The Wheel of Fire, #34: Nightmare of Suzaku 

  Written by Razorclaw X (spiceoflife@NYChotmail.com) 
  http://www.crosswinds.net/~slythe/ranma/ranff.html 
  Disclaimer: Ranma 1/2 and characters belong to Rumiko 
Takahashi. And all that other good stuff. Proper 
licenses belong to respective properties and 
characters. The manga has precedence over material in 
the anime. 
  This file can be freely distributed so long as it 
appears in its complete form and proper credit given. 
No part may be reproduced for monetary gain without 
permission from the author. 

  Fanart can be found at: 
    http://www.crosswinds.net/~slythe/fanart/index.html 

----------------------------------------------- 

"Every exit is an entry somewhere else."--Tom Stoppard 


  Cinder kept his head low as he knelt in the circle 
of light. His left mechanical eye remained dim as he 
stared out of the light illuminating him above to the 
darkness that lay beyond. 
  The priests called this place the Tower of Suzaku, 
one of the five dominating structures in the diamond- 
shaped Shrine of the Four Gods, lying at the southern 
point. Each of the four towers, one at each corner for 
each compass point, was made up of seven floors that 
bore the name of one of the seven stars of the god's 
constellation. While the towers contained the living 
quarters of the respective priests the centermost room 
was reserved solely for the gods' tests. 
  The salamander himself was on the fourth level of the 
trial column, as the priests referred it, having 
completed three levels before the abort many years ago. 
Cinder had not been in the shrine since that day, but 
it was if a day had not gone by since then; nothing 
changed-- not the room, not the memories, not the 
priests in charge. Not even Suzaku changed. 
  As was tradition Cinder was left to himself to 
complete the tests; he would complete them under his 
own power without aid, or be stripped of all power and 
kicked out of the tower. While the fire master had 
little to worry from the punishment-- it applied only 
to the priests-- he knew they would not let him leave 
until Suzaku got her way. 
  For some strange reason, the bird of the red lotus 
demanded Cinder to be her chosen Guardian. 
  In that same regard Cinder chose to think of Suzaku 
as 'she.' Traditionally, the four gods were depicted as 
being beyond such 'trivialities' as gender, but it 
often helped those who did not exist at their level to 
give such qualification. Most of the time the Guardian 
would select a gender opposite their own upon going 
into the test, but take up the same gender when 
succeeding, since the thought and body become one. 
While Cinder could not imagine why that would be, he 
still took more comfort at the thought he would 
'become one' with a female. 
  He could feel her caressing, flaming talons already, 
as well as hear her silent voice: "You're mine." 
  "Cinder," came a sibilant voice, whispering out of 
all the unseen walls. "Sokar na Kibarak, loyal 
retainer of...." 
  "You are of no significance to refer to me by that 
name!" snapped the fire salamander, smoke venting from 
his jaw. 
  "Do you," continued the voice, ignoring Cinder's 
outburst, "seek the blessing of Suzaku?" 
  Despite his annoyance, he answered, "Yes." 
  "Then it shall begin." 
  All at once, the memory of pain the fire master 
carried for all three years of living on Earth became 
reality. 

  Miranda could not help but wince when her sensei's 
tortured screams vibrated the Suzaku Tower itself. 
Feeling a sudden shiver down her spine, she faced the 
high priest with doubt in her eyes. "That doesn't sound 
like he's enjoying it," she pointed out. 
  The high priest of the Suzaku Tower, Kisaragi, shook 
his head. "It wasn't meant to be. The trials, while 
never the same for each individual seeking to become 
the Guardian, are usually based around events that 
define their lives-- usually traumatic ones." 
  The martial artist nodded silently, casting her eyes 
back toward the tower. There was no doubt in her mind 
what Master Cinder could consider traumatic, a fact 
that she alone was proud to know. 
  "So why are you still here?" asked the high priest, 
changing the subject. "You're the only one still here 
at the tower; everyone else has gone off to do their 
own things." 
  "I guess you can consider this my thing," Miranda 
replied softly. "Master Cinder doesn't like me worrying 
over him like this... but I can't help it. He's done so 
much for me this past year; the least I can do is stay 
here and wait for him." 
  "I see," Kisaragi said, nodding in understanding. 
"Such is the way... the master and the apprentice." 

  "Look at all these scrolls!" was the first set of 
words that flew out of Shion Kagami's mouth when the 
doors to the archive were opened to him. 
  Running well ahead of Tatewaki and Kanna the hacker 
transformed instantly to a researcher, already climbing 
the ladders and pulling scrolls from their racks before 
the two could say a thing. 
  The one who let the three enter, Hazuki, chuckled to 
herself at Shion's enthusiasm. Appearing to be in her 
mid-twenties she alone could lay claim to be Guardian 
of Byakko, the white tiger. While some were surprised 
that a person so young could take such responsibility 
Byakko/Hazuki assured them that it wasn't difficult to 
watch over the seal holding the Gate of Heaven. 
  "My, my," she said, "most of the juniors loathe 
coming in here." 
  "I think he's overreacting there," Kanna offered, as 
Shion was already gathering an armful of scrolls. "It's 
like letting a caged animal loose in its home after so 
long a time." 
  "You would believe he would show some restraint," 
Tatewaki snorted, folding his arms. "I would not allow 
my person to be demeaned in such a manner!" 
  From down one of the rows a scroll flew in Tatewaki's 
direction. He scrambled to catch it, barely succeeding, 
and read the title. His eyes widened with shock. "This 
is.... I HAVE BEEN LOOKING FOR THIS FOR YEARS!!! Ah, 
HAHAHAHA!!" 
  Kanna slapped herself on the forehead as the 
kendoist took off into the stacks as well. "So much for 
restraint." 
  She eyed Byakko, who was chuckling to herself. 
"What's so funny?" 
  "Oh, nothing," the Guardian replied. "I thought they 
would make good help for the archivists... so I wonder 
if I should let them know." 
  "Nah," Kanna replied, shaking her head. "They'll get 
over it after they eat the place up." She glanced at 
her watch. "Speaking of which, I'd better look for the 
stuff I want to look for while there's still time." 
  "Cinder won't be done with his trials for quite a 
while," Byakko assured her. "You have plenty of time." 
  "No, not that; I mean before Shion and Tatewaki mix 
up all the scrolls." 
  "I see." The priestess found reason to chuckle some 
more. "If that'll be all for you, I've some business to 
take care of." 
  "Go right ahead," the Crystal Spider said, waving 
good-bye. "We aren't going anywhere," she added with a 
smile. 

  Ryoga Hibiki murmured a sound of pleasure as he 
slipped himself slowly into the steaming pool of the 
open-air hot spring. 
  "Ah... I haven't felt it this good for a long time," 
he said, finding a seat on a submerged rock. 
  "You said it," he heard Mousse say, although he was 
obscured by the density of the steam. 
  Night had long since fallen as Cinder was lead away 
to the Suzaku Tower at sunset, leaving the others to 
their own devices until the fire master was through 
with the trials, one way or another. Ranma's parents 
had already come and left the hot spring, leaving it 
empty for the younger generations to use. Many of the 
junior priests took this time to bathe, Ryoga realized, 
even though he could not see any of them from where he 
was in the large pool. 
  He also knew that Ranma was around somewhere, likely 
sulking in a corner. Ryoga had no idea what was going 
on in his rival's mind, but he knew enough to know that 
it had something to do with Ukyo Kuonji's recent 
appearance. 
  Ryoga himself did not trust the okonomiyaki chef as 
far as he could see her, and not even then. On more 
than one occasion she concocted a crazy scheme, and 
quite a few times it involved Ryoga himself. She lured 
him in like the Siren's song, and each time he was met 
with disappointment. 
  But socking her was going a bit too far, even for 
Ranma. 
  He saw Mousse's silhouette appear through the steam, 
and then his glasses appeared. "So, how does it feel to 
be free?" 
  Ryoga blinked, staring down at his hands as he 
raised them out of the water. "It's... it's like a 
dream! A really good dream!" He faced the other martial 
artist. "And if it really is a dream, I hope I never 
wake up!" 

  The only obstacle keeping the men's side from the 
women's side of the spring was a simple cement wall, 
about as thick as a human head with a single opening 
at the bottom to allow water to flow. The designer of 
the pools made sure the two sides were close to even 
in size, but the women's side was far more crowded than 
the sparsely-populated men's side. 
  It was particularly due to the fact that most of 
those belonging to the nearby Shrine of the Four Gods 
were girls. To the eyes in darkness, that was not a 
problem at all. 

