Second revision. Thanks to Gary Kleppe and Vincent Seifert
for helping to improve this chapter.

C&C is most welcome.

Disclaimer: Ranma 1/2 is the property of Rumiko Takahashi
and her publishers. I am merely using the characters for
the purpose of profit-free entertainment and make no claim
on them.

The following people have been kind enough to create a page
to host my fanfics, so please take a look:

Vincent Seifert:
http://www.csus.edu/indiv/s/seifertv/kagami/
Yoshiro_san: http://members.xoom.com/Yoshiro_san/mother/
David Pascal: http://www.davidpascal.com/smj/

You can contact me at: kagami@jeack.com.au

---

The scene was surreal to Ukyo. The ground below the
warehouse where the group of martial artists stood seemed
awash with a veritable sea of hideous ogre-demons. Four-
armed and swine-headed oni jostled against tentacled
monstrosities that appeared to have stepped out of the
latest hentai anime. Diverse as their appearance was, they
all shared one common characteristic: they eagerly bayed
their lust for the blood of the defending humans. Ukyo
shivered in disgust and not a little fear. She gripped her
battle-spatula tighter.

"There must be over fifty of them!" exclaimed Akane,
giving voice to her apprehension. "What the heck can we do
against that many?"

Shampoo spat her contempt. "Bah. Pervert Girl run away if
she want. Airen fight, so Shampoo fight with him." She
narrowed her eyes in consideration and quickly calculated
the odds. "Is fifty-three. Leave main demoness to Ranma.
Shampoo take fifteen." She glanced at the other martial
artists in the group of six. "That leave fifteen for Lost
Boy, ten for Crazy Rose Girl, ten for Spatula Girl and
three for Pervert Girl. That seem fair."

"Hey!" Akane angrily protested. "I'm better than that!"

"Don't worry about it, sugar," Ukyo said. "I'll share."

"Fifteen sounds fine to me." Ryoga shrugged, confident in
his own skills. He still felt the anger at being helpless
while stuck in his cursed form when the bull-ogre had
hunted him the previous night. He cracked his knuckles
loudly, intent on getting some revenge.

"I, too, shall perform my part though I hardly think the
outcome will be as neat as that," Kodachi put in. Her gaze
swept the scene yet again, starting from the enormous form
of Umibouzu, who was watching the incipient battle with an
eager eye, then canvassing across the demon horde in front
of them before finally coming to rest on the waiting
figure of Shukumaru. She had clearly heard the demoness
claim to be Ranma-sama's sister, which raised a plethora
of questions in her mind. Still, it was hardly the time to
demand any answers... yet. "Ranma-sama, what is your
decision?"

The thought of running away briefly crossed Ranma's mind,
but one look at Shukumaru put paid to that notion. His
demonic half-sister seemed more than ready to unleash the
demons on all of Tokyo to hunt him down. No, retreat was
out of the question. Allowing those evil beings free reign
to massacre innocent people or to have a chance to hurt
someone like Kasumi was.... His mind shied from the very
idea. There was truly only one option available to them.

"We attack," he said firmly.

---

An Awakening of Demons
A Ranma 1/2 Fanfic
By Kagami

Chapter 3: Assumption of Power

---

Sweat beaded Ranma's forehead as he concentrated all of
his internal ki between his hands. The yammering beings
below were of no concern to him, his powerful attack
would demolish them all. His grin broadened with
heightened confidence as he felt the leap in his level
of power.

"Ready?" he asked Ryoga, pointed his cupped hands at the
demon-covered ground beneath him. Ryoga nodded in reply,
face contorted in a horrific mixture of rage and savage
despair, and matched his aim to Ranma's. "Go for it!"
Ranma shouted.

"MOKO TAKABISHA!!"

"SHISHI HOKODAN!!"

The concentrated force of Ranma's confidence blast slammed
into the massed horde below them, its violent fury matched
by the destructive lance of Ryoga's depression attack. The
combined assault blew demons off their feet, scattering
them like chaff, and cleared a landing space for the six of
them.

