Standard disclaimer applies. I don't own Ranma, I never claimed to own Ranma, and unless maybe Rumiko Takahashi moves and there's confusion over where to send the royalties, I never will.

Nexus
Chapter 2
Clash with the Amazons! The Legacy of Rail!
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*Crnch* *crnch*
The sounds of small pebbles being crushed underfoot were quite audible within the echoing walls of the rock hallway, as a large, heavy creature slowly made its way among the granite and brimstone.
The creature stopped at a tunnel intersection as another creature passed by. It had the body of a snake, but had two arms that ended in razor-sharp claws. The first beast was impatient, and gave a loud growl as the other slithered passed. The second creature gave a low hiss, but ultimately left quickly, cowering before the brown hulk.

The monster continued on its way through the small labyrinth, before coming to a doorway decorated with gems and gold, and generally looking quite out of place in the area which closely resembled a mine.
It uttered something not to be understood by most humans, and the doorway opened of its own accord, allowing the creature passage. On the other side, there stood an elegantly decorated room, with a tile pool in the center. Inside the pool swirled a torrent of murky blue liquid. Looking into the pool, and seemingly unaware of the creature, stood a figure in a black cloak, with glowing red eyes peering out from a dark hood. What was particularly odd, though, was that instead of arms which ended in hands, as one might expect, two large hands which seemed to be made of some kind of crystal simply floated nearby, free of any limbs restricting their movement. One of them was held open, palm down, above the pool, while the other grasped a short halberd laden with jewels.

Before the monster could do anything, the black figure spoke.
"You're here. Good. I need your assistance in killing somebody."
The monster grunted, then stared hard at the figure. "Who is it?" the monster asked in a deep, gutteral voice.
The hand over the pool retracted itself, then started to circle before the creature. The very air seemed to be drawn to the spot and condense, and then formed two human figures.
"These two are the only escapees from the church of the White Star. The rest have been dealt with, one way or another. These two are supposedly the only threat left to our campaign." The figure looked up at the ceiling with a decidingly annoyed expression. "Why we even bother with such insignificant details is beyond me, but you have your orders. Afterward, feel free to go eat some humans or whatever you do in your spare time."
The creature only nodded.
The cloaked figure turned the palm of one of his hands towards the monster, and a purple beam shot out of it. The beam struck the creature, and it disappeared.
__________________________________________________________________________________

Somewhere very far away, in the nether regions of China......

"Here sirs, we come to Jusenkyou, Valley of Cursed Springs!" the portly guide, dressed in a green Communist military outfit, exclaimed before the small group of four behind him.
The largest of the four, an overweight man in a dirtly gi wearing a bandanna over his bald head and sporting glasses, grinned as he caught sight of the springs.
The second biggest was just as tall as the first man, if not taller. He was wearing a long brown trench coat over a black t-shirt and jeans. He also wore black boots and gloves, and had a large sword strapped to his back, along with the titanic backpack he was toting, which was noticably larger than the others. He had a distinctly bored expression on his face.
The third figure was slightly shorter than the first two. He had long, flowing, silver-white hair, and wore a priest's white robes with a silver trim. His white gloves were clasped together as he seemed to call out to the surroundings with his mind.
The fourth figure was just as tall as the third, though a good three years younger. He was wearing a gi like the first man, and had raven black hair tied into a pigtail. His bright blue eyes searched the area they were in before settling on the figure in robes.

"Hey Kaze, watcha doing?"
The figure turned to the speaker, frowning. "Master Ranma, I sense powerful spiritual eminations in this area. I'm afraid the magical energies are very strong here. They are wreaking havoc with the balances."
Ranma blinked. "Huh? What do you mean?"
Kaze turned toward him. "These lands are cursed. The name of the grounds isn't a coincidence. I suggest we use caution."
The man in a coat stopped walking and turned towards his companions. "Use caution? Why don't we just get out of here? I don't wanna get cursed!"
The guide nodded. "Ah, sirs, that very good idea. You see, every cursed spring has it own very tragic story and-oh sir! What you doing?! Very bad you fall in spring!"
Genma snorted from his position atop the bamboo pole. "C'mon Ranma! You too Rayden! And Kaze, I don't want you filling their heads with your superstitious mumbo-jumbo!"
Kaze looked distressed, and turned toward Genma. "I'm only trying to warn you......"
The guide nodded. "Yes, you listen! You no want to fall in spring!"
Genma growled. "You fools! This is a training ground! What else are we supposed to do here?! Look at the view?!!"
Kaze and the guide didn't really know how to respond to that. Rayden leaned up against a tree and put his arms behind his head.
"Well, he's got a point, but I'm still not going up there."
Genma slapped his forehead. "Why oh why was I entrusted with such pathetic and cowardly students? Get up here Ranma!"

Ranma rolled his eyes in exasperation, but leapt up atop one of the poles anyway.
At once the two started fighting, doing complex aerial manuevers that defied every physical law ever devised.
On the sidelines, Kaze conversed with the guide in Chinese.

/"So you say it's a shapeshifting curse?"/
The guide nodded. /"I'm afraid so. The curse changes whoever falls into the spring into whatever drowned in the spring last."/
*Splash*
Kaze blinked, then turned to see a soggy, wet panda crawl out of the spring that Genma had just fallen into. Ranma was in shock, and Rayden wasn't much better.
Kaze sighed. 'That old fool,' he thought bitterly. Genma was quite possibly the only person Kaze had ever totally lost respect for. It was quite noticable in that Genma was the only one that he didn't address as "master" or "mistress". Not that he cared, or anyone else for that matter, but to Kaze it was a big deal.

Ranma was shocked to see a panda come out of the pond wearing his father's gi. So shocked, in fact, that he didn't dodge the panda's next attack.
Ranma went sailing over the water of the various springs, heading in a graceful arc toward one in particular......
And floated two feet above the water, the air from his passage disrupting the spring's liquid surface ever so slightly as he hovered.
"Ah, that too bad. Young sir fall in Spring of Drowned-" the guide's brain caught up with his mouth, and he realized that Ranma was still dry, and male. He turned toward Kaze, and involuntarily took a step back as he saw the White Star priest's forehead emitting a small golden haze of light as he concentrated, eyes closed.
Ranma slowly floated away from the waters of the spring, then landed roughly on the ground next to the pool.

The guide seemed to recover somewhat as the glow in front of Kaze's forehead dissipated.
"Oh, sir, you very lucky you no fall in spring. That Spring of Drowned Girl, very tragic story of young girl that drown in spring 1,400 year ago. Now whoever fall in spring take body of young girl!"
Ranma's eyes widened, then he turned to Kaze. "Oh man, thanks for the save Kaze. That could have been messy."

Rayden, Ranma, and Kaze all turned to glare at Genma, but nearly burst out laughing instead at the sight of a panda waving its arms around frantically.
Kaze smiled. "If you're asking if there's a cure, no, at least not one that we know of. The curse is water based. Hot water will restore you to your normal state, but cold water will return you to your cursed form. A panda, if you haven't already guessed."
The guide produced a kettle from behind his back and poured it on Genma, who immediately grabbed the guide after being restored and started spouting accusations.