  Akane leaned back against the dividing wall, sighing 
wearily. 
  "What's the matter, Akane?" asked Kasumi, sitting 
across from her younger sister, with Nabiki at her 
right. 
  "You'd think it'd have something to do with Ranma," 
Nabiki commented. 
  "It does," Akane replied. "Actually, it has more to 
do with Ukyo." 
  "Oh, her," the middle sister snorted. "To think, 
after all this time away from her friends," emphasizing 
the word 'friends' sarcastically, "she's nowhere to be 
seen." 
  Throughout the entire trip to the Shrine of the Four 
Gods Ukyo kept to herself, away from the others. Akane 
realized this immediately, but kept her distance as 
well, not knowing if the okonomiyaki chef wanted to be 
alone or nobody wanted to speak to her. By the time 
they got Cinder squared away with the high priests she 
disappeared entirely; no one had seen Ukyo ever since 
walking through the front gates, but Akane knew she was 
still around somewhere. 
  "She used to be so friendly and outgoing," Kasumi 
noted, a hint of concern in her voice. "Do you suppose 
something happened to her?" 
  "Being dead could do that," Nabiki replied. 
  "Maybe Ranma should talk to her; she is his friend, 
after all." 
  "Have you even SEEN the look they gave each other, 
Sis?" 
  "But she wasn't really dead, was she?" Akane said 
finally. "I mean, it's good that she's back, but... I 
can't accept it." 
  "Because she played you for a fool," Nabiki answered 
harshly. "The only kind of company Ranma attracts is 
trouble, and she's part of it. It's HIS problem; let 
your husband deal with it." 
  "I think Nabiki might be right," agreed the eldest 
sister. 
  Before Akane could reply the conversation was 
interrupted by a collective, ear-piercing scream 
coming from beyond the wall of steam. Girls cried here 
and there, the sound carrying like a wave. The eyes of 
the three Tendo sisters followed the voice wave until 
it started to grow in intensity. 
  "It's coming this way!" Akane realized, lowering 
herself in the water as her sisters did the same. 
  "Wheeeheee!!" squealed a ball-shaped object as it 
bounced against the dividing wall. 
  "I know that voice!" she managed to utter, just as 
a second dark mass pierced the steam. 
  "SHIT!!" cried Shizuka, just as she slammed into the 
wall. 
  Both Nabiki and Akane edged themselves away from the 
cement wall as Shizuka, still fully-clothed and 
apparently working, slide off the wall and land on top 
of the water. Nabiki cupped her hands at water level, 
shoving a wave in the priestess's direction. The wave 
did little to break Shizuka's stand, as her feet still 
stood with the wave. 
  "Cool," she muttered. "I thought Ranma was the only 
one who could do that water-tension thing!" 
  "Do you mind?!" Shizuka snapped, shouting over her 
shoulder. She turned to look up the wall, which easily 
towered over her twice over. "Now I've lost him!" 
  "It WAS Happosai, wasn't it?!" Akane realized. 
  "Oh," Kasumi gasped. "Shouldn't he stay on the men's 
side?" 
  "Thanks for stating the obvious!" the priestess 
snarled, the pool obviously not the only source of the 
surrounding steam. 
  "Maybe this isn't the time for it, but... don't you 
ever relax?" Nabiki asked, sounding bored. 
  "Yooohooo!!" they heard Happosai call, his voice 
carrying from above. "I'm right here!" 
  Activity grew on the other side of the wall, Akane 
could tell, but it was soon drowned out by the cries of 
the mob of girls behind her. 
  "That's my cue!" Shizuka cried, leaping straight up 
in the air. 
  "Wait!" warned Akane, but it was too late. 
  Several heartbeats later the priestess came splashing 
down into the pool past Akane, followed by a large 
wooden brush, obviously from the men's side. She 
floated back up on her back, obviously unconscious from 
the blow, as several other girls circled her. 
  One girl splashed water over Shizuka's face. "Yep, 
she's out," she said, Akane recognizing the voice of 
the second of Kodachi's groupies, Ayame. 
  And where one Siamese twin was, so was the other. 
"Help me pull her out, okay?" said Chika. 
  But the moment she touched the priestess Shizuka 
snapped awake and sat up in the water, raising a balled 
fist. "Don't you EVER touch me, you little pervert!" 
  "Who're you calling a pervert?!" the other girl 
yelled. 
  Shizuka got up on her feet, kicking up waves and 
dispersing the girls surrounding her, all the while 
whipping out a purification rod. The streamers on its 
head attracted themselves upward toward the top of the 
wall again, and soon the hunter was after her quarry 
once more. 
  Shaking her head, Akane headed for the edge. "That's 
it, I've had enough of this for one evening...." 

  Landing on top of the cement wall Shizuka, with the 
rod in one hand, threw several marble-sized pellets 
down into the men's side. Soon after each splashed down 
she heard the startled cries of several guys, followed 
by a burst of white smoke. 
  She spied the short old man sitting complacently at 
the edge facing the women's side, waving a fan at the 
steam as if it could part the vaporous water away to 
hidden treasure. The hunting priestess imagined that 
must be what the old geezer thought, but now it was 
going to end. 
  "I don't know who you are," she began, edging her way 
closer, "but your perverted ways end here, old man!" 
  Happosai looked away from the edge and toward the 
priestess, disappointment in his eyes. "Tsk, tsk. For 
a girl you're VERY disappointing. Why don't you join 
your friends down there?" 
  Shizuka wanted to say, "They're not my friends!" but 
knew nothing would come of it other than retaliation 
by the girls. All the same, she had to keep him 
talking. "How sad, that even at your age you can't 
keep hormonal urges in check." 
  "Better too much than none at all!" Happosai replied, 
suddenly elated. Turning to look down at the men's 
side, he exclaimed, "Well! That looks like Ranma down 
there!" 
  "Nice try; you can't see through the smoke." 
  "No... really!" 
  "Wha...?!" she heard the martial artist cry from 
below. "Old lech?!" 
  Shizuka dove at the old man, but he was far faster 
than she was, and jumped out of the way. "Why don't 
you meet my star pupil?" he suggested, pushing the 
priestess off the edge of the wall toward the men's 
side. 
  Before she could shout off another insult the water's 
surface slammed into her face; this time, landing face- 
down. Although she fell through the surface the 
impact felt no different from slamming onto the 
pavement, something Shizuka was very well-acquainted 
with-- something she shouldn't have been very well- 
acquainted with.... 
  Amidst the shouts of "There's a girl on the men's 
side!" the priestess felt someone pull her up with 
great force. She sucked in a mouthful of water, and 
when she broke the surface she spat it out in her 
helper's face. 
  Shaking back her hair, Shizuka blinked at the face 
in front of her, still distorted from the dripping 
water, then looked down, and back at him again. "Don't 
look too happy," she suggested, trudging toward the 
rim of the pool. 
  "Shizuka, what do you think you're doing?" she heard 
Ranma ask, sitting half-dressed beyond the pool. Next 
to him were Ryoga and Mousse, both looking quite ready 
to deal with the mess put in front of them, as if they 
have dealt with this sort of problem before. 
  Shaking herself and spraying water all around her, 
the priestess muttered, "Goddamn old man...." 
  "Hey, I could tell you stories about THAT," Ranma 
offered, pulling on his shirt. "By the way, judging 
from all the yellin' and screamin' over the wall," he 
jerked his thumb to the dividing wall, "I'd say he's 
over there." 
  "Look, if you want to go over there, that's fine by 
me," Mousse said, "but leave me out of it." 
  "Yeah!" agreed Ryoga. "What if Akane is over there?" 
  "What's your problem?" Shizuka asked, annoyed. "Never 
seen a naked girl before?" 
  "I was wondering about you, too," the Master of 
Hidden Weapons said. "Naked guys...?" 
  "Just as well the day they were born, and then some," 
the priestess interrupted, looking around for her 
purification rod. Just when she was going to look 
back toward the pool someone threw it at her, bouncing 
off the back of her head. Dragging it toward her with 
her foot she threw several more smoke pellets over her 
shoulder and into the pool. 
  "You don't get out often, do you?" asked Ranma, his 
eyes narrowing. 
  "If you mean if I fantasize over guys, you're right; 
it's a waste of time." 
  He waved a hand. "Nah, not that. The old lech is 
probably right; you have NO hormones." 

  "You probably deserved it," Akane told her husband, 
applying disinfectant to Ranma's right cheek. "What'd 
you say to her, anyway?" 
  "Believe me, you don't want to know," he answered. 

  "BIG BROTHER!!!" 
  The ear-piercing screech of Chika echoed throughout 
the archives, forcing all three occupants to shield 
their ears from the noise. One after another each of 
them recovered, flinging various insults at each other 
until the hacker emerged from the rows of scrolls. 
  "You bellowed?" 
  Although she was fully-dressed, Shion could tell she 
came directly from the bath, given that her hair was 
wrapped in a soaking towel. Her cheeks were red, 
flaring in anger the likes he never saw for a long 
time. 
  "Your girlfriend," she fumed, "ruined a perfectly 
good bath!" 
  "So?" he asked, shrugging. "You should've expected 
as much...." 
  "She called me a 'pervert!'" Chika yelled, her 
voice echoing off each of the shelves and down the 
room, getting immediate response from both Tatewaki 
and Kanna. "DO SOMETHING!!" 
  "What do you want ME to do?!" demanded Shion. "Tell 
her to apologize?" 
  "TALK to her!!" 
  "Hey, SHUT UP out there!!" he heard Kanna yell. 
  "Bring silence, not noise, woman!" Tatewaki shouted. 
  Raising his hands in surrender, Shion answered, 
"Alright already! What do you want me to do?" 
  "You're a man," Chika said, stating the obvious, 
"so do what you're supposed to do to girls!" 
  Immediately the hacker's hopes began to crumble. 
"I'd sooner you did it." 
  "Shut up!" She punched him in the stomach. 
  "Dammit," he cursed. "Why do I have to take care of 
all of YOUR problems...?" 
  "Because you're a damn spineless wimp, that's why!" 
Kanna answered, annoyed. 

  Miranda winced as the Suzaku Tower shook violently 
in place at the sound of the screaming. The sun had 
long since disappeared from the sky, and the night was 
nearing its zenith, but she, nor anyone at the Shrine 
of the Four Gods, could sleep well, not with the 
constant noise generated from the southern tower. 
  She glanced northward toward the center of the 
shrine, the eight-leveled Sun Pagoda, silhouetted by 
the light of the moon. Every once in a while Miranda 
thought the Pagoda was reacting to each shake of the 
Suzaku Tower in the form of a glowing pulse, but her 
eyes never caught it in time to fully see it. It was 
likely the Gate of Heaven was in, or under, that 
structure, and maybe the trials were being fed energy 
from the Gate itself. 
  The Suzaku high priest Kisaragi approached her for 
the second time that evening, sleep in his eyes. 
Although it was only a little after midnight, a time 
to which Miranda was used to running around in, she 
realized that the priests were more of the early-riser 
type than the late-wake. On the other hand, the only 
other one she met was Shizuka, who didn't appear to 
sleep at all. 
  "You don't know how much I want to go in there," she 
told the high priest, focusing her eyes back on the 
Suzaku Tower. "Every movement, every scream... I can 
almost see him!" 
  "Trust me, I think I have a good idea," Kisaragi 
assured the martial artist, fighting to stifle a 
yawn. "We've had to put up with this kind of racket 
every time someone takes the tests." 
  "I don't envy you," she replied, flexing her right 
glove in and out of a fist. "I look around at all the 
things that go on here, and from what I can tell that 
whacked girl Shizuka seems pretty normal." 
  "Oh, you mean the Genbu girl," the high priest said, 
remembering the face belonging to the name. "The towers 
usually keep to themselves, but everybody knows about 
her." 
  "Is that so?" Miranda's interest perked, welcoming 
any distraction from her master's pain, even if she was 
only guessing at it. 
  "Mmmhmm," he continued. "She's the only one stupid 
enough to become a professional Hunter. You see, around 
here you become a priest because you want to take the 
easy road; here you don't have to worry too much about 
social obligation, status, or even money. It's the 
more station you have, the more power you get. Shizuka, 
on the other hand, seems to like doing things the hard 
way." 
  "In other words, you guys are all lazy cows." 
  Scratching his chin, Kisaragi seemed to consider 
that. "Well... perhaps. Shizuka goes out of her way to 
make herself useful, which is partly why everybody 
knows her by now. Quite negatively, really; the same 
people tend to think her quite mad and really stupid. 
You'd have to ask Mizuki about it." 
  "Who's that?" 
  "She's Shizuka's mentor at the Genbu Tower," Kisaragi 
explained. "Not a senior priest, but definitely her 
senior. She's like a mother to her." 
  "How about bringing her around?" suggested Miranda, 
suspecting she wouldn't get much more out of the high 
priest of Suzaku Tower. 
  "Well...." 
  "She's not doing anything important, is she?" 
  "Not really. Nobody is, actually, except maybe 
Byakko." 
  So, she thought, there was an active Guardian living 
in the Shrine. That'll have to come later. "Well, then, 
go get Mizuki. I'm not going anywhere." 
  "If you insist," Kisaragi answered, shrugging. It was 
fortunate that he long since decided that ordering 
Miranda around was not a good idea, he decided with a 
yawn, and turned away. 

