The Wheel of Fire, #35: Star of Genbu  

  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 

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

"When what we are is what we want to be, that's 
  happiness."--Malcolm Forbes 


  "YAAAAAHHH!!!" 
  Several moments later, anyone walking past the Tendo 
residence would have seen a small troll of a man run 
out the front gates, followed by a pig-tailed girl 
waving his backpack over her head threateningly. 
  "Hee-hee!" giggled Happosai, bounding away as fast 
as his feet could carry him. "You'll never catch me!" 
  "Come back here, you old geezer!" shouted Ranma. 

  "Finally!" 
  Shizuka wiped her brow with the back of her hand as 
she raised a slender, short-lengthed blade up to the 
morning sunlight. Sitting with her back against the 
wall the priestess lowered her arm, scraping up the 
tattered bits of talisman consumed in her work. 
  Holding out her arm out, she lowered the blade 
carefully. "Well, here goes...." 
  She felt a presence behind her, but no sooner had it 
occurred to her someone jumped over the wall and landed 
on her head. Immediately that person bounded off, 
cackling madly like a schoolgirl. 
  Shaking her head, Shizuka recognized the old man. 
"Hey... YOU!!!" she shouted, waving her kodachi around. 
  But no sooner had she stood to give chase another 
person appeared over her, this time giving Shizuka a 
full meal of pavement. 
  "Ow, that hurts!" 
  "Shit, it's you again," Shizuka muttered, knocking 
Ranma off of her. She felt her kodachi's blade drag 
against something, but could not tell what it was. 
  Holding it in front of her, she muttered, "Well, at 
least...." Stopping cold, she saw there was a trace of 
blood on the tip of the blade. It began to shake 
violently. "Oh shit." 
  "Watch where you wave that thing!" Ranma complained, 
covering her arm with the scratch on it. 
  "You fool...!" Shizuka yelped, just as the kodachi, 
and the priestess holding it, lunged at the martial 
artist. 
  "He... hey!" She immediately got up and ran, the 
kodachi, seemingly having a mind of its own, throwing 
itself at Ranma. 
  "What the hell did you curse me with THIS time?!" 
shouted Ranma, as she saw the blade pick up its pace 
to match her own. 
  "Your blood triggered it!" Shizuka yelled, holding 
on to the blade for dear life. "You RUINED my returning 
dagger!" 
  "'Returning dagger?!'" echoed Ranma, suddenly getting 
an idea. 
  Turning around quickly, coming to a complete stop, 
she held out her open hand and watched as the kodachi 
came to a rest upright in her hand. Shizuka's body 
followed soon thereafter, colliding with Ranma and 
sending both girls to the ground. 
  "Let go of it," Ranma instructed. 
  "It's MINE, you turd." 
  "Unless you like taking flying lessons, I think you 
should." 
  Reluctantly, Shizuka peeled her fingers off her 
death grip from the returning dagger. She flinched, 
expecting the weapon to explode into action again, but 
it remained perfectly calm in Ranma's hand. 
  Anger filling her eyes, she faced the martial artist. 
"You owe me another dagger." 
  "What'd you expect me to do with this thing, anyway?" 
asked Ranma. "I don't need this!" 
  "I NEEDED IT!!" complained the priestess. "It took me 
WEEKS... JUST to get the blade! And it took longer than 
that to get the right talisman...." 
  "Oh, stop complaining and make another one!" Ranma 
suggested, tiring of the whining. She slipped the 
returning dagger through her belt. "'Sides, I don't 
see why you need it anyway." 
  "Hold still," the priestess ordered, and Ranma could 
not help but obey. She reached behind her head, 
tugging at one of the loose ends of the chord tying up 
her pony tail. With one quick jerk the entire knot 
undid itself, loosening tumbles of hair Ranma found 
somewhat different for the priestess. 
  But mesmerization broke as Shizuka ran the chord 
through the returning dagger's handle and pulled the 
weapon out of the martial artist's belt. 
  "Hey, you idiot!" Ranma shouted. "What do you think 
you're doing?" 
  "Ah-hah-hah-hah!" the priestess laughed, holding up 
the weapon so Ranma could see the knot running through 
the handle. "I'm such a genius." 
  The moment she uttered those words, however, the 
dagger began to shake violently in her hand. Ranma took 
an involuntary step back, bracing herself for the 
inevitable tackle as Shizuka's fingers, one after 
another, lost to the returning dagger. 
  But when it finally lunged at the martial artist it 
hung there in mid-air, tethered by the length of 
Shizuka's chord. Its other end was tied securely to 
the girl's wrist, and while the returning dagger 
struggled to tear free in order to return to its 
'owner,' Shizuka managed to remain standing. 
  "At least it's still good for something!" declared 
the priestess. Flicking her wrist she jerked the 
returning dagger back into her hand forcefully. 
  Ranma blinked, unsure what to make of what the 
priestess was so amused about. 
  She held out a kettle of warm water to the martial 
artist. "Here, take this." 
  "Huh?" 
  "Don't stare at me like that while you're... like 
that," she suggested, placing the kettle on the ground. 
  Ranma shook her head, realizing she really was 
staring. "Sorry." 

  "It's the oddest thing," Ranma explained to Akane as 
they seated themselves in the school assembly room. 
"I mean... I don't know why, but well... I was staring 
at her." 
  "I don't believe it either," Akane admitted, a slight 
hint of a smile in her expression. "You're admitting to 
me that you're looking at other girls." 
  Immediately the martial artist went on the defensive. 
"I-I-I didn't mean it like that!" 
  This time she could do little to contain her 
amusement. "You LIKE her!" 
  "Hey Ranma!" he heard someone shout from behind, 
recognizing the voice. "Cheatin' on Akane already?" 
  "Oh, shut up," he shot back. 
  "See? Told you he'd get more on the side eventually," 
jabbed another. 
  "Man, I had money he'd get one sooner!" 
  Closing himself off to the world, Ranma folded his 
arms and seated himself with a huff, Akane still 
giggling. "It's not funny," he muttered. 
  "It wasn't when you were sneaking off to see them, 
no," admitted Akane. "But it's nice to see that you're 
telling me these things." 
  "Whatever." Changing the subject, he asked, "Any 
idea what Kuno Senior is callin' this for?" 
  She shook her head. "He kept saying it was a 
surprise... but everything he shows us is a surprise. 
Kodachi just shook her head and laughed." 
  "Great," he decided. "Then it's nothing to worry 
about." 
  "AAAALLLOOOOOOOOHHHAAAAAA!!!" said principal shouted 
over the speakers, deafening the students in the 
auditorium. 
  "Yep, I'd say it's no big deal," muttered Ranma. 
  Sliding onto the stage on his bare feet like a game 
show host, the principal of Furinkan High, dressed in 
his usual Hawaiian getup, minus the plant in his head, 
made his grand entrance. While the principal always 
showed this side to the students it was rumored he put 
on a different face in front of his family, and with 
the return of his wife from extended vacationing the 
coot's mannerisms have curbed a little, but 
particularly his stupid, phony Hawaiian accent. Not to 
say that he still made up stupid rules on the spot, but 
it happened with a lot less frequency than before. 
  On the other hand, he could not enforce most of his 
rulings. The students, usually lead by Ranma and Akane, 
would overturn the ruling by brute force. 
  "I've got a SPECIAL surprise for all you bruddas and 
sistas!" he bellowed, forcing the students to wince 
once more. "All da way, you gonna get some School 
Enforcers, you hear?!" 
  A collective groan went throughout the student body 
as the words sunk in. 
  Ranma snorted. "Great. Didn't he learn any better the 
last time he got outside help?" He cast a glance in 
Hinako's direction, looking quite disappointed. 
  "Do you think the headmaster's replacing her?" 
whispered Akane, concerned. 
  "I doubt it," he assured her. Thumbing toward the 
stage, he added, "He's still the headmaster, right?" 
  "All da way from da Big Kahuna's pad is da first of 
your new Enforcers!" the principal said grandly, 
waving his arms toward the end of the stage. 
  The students gasped in surprise when Tatewaki Kuno 
stepped on stage, arms folded. His sheathed Earth 
Dragon Sword hung to his right side, and those of the 
student body knowing what it was winced. 
  "It pleases me," Tatewaki said sarcastically, "to 
walk amongst you again." 
  "And being an EQUAL OPPORTUNITY employer," continued 
the headmaster, "a SISTAH for you all!" 
  Ranma shrunk in his seat when Kanna Rajura stepped on 
stage, her double naginata shouldered. She bowed to the 
principal respectfully. "I relish the work experience." 
  "AND," the headmaster shouted, "for those bruddahs 
gettin' them hairy voodoo ideas," Gosunkugi shrunk in 
his seat as well, "another for ya!" 
  "Damn, not YOU!" Ranma muttered, as Shizuka walked on 
stage. She still held the returning dagger, still tied 
with her chord. A collective murmur ran through the 
students. 
  The headmaster pulled out a handkerchief. "Sadly, our 
last bruddah couldn't make it, so...." 
  "I'm HERE!!" someone shouted, back stage, followed 
by a series of clomping feet on the hardwood floor. 
  The newcomer seemed to tower the others on stage, 
even Kuno, who was tall himself. He did not appear 
Japanese in origin, nor did he dress like one, wearing 
an unbuttoned Hawaiian shirt over a white T-shirt, 
hanging over his long, khaki pants. His hair was 
bleached white, and wore a set of bandages over his 
fists, like a kickboxer. 
  Eyes turning to scan the students, they came to a 
stop on Ranma's position. The martial artist stood up, 
absorbing the information at the same time the white- 
haired guy did. Pointing fingers, they shouted, "YOU!!" 
  "Of all the places I had to land a job," complained 
Johan Ritters, Hawaiian street fighter, "I had to land 
one with YOU in it!" 
  "Bring it on, Dance Man!" Ranma shouted. 
  "Thankfully, you bruddas DO know each otha!" the 
principal exclaimed delightfully. 
  "Hey, stop slammin' my state, bud!" Johan cried, 
ready to lunge at the principal, but Tatewaki and 
Kanna held him back. 
  "I didn't think we'd see him again," Akane whispered, 
pulling Ranma back down to his seat. 
  "Life's full of surprises," muttered Ranma. 