"Why didn't you warn us of this earlier?! You had better have a good-erk!"
The "erk" was the result of Ranma putting his foot into the back of his father's head.
"He DID warn you, old man! Kaze did too! This is your own damn fault!"
Kaze nodded. "The spirits of this place are vengeful, and lost souls run rampant. I think it would be wise to depart this place soon."
Genma flinched, then sighed and lowered his head. Usually he would not resign himself to fault so easily, but this time Kaze was speaking out against him too. He didn't even want to think of what Rayden would do if he intervened. 'Ungrateful pests,' he thought as he got up off the ground.

Genma suddenly got an idea. Thankfully, it didn't involve getting anybody engaged against their will.
"Kaze, can you cure me of this curse?"
Kaze stopped, surprised that Genma would actually think to ask him for help. "Well, I suppose I could try to come up with an incantation. It will take a while though. Purging spirits in such a base form is not simple."
Genma nodded happily. "Yes, yes whatever. So long as you can get rid of it."
That matter resolved (or at least so he thought) Genma turned toward the guide. "So, are there any other locations to train at around here?"
The guide thought about it for a bit, then nodded.
"Yes sirs, there is Amazon village of Joketsuzoku, is home of power warrior Amazons."
Rayden blinked. "Amazons? As in women warriors, right?"
The guide nodded. "Yes sirs. Amazons usually not teach special techniques to outsiders, but have many type training."
The guide started walking, and the others followed. Genma thought over what Rayden had brought up before. Female warriors? Genma shrugged. 'Oh well, it's better than nothing.'
__________________________________________________________________________________

Far above, on a cliff overlooking Jusenkyou, a lone figure wandered about in small circles. If one would have looked at him, one could swear that he was actually lost in the small clearing between the two groups of trees in front of and behind him.
The young man stopped, looked around, then let out a low growl and screamed to the heavens.
"Where on Earth am I now?!" The boy was silent for a moment, then added, "Ranma, this is all your fault!!"

Actually, there was someone watching him at that moment, and he currently had a rather large sweatdrop on his head. The second figure shook his head, then silently moved after the first boy as he finally found his way back into the woodlands of China.
__________________________________________________________________________________

Joketsuzoku was surprisingly large for a remote village, the village square alone taking up quite some space.
In the middle of the square, two large pillars had been erected, and in between them a thick wooden log stood, suspended by strong rope. The log showed considerable wear, with the cuts and gouges made by several different weapons peppering its bark.

The guide led his party into the village, pointing out the different areas.
Genma merely followed, impatiently searching for some sort of training area.
Ranma looked around, hoping to see some fighting being demonstrated.
Kaze had relaxed visibly since leaving the springs, and chose to immerse his interest in the tour, stopping to look at everything the guide pointed out.
Rayden also looked at the sights, but constantly stopped to briefly admire the inhabitants of the village. He wasn't a lech or anything, but the taut, athletic bodies of many healthy women were certainly worth a passing glance.

The guide led them to the village square, where a large crowd of amazons, mostly warriors, had gathered for something. Noticing the gathering, the guide pointed toward the center of the square.
"Ooh, we very lucky sirs! Today is Joketsuzoku annual tournament! Is very great honor to win!"
The entire group directed their attention toward the challenge log, where a huge, grotesquely muscular woman with a gigantic sword was facing off against a smaller, and much prettier, girl with long purple hair and wielding two bonbori.
The two fighters seemed to circle each other for a moment, and then the larger one attacked, striking downwards with her huge sword. The sword missed the girl and instead became lodged in the challenge log, and soon the colossal woman was knocked off with a well placed kick from the other girl.

Ranma assessed the winner for a moment.
"Hmm... she's not half bad."
Genma's voice, coming from some twenty feet away, called out to the group.
"C'mon boys! It's a buffet!"
For some reason, they all felt a foreboding sense of dread upon hearing this.
"Ah! Sir, what you doing? That first prize for tournament! You no eat that!"

Alas, it was too late. Genma was already stuffing his face, thouroughly ignoring the frantic gesturings of the guide.
The winner, upon seeing that her prize was being devoured by someone other than herself, stalked up angrily toward the man in the gi.
/"You there! What do you think you're doing!"/
Genma looked up at the woman blankly, not having understood a word.
/"Forgive him, he doesn't speak Mandarin."/
Shampoo blinked, then turned towards the man with the white hair who had spoken. Briefly calling up her short lessons in Japanese (of which she very rarely paid attention to, anyway), the girl gave a broken speech toward the travelers.
"You eat prize! That Shampoo's!"
Rayden turned toward Ranma. "Figures the old man would get us into trouble so quick."
Ranma nodded sagely.
Genma, now having understood, quickly found a way out of the situation.
"The prize belongs to whoever wins the tournament, right?"
Shampoo frowned. This man was going to challenge her? "Yes. Why, you want fight?"
Genma grinned, then shook his head. "No, but my son does. Ranma, you fight her."
Ranma facefaulted. Then he got up. "What? Fight your own battles!"
Genma got that 'I'm your father and I know best' look on his face. "Now Ranma, as the heir to the Saotome School of Anything-Goes Martial Arts, it's your responsibility to test your skill against the strongest fighters in this village. So stop whining and fight her!"

Ranma grumbled, but stepped up onto the challenge log. Shampoo interpreted the proceedings, then turned toward Kaze.
/"That man must be a coward to send his own son to fight the village champion."/
Kaze nodded. /"If only he was JUST a coward. Our lives would have been that much easier."/
Shampoo giggled briefly before a look of determination crossed her face, and she leapt onto the challenge log.

Ranma stood on the log in a loose stance, and then he decided to take the initiative and strike. He moved with such speed that Shampoo was hard pressed to block the initial charge. The blow never came, as Ranma leapt over the girl's head. Shampoo turned around, swinging her bonbori in a horizontal arc right where Ranma's chest should be. However, Ranma had already ducked the blow, and swept Shampoo's feet with his leg.
Shampoo fell, and Ranma backed off. Getting back on her feet, the young Amazon struck at her opponent with a single bonbori thrust forward. Ranma dodged to the side, grabbed her outstretched arm, and then tossed her off the log, in a move quite unlike most martial arts maneuvers.
Shampoo hit the dirt.

Ranma jumped off the challenge log, then bowed to Shampoo, who hadn't yet gotten off the ground.
"That was a good fight. You're really very skilled." Then he left. Kaze had always told him that less people devote their lives to getting revenge on you if stop to tell them "good fight" after you beat them.
Ranma walked back to the table, where Genma was grinning.
"Good job boy! Though I'm not sure about your finishing attack..." That said, Genma was about to resume eating, when an arm grabbed the back of his gi and he was rudely yanked away from the table.
"Oh no you don't Pop! I won this food, so it's mine!" Ranma smiled and turned towards the otheres. "You guys want some?"
Rayden grinned. "Why, don't mind if I do." Kaze merely nodded and helped himself. The guide looked at all the food, shrugged, and took a nice chunk of fish to nibble on.

Shampoo looked up from her position , dazed. All she remembered was being defeated, and then something the fight being good. Wait......
Shampoo's mind wheeled back to that one fact. She had been defeated...... didn't that mean something?
/"Shampoo? Are you all right?"/ asked a voice in Chinese.
Shampoo got up, to find her friend Brush looking at her excitingly.
/"Yes, I'm all right..."/
Brush giggled and looked over to the first prize table. /"Wow, you're so lucky to be defeated by such a handsome male! Do you think his friends are that good?"/
Suddenly it clicked in her head, and Shampoo felt like slapping her forehead. Of course! She looked around, and found her future husband and his friends eating the first prize.