  Kanna jumped in surprise the moment Tatewaki tapped 
her on the shoulder. 
  "What are you doing?" he asked, trying to look over 
the girl's shoulder. 
  She remained seated at the desk, tapping a pencil 
against its surface, and stared at the blueprints 
laid out before her. Off to one side was a set of 
rolled-up scrolls, with one scroll rolled out and held 
down at the corners by unused drafting equipment. 
  "What does it look like?" she countered, gnawing on 
the pencil's eraser. 
  The kendoist stood over to the side, leaning over the 
desk and in the girl's way. He traced his index finger 
across the blueprints, stopping at the far end, and 
tapped down on it. "The design seems rather simple, yet 
complex by the mechanism you intend to install. May I 
assume the purpose is of a weapon?" 
  "You assume correctly," Kanna said, nodding. She 
raised an arm, pushing Tatewaki out of the way. "It's a 
replacement for the one I lost in the fight with our 
dear Master Cinder." 
  He folded his arms. "Always of a mind to fight and 
win... what sorrow." 
  "Speak for yourself." Kanna picked up a slide rule, 
using its straight edge to draw in another line. "The 
trick with this guy here," she explained, pointing to 
the blueprints, "is to find a good balance. If I did 
the numbers right, all I need are the right materials. 
And construct it correctly, of course." 
  She watched him nod slowly, but quietly, then turn 
away to resume his studies-- whatever they were-- or 
attempt to get a blink of sleep, which was a hard 
commodity with all the racket down at the Suzaku Tower. 
Kanna was glad the kendoist did not take the 
opportunity to get in the last word, remembering when 
the two first met she sliced his bokken in two. The 
Crystal Spider was surprised to learn that Tatewaki 
always kept a spare weapon handy, and had one ready to 
go to resume their little quarrel. It was a point of 
fact that he boasted that he would never be without a 
weapon, for he learned to be prepared for such an 
eventuality. Too late, Kanna understood why. 
  And here she was, designing a new weapon. It was not 
the exact same weapon, however, otherwise she could 
have easily reconstructed it. Kanna wanted this new, 
more deadlier weapon, to be the finest possible for her 
upcoming match against Ranma. 

  Having one's living quarters on the sixth floor of 
the Genbu Tower was not exactly the kind of thing 
Shizuka looked forward to, especially after a rigorous 
hunt. 
  She declared silent victory the moment she ascended 
the last step, automatically rounding the corner and 
trudging down the hall, eyes fighting to stay focused. 
She imagined if her arms were long enough her knuckles 
would be dragging along the hard wood floor, and 
contemplated collapsing on the spot and sleep there. 
But better judgement-- and a scaled nudge-- pushed her 
on, the boa constrictor Thanatos making his presence 
known at the priestess's feet. 
  Looking down at the unexpected welcome, Shizuka 
muttered, "Well... knew I was coming? Finally figured 
out how to open doors yourself?" 
  Thanatos's forked tongue flicked out in response. 
  "Actually, I let him out." 
  Shizuka looked up and down the hall, to a man 
standing just outside the door to her quarters. He 
leaned against the wall with his arms folded and legs 
crossed, waiting. He pushed up the rim of his glasses, 
further concealing the eyes the priestess wished he 
would allow her to see in the dim hall of the tower. 
  "H... hello, Shion," she managed to say. 
  "Well, I was hoping you'd come back," the mercenary 
said, sounding not the least bit tired. "You're not 
an easy person to find." 
  "How'd you find my room?" Shizuka asked, narrowing 
her eyes. "I didn't show you...." 
  "Oh, you know me," he replied, standing straight and 
swinging his arms lazily. "I have my ways. A good 
word here, a good question there...." 
  "You asked Mizuki." 
  "Well, yeah." 
  "I'm going to have to talk to her about that." 
  "It's going to have to wait, too. She's on her way 
to the Suzaku Tower now; Miranda wanted to talk to 
her, I think." 
  Likely out of boredom. "I see. But... what are you 
doing here?" 
  Shion held up his glasses, as if he needed to focus 
on what he was seeing. "Uh... well... you look tired, 
so maybe I'd better come back tomorrow...." 
  "That's okay!" Shizuka insisted. She bent her knees 
and scooped up Thanatos in her arms. "Really!" 
  "N-n-n-no!" he stuttered, raising his hands. "That's 
okay. I mean, you're a busy person and all...." 
  "You took the time," she pointed out, walking past 
Shion and sliding her door open with her sandal, "so 
the least I could do... well... entertain a guest and 
stuff...." 
  Shizuka, you're an idiot, she berated herself as she 
lead Shion inside the small, single-room apartment of 
the Genbu Tower. Not only was the night literally a 
wash, what with the old man getting away, but now 
you're spilling worthless crap on a guy? 
  Stop being so flustered! she imagined Thanatos to 
say, even though the great constrictor snake could not 
speak aloud. He's not a bad guy; he's not like that 
Ranma jerk at all. After all, he let me hunt.... 
  Yeah, but... wait a minute.... 
  "Shit," the priestess cursed. 
  "W... what?!" Shion said, startled. "Maybe I should 
leave?" 
  "No, it's not you!" Shizuka assured him. "I just 
realized...." 
  "MINAZUKI!!!" 
  Both of the room's occupants turned to the open door, 
where nothing stood before there was now a 
hyperventilating girl, wild anger in her eyes. She 
wore her raven-dark hair short, and her features were 
younger than Shizuka's own. Dressed in her night 
clothes it looked to her that the newcomer, Reiko 
Shiwasu, had only just arisen after one of the recent 
shockwaves from the Suzaku Tower. 
  She held out a portable mouse cage. "WHERE is my 
poor little Pikachu?!" 
  "Uh, maybe it IS a good time to leave..." Shion 
muttered, trying to make a move for the door, but 
Shizuka held his arm. 
  "Don't bother," Shizuka told him. To the other girl 
she said quickly, "Thanatos thanks you for the canned 
goods, but he'd prefer you leave the cage closed, with 
the challenge and all...." 
  "I DON'T BELIEVE WHAT I'M HEARING!!" Reiko screamed 
at the top of her lungs, chucking the cage at Shizuka 
with all her force. 
  But impact never came-- not where the angry girl 
was hoping, as Shion caught the cage with his hands. 
"Hey! She didn't mean it!" 
  "This is none of your business!" 
  "Rei," Shizuka said calmly, "I'm sorry about the 
rodent, but you can't assume that I be responsible for 
your own negligence." She held up the boa constrictor. 
"Do snakes have arms? No. The only way your rodent 
could've been in danger was if it was not in the cage 
in the first place, or you left it open for anyone to 
get." 
  She stood her ground, watching as Rei's temper 
flared, raising a balled fist that threatened to 
explode. Although his eyes were concealed she knew 
well enough that Shion was quite nervous, as he 
glanced from her to the angry priestess quickly. 
  Letting out a large snarl, Rei thrust her fist down, 
struggling to regain her composure. "This isn't over, 
Minazuki!" Moments later she was gone. 
  Watching the door, Shion said, "I'm guessing this is 
my fault." 
  "It could be," Shizuka agreed, then added, "but only 
if you want it to. It's Rei's fault she left the 
rodent's cage open when Thanatos was slithering 
around." 
  "That's... some... nice logic," he said with unease. 
  "On the other hand," she offered, "Thanatos CAN open 
locked cages...." 
  Shion blinked, casting a glance at the boa 
constrictor's head and flickering tongue. He imagined 
the snake would say, "It TASTED good," if he could 
speak human tongues. 
  "So," the priestess said, getting down to business, 
"you wanted to see me for something?" 
  The mercenary clapped his hands together, wringing 
his fingers nervously. "Ah... well...." He struggled to 
find the words. "I just wanted to see how you were 
doing." 
  "Oh," Shizuka said, nodding. "A social call?" 
  "Yeah, well.... My sister's a little concerned about 
your activities earlier...." 
  "Hey, I'm the only one with the spine to stand up to 
that little troll!" she interrupted, letting the boa 
constrictor out of her arms to the floor. "Don't you 
see the kind of place this is?" Before Shion could 
offer a reply she answered, "THIS place is where the 
carefree live! Since our function has been phased-out 
of society our job is nearly useless. I'm the only one 
around here who gets anything done; I am the one who 
goes out of her way to do some good!" 
  "Well," Shion said, "I guess you can't beat that, 
but who are you trying to prove it to?" 
  "Prove what?" 
  "Your parents? Your superiors? Yourself?" 
  "I'm not trying to prove anything to anyone!" 
  "You're trying to prove that your job isn't 
worthless." 
  "Is not!" 
  "Well, of course not, if you're doing so well." 
  Shizuka was about to raise another objection, but 
caught herself before uttering a single word. She 
turned away, lowering her head. "I'm not a normal 
girl, am I?" 
  "Huh?" 
  She raised her hand, and stared at the back of her 
fingers. "Should it matter if I were naked in the 
room right now?" 
  Shion gasped, startled. "N-n-no! I mean, yes, it 
should... but... no-no-no-no.... I'll leave...." 
  "Stay," she said flatly, turning to grab the 
mercenary's arm. "I wasn't going to do it." 
  Instantly the priestess saw relief in his expression, 
and she could almost see his eyes follow suit. The 
outer surface's shiny gloss seemed to peel away to 
Shizuka's eyes, and for a moment she thought she saw 
the real Shion Kagami. 
  "I just need someone to listen," she explained, 
unsure why she felt the need to keep the mercenary 
around. "I mean, you're one of the few to listen...." 
  "I see." He folded his arms. "Well, I can tell you 
one thing, Shizu... there's no such thing as a 'normal' 
person." 
  "Sure there is!" the priestess insisted. "Ranma 
said...." 
  "It doesn't matter what Ranma said!" Shion 
interrupted hotly. "Everybody is what they are and what 
they want to be, not what someone else wants them to 
be. What is 'normal' for one is not necessarily 
'normal' for another. You make yourself you." 
  Shizuka considered this, lowering her head in 
thought. "Let's go to town." 
  "Right now?! Everything's closed by now!" 
  "I know places still open," Shizuka assured him. 
"The karaoke bar, Neo Geo Land...." 
  Obviously flustered, Shion stuttered, "D... don't you 
think people'd miss us...?" 
  She leaned to his side, and wrapped an arm around him 
conspiratorially. "C'mon! Who cares what other people 
think, just like you said!" 
  "Well, actually...." 
  She shook him. "It'll be fun! Sure, my singing sucks, 
but we don't HAVE to sing...." 
  Leading Shion out, Shizuka slid the door shut behind 
her, leaving Thanatos behind to finish digesting his 
late night meal. All thoughts of sleep and fatigue 
slipped out of her mind, replacing them with thoughts 
of sharing a good time with a friend. Maybe it was 
good to come home after all. 