Shampoo alighted first, bonbori swinging in a deadly arc
to crush the head of a dazed boar-ogre. Kodachi dropped
from the warehouse roof next, pointing her Spear of Fuma
straight down. The tentacled demon directly below only had
time to widen its sole bulbous eye in fear before the demon-
slaying weapon plunged into its soul, pinning the massive
body into the ground. The 106th Devil Hunter of the Kuno
Clan proceeded to rip the spear from the putrefying corpse
and turned to face her next opponent.

Akane and Ukyo landed to Shampoo's left. Akane kicked out
at the nearest boar-demon, catching him in the crotch,
while Ukyo slammed her battle-spatula over the demon's
head. He dropped nicely. "This should be a real piece of
cake, sugar," she commented, somewhat surprised at the ease
of defeating the oni. She lowered her spatula defensively
to meet the next demon.

"Do not be fooled." Kodachi whirled her Soul-lash about,
clearing a space around herself. "We face the weakest ones
in their front rank - demons of less than ten years old.
Merely their idea of cannon fodder." She lashed out at a
threatening horse-headed demon, who backed away nervously.
"Now, Ranma-sama, Ryoga-sama!"

Ryoga dropped into the space cleared by the four girls. He
immediately crouched and cupped his hands to form a
stirrup. "Come on!" he shouted to Ranma, who immediately
leapt down.

"Take care of her," Ranma whispered, clasping Ryoga on the
shoulder, before setting his foot in Ryoga's hands.

"I will," Ryoga whispered back. Then using all of his
considerable strength, he hurled the pig-tailed martial
artist over the heads of the massed demons.

Ranma touched down beyond the semicircle of demons and
launched himself again, springing up to the warehouse roof
to confront Shukumaru. The waiting demoness seemed calm and
serene, yet the fiery glow in her eyes betrayed her
anticipation of the coming clash. Ranma gagged, overwhelmed
by the stench of evil that suddenly assaulted his nose. He
controlled the response, taking short, shallow breaths.
"So, are we gonna talk or fight?" Ranma asked, impatient
to get started.

"Neither, fool!" she sneered in reply. "Instead, I shall
swiftly destroy you, dear brother. Your very existence
offends Shukumaru."

"What?! What the hell did I ever do to you?" Ranma asked
in a perplexed tone, then he shrugged away the thought as
irrelevant. "I don't normally like fighting girls. Guess
I'll have to make an exception in your case."

"I am no girl, dear brother!" A flicker of anger crossed
her exotic face. "Prepare yourself for death!" She curled
her right hand into a claw and lashed out.

Ranma dodged the incoming blows with ease, moving like the
wind. His hands flashed to block the two unavoidable
strikes, but rather than replying in kind, he took a step
back and settled into a defensive posture. "Is that all you
have?" he questioned cockily.

"You're better than I thought, dear brother." Shukumaru
smirked at him. "As a matter of fact, I was merely testing
your level of ability... and you are far too slow!" She
darted in to attack once more. This time, in between on
step and the next, she vanished in an awesome display of
speed.

Ranma dodged the first blow virtually on instinct since he
could barely detect it. A flicker of movement out of the
corner of his eye - that was all. So fast! Much faster than
before! Ranma thought as he gyrated wildly to avoid the
blazing strikes that rained down upon him.

Then he missed one. Shukumaru's claws raked a bloody swath
across his shoulder and hot agony seared his nerves.
Fear shot through him as the pain brought back flashes of
hideous and unwelcome memories: memories of glowing eyes
and tearing claws in the bitter darkness that threatened to
overwhelm him. He shook the fear away and tried to focus on
defending himself. His right arm numbed, Ranma mistimed the
next block and felt another painful gash being ripped
through his flesh, then another, and another... Got to try
something, he realized desperately.

"Kachuu Tenshin Amaguriken!!" he shouted, ignoring the
savage flare of torment in his right shoulder as his arms
blurred into the Chestnut fist. He leaned forward, striking
hard at the indistinct figure before him, grimly determined
to knock Shukumaru out.

"I know this one, dear brother, and its weakness!"

