasts, and there was a major water pipe that had been gouged out of the building to provide a steady stream of water for ice attacks. Small knives of ice, rapidly melting without Mizore's attention, littered the ground, which had itself been shaken up from a shock wave.

The tenants of the dorm building didn't seem particularly disturbed by the devastation, and in fact many of them were leaning out of their broken windows and cheering their support for one or both fighters. They had quieted somewhat since Kana and Mizore had faltered, but occasionally a student would shout something provacative to try and get the girls back into the fight.

"Maybe... Huff... a truce? Huff!" Kana asked, her voice cracking slightly. She was breathing much harder than Mizore was, although that was mostly because her attacks were directly dependent on her lung capacity.

Mizore looked uncertain as she glanced to the side at the puddle of water that was collecting next to the dorms. She had taken the brunt of the damage during the combat, as she had no way of easily avoiding or stopping Kana's sonic blasts while the siren could shatter her weapons with ease. But despite the constant throbbing all over her body, it seems her opponent had been pushed to the edge of exhaustion. Surely if she were to push just a little further...

"Come on, Frosty! Get her!" Came an obnoxious cheer from above.

"Bird girl, what're you doin'? You're almost there!"

"Cat fight! Woo!"

Both combatants cast annoyed glares at the spectators, and then Mizore nodded.

"Fine... Truce," she mumbled as she raised one arm. Extended from the oversized sleeve of her outfit were five scythe-like blades of ice, and Mizore conspicuously drew them back into her shirt sleeve before a normal hand emerged a second later.

Kana sighed in relief and withdrew a bottle of water, drinking greedily as she folded her wings up and allowed them to melt into her back.

There were many disappointed noises from the rooms above, but the girls ignored it.

"So... do I get an apology for being attacked?" Mizore asked calmly as she started dusting herself off. Her outfit had several small tears in it from bits of shrapnel - most of it from her own weapons shattering right next to her - and her ears were still ringing slightly from the repeated sonic blasts.

Kana tilted her head back and gargled the water for a few seconds before spitting it onto the ground. "Are you going to apologize for being a stalker?" The siren grumbled as she started to take stock of her own injuries. She had mostly gotten off easy, as she could evade in the air and destroy Mizore's projectiles at will, but for the first few seconds of the battle she had been in the ice fairy's clutches and been hammered considerably. Her shoulder was badly bruised and one leg sported a trio of long cuts down her thigh.

Mizore snorted as she fell back onto her rear, brushing some hair out of her eyes. "Why should I? Ranma doesn't mind..."

"I mind," Kana said testily. Ordinarily she would've added a booming or hissing effect to the simple statement, but her throat was still sore.

"I don't care if you mind," Mizore pointed out.

"And I don't care if you mind being knocked off the wall like a stunned housefly," Kana snapped back.

Mizore glowered darkly at the siren, who glared back.

After a few seconds, however, the two purple-haired girls tired of the staring contest and relaxed their expressions.

"Why don't you just... you know, ask him out?" Kana asked as she put away her water bottle. "Not that I want you to, but it would definitely be better than stalking him, don't you think?"

Mizore cocked her head to the side. "I'm... not good at confronting people..." She admitted. "I don't really like being in the spotlight... and..."

Mizore hesitated and fell silent.

"And what?" Kana asked.

"What about you?" Mizore asked, ignoring the prompt. "You have no problem being around him... Why aren't you his girlfriend?"

Kana flinched. "Ah... Well..."

Mizore waited patiently, staring straight into the siren's eyes.

"I'm... trying," Kana hedged, "but it's hard! I can't even talk to people most of the time!"

Mizore raised an eyebrow. "You can't? You seem way too talkative to me..." The snow fairy mumbled, sticking a finger in her ear and twisting it back and forth.

Kana's eyes narrowed. "You piss me off, so you're an exception." It was true, too. Just the sight of the shaggy-haired girl caused her throat to itch in anticipation of chastising her... into unconsciousness, if need be. She hadn't been around Mizore very much, but every time she was her usual paralyzing shyness seemed like an absurd memory.

The two girls stared hard at each other again, although their expressions lacked the intensity of the last round of glares.

"So, hey, you chicks gonna make out, or what?" Called one of the boys still watching from above.

In response, Mizore raised one of her sleeves in the boy's direction, and a moment later a needle of ice shot out of it like an arrow.

Thunk! "Augh! Hey! What the hell do-"

"YOU'RE TOO LOUD!" Kana boomed ironically, blasting the hapless student back into his room with the force of the shout.

Mizore finally pushed herself up off the ground and grimaced as she stared down at her long, striped socks that had been almost completely destroyed by bursts of rock and dirt. "I have to go change..."

"Me too," Kana said as she glanced at her leg. "Maybe I should see the nurse, too... Just how sterile are those claws of yours?"

Mizore frowned as she played with the lollipop in her mouth. "I keep them well below freezing temperature..."

"What in the blazes is going on here?"

The girls glanced to the side at the sudden shout, only to see a short, pink-haired child they had never seen before.

"Who are you people? What happened here?" Saffron demanded, glaring harshly at the pair. "Are you two responsible for this?"

Both girls nodded reluctantly.

"Idiots! What have you done to my room?" Saffron demanded as his hands suddenly lit ablaze. He was staring at the point where Mizore had damaged a water pipe, and more specifically the particular unit where much of the water had leaked into.

Mizore noted where Saffron was staring, and then calmly started walking towards him. Kana shrugged and followed a moment later.

"Say something!" Saffron growled as the schoolgirls approached, the flames around his hands swirling into bulging fireballs. "How are you going to pay for-"

Saffron's demands were cut off suddenly as Mizore patted his head, instantly encasing the Phoenix king in a block of ice and putting out the fires.

"That's a nice trick," Kana mumbled as she stopped and knocked on the ice block.

"It doesn't hold for very long, though..." Mizore noted as she walked by.

Kana frowned at this, and then cleared her throat.

"Hmmm! Hmmm! H-M-M-M!"

Skrak! A deep crack blasted through the ice block as Kana's voice reached the perfect harmonic frequency, and then the siren turned around and left right before the upper portion of the frozen Phoenix slid away from the lower portion, leaving Saffron's legs and hips standing on their own as his chest, arms, and head tumbled away.

After a few more seconds, the encasing ice spontaneously shattered and crumbled away as Mizore said it would, leaving two separated and extremely distressed halves of Saffron lying on the ground in a dirty puddle.

"Hate... this place... so much..." The Phoenix king managed to gasp out before death overtook him yet again.

"You can't be serious. The fight club? Here?" Jin demanded as he glared down at Kishia, who was lying on a cot as Fran Madaraki sewed up a pair of wide, glowing gashes over her cheek.

"I am serious," Kishia said, trying to remain as still as possible as the school nurse worked. "They ambushed me and Haruo without provocation. And they alluded to... a hunt," the elemental finished bitterly.

Jin leaned in, one eyebrow perking up. "A hunt? For what?"

"For US! The Enforcers!" Kishia hissed. "They called us prey! PREY! The fight club is stalking our very offices now, attacking us directly! This is no longer a matter of disruption or defiance! The fight club has effectively declared WAR!"

Fran finished drawing closed Kishia's cheek, and then cut the string. "Finished. I used an asbestos composite thread, so it should be safe for you to change forms, although I would advise against putting any significant stress on your body until your core heals fully."