  Even as the two left the Shrine, two more were on 
their way to it. 
  "It's been some time since I last saw them," the 
first said, dressed in dark clothes. "How long was it? 
Three months?" 
  "Almost four," Ukyo pointed out, trailing behind 
Konatsu. "But I have to warn you... Ranma isn't exactly 
happy about all this." 
  "It's my fault," Konatsu said, glancing over his 
shoulder and beyond the sword sheathed on his back. 
  "No, it's just as equally my fault, too. I shouldn't 
have left conflicting instructions." She sighed 
heavily. "I don't know how I'm getting out of this 
one." 
  The ninja came to a sudden halt, turning in place to 
face Ukyo. "I'm sorry... but I don't think I can do 
you much service this time." 
  "Don't be. I mean it this time." 

  Hidden in a cloak of shadow Hokuto Takemasa, the 
ill-reputed Shadow Weaver, poked her eyes through the 
bushes and trees that gave her cover from Ukyo and 
Konatsu's eyes. Although she didn't doubt they could 
detect her if they tried, Hokuto knew they could not 
do anything about her anyway. 
  She cast a glance up into the air, where, beyond the 
tree canopy lay the night's stars, and the veiled 
moon, obscured by parted clouds. Mentally casting a 
psychic wave pulse it reflected off the sky and back 
down toward the earth, giving Hokuto a mental image of 
the current layout and occupancy of the Shrine of the 
Four Gods. 
  Four people outside the walls, she counted, three in 
the courtyard near the southern tower, and nobody else 
visible anywhere. Good; they must all be asleep by 
now. 
  Preparing a shadow bolt in her palms a crushed 
twig warned of an intruder behind her. Hokuto turned 
quickly, ready to throw the shadow bolt, but was met 
with a greater force, throwing her backward into the 
bushes. 
  An even stronger ki blast, she thought, trying to 
figure out why she did not detect the intruder. She 
craned her neck upward, but found her body would not 
respond. A dark silhouette appeared over her, blotting 
out the moonlit sky. 
  She had no time to scream. 

  At the same moment, Cinder, lying on the floor of the 
fifth level of the Suzaku Tower's trial chamber, felt 
a prick in his head. The salamander realized it was 
not the test, which had ceased for the time being, but 
something far greater. The prick remained, however, 
unlike most premonitions, and grew like a cancer. 
  "Something is wrong," he barely whispered. 
  It wasn't a premonition at all, but it was certainly 
similar. Wandering his mind the salamander found it, 
but his mind's eye represented it as a time bomb, which 
was slowly counting down. 
  Someone planted this just now, Cinder realized. 
Someone who wanted to cave my mind, but very few 
people on Earth could have done so without Cinder 
noticing-- completely, at least. According to the time 
bomb he estimated he had about sixteen hours until it 
did whatever it was supposed to do. 
  He had no intention of letting it go all the way 
down. 
  Forcing himself back to his feet, Cinder knew he had 
to complete the trials before the cancerous bomb grew 
too far. 

  Kanna heard someone knock on the door. 
  "That's right, it's locked," she realized, standing 
to her feet. 
  With quick strides her footfalls echoed throughout 
the room, empty save for herself, as Tatewaki had left 
not long after Shion. Despite the fact that she, too, 
needed sleep, Kanna could not bring herself to turn in, 
not until the numbers were checked a third time, and 
the balance theoretically correct. After all, the 
effort put into the weapon would yield infinitely more 
later. 
  She stopped in front of the door, and reached to 
tumble the lock, but a sharp pain of her head forced 
her back. Kanna gasped, clutching the back of her head 
as she felt something crawl on the inside of her head. 
  Falling to her knees, she tried to scream, but her 
voice was lost to her. The crawl moved toward the 
front, and Kanna's eyes watered. But, judging from the 
runoff down her face, it was not tears; she shut her 
eyes to the world as the blood dripped to the floor. 
  Her head pounding, the breath left her as blood 
rushed to fill her throat, spilling out through her 
mouth and nose onto the floor. The crawl stopped at 
once, but it was too late for Kanna to care as she 
collapsed into the pool of her own blood. 

  There seems to be much activity here, Sypha thought 
to herself as she observed the Shrine of the Four Gods, 
her back to the rising sun to the east. 
  The dragon-turned-human long since decided when she 
left Jusenkyo that her almighty dragon form was too 
much of a giveaway to her presence. She imagined her 
great claw scooping out one of the towers easily, then 
shook it off, realizing that it would be counter- 
productive to destroy the complex. 
  She raised her dragon pearl, now in a handy size even 
a human can handle, and opened up a scrying screen 
within. The black sorcerer willed a view of the Tower 
of Suzaku, the southern tower, and was treated to a 
view of Cinder, the salamander, fighting off unseen 
opponents. 
  Raising an eyebrow, she silently congratulated the 
fire salamander for exceeding her expectations. While 
she estimated it would take at least a day and a half 
before Cinder could finish the trials he was well 
ahead of schedule, seemingly racing against the clock. 
  It wouldn't matter when, of course, Sypha thought. 
So long as he keeps the doo-gooding squashing flesh 
busy there was a window of opportunity. 
  "I will not be denied," Sypha muttered in warning. 

  "You know," Shizuka said, her arm still around 
Shion in the same conspiratorial manner as the previous 
night, "You're not half bad." 
  "Neither are you," the mercenary hacker replied, as 
the two trudged their way up to the front gates of the 
shrine. He laughed, raising a bottle of water to his 
lips. "You know, you may be good at games and stuff, 
but your singing SUCKS!" 
  "Hah, so do you!" she pointed out. She grabbed the 
bottle out of Shion's hands. "Gimme that!" 
  She took a good swig herself as the two made it to 
the gates, only to be greeted by a tapping foot 
belonging to Chika Hisho. Her arms were folded, 
matching along with a look of disgust and annoyance as 
she stared down the dawn's arrivals. 
  "Where were you?" she demanded. 
  "Ah... ah... AH!" Shion stuttered, adjusting the rim 
of his glasses. "We went out to town...." 
  "In the middle of the night?!" 
  "Hey, STOP yellin'!" demanded Shizuka, sloshing the 
bottle's contents all over. "That was DAAAAAMN good 
fun!" 
  "You're drunk," Chika accused, pointing to the 
water bottle. "That's not really water, is it?" 
  "Sure it is!" Shizuka insisted loudly. Raising the 
bottle, she declared, "This is HOLY stuff!" 
  "It's not holy water..." Shion corrected lazily. 
  Releasing her hold on Shion Shizuka immediately 
clamped onto Chika, wrapping her arm around her 
shoulder like an old friend, despite Chika's visible 
aversion. 
  "Get your hand off me!" she demanded, although the 
priestess, despite her apparent drunkenness, was quite 
strong. 
  "Y'see," Shizuka explained, "we go into town and hit 
the karaoke bar first.... Lots of people there.... 'An 
thing is, I had all my poems with me...." 
  "Oh, let me guess," Chika said sarcastically, "you 
recited your awful poems." 
  "They ain't awful!" complained the priestess. 
  "Actually, they're kinda nice," Shion added, taking 
off his glasses and wiping his brow with the back of 
his hand. "On the other hand, you didn't read them...." 
  Shizuka held out the bottle toward Shion, and he 
accepted it readily. Pulling it back with her hand 
still curled, she shouted, "Stop! In the naaaame of 
loooovve... before you breeeaaak my heart...." 
  "SHIZU!!" 
  The woman's voice tore Shizuka out of her stupor, 
as she jerked instantly fully awake and turned. "Uh... 
hi, Mizuki." 
  "Off partying again?" Mizuki, a priestess appearing 
around three years older than Shizuka, said. To 
Shizuka the senior priestess of Genbu, an aide to the 
high priest, had dark volumes of straight hair that 
fell all the way down to her waist. She wore a small 
metal crown on her head, an ornament Mizuki said was 
passed in her family for generations, made entirely of 
a single, polished silver. 
  "Geez, 'Mom!'" complained Shizuka. "Can't a girl get 
some fun around here?" 
  "When was the last time you slept?" asked the older 
priestess, her hands at her waist. 
  Shizuka paused in thought, then revealed, "Not since 
the night before...." 
  "And still a burst of energy!" Shion added. 
  As if to contradict the mercenary's point, Shizuka 
collapsed on the ground, face first, kicking up a 
cloud of dirt from the fall. 
  "'Burst of energy,' eh?" Chika snorted. 
  "I had money that she wouldn't last THAT long in a 
single day," Mizuki muttered under her breath. 
  Shion rolled his eyes. Curling his fingers he raised 
a hand to his mouth, as if holding a microphone. "Fly 
me to the moooon...." 

  Ranma tore off the cotton gauze taped to his left 
cheek, leaning his back against the wall near the main 
entrance to the Tower of the Sun. Throwing away the 
bandage he rubbed the spot, which still felt a little 
sore from Shizuka's surprisingly-fierce punch, but he 
imagined it was only a little red now. 
  "That ought to teach you," the priestess had said 
after clocking him. Although she turned and left 
immediately Ranma was left in the same air that the 
girl was carrying around, and regretted shooting his 
mouth off. Akane remined him to no end that it was 
rather cruel, and it didn't help that both Ryoga and 
Mousse were playing yes-men to her, either. 
  "An early bird, I see." 
  Ranma glanced over to the side, where Kodachi Kuno, 
who stayed relatively quiet the entire trip until now, 
stood in the doorway. "Oh, it's you. I was wondering 
when you'd start causin' trouble." 
  "It has come to my delicate ears that you, my dear, 
have shown interest in our host," she said in her 
dainty manner. Feigning giddiness, she added, "Ah, but 
would Ranma Saotome's harem of beautiful women be 
complete without the Black Rose?" 
  "Aw, shut up about that!" snapped the martial artist. 
"That's not what it is!" 
  "And you have cause to be jealous!" the gymnast 
continued, prancing around in a dance routine as she 
spoke. "My eyes and ears have spoken to me! Your new 
interest apparently has eyes on another!" 
  "Good for her." 
  "And would you...." 
  A scream interrupted Kodachi's flowery speech, 
grabbing both her and Ranma's attention in an instant. 
  "It's coming from inside!" he realized, dashing past 
Kodachi and into the Tower of the Sun. 

  "One down, three to go," the enemy whispered. 