  "Five Enforcers," counted Hiroshi, between classes. 
"And only two of them are cute enough to approach!" 
  "Bites, man," another agreed. "And we have to put up 
with Kuno again for another year." 
  Ranma shut him off from his classmates' conversation, 
twirling a pencil lazily in his hand while Akane sat on 
the desk next to his own. "What happened that one 
Enforcer wasn't enough?" 
  Akane shrugged. "I don't know. You'd think something 
big was going to happen." 
  "Yeah, so let's crawl in the bomb shelter and wait it 
out," suggested the martial artist sarcastically. 
  "Hey Ranma!" called Daisuke, chucking a paper wad at 
him to get his attention. "Wasn't that Shizuka a former 
student here?" 
  "Why'd you have to ask him?" asked Hiroshi. "I knew 
that!" 
  "Yeah, but do you know if Ranma thinks she's cuter 
with her hair up, or down?" 
  "Why does Ranma have to get her?" 
  "Ranma ALWAYS gets the good ones!" 
  "Great," muttered Ranma. "It's so automatic now that 
I don't know what to say." 
  "Well... is she?" asked Akane. 
  "What's it to you?" he asked in return. 
  "Just curious. I'm more used to seeing it in a pony 
tail. I guess that's 'up.'" 
  "Hope she doesn't make a habit out of it." 
  "So you do like it up." 
  Ranma snorted. "It's what you're used to." 
  "Hey, she's coming!" someone shouted from the 
doorway. Ranma and Akane watched as all the guys in the 
room, as well as curious girls, rushed to get a peek 
out the door as Shizuka came down the hall. 
  "I give them five seconds," Ranma commented. 
  Akane nodded. 
  Counting softly to himself, the martial artist 
watched the students clamor back to their seats in a 
rush, as Akane slowly made her way to her own desk with 
a certain, knowing calm. The moment Ranma finished his 
five second count, Shizuka was at the door. 
  Standing with her arms planted against each side, her 
gaze scanned the room and caught two guys not in their 
seat fast enough. "You TWO!" she yelled. "You're 
busted!" 
  Ranma turned his eyes away as Shizuka entered, a 
clipper in her hand, silently ignoring the high-pitch 
whine of the device clicking on. A couple swings later 
the whine was gone, as well as the priestess Enforcer, 
leaving just as the teacher entered. 
  Looks like the rule's back in effect, he noted to 
himself. 

  "I hate to admit it," Ranma said as he and Akane 
walked out the front gates, "but that Headmaster Kuno 
really outdid himself this time." 
  He scanned the schoolyard behind him, catching a 
glimps of bald-scalped boys and bowl-cut girls here and 
there-- those that could not escape the wrath of the 
Enforcers. For every little offense a student's hair 
was cut, it seemed him, and the terror campaign seemed 
to be working. Although Ranma felt he could beat any 
one of the Enforcers when he wanted, dealing with five 
at a time was no small task, and one that he wanted to 
avoid. 
  "Hold it." 
  The couple paused, turning to the side where Kanna 
Rajura stood, leaning against a tree with her arms 
folded. 
  "What'd I do now?" asked Ranma preemptively. 
  "Nothing... yet," Kanna assured him. "I came only to 
issue a challenge." She held out a folded note. 
  Accepting the note, Ranma unfolded it quickly, and 
read it aloud: "'Meet me at the school field in three 
days from today, after school. One-on-one. No helpers 
or assistance. Bring everything you intend to use in 
the duel.'" He handed the note to Akane. "So you're 
challenging me, eh?" 
  "You got it," the Crystal Spider confirmed. "I think 
I've gotten the hang of my new weapon here," she 
jabbed a thumb to the double naginata over her 
shoulder, "so it's nigh time to settle our dispute." 
  "I don't remember even having a dispute between us," 
admitted Ranma, scratching his head. 
  "Twelve years ago you told me that girls were too 
weak to fight," Kanna said. "You also said I was weak 
for relying so much on my weapons... but now... now, I 
can prove you wrong!" 
  "Kanna, this isn't necessary, is it?" asked Akane. 
"Surely something trivial...." 
  "'Trivial?!'" repeated Kanna incredulously. "My 
family's art... 'trivial?!' I'm proud, Akane, and so is 
my family. I'm fighting for their sake and my own 
honor." 
  "Ranma, just apologize to her and be done with it!" 
suggested Akane. 
  "I can't back down from a challenge, even if it's 
from a girl," Ranma replied, cracking his knuckles. 
"IF it's a challenge... three days, then!" 
  "It's agreed, then!" the Enforcer said, nodding in 
satisfaction. "Until after our duel, you and Akane are 
safe from the Enforcers," she added, "as a gesture of 
good will. I also want my opponent to be in his best 
shape for our match." 
  "That's... nice," Akane replied, stuttering. 
  "In three days, you'll wish you never challenged me 
again!" Ranma boasted. 

  "Well, it's done," Kanna declared as she entered the 
teachers' lounge. "Three days." 
  Her audience was made up of the other four School 
Enforcers, plus the headmaster of Furinkan. Hinako 
still appeared to wear a depressive, downed face, while 
Shizuka appeared to have tried to comfort her, but to 
no success. Despite appearances the girl was actually 
a woman whose growth was stunted, although the 
priestess did not appear to have gotten that the first 
time around. 
  "You KNOW I wanted him first!" Johan complained, 
unable to keep still. Kanna knew he was imagining some 
dance steps, but to her it looked like random movement. 
  "Which is why you're supposed to fake the toss," 
Kanna pointed out. 
  "Have you little motivation to the task at hand other 
than to challenge a foe unworthy of challenge?" asked 
Tatewaki. 
  "The pay's good," Johan replied, justifying himself. 
  "And yet it's still commission," Kanna pointed out. 
  "I'm happy," the headmaster declared, breaking into 
the conversation. He assumed a business-like air in 
front of his Enforcers, discarding the dopey-Hawaiian 
motif. "Surely this new plan will induce a new Order in 
this chaotic school of mine!" 
  "And your 'enforcement' isn't particularly practical, 
even if it is working," Shizuka pointed out. 
  "Don't complain," Johan replied. "At least you got 
the side of the building with Ranma on it." 
  "And that's supposed to be a GOOD thing?!" 
  "Our rivals at Saint Hebereke are with their pants 
down," the headmaster continued. "In order to shoot 
past them and aim for higher rivals we need a better 
school. A better school gets more money, and more money 
means a better school." 
  Kanna slapped her head. "Dumb circular logic." 
  "While we're at this 'better school' stuff," Johan 
voiced, "how about dropping that dumb Hawaiian crap." 
  Tatewaki glared at him, shaking his head. 
  "Okay, fine, but after Kanna's through I'm beating 
the pig-tailed shrimp's face in," the street fighter 
declared, clenching his fists. "I've got a score to 
settle with him for that twister attack of his, and 
I've got payback in spades." 


Three Days Later 

  It took two days for the boys at the school to 
realize that getting their heads shaved by Shizuka was 
not entirely a good idea, for after getting their heads 
shaved the enforcement was no good, as the priestess 
pointed out earlier. Therefore for those who already 
had their heads shaved the priestess Enforcer stamped 
a scorpion mark on their shaven scalps, using ink that 
was particularly difficult to remove. The others, too, 
were resorting to this punishment using their own 
marks: Kanna's spider, Tatewaki's canary, Hinako's 
coin, and Johan's foot. Eventually it became a set of 
prison tattoos for the male students. 
  Most female students, however, were quick to keep to 
themselves and behave, so very few were subject to the 
bowl haircut, and none were punished any further. While 
some were fawning over the foreigner Johan or the 
college man Tatewaki they managed to behave around 
the two. 
  On the other hand, of the five Shizuka was considered 
the most zealous at her job; her reputation grew to 
notoriety because she often punished the most 
insignificant offenses with equal severity as any other 
offense. Tatewaki, everyone realized, refused to touch 
girls, making those girls under his area quite safe 
from punishment. Johan and Hinako were laid-back and 
were quite reasonable; when they did catch someone they 
often gave them a good five seconds to save their 
heads. At first Kanna appeared to be just as zealous as 
Shizuka, but she offered to look the other way in 
exchange for favors. The catch, of course, was that 
the offender had to think to ask first, and if they 
couldn't offer the Crystal Spider a profitable service 
it was the end of negotiation. 
  In a previous day several students banded together, 
realizing that they, numbering in hundreds, could 
easily take out five people. As the bulk of these 
students had enrolled without knowing the reputations 
of the five that the senior students knew, they charged 
foolhardily into battle. Numbers, Kanna would say, was 
an advantage, but not if they tried to attack Tatewaki 
Kuno, who beat each and every one of the students in 
that group by himself without breaking a sweat. 
  "This is getting intolerable," Hiroshi declared, 
glad to be still in possession of a full head of hair. 
  "It's after school," Daisuke pointed out, his head 
clean shaven to the sun above. "So aren't we going to 
watch Ranma fight the other girl?" 
  "The spider-lady?" asked another. "No way." 
  "But Ranma's fights are always good!" Hiroshi pointed 
out. 
  "Yeah, but I'm too dispirited to watch," Daisuke 
replied, hanging his head low. 
  "There might be a way." 
  The eyes of the boys turned toward the girl dressed 
in Chinese clothing, standing against a nearby tree. 
  "Who're you?" one asked. 
  "I'm Hokuto," the Shadow Weaver introduced. "I can 
solve your problems with Shizuka." 
  "Really?" Daisuke's eyes brightened. 
  "Just lure her to me, and I'll take care of the 
rest," she assured them. 

  Ranma stared down Kanna across the field as she did 
the same back to him. Behind him was Akane, still 
insistent that he apologize even at the end, but a 
challenge cannot be refused once accepted. Students 
filtered into the area, staying behind chain-linked 
fences Kanna set up specifically to mark the border of 
the fighting arena-- set in a large, circular 
formation. 
  "Your last chance to back down," Ranma warned, his 
hands to his sides. He made himself large with 
confidence. 
  "Heh-heh," the Crystal Spider chuckled. "I was 
going to offer you the same courtesy." 
  Nabiki appeared off to the side, on the other side of 
the fence next to her sister. "Single round, no time 
limit," she declared. "No assists. Victory goes to 
nothing short of complete knockout. Begin!" 
  Immediately Kanna unshouldered her double naginata, 
holding it out behind her while leaning forward. 
Ranma's mind raced, trying to remember the Rajura-style 
stances, but ten-year-old knowledge failed him. It was 
particularly due to the fact that only Kanna practiced 
the style, he knew, but the other part was that he 
simply wasn't paying attention ten years ago. 
  Dammit, I was eight when I last fought her! he 
shouted in his mind. Am I really supposed to remember 
all this? 
  And yet another voice in his head stated simply, 
"Yes." 
  Oh, shut up, Pop. 
  Twirling her polearm behind her, it glowed a shear 
white. "Now, Ranma, we'll see if you remember this 
simple one!" Standing upright, she spun the polearm 
out in front, dragging up a column of energy from the 
earth itself. "Ground Buster!" 
  Ranma threw out his palms. "Moko Takabisha!" 
  The moment his own bullet leaped from his palms the 
white column of ki raced toward him, tearing up the 
ground and throwing rock and earth everywhere, true to 
the technique's name. His bullet slammed into the 
column, canceling out the attack harmlessly. 
  "It's comin' back to me!" yelled Ranma. "I won't go 
easy on you!" 
  Kanna smirked. "As I knew you would!" She spun her 
weapon in front of her twice more, ripping up two more 
energy columns. "Double Ground Buster!" 
  In quick flare Ranma threw two bullets in rapid 
succession, canceling out both ki columns easily. 
Kanna spun out two more, and Ranma realized that her 
limit was two, as well. 
  But the next set of columns arced to the sides, 
threatening to attack Ranma's flanks. Spreading his 
palms apart he fired a double Moko Takabisha, wiping 
those out of existence as well. Despite the fact that 
Kanna was being quite predictable and single-minded 
Ranma knew she was trying to wear him down. 
  Several more columns circled around Ranma, and it was 
all he could do to blast them, until he realized that 
none of the columns were coming at him. He shot a 
glance at Kanna, who ceased spinning her naginata. 
  "What are you up to?!" he shouted as the dirt pelted 
him from all sides. 
  Kanna pointed her finger downward, and Ranma suddenly 
realized the truth: the ki columns kicking up dirt in 
their paths were digging a hole-- a hole around him. 
  The ground collapsed beneath the martial artist, and 
he could almost hear Akane call out his name. 