Jin frowned. "Isn't asbestos dangerous? I remember hearing something like that in my review of the building codes."

"It has been known to significantly increase risk of cancer in humans, but its effects on elemental creatures are completely unknown," Fran pointed out to the senior Enforcer before turning back to her patient. "On that note, please make sure to return as soon as the scar tissue has finished forming. I have a LOT of tests to run."

Kishia sweatdropped at the obvious anticipation that the nurse displayed. 'I really hate monster doctors. Psychos, every one of them.'

Jin sniffed haughtily as he turned around. "Very well. I will see to this incursion myself, and see the fight club stopped in their tracks. You and the gargoyle are dismissed from duty pending your return to combat readiness."

"Yes, Captain Jin," Kishia grumbled, only to be ignored as the senior Enforcer walked quickly out of the office.


Jin clasped his hands behind his back as he returned to the Protection Committee offices, the gears in his head turning furiously.

Naturally, Jin had a plan in case of someone being foolish enough to attack the Protection Committee directly, but he wasn't very confident of it in a case like this. Most of the imagined foes of the Enforcers were disgruntled, rioting students or ultra-powerful, single monsters seeking to rebel against the foremost authority on campus.

The enemy in this case were a group of loosely organized and independently capable brawlers fighting small skirmishes in the halls. A far more dynamic and dangerous force.

"Speak of the devil," mumbled Jin as a grate leading to an air duct rattled above him.

The Enforcer leapt to the side as the grate popped off, spitting out something small onto the floor. Jin didn't get a good look at it, but that didn't matter a moment later when the assailant shifted fully into his normal-sized human form.

"Ooh, you're a sharp one. Were you expecting me?" The fight club member asked as he took a rough fighting stance and grinned.

"This was within the parameters of my short-term hallway defense back-up plan, yes," Jin explained seriously, "as is your fellow fight club member behind me."

A surprised gasp came from behind a door just a meter down the hall behind Jin, and that door opened to reveal a girl with long, rough brown hair and unusually long and sharp nails.

"Interesting. So how does your 'plan' deal with a situation like this, eh?" The boy asked, cracking his knuckles.

"Like so," Jin said simply as he shoved a fist toward his first assailant.

The attack was fairly slow and telegraphed, so the ambusher stepped out of the way with ease.

Or at least, he would have if the fist didn't swell to four times its original size mid-punch.

Wham! The boy let out an awkward cry of pain and surprise as the massive gray knuckles found their mark, slamming into his shoulder with the force of a speeding pickup truck and sending him spinning off to the side.

The girl seemed stunned at first, and then grit her teeth as she stared at the Enforcer angrily.

"Really, you shouldn't be so full of yourselves," Jin said as he flexed his arm. By now it had shifted fully into its monster form, and had swollen thick with muscle and sprouted a coat of long gray hair all over.

"I'll be more than enough to deal with the likes of you," the senior Enforcer growled as the rest of his body started to bulge, tearing the upper half of his uniform apart at the seams.

The girl watched the transformation nervously, her eyes slowly creeping up as Jin grew bigger and bigger. "Yheti... Damn."

"Hello again everyone! Are you ready to learn all about yhetis?" Shizuka Nekonome asked cheerfully as she tapped the blackboard behind her.

Scrawled on the surface was a picture of a snow man with a huge vein throbbing over its head, and a small diagram of an ice cube surrounded by arcane gibberish.

"Yhetis are a type of monster that live in high mountain peaks all over the world, far above altitudes that most animal species, including humans, can comfortably survive in! This has resulted in extreme adaptation to cold weather!"

"While most people would assume that the yheti is merely a feral, over-adapted mammal, this is incorrect!" Shizuka stated while shaking her head. "The yheti is actually an elemental beast; it doesn't need to protect itself against the cold because ice is its core element!"

Shizuka tapped the picture of the ice cube. "Because of this, a yheti's body temperature is actually much COLDER than that of the areas where they tend to live, and it allows them to blow gusts of freezing ice to defend themselves. The yheti's thick coat of hair, which most people assume is for insulation, is mostly to provide extra traction in a snow-slick environment and protect their bodies from wind-blown hail."

"Yhetis live in small, nuclear families rather than tribes or packs, and inside their territory usually consider all creatures outside of their immediate family to be either food or a nuisance. Outside in relative civilization, they tend to be lazy and easy-going, but woe betide the one who angers a yheti!"

Shizuka moved to the far end of the blackboard, which had a picture of the snowman from before tearing the tentacles off a kraken with its mouth composed of coal chunks spread into a maniacal grin.

"Unlike, say, a hellhound, whose temper is sudden and explosive, a yheti's temper is more like a blizzard, slow to build but nearly unstoppable once unleashed. Possessed of super strength, magical frost breath and a body so numb with cold that they can barely feel pain, the yheti is difficult to put down once enraged. Better to let it chill out!"

With a vapid smile on her face and her tail swishing back and forth behind her, Shizuka waved goodbye. "That's all! See you next time!"

"Son of a BWAUGH!"

The girl tried to dodge out of the way as Jin barreled toward her, but as she ducked back into the room she had stepped out of, Jin's hand darted in after her, clasping firmly around her shoulders and yanking her back out into the hallway.

The unfortunate fight club member gulped as she stared up at Jin's true form: nearly nine feet tall, with a dome-shaped head that sat directed on the shoulders with no neck to speak of, Jin's torso took up almost the entire hallway. Black eyes like gleaming drops of pitch peeked out from behind a long carpet of thick gray hair, and the Enforcer's mouth was full of dull yellow tusks that poked out from beneath thick brown lips. Only the yheti's lower torso retained any semblance of Jin's former proportions, and even the relatively short, stocky legs were straining the seams of his pants from the transformation.

"So here's my plan: you're going to go to sleep now. When you wake up, you're going to pick up your friend there and leave this area. And the next time you or someone else considers coming back, you're going to think, 'no, I really prefer having all of my bones not broken'. How does that sound?" Jin asked, holding the girl up in the air as he opened and closed his free hand threateningly.

"Sounds like you're counting me out too early!" Snapped a male voice from behind, and Jin glanced behind him as the male fight club member stumbled back to his feet as his nails lengthened into talons.

It wasn't terribly intimidating to the massive yheti, but it was enough of a distraction that the girl in his hand saw an opening. Curling up from under her skirt, a long, segmented, scythe-tipped tail slashed into Jin's forearm, quickly shooting out a burst of venom before whipping back where it came.

Jin grunted as he felt the attack, and a rumbling growl came from the back of his throat before he hurled his current prisoner at the foe behind him.

The boy managed to catch his partner roughly, only staggering back a few steps before putting her down on her feet. "Ow! Hey! Be careful!"

Jin grimaced as he stared at the gouge in his arm, as well as the hissing green ooze that seeped from it.

Then he pulled out a small black book from his back pocket and carefully thumbed it open, much to the confusion of his opponents.

"Poison... Poison..." Jin mumbled as he searched the book. "Ah, here we are: in case of poison, the first thing to do is punch the one who poisoned you in the head. Repeat as necessary or desired. There are no other steps."

As the girl's expression darkened, her partner merely looked confused. "How does that help with the poison?"

Jin shrugged as he pounded a fist into his palm. "Sometimes when you kill the person that poisoned you, the poison is broken."

"I'm pretty sure you're thinking of curse-" the boy began to argue back before he was seized by the back of his collar.