  When the two arrived at the source of the scream they 
found themselves in the archives, where Ranma 
remembered that Kanna Rajura had locked herself up in 
all night. He pushed his way past those priests that 
were already there, looking into the room but keeping 
their distance. No farther than the door, at the foot 
of the entrance was Tatewaki Kuno, standing on bent 
knees, holding up Kanna's head. Beside him was Byakko, 
the Guardian, who was holding Kanna's limp left hand 
and standing in a red carpet of blood. 
  Moving around Tatewaki, Ranma saw the reason for the 
scream. Kanna's had been bleeding, from her eyes, 
nostrils, and mouth, as if her head exploded. Since the 
stains appeared quite dry he knew the girl was like 
this for quite some time, but it was likely only now 
they discovered her. 
  Kodachi winced at the sight of the blood, and turned 
away. 
  "What happened?!" demanded Ranma. 
  Byakko released Kanna's hand, and looked up at the 
young Saotome, anger in her eyes. "She's still alive, 
at least. Pulse is weak, and her breathing soft, but 
she'll be fine for the moment. We'll have to look at 
her later." 
  "We found her lying here," Tatewaki explained, "not 
long ago. There are no signs of a struggle, nor of a 
forced entry." He nodded his head toward the desk where 
the Crystal Spider was sitting when he left her. "Her 
work was undisturbed, as was the rest of the chamber." 
  "So whoever did this was after Kanna herself," Byakko 
concluded. "Incapacitation was the key, but it doesn't 
make sense. The attack was internal, sure, but it would 
have been easier to explode her brain." 
  "Any idea who could've done it?" asked Ranma, 
although he had a few ideas of his own. 
  "We know not of her enemies," the kendoist replied. 
"Any such information was kept to herself." 
  "Excepting your case, Ranma-darling," Kodachi 
pointed out quietly. 
  "But whoever did this likely wasn't a personal 
enemy," Ranma realized, "because nobody'd leave her 
alive like this, much less fight her while she was 
disarmed." 
  "The only reason, then, is if she got in the way 
somehow, or found out something," Byakko said. "In any 
case, the only reason one would attack this shrine 
would be if they were after the Gate of Heaven." 
  Tatewaki gently lowered Kanna back to the ground, 
and reached for the sword sheathed at his side. "If it 
is a battle, then Tatewaki Kuno shall rise to the 
challenge!" 
  "Hang on," Ranma said. "What if the answer is in the 
room?" 
  "Then perhaps I may be able to find it," said a 
newcomer. 
  The eyes turned to the newcomer, standing in the 
middle of the doorway, the junior priests having 
parted for him to pass through. Shion Kagami walked in, 
followed by Chika and Ayame. 
  "What happened?" he asked. 
  "She got attacked," Ranma explained quickly, "and we 
think whoever did this is after the Gate, but needed to 
get rid of her for some reason." 
  "If the answer lies in this room, I'll find it," the 
mercenary assured him. 
  "And that's a big IF," Ayame pointed out, in her 
usual, gruff tone. "You think you ought to get busy 
with the gate?" 
  Byakko nodded. "Right." Passing glances at the ones 
named, she said, "Ranma, Tatewaki, we're going to go to 
the Gate. Kodachi, see if you can find your other 
friends. As for the rest of you," she said, eyes on the 
juniors, "spread the word, and lockdown the compound." 
  The orders dispatched, everyone went about their 
appointed tasks, with two of the junior priests 
picking up the unconscious Kanna to take to another 
location, leaving Shion, Chika, and Ayame alone in the 
archives. 
  He shut the door after the last of them left. "Well, 
I doubt the answer is going to be here. I'll just say 
that up front." 
  "Then why are we wasting our time?" asked Chika. 
"Shouldn't we be going under lockdown, too?" 
  "Don't you get it?" Ayame said, "we're staying here 
to AVOID lockdown. I'm not accustomed to being lead 
around like a caged beast." 
  "Hmm, maybe you should," Shion suggested, glancing at 
the plans Kanna left on the desk. 

  "What's going on?" Akane asked, poking her head out 
into the hall as several juniors were rushing back to 
their rooms. 
  She reached out and grabbed the next junior that 
passed by. "Hey, what's happening?" she repeated. 
  "We're under lockdown!" he blurted. "Someone is 
going to attack the Gate!" 
  Akane released the junior, watching him run down the 
hall to where he roomed. She glanced back into her own 
room, which she shared with Ranma, and was now empty. 
Walking back in, she reached under the futon that was 
still laid-out on the floor, and produced a bokken. 
  Weapon in hand, she slid out into the hall, which was 
now empty, and made her way next door. Sliding it open, 
she noticed both her older sisters were up from all the 
commotion, and while Kasumi looked as if she had been 
up for quite a while Nabiki still had sleep in her 
eyes. 
  "Nabiki, Kasumi," she said, "stay here. Something's 
going to happen." 
  "Really," Nabiki replied, sounding bored. "Something 
other than the shockwaves?" 
  "I'm serious!" the youngest sister said. "I'm going 
to find Ranma; everybody else is locking down or 
something, so it has to be big." 

  "'Lockdown,' hm?" Sypha repeated to herself, reading 
Akane's lips through her scrying. "Keeping all 
nonessentials locked in their rooms to stay out of the 
way. Surely they expect something big, indeed." 
  Lowering the dragon pearl, Sypha viewed the Shrine of 
the Four Gods from her perch on the tree branch, one 
claw against the stump to maintain balance. "Surely 
they couldn't be expecting me!" 
  Replacing the crystal pearl into her sleeve, Sypha 
spread her arms outward, flapping downward once, and 
lifting off into the air. 

  "Ukyo," Konatsu said, peeking his head into the 
first floor of the Seiryu Tower's trial chamber, "it's 
Kodachi." 
  Ukyo said nothing as she sat in the lotus position in 
the center of the room, Konatsu stepping aside as the 
Kuno girl entered. Neither opening her eyes nor turning 
to face her, she said, "Hello, Kodachi." 
  "The Gate of Heaven," Kodachi said, "is in 
jeopardy, and you are being asked to assist." 
  "I see," Ukyo said, nodding. Straightening out her 
legs she reached for her combat spatula that lay at her 
side, the metal scraping against the hard wood floor. 
Standing up, she added, "Konatsu, we need your help, 
too." 

  "What's going on?" Miranda asked the high priest of 
Suzaku as she poked her head out the front door of the 
Suzaku Tower. 
  "It seems there's an emergency," he told her. 
  Miranda clenched her fists. "But Master Cinder isn't 
ready! There can't be a crisis now!" 
  "You know, Henry Kissinger said something almost like 
that, too," Kisaragi commented. 
  The martial artist glared at the high priest. "I'm 
going out. If anything happens to my sensei, you're 
going to answer for it." 

  Byakko lead Ranma and Tatewaki out the front gates 
of the Sun Tower, declaring, "This is it." 
  "What's 'it?'" wondered Ranma. "Where's the gate?" 
  "Apparently, the towers are not simply what they 
appear to be," Tatewaki realized. 
  "The entire shrine IS the gate?!" the young Saotome 
gasped. 
  "It is," Byakko confirmed. "The four towers also 
serve as massive pylons, each forming a single point on 
a circle for the gate. The Sun Tower is the focal 
point-- the center of the gate." She pointed to the 
sky above as she produced a purification rod. "The Gate 
of Heaven literally is." 
  "The best kept secret out in the open," the kendoist 
noted poetically. 
  "Yeah, but don't you think anything's going to fall 
down from the sky?" Ranma asked, sounding worried. 
  "Well, that's one reason why it remains closed," 
Byakko replied. 
  "Ranma!" Akane shouted, appearing behind the three. 
"What's going on?" 
  "I was going to ask that!" Miranda said, making her 
own brisk arrival. 
  "Count us in, too," Ukyo chipped in, followed by 
Kodachi and Konatsu. 
  "Hey, Konatsu?" Ranma greeted. "Nice to see ya 
again!" 
  "The pleasure is all mine," the male kunoichi said 
with a bow. Withdrawing his sword, he added, "But 
pleasantries will have to wait." 
  "What's all the racket?" shouted Ryoga, as he exited 
the Sun Tower, Mousse trailing behind. "Someone was 
saying that the Gate of Heaven was under attack!" 
  "Well, the gang's all here," Mousse noted, folding 
his arms. "Now all we need is Shampoo, so we can all 
get clobbered together!" 
  Akane looked around, seeing nothing of interest until 
a flying object caught her eye, growing larger and 
larger in her eyes until the danger was apparent. 
  "Everybody!" she shouted, "get down!" 
  "Wha...?" someone gasped, as several stilettos 
speared down from above. Everyone scattered from the 
rain of death as the attacker made her pass. 
  "Sypha!" Ranma shouted in recognition. 
  Pausing in mid-flight, the human-shape celestial 
dragon turned and stared downward at the gathered 
motley crew. "Well, well, well! I didn't expect to meet 
you this soon!" 
  "Cut the crap!" Mousse cried. "We know you're after 
the Gate!" 
  "Don't you DARE deny me the road home!" warned 
the sorcerer. "I've waited fifteen-hundred years for 
this chance." 
  "The Gate of Heaven cannot be opened by force," 
Byakko shouted defiantly. "Who are you that you would 
want to enter the plane to Hell?" 
  "Oh, that's right, you don't know," Sypha said with 
a chuckle. "The Chinese call me 'Sypha Blade,' but 
Ranma Saotome knows me better as the great celestial 
dragon, 'Star Crusher.'" 
  "You, a dragon?" Ukyo muttered, unconvinced. "You 
look all human to me." 
  "Hey, shut up!" Ranma barked at the okonomiyaki 
chef. "Don't change her mind!" 
  "Okay, okay, maybe you're right," Akane said, eyeing 
both Ranma and Ukyo warily, "but what does this have to 
do with getting home?" 
  "Over two-thousand years ago," Sypha explained, "the 
Kami Plane and this plane were one. The kami owe their 
existence to the humans, however, so when they stopped 
believing in the gods the kami drifted off. Point in 
fact, they eventually created the mirror world of the 
Kami Plane, an exact replica of Earth, but inevitably 
tied to it, for what happens in one plane occurs in 
another." 
  "Then they truly aren't separate planes, are they?" 
Ukyo guessed. 
  "Among the locations in the Kami Plane is the great 
Celestial Palace, my home," the sorcerer continued. 
"As a celestial dragon I must report to my emperor at 
once! I've waited this long to return, and I will not 
wait any longer." 
  "You're just like the rest of them," Ranma realized. 
"Hebereke, Orochi, Nemesis...." 
  "But I'm asking the Guardian of the Gate politely," 
Sypha insisted. Turning her attention to Byakko, "I 
ask you only once, Guardian; open the Gate of Heaven 
and allow me to pass." 
  Byakko shook her head. "I can't." 
  "You can't, or you won't?" Sypha demanded for 
clarification. 
  "The dimensional fabric is weak at the moment," the 
Guardian warned. "The Kami Plane is in a fragile state 
of being, now that very few people believe in them 
anymore, and any sudden move now may result in a rip 
between the dimensions. You know what that means." 
  "The support between the planes WILL hold!" Sypha 
insisted angrily. "Had this not been the case I would 
not have asked, but now you leave me no choice." 
  Producing her dragon pearl, Sypha's body began to 
glow, growing to such intensity as to blind all who 
stood in the shrine grounds. Obscured by light and 
energy Sypha initiated her transformation, taking 
place in the blink of an eye. 
  Although he had seen the sight before, Ranma 
could not help but stare in awe at the sight of the 
celestial dragon, whose body could easily wrap around 
the perimeter of the Shrine of the Four Gods. 
  "Now," Star Crusher declared, her voice reverberating 
off the shrine's walls and towers, "we will see who 
will get their way!" 