Smiling, Shampoo ran up to them, ignoring the whispers of the gathered crowd and Genma's whining of how Ranma was so disrespectful. She reached the man that had defeated her, and tapped him on the shoulder.
Ranma turned around, and didn't even have time to mutter "Huh?" before Shampoo grabbed both sides of his head, and pulled him into a heavy, passionate kiss.
Kaze stopped eating and stared.
Rayden stared, but kept on eating.
The guide stared for a moment, before remembering something important and slapping his forehead.
Genma quickly rushed over and started eating while everyone was distracted, then finally noticed what was distracting them and stared.

After what seemed like a very long time, Shampoo broke the kiss slowly, then trapped Ranma into a tight hug, snuggling into his chest.
Ranma was absolutely still, his eyes wide and his pigtail standing straight up in the air.
".................................................. C-can somebody t-tell me what just h-h-happened?"
Shampoo was happy to oblige. "Wo da airen." She snuggled closer.
That didn't help Ranma any, who flinched at the contact and didn't understand a single word.
Kaze, however......
"She said, 'my beloved husband'."
Kaze and Rayden were clearly perplexed about the whole turn of events. The guide was about to say something, when Genma suddenly appeared in front of his son and started yelling wildly.
"Ranma! How dare you elope with some woman behind my back! You would forsake your honor to-"
Genma was cut off by a fist to his face.
"Shut up old man! I didn't elope with nobody! She's confused or something! She... probably hit her head too hard on the ground! Yeah, that's it!"
The guide again started to talk, but Rayden's voice cut him off. "Yeah right Ranma. She didn't hit the ground that hard. And it's not like she suddenly think's you're married because you defeated her in combat or anything." Rayden grinned, and was about to add something else, when the guide finally interrupted.
"That sir, exactly why girl think you married."
Ranma, Rayden, Kaze, and Genma all turned toward the guide. The amazing thing was, that throughout the whole exchange, Shampoo had remained relatively undisturbed on Ranma's chest.
"Amazon womans very prideful. They want bring new warriors into tribe all time, so whenever outsider male beat Amazon woman, Amazon woman marry man to have many strong child."

Ranma's eyes were huge. As were Genma's, though he was sweating too.
Kaze looked at the guide in a way that communicated that he couldn't believe what he was hearing.
Rayden whistled. "Wow, I stand corrected. You work fast, don'tcha Ranma? We're only here for ten minutes and the girls are already trying to get into your pants!"
Shampoo blinked as Ranma suddenly slipped out of her hug to shove Rayden's face into a bowl of cabbage stew. Genma's voice rang out soon afterwards.
"You must be joking! This is ridiculous!"
Shampoo turned angrily toward the fat martial artist.
"Is no ridiculous! Is Amazon law!"
Genma turned towards the young girl. "Then take me to whoever's in charge here! We'll settle this immediately!"
Shampoo glared at the man, understanding only that he intended to combat her right to her airen. She sighed and looked at Ranma as he led the small group to her great grandmother's hut. She was lucky she had gotten the best-looking one for herself; not that the other two were ugly, but still, why settle for less?
Ranma, for his part, was stuck between nervous shock that he was suddenly married to some girl he had just met, and overpowering curiosity for why Genma was all of a sudden taking such keen interest in his welfare. Ranma thought that there had to be an ulterior motive; he would've thought that standard procedure for Genma would be to leech off the tribe for a couple of months, using the marriage as an excuse, and then leave at night, taking all of them with him. Or maybe even just leaving them here.
Rayden and Kaze were alternating between being puzzled over the quick turn of events, and looking around at all the stares they were getting from various other Amazons. It appeared that since Ranma was taken, they were next on the list.
__________________________________________________________________________________

Genma slammed his hands palm down on the wooden table, causing the heavy piece of furntiture to shake from the impact.
"Absolutely not! Ranma will not marry this girl!"
*Bonk!*
Genma rubbed his head as a thick lump grew, wincing from the pain as the elderly woman he was facing withdrew her staff from his skull.
"Don't do that. You're damaging the furniture."
Cologne was very old and very ugly; only above two feet tall, shrunken and wrinkled to an extreme that Ranma wasn't aware was possible. She managed eye contact by standing atop a three-foot, gnarled wooden staff, and down her back trailed a long trail of gray-white hair, a startling contrast to Kaze's fine silver mane.
Rayden lie groaning, upside-down and embedded in a caved-in section of the hut's wall. Apparently his cry of "Ahh! A gremlin!" had been taken personally.

The wrinkled woman turned toward Ranma, giving him a smile that sent chills down his spine.
"Well now, son-in-law, when do you want to hold the wedding ceremony?"
Ranma got angry, visibly trying to ignore the attractive woman who was practically attached to his front.
"Look you old ghoul, I ain't marryin' nobody!"
*Bonk!*
Ranma groaned and rubbed the bump on his head. 'Man, she hits hard for an old lady.'
"Respect your elders boy! And you have to marry Shampoo. According to our laws, you're already married the moment Shampoo gives the kiss of marriage. I just thought you might like to make it official by your standards as well."
Kaze spoke up from the side of the room. "If I may ask, what right do you have to impose marriage upon wandering travelers such as ourselves?"
Cologne glared at the man, despite the fact that he had been the most polite out of all of them.
"You are on our land, so you must obey our rules. And if I may ask, what right do you have to question our way of life?"
Kaze did a brief mental scan. 'I sense nothing but the utmost confidence within her, just bordering arrogance, but never reaching it. This does not bode well for us. Well, unless master Saotome wishes to have that girl as his wife.'

Genma didn't like the way this was going. He had almost no idea what was happening, but it was obvious enough that they were losing. Time to use his trump card.
"Ranma can't marry Shampoo because he's already engaged!"
Ranma's eyes widened. As did Shampoo's.
"WHAT?!?! What do you mean I'm already engaged?!"
Ranma, slipping out of Shampoo's grasp, yanked Genma away from the table and held him in the air, lifting the larger man's bulk quite easily.
"Speak up, old man!"
Shampoo was at his side in an instant. "Yes! What you mean? Who other girl?!"
Genma managed to get himself down, them looked at Ranma.
"The arrangment was made before you were born. While me and a good friend of mine were training under Hap-... the Master, we made a vow to unite our schools by marrying you to one of his daughters."
Cologne gave a chuckle, making everyone in the room wince purely from the pitch of the horrendous cackle.
"And how are we to know you're not making this all up?"
Kaze closed his eyes for a moment, then opened them. As he spoke he seemed moderately distressed.
"What he says is the truth. He's not lying this time."
Ranma seemed to grow even angrier. "You're telling me I've been engaged since I was BORN?!?!"
Cologne looked quizzicly at the white-robed man. "And how could you know if he is lying or not?"
Rayden came up to the table, finally recovered from the savage staff-beating. "He's psychic. He can tell."
Cologne seemed quite surprised by this statement. She slowly turned her attention toward Ranma, Shampoo and Genma.