"Stop arguing with him and RUN!" The girl screamed as she dragged her partner down the hall.


Jin snorted heavily as he watched the pair run, great puffs of frosty air blasting from his nostrils.

"Hmph. Waste of a plan," the yheti grumbled as he turned around and walked down the halls, idly scratching his wounded arm all the while.

After wandering deeper into the Enforcer's offices for several minutes, Jin turned toward into the Enforcer's personal lounge and shoved open the door.

"Hm? Who-" one of the room's occupants turned around sharply when he heard the door burst open, and the color drained from his face as he saw the hulking beast standing in the doorway.

"L-Lord Kaishuu!" Stammered another of the room's occupants, a gloomy-looking kid who had been reading a magazine. "Wh-Why are you out of human form, sir?"

Jin remained silent as he waited for the other occupants of the room to notice him and lurch to their feet.

Once they had done so, the yheti calmly took stock of the men he had found: a skinny boy nervously fiddling with a switchblade, the gloomy, emaciated boy who had recognized him, a large boy built like a football star, and a short kid with shaggy white hair.

"Monster forms! Now!" The senior Enforcer barked, causing the others to flinch back. "We have a major security breach on our hands, so all members of the Protection Committee are to maintain combat readiness until further notice!"

The lesser Enforcers wasted no time protesting, and promptly shifted into their monster forms: a pumpkin-headed lantern, a bone dragon, a tree golem, and the winged, white-furred holy dragon.

Jin frowned at the last monster. "Wait, weren't you killed in action the other day?"

"We're Netherworld monsters," the holy dragon explained dutifully, "death doesn't stop us for long... Well, so long as we have money, anyway."

"That's actually quite interesting and possibly important, but I just can't bring myself to care right now," Jin admitted, his voice a low rumble as the yheti crossed his arms over his chest. "You all have a new task, starting now: protect Volos!"

The lantern started. "Wait, our student council rep? What's going on?"

"I have reason to believe that members of the fight club, and specifically Ranma Saotome, are looking to reduce our influence in the student council by taking out our representative. I have a plan to counter this."

Though the Netherworld minions quailed at the mention of Ranma, they perked up when Jin said he had a plan.

"All right, so what do we do?" Asked the tree golem as he cracked his knuckles.

"You're to find Volos in his personal office around the council meeting room," Jin explained. "And then, when he is attacked, you are to throw yourself at the enemy in a desperate bid for time so that Volos can escape at the insignificant cost of your lives."

Each of the lesser Enforcers waited patiently for Jin to laugh and reveal he was joking, and each of them felt disappointment and dread well up within them as their superior remained silent.

"Do you... maybe have a plan that DOESN'T involve us dying?" Asked the bone dragon nervously. "I mean, like goody-two-shoes said, it's not necessarily permanent for us, but I'm a little short on cash this week..."

"Of course, I have several plans that depend on my subordinates to act swiftly and with competence to firmly and completely crush the foe," Jin explained, "but looking at you four, I'd rather use a plan that relies on your bloody, painful demise. Much better chances of success." Then he stepped aside and pointed toward the hall. "Now move out, Protection Committee! The future of our fine institution depends on it!"


There were a great deal of grumbles and pitiful moans as the Netherworld monsters shuffled into the halls, but none dared voice direct opposition to the massive snow beast as they rushed along their way.

Once they were out of earshot, the lantern sighed. "Damn it. I thought we were done with Saotome and his lackeys once and for all."

The bone dragon raised his head slightly as he trudged through the halls. "Actually, I heard that Aono was the mastermind and Saotome is HIS lackey."

"That doesn't make much sense. Why would Saotome take orders from someone so much weaker than him?"

"Unless Aono ISN'T actually weaker than him," the lantern mused. "Nobody knows what kind of monster they are, right? We know Saotome is strong in his human form; what if Aono is some kind of monster who's only strong when he transforms? And Saotome's the only one strong enough to have actually faced him all-out before?"

As the other minions mulled this over, the tree golem suddenly spoke up. "Actually, I heard some kind of rumor around the compliance squad that he's a human."

The other Enforcers stopped dead in their tracks.

After a few seconds of standing in the middle of the hall, completely stunned, the skeletal dragon suddenly laughed.

"Ha! Yeah, right! A human! Fat chance!"

The lantern sniggered as he tossed a dagger into the air and caught it again on the way down. "Next you'll be telling us that Saotome is a human, too, and that's why he never transforms to fight."

"Hey, let's not be ridiculous here," the golem grumbled. "I mean, it's at least POSSIBLE if we're talking about Aono, right?"

"If he's a human and the Protection Committee knows about it, why haven't they told us yet?" The holy dragon said as he shook his head. "There's a limit to official incompetence, you know. Something that important would be broadcast throughout the ranks of the committee, if not the entire school."

The tree golem frown, scratching at the single leaf on the back of his head. "Ah. I guess you have a point. That does seem like the kind of thing we'd all be informed about, huh?"


As the hulking mass of vegetation trailed off in embarrassment, he and the other Enforcers slowed as they came to a large set of iron double-doors.

"So... I've never been here before. Is this the entrance to the student council's office or something?" Asked the bone dragon.

The lantern sighed. "No. This is Volos' office. I've been here before."

The tree golem reaches for one of the huge metal rings one the doors, but hesitated.

"Uh, guys? It might be too late to bring this up, but if I don't survive this, I don't have enough money to pay for my resurrection," the tree golem admitted.

"Ah, you too?" Grumbled the bone dragon.

"Yeah, actually, I might have to take out a loan as well," the lantern said, scratching the back of his bulbous head.

Slowly, the three minions turned toward their white-furred companion, who flinched back.

"Wh-What? I'm the only one with money? What happened to you guys?"

"Well, they've been selling those special beef bowls in the cafeteria lately," the lantern said bashfully, shrugging his shoulders.

The bone dragon nodded. "Oh, yeah! Delicious, but pricey!"

"I'm surprised you have money, actually," the tree golem said. "I mean, you actually had to pay for a revive recently, right? Do you not eat beef bowls or something?"

"Tch! I'll have you know that I don't spend money on frivolous things for precisely this sort of occasion," the holy dragon lectured, "although, since you asked, no, I don't eat beef. I'm a vegetarian."

There was a long pause before the bone dragon asked, "Seriously?"

"Yes. Killing animals for food is unnecessary and cruel. I only eat plants," the holy dragon said proudly.

The tree golem's eyes narrowed. "Fuck you."

"So, are you four planning on going in, or what? You're not the only one waiting to see this Volos guy."


The Netherworld monsters remained shock-still for several seconds before they slowly turned their heads to look behind them.

The lantern swallowed noisily as he beheld Ranma Saotome staring at them, his arms crossed over his chest and a distinctly irritated expression on his face.

Behind the pigtailed boy, looking equally displeased, was Tsukune, Moka, Kurumu, and Yukari.

"Hey, I remember you clowns! You're the jerks that tried to capture us as bait for Senpai!" Yukari exclaimed angrily as she pulled a large card decorated with magical scrawl from beneath her hat.

Tsukune blinked as he recognized the white-furred demon. "Hey, it's that nice Enforcer! He's okay!"

"Yeah, I got better," grumbled the holy dragon as his eyes swept back and forth across their opponents. "So, how do want to do this? There's still time to turn back, you know. You don't need to head down this path!"