Weakness? wondered Ranma. His eyes widened in sudden
understanding as he felt a blow slam into his legs. The
world tilted crazily as his feet slid out from under him.
Completely focused upon his arms during his special attack,
he couldn't prevent himself from falling flat on his back.
His breath exploded from his lungs at the brutal impact.

"I have you now!" Shukumaru shouted in triumph as she
lunged, claws poised to rend the prone figure of her half-
human brother. "Dokkasou!"

---

"I hope they're all right," Nodoka said quietly. She
breathed in the delicate aroma of the steaming tea, took a
sip, and then set the cup down.

"The boy will be fine, Nodoka," Genma said jocularly.
"After all, I've been training him for his entire life.
Just you watch, they'll be home before you know it." He
gulped down his own cup of the fragrant liquid, then
refilled both his and Nodoka's teacups.

A loud crashing noise came from outside, and his hand
jerked involuntarily, spilling tea over the table. "What
was that?"

"Perhaps a cat," Nodoka said in response. She brought her
family katana close and stood up. "We should take a look,
dear."

"No, Nodoka. I'll have a look. You stay here." He struck a
heroic pose. "After all, I'm supposed to be protecting
you."

"Very well, dear," she replied, eyes widening at her
husband's sudden display of manliness. "Be careful."

Genma smiled confidently as he left the sitting room. It
probably was just a cat. After all, Ranma was taking care
of the problem.

---

Nabiki sat and fidgeted, watching as Kasumi finished
washing up. The lack of news was getting to her. What was
keeping them, anyway? It seemed so simple from the outside:
go there, check out the news story and come back. How hard
could that be? Despite all of Aunty Saotome's stories,
Nabiki lacked the one thing that might have made her
realize the inherent difficulties involved: belief.

On an intrinsic level, it was virtually impossible for her
to accept that demons actually existed in modern-day Tokyo,
and that Ranma had been fathered by a cat-demon and birthed
by a human woman. Surely that kind of stuff only happened
in anime? Irrationally, she knew it was more than possible,
what with all the insane things that kept happening to
Ranma, but her rational side insisted on throwing as much
doubt over the issue as it could. She sighed. She suspected
that only one thing would ever convince her of the truth,
and she wanted to stay away from that as much as possible.

Kasumi set the last dinner plate onto the drying rack and
perked up as she heard Nabiki sigh. "Would you like some
more tea?" she asked her sister.

"No, thanks, Sis," Nabiki replied. "Just passing the time."

Soun wandered into the kitchen, eyes still red and with
crusted tracks of dried tears lining his face. He took the
silently offered teacup from Kasumi and drained its hot
contents with one swallow. "Any news?" he asked hopefully.

"Not yet, Father," Kasumi said, knowing her father's major
concern was the welfare of Akane. She hid a sigh as new
tears bubbled to the surface of Soun's face and threatened
to burst out. "Now, now, Father. I'm sure they're all fine.
After all, Ranma-kun is with them."

Nabiki watched as her father seized upon the tiny morsel
of reassurance as a starving dog would seize a day-old
piece of rotten meat, and silently shook her head. "I think
I'll go to my room and watch some videos. Call me if
something happens, Sis."

---

Akane danced back from the attacks of three converging
monstrosities. The slimy blob in the lead flung a number of
ropy tentacles at her. She dodged the first three, then the
rest wrapped themselves around her struggling form.
"Gyaah!" she cried out in disgust, trying to free herself
from the writhing mass of elongated prehensile members. The
sticky fluid exuded from their tips didn't help her peace
of mind at all.

Ukyo's battle-spatula flashed down in a overhand arc,
slicing through the tentacles stretching from Akane to the
slime demon. The okonomiyaki chef raised her weapon again,
but the blob swiftly rolled back, ululating its pain. Akane
shrugged off the severed appendages with desperate relief.
"Ick," she complained, fairly grossed out. "I don't think
I'll ever be able to look at those hentai anime in the same
way again." She wiped frantically at the secretions which
had spattered on her clothes and skin.

"I didn't know you watched that kind of stuff, sugar."
Ukyo raised an eyebrow in surprise. "Don't tell me you like
that..." she trailed off uncertainly, spinning her spatula
into a blurring shield of bright metal to ward off an
advancing demon.