  "No-no, darling!" exclaimed Kodachi. "It is like 
this." She raised the back of her palm to her lips, 
and laughed. 
  "Really," Shizuka replied, mimicking Kodachi's 
stance and laughter. 
  Next to the two, in the empty school hall, Chika 
covered her ears and closed her eyes. Many had long 
since fled the area when Kodachi and Shizuka began an 
attempt to out-laugh each other, but they needed a 
third party to judge. She and Ayame drew lots, but 
Chika drew the long one. Somehow, she suspected that 
Ayame rigged it so both lots were long. 
  They caught wind of someone running in the halls past 
them, and Shizuka ceased her laughter, becoming all- 
business once again. Over Kodachi's laughing, she 
shouted to the student, "HEY!! No running in the 
halls!" 
  She spotted the delinquent turn down the hall ahead, 
and gave chase at the same corner. While she lost sight 
of the student Shizuka eyed a closet door closing on 
itself down the hall. Quickly making her way there, 
she swung it open, ready to deal punishment. 
  But her eyes went to shock when the occupant turned 
out to be none other than Hokuto Takemasa. 
  "You!" she gasped. 
  "Sorry, Shizu," the Shadow Weaver said, "it's 
nothing personal. But I can't let you run around the 
way you are anymore." 
  Hokuto raised her arm, and Shizuka felt something 
push her into the closet. Darkness consumed the 
priestess of Genbu, chilling her to the bone, but she 
was used to it. However, when the darkness subsided 
she found herself bound to a table, flat on her back, 
in a dimly-lit, square room. 
  "Dammit, Hokuto!" she screamed. "What the hell are 
you doing?!" 
  "This'll only take a few minutes," assured Hokuto, 
when she appeared over her. She slipped on a latex 
glove on one hand, using that to clamp down on 
Shizuka's neck. "After all, I'm going to release the 
other side of you that you didn't want anyone to know." 

  Ranma shook the pebbles and dirt from his head, 
casting his eyes upward from the bottom of the crater 
Kanna created. Said opponent stared down over the rim 
of the crater that was one and a half times deeper than 
she was tall, her weapon still in hand, as if expecting 
Ranma to do something. 
  She had every right to be cautious. 
  "You fell into my trap," Kanna gloated, "just as I 
predicted." 
  "I don't remember this being part of your arsenal, 
Kanna," Ranma spat. "It's nothing like the style I 
fought against ten years ago." 
  "You helped correct that," she replied with a smirk. 
"Your style is unrestricted, while my style was. Too 
restricted for my tastes, actually, so I changed it 
around to tailor my needs. It's a New Rajura Style 
combined with the old, traditional style." 
  "'New Rajura Style?'" 
  "Undertaking your style's philosophy I must watch, 
observe, and take what I can from each style I come 
across, and incorporate it into my own. In a respect, 
it could be an offshoot of your style." 
  "Weapon-dependence will be your undoing still!" 
Ranma shouted, springing out of the crater. 
  Kanna reacted quickly, slipping a switch on the 
length of her weapon. Both naginata heads shifted on 
their axis, dropping in opposite directions to form a 
double scythe. Winding up her arm, she tossed the 
weapon upward toward Ranma. He stretched out his arms 
and exploded a short bullet before him, propelling him 
back quickly and out of the path of the spinning 
double scythe. 
  Silently he thanked Sypha for the trick, but self- 
congratulation transformed into awe as the double 
scythe spun back into Kanna's outstretched hand. 
  "Do you like my new death scythe?" asked the Crystal 
Spider. She ran her fingers down the length of the 
wooden pole. "I designed it myself." 
  "Even fancy things like transforming boomerangs," 
snorted Ranma. "You can't beat me with stuff like that, 
you know." 
  "Oh, I know that," she replied, nodding. Shifting her 
blades back to their neutral position, Kanna spun her 
polearm, the blades glowing white once more. "I don't 
have to." 
  More Ground Busters, Ranma realized. But this time, 
I'm ready for them. She can only fire off two of them 
at once, and there's a window of opportunity between 
that and throwing the next set. So I have to wait until 
she fires off the first two.... 
  "Ground Buster!" shouted Kanna, spinning off two ki 
columns from her blades. 
  Ranma rushed forward to attack, but Kanna was still 
smiling. He stopped, suddenly realizing that he was not 
the intended target as the white columns ripped through 
the earth, past him. 
  Casting his eyes toward the edge of the fence, the 
columns were aiming toward Akane and Nabiki's position. 
Scared students fled for their lives when they put two- 
and-two together. 
  "Dammit!" Ranma cursed, quickly darting after the ki 
columns. He threw his palms behind him, lighting up 
bursts of ki energy that propelled him even faster 
forward. 
  Slamming into the chain-link fence in front of Akane, 
he turned quickly and blasted the two ki columns into 
nothingness. 
  "Ranma," Akane said, "Are you alright?" 
  Leaning back against the fence despite himself, he 
replied, "Damn, she's quick." 
  "Kanna spends her time studying the books of 
tactical warfare," offered Akane. "She's not fighting 
the one-on-one, but the bigger picture." 
  "Which includes you," he finished. 
  "HEY!" shouted Kanna. "I thought the rule was NO 
ASSISTS!!" 
  "This ain't no assist!" Ranma insisted. "It's only as 
fair as you're playing!" 
  "Information IS assistance," Kanna countered. "Your 
legendary quick-thinking skills have met their match." 
  "Only because you studied me a lot more than I 
studied you," Ranma pointed out, stepping away from 
the fence. For the first time he suddenly felt his ki 
control slipping from him, despite confidence. 
  Mentally he re-reviewed the battle, recalling that he 
indeed expended more energy by discharging so many ki 
blasts, one after another. Kanna did not look the least 
bit tired to him, but Ranma hoped he didn't look 
tired, either. 
  I've stayed too much on the reactive side, Ranma 
realized. I can't react to her attacks, I've got to 
make her react to me! 
  "I've figured you out," Ranma shouted. 
  "Figured what?" asked Kanna, perplexed. 
  Seeing his opening, the martial artist threw a flying 
kick toward his opponent. Kanna raised her polearm to 
block, but the sheer force behind the sudden attack 
sent her down to the ground. Ranma rushed to her downed 
position, running his foot under the pole and lifting, 
tearing the weapon out of Kanna's arms and over his 
head. 
  "Oldest trick in the book," he gloated, stepping back 
to allow Kanna to stand. "You're nothing without that 
weapon of yours." 
  "Is that so?" Kanna replied, not the least bit 
fazed even with being disarmed. She settled back into 
a crane stance. 
  Ranma took the invitation with his fists, throwing 
the first punch that Kanna dodged easily. Leaving 
himself momentarily open Kanna responded with her 
index and middle fingers, using only those to jab him 
in select positions on and around his neck. He cursed 
himself mentally, realizing that she was opening him 
up to a fake for pressure point attacks. 
  He fell to the ground, clutching his neck, Kanna 
standing over him. His head pounded from severe pain, 
even though he suffered no injuries in that area, and 
the feeling was disappearing. 
  "I've cut off the circulation in your head," Kanna 
advised coolly. "If blood doesn't flow back into it 
soon, you'll be out in thirty seconds. Yield to my 
superior genius." 
  Maybe I should've paid more attention to Doc Tofu's 
ramblings, Ranma thought, wishing he knew how to undo 
the pressure points. 
  She glanced at her watch impatiently. "Oh, what the 
heck." Leaning over, she jabbed Ranma in different 
locations, releasing the pain's hold on him. 
  Allowing the blood to flow back into his head, Ranma 
lay there on his back, catching his breath. "You 
could've won...." 
  "I don't need to kill you," Kanna assured him. "I 
want you to live, knowing that even I can beat you." 
  "If that's all you wanted...." 
  His words were cut off, as a shout came amongst the 
gathered students. A quick-flying projectile burst 
through the chain-link fence, heading straight toward 
Ranma, forcing Kanna to jump back. 
  He was not surprised to see it was the returning 
dagger when it landed in his hand safely. Shizuka's red 
chord still hung at the end of the handle, dangling 
uselessly.... 
  And not on her arm. 
  Kanna stared down at the dagger, then back at Ranma. 
"So... now you have the advantage." 
  "Forget it," he told her, scrambling to his feet. 
"Something happened to Shizuka." 

  Her skin was pearl white, as if matted over with a 
lot of rice dust, yet she was wearing white stockings 
on her legs that only matched the same color of her 
skin. She dressed in a short-sleeved, red dress, tied 
off at the waist with a sash and an oversized, sky-blue 
bow ribbon at the back. Her skirt fell all the way down 
to her thighs, with violet trim, cut off at the left 
waist, exposing a good amount of leg for those who were 
looking. wore white feathers that fell down to her 
knees around her neck, and kept holding them and played 
with it, allowing it to slip down her back every so 
often. 
  Her face was the same pearl white as the rest of her 
skin, but what lacked in color was made up in the 
contrasting ruby-red lips and dark eye shadow. Her 
expression was that of pure innocence and exotics, yet 
her hair was parted off to the sides in the same manner 
as Ranma remembered seeing her last. 
  Surrounded by numerous, love-struck guys, and a few 
curious and jealous girls, Ranma, Akane, and Kanna 
stared down the exotic girl, perplexed. 
  "Shizuka, what the hell did you do to yourself?" 
asked Ranma. 
  "Please," she said radiantly, in a soft voice 
uncharacteristic of the loud priestess, "that language 
has no place in an institute of learning." 
  "Oh... my... god...." uttered Kanna, her jaw 
dropping in surprise. "You've flipped." 
  "Did someone hit you on the head?" asked Akane. 
  "There is nothing to be concerned about," Shizuka 
replied calmly. "I feel as refreshed as the light of 
the morning sun." 
  Ranma leaned toward Kanna. "You're right, she's 
flipped." 