"I've just been engaged to someone I don't even know, and you're just gonna get me off the hook to marry some OTHER girl I don't know?!"
Shampoo made her opinion quite clear. *Glomp* "Shampoo no leave airen! Other girl can find own husband!"
"Boy, this is a matter of honor! You can't throw away your family honor to marry some Amazon bimbo!"
Shampoo was quick to let go of Ranma in favor of smashing the older man over the head repeatedly.
"You no call Shampoo that, fat man!"
"QUIET!!"
Everyone currenly involved in the argument stopped at the sound of Cologne's voice. Shampoo even dropped her bonbori, wich fell out of her hands and onto Genma's skull with a dull *thud*.
Cologne composed herself. "It would appear that there is much debate toward this issue. Very well, you all will stay here until we can resolve this situation. Guide, your work is done, you may return to Jusenkyou."
The guide nodded and hurried out of the village. This little event had been starting to get to him.
Genma wasn't going to back down so easily, however. "There is nothing to discuss! Ranma will marry a Tendo and-"
Cologne shot him a withering glare. He shut up.
All right, maybe he would back down easily.
__________________________________________________________________________________

"So, do you wanna have a little match?"
Brush smiled her cutest smile and tried to lay on the 'hopeful little girl' act as thick as she possibly could.
It ALMOST worked.

Rayden was about to shrug his shoulders and agree when he quickly remembered what it meant to win a match around here.
'Sheesh. 8 years of accepting a fight with every Joe, Tom, or Bob and here I am hampering that one reflex 'cause of some silly Amazon law.'
Rayden responded in the negative, speaking slowly and shaking his head. "No thank you."
Brush frowned. "You don't have to talk like that. I speak Japanese better than Shampoo."
Rayden blinked, then shrugged. "Oh, sorry. You can never tell."
"So why won't you fight me?"
Rayden thought about that for a moment. "Well, before I answer that, are there any Amazon laws regarding thrown fights?"
Brush blinked. "You wouldn't..."
Rayden turned back towards the group of students practicing with swords. "Yes I would."
Brush crossed her arms over her chest and looked away from him. "I didn't realize that foreigners were such cowards."
Rayden didn't even blink. "I didn't realize Amazons were so weird."
Brush fumed slightly, then regained her composure and looked thoughtful for a moment.
"How about the other one? The man in robes? Is he a fighter?"
Rayden chuckled. "You'd have better luck getting Ranma to fight again than getting him to fight."
Brush blinked. "What if I just attacked him? Or you?"
Rayden turned towards her, one eyebrow raised. "Are you REALLY that desperate?"
In retrospect, that wasn't a very bright thing to say.
*Thwack!*
Brush stalked away from him, muttering in Chinese how outsiders were such creeps.

Rayden, still cringing from the blow, and the ringing in his ears, slowly removed the metal staff used to strike his head. It was fully bent to the shape of his skull, which earned him some winces of sympathy from some of the sword practicioners.
He looked at the staff critically for a moment, before rolling his eyes and tossing it away.
'Hmph. Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned. I really oughta listen to Kaze more often.'
__________________________________________________________________________________

Ranma sighed to himself as he watched a group of women practice some kind of punching technique, trying to take his mind off the his current crisis.

Engaged. He was engaged. If not to this Amazon, who had latched onto him as soon as he had won that fight, to some other girl hundreds of miles away. It was just too much.
Just yesterday he had been happy and single, and now...
Well, he wasn't about to say that marriage was a terrible thing, but he wished he'd actually get to KNOW the girl first.
All he was sure about was that this was all Pop's fault. And, just like so many of the other messes that the old man had gotten him into, it was up to HIM to clean up.

Ranma's train of thought was suddenly derailed as two lithe, tightly muscled arms wrapped around his neck, throwing his danger senses for a loop as they broke through his haze of thought. The only thing that kept his "attacker" from being tossed headfirst into the ground was the curvaceous, female body that pressed up against his back, causing him to freeze like a deer in the headlights.

"Airen! What you doing?" Shampoo asked curiously, glancing at the field and using Ranma's stunned state to reposition herself in his front.
Ranma's brain finally restarted, and he managed to stutter out. "Sh-Shampoo! What are you doing here?"
Shampoo smiled in a way that somehow managed to be unbearably cute and sultry at the same time.
"Shampoo want to spend time with husband! Is okay?"

Several of the girls that were practicing nearby stopped and left soon after the event had started. Some had left in disgust, some in envy, and most in both.

Ranma looked very nervous and scratched the back of his head right below his pigtail.
"Um, look, Shampoo, about this whole 'marriage' thing......"
Shampoo looked at him worriedly. "Airen? What wrong? You no worry about other girl, she no get in way!"
Ranma shook his head and tried to gently pry Shampoo off of him, to no avail.
"No, it's just that, well...... aren't we too young for this?"
Shampoo looked at him quizzically, then shook her head. "No, not too young. Many Amazon warriors marry much less age!"
Ranma blinked, then tried a different tactic. "Well, aren't you being forced into this? I mean, I'm not really great marriage material, and the only thing you have is that law-"
Shampoo shook her head again and then snuggled closer to him, rubbing her head under his chin.
"Shampoo want to marry! Is hard to find strong man in village! Ranma too too good for marry!"
Ranma shrunk back, running out of lines and resistance. All that rubbing she was doing was really starting to get to him......
"But we don't even know each other! What if you find out later that you don't like me and then-mmmph!"

The last part was muffled, due to Shampoo's mouth closing over Ranma's, and locking him once more in a deep, passionate kiss. Shampoo had decided that they had been talking enough and that she should take a step up in convincing her new husband to stay with her.
Ranma's mind was in total chaos. Panic alarms, premonitions of impending doom, logic centers, pure fear, and hormones all battled for dominance in his head.
Eventually they were all taken by surprise and stomped on by something considerably more important and influencial: his danger sense.

Ranma broke the kiss quickly, and shoved Shampoo back off the rock they had been sitting on, he himself rolling off the other side. Shampoo looked surprised as she went rolling onto the ground, but her surprise turned into obvious distress once she got a good look at what was happening.
Ranma was somewhat more surprised as a dozen blades, spears, and one yo-yo crashed into the rock they had been sitting on, crumbling the granite mound to small, grainy chunks. Some of the weapons had chains attached, and those were swiftly pulled from the rock's remains. Ranma tracked the weapons' path back to their owner, and blinked in surprise.
A fairly tall man, in a long, white Chinese robe, and sporting long black hair and thick glasses, glared angrily at the subject of his malice as he stuck his hand out of his robe sleeve, bringing a fan of steel knives along with it.