"Hah! Shampoo right. Akane is Pervert Girl in truth!" the
Amazon called out as she brained another demon.

Akane flushed in anger and embarrassment. "No way! It
isn't like that at all! I borrowed a couple of tapes from
Nabiki's anime collection just to have a look. I didn't
know what was on them."

She stumbled to a halt before lurching back hastily to
avoid an onrush of more wriggling tentacles. Akane grimaced
in distaste as she stepped hard on one of them. "Uh, you
don't have mention that to her. Besides," she shot back at
Shampoo, "how do you know what we're talking about anyway?!"

Shampoo smirked. "Great-grandmother give learning tapes
for demon combat. Maybe test them on Ranma, see if he
like." Her smile widened as she took in Akane's purpling
face. "So, Mercenary Girl keep this type of tapes," she
mused, casually dodging a charging bull-ogre. "Is good to
know."

She clubbed the bull-ogre in the back of the knee, sending
the demon crashing to ground, roaring in pain. A quick
strike from her right bonbori finished him off. "Is three,"
Shampoo declared with satisfaction.

"Girls," Kodachi put in from across their defensive semi-
circle, "perhaps we should concentrate upon the battle
here." She eyed Ryoga, who was completely red in the face
by this time. "Ryoga-sama, did the frank discussion disturb
you?"

"Wahahaha!" Ryoga laughed in reply, savagely beating on a
cringing boar-demon. He surreptitiously wiped a trickle of
blood from one nostril. "Not at all."

"Hmm, speaking of which," Kodachi said as she ducked a
blow from the four-armed monstrosity facing her, "Akane
Tendo, I wish to purchase your pet pig from you."

"You want to what?!" shouted a startled Akane. She dodged
frantically as a pair of oni attempted to double-team her.
"He's not for sale!" she snapped.

"Bah, such reluctance. So you do know--"

The rest of her sentence was lost as Ryoga moved with
lightning speed. He barreled through the two demons facing
Akane, sending them flying, blurred across the distance to
Kodachi, and clamped his hands over her mouth. "No, she
doesn't," he hissed fearfully.

"Mfglhgh!" Kodachi pointed behind him as the demon struck
out at Ryoga. Her eyes widened in appreciation as he
grabbed hold of the incoming fist and, muscles rippling
impressively, jerked the demon forward and hurled it over
his head. It slammed into three other advancing oni,
scattering them like tenpins. "Ryoga-sama, you saved me!"
she crowed with delight, ignoring the fact that he had
endangered her in the first place. "How can I reward you?"

Akane snarled in fury. What the heck had all that been
about? She shook her head. Kodachi was distracting her from
the battle, and from Ranma. Ranma, she thought, glancing
up... to see him fall from Shukumaru's leg sweep.

"Ranma!" she shrieked in horror as she saw the demoness
lunge at him, smoking claw pointed at his prone body. She
backhanded a brutish bull-ogre in the face without even
looking.

"Ranchan!" Ukyo cried out as Akane's voice drove her to
seek out Ranma's fallen form. Matching calls of "Airen!"
and "Ranma-sama!" came from Shampoo and Kodachi, forming a
chorus of fear.

"Ranma, don't you dare die on me!" Ryoga shouted. "I
haven't beaten you yet!"

---

The dining room of the manse was garishly decorated with
many rare and expensive objects of art that seemed to have
been situated without much thought or design. Rich western
tapestries clashed with ancient Japanese wall scrolls,
while a pair of waist-high silver elephants seemed out of
place amidst the large collection of Ming vases.

A long table occupied with crystalware and golden
candlesticks filled much of the remaining space. A lone
diner sat at the far end, busily consuming his evening
repast. Stockily built to the point of running to fat, he
would often glance out the nearest window at the rain that
constantly lashed at the fragile glass and the overbearing
storm that filled the expanse beyond. A soft chime
distracted him from the gloomy view without and his
attention focused upon a black-clad servitor who entered
the room.

"Masakado-sama, the Awakening is at hand," the kuroki said,
bowing deeply. "Both parties are on the scene."