"You don't say," Ranma mumbled as he walked forward, clearly disinterested as he cracked his knuckles.

"Wait!" Tsukune shouted suddenly, stepping in front of Ranma. "The same goes for you, you know!"

The dragon raised an eyebrow. "What? What do you mean?"

"You don't have to stand in our way!" Tsukune clarified. "None of you do! Look, you guys attacked us, and you got beaten up for it! As far as I'm concerned, we're even! There's no need for you to fight us any longer!"

Kurumu and Yukari drew aside in surprise as Tsukune stepped forward, and Moka smiled as the human boy continued.

"You don't have to get clobbered trying to defend this corrupt, useless regime! There's no reason to stand in our way!" Tsukune said passionately, gripping a hand into a fist in front of him. "Walk away now, and we can put aside our differences! We can build a better future for us, and Youkai Academy, together!"

The holy dragon slowly lowered his head. "I see... well then, go on ahead..." Then he raised his head again. "Is what I'd like to say, but things aren't that simple," the white-furred Enforcer explained as his gaze hardened. "When I joined the Protection Committee, I swore to uphold ALL the rules to protect Youkai Academy, not just the-"

Crash! The dragon's counter-speech was interrupted by the sound of shattering glass, and his eyes bugged out as he noticed that his three companions were at the side of the hall, escaping out the window. The lantern had evidently led the way and was even now sprinting away outside, and the tree golem struggled to get its wooden bulk through the window as the skeletal dragon alternated between shoving him with his snout and casting nervous glances backward.

"Th-Thank you, Lord Aono!" The undead monster stuttered, idly smacking the golem in the back with his tail, "we'll never forget your boundless mercy and wisdom!" Then he growled at the wood golem, "and at the rate THIS fatass is making his retreat, I certainly hope it IS boundless!"

"W-Wait! Don't retreat!" The holy dragon cried as sweat started to bead along his head. "What about our oath to the Protection Committee? What about justice?"

"You look like you've got that angle covered, boy scout!" The bone dragon said as he finally managed to ram the golem out the window. "Oof! Besides, you're the only one with resurrection money, remember? Never lose hope! Never surrender!"

Then he hopped onto the window sill. "So long! We'll visit you in the nurse's office!"


The holy dragon gaped as the last of his comrades made good their retreat, leaving him behind.

"Huh. Somehow, this doesn't really feel right, but if you're determined to stand your ground, then there's nothing I can do," Ranma said as he stepped forward, bringing up his arms loosely.

"Ranma, could you go a little easy on him?" Aono asked, "I don't think he really deserves what you're about to do to him."

"Don't you make a fool of me!" The holy dragon shouted, although he had tears in his eyes at the time. Then he flapped his wings mightily, lifting him up near the ceiling. "Even alone, outnumbered, outgunned, and with an objective that conflicts directly with my strict moral framework, I won't let you just do as you please!"

Ranma tensed his legs as if to jump, but hesitated as a sweatdrop rolled down his head. "Uh, do you need a minute? I mean, I'd rather not fight you while you're still crying."

"Shut up! Just die already!" The holy dragon shouted before sweeping his wings forward. In that moment, dozens of feathers from the demon's shining white wings shot forward like waves of arrows, straight toward the martial artists waiting on the ground.

"Hmm..." Ranma's hands became blurs as he plucked the arrows out of the air, snatching even the ones that were likely to miss so that those behind him wouldn't get hit accidentally.

"Okay, well... Sorry about this," Ranma mumbled as he let his fingers go slack, releasing the bunches of shining white feathers to float softly to the floor.

Then he launched himself upward toward the gaping holy dragon.


"Wow, Tsukune, what was with that speech? You sent those guys packing!" Kurumu said admirably as she suddenly grabbed the human boy in a hug from behind.

Tsukune flushed both from the praise and the feeling of Kurumu's breasts being squeezed against his back. "It wasn't me, I'm pretty sure that had more to do with Ranma..." He winced as he heard the holy dragon cry out, which was followed by the sound of splintering wood.

Yukari rubbed her chin as she narrowed her eyes at Tsukune. "I see... There's a legendary technique among humans, usually possessed by the political and religious leaders of their kind. I believe it's called 'rhetoric'."

"Ah, no, that's not really a legendary technique," Tsukune pointed out as he sweatdropped.

Yukari, however, had Moka and Kurumu's complete attention as she continued. "A master rhetorician can make others do anything they want, even against their better interests, same as a hypnosis spell! Who knew that Aono had such a fearsome power!"

"No, I'm not a master rhetorician, that last line was actually from an old movie I saw," Tsukune protested, although he had a feeling it wouldn't make a difference. "And really, giving up was in their best interests..."

"Whoa! Careful! I think he's still using it!" Yukari cried, putting her arms up to defend herself.


Wham! The holy dragon yelped painfully as he bounced off of the wrought-iron doors of Volos' office door, luckily avoiding the spikes as he slumped onto the floor in a heap.

"That was easy," Ranma mumbled as he squatted next to the fallen demon. "Do you give up yet? I really don't want to fight you anymore."

"I will... fight to my... last... hit point, miscreant..." The holy dragon gasped out.

Ranma frowned as he stood up. "Okay, the winged dog-thing gives up."

"I'm a... holy... dragon, you..." The rest came out as an unintelligible garble as Ranma picked him up. "Moka, could you take him to the nurse's office?"

"Right away!" The vampiress said, somewhat cheered by the fact that someone was giving her a task, even if that someone was Ranma.

As Moka lifted the moaning Enforcer in her arms, Ranma stepped toward the metal office doors, grabbing hold of the massive rings that functioned more or less as knobs.

"All right, bastard! Your guards are gone and you've got nowhere to run!" The martial artist shouted as he tugged the door open. "It's time to-WAUGH!"

Ranma shouted in surprise as a net seemed to launch from the opening between the two doors, spreading out in a spiral as hundreds of sticky threads wrapped around Ranma's body.

"Ranma! WHOA!" Tsukune was no more fortunate as small balls of sticky webbing attached to the first net seemed to burst open in a cascade, filling long stretches of the hallway with long, sticky webs and entangling Tsukune, Yukari, and Kurumu in moments.

Only Moka, who had been leaving the area with the holy dragon, had been outside the trap's effective radius, and she promptly stopped in her tracks.

"Tsukune! Are you okay?" Moka asked, dropping the holy dragon carelessly as she rushed back toward the others.

"Moka! Wait! Stay back!" Tsukune shouted as he struggled against the webs that held his arms and legs fast. "If you touch the webs, you'll get stuck too!"

"But..." Moka hesitated as she watched the others struggling against the threads. Wasn't there anything she could do?

"Damn, I was careless!" Ranma growled. He tugged experimentally at the threads, trying to test the relative strengths of the wrappings around each limb. "Kurumu, can you cut yourself free?"

"Mmhrgh!" Kurumu grunted as she extended her fingernails and tried to draw her hands closer together so she could cut away at the threads; whether by some quirk of fate or a stubbornly persisting theme, the succubus had been bound in such a way that her arms were stretched up over her head, causing her breasts to squeeze together as they were shifted up.

Yukari had her arms free, but her wand had been hit and tugged from her grasp such that it was infuriatingly suspended just a few inches out of reach.

"Don't think you'll get out of this so easily," hissed an angry, feminine voice.

Ranma turned his head as best he could as a slim, feminine figure with straight black hair and thin, dark lines under her eyes slowly emerged from the office. "You're not Volos, are you?"