  Hokuto hid in the shadows, her arms folded as she 
observed the exchange in the schoolyard, satisfied 
that her work was completed. 
  "Only one more to deal with," she reminded herself, 
melting back into the shadows. "Kanna... I'll have to 
come up with a more permanent solution for you later." 

  The moment the operating system began to boot up was 
the moment Cinder regained consciousness. 
  Mechanical eye flaring to life, the salamander stared 
upward, feeling that he was lying on his back, if what 
was above was the ceiling. His remaining, real eye 
struggled to peel open, but he could not muster the 
effort to do so. He tried to reanimate his arm, but the 
mechanical limb would not respond. 
  Blast, he cursed mentally, the bomb also drained my 
psychic reservoirs. How am I supposed to reanimate this 
worthless shell without strength? 
  Cinder's auditory functions booted up, allowing him 
to take in the sounds of the world, his only link to 
the outside since he could not move his head to look. 
He discerned a slight creaking noise from above, which 
sounded like someone was walking around on the floor 
above. There was another sound, however, which was more 
dominating-- something scratching... something in the 
room. 
  Someone was writing a note at the desk, not far away. 
  Good, someone else is in the room, he thought. If I'm 
not chained down this can't be a bad situation... so... 
to get the individual's attention.... 
  He waited for the clomping feet on the above floor to 
vanish completely before charging up his eye-mounted 
blaster. Turning on his laser targeting guide, he 
fired. 

  "Glad to see you're well," offered Mizuki, staring 
down at the salamander and blocking his view of the 
hole he made in the ceiling. 
  "I don't think he can talk," Ukyo said. "He hasn't 
said a word since blowing that hole up there." 
  She watched the mechanical eye adjust its view onto 
her, and the okonomiyaki chef got an idea. "Well, how 
about this, Master Cinder... we're going to have to do 
'yes and no' questions for now, so if you want to say 
'yes,' then move your eye upward, and downward for 
'no.' Got that?" 
  The eye's lens craned upward. 
  "That's a good idea," praised Mizuki. "I guess that 
solves the problem of whether or not he can hear us, 
too." 
  "Well... do you have any idea who might have done 
this to you?" asked Ukyo. 
  Cinder's eye edged upward, then sideways back and 
forth. 
  "'Yes' and 'maybe,'" interpreted Mizuki. "In other 
words, you have a good idea, but you're not sure if 
it's right?" 
  The lens moved upward. 
  "Kanna Rajura got attacked in the same exact manner 
as you did," explained the priestess of Genbu. "I don't 
think it was random selection; whoever attacked you 
knew who he or she was doing." 
  Again, the lens moved up. 
  "Okay, you can't talk because your voice box was 
smashed, right?" guessed Ukyo. "If I'm not mistaken, 
you're going to need that psychic energy of yours to 
repair it properly." 
  This time the lens focused in on Ukyo. 
  Raising her arms, taking a step back, she said, "O- 
kay, we won't go there." 
  "Do you suppose Sypha did it?" asked Mizuki. 
  The lens craned down. 
  "Hokuto, too, could've done it, but she was trying to 
keep the Gate of Heaven closed." 
  The lens craned up. 
  "You think Hokuto did it?" 
  "Well, it has to be, if he responded to it," Ukyo 
pointed out dryly. 
  "But I don't understand why she'd go after the two 
of them," admitted the priestess. "Neither of the two 
share a thing in common." 
  "Probably something only Hokuto knows the answer to," 
the okonomiyaki chef replied. 


The Next Day 

  "You know," started Johan, "that Shizuka is scaring 
the crap out of me." 
  In the hours before school was in session the 
headmaster of Furinkan High liked to direct his daily 
agenda to the faculty, particularly the Enforcers. This 
morning, however, Shizuka, appearing much the same way 
as she did in the later half of the previous day, was 
openly arguing with the boss on his methodology. The 
other Enforcers, minus Hinako, kept away from the two 
in their heated discussion. Already all three of them 
made bets that the headmaster would eventually lose. 
  "If she's on something," he continued, "then it must 
be pretty potent stuff." 
  Kanna shook her head. "No drug could do that-- at 
least, nothing documented. I figured out what's so 
wrong about it." 
  "If the flower has found time to bloom in the most 
inconvenient of times," Tatewaki said, "perhaps we are 
not ones to judge." 
  "But she's acting almost opposite the way she's 
always been!" Kanna replied. "Think about it; she's 
over there, arguing that the boss's methods are too 
harsh and border on a military boot camp." 
  "Discipline is requisite before enlightenment," 
countered the boss's son. 
  Kanna nodded quickly. "I'm not saying it, she is." 
  Taking the speculation in, Johan folded his arms 
behind his head, leaning back in his chair. "So we're 
minus the extra fifth wheel; that means more work for 
us, and maybe less headache for the student body." 
  "How'd you figure that?" asked the Crystal Spider. 
  "Sure, we may get more workload, but the students 
don't hate us as much as Shizuka," Johan reasoned 
calmly. "Look, I made it clear that it's a job, nothing 
personal. They like me a lot, and besides, I don't 
necessarily HAVE to be strictly-enforcing." 
  "Not unless you want to keep your pay," Kanna pointed 
out. "Commission, remember?" 
  "Wanna know my secret?" he offered. 
  "What?" 
  "Lie. Or, give a cut to the students to make more 
in my pocket. Sure, it's a little dishonest, but it 
doesn't matter to me if some guys have low self- 
esteem." 
  The three froze in their conversation, noting that 
Shizuka broke off from her confrontation, seemingly 
satisfied with herself. Their eyes watched her, seeing 
no hint of anger or disappointment. 
  Tatewaki was the first to break the cone of silence. 
"In a sudden turn and a skill of words has my dad 
actually been beaten?" 
  "We might get our answer soon," Kanna replied, noting 
the headmaster was heading their way. 
  "Well, Boss!" greeted Johan, sitting up in his seat. 
"What's the good word?" 
  The headmaster of Furinkan High lowered his head, 
taking in a deep breath. When he opened his mouth to 
speak, it was to their disappointment, overshadowed by 
a shaken relief, that fell upon the three Enforcers. 

  "I don't believe it," was all Ranma could find to say 
as the student body exited the assembly room, called so 
suddenly and unexpectedly. 
  It was not five days that the newly-hired Enforcers 
had worked that they were let-go-- or, as Hiroshi 
bluntly put it, fired. Despite the seemingly-crushing 
news the school headmaster still seemed in spirits, but 
that wasn't unexpected; what was unexpected was that he 
repealed his own decision without Ranma lifting a 
finger over it. A formal apology was issued to the 
students affected, but the damage had been done. 
  Oddly enough, the most reviled of the Enforcers was 
the one being showered with the most attention; Shizuka 
openly claimed that she was responsible for the 
reversal of decision. 
  Akane, walking by Ranma's side, scanned the crowds 
for a sign of the changed priestess. "It's so sudden, 
just like Shizuka. Even her reputation got a complete 
reversal." 
  "Think we should do something about it?" asked Ranma, 
glancing at his wife for approval. 
  She nodded. "It's too strange. I've thought it over 
last night, and I can't imagine her that way." 
  "Neither can I," admitted Ranma quickly. "It's like 
Kuno refusing to challenge me, but worse." 
  "No kidding," she replied, adding under her breath, 
"but this has nothing to do with your ego." 
  "Did'ja say something?" 
  "Nothing!" Akane denied quickly. 