"Ahh, excellent," Masakado replied, dabbing his lips with
a napkin. He picked up his knife and fork again and sliced
into the tender steak before him, ignoring the blood that
gushed out from the savage wound. He lifted the raw cutlet
to his mouth and chewed with relish. Blissfully, Masakado
savoured the lingering, rich aftertaste before washing down
the morsel with a sip of fine vintage. He held out the
glass in silent demand. "Has our player joined the game?"

"Not yet, Masakado-sama." The kuroki leaned forward to
pour more red wine into the empty wineglass. "He will be
there shortly."

"Good," he said, taking another sip and staring out the
window. "Okinawa does grow so boring. The view would be
much better from Tokyo."

Over a thousand miles to the north-east and overlooking
a brewing battle on a Tokyo harbour pier, Masakado's
player nodded his head as though agreeing with his distant
master's words. The savage fighting consumed his soul with
rising bloodlust and his eyes glittered as he licked the
huge curved blade that formed the end of his tail in
anticipation.

Soon, he admonished his eagerness as he focused on two
desperately battling figures atop one of the warehouses.
One fell and he crouched in readiness, muscled silver
flanks tensed and trembling. His coiled tail arched
above him, eager to taste the blood of his ignorant
victims.

---

Time halted as the world froze in motion. The incoming
blow, shedding smoking vitriol, seemed to slow down
infinitely, foretelling his impending death. Dimly, Ranma
heard the yells of concern from his friends and fiancees.
Fiancees... Akane. The thought galvanized him. Deep within,
he felt the sensation of being raked by Shukumaru's claws
over and over again. The terrible fear that hid within the
innermost part of his soul arose and attempted to rule him.

Images churned up from the pit of memory. Ranma felt the
soft rustle of caressing fur that heralded the sharp teeth
and sharper claws. He saw again the inhuman eyes, glowing
in the dark, yellow with hunger and... fear. Wait, what
was that? He had never noticed that before. Why hadn't he?
The fear was obvious to him now, glittering brightly,
shining forth from the legion of burning eyes. They hadn't
attacked him because of hunger, he realized, but because
they were afraid - afraid of a greater predator... afraid
of him.

The smoking claw crashed into the warehouse roof,
instantly corroding the metal surface. A hissing cloud of
acrid vapour rose from the peeling surface. Shukumaru
flicked a startled glance from the empty spot to where
Ranma was standing nearly five feet away, his eyes gleaming
with a yellow shine. "No," she whispered.

Ranma stared back dispassionately. The world was uniformly
gray, harsh and hideous. He could feel the need to rend,
to tear, and to destroy welling up from the inky darkness
that his soul had become. Ranma bared his teeth in cold joy
as Shukumaru leapt away defensively. His mind flickered
randomly and a thought struck him.

Was this how Shukumaru saw the world?

As a mere plaything to be used and destroyed in pure
selfishness?

All of creation stood before his power. He only had to
reach out and seize it, to claim it for his own. Shukumaru
would be first. He would seize her, use her, discard her,
then kill her. Then he would take all of his fiancees as
concubines, making Akane his first... His train of thought
stopped suddenly. Akane. The yellow hunger faded from his
eyes, and he shuddered.

"Enjoy your first taste of power, dear brother?" Shukumaru
asked him sardonically. Yet her voice wasn't as steady as
it had been, Ranma noted. Was she afraid? Of him?

"No," he replied shortly, unable to confront his own
darkness. He had looked into the depths of his soul, and a
monster had looked back. If that was his power, inherited
from Yami-no-Tsume, then Ranma didn't want any part of it.
He brought his fists up and settled into an aggressive
stance. "Let's finish this."

"Bah. Only a fool would reject his own power. Lie down and
die, brother. I shall rip out your heart and consume your
power, since you choose not to possess it yourself,"
Shukumaru suggested.

"Not a chance!" Ranma shot back. "I won't need it to beat
you!" He darted forward.

This time, they fought as equals. Even though Ranma had
rejected the deadly hunger that sought to possess his soul
and had enabled him to move faster than the wind to avoid
Shukumaru's poison claw, he found himself able to match her
speed. His arms, legs, hands, feet and his body flashed
instinctively to counter Shukumaru's maneuvers in a
graceful dance. A killing dance.