  Hokuto watched as Cinder materialized on the seventh 
level of the Suzaku Tower, hiding silently in the 
shadows. Although the mechanically-augmented salamander 
looked particularly tired, he appeared to stand in such 
a way to combat an unseen opponent. 
  The Shadow Weaver had no doubt that Cinder could see 
that opponent, of course. The trials were designed to 
custom-tailor to the one being tested; the salamander 
was born and bred for combat, so that was the kind of 
test he had to face. From her brief stay at the shrine 
Byakko had hinted that her tests were thought-provoking 
in nature rather than combat-oriented. 
  Judging from the presence of the celestial dragon 
above, Hokuto guessed the Guardian of the Seal would 
not last. 

  "Well, the dragon looks awesome and all," Ranma said, 
breaking out of awe before the others, "but I think 
now'd be a good time to tell us how the Gate is 
opened, anyway." 
  Byakko found she could not peel her eyes off the 
celestial dragon. "Four crystals that lie at the top 
of each of the perimeter towers control the Gate," she 
managed to say. "They focus their energies on another 
crystal at the top of the Sun Tower. At the moment 
three of the crystals lie on their pedestals, openly 
radiating their energies without focus." 
  "Only the Byakko crystal is sealed," Ukyo finished. 
"Once the seal is removed the energies can be focused 
on the Sun crystal." 
  "And would you like to guess how I plan to unseal 
it?" asked Star Crusher, dipping her head low. Her 
eyes easily outsized any of the humans. 
  Without waiting for an answer Byakko raised her arms 
up in the air, gathering energies. She slammed her 
palms to the ground, sending columns of energy upward 
into the sky. "Byakko Shockwave!" 
  Star Crusher reared her head back into the sky as the 
energy columns slammed into her snout. As one column 
fell and died another appeared in its place, radiating 
outward in a growing circle. The others scrambled as 
the desperation attack headed their direction, but the 
shockwave ceased in its path suddenly, ending in a 
five meter radius around Byakko. 
  "Simple play toy," snorted the dragon, rearing back 
the claw holding the dragon pearl. In her free foreclaw 
lightning crackled between her talons, focusing energy 
at the palm. 
  Tatewaki unsheathed the Earth Dragon Sword, waving 
it in the air with upward slices. With each slice a 
flaming sword launched itself toward the celestial 
dragon, pelting her hide. 
  "Mere annoyance!" she cried, rumbling the shrine. 
Star Crusher, diverting her aim at Byakko, pointed her 
claw downward and shot a lightning bolt in Tatewaki's 
direction. A blackened crater appeared where the 
kendoist once stood, but Tatewaki himself was already 
flying backward toward one of the far walls, apparently 
out of the battle so soon. 
  "Hey, dragon!" Konatsu shouted, waving his own sword 
around. "Come and get me!" 
  Star Crusher snorted, eyes narrowing as the kunoichi 
initiated a splitting-body image technique. Although 
the illusion worked as he had hoped, the celestial 
dragon's eyes saw a slight transparency in the images. 
"Parlor tricks!" she said, lancing another lightning 
bolt. 
  Gasping in surprise, Konatsu jumped out of the way, 
realizing the trick would not work on Star Crusher. 
  Ranma, Ryoga, and Mousse took advantage of the 
dragon's distraction, jumping up into the air and 
landing on Star Crusher's great snout. Both Ranma and 
Ryoga started pounding their fists down on the tough 
scales, as Mousse threw knives toward the dragon's 
exposed eyes. 
  Finding little amusement in the trio's attacks Star 
Crusher raised a force field before her eyes, stopping 
Mousse's knives in their tracks. Jerking her head back 
she sent the martial artists flying backward over her 
head. 
  "This sucks," Miranda cursed, walking backward so 
quickly as she passed Akane. "There's no way we can 
beat this thing." 
  "There HAS to be a way," Akane replied, raising her 
bokken with determination. "She's got to have an 
Achilles Heel somewhere!" 
  "Attack her all at once," Ukyo suggested calmly. 
  "You're kidding," Miranda told her. 
  "Even if we don't faze her, it will prove to be a 
distraction, at least," the okonomiyaki chef pointed 
out. She looked around. "And yet, we're running out of 
people, too." 
  "Star Crusher!" Byakko shouted. 
  "Eh?!" gasped Akane. "What is she doing?" 
  "I'll remove the seal!" the Guardian offered. "Just 
stop it!" 
  "Oh, I see you're going to be cooperative, after 
all," the celestial dragon rumbled in amusement. 
  "There's no reason this violence should continue," 
Byakko replied. "Nothing will come of it; my death 
will mean just as much to removing the seal, and I 
prefer to remain alive." 
  But Star Crusher's palm continued to crack with 
electrical power. "Unfortunately, woman, you've just 
proven yourself a disgraceful member of the human 
race. To betray your own principles to save yourself... 
Hazuki... it is unacceptable!!" 
  Instantly, Byakko's eyes widened with fear. 
  "No, Star Crusher!" shouted Akane. "Wait!!" 
  But her words were drowned out as a bolt of force 
slammed down where Byakko was once standing, crashing 
with such a force that the resulting blast threw those 
remaining standing backward. 

  "The seal's gone," Hokuto realized as she stared at 
the crystal. 
  Made of a single, carved chunk of clear quartz, the 
crystal was shaped into a roughly diamond shape, 
resembling two three-point pyramids stacked on top of 
each other, base against base. It rest on an ornamental 
pedestal at the center of the top floor of the tower, 
unguarded to any who would enter. 
  Putting on heavy leather gloves on her hands, the 
Shadow Weaver edged her way closer to the crystal, 
fighting her fear of residual energies surrounding the 
focus artifact. 
  But her hands were on it, and nothing happened. It 
felt about as heavy as a basketball, and was no bigger 
than one, yet Hokuto could feel the weight of destiny 
upon her. 
  "What are you doing?!" 
  Hokuto stopped in her tracks, slowly turning her 
head to meet the eyes of the intruder. 
  Mizuki stood in the doorway, a set of steel cards in 
her hand. "Step away from the crystal, Hokuto, or 
you're going to die." 

  "At last!" Star Crusher roared triumphantly. 
  An energy spike glowed from the top of each of the 
four towers, fountaining residual energies from the top 
of their spires. The Sun Tower fired a tight beam of 
energy into the sky, parting the clouds above. Stopping 
at a certain point, it sent out shockwaves throughout 
the sky, blotting out the light of the morning sun. 
  The beam tore a hole in the sky, opening up the world 
to a sparkling blackness that Akane could not find 
words for. Slowly, it grew larger, from a size no 
larger than a baseball to her eyes into a pool that 
dwarfed Star Crusher's mammoth head. 
  "I bid you adieu, squishies!" Star Crusher laughed, 
rising into the air head-first into the newly-formed 
gateway to Heaven. 
  But the serpentine creature ascended no farther than 
her arms when the portal suddenly collapsed. Akane 
could not hear the dragon's angry screams, but she 
imagined them as the portal fought against the 
dragon's body to close. 
  "What is happening?" asked Kodachi. 
  "Something's interrupting the flow of energy to the 
Gate," Ukyo realized. She cast her eyes northward, 
toward the Genbu Tower, where the fountain of energy 
ceased. 

  "Don't move," warned Hokuto, holding the Genbu 
crystal in her hands. "Or I'll drop it, and you can 
stare at the dragon's half for the rest of eternity!" 
  Mizuki lowered her arm slowly. "If you break that the 
energies released could wipe out this entire building, 
with YOU in it!" 
  "I don't intend to steal it!" assured the Shadow 
Weaver. "I just need it long enough for Star Crusher to 
get split in half, stuck between the planes, knowing 
that she almost got home." 
  "Cruel bastard," cursed the senior priestess. "What 
happened to you to change so much?" 
  "She'll die," continued Hokuto, "knowing that her 
corpse will be chattel for the mechanical plague!" 

  Dammit! cursed Star Crusher as she felt the squeeze 
of the portal constricting her serpentine body. It 
can't end like this! 
  Her eyes bulged from the pain as she stared out into 
the void between the planes, with the other end of the 
Gate of Heaven sealing itself up into nothing. She 
could barely make out the other side, her home, 
slipping from her grasp while she was dying by being 
split in half by a gate. 
  But her eyes caught another sight... a tear in the 
void revealed the Kami Plane, a sub-plane at best that 
owed its existence to the Earth's plane alone, in the 
darkness of the void. She blinked despite herself, 
realizing that there was more than one hole. 
  Many holes torn in the dimensional fabric that lead 
into the Kami Plane... which meant only one thing. 
  I can't die here, Star Crusher reminded herself. Not 
when this is happening! Not when everything is in 
danger! 
  Damn those squishies, they should have said something 
about this! 
  Trying to shut out the pain, the celestial dragon 
focused her energies on the dragon pearl, casting a 
new spell. 

  "Oh my god!" gasped Akane, as the Gate of Heaven 
collapsed completely when the dragon's serpentine body 
vanished into itself. 
  "What the hell just happened?" demanded Miranda. 