"Ranma Saotome! At last, we meet! I've been searching for you ever since I heard!"
Ranma blinked, then adopted a casual stance. "A little more to the right, and you'll have found me." Ranma wondered who this guy was. Judging from the way Shampoo was groaning, he was probably bad news, at any rate.
The man seemed to blink, then oriented on the voice, taking his view away from the tree he was yelling at.
"So you are the outsider which has defeated my Shampoo. It figures that I'd find you here, already seducing another woman!" the man yelled in fury.
Ranma blinked, snuck a glance at Shampoo to make sure she wasn't really someone else, then turned back toward his attacker.
"Um, I really don't know what you're talking about."
The boy growled. "Don't lie to me, you foriegn filth! For forcing yourself upon my Shampoo, and then taking this other woman, you will die!"
Shampoo had had enough. "Idiot! Shampoo is 'other woman'!"
The boy blinked. "What? Shampoo? Is that you?"
Shampoo turned to Ranma, and gave him an exasperated sigh. "Stupid boy is Mousse. He have bad eyesight."
Ranma nodded. "I can tell."
Mousse growled again. "Enough of this! I'll kill you here and now, and in front of Shampoo! At last I'll prove my love to her!"
Ranma raised an eyebrow, and the whole situation mapped itself out in his mind.
"Ah, well, far be it for me to stand in the way of a happy couple......"
Shampoo immediately glomped onto him. "No! Shampoo rather die than marry Mousse! You fight him?"

Ranma didn't even have time to mutter "what?" before he forced to jump back, avoiding what appeared to be a baseball covered in spikes.
"Hey, watch it buster! Or else you're really gonna get it!"
Mousse smirked. "Big words, but I don't see any action. Are you gonna talk or fight?"
That did it. "All right, but you asked for it! HYAAAA!"

As Shampoo cheered, Mousse started to have second thoughts about this fight as Ranma gave him a crescent kick which knocked him back into the air. Ranma helped him down again by catching the Chinese boy in mid-air and slamming him into the ground hard, a manuever quite unusual for any martial artist.
Ranma backed off, crossing his arms over his chest.
"Give it up, man. We're fighting over nothing, anyway. There's no reason that you have to get beaten up any more."
Shampoo looked indignant. "What you mean Shampoo is nothing?"
Ranma backed away from her, his arms waving in a warding gesture. "No, I didn't mean it like that, it's just that-"
His excuse, but thankfully not his head, was cut off by a flying scyth blade that came just inches from Ranma's neck. He turned back to the Chinese boy angrily.
"All right, that's enough! The kid gloves are off!"
Mousse growled as he continued throwing more knives and spears in Ranma's direction.
"Ha! I'll have you on the ground begging for mercy, you womanizer!"
In truth, Mousse knew there was no way he could keep this up. His guard had been breached too early in the fight, and that single throw to the ground had taken more out of him than he'd ever admit.

Ranma grunted as he dodged the seemingly endless stream of blades and chains, then leapt up into the air. Mousse redirected his aim accordingly, but had significantly more trouble, as the glare of the sun drastically affected his already abyssmal aim.
Not that it would have mattered. Ranma seemed to hang in the air, defying gravity as a blue aura flared to life around him.
He spread his hands out, and small beams of blue energy emenated from out of nowhere, finding a path to Ranma's open hands and collecting into twin spheres of blue. Lightning seemed to arc its way along Ranma's arms as he brought his hands together, the two orbs absorbing each other into one greater whole.
"Screaming thunder missile!" he shouted, and then started his descent to the ground as a large blue arrow rocketed toward Mousse.
Those weapons that had actually been aimed correctly were burned in the passing of the projectile, crumbling in mid-air and falling to the Earth.
Mousse only had time to blink and make sure that his glasses were on before the ki blast hit home, creating a small dome of blue-white energy on impact.
And then, in seconds, the dome receded and disappeared, leaving a charred and burnt Mousse behind in the middle of a 12-foot crater.

Shampoo was speechless. Never before had she seen anything like this, not even from her great-grandmother. She knew what it was though, she'd had enough lessons on battle auras to know that it was a ki blast.
As Ranma stared at the crater and wondered if he had overdone it, Shampoo stared in awe at him. He must be incredibly skilled to do anything close to what she had seen. Cologne would definitely be VERY unhappy if she let him get away.
Therefore...... *Glomp*
"Airen! You beat Mousse! Shampoo so happy!"
And then he was back, the bumbling, stuttering Ranma that she found so strange yet utterly adorable.
"Uh, huh, yeah, I-I guess I did."
"Mousse always bothering Shampoo for date. But he no bother if Ranma marry Shampoo! Is okay?"
"Uhhhh......" Ranma just stood there, totally unsure of how to respond to that question.

Luckily, or perhaps unluckily, he was saved from explanation when a bright light flared up over Mousse's still form. The light receded and then opened up, forming a reddish-black vortex roughly 5 feet in diameter.

Shampoo was confused, but had the peace of mind to use the situation to grab Ranma even tighter.
Ranma just scowled, knowing perfectly well what the odd distortion was.

The portal just flickered and pulsed for a moment, then small arcs of red lightning shot out of it, spreading across the surface of the distortion and announcing the arrival of whatever was on the other side.

Then it came. One thick, brown pillar of hardened flesh came down from the swirling mass of energy, missing Mousse's head by mere inches. A second foot came, and soon a body formed from the portal, which faded into nothingness, leaving its passenger behind.

It was at least 9 feet tall, and covered in a hide that looked like hardened brown leather. Its right arm ended in a swollen claw like that of a lobster, while its left connected to a clawed hand with a pair of wrist blades attached. In its head were set two glowing crimson eyes, but the creature lacked any nose, ears, or mouth. The only thing that could come close were several vents cut into the flesh that encircled its thick neck.

The thing took a step forward. Ranma and Shampoo both took up battle stances, though Shampoo was doing it more out of reflex than anything else. She had never seen anything like the creature that she was looking at now; even the bird people of Mount Pheonix held no comparison to the pure unnatural sense that this monster exuded.

The creature took another step forward, then its eyes narrowed as it looked at Ranma.
It spoke. A deep, echoing, gravely voice that made you wonder which part of the beast was emitting the sound.
"You. Do you know of the White Star?"
Ranma raised an eyebrow. "Maybe. What's it to you?"
The creature looked at him, then started slowly forward. "To not trifle with me, human. My name is Rail. I have come to kill the survivors of the White Star. If you cooperate, I will spare everyone else here. If you don't, then......"
The monster looked toward the sky, letting the threat hang. Ranma wasn't impressed.

"Hmm. How about... NO!"
Ranma shot forward with a kick, catching Rail completely off guard. As it fell back, Ranma lashed out with two more quick kicks before hitting it with a roundhouse that knocked it on its back.
Shampoo was quick to follow Ranma's example, pulling her twin bonbori from Kami-knows-where and smashing the demon's skull as it attempted to get up. She caught a flash of blue light behind her and leapt away as Ranma yelled.
"Screaming thunder missile!" a smaller, more concentrated ball of energy flew towards Rail, striking him in the side and blowing off chunks of his exoskeleton.
The creature let out a rumbling shriek, then slowly got up off the ground, orange-red blood running from his open wound.
Rail glared at Ranma, who didn't even blink back. Then the wounded area of his body was engulfed in blue flame, which soon faded to reveal perfectly untouched skin.