"You should do your research more carefully when planning an attack," Keito said haughtily as she sauntered out of Volos' office. "The student council is in session right now, and of course Volos is with them. You're MY prey."

Ranma smirked as he started to pulled one of his arms closer, feeling the webbing strain against his strength. "You don't think something like this is enough to stop ALL of us, do you Boss Spider?"

Keito snorted. "I don't... uh..." She trailed off. "Wait, Boss Spider? What?"

"You're that giant spider that's been attacking students around campus, aren't you?" Ranma said, still smirking. "You remember me, don't you?"

Keito was stunned silent for several seconds. "No, I'm not! What do you mean a giant spider's been attacking students? I never heard anything about this!"

"Are you serious? What if someone had died?" Tsukune cried out.

"What do you mean, 'what if'? I'm pretty sure the body count is at least eight people, by now," Yukari muttered as she continued groping for her wand.

"Never mind that!" Keito suddenly said, deciding to drop the subject, "I am no 'Boss Spider'! My name is Keito, Lord Kuyo's right hand!" The senior Enforcer declared as her shirt bulged around the abdomen and her cheeks started to swell.

Undershirt and jacket ripped apart as four long, pointed legs unfolded improbably from Keito's belly, and Keito's grin became even more wicked as a pair of fang-tipped mandibles emerged from the corners of her mouth. Additional eyes opened up on the sides and top of her head, and the exposed skin of her face, arms, and legs started to harden into yellow chitin.

Within moments Ranma was staring impassively at the huge spider as she stalked through the folds of webbing. "Nope. Not Boss Spider. So, what, you're just a regular spider woman, then?"

"Hey everyone! Welcome once again to the monster encyclopedia segment!" Shizuka Nekonome cheered, her tail whipping back and forth behind her. "Today we get an extra segment to talk about spider monsters!"

Shizuka tapped her pointer against a diagram of a proper spider's underside, and then brought it along to a second diagram which looked like some sort of cross between a spider and a human: the second diagram lacked a swollen abdomen, and the body was a proper torso rather than a segmented arthropod body. In addition, its front most arms possessed fingers, and it had a full head of hair.

"We've talked before about spider monsters versus giant spiders, but this segment will touch more on ordinary spider monsters, rather than their barbaric exceptions."

Shizuka smiled brightly as she drew the pointer to a chalk drawing of a cluster of small woodland animals surrounding a human girl. It was labeled "food".

"Spider monsters are predatory monsters that live all throughout the world, and are generally well-versed when it comes to living among humans. They are masters of stealth, traps, and other deceitful tactics."

"Spider monsters eat all manner of creatures, including humans. However, the females of the species have gained a particularly nasty reputation, as they often use their human forms to seduce human men into their lairs before trapping and eating them. Because this tactic doesn't work nearly as well for the male monsters, females usually eat a lot more humans."

Shizuka took out a piece of chalk and started drawing a web pattern on the blackboard.

"In combat, spider monsters spit nets of webbing to immobilize their prey before attacking with powerful venoms. A spider monster's webbing is as strong as steel cable, and its highly acidic venom, although usually non-lethal in the short-term, can paralyze and weaken even the mightiest of demons! Some monsters develop special abilities that allow them to spit poison too, or control swarms of normal spiders, or form webbing balls that explode into nets that wrap around enemies!"

Shizuka shook her head. "However, spider monsters are not aggressive fighters, and will only engage in battle if they have a significant advantage or if they have no choice. A spider monster that senses a threat to itself will always be careful to leave itself an escape route, if it doesn't flee outright. These cowardly traits, however, just spur these eight-legged monsters toward more extreme and more treacherous behavior in their efforts to avoid a fair fight at all costs. Never turn your back on one!"

Shizuka bowed. "That's all I have for you this time! See you next time!"

Keito snorted. "Regular spider woman? Hmph. Awfully cheeky coming from someone who stands at my mercy," she said, walking forward along six of her eight limbs. Her feet never touched the ground, instead stepping onto the stretches of webbing that criss-crossed the halls.

"Who says I'm at YOUR mercy? Try me!" Ranma goaded, tightening his hands into fists.

Keito laughed briefly before she jumped to the side, landing on a vertical stretch of web before she leapt again onto a patch that hung directly over Tsukune.

"While I'd love to make a snack out of the 'big, bad Ranma Saotome' that everyone's been screeching about, you're not my target today. Count yourself lucky."

"H-Hey!" Tsukune shouted out as four long, spike-tipped legs lowered themselves around him, each one slipping between the folds of webbing with ease and cutting apart the threads that had coiled around his arms.

"Why you! Leave him alone, you oversized garden pest!" Kurumu growled as she managed to scratch at the webbing wrapped around her left wrist.

"Ha ha ha ha! Don't worry, we won't forget about the rest of you!" Keito promised as she hauled the struggling Tsukune up and wrapped her central legs around him. Then she started to scuttle along her webs down the hall, away from Volos' office. "The consequences for harboring a human and conspiring to overthrow the Protection Committee will be... Huh?"

Keito mumbled the last bit as she felt something latch onto her leg, and for a moment she thought she she had gotten herself snagged on her own webbing. It did happen from time to time, and the boy in her arms wasn't making it any easier to navigate the folds.

But typically webbing didn't throw you across the room like that.

"Let GO of him!" Moka shouted, squeezing her eyes shut as she swung Keito about with all her might.

"Bwaugh!" Keito yelped as she hit the floor on her back, and her legs reflexively spread open to help control her tumbling as she bounced.

Tsukune, as a result, was flung from her grasp and into the air, but luckily managed to avoid a painful landing as he fell onto a bed of soft fur.

"Gwargh!" The holy dragon cried out in pain as Tsukune landed flat on top of him, and the demon's wings twitched weakly.

"Sorry about that!" Tsukune apologized as he rolled off the Netherworlder, well aware that the unfortunate demon was in a critical state.

"Tsukune! Run!" Moka called as pointed to Keito, who was back on her feet and clearly enraged.

"You won't get away from me!" Snarled the spider woman, spitting a bolt of webbing at Tsukune's feet.

If asked about it later, Tsukune would have attributed his dodging the webbing shot to pure luck, as well as his dodging the next three shots. But Ranma couldn't help but notice an element of hardened experience to the nerve-wracking hops and leaps that took Tsukune around the corner and out of Keito's line of fire. As if the younger boy had recently had to dodge a lot of deadly projectiles as of late...

"Damnation!" Keito raged as Moka and Tsukune rounded the corner, her last webbing shots splashing uselessly against the wall. "Was that Akashiya? Damn it all, what else could go wrong?"

Snap! Snap! Kurumu finished cutting away the webs around her legs, and then her wings practically exploded from her back as she glared at the arachnoid monster.

"You're mine, you fanged freak!" She snarled, dashing forward and slashing away the webbing attached to Yukari's side in passing.

Keito's eyes (those ones facing Kurumu, anyway) narrowed, and she promptly bolted down the hall after her target, with Kurumu in hot pursuit.

Yukari jumped up to snatch her wand free from the webbing, and then drew a card from under her hat. "Senpai, here!" She shouted, loosing the razor-edged tarot and slicing away a good chunk of the numerous folds wrapped around Ranma.

"Thanks, squirt!" The martial artist called as he tugged his arm free, and then started ripping away at the other threads. "Gimme a second, I'll be right behind you!"