  The male kunoichi Konatsu was bored. 
  Pacing about back and forth at the front gate of the 
Sun Tower Konatsu felt like a caged animal in the 
Shrine of the Four Gods, despite his charge-- Ukyo-- 
being rather important to him. No, he didn't mind 
having to look after her-- as she put it-- but the fact 
that he felt that his presence was becoming rather 
obsolete. He felt useless. 
  Back in the old days, it was assisting in running an 
okonomiyaki shop. Eventually Konatsu built up the skill 
necessary to somewhat duplicate Ukyo's own skill, 
having been taught by the master herself. But her 
subsequent disappearance brought about another task, 
to help take care of her family while she was off to 
get some time alone. Konatsu wanted to be with Ukyo, 
but knew better than to look for her; she didn't want 
to be found, and he had to respect her wishes. And only 
days ago she reappeared to him, more enlightened than 
before, and asked him to come with her to the Shrine of 
the Four Gods. From what he had seen of the area, and 
of the recent events, Konatsu didn't feel like he was 
doing any good ; Ukyo never wanted him at her side 
anymore. 
  Staring at his hands, he asked himself, "Can it be 
that I'm no longer fit to serve?" 
  "Service should be it's own reward, but you're no 
longer a pure servant." 
  Instinctively the kunoichi unsheathed the familial 
sword strapped to his back, already having the tip of 
the blade under the newcomer's chin before she realized 
it. Konatsu squinted as he studied the girl's face, 
finding no recognition whatsoever, but her eyes 
betrayed power. 
  "Who are you?" he demanded. 
  "Put that toy away," suggested Hokuto, remaining 
quite relaxed in her composure despite the threat on 
her life. Her eyes narrowed, focusing on Konatsu's 
own, and he found himself tumbling into a spiral. "I'm 
no threat to you." 
  Despite himself, Konatsu found himself lowering his 
arms. "Kunoichi are trained to resist hypnosis, whoever 
you are." 
  "Yes, I admit you're resisting quite well, but not 
enough," Hokuto pointed out. "I guess I should've 
watched you much more closely... got more data... but 
the seeds of discord are sown in you already. The 
advantage was an illusion, I see." 
  "Stop speaking in riddles!" the kunoichi ordered 
angrily. "The only reason you'd confront me directly is 
if you can't confront Ukyo by herself." 
  "Damn, you ARE good!" the Shadow Weaver commended, 
obviously impressed. "Is that kunoichi training kicking 
in there, too?" 
  "Common sense!" he corrected. "You have quite a bit 
of power if you are affecting me. You wouldn't bother 
to attack me, a lowly, useless servant as I, unless you 
were after something I held dear. That alone is Ukyo." 
  "That's good, but while you were explaining this all 
to me I've managed to carry out my contingency plan." 
  Reacting on instinct Konatsu leaped straight up in 
the air, barely escaping the creeping shadow cast by 
Hokuto in the morning light. He tucked himself into a 
ball, raising his sword over his head, rolling as he 
descended in a spin slash. Hokuto cursed, sinking into 
her own shadow and vanishing before the attack could 
slice her in half. 
  Reappearing a few meters away the Shadow Weaver 
raised her hands, palms pulsing with dark matter. 
Konatsu dodged two shadow bolts heading his direction, 
making two leaps closer to the enemy for each one taken 
back. Hokuto quickly realized this, and sunk back into 
darkness like a drop of water. Konatsu paused as her 
shadow vanished upon itself, switching his sword to 
underhand and stabbing backward, catching cloth but no 
skin. 
  Hokuto tore her cloak off from around her, ripping a 
good tear in it with Konatsu's sword. She quickly 
wrapped it around her left arm as the kunoichi spun 
around, changing orientation of his sword back to its 
natural position. He cut with an overhead slash as 
Hokuto spun her cloak in a shield before her, and to 
his surprise the defense deflected the attack. 
  Leaping back on a short hop Hokuto wound up her arm, 
guiding the chaotic movement of the cloak with her 
thoughts, and Konatsu realized she was using her power 
to alter the shape of the cloak. He ducked, but was 
grazed on the right shoulder as the cloak formed into a 
lance and darted at him. The cloak had not made 
physical contact at all with the kunoichi, but he knew 
it was a vacuum needle surrounding the cloak that did 
it, a terribly common but effective technique. 
  The next lancing came, and this time Konatsu was 
ready. Raising his sword he parried the attack, 
momentarily opening his opponent up for a free shot. 
Wheeling his sword down and back Konatsu thrust forward 
with a flying kick straight into Hokuto's chest, 
sending her reeling backward and losing control over 
the cloak. Before the folds of cloth could unfurl from 
its lance position Konatsu gripped his sword tightly 
and slashed upward, slicing the cloth-turned-weapon in 
half. He added a downward stroke for good measure, 
cutting up one of the halves into two halves of its 
own. 
  But his task was not finished when Hokuto's shadow 
drifed toward him again, this time a sinewy, shadow- 
born tentacle-like creature whipped from the depths of 
blackness. With surprising strength the tentacle 
smashed Konatsu across the face, sending him sprawling 
on the ground and forcing him to lose grip on his 
sword. Unwilling to admit defeat yet the kunoichi 
reached for two throwing stars in his belt pouch, and 
let them fly through the air. His aim was true as they 
sunk into the shadow tentacle, but to his 
disappointment the throwing stars did not seem to 
affect the monster's thrashings. 
  "Definitely NOT good," he decided, scrambling to his 
feet. In a desperate panic Konatsu dove for his sword, 
not knowing if even the familial weapon could harm the 
monster if the stars couldn't. 
  The tentacle and the shadow stain emerging from 
Hokuto's position gave chase, managing to keep pace 
with the kunoichi. Konatsu tumbled forward, grabbing 
the sword as he went, and rolled back upright, facing 
the tentacle monster with sword low. 
  Hokuto grinned, a hint of triumph if Konatsu knew 
one, but it was also a good sign that his feignt was 
working perfectly. 
  "Now you see me," the kunoichi muttered, slipping one 
hand off his sword and into his pocket, "and now you 
don't!" Quickly Konatsu produced a gas canister, a 
common tool for his trade, and threw it on the ground 
with all his might. 
  Hokuto gasped in surprise, and the tentacle monster 
paused at the same time, giving Konatsu a little of his 
own satisfaction as the smoke from the shattered 
canister burst free. Smokey gas rushed to escape the 
small confines, pushing out clean air away from the 
kunoichi and obscuring him from Hokuto's view. 
  She can't direct the monster when she can't see me, 
Konatsu thought, congratulating himself as he slid 
through the smoked area quietly. In his mind's eye he 
estimated the location of his opponent; being blinded 
by the smoke himself Konatsu had to rely on his other 
senses to move around effectively, something that often 
did not occur to most people. 
  He pounced at the location where Hokuto ought to be, 
but grasped only thin air. Cursing, the kunoichi 
realized that she teleported again. 
  A sudden jolt hit his mind: "She's not here anymore," 
he muttered. Running in the direction of the Sun 
Tower and sheathing his sword Konatsu quickly slipped 
wall-scaling suction cups on his hands, and jumped up 
the side of the wall. 
  Looking up, he estimated his time of arrival to the 
room Ukyo was using on the sixth floor, and initiated 
his climb. "I hope I'll be there in time!" 

  Hokuto slipped into Ukyo's room unnoticed, remaining 
as silent as the kunoichi while standing in the shadows 
of the morning light. 
  The okonomiyaki chef, oblivious to the world, slept 
soundly in a rolled-out futon, on her back. The 
blankets were barely disturbed, giving the Shadow 
Weaver the idea that her nights were met with fitful 
sleep. Lying on its flat at her side, within arm's 
reach was Ukyo's infamous combat spatula, a heavy metal 
weapon that was surprisingly useful in combat. Hanging 
on the wall nearby was her bandoleer, filled with ten 
small spatula darts. If she did it right, Hokuto knew 
she would not have to deal with the darts at all. 
  She glided past the sleeping Ukyo, the shadows 
cushioning her feet from making a sound against the 
hard wood floor. The single window in the room was open 
to the morning light, unblocked by bug screens or 
glass. Hokuto glanced down the side of the tower, 
snorting when she noticed the kunoichi scaling the wall 
at a surprisingly fast rate. 
  "Amazing," she whispered in admiration. "That kid is 
almost as fast as I am." 
  Quickly glancing around Hokuto could not find 
anything that could block the window from the kunoichi 
long enough to be of use. She turned her back to the 
window, risking an attack from behind, but knew that 
her attack would not take too long to scramble Ukyo's 
head. 
  Bending her knees she placed her palm against the 
girl's forehead. "I had something more artful in mind 
for you; it would've been much more terrifying for you 
if your friend were the one to physically maim you. But 
now it's function over form." 
  She began to stretch her mind to Ukyo's, but stopped 
cold. Ukyo's eyes burst open suddenly, and in a swift 
motion Hokuto was on the ground, her arms clamped in 
the chef's hands. 
  "Didn't think I was awake, did'ja?" Ukyo gloated. 
  A moment later Konatsu leaped through the window, 
feet-first and landing perfectly. "Ukyo!" 
  "Thanks, Konatsu," she said quickly. 
  "H... how?!" demanded Hokuto angrily, struggling in 
vain against Ukyo's grip. 
  "The battle you had down there was noisy; how 
couldn't we know?" Ukyo replied. "So I jumped back in 
bed and waited for you to come." 
  "So who are you?" asked Konatsu. 
  "You're Hokuto, aren't you?" guessed Ukyo. 
  "Let me go!" she demanded. "If you don't, I guarantee 
you, everything you sought to prevent will happen 
again." 
  "What're you talking about?" 
  "You know EXACTLY what I'm talking about!" the Shadow 
Weaver shot back venomously. "You, who lived life twice 
should know better what it is." 
  "Ukyo?" Konatsu gasped when the girl's expression 
crystallized in shock. Immediately he focused his 
attention back to Hokuto. "Don't say such things to 
her!" 
  "N... no way!" muttered Ukyo, loosening her grip on 
the Shadow Weaver. 
  Before Hokuto could sink herself into the shadows 
again, Konatsu dove and got the girl into a headlock. 
"Let go!" 
  "You're not going anywhere this time!" Konatsu 
threatened. 
  Hokuto allowed the ground beneath her to collapse, 
dangling over her own shadow as if hung over a cliff. 
The weight in Konatsu's hold greatened quickly, and 
threatened to pull him along with the Shadow Weaver 
into the darkness. He released hold over the girl, 
allowing her to fall into blackness, and then 
nothingness. 