Ranma let out a low growl. 'So this thing regenerates. Great. Looks like I'll have to pull out the heavy artillery.'
Rail swung his pincer over to point at Ranma, then opened it, revealing an array of oddly shaped organs inside. One of them opened slightly, a red bolt of fire shot out, followed by several others.
Ranma dodged the bolts quickly, slowly advancing with each jump as the demon continued to fire.
Rail's assault came to a premature end when a heavy metal ball hit him atop his skull. Momentarily stunned, he was in no condition to avoid Ranma's uppercut, which sent him sprawling back a few more feet.
"Flying demon assault!" Ranma's image blurred as he rushed the monster, laying on punch after punch until he tripped up the beast with a leg sweep. Ranma then attacked upwards, somehow managing to travel up into the air as he punched the larger creature again and again, until he reached the apex of his flight and then aimed a kick at his opponent.
His aura flared to life, and Ranma's leg was engulfed in white fire as rocketed toward Rail, once again displaying a total disregard for physics.
Rail hit the Earth hard, shattering the surrounding rock and creating large cracks in the ground.
Ranma backflipped away, then his aura lit up again. "Screaming thunder missile!!" four bolts of energy shot out from his hands, impacting Rail one after another.

Ranma landed on one foot, then crossed his arms over his chest as he looked at the smoking crater.
"Feh. He wasn't so tough."
Shampoo approached cautiously from behind. "Is dead now?"
Ranma turned to Shampoo, and was about to answer in the affirmative, when the sound of erupting fire came again, and Ranma turned back toward the crater to see an unharmed Rail standing up.
"No way!"
Rail let out a grunt. "You cannot defeat me, human, for every time you strike me down, I will be revived!"
Rail pointed his claw and opened it, and a yellow beam shot out, just barely missing Ranma as he took off to the side with Shampoo in tow.

"Where we going?" Shampoo asked worriedly. She had little idea of what was going on, and even less idea of how to solve it. If you couldn't kill your enemy, then what?
Ranma grimaced as he dodged a spiked grappler attached to a cable. "To find Kaze. He might know how to get rid of this guy."

Behind them, Rail growled as he reeled in his grappler, then slowly started to pursue the retreating pair.
__________________________________________________________________________________

"Hey Kaze!" Kaze turned at Rayden's voice, cutting off his conversation with one of the town's Amazon healers. From Rayden's face, the young priest couldn't tell if he was panicked or excited.
"Yes, master Shikodan?"
Rayden simply pointed off into the distance, where flashes of red a blue could be seen.
"If I didn't know any better, I'd say those were energy blasts." Rayden smirked.
Kaze nodded. "It would appear so. Sink, perhaps we can continue this conversation later."
The healer nodded, but looked curiously at the distant lights as the two men ran off.
__________________________________________________________________________________

"Ah! There they are!" Ranma yelled, as he and Shampoo ran towards the village outskirts.

Rayden slowed down as Ranma and Shampoo approached, the latter slightly winded from trying to keep up with the former.
"Hey Ranma, what's with the bright lights?"
Ranma grimaced. "There's something back there. Some kinda demon called Rail. I'm not sure how he does it, but somehow he keeps regenerating."

Rayden blinked, then shook his head as he unsheathed his sword. "What do you mean 'it kept regenerating'? Why didn't you just blow it apart?"
"I DID. It just lit up in flames and then he came back, without a scratch on him. Kaze, any ideas?"
Kaze thought for a moment. "I'd really have to see the creature first......"
A low rumble came from the nearby woods.
"Easily solved!"

They all turned at the voice, and Rail leapt out of the surrounding trees, aiming to land right in the center of the small group.

He never made it, mostly because he slammed into an invisible wall about 13 feet over his intended target.

Shampoo stared dumbly as the demon slid down the barrier, leaving light, translucent blue ripples in his path. She turned to see Kaze with his arms outstretched, and his hands emitting a soft blue glow.

"Master Shikodan, master Saotome, I believe now would be an excellent time to demonstrate this creature's regenerative capabilities."
Shampoo had no idea what he had said, but he had said it so calmly that she was totally surprised when Ranma launched himself forward, passing through the shield and kicking Rail onto his back.
Rayden came next, stabbing deep into the demon's chest, then swiveling his blade to the side and cutting a deep gouge into the creature.

They all stood back as Rail promply combusted, spewing gouts of blue fire among his leathery body. Then he was up again, already aiming his claw at Rayden, who quickly cut it off.

Kaze ignored the beast's enraged roar as he called out to Ranma.
"Master Saotome! I sense a link between this creature and the elemental plane! We'll need an equally strong spiritual power to banish the creature!"
Ranma ground Rail's head into the ground with a ki-enhanced punch. "Any ideas?"
Kaze grimaced. "The only area of that sort that I know of is Jusenkyou."
Rayden spoke as he stomped Rail's head into the ground. "Great. Just freakin' great. Next thing you know one of us will turn into a badger or something."

Shampoo didn't understand a majority of what had just been said, but she did understand the word "Jusenkyou".
"Shampoo know way to Jusenkyou, is through village! You follow!" Shampoo took off, with the others close behind.

Rail erupted from the ground, and aura of blue fire raging around him. The aura receded, and Rail turned furious, blood-red eyes toward his retreating targets.
"Bio cannon!!" Rail aimed his claw at the retreating figures, and a thick, black and brown ooze shot out at them.

Ranma looked back just in time to yell "Look out!" then he grabbed Shampoo and jumped away.
Kaze quickly generated a force field around himself, the vile substance sliding harmlessly against the soft blue barrier.
Rayden wasn't so lucky, and got tagged on his left arm with the strange goo.

The slime bubbled and smoked against his trench coat, eating through the soft leather and sticking to the flesh underneath. Rayden's attempts to remove the stuff resulted only in him getting it on his hands, the slimy acid melting through his gloves and burning his hands.
Rayden began to start thrashing about wildly, desperate to remove the blackish ooze. Rail pointed his claw at him, and through the thin crack that marked the opening, a reddish haze started to shine.
"Ramez kazash!!" Rail screamed, and then he opened his claw, letting a thick blood red beam rocket toward Rayden, who noticed too late.

The swordsman was thrown backward by a beam of pure force, crashing straight through the outer wall of the palisade that protected the Amazon village and hurtling through one of the buildings, his flight being completed when he crushed one family's dinner table.
The Amazons who owned the house simply stared dumbly at the intruder, who immediately got up, and started yelling something in Japanese about burns. Eventually he noticed a bucket of water near the table, and quickly doused himself with it, sighing the whole time. Then he turned and returned the Amazons stare, feeling quite awkward.

The moment was, for better or for worse, shattered when Rail stepped through the hole he had made and looked at Rayden, raising his claw to the attack.
"My, you're a tough one. This job isn't turning out to be as easy as I expected."
Rayden yanked his sword out of the table that it had become embedded in.
"Yeah, don't you just hate that?" Rayden smirked and brought his sword on guard, ready to deflect any energy attacks that came his way.
Rail surprised him though, as his claw blew out gouts of fire, forcing Rayden to back off and getting the Amazons to abandon their house.
Rail only took a step forward before he was struck from behind, knocking him flat on his face.

"Rayden, you all right?"
"I'm fine Ranma, let's get out of here!"

Outside, a rather large group of Amazons were collecting outside the ruined hut, as flame spewed from the windows and the ceiling started to collapse.
Cologne made her entrance on the scene, looking quite comical bouncing in on her gnarled wooden staff. She took one look at the crumbling house and asked what happened.