Yukari swiftly shook her head. "No Senpai, let us take care of Aono!" She insisted. "You know where the Protection Committee rep is, right? Go take him out! We'll protect Mister Motivational Speeches in the meantime!"

"Huh? But..." Ranma hesitated as he worked his legs free.

"Don't worry!" Yukari said as she rushed to the corner where the others had gone, "we're just saving him from one overgrown spider! You have to save him from the entire Committee! And that can only happen if you beat down that rep! Stick to the plan!"


Ranma watched the young witch dash off, and cast his gaze around the hall, at the shredded folds of webbing, the scattered dragon feathers, and the cracks in the wall that marked where he had smashed the hapless Netherworld demon.

"All to make the school safe, huh?" Ranma thought as a smile spread across his face. "Well, I don't really care about that, but if it's important to Tsukune, then I'll let the others look after him, just this once."

He grabbed onto a fold of webs, and the sticky threads snapped noisily as he walked deeper into the office complex, ripping the webbing from the walls as he went.

"All right, Volos... Let's see what you got."


Absolute silence dominated the halls after Ranma's departure, broken after several seconds by a pained whimper.

"Hello? Is anyone there?" Asked the holy dragon, his body still twitching slightly.

"I... I can't actually move right now. Am I still getting taken to the nurse? Guys? Lady Keito? Lord Volos? Miscreants? ANYBODY?"

"Get back here, insolent bug!" Keito howled as she leapt onto the wall of the hallway, taking a moment to stabilize herself before spitting another bolt of silken webbing at Moka and Tsukune.

"Tsukune, look out!" Moka shouted, pushing the human boy aside right before the webbing blast hit her legs. It immediately split open into a wide net that wrapped around her calves before spreading out over and attaching to the floor, holding the vampiress firmly in place.

Tsukune, however, completely avoided being entangled as Moka's sudden shove sent him tumbling roughly into the wall. "Ow! Hey!"

Keito clicked her tongue as she tried to work more webbing into her mouth, but stopped as the eyes atop her head glimpsed a certain winged monster girl rounding the corner after her.

"Bloody hell," the monstrous arachnid cursed as she jumped off the wall right before Kurumu cut a deep gouge into it. She couldn't keep going like this, and she knew it; she was neither accustomed to nor suited for running down victims, and if she focused either on the group chasing her or the group running away, it was almost guaranteed that she would either let her prey escape or get eviscerated.

'I have to think of a solution! I can't keep this up much longer!' Keito thought angrily as she leapt up and grabbed onto the ceiling, her hair swinging down underneath her as she scurried down the hall where Tsukune was trying to help Moka get free. Climbing on the ceiling wouldn't keep her completely from the succubus' reach, but given how narrow the halls were, at least her pursuer would probably have to resort to jumping at her rather than risking full flight and hitting something.

"Tsukune, don't worry about me! She's after you! Run!" Moka shouted, glancing nervously at the approaching Enforcer.

The human boy hesitated, naturally, but then darted back just enough to avoid a small dart of webbing that splattered against the ceiling. "All right, but be careful!" Tsukune said as he dashed under a stairwell, blocking Keito's line of fire as he turned toward the first door he could find and flung it open.

He was quite surprised, and equally frustrated, to see a massive, muscular, humanoid creature covered in gray hair standing in front of him.

"Excuse me! I need to get through!" Tsukune said immediately, ducking as he tried to squeeze past the beast.

Much to his surprise, the hairy monster suddenly grabbed him and then flung him back into the hall, causing him to land painfully on his back and roll across the floor.

"Ha ha! I have you now!" Keito said as her victim suddenly bounced back into view, and she inhaled deeply as she prepared to shoot another web ball.

"That's MY LINE!" Kurumu shouted as she flew up and smashed headlong into the spider woman, grabbing the arachnoid monster around her waist rather than slashing at her.

Keito immediately lost all sense of aim as she struggled to hold on to the ceiling, and quickly bent over so that she could anchor her hands as well. "Damn you! Get off me!"

Tsukune groaned as he pushed himself onto his knees, and then turned his head back toward the yheti. "Hey, what are you doing? I..."

He trailed off and felt the blood drain from his face as he spied a familiar armband that was mostly hidden amongst the excessive hair all over the monster's arms, and was nearly stretched to breaking around the obscenely muscled bicep. "You're an Enforcer too?"

"Jin Kaishuu, senior captain of the Protection Committee Compliance Squad," Jin recited in a low growl as he saluted. "And you would be Aono Tsukune, the alleged 'human,' would you not?"

'Think fast! Most of these guys are dim and really poorly informed!' Tsukune grit his teeth, and suddenly shot to his feet. "Why the hell do you guys think I'm this 'Aono' jerk? I'm Takeda, from class four! I've never even heard of this guy! A human? Don't make me laugh!"

Jin blinked and actually took a step back in surprise as the other boy glared at him. "Wait, class four? I'll uh... er, hold on," the yheti grumbled, taking out a book from behind him and thumbing through it. "Damn it, I know I have a plan for this... just hold on..."

Tsukune was certainly not holding on, and only delayed his escape to look over and see how Kurumu was doing in her struggle against Keito.

Kurumu was doing quite well, and Keito let out a scream of pain and fear as the succubus stabbed her fingernails deep into the Enforcer's midriff. Keito's legs twitched badly in response, and she promptly lost her grip on the ceiling.

"You're going DOWN, ugly!" Kurumu shouted as she let her wings billow out behind her, catching the air and immediately flipping her and Keito around so that the spider woman was on the bottom.

WHAM! The female Enforcer let out an agonized croak as the wooden floor splintered underneath her from the impact, and Kurumu quickly shook off the rough landing before checking to see if Tsukune was okay.

"Tsukune! Are you all right?"

It would have helped him considerably had she not been so thorough as to check verbally.

Tsukune's hackles rose as he heard a book slam shut behind him, and he quickly broke into a full sprint back toward the hall.

"Not so fast," growled a voice behind him as an unnaturally frigid wind brushed by his legs.

The icy cold didn't do much to stop him directly, as he was far enough away that the frost breath was dispersed and too weak to sap the strength from his legs or freeze them. Unfortunately, it was enough to cover the entire floor around him with a layer of frost that completely ruined his footing and sent the human boy sprawling onto his back for the third time in the last five minutes..

"Gah! Damn!" Tsukune struggled forward across the floor, casting a desperate glance behind him at the yheti Enforcer.

"I hate being lied to," grumbled Jin as he stomped forward, his feet easily finding traction on the frost-coated flooring, "misinformation ruins my plans, you see."

"That's funny, seeing how correct information ruined mine," Tsukune said, although he certainly didn't look like he found it funny.

"Tsukune! Hold on!" Kurumu called, spreading her wings again as she vaulted forward to attack the newest opponent.

Thwap! "Gwah!" the succubus pitched forward as a blob of webbing exploded against her back, entangling her wings in sticky threads as she fell forward onto her face.

"Don't... count me out... yet... bimbo..." Keito gasped out as stray webbing strands hung from her lips; endurance was easily her weakest point, and thanks to her target's air headed arm-candy, a quick smash-and-grab had turned into a protracted struggle.

Still, now that Jin was here, the Protection Committee had a solid chance of victory; Keito herself wasn't completely out of the fight yet, and she was fairly certain that whether or not her wings worked, Kurumu had no real chance of winning against the yheti. As long as they could collect Tsukune and get to the Protection Committee offices before any more enemies arrived...