Ryoga and the four girls shot intermittent glances at the
duel whenever they could. To them, it was like watching a
film set on freeze-frame. They could see the instances when
Ranma and Shukumaru stopped momentarily to initiate a new
attack or change direction, and nothing else in between. It
was beautiful and it was utterly terrifying.

Ranma searched for a way to pass Shukumaru's defences.
Thus far, they had matched each other move for move, parry
for parry, and blow for blow. He strove to attain the
plateau of perfect action without unleashing his inner
beast. Later, he would never be able to say what exactly
warned him of the incoming threat - a flash of light or
simply an instinct. He reacted.

It was action without thought, pure and clear. Ranma's hand
whipped past all of Shukumaru's defences, slamming into her
like a shockwave and sending her flying back, but it wasn't
a killing blow. Only after he struck did he realize that he
hadn't meant it to kill. Then he was moving as well,
flinging himself back.

An instant later, a huge, silvery-metallic sickle slammed
into the spot where both of them had been standing
moments before, throwing up gouts of broken debris and
clouds of metallic dust.

Ranma jumped away, eyes swiftly tracking the sickle's
connecting line to its point of origin: a silver-furred
demon crouched on all fours, with the features of a
monstrous weasel. The large, curved weapon seemed to form
the end of the strange beast's tail. That connection
enabled the beast to jerk the sickle from the newly created
hole and flick it about menacingly. The demon's jaws gaped
wide and his tongue lolled out in a bizarre vulpine grin.

"Oh, pooh," the demon said, sitting on his haunches. "You
saved her and made my tail miss." He gave a deranged
giggle. "What a shame. My tail was craving a fine vintage
of blood tonight: the blood of Yami-no-Tsume's offspring."
He licked his fangs and used one paw to stroke the long
appendage in question. "Isn't it such a fine tail? You
know, I had to kill both my brothers to make it grow so
much," he said conversationally.

"Heizen-To-no-Kamaitachi," Shukumaru hissed in disgust as
she recovered herself, recognizing the demon facing Ranma.
"You serve the Demon Lord of the South. Why have you chosen
to attack me?"

"Isn't it clear?" Heizen-To reared up in amusement. "My
Lord wants you both dead, so he asked me to kill you. Then
he'll take over the east and become the lord of two
quarters."

"How dare he?! I will permit no such thing!" Shukumaru
snarled.

"What you want doesn't matter at all, Shukumaru. My Lord
will do as he wishes. You're hardly in a position to stop
him." Heizen-To giggled again. "But I seem to have failed
tonight, so I'll be off to report my failure."

"Tell that fat slug, Masakado, that I shall see to him
personally after I have dealt with my little brother."
Shukumaru replied, throwing a venomous glance at Ranma.

The sickle-weasel shrugged negligently. "Then we shall
meet again." He faded from view, his grinning jaws the last
to vanish.

Shukumaru turned to face Ranma. She quivered in fury. "And
you! You saved my life?!" Her voice was choked with hatred
and disbelief.

"Wasn't my idea," Ranma drawled. "If I'd thought about it
first--"

Umibouzu's booming laughter erupted, startling all the
combatants. "Ho, Shukumaru, what will you do? Your
accursed little brother has saved your precious life. Will
you try to kill him, regardless?"

"I am not like that filth, Heizen-To," Shukumaru snapped.
"Withdraw!" she commanded her army of demons.

The demons did so, pulling back to reveal a bewildered
group of martial artists. Akane, Ukyo, Shampoo, Kodachi and
Ryoga leapt up to stand by Ranma's side. Ranma stared at
Shukumaru, not trusting her change of heart.

"Very well, dear brother," Shukumaru continued. "I shall
repay your act by letting you live tonight. We will meet
again at the Shrine of Thunder on Mount Fuji in two days
time. And, just to be certain that you will come, brother,
I've taken a little something that belongs to you.
Jakuten!"

The small, wrinkled servitor-demon appeared, along with two
kitsune-tsuki. The fox-demons held a struggling Nodoka
between them.