Before anyone could reply, one of the walls of the hut exploded outward, and Ranma and Rayden came out, immediately taking to the rooftops and running. An even larger explosion rocked the area after that, as Rail shot out of the house surrounded by flames, courtesy of his all-purpose pincer. Rail took off after Ranma and Rayden, but opted to simply plow through the houses instead of bothering with rooftops.
Cologne blinked.
Kaze quickly moved through the crowd, passing by Cologne as he followed Rail's trail of destruction.
Shampoo was following close behind Kaze, but was nearly toppled over when Cologne suddenly stopped her momentum. Shampoo turned to her great-grandmother, a look of panic and desperation in her eyes.

"Child, what is going on here?"
"Is terrible! Monster attack airen! Airen kill but monster no die!"
Cologne blinked and decided that she'd have to give Shampoo another crash course in Japanese soon. Then her mind finished analyzing the situation as another building exploded from Rail crashing through it.
"Do you know where they are heading to?"
"Yes, they go Jusenkyou!"
Cologne nodded and then gestured to several nearby warriors. With another nod, they all started to follow the moving battle.
__________________________________________________________________________________

"Ranma, how close is he?"
Ranma looked behind him as they jumped the outer palisade on the other side of the village (well, Ranma jumped it. Rayden just sort of crashed into it and knocked down the gate).
"He's coming, but he's not gaining!"
Rayden slowed down enough to look behind him and see Rail come through another building, fire trailing from his swollen claw. Rail slowed down a bit to fire a volley of fireballs behind him, and Rayden almost started laughing when he saw that the demon's back was covered in arrows.

Rail gave a snort through his ring of breathing pits, then started off after Rayden and Ranma again, the soft Earth trembling slightly at his heavy footsteps.

"So which way to Jusenkyou? And what exactly do we do once we get there?"
Ranma looked at him for a moment, jumped over an acid blast, then replied in a defeated tone.
"I have no clue, and beats me."
Rayden scowled, then winced as a fireball hit him on the back. He patted out the flames quickly as he continued running.
"Well that's just swell. How're we gonna ditch this thing?"

Then, as if in answer to their pleas, a fairly large bird composed totally of fire flew overhead, then turned slightly west.
Ranma and Rayden blinked, then quickly followed the bird.

*Thwoom* *Thwoom* *Kablaaaaam!!!*
"Get back here, maggots!"
Rail said it menacingly enough, but it really didn't help him stop his targets, who seemed to be running just slowly enough so that he could keep up......
Rail would've sighed if he could've spared the breath. This hadn't turned out at all like he had planned. This was supposed to be a quick job: warp in, kill the two guys, warp out. Then he would get a nice long vacation which he had planned to spend wreaking havoc and burning down major cities. Instead, the jerks just had to be more powerful than he was. He simply couldn't understand it. No human could possibly be capable of the things that these two apparently did with ease.
But that was pure speculation. In the long run, it came down to this: they could (and with any luck, would) die; he couldn't. At least not on this plane. They would tire; he'd be engulfed in flames, then come back feeling like a million yen. Simple as that.
So why did he have such a bad feeling all of a sudden?

Rayden leapt up over the trees, catching a quick glimpse of the area far up ahead before landing on his feet and running. Ranma slowed down slightly to compensate, then waited for an update.
"Jusenkyou's just ahead!"
Ranma nodded and pushed through the last group of trees......
And almost fell into a pool of water as he felt grass and moss give way to air. Panicking, he grabbed hold of one of the bamboo poles sticking out of the spring with one hand, then grabbed Rayden with the other, as the swordsman started plummeting towards the cursed water below.
Muttering a thanks, Rayden escaped the spring with Ranma, then got a good distance away before turning back.

Rail came crashing through the trees, intent on ripping the two fighters to shreds. He didn't really notice the spring until it was too late. He didn't notice the bamboo poles either, not that they would've held something of his mass. Rail plummeted into the waters, making a large splash which leaked into the surrounding pools.

Ranma snapped his fingers.
"Duh! If he's a chipmunk or something, we can kill him easily! And even if he still can't be killed, we could just lock him up somewhere where he can't get hot water!"
Rayden smacked a fist into his palm in realization. "Of course, of course! That must be it!"

Suddenly, arcs of black lightning shot forth from the waters of the spring, and Rail's bladed hand came out, gripping the softened Earth as the hefty demon pulled the rest of his bulk out of the cursed waters.
He was unchanged, save for a blackened aura, which seemed to dissipate as the water slid off his hardened skin.

Rayden just sighed. "Or maybe not."

Rail growled as he shook the rest of the water off himself. "Pitiful humans. Did you really think you could get rid of me so easily? My kind cannot be harmed by such weak magics! Die!"
Rail pointed and opened his claw, and was about to fire off another energy blast, when the bird of fire bore down on him from out of nowhere, brushing its flaming wings across the monster's leathery hide. Rail was instantly disoriented, and quickly tried to ward the creature away with his wrist blades.

On the sidelines, Ranma and Rayden watched the battle tensely.
"Think we should help?"
"Why bother? Even if we kill it, it's just come back! We could be fighting for days!"
Ranma reluctantly nodded. The situation looked grim.

And then, like a beacon of hope, a shout came from the other end of the springs. Ranma and Rayden turned to see Kaze and the Jusenkyou guide, the former panting from the run and the latter with his eyes wide from shock.
Kaze yelled to them urgently.
"Masters! Hit the demon into an uncursed spring! Quickly!"
Rayden blinked. "What good will that do? Even a cursed spring doesn't help!"
Kaze took a few more deep breaths, then yelled out again. "Please! You must trust me!"
Rayden shrugged. It wasn't like he had any better ideas.
Ranma yelled out, "Which spring is uncursed?!"

Kaze pointed, and Ranma could immediately tell what the target was. Unlike the other springs, this one was overgrown with plants and grass. The bamboo sticking out of it was healthy and green, and the whole thing was partially hidden by foliage.
Ranma nodded to Rayden, who grinned in response. Then they both heard a shriek, and their eyes darted back to the battle, where the bird composed of flames was on the ground, with black stripes of ashes marking its body's wounds. Rail stood over the fiery avian, triumphant.

"A nice distraction, but now you die."
Rayden sheathed his sword and clapped his gloves together to remove the dirt.
"I don't think so big guy. You've got a one-way ticket to oblivion."
Rail's eyes narrowed. "I'm not going anywhere."
Rayden gave him a flat stare. "And who said you had a choice? Rising viper tackle!"

Rayden shot forward like a rocket, totally shocking Rail to the point that he forgot to move. Rayden slammed into him, sending both of them carreening through Jusenkyou.
As soon as Rayden's foot found the ground again Rail found himself airborn, with Rayden still holding onto his waist. The swordsman pushed away slightly, and his hand slipped to the handle of his sword.
*Shing!* *Shing!* *Pow!!*
Rayden slashed the larger creature twice, then sent him flying away with a powerful kick to the head on a flight path that just happened to be between Ranma and the uncursed spring......

Ranma's aura lit up like a halo of fire, blue energy totally surrounding him. He concentrated for a moment, and then his aura turned from an electric blue to a fiery red.
Ranma opened his eyes, then thrust his palms toward the spring.
"Dragon... fire... BEAM!!"