  "Hmph," snorted Hokuto, looking upward toward the 
ceiling. "It appears our dragon friend would rather 
strand herself in the void rather than die." 
  "So the Gate's closed, right?!" Mizuki cried. "Then 
put the crystal back!" 
  "Sorry, can't do that," the other girl replied. "You 
do realize that the portal would reopen without any 
seals, don't you?" She held out the crystal with the 
barest of holds. "Or would you prefer I destroy it?" 
  "Put it back." 
  Turning slowly, Hokuto glanced toward the opposite 
end of the chamber, where Shizuka was standing with her 
own set of steel cards. 
  "Two against one," Shizuka pointed out. "Even if you 
get one of us, you won't escape the other." 
  "You had a little charm when you were still using 
that shotgun," Hokuto noted. 
  "Shut up!" 
  "But neither of you can stop me!" Hokuto declared, 
as her form began melting into her own shadow. "You 
can't stop me!" 
  Without warning something bit into Hokuto's arm from 
behind, causing her to drop the crystal. Shizuka 
threw her cards away, diving for the crystal with her 
arms outstretched. It landed safely into the 
priestess's hands as Hokuto disappeared into nothing, 
retreating into the shadows. 
  Mizuki folded her hand of cards, rushing to the 
younger priestess's side. "Is it okay?" 
  "Yeah, thanks for your concern," Shizuka replied 
sarcastically, pulling her arms back in. 
  Getting up to her feet, she gently placed the 
crystal back on its pedestal. Stepping back, she wiped 
her forehead with the back of her hand. "Well, that's 
it." 
  Mizuki stared up at the ceiling. "I don't get it; 
the rumbling of the Gate opening isn't...." 

  "Finally," Cinder muttered, collapsing in front of 
the Suzaku crystal. His mind releasing his psychic hold 
on the mechanical prosthetics, the salamander powered 
down his mechanical eye into sleep cycle, unwilling to 
care about the time bomb in his head. 
  After all, he still had a good ten hours.... 

  "Damn it," cursed Hokuto, plucking Mizuki's steel 
card from her wrist. "Damn priestesses... I'll get them 
for this." 

  Ranma showed himself in, silently thanking Konatsu 
for allowing him passage into the Seiryu chamber, where 
Ukyo sat, in lotus position, with her back toward the 
door. At her right was her giant combat spatula, 
resting flat on the floor, easily within arm's reach if 
she needed it. It was a lesson Ranma himself bore 
witness to, one which the okonomiyaki chef learned the 
hard way. 
  "What do you want?" asked Ukyo. 
  Ranma stopped in surprise, but quickly regained his 
composure. "I'm not the only one who wants to know, 
Ukyo, so I'm going to save yourself the trouble. Tell 
me what happened back in the Nemesis battle." 
  "You know something, Ranma?" she asked, acid dripping 
from her voice. "The more I sit here in this tower and 
think, the more familiar I realize I am with it. You 
see, this is the place where I would've been had Seiryu 
not intervened. Yet, despite that, I'm here now." 
  "You still remember her," Ranma said, walking around 
the chef to her front. "No, not only that... you 
remember being her, and everything she did." 
  Ukyo nodded carefully, opening her eyes and 
stretching out her legs, breaking meditation. "It was 
cold," she recalled, "and the warmness was leaving me 
quickly even as the wind tore me in every which-way. 
The only way to escape your spiral, as you know, was to 
leave it prematurely, before it finished itself." 
  It was Ranma's turn to nod, as he remembered the 
final spiral strike himself. He, too, was in danger of 
being torn apart, so in order to escape he ascended up 
and out of the spiral to relative safety. 
  "The only way to save myself was to shatter myself," 
she added cryptically. "Seiryu destroyed herself 
willingly in the end, and the force of the destruction 
pushed me out of the spiral... and out into the sea. It 
must've been the sea, because Master Higure said he 
found me on the beach." 
  "The energy spikes," Ranma said. "I remember them... 
one of them hit me on the way out of the spiral. It was 
when Seiryu died... and her mind shattered." 
  "And yet," he added, "you can't help but refer to 
Seiryu as yourself." 
  "Believe me," Ukyo replied, "you take a little 
something from every experience-- you learn from it, 
and grow from it. Seiryu is as much a part of me now 
as she would have been. And may be." 
  And leaving you open to fulfill that destiny, the 
martial artist realized, remembering Hokuto's words. 
What if she was right about this Fate thing after all? 
Could some cosmic being be conspiring to get their way 
with Ukyo? 
  Ukyo got up to her feet, scooping up her combat 
spatula and sheathing it on her back. "Yeah, I remember 
everything Seiryu did, everything up to the time she 
shattered." 
  Walking up to Ranma, she slapped him across the face. 
  "Hey, what was that for?!" he yelped. 
  "That's for kissing her," the chef answered 
venomously. "Are your lips so worthless to you that 
you'd use them when it suits you?" 
  He raised his arm, and gave her a slap back. "Nothing 
you can say or do will ever bring the old Ukyo back. As 
far as I'm concerned, she's dead. I don't know who you 
are." 
  Ranma tried to walk past her, but Ukyo held out her 
arm, blocking the way. "You have something I want." 
  "Huh," snorted Ranma. "You want the earrings, don't 
you? You ain't gettin' them." 
  "Oh yeah?" 
  "I don't need you to take away anything that would 
remind me of my friend, which is who you aren't," he 
replied coldly. "All I see is Seiryu, the destroyer of 
any future I could've had that included my friend." 
  Ukyo lowered her arm in defeat, unable to think of a 
suitable counter to her old friend's words. Ranma 
huffed, resuming his exist. 
  Just as he was to step out the door, she muttered, 
"I can't see it anymore." 
  "What?" Ranma said, stopping to look back. "What 
did you say?" 
  "It's the future," Ukyo explained. "I can't see it 
anymore because my mission was successful. Remember 
that when you think of..." she paused, almost ready to 
say 'me,' "your... old friend." 
  She heard the martial artist exit without any further 
word, leaving Ukyo alone in the trial chamber. She 
stood, staring at the opposite wall, refusing to come 
to tears, no matter how hard it hurt. 
  "This is the path I chose for myself," she whispered. 
"If there was a way, I'd gladly take it all back for 
everything to be as it was." 
  But, she reminded herself silently, in the future, 
there will be a way.... 

  Miranda paced around in the hall outside the shrine's 
infirmary, held on the first level of the Sun Tower, 
until Mizuki stepped out. 
  "Well?" the martial artist asked. 
  "Your Master Cinder has been unconscious for well 
over twelve hours," Mizuki said, shaking her head. 
"He is now suffering under the same conditions that 
Kanna suffered last night, save he is leaking acid." 
  "Then whoever did it to him also attacked Kanna," 
Miranda concluded. 
  "Your other friend, Tatewaki, is recovering quite 
nicely, despite being flung into a wall at mach 
speeds." 
  "Bah, I don't care about him," Miranda scoffed. "He's 
welcome to that sister of his." 
  "Ssshh!" warned Mizuki. "She's in there right now." 
  Miranda shrugged. "Doesn't matter to me." 
  The senior priestess lowered her head. "We gained a 
new Guardian, only to lose him this soon. And Byakko 
is beyond recovery." She winced, remembering the 
blackened hole in the courtyard where a body should 
have been. "If we hadn't gotten rid of the dragon as 
we did, there would be nobody to stop her from forcing 
the Gate of Heaven open." 
  "What's so bad about opening the Gate, anyway?" asked 
Miranda. "What could it be that's on the other side 
that's so freakin' dangerous?" 
  "Oh, it's not what's on the other side," Mizuki 
assured her. "It's what's in-between...." Thinking 
better of it, the senior priestess shook her head. "I 
don't think that's important now. We'll just have to 
wait and see what happens for now." 

  "Three more days of this," Akane noted, staring out 
into the scenery from the top of the wall. "And we all 
pack up and go home." 
  She turned to face Ranma, who appeared impassive 
despite the mood. "I got back with talking with Ukyo," 
he said. 
  "And?" Akane had hope in her eyes, but she could not 
see the same in Ranma's. 
  "Ukyo's dead," he stated simply. "The sooner we get 
out of this dumpy place, the better. And it'd be much 
better if she stayed her and revived herself." 
  "You didn't even TRY talking to her!" Akane realized. 
"What did you do, go in there and tell her to say what 
you wanted to hear?" 
  "Maybe." 
  "I'll go talk to her...." 
  "Don't bother. It'll never be the same." 
  "Of COURSE it'll never be the same!" Akane cried 
angrily. "That's the same feeling you had when you 
thought she was dead!" 
  "Never again," Ranma vowed. "She never came back." 
  "Why you...!" Akane balled her fists, and slammed 
them down on the rim of the wall. "You're so stubborn!" 

  Hokuto woke with a glaring headache. 
  She shook her head, taking in her surroundings, and 
realized she was underground, in some sort of cave. 
Likely under the Shrine of the Four Gods, she 
thought, trying to get her bearings. 
  "Must've hurt more than I thought," she whispered to 
herself, shaking her head. 
  It was pitch black in the cave, with no source of 
illumination. She raised her hand up, feeling for any 
low ceiling or hanging obstacle before standing up. In 
the absence of shadow Hokuto could not utilize her 
movement techniques, for in total darkness as well as 
total light there exist no shadows. 
  She stopped, holding her breath at the sound of 
something metal scraping against the ground. From 
around a corner she detected a light source-- likely 
emanating from a flashlight, probing the walls. 
Instinct caught hold as Hokuto was offered the barest 
of illumination, backing against the wall. 
  And the newcomer rounded the corner, aiming its 
light directly at the Shadow Weaver. She shielded her 
eyes from the brightness as the metal scraping grew 
ever louder, the newcomer advancing closer. 
  "Oh, shit!" she cursed, just as she saw a gun barrel 
emerge from beneath the light's source. 
  The shot remained in silence, as there were no 
witnesses to the attack. 