"Mom!" Ranma cried out, shock coursing through his system.
He turned back to Shukumaru and snarled, "How dare you?!"

"How dare I?" Shukumaru replied mockingly. "Because of
her, our dear father discarded my mother for a mere human
woman! I planned to have her slowly tortured to death after
taking your power, brother, so if you wish to save her, I
suggest you show up for our duel. Eighteen years is enough
time to think up a truly astonishing amount of creative
torments."

Ranma began to glow. The bright energies of his fury
coruscated, flaring bright and visible to the untrained
eye. He took a step forward, muscles tensed to leap.

"Stop!" Shukumaru commanded, holding a poison claw to
Nodoka's face. "Come further and she will die right now,
I promise you!"

Ranma growled, frustration coiling every muscle taut. It
took every bit of concentration he had to take a step
back.

Nodoka barely flinched despite the vitriol dripping bare
inches from her cheek. "Ranma!" she called out. "Don't come
after me! It's a trap!"

"Of course it is, but he will come anyway. Won't you, dear
brother?" Shukumaru sneered.

"You bitch!" Akane fumed. "Let Aunty go right now!"

"Why don't you come along as well, little girl? I'm sure I
can find sufficient amusements for my brother's woman."
Shukumaru smiled infuriatingly. "Attend our duel, brother,
or your mother shall suffer in your place." She turned to
point a finger at Umibouzu. "I concede tonight's contest,
Umibouzu, yet neither one of us has truly won. Think twice
before you choose to offer your services to my brother."

When the giant serpent disdained to reply, Shukumaru
vanished, along with her army of demons, Jakuten, the two
kitsune-tsuki, and... Ranma's mother.

"Why, that witch!" Ukyo exclaimed. "How could she?!"

"That's quite correct," Kodachi agreed empathically. She
turned to Ranma. "How could she call Akane Tendo your woman
when it is completely obvious that I have that role!" She
paused dramatically, before adding, "Not to disparage your
mother's loss, of course, Ranma-sama."

"Crazy Rose Girl not know what she talk about!" Shampoo
threw in. "Is obvious Shampoo is Ranma's airen!"

"Ranma, what about Uncle Saotome?" Akane asked,
remembering that Ranma had wanted her to go with his
parents to their home. Genma had been supposed to protect
them both, and if Aunty Saotome had been captured, then--

"Pops!" Ranma said in sudden realization. "We've got to get
home now!"

"Ranma Saotome, hear my words!" Umibouzu commanded.

They spun round to look at the giant serpent. "What now?"
Ranma questioned. "I don't have time to fight you."

"You have entertained me sufficiently tonight, heir to
Yami-no-Tsume. It gave me great satisfaction to watch you
twist Shukumaru's tail by saving her life. A foolish act,
but most entertaining." The Great Devourer snorted his
amusement. "Not to mention that she chose to threaten me,
the Great Umibouzu!" he muttered. "That arrogant little
bitch!"

He overcame his indignation to stare at the assembled
group of humans again. "Call upon me, Ranma Saotome, when
you have need, and I shall grant you my power." His vast
head swiftly sank beneath the waters.

"Wait--" Ranma called out hurriedly. Yet Umibouzu's head
continued to submerged without pause, sending a huge
upwelling of bubbles rushing to the surface. They burst
and vanished as well, leaving no trace of the Devourer
of Ships.

"How the heck am I supposed to 'call on him'?" Ranma asked
in disgust. He spun around, shaking away the thought.
"Come on, guys. Let's get the hell out of here."

---

Author's Notes:

1) 'kuroki' - these are black-clad attendants or servitors
common to rich Japanese households in the past.

2) 'Dokkasou' - translates as 'Toxic Flower Claw': one of
Sesshoumaru's attacks (from Inu-Yasha).

3) 'Heizen-To-no-Kamaitachi' - 'heizen to' can mean
'without compunction' or 'remorseless'; 'no' here means
'the'; and 'kamaitachi' literally translates as 'sickle-
weasel': a type of Japanese demon (see the forthcoming
Critter Files for further information).

4) 'kitsune-tsuki' - literally 'moon fox': fox-demons from
Japanese mythology.




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