  Cinder stared up into the sky, the priestess Mizuki 
at his side in the courtyard of the Shrine of the Four 
Gods. Turning toward the southern tower, the Suzaku 
Tower, he willed control over the seal he placed over 
the red Suzaku crystal, controlling its radiating 
energies and focusing it in a linear burst toward 
the Sun Tower. 
  A beam shot up into the sky from the Sun Tower, 
tearing a hole in time and space in the sky. Clouds 
swirled around the hole as if it were the eye of a 
storm, one that was growing larger by the second. 
  The last time the Gate of Heaven was opened the 
radiating energies were wild and uncontrolled, allowing 
anything in-between the planes to travel through the 
gates at will. But, now that a Guardian of the gods was 
controlling the Gate the void was closed off, allowing 
passage only to the other side of the Gate in the Kami 
Plane. 
  As the Gate had barely opened even an eighth of its 
full diameter a ragged, human-form being fell from the 
sky. Noticing this Cinder resealed the Gate, his eye 
watching the falling one smash down into the courtyard 
not far away. 
  Mizuki was the first to get to the fallen's side as 
Cinder took his time to study the traveler he was 
expecting. Looking no worse for wear Sypha Blade, as 
the Chinese tribes called her, looked like she had seen 
better days, as she was mentally-drained rather than 
physical. 
  Sypha's eyes fixated on Cinder wearily as Mizuki 
propped her upright. "Hello, old friend," she muttered. 
  Cinder bowed respectfully toward the human-shaped 
celestial dragon. "My lady." 
  "It's worse than we feared," she said cryptically. 
  "Then it's true?" Mizuki asked. She eyed Cinder. 
"Then it was worth opening the Gate." 
  "There are many holes torn in the dimensional fabric 
on the Kami Plane," Sypha began, slowly regaining her 
strength and composure. "The Timeless Ones are on the 
move, and I've been fighting them for the past few 
days... weeks... whatever." She shook her head. "I lost 
track of time; there's no markers of time in the void. 
They made the holes... the tears." 
  "Somehow, they finally did it," Cinder said, 
scratching his chin in thought. "They must have done 
this within the past three years." 
  "The Kami Plane must be weak enough for it to happen, 
so maybe it was only now they could do it," Mizuki 
considered. "Every day the other plane gets weaker as 
this one does as well." 
  "They are also here," Sypha revealed. "They couldn't 
make tears in the dimensional fabric to this plane 
until the Gate of Heaven opened; some of their agents 
slipped through during the struggle, and working from 
both sides of the fabric they are carving holes." 
  "You're kidding," Mizuki wanted to believe. 
  "She's not," Ukyo said, walking out of the Sun Tower 
followed by Konatsu. "Hokuto said that things I lived 
through are happening again; the mechanical plague is a 
reality now." 
  "What is the mechanical plague?" asked Konatsu. 
  "The kami call them the Timeless Ones," Cinder 
explained. "The humans call them the mechanical plague. 
But they share one name in common: Mekani. They are 
machine monstrosities from beyond the stars that 
attacked this world thousands of years ago." 
  "They are a small part of a greater whole," Sypha 
jumped in. "Their mechanical order, stemming from a 
world, perhaps a galaxy far away, overrun by machines, 
exist only to survive in technological perfection. They 
travel from world to world, stripping them of all 
resources and killing anything that is not them. One 
such colony came here thousands of years ago, but the 
kami and humans of the time could not defeat them. In a 
temporary solution it was decided to seal them; not 
just anywhere, but nowhere. The separation of the two 
planes stemmed from a plan to trap the Timeless Ones in 
the void between planes, with the understanding that 
they would never return to plague us." 
  "But now the people of Earth have forgotten the 
kami," Mizuki added. "The reason for the kami to 
exist is slowly fading away, as they are born from 
human imagination. As they fade, so does the Kami 
Plane, and therefore the dimensional fabric keeping the 
Mekani in check is weakening. They must be invading 
the Kami Plane even as we speak." 
  Sypha nodded. "And they're now working on this side, 
too." 
  "What for?" asked Ukyo. 
  "They know quite well which plane is the real one," 
the sorcerer replied. "And besides, they're not just 
going to strip-mine this world, they're going to put it 
back the way it was, and THEN strip-mine it." 
  "And to do that, they'll have to break the hold the 
Four Gods have between the planes," Mizuki added. 
  "How?" asked Konatsu. "How could those things get so 
much more powerful than the Four Gods?" 
  "It's a matter I've researched myself," Sypha said. 
"In numerous attempts to force my way back to the Kami 
Plane I have discovered a way to re-merge the planes to 
one again. The Timeless Ones require artifacts that are 
greatly-attuned to the elements... eight in total. Not 
just any elemental weapon will do, but ones that are 
closely-tied to them enough. Plenty of those exist in 
both planes." 
  "We've got to warn Ranma," Ukyo decided. 
  "It's none of his business," snapped the sorcerer. 
  "It WILL be if the Mekani are HERE!" the chef pointed 
out. "You said so yourself that they could merge the 
planes; what if they do?" 
  "The Inferno Regions and many of the underworld 
domains lie in the exact same pockets as your magma 
mantle," Cinder said. "While my homeland and Hades may 
survive, many others will be annihilated." 
  "The frost salamander kingdom in Antarctica would 
destroy anything on that continent, in turn," he 
continued on the other hand. "Many other locales would 
be wiped out by the extremities on the other plane in 
the corresponding locations." 
  "So neither of us can afford losing," Ukyo concluded. 
"We need their help, just as much as we need yours." 
  Sypha snarled, getting up to her feet and folding her 
long arms, turning away from the okonomiyaki chef. 
  "Lady," Cinder said, "we will need their aid." 
  "If that's what you want," Sypha muttered, "then do 
as you wish. Surely this is no longer an internal 
affair." 
  "There's one more thing," brought up Konatsu. 
  "Yeah," agreed Ukyo. "Hokuto is attacking specific 
people, ones that are important to this fight." Turning 
to Mizuki, she said, "When Konatsu and I go back to 
Tokyo, we need you to come with us." 
  "Why?" asked the priestess. 
  "Because if I'm right, Shizuka's going to need all 
the help she can get." 

  A butterfly landed on her outstretched hand, 
delicately tickling the skin. Shizuka raised the small 
insect to her eye level, studying the small creature 
with a certain, innocent fascination. The butterfly 
flapped its wings gently, seemingly at peace in the 
girl's hand. She turned her hand over, allowing the 
insect to crawl its way into Shizuka's palm. 
  Without warning, she crushed the creature in a fist. 
  By the time Ranma got there Shizuka was already 
prying her fingers loose, too late to undo the damage. 
He grabbed her wrist and shook her. 
  "What did you do that for?!" he yelled. 
  "A creature of beauty," the changed priestess said. 
"Delicate as it was in life, beautiful it is in death. 
A creature too trusting, so naive, cannot live long." 
She turned her hand, allowing the crushed corpse to 
fall to the ground, much to the screams of nearby 
schoolgirls. 
  "What's wrong with you?!" the martial artist insisted 
angrily. 
  "Hey, Ranma!" he heard a fellow student yell. "You 
tryin' to get her all for yourself?" 
  "Yeah!" shouted another, and suddenly Ranma felt the 
weight of the presence of many love-stricken boys 
around him. 
  "Please, none of this," commanded Shizuka, waving her 
free arm back. Immediately, the boys backed away. 
  "You sure got them broken in fast," Ranma muttered. 
  "Violence and anger solve nothing," she replied. "It 
is a lesson all should learn, and is followed by my 
example. I am their center of attention; such, it is my 
responsibility to set a proper example." 
  "You once told me you were scared of white faces," 
Ranma said. "And look at you now." 
  "That which is feared must be conquered." 
  "The old Shizuka was nothing like you." 
  "I have had a change of heart. My eyes are open; are 
yours?" 
  "You also said that if you couldn't be yourself you'd 
rather be dead." 
  "I didn't say that." 
  "Not to me, at least." 
  "Did I?" she asked innocently. 
  Ranma groaned, realizing this was getting nowhere. 
His hand still clamped to her wrist he lead Shizuka 
through the crowd of students watching, toward where 
Akane was waiting. "This isn't working." 
  "Well, probably because you're not close enough to 
her," Akane replied. "Neither of us know enough about 
her to jog her memory." 
  "Yeah, but who around here can do that?" asked Ranma. 
"Everyone that knows her personally isn't in Tokyo, or 
we don't know...." He stopped, suddenly thinking of an 
idea. 
  "What's up?" asked his wife. 
  "There IS someone!" he cried, dashing toward the 
school gates, with Shizuka in tow. 

  The moment Shion Kagami popped his head out the front 
door Ranma grabbed him by the scruff of his shirt and 
dragged him out. 

  "You didn't have to ruin the threads," Shion 
complained as he sat himself at the park bench. 
  Ranma snorted. From the short time he knew of the 
guy the martial artist had little opinion about him, 
but so far first-hand impression was slanting toward 
the bottom end of the spectrum. When he saw Shizuka he 
was flabbergasted, to say the least. 
  She sat on the same bench as Shion, as both Ranma and 
Akane stood before them, as if waiting for something to 
happen. 
  "Just talk to her," Akane suggested. "Remind her who 
she is." 
  "Easy for you to say," Shion replied. "How long's she 
been like this?" 
  "Since late yesterday afternoon, we think," answered 
Akane. "Kanna thinks she's acting the exact opposite 
the way she used to." 
  As if to underscore her point, their eyes turned to 
Shizuka, who was going out of her way to face away from 
Shion's direction. 
  "You've got to be kidding," muttered the hacker. 
  Ranma clapped his fist in his palm. "I've got it!" 
  "What?" asked Akane. 
  "We've got that reversal jewel, remember?" he 
explained. "Well, two of them, actually. I'll go home 
and see if I can dig it out." 
  "Uh, whatever, man," Shion replied. "What's some 
fancy bauble going to help?" 
  "What if Kanna's wrong and that's not the problem?" 
Akane wondered. "She's not suffering the same kind of 
symptoms. It's not just her feelings, it's her entire 
lifestyle." 
  Ranma shrugged. "We'll cross that bridge later." 

  "It is difficult to detect them," Sypha explained, 
leading Cinder through the basement of the Sun Tower. 
"They are unliving beings; thus they carry no aura 
around them." 
  "In other words, unless we find a different means we 
will not be able to detect them in the normal manner," 
Cinder interpreted. "Martial artists rely on the 
opponent's ki to detect them using extrasensory means; 
we won't be able to see them until we CAN see them." 
  Sypha stopped in front of a wall, flashing her 
talons as she whipped her claw arm around. She slammed 
it through the wall, biting a good chunk away, then 
punched through it with her other claw. Dust clouds 
kicked up in all directions as the hidden cave 
entrance revealed itself with the wall's collapse. 
  "These tunnels have been hidden for many centuries," 
the sorcerer explained. "I've never been through them 
for a thousand years, at least, but if the Timeless 
Ones have set up camp on Earth they will be here." 
  "Depending on how many of them got through they may 
be long gone by now," Cinder pointed out. "They could 
be searching for the elemental artifacts now." 
  "I'm aware of that!" Sypha snapped angrily. "I'm more 
concerned if they've torn a hole or not." 
  She lead the salamander into the tunnel, neither 
requiring light to pierce the darkness. 

  "You hear?" Hiroshi said on his way back from lunch. 
"Ranma and Akane skipped class!" 
  "Probably off to do their lover-thing," Daisuke 
muttered. 
  "Yeah, but they took Shizuka with them, too," another 
revealed. "I mean, he has Akane already; can't he let 
us have anybody?" 
  "'Specially since we made her a nice person," 
agreed Daisuke. 
  Behind the talking boys, Hikaru Gosunkugi's ears 
perked up. He froze in his tracks in the hall, 
realizing he came upon something important. 
  Despite himself he ran to catch up with the boys. 
  "Look, it's Voodoo Spike," one of them said. 
  "Hey, stop hanging around us!" Hiroshi said. 
  "J... just a question," Gosunkugi asked. "You just 
said that you m... made Shizuka a nice person." 
  "That's right!" Daisuke said proudly. "Thanks to that 
Hokuto girl. We don't know what she said to her, but 
whatever it was, it worked like a charm." 
  "I see." Gosunkugi took all of this in, allowing the 
boys to go ahead to class as he turned the other way. 
  Could this information be important to someone? he 
wondered, rushing toward the nearest exit. 