'By Lolth's spiky pink hairbrush, what now?' she cursed as she felt a series of minute tremors through the floor that indicated someone else approaching fast.

Turning her head slightly so that one of her eyes had a good view of the hallway leading back to Volos' office, that eye suddenly widened as she got a good look at who had come to help the enemy.

"School lunch room revenue is down ten percent..."

"Disposition of the general staff is getting worse..."

"Reports of missing cats are at an all-time high..."

"Test averages have advanced only two percent this last semester..."

"We've had another dozen complaints about Professor Richard over the past week... it's assumed that all plaintiffs were killed for their insolence..."


The meeting hall of the student council was abuzz with mumbled discussion, nearly every class representative and council officer debating or reporting some piece of glum news about the state of the campus. The hall was a massive room that featured a large, donut-shaped table ringed with chairs on the outside for the class representatives and the inside for the officers.

Massive stained glass windows dominated the walls, most of them depicting a significantly twisted version of traditional Catholic imagery. Not that most of the occupants knew the first thing about Catholicism or its common fables, but most were fairly certain that the virgin Mary had not given birth to a Cthuloid child and that Saint Peter was not supposed to be a mummy.

Behind the table was a series of statues depicting, in a properly over dramatic and desperately simplified fashion, the school's mission: specifically, there was a statue of a single suspicious-looking man in a hooded robe lifting up goblins in front of him while humans stood proudly behind him, representing the transition from monsterhood to faux-humanity.

No such grand themes entertained the minds of those currently meeting, however, and the individual representatives continued to chatter away about their own personal observations and the many issues that troubled Youkai Academy.

Only two individuals were silent: one was a rather handsome young man with dark red hair and wire-frame glasses that sat quietly with his hands steepled before his chin. His seat was slightly larger than the others, and was the only chair that directly faced the large double-doors that marked the only entrance to the student council's chambers. It was the only chair that belonged to an officer of the student council, and yet was placed on the outside of the meeting table so that its occupant could better address the room and in particular his officers that were situated in front of him. It was the chair of the student body president.

The other silent individual was on the interior, and seemed to be simply ignoring the chatter around him as he stared at the huge windows with a bored expression on his face. He had dark skin and a face that would have placed him as being of Mediterranean descent, were he human. His hair was ash white, and his uniform and jacket - which was clearly the black long jacket of the Protection Committee - had been altered so that the sleeves were gone, leaving his muscular arms completely bare. The last curious thing about the boy was that he had an iron bracelet ringed with spikes on each wrist, and another such accessory clamped tight around his neck.

"President Kaneshiro, if I may have your attention, please," called out one class representative as he stood up, holding up an arm.

Hokuto Kaneshiro shifted only slightly to shift his gaze to the standing representative. "Go ahead, please," he said, causing the other talking in the hall to quiet immediately.

"Thank you, President," the rep mumbled before clearing his throat. "We've had another string of disappearances around the campus, far in excess of the common conflicts that flare up around campus. I believe it's reached the point that it requires our direct attention."

Hokuto nodded. "So this is not an extension of the other disappearances that we've received complaints about already? You're sure of this?"

Another rep stood up. "More missing students? At this rate we'll barely have enough graduates to warrant a ceremony!"

"Quiet, please," Hokuto said with a gentle firmness, prompting the second rep to quickly sit back down.

"Thank you, President," said the first representative, adjusting his uniform's tie. "As I was saying, these 'disappearances,' or rather, these attacks, are different first because of the scale of them, and second because we know what's causing them; several students have reported either witnessing or escaping an encounter with a gigantic spider stalking the perimeter of the school grounds."

There was a burst of hushed whispers and concerned mumbling around the table.

"Is it a student?" Hokuto asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Doubtful. The attack patterns seem to be random, and it's likely that the victims were taken for food," the rep explained.

"Hmmm... interesting..." Hokuto mumbled, staring up at the ceiling briefly.

Then the student council president turned toward the lone Enforcer at the meeting. "Volos, does the Protection Committee have any insights as to this matter?"

Instantly the Enforcer's eyes flared, and he slammed his hands onto the table as he glared at Hokuto, teeth clenched. "What the hell are you asking me for, nerd? You trying to say we're not doing our jobs? Go die!" he snarled, causing the others around the table to flinch away.

Hokuto sighed gently. "Very well, Volos. Can the Protection Committee set up a task force to deal with this matter, then?"

"Oh, don't worry!" Volos said brightly, his demeanor changing completely as he smiled happily, "I'm sure they'll turn up! Everything's going to be just fine, I know it!"

Hokuto's head shifted slightly to the side. "I see. In that case, are there any developments in the OTHER case of missing students? You know, the ones that are all from Ishigami Hitomi's art class? And were all students that sought private sessions with her? And all disappeared immediately while supposedly at said sessions?"

Volos yawned as he leaned back in his chair, his eyelids drooping. "Nope. There are no leads, so what's the point? It's such a bother, anyway. Why can't the students look after themselves?"

Several representatives groaned and others massaged their heads, quite familiar with the antics of the Protection Committee representative, but frustrated nonetheless.

"At this rate, the students are going to start taking matters into their own hands," the representative that had brought up the issue said, crossing his arms over his chest, "I've already heard talk from some of the stronger ones that they might form gangs to go hunt down the beast that's doing this."

"Oh, that's perfect!" Volos said brightly, shifting forward in his seat. "That's what I like to hear! It's so refreshing to see people power at work, don't you think?"

The rep sighed. "This is a dangerous precedent, Lord Volos. We've seen what happens when students form fighting gangs, and now we have both the anti-schoolers and the fight club causing trouble all over campus. If we have another group banding together to try and protect ordinary students from threats, which is the Protection Committee's job, then there's sure to be-"

CRACK! The rep yelped and almost fell backward into his seat as Volos smashed a fist straight down into the table, breaking through the wooden surface and sending chunks of wood scattering across the fine marble floor of the meeting hall.

"Just what are you insinuating, you worthless cockroach?" Volos snapped, his eyes turning black as pitch as he stared at the speaker. "You have something to say about the job we're doing? HUH? Perhaps you'd like to test our methods for dealing with trouble-makers personally? I'll show you if you want."

The representative gulped nervously. "B-But if the situation worsens further, the Protection Committee could lose considerable influence and-"

"Eh, who cares?" Volos said suddenly, slouching in his chair as he sighed. "Is this meeting almost done yet? I'm bored. Is anyone else bored? 'Cause I am SOOOOOOOO bored."

Crash!


All conversation and commentary ceased at the sound of glass breaking, and everyone turned toward the east wall to see what was happening.

The lantern from the Enforcer squad got to his feet shakily, brushing off bits of glass and regaining his composure as he became the focus of everyone's attention. "I, uh... have a message for-"

"That was a rather expensive window you just broke through," Hokuto noted blandly, pointing to the image of Jesus Christ extending his finger to Count Dracula and the large, pumpkin-headed hole that now stood between the two figures. "Could you not have used the door?"

"Th-This is an emergency! He's coming!" the lantern said angrily before pointing to his armband. "Anyway, on my authority as a member of the Protection Committee, I'm dissolving this meeting and evacuating this room! This is-YURK!"