  "Back so soon?" Ukyo asked when the door behind her 
slid open. 
  "'Back?'" came a female voice. "I wasn't aware that 
we'd met before." 
  Glancing over her shoulder, the okonomiyaki chef was 
disappointed to learn that her second visitor that 
evening was none other than their illustrious host, 
Shizuka Minazuki, who, during her tenure as host proved 
incapable of accomplishing anything. Gathering herself 
Ukyo stood up, turning to face the priestess of Genbu. 
  "You're... familiar," she said slowly. 
  "Yeah, well," replied the priestess, shrugging, 
"other than the train ride I've heard MUCH about you 
from Ranma, and...." She let her words trail off. 
  "No, not that," corrected Ukyo. "I mean from before 
that. Well, now that I think about it, you wouldn't 
know, because we won't meet under those conditions 
anymore, since we've met now...." 
  "Stop talking in riddles!" Shizuka demanded. 
  "In a time in this place, which won't ever happen 
again, you and I met," Ukyo continued, ignoring the 
priestess's demands. "That was when Nemesis was going 
to ruin all...." 
  "Enough of that!" Shizuka forced her will to be 
known, her voice rebounding off the Seiryu chamber's 
walls and ringing the chef's ears. This time Ukyo 
decided it was best to let the girl speak. "I know why 
you're here; you're the one who produced the duplicate 
Seiryu from the future, and now you're here to take it 
all back." 
  "Maybe," considered Ukyo. "I'm in more for the self- 
searching thingy." 
  Shizuka began circling the okonomiyaki chef like a 
hungry wolf. "Perhaps in another time we did meet under 
different circumstances, but that was then, and this is 
now. Circumstances hardly make it any better, or any 
different, does it?" 
  "Maybe, maybe not." Her head followed Shizuka in her 
circle. "But now that you're here, I remember you much 
more clearly. You were a stubborn bastard, always there 
to raise hell for me just because I was me." 
  "Excepting the 'stubborn bastard' bit, I'd say that 
you hit the nail." 
  "Even if the reason you did hate me was because of my 
natural talents?" countered Ukyo. 
  "What makes you think you can waltz in here and 
become Guardian on the fly?" demanded Shizuka. "I and 
many others have trained their entire lives to get such 
a chance, but there can only be one from the many." 
  "And what I learned was that you were jealous of me," 
continued Ukyo. "Jealous because I can throw and use ki 
almost effortlessly. I used to be in the same boat as 
you at one time; I couldn't do anything fancy with ki 
either, but I learned how. You hate me for that. You 
hate Ranma for this same reason; he can almost shape ki 
like putty." 
  "So I'm not the God of Universal Energy," admitted 
the priestess. "But I've trained myself well; I am as 
good a match in battle as you!" 
  Pausing in her circle, Shizuka spread her palms, a 
glowing ball of force glowing in her hands. "Kaiser! 
Scorpion Stinger!" 
  Thousands of needle-like energy darts burst from the 
globe. Ukyo reacted quickly, pulling out her combat 
spatula and deflecting the darts with a single stroke. 
She held the flat up high as a shield against the 
continuous barrage of needles, lowering it the moment 
Shizuka's attack ceased. 
  "Eyes for speed, just like any good martial artist," 
she noted, the globe's energy dying down to nothing. 
  "Where martial artists rely on themselves and their 
own inner strength," Ukyo argued coldly, "you are 
nothing. You turned to magic and sorcery because you're 
not a martial artist, and you don't rely on your own 
inner strengths. No, check that; you don't HAVE any 
inner strengths." 
  "I see," Shizuka replied bitterly. "In your time it 
was the same as is now. If I didn't know any better I'd 
say you were Hokuto, trying to haunt me." 
  "Fate does not govern life," Ukyo countered 
automatically. 
  "Ah, I see you've met her as well. How... sickening 
of you. How could you live with yourself, knowing that 
you're living your life all over again?" She raised her 
palms back at Ukyo, throwing another Scorpion Stinger 
barrage. 
  Ukyo threw a bolt of water, quickly absorbing the 
needles and slamming into Shizuka, forcing the 
priestess back against the wall. "The problem with 
relying on external energies is they tend to fail you 
when you need them most. You're no match for anyone; 
stay out of the coming battle or you'll surely die 
again." 
  "A warning, or a threat?" countered Shizuka. "For 
someone who doesn't believe in Fate, you sure are sure 
of yourself!" 
  "Things might not happen as I remember," admitted 
Ukyo, unwilling to lower her guard as the priestess 
gathered herself. "But I can make sure things don't go 
the wrong way." 
  "You ARE like Hokuto, and you don't even realize it. 
No wonder she was convincing to Ranma." 
  "You never were in it to save others; you're looking 
out for Number One: you." 
  "Is that such a dishonorable venture? Is your life so 
meaningless to you that you would rather throw it away 
to satisfy your wants? You can perceive helping others 
as a way to be unselfish, but face the facts: it is 
just as selfish that you would do it because you want 
to satisfy yourself." 
  Ukyo started to counter the words, but stopped short, 
remembering the entire Nemesis debacle as it quickly 
reviewed itself in her mind. Something in the stubborn 
priestess's words bothered the okonomiyaki chef, but 
she couldn't quite place her finger on it. 
  "It's not selfish if I want to help others before 
me," she said, although it was more to herself rather 
than to Shizuka. 
  "I'm no more selfish than you are," concluded the 
priestess smugly. 
  Ukyo sighed, shaking her head and wondering why she 
was bothering with the bastard. Her eyes narrowed as 
she caught the quick motion of Shizuka's left hand 
slide up into her sleeve for a talisman, which burnt 
itself quickly the moment a new energy globe formed in 
her palms. 
  She lunged at the priestess, clamping her hand on 
Shizuka's left arm, stopping her cold in her attack. 
  "To maintain your illusion of inner strength," Ukyo 
accused, "you play the sleight of hand." 
  "'The hand is quicker than the eye,'" agreed Shizuka. 
"Did you forget I was a street magician too? But then, 
you're not a kid; you wouldn't be impressed by my 
'parlor tricks.'" 
  "The girl I remember used to love her shotgun so," 
Ukyo pointed out, casting a brief glance at the tri- 
flower weapon. "The entire time I've seen you around 
you haven't once brought it out." 
  "That's none of your business!" Shizuka answered 
hotly. 
  "I get it. Something happened this time around that 
you found your gun-totting so reviling...." 
  At the corner of her eye Ukyo caught movement in the 
girl's right arm, but when she reached to clamp that 
down something hard slashed at her. She released her 
hold on the priestess, cradling her left arm that 
suffered a light slash across it. 
  In Shizuka's right hand, raised in the air was ready 
to throw a set of three steel cards, arranged in a 
flower pattern. Each of the cards was fused at a single 
corner and fanned out like a three-petaled blossom, 
and while Ukyo thought it a terrible waste of good 
cards Shizuka looked like she knew what she was doing. 
  "You think you have the answer to everything, Miss 
'high and mighty,'" she taunted, lips curving to a 
smile. "But, knowing and doing are two different things 
entirely. You dared to have the audacity to believe 
that everything would be okay after you disappeared, 
but I know better; I know better than to stalk my 
parents, who think I'm in a better place... and knowing 
that I can never see my brother and sister again. If 
you think your life's so bitchy right now, then you've 
got another thing coming to you." 
  In a quick flurry Shizuka threw several of the tri- 
flowers, forcing Ukyo to dodge with each attack. With 
the momentary distraction the priestess of Genbu threw 
a flash pellet on the ground, blinding the chef for a 
moment. 
  "Oh, and by the way... don't you dare call me 
'Shizu,'" added the priestess preemptively. "I refuse 
to associate with you in such familiarity, Kuonji." 
  Ukyo blinked her sight back to normal levels, 
finding the priestess made her exit. "I didn't call you 
'Shizu,' jackass," she muttered under her breath. 
  A sudden thought sparked in her mind. "She talked to 
me as if she already knew me," she realized. "That 
shouldn't be possible." 
  "Actually, we all know about you." 
  Jumping in surprise, Ukyo failed to notice another 
entered in Shizuka's place. Turning around, she said, 
"Mizuki Shimozuki." 
  "Because of your little stunt, you're quite famous 
around here," Mizuki said, folding her arms. "You see, 
even if you did do your little time-hopping deal, the 
gods do not function in the same time stream as we do." 
  "Your gods told you," Ukyo realized. "The Kami Plane 
operates on a different timeline than we do." 
  "That's how we reacted so quickly," the priestess 
explained. "It's not common knowledge, to be sure, so 
you're still quite safe from pestering minds. However, 
a select few of us do know, mainly our senior members, 
but Shizuka is included in that number." 
  "Why?" asked the okonomiyaki chef. "She's obviously 
unprepared for that kind of stuff." 
  "She needs to know because she's undergoing trial," 
the priestess revealed, lowering her voice. "Shizu 
may or may not know already, but by simply living her 
life she is being groomed fit for Guardian. Knowing 
that she will die before becoming one is only the 
latest test." 
  "You did it on purpose!" Ukyo accused angrily. 
  "Each trial is tailored to the individual, and it 
suits her well. Shizu has to live with the burden of 
knowing, because it is her reaction which is important. 
You see, like Suzaku Genbu has rejected all in favor of 
Shizu, including me. The Four Gods are particularly 
choosy in that regard. You, too, must play your part 
in it." 


Three Days Later 

  Ranma was the only one visibly glad when Ukyo decided 
to remain behind at the Shrine of the Four Gods. 
  Staring out the train window by himself, he thought 
over the past three days. Only yesterday Kanna woke 
up from her temporary coma, quite dazed and out of it. 
Apparently she was pleasantly surprised, because when 
she woke up the Shion guy presented her with a gift-- a 
staff weapon... a double-headed naginata, with one 
blade at each end. With this gift she renewed her vow 
to challenge Ranma, but wished to take the time to 
recover and practice first. 
  Cinder, however, had not revived before Miranda had 
to part with him. Since this was the last week of 
summer vacation she had to return to class. She was 
left with assurances from Mizuki that he would be 
properly taken care of. 
  Although it was clear to Ranma that her duties were 
concluded in Nerima, Shizuka was also on board the 
train. He could not figure out why she wanted to go 
back, but the good news was that she was leaving her 
pet snake behind this time. She did, however, carry a 
second, wrapped bundle of swords, which he learned were 
a loan from Kuno that she wanted to return, now that 
she had her own set of snake-pommeled swords back. 
  Mousse made arrangements with both Soun and Nodoka 
over staying until he could arrange a flight back to 
China, which would take time since he did not have any 
money on him, nor were the Kunos willing to lend him 
some. Again he sat with Kanna, this time playing a 
game of chess, taking his sweet time making a move. 
  For the life of him, Ranma could not figure out why 
Hokuto, who was seen by both Mizuki and Shizuka, was at 
the Shrine of the Four Gods in the first place, nor 
could he figure out what happened to Sypha, the Star 
Crusher. Ever since the Gate of Heaven opened no word 
of either passed between people, as if they vanished 
off the face of the earth. The martial artist wondered 
if Sypha got back home at all, but his worry was on 
what the Shadow Weaver was up to. 

  Seated in the back corner of the last train car, 
Hokuto opened her eyes, releasing her thought probe 
over Ranma. She cradled her bandaged arm, still feeling 
the sting from the aborted attack three days ago. She 
folded her cloak over her like a blanket, and closed 
her eyes, this time to catch some sleep. 
  "Don't worry, Ranma," she whispered to herself. "It's 
not you that this should concern. Some day, you'll 
understand that I'm doing all of this for you." 



			*  *  *  *  * 

Kanna (VO): 

  "Star Crusher was not the first to try and find a way 
back to the Kami Plane, and likely won't be the last. 
But school is back in session; summer vacation is over! 
We don't have time for those kind of things, not with 
creeps like Shizuka owning the town! And yet, what does 
Hokuto think she can gain out of all of this?" 
  "Next time: Star of Genbu. I carefully planned this 
one out for you." 



-------------------------------------------------- 
Author's Notes 

  Confused yet? Of course not. 


Razorclaw X (spiceoflife@NOREPLYhotmail.com) 
http://www.crosswinds.net/~slythe/ranma/ranff.html 

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