  "Alright, I'm back!" Ranma declared, holding up the 
reversal jewel in between his index and middle finger. 
  His jaw dropped in disappointment when he saw that 
Akane was sitting between Shion and Shizuka, both of 
which appeared ready to tear each other apart. Akane 
eyed her husband with a look that read, "And you 
thought this was a good idea?" 
  "Uh, what happened?" he asked, even if he didn't 
really want to know. 
  "Trust me, you don't want to know," Akane answered, 
echoing his thoughts. 
  "She's impossible," Shion spat. 
  "He's too stuck-up and self-absorbed," Shizuka 
countered, folding her arms. 
  "Whatever happened to your 'peaceful solutions?'" 
the martial artist asked sarcastically. 
  "None can be gotten by his immoral methods!" the 
priestess insisted. 
  "Well, that'll change," Ranma said, flicking the 
reversal jewel toward Shizuka. 
  Instinctively she batted it away with her hand, 
forcing Ranma to chase after the brooch. 
  "Ranma, it isn't going to work," Akane said plainly. 
"At best it'll only be a temporary solution, and even 
then we won't get the same Shizuka back." 
  "I'm grasping at straws here, Akane!" Ranma shouted 
back, picking up the reversal jewel from the ground. 
"If I can't save one person, I can't save anybody." 
  "That's not true!" 
  "If I can save Shizuka, maybe I can save Ukyo from 
herself." 
  "Don't be ridiculous!" Shion snapped, jumping to his 
feet. "What makes you think your friend needs saving?" 
  "She's suffering like Shizuka is," Ranma replied 
hotly. "She, like Shizuka, is not acting like herself 
anymore, even though she thinks she is." 
  "People change, doof," the hacker pointed out. "Okay, 
maybe I'm not the big expert on you and your pal, but 
did it happen within a day like Shizuka did? Did it?" 
  Ranma could not find an answer. 
  "People change," he pressed. "People change all the 
time! Think about it. When my mother remarried, Chika 
became my sister. She looked up to me, listened to 
every word I said. You want to know what she does now? 
She doesn't listen to me anymore. She's talking back to 
me and ordering me around, and you know why? She's 
changed; she's learned how to stand on her own feet. If 
I were her father I'd be proud; she doesn't need to 
depend on me to be herself." 
  "And there's something Shizu told me... before this," 
he continued, gesturing toward the white-skinned 
girl. "She would...." 
  "Yeah, she'd rather die before she changed," Ranma 
finished. "I don't know where I heard that from." 
  "It's because she found what she liked, and wanted to 
be. She found happiness in being herself." 
  "Are you saying I should be dissatisfied with the way 
I am?" asked Shizuka. 
  "It's not the real you," Akane said. "You're 
pretending you like the way you are, but you're not 
happy at all, are you?" 
  "I can get married," Shizuka insisted. "I can raise a 
family I've always wanted. I can discard the shackles 
of priesthood, and live out the life I've dreamed of. 
What more is there to ask for?" 
  "The Shizuka we know," Ranma picked up, "finds thrill 
in the hunt. Sure, sometimes she's clumsy, but she gets 
the job done. She's so single-minded about her jobs 
that you can't help but admire her tenacity. She never 
gives up." 
  "And yet the one before you is scared," another 
pointed out. 
  Everyone jumped in surprise as a white-haired man 
appeared from behind a tree. Dressed in a clean black 
business suit, waving a feather fan toward himself 
the former Orochi Assassin, Higure Furui, made his 
presence known. 
  "You," Ranma said in recognition. 
  "A... and me, too," stuttered Gosunkugi, appearing 
behind the old man. 
  "Gosunkugi?" Akane gasped in surprise. 
  "Apparently, Hokuto is the one who did this," the 
old man revealed. Gesturing toward Gosunkugi he added, 
"This fellow brought the news to my attention." 
  "A... actually, I kinda ran into him," Gosunkugi 
corrected. "I thought maybe you'd want to know." 
  "I, too, was on my way to see you myself," Higure 
said. "There is much to discuss." 
  "So Hokuto did it," Ranma repeated. "Now what?" 
  "Shizuka is suffering from a minor mental fix," 
Higure explained. "All Hokuto had to do was alter her 
thought process to amplify her fears and phobias, and 
thus she reverted to this. In effect she's living out 
her fears. It's more complicated than that, however." 
  "I don't care what it is; I want to know how to fix 
it." 
  Higure turned toward Shizuka. "If Hokuto could do it 
in a matter of minutes, all we need to do is find the 
single fear dominating it all and undo it." 
  "Uh, excuse me?" piped Shion. "But how do you 'undo' 
a fear? That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard." 
  "Alright, how about 'conquer?'" suggested Akane. 
  "Whatever it is," the old man said, "it is the one 
fear Shizuka hasn't displayed yet." He shook his head. 
"Unfortunately, we need to help her NOW; we can't wait 
to sort it all out." 
  "Why now?" asked Akane. "Is something happening?" 
  "One thing at a time," Higure replied. 
  "Well, then, we start with what she HAS displayed, 
and do a process of elimination from there," Shion 
suggested. "Attraction of guys, unnaturally amplifying 
her body, much less reveal it...." 
  "The white-faced guys," Ranma chipped in. "Being 
different from the way she already is." 
  Akane shook her head. "This could take forever. It's 
probably something NOBODY will think of except Hokuto." 
  "It's probably right in our faces, too," Ranma 
thought. "Hokuto always tries to hide stuff, but its 
all usually out in plain sight." 
  "Naturally, the best place to hide something," Shion 
agreed. 
  "Umm... if I may ask?" Gosunkugi piped up. "But when 
was the last time she used that shotgun of hers?" 
  "What're you saying?" asked the martial artist. 
  "W... well," he stuttered, "I thought it was her most 
favorite thing in the world, so...." 
  "You know, that might be it!" Akane realized. She 
turned toward Shizuka. "Can I see your shotgun?" 
  At the mere suggestion the priestess shirked back. 
"I... I don't have one!" she lied, failing miserably. 
  "But it can't be just that," Shion pointed out. "As 
he said, Shizu loved her shotgun more than anything; 
there has to be a reason why she doesn't want to touch 
it anymore." 
  "And there may be a way to find out," Akane said. 
"Follow me." 

  When it was announced that he had visitors, Spencer 
Bates, former paladin of the Saint Hebereke Church 
was overjoyed, but when he saw the white-faced girl 
enter the door he wanted to get out of his bed and 
throttle her. 
  "YOU!!!" he screamed, but Ranma and Akane quickly 
clamped him back down. 
  Shizuka in turn tried to bolt and leave, but Shion 
blocked her way. 
  "Let me go!" she pleaded. "Please!" 
  "I can't," Shion told her. "You're afraid of your 
most prized possession because you shot a man." 
  "I don't want to see him!" she screamed. 
  "The feeling is mutual!" snapped Spencer. "As soon as 
I can get out of the hospital she'll get what's coming 
to her!" 
  "Look, I don't care if you're supposed to get out 
tomorrow," Ranma hissed, "'cuz I can keep you in for a 
few more weeks if I had the time!" 
  "And I can call Miranda or Sakurai to come and kick 
your ass!" Spencer shot back. "I hear Mira can really 
own you." 
  "Shut up about that!" Ranma replied. 
  "This isn't getting us anywhere," Akane realized. 
"Between you and Spencer, and Shizuka and Spencer...." 
  "Perhaps it is best for Ranma to leave," Higure 
suggested, as he helped Shion struggle to get Shizuka 
into the room. 
  "Yeah, I've got better things to do," Ranma said, 
flipping up the reversal jewel into the air, and 
catching it. He handed it to Akane. "Just in case." 
  She looked toward Spencer, then to Ranma. "You aren't 
thinking...." 
  Ranma flashed his wife a smile, and winked. Then, 
with confident strides he walked out of the room. 
  Akane sighed. "I hope it doesn't have to come to 
that." 

  "You'd think trains would move faster," Ukyo said 
impatiently as the scenery flew by in the window. 
  Next to her, Konatsu leaned over and whispered, "This 
is the fastest there is in such short notice." 
  Sitting across from the two was the priestess Mizuki, 
who, as Ukyo could gather, was Shizuka's mentor during 
her training period. "Patience. Those who wait strong 
are rewarded strongly in the end." 
  "Is that what you tell Shizuka?" asked the 
okonomiyaki chef. 
  "No, it's what I'm telling you," she replied smartly. 
"You're a person who likes action; you can't stand 
doing the waiting, knowing that things are happening 
without you." 
  "So?" 
  "It takes much more courage and strength of will to 
wait," Mizuki said. "I suggest you learn that." 
  "She's right," Konatsu agreed. "Ukyo, we can't make 
the train go any faster, much less get to Tokyo any 
faster. Complaining about it won't help any." 
  "I know," Ukyo replied, sounding defeated. She stared 
out the window. "I just can't help but think about 
what Hokuto's doing... it shouldn't be happening." 
  "What's that?" asked Mizuki, her interest perked. 
  "In the last timeline," she explained, "Nemesis was 
off building up power during the Mekani invasion. We 
did repel it for a while, sure, but Nemesis came back 
and let them out again, just to wipe us out. They were 
his personal army after that. Hokuto was one of our 
most valuable allies until she disappeared after the 
invasion; she got us from one place to another in no 
time." 
  "But this time she's seemingly working toward 
creating the Mekani invasion," Mizuki considered. "It's 
not like her." 
  "Too many things are happening differently than I 
remember," admitted Ukyo. She glanced at Mizuki with a 
certain understanding in her eyes. "Perhaps knowing IS 
a curse in of itself." 

  "You want me to FORGIVE her?" Spencer snorted in 
amusement. "That's the richest thing I've heard." 
  Akane sighed, and Shion shook his head. They kept 
Shizuka in a seat next to the bed, hand-cuffed so she 
could not escape easily. The old man Higure had left 
not long after Ranma did the same, without leaving a 
word as to where he was going. 
  "Hey, man, she needs your help," Shion countered. 
"You're no stranger to the magic stuff, right? Well, 
for some reason, the only way to counter the one over 
her is if she gets over her fear of guns." 
  "I'm the gun guy, moron," spat the former paladin. 
"She freakin' shot a hole in my stomach; I'm lucky to 
be alive, and NOT paralyzed." 
  "It's not just her fear of guns, though," Akane 
added. "She's this way because she shot you, and she 
can't forgive herself over it. Don't you think you 
ought to help her?" 
  "Heh, no." 
  "'No?!' You bastard!" Akane wanted to strike the 
patient, but Shion grabbed her arm before she could do 
so. "How can you let her go on like this?! She's a mess 
because she is feeling sorry for herself for shooting 
you. How could you?!" 
  "Because she shot me," Spencer said in a low tone. 
"She shot me, a marksman, while piss-drunk, and across 
an alley. I've spent the last month in this hospital, 
rehabilitating so I could go back to work. Only I don't 
have a job anymore, either. So you could say she helped 
ruin my life, too. Serves her right." 
  Akane struggled against Shion's grip, but to no 
avail. "You're sick." 
  "You wouldn't forgive her, either, if your pride was 
shattered," Shion realized. "Akane... let it go." 
  "Why should I?" 
  "Look, it goes both-ways," explained the mercenary. 
"She hurt him, and in a way, he hurt her back. Most 
people don't ever get past that." 
  Akane lowered her arm in defeat, staring down at her 
pocket where the reversal jewel rest, considering 
Ranma's dubious idea. 
  "Shizu," Shion said, "don't you have anything to 
say to him?" 
  The priestess remained stone-silent, dead as the 
white of her face. 
  "Crap, Shizu!" he cursed. "Say something!" 
  "...something," she muttered quietly. 
  Turning around, Shion banged his head against the 
wall. 