The hapless demon let out a yelp as Volos suddenly stalked over to him and then threw an arm across the width of the table, straight at the lantern's throat. Despite the two Enforcers being a good eight feet away, Volos' arm extended to make up the difference, seizing the Netherworld demon.

"Who the hell do you think you are, grunt?" Volos snarled, "coming in here and barking orders like you own the place? You think that little slip of cloth makes you a big shot? HUH?"

The lantern trembled in fear, although he knew he would be saved soon once one of Volos' other personalities took over. "But Lord Volos! Saotome Ranma is on his way! He's here for you!"

Volos dropped him immediately, his arm snapping back to its normal length.

"Someone's here for ME? Really? That's fantastic!" the Greek Enforcer gushed, clasping his hands together. "Does he want to be friends?"

"I have it on good authority that he does NOT want to be friends," the lantern said, shaking his head. "Now let's-"

WHAM!

"-Let's stay completely still and hope that Saotome is some kind of monster whose eyesight relies on movement," the lantern squeaked as the double doors leading to the hallway bounced across the floor, having been smashed straight off their hinges.

The student council and class representatives, save Hokuto himself, all leapt to their feet, turning to stare at the second intrusion to their meeting and find out just what was going on.

Hokuto merely frowned as he watched a single pigtailed figure walk over the collapsed doors, his hands in his pockets and a decidedly bemused expression on his face.

Ranma Saotome glanced from one end of the hall to the other, his eyes hard as a thin blue aura flared around his body. "So... which one of you guys is Volos?"

End Chapter 10

Big Human on Campus: Extra!

"Shiroyuki! It's time for round two!"

The voice boomed like a cannon shot, parting the crowd of students away from a single girl who had been slowly shouldering her way through the crowd.

"Hm? Seriously?" Mumbled Mizore around the popsicle in her mouth as she slowly turned around. "I thought we had a truce..."

"The truce was only temporary!" Kana declared, her voice causing everyone else to shrink back from the quite tangible force it contained. "Your stalking days are over!"

Mizore scratched the back of her head as she looked away, trying to avoid eye contact. "You're awfully noisy... for someone who supposedly can't speak..."

"She's right," mumbled a boy behind Mizore as he pointed to Kana, "this is actually the first time I've ever heard Kanade talk, and I'm in three of her classes."

The girl next to him shuddered. "Well, I can see why if she always sounds like some kind of dark overlord..."

"Why do you... want to fight me anyway?" Mizore asked, wringing her hands. "I don't like fighting..."

Kana crossed her arms over her chest. "Well, I wouldn't exactly consider myself a violent person either..."

"Despite pretty much assaulting me every time we've met?" Mizore grumbled

A vein popped up on Kana's head, but the siren simply continued with her explanation as her voice rose explosively again. "HOWEVER! I cannot stand idly by when our ENTIRE FIGHT SCENE from earlier was skipped like that!"

Crash! The students surrounding the two girls immediately collapsed on the spot, and a massive sweatdrop rolled down Mizore's head.

"So... THAT'S what's bothering you?" the snow woman asked, rubbing her head.

"Of course! We, two young, nubile girls, were grappling with each other and shredding each other's clothes off for a good ten minutes over a guy, and that whole battle got passed over for a bunch of heady character development and plot progression!" Kana complained, gripping a hand into a fist. "Doesn't that piss you off? What are we, chopped liver?"

Mizore stared up at the ceiling, idly rolling her popsicle from one side of her mouth to the other. "I think the chapters are long enough, personally... and fights take up so much room..."

"That's not the point!" Kana raged, flailing her arms angrily, "what kind of series is this supposed to be, anyway? We're neglecting the sex and violence that made the core series popular in the first place! And for what? To discuss everyone's feelings about Tsukune being a-"

Mizore crossed the distance between them in an instant, clamping a hand over Kana's mouth. "What are you trying to do, idiot?" the stalker groused, glancing about, "we still don't know if this section qualifies as an extension of the main story, or what... you could get someone in trouble."

Kana slumped slightly as she nodded reluctantly and pulled Mizore's hand away. "Y-You're right... that was a close call. But I still can't accept it! We can't let this all this sappy drama horn in on the pointless violence and fanservice!"

"Well then, shall I burn your clothes off?"


Mizore and Kana both turned their heads in surprise to see Saffron glaring darkly at them from down the hall, both his hands ablaze with trembling fireballs.

"Although I doubt that whatever's left of you will be very appealing to the eye, so I doubt readers would find it very enjoyable," Saffron admitted, "nonetheless, I will enjoy it VERY much."

Without waiting for the girls to respond, he slammed his hands together, sending the bolt of flame hurtling toward the pair.

"TAKE COVER!" Kana boomed, her voice forming a concussive blast that flung her and Mizore away from each other just in time for the fireball to sail between them.

The other students followed her advice well, most of them being used to sudden bombardment by magical projectiles. As such, the orb of flame continued traveling down the hall until it finally struck an individual that hadn't been involved at all in the altercation.

Bwoom! Professor Richard staggered forward slightly as the fireball struck him in the back, immediately catching his robes aflame and scorching the surrounding walls.

The warlock straightened, and then calmly stared at his arms as small embers burned along the thick bracers over his forearms.

And then, with a brief flash of blue light that covered his entire body, the flames were instantly doused, and the charred floor at Richard's feet was covered in a thin layer of frost as the warlock turned around to face the direction the fireball had come from.

"TAKE MORE COVER!" Kana screamed, spreading her wings behind her and then folding them forward so that she could hide behind them. Mizore grabbed a nearby water fountain and turned the knob before she started turning the resulting stream of water into an ice barricade as quickly as she could. Most of the other students likewise started activating natural defenses or simply pulling down lockers to hide behind as Richard strode down the length of the hall, his yellow eyes narrowed into slits.

Saffron was frozen into place, his hands shaking as he realized what he had just done. Nonetheless, the Phoenix king shored up his pride and grit his teeth as the undead magus stepped up in front of him, refusing to back down.

"Something wrong, Professor?" Saffron asked mockingly, crossing his arms over his chest. "I hope you don't expect an apology for a little burn like that, given how you've treated me."

Richard said nothing at first, glancing at each of Saffron's hands and noting the wisps of smoke. "Really? And that was with both hands?"

"Hm?" Saffron raised an eyebrow at the unexpected question. "What about it?"

"That blast radius was PATHETIC. You may as well fling firecrackers at people if that's the best you can manage on your own," Richard said disapprovingly, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Well, I... uh..." Saffron trailed off, completely lost, "what?"

"You're coming with me," Richard said suddenly, grabbing the Phoenix king by the wrist and then turning around, "and you're not leaving my side until you can double that area of effect and actually get some decent ongoing damage."

"What? Why should I? HEY!" Saffron tried to tug his arm away as the warlock started dragging him down the hall, but found that the professor of physical science was actually quite strong. "Aren't you going to kill me?"

"No, but after spending the weekend with me, you'll WISH you were dead," Richard noted as they got to a doorway and he pulled it open. "And who knows? If you make good progress, we might work on that, too."

Saffron's face paled considerably as he started kicking and tugging violently, trying to get free as Richard pulled him into the room. "N-No! Wait! Stop! Somebody, help me! NOOOOOOO!"


Mizore sighed in relief as the pair vanished. "Well... that could have gone worse..."

"We're not going to get our fight scene, are we?" Kana groaned weakly.

"Oh, get over it..."