Energy branched out from all around him, quickly gathering in his palms and shooting forth, taking on the shape of a dragon's head. Just after it was released the blast stopped, and the dragon head opened it huge maw, letting loose an Earth-shattering roar before it continued onward, tearing up everything in its path, dirt and water alike.
At that moment, Rail just happened to come sailing by, and was struck head-on by the massive blast, tearing up the creature instantly and sending him sailing into the spring, which, miraculously, was not totally destroyed.

The water bubbled and frothed as its magic took effect, imprinting the design of the monster it had just taken in and sending that same creature to its final resting place.
A conflict in magical energies took place. Jusenkyou's powerful magic battled the demon's supernatural energies.
Eventually both just said "screw it" and declared the match a draw. This had the dual effect of leaving the demon alive, but terminating the link that was keeping it on the mortal plane. In a flash of blue and black, Rail was gone.

Back up above, Ranma had deactivated his aura, and he, Rayden and Kaze were all watching the spring closely to watch for any visible effects.
Then they got what they were looking for. There was a huge flash of blue light, and Kaze jolted backward.

"Hey, Kaze, you all right?"
Kaze shook his head to clear it.
"Yes master Shikodan, I'm all right. The demon is gone."
Ranma grinned and gave Rayden a high-five. "All right! Chalk up another one for our team!"
Kaze continued. "In addition, many of the spirits haunting this area have left. I think our 'sacrifice' of the demon appeased them."
Rayden blinked. "Well....... that's nice...... I guess."
Ranma shrugged and started to head back towards the village.
"I'm starved. Let's get back. Maybe they'll give us a victory feast!"
"We're not going back, boy!"
"GAAAAAH!!" *POW!!*
Genma's sudden appearance shocked Ranma, who pounded him into the ground out of sheer reflex.

"Don't sneak up on me! You know I hate that!"
"If... y-you were... a real marrrrtial a-artist...... that w-wouldn't have h-happened...... owie......"
Rayden walked up to Genma and lifted him up with one hand.
"Yeah, whatever. Why can't we go back?"
Genma collected his wits (it didn't take long) and smacked Rayden's hand away, then spoke in an irritated tone of voice.
"Fool! You just destroyed half the village in your little jog! You think they're going to reward you?!"

Rayden thought about this for a moment. Then he turned to Ranma. "Shoot. He's right. We'd be executed. If we were lucky."
Kaze had his doubts about an execution, but still didn't want to know how angry they were about all the damage.
Ranma shook his head. "Damn. I guess you're right. But we shouldn't just run away like this!"
Genma shrugged on his backpack and looked away. "I'm leaving now. If you want to come, follow me."

Not for the first time, Ranma cursed his father for his cowardice. But in the end, the old man did have the last say. Ranma sometimes wondered why he ever listened to the old panda.
Ranma blinked at his own thought. 'Hmm. Old panda. Has sort of a ring to it.'
Ranma looked again at where Kaze and Rayden were tending to the fallen fire bird.

Kaze swept his glowing hands over the creature's blazing feathers, whispering soft words of comfort. The avian seemed to understand him perfectly, becoming calmer as he spoke. At last the healing was done, and the bird perched itself on Kaze's shoulder.
Kaze raised his palm to face the fire bird.
"Phoenix, return to your plane of fire. Your work is done."
The phoenix glowed white for a moment, then disappeared, leaving only scorch marks on Kaze's robes as evidence of its existence.
"Yo Kaze, let's get a move on! Saotome's leaving!"
Kaze nodded, then stopped as he turned to follow Rayden. He looked at Jusenkyou for a moment, uttered a soft prayer, then swiftly left to catch up with the others.
__________________________________________________________________________________

Not more than 3 minutes after they had left, a small army of Amazon warriors arrived at Jusenkyou, only to find nothing but the guide vainly trying to tidy up a huge trench burned into the ground. Cologne hopped forward on her stick, and tapped the man on the shoulder.
/"Guide! What happened? Where is the demon?"/
The guide looked up... er, down, at her, then adjusted his green cap and answered.
/"The demon is gone. Those men that I brought to the village destroyed it."/
Cologne seemed surprised by this. /"Well then, come back to the village. I want some details."/
The guide obliged, glad to leave the task of massive landmoving for later.

Later, about 5 minutes after everyone had left......

"AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!"
*Goosh*

End Chapter 2
**********************************************************************************

Author's Notes:
All right, here's a handy overlook at each character's abilities, since I know you're all wondering just what they've learned and how powerful they are. I've also included their special techniques.

Ranma: As always, Ranma's abilities mainly constitute speed and skill, though he's still really strong. A change is that Ranma had to learn to fight demons early on, and soon discovered that pure martial arts really didn't cut it sometimes. He started integrating rougher techniques into his arsenal, as well as learning how to manipulate ki from Kaze, who uses it for healing. After that Ranma trained extensively with ki, learning how to manipulate it more efficiently and channel it more easily. When fighting the supernatural, energy attacks are usually his primary assault method.
Screaming Thunder Missile: Your basic, no-nonsense ki blast. Can be concentrated for extra damage in a smaller area.
Dragon Fire Beam: By condensing his aura, Ranma can actually fuse it with his soul, and fire those prime energies like ki blast. Exremely deadly, plus it tracks down the target. Naturally, it's also really draining, and is never used if he'll have to fight more after he uses it.
Flying Demon Assault: A series of attacks that drives an enemy upward, then is finished off with a ki-powered kick that drives the opponent into the ground.
Wasp's Flying Blade Strike: Ranma jumps into the air and creates long energy blades with his arms which shoot toward his targets.

Rayden: Rayden is similar to Ryoga in that he relies mostly on strength and a ridiculous constitution rather than speed. Rayden is a master with a sword, though he only uses one; the one that he always carries around with him. Without his sword, he is limited to basic punching and kicking, plus some nasty wrestling moves. Of course, this is all useless if the target is any faster than he is. On that note, Rayden usually does well against anything that's slower than he is; anything faster than him he has to fight with his sword, and if that person/thing is capable of disarming him (like Ranma) than he's in trouble. Rayden's only mastered the basics in channeling ki energy from Kaze, and really hasn't taken the time to hone his skills. He can direct the flow of energy well enough, but can't do anything in the way of controlling or regulating the attack.
Death's Shadow Blade: Your basic cut-'em-up-really-fast move. Does a lot of damage to a single target, and doesn't exhaust him too much.
Aura Blast: Rayden basically lets loose a wall of ki energy in his direction of choice. This move is really only good for stunning, as it's about as strong as a powerful wind and incapable of harming anything more durable than the average human being. Also very draining.
Rising Viper Tackle: Rayden rushes forward and tackles the enemy, then jumps up with him. From there he can execute a number of techniques and combos.
Iczer Beam: Rayden's regular ki blast. An inefficient, but still remarkably destructive beam of energy. Very taxing.

Kaze: Kaze is a defender, not a fighter, though many of his talents would suit either just as well. Kaze's abilities include rapid healing, which includes mending broken bones in seconds, patching up (some) fatal wounds before the patient bleeds to death, and curing some really nasty diseases. He can create impenatrable shields out of ki, though his energy drops the longer he has to keep the shield up or the more damage the shield absorbs. He can write out spirit wards that have a variety of effects, including explosive and electric damage. He has limited telepathy, and knows a few other spells, most of which involve manipulating spirits. He also knows three summoning spells: he can summon a phoenix, an ice sprite, and a fairy.