  Ranma looked toward the setting sun in the west as 
he walked alone from the hospital, sighing deeply for 
the trouble that was going on. 
  Two days ago, before his scheduled duel with Kanna 
Rajura Johan Ritters, the Hawaiian champion street 
fighter, challenged him for the day after, citing that 
it was plenty of time for Ranma to gear-up for another 
battle. Before he knew it the martial artist arrived at 
the appointed location, the bridge he and Akane walked 
on many times going to and from school. A drainage 
ran under the bridge, and it was not filled with too 
much water, exposing much concrete for anyone to see. 
  He spotted the dance man sitting against the rail, 
taking a quick swig of a bottle filled with a liquid 
Ranma could only guess to. 
  "Johan Ritters," Ranma called as he approached. 
  The German-descended Hawaiian cast a sodden glance 
toward the martial artist, waving him over to his side 
lazily. "Didn't think you'd come." 
  Ranma came closer, his eyes catching the label of the 
bottle. "I can't fight you like that." 
  "Doesn't matter," Johan replied. "I'm forfeiting." 
  "Forfeit?" 
  "Yep," he said, taking another swig. "I can't do it, 
not now, not after I lost such a good job." 
  "That job of yours sucked." 
  "Well, maybe." He took another swig. "That, and that 
girl... the living death girl." He shook his head. "I 
was trying to make passes at her the past couple days, 
but this time, she responded. Oh, she responded." He 
nodded to himself, and took another swig. "Damn scary, 
you know." 
  "She's just as shaken about it as you are," Ranma 
said. "Well, if you don't wanna fight... well, I don't, 
either." 
  Johan shook his head. "After all this, I forgot why 
I wanted to fight you." 
  Ranma kept his mouth shut. Although he himself had 
no idea he didn't want to jog Johan's memory any time 
soon. 
  He reached out his hand. "I think I might need some, 
too." 
  Happy to oblige, Johan handed the bottle to Ranma. 
The martial artist held the rim of the open bottle up 
to his nose, took a careful sniff, then downed some 
himself. Wiping his mouth, he handed the bottle back 
to the street fighter. 
  "It's not alcohol," he decided to his satisfaction. 
  "'Mineralwasser' in German, or just plain water to 
you," Johan said, chuckling softly. "It beats getting 
smash-drunk, you know, but it helps to simulate it a 
bit." 
  Ranma nodded. 
  "You know, though, I can't help but think something 
big is going to happen," Johan confided. "Like there's 
some 'big life-threatening thing,'" he said, waving his 
hands around grandly and spilling some of the water. 
"I just feel these kind of things." 
  "Something may happen yet," Ranma muttered. 

  His name was, and still is, Shang Long, but to the 
members of the eccentric Orochi Cult, he was known as 
the Reaver of Souls, or simply Reaver. He appeared 
dressed as a traditional Chinese Buddhist monk, 
straight out of history, and it was not far from the 
truth. Before his indoctrination into the Cult, he was 
one. 
  He stood in front of the Orochi altar, alone in his 
communion with Orochi, the eight-headed serpent of 
legend. Most kami had left this plane, but many opted 
to remain, and Orochi was one of those. Being 
particularly powerful few could force him to leave the 
Earth he loved, until a rival kami arrived and 
forcefully threw Orochi's essence into the Kami Plane. 
However, his body was left behind on Earth, creating a 
strange pseudo-connection with both worlds, leaving him 
much more powerful than the average kami on the Kami 
Plane. 
  Shang Long held up the Magma Dragon Staff, his prized 
weapon given to him upon his indoctrination as an 
assassin. Fashioned similarly to traditional staves its 
orange-red head was shaped in the spiked circular 
symbol of Orochi, save rings were hanging off to each 
side, jingling with every movement. Shang Long was 
blind since birth, forcing him to rely on other senses 
to get by, but the Orochi Magma Dragon Staff granted 
him a limited sort of 'sight,' if it could be described 
as such, making him just as formidable as an opponent 
with perfect vision. 
  Attuned strongly to the composite magma element, it 
was also a powerful weapon in its own right. 
  "Something comes," he realized. Quickly, he shut his 
thoughts out as Orochi began to speak to him again. 
  "You should be warned," a voice echoed, emanating 
from the Orochi statue in front of the Orochi Cult's 
leader. "There is a mechanical plague now roaming the 
Earth." 
  "I have studied it." 
  "Our agents are in no danger, but it is that which 
you hold they are after," continued the speaker. "They 
arrive even now." 
  Just as Orochi predicted, Shang Long heard the 
ground burst behind him. Without turning the monk knew 
it was as the Orochi spoke of. 
  Turning around, Shang Long aimed the Magma Dragon 
Staff and fired an elemental bolt at the intruder. 
  He barely made out the outline with the staff sight 
when the magma energy consumed the metal monstrosity 
the moment it touched it. The melted metal quickly 
sealed the hole where the creature emerged, but Shang 
Long knew they would make more, and ruin the altar 
chamber's floor. 
  Turning back toward the statue, he said, "I'll 
return to my duties when the crisis is dealt with. I 
apologize for the floor, and the acolytes will clean it 
up appropriately." 
  He turned and exited, quickly dispatching his 
message to the younger priests, then made off with all 
haste to put distance between himself and the Orochi 
Cult under his charge. 

  When Tatewaki Kuno wanted to be alone, he came to one 
place where nobody knew he frequented. 
  In the old days samurai would train by the beachside, 
listening to the waves lap on the sand, and practice 
their sword. But that was in a bygone age, one which 
Tatewaki dreamed he was a part of, once. No, it was no 
fun to kill, especially not after taking the life of a 
real life samurai from said bygone age. 
  He swung the Earth Dragon Sword, the last gift of 
the swordsman Nagi Tachibana, the same way he had done 
the night he killed him. Perhaps it was Fate's boon 
that it was the artifact attuned to the earth element 
that could regulate the dangerous phoenix flames born 
from the kendoist's body. 
  It was said that users of the invincible Chinese 
Phoenix Sword set of techniques did not survive at most 
three usages of the technique, for it consumed the soul 
of the wielder. Tatewaki himself had gone far beyond 
that, and had in many instances come close to 
spontaneously-combusting. All of it was changed because 
of the Earth Dragon Sword, but there was a catch; 
Tatewaki required it to shut-off the phoenix flames. 
  "Eliminate inner turmoil," he recited to himself. 
"Order will not come to the educational institution 
at this time, so you may be ready in the future!" He 
took a swing, slicing air with the sword. 
  But his inner turmoil alerted him of a disturbance 
in the sand. He stopped in his practice, feeling the 
vibration of movement in the sand. Feeling a tug of 
danger-sense Tatewaki jumped out of the way as a large, 
steel spike emerged from the ground where he had been 
standing. 
  "What manner of...!" he hissed. 
  Surprise caught him as the spike, easily as tall as 
he was, was followed by the monstrosity attached to it. 
Emerging from the ground was a spherical-shaped metal 
creature, its spike being one of two spike appendages 
hanging under its single ruby eye and mandibles. It 
stood on four stalk-like legs, like some sort of 
arachnid, but its overall appearance was a lot more 
similar to that of a crab. 
  The spheroid monster turned in its entirety, its eye 
focusing on Tatewaki. 
  "What manner of creature is this!?" he cried, 
finding his voice again. 
  He raised his sword to deflect a lancing spike, but 
the force behind it was far more powerful than he 
anticipated. Falling to the sand, Tatewaki willed the 
phoenix flames alight, bathing the Earth Dragon Sword 
in ki fire. 
  Shouting a war cry Tatewaki rushed the monster, 
swinging his sword with blinding speed, and burying it 
to the hit through the monster's eye. Behind him the 
two spike lances collapsed in two pieces, while the 
spheroid split cleanly in half down the middle and 
through the ruby eye. 
  Watching the creature fall apart in satisfaction 
Tatewaki extinguished the phoenix flames. "A single 
opponent is not enough to defeat Tatewaki Kuno, yet I 
feel as if you will not be the last." 
  Sheathing his sword, Tatewaki headed back toward 
town. 
  Unseen by the kendoist, a second mechanical beast 
emerged from the sands, collecting the cut pieces of 
its fallen comrade. 

  Disappointment ran through Cinder's mind as he sealed 
the hole the Mekani tore into the dimensional fabric. 
The tear appeared as a rift in the air itself, opening 
itself to the blackness of the void between planes, 
as there was nothing to see. 
  Sypha was infuriated to learn that the rift existed 
at all, which meant that the Mekani did have the means 
to enter Earth and seize whatever artifacts they needed 
from anywhere in the world. She was doubly infuriated 
that none of the Timeless Ones were in the tunnels, 
having scattered to who-knows-where in the time since 
they tore open the rift. 
  Running his claw along the length of the rift Cinder 
summoned the inner energies, sealing the tear using the 
power granted to him by Suzaku. In a matter of seconds 
the air patched itself back up, and the void vanished 
from sight. 
  "It's done," he declared, "but it won't be the last. 
Our homeland... we must return there as soon as 
possible." 
  "That may have to wait," Sypha called from down the 
tunnel. Her footsteps indicated she was coming back to 
the cavern. "I've found something more interesting." 
  Cinder turned to face the sorcerer, who indicated for 
him to come along. Quickly she lead him into another 
tunnel and into a small alcove. Switching modes on his 
mechanical eye he scanned the room of a tunnel, pausing 
every once in a while to observe. 
  "Rock is chipped here and there," he said. "Signs of 
a struggle, very recent." 
  "And look there," Sypha said, pointing a finger into 
one corner. 
  The salamander complied, focusing his scanning eye 
to where Sypha's talon indicated. His real eye widened 
in surprise at what he saw. Discarded carelessly in the 
corner of the alcove was several bits of clothing of 
recent make, torn quickly with a clean slice that 
indicated no traces of blood. Among the articles was a 
set of slip-on shoes, blue ribbons, and a Chinese 
outfit and traveling cloak. 
  "I see." He nodded. 
  "These couldn't have been here for less than a day," 
Sypha said. "So if the Mekani have Hokuto, then who's 
the one going around attacking everybody?" 



			*  *  *  *  * 

Shion (VO): 

  "Wow, these Mekani are fascinating! Just look at how 
efficient these ancient technologies are-- they're so 
much beyond our own! What? What do you expect me to do 
against a mechanical plague that even the ancient kami 
could not wipe out? Especially since they're trolling 
after all the elemental weapons...." 
  "Next time: Dawn of Seiryu. Utterly fascinating!" 



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

  Stay tuned for more. 


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

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