"Shampoo," Cologne turned to her daughter as the younger amazon returned from a delivery. "Have you seen Mousse or the Kuno girl?" "No great-grandma," Shampoo answered. "Why you ask?" "Nabiki wished to pass a message on to Kodachi," Cologne said, watching her granddaughter's reaction. "What message?" Shampoo asked tightly after a pause, and checking the clock. "Apparently, Kodachi's brother has returned," Cologne said matter-of-factly. Shampoo breathed a sigh of relief and her mood brightened again. "The usurer seemed more like her normal self when she called." "Nabiki was very happy this morning," Shampoo confirmed cheerfully, and with obvious relief. Then she hastily added, "Shampoo see her at breakfast!" Cologne narrowed her eyes as she made another order of ramen, which Shampoo promptly delivered to the proper table. ~I'll wait to confirm my suspicion before acting,~ Cologne thought to herself. ~Nabiki would be a valuable asset…if I could be certain she wouldn't interfere with the mission to win the son-in-law from her sister.~ "Shampoo take next delivery now," her grand-daughter declared before snatching said delivery and heading for her bike. ~A test might soon be in order.~ ------------------------------------------------------------------------ "What is that thing?" Mousse demanded as the buildings began to thin around them. "You're the master of dark magic, don't you know an oni when you see one?" Kodachi asked. "It’s a Japanese demon, Koda," Mousse noted. "Why didn't you recognize it before?" "They don't look like giggling beach balls in the plays," then Kodachi blinked. "Did you just call me 'Koda.'" "Uhh..sorry," Mousse made a sheepish attempt at apology. "FOOLISH MORTALS!" the thundering voice shouted behind them. "YOU CAN RUN BUT YOU'LL ONLY DIE TIRED!" "Errr….Pay no mind, now is not the time to be concerned over such things," Kodachi declared. "What remains of our options?" "Well demons are creatures of unbalanced chi," Mousse noted. "Can you do any chi tricks?" "Of course I can do 'chi tricks,'" Kodachi hmphed. "Any martial artist worth the name has at least one 'chi trick' and the black rose of St. Hebereke IS worth the name!" "Anything of significant power?" Mousse asked, noting that they were entering the woods outside Nerima. "Define significant." "Ranma or Ryouga." Kodachi glanced back at the pursuing oni, looked at Mousse, and arched an eyebrow. "I do hope that was some attempt at humor and not a serious inquiry." "Didn't think so," Mousse said. "What do you know about this forest?" "Really, a lady like me, wandering around a wilderness like this one." "HAHAHAHAHA!!!! I'LL PLAY WITH YOUR SOUL THROUGH ETERNITY LITTLE GIRL!! GIVE UP NOW AND YOU I MIGHT JUST TAKE YOUR BODY!" "Hentai!" Kodachi stopped and turned to give a piece of her mind to the pursuing demon. "Why I would ever want…Unhand me!" The last was directed at Mousse who had returned to snatch her up before running on. "He's talking about possessing you, Kodachi, not sleeping with you." "Oh, that's all right then." "Is that a body of water of there?" Kodachi looked about, finding it difficult to know which direction Mousse was talking about considering his hands were occupied in carrying her. Though she did see a shimmer of reflected sunlight. "It’s a satellite dish on some cabin," she said dryly. "What's that in front of us?" Kodachi looked in that direction as Mousse ran between the trees, out into mid air. "It appears to be a cliffside," Kodachi said unnecessarily, as ribbon and chain extended to find holds, swinging the two martial artists safely to the ground below. They had managed to find a gully with a fairly wide stream running through it. "This is what I was looking for!" Mousse shouted cheerfully. "Might I ask why?" Kodachi demanded. They both looked up as the oni appeared on the cliff above them, still laughing at their efforts. "Just run upstream!" Mousse shouted as the oni slowly began to float down to meet them. "Running anywhere seems to be nothing more than a delaying tactic," Kodachi noted before taking off a little before Mousse. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Ranma and Akane instantly turned their attention to Nabiki, who was looking for a place to sit that would be relatively easy to get up from. The one thing Akane noticed right off was that Nabiki was mad. The signs were slight and unnoticeable to anyone that hadn't lived with her for most of their lives, but they were there. "Where is he, Nabiki?" Ranma demanded. "Who's Kuno?" Ranko asked. "I haven't the faintest," Nabiki said, irritably as she spotted an old chair and sat down. "One of my friends had an encounter with him, there isn't much more information than that since she was only barely conscious when found." The girl took a stick and idly began drawing kanji in the dirt. "When did that happen?" Akane demanded. Nabiki paused in her bored doodling and checked her watch. "Who's Kuno?" "About fifteen minutes ago," she said, before returning to her doodling. She leaned over, narrowed her eyes and then smoothed out the dirt again, before drawing more kanji. "He'll have to pass by here on the way to the dojo." "Who? Is. Kuno." "He's beating up on regular kids now?" Ranma blinked, then shook his head. Nabiki arched an eyebrow as she regarded him, pausing in her drawing. "You can't really be surprised, can you?" "Does Kodachi know about this?" Akane asked. Nabiki shrugged, irritably smoothing out the dirt again. "She is being sought," Nabiki assured them as she stuck the stick again into the dirt and started drawing. "WHO?! IS! KUNO!!!" The other three stared blankly at the huffing Ranko. "Impatient aren't we?" Nabiki asked. "Ah, tis a piteous sight, that the fair pig-tailed goddess is so deep in the clutches of the evil Ranma's spells that the memory of my manliness has been driven from her lovely head." The glares leveled at Kuno left no doubt as to each individual's oh so low opinions of the would-be samurai. Only Ranko was limited to expression of irritation. "And you even turn your brutish attentions towards the defenseless…" Before he could complete the thought, his eternal nemesis was moving in a blur towards him. "Do you ever shut up!" Ranma shouted as his fist buried itself into Kuno's abdomen, another flash of movement and a knee slammed into Kuno's face. Ranma failed to notice, as he prepared for another attack, the small dark-clothed figure appearing from the bushes. The other three weren't quite so distracted. "Hey, Saotome!" Nabiki shouted. "Look out behind you!" Akane and Ranko moved almost at the same-time, moving to intercept Sasuke. "Oh no, you don't!" Akane shouted. Ranko wasn't sure what was going on, but she knew that little rat was about to interfere with the fight, and THAT she was sure was unacceptable. "I'll save you master!" Sasuke cried, leaping towards the embattled martial artists. Nabiki saw him draw a packet from inside his night suit, and jerked to her feet, forgetting her sprained ankle and falling. Then several things happened, Ranma propelled Kuno against a wall with what appeared to be barely a motion. Akane and Ranko collided with Sasuke, who ripped open the packet in his hands. Nabiki worked up to her feet as the dust cloud encompassed four of the five combatants. As the dust cleared, and Kuno pulled himself to his feet, Nabiki looked to her sister and the Saotome's. All three, and the toad-like ninja, were suffering from the effects of what appeared to be one of Kodachi's paralysis powders. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ "Could you have found a more humid gully to trap us in?" Kodachi demanded, wiping away another sheen of sweat. "That would have been nice," Mousse said, Kodachi blinked. "But this is the only one I know about." "DO YOU THINK THIS WILL SAVE YOU MORTALS?" The oni shouted behind them. "THIS IS NOTHING." Kodachi looked behind her confused. The oni sounded as loud as ever, but now it sounded like it was tiring. "The steam does something to that monster?" "Well if it were a Yang demon it wouldn't bother to try to possess any body and would just be going around burning things." "Excuse my confusion, but what does that have to do with why the oni started getting tired as we hit the steam?" Mousse smiled, but she couldn't see that. "Yin demon, Yang chi flow." Kodachi arched an eyebrow. "Hey, what's that in front of us?" "I can see naught but an ever thickening cloud of steam," Kodachi answered, shortly before tripping over a tree root and landing in pool of hot water. She quickly set her feet down on the bottom of the pool and launched upward through the water. She landed on the bank of the pool, facing a sheer rock wall. "Hey Kodachi, how'd you get so wet?" "If we survive remind me to introduce you to Mr. Turtle." Mousse swallowed at the mention of an introduction to Kodachi's alligator. "Come, mortals," the oni called from beyond the veil of the steam mists. "Come and meet your dooms, show me a little bravery and I'll make your deaths quick." "Afraid to come after us puny mortals?" Mousse asked, Kodachi stared at him in open shock. The oni growled in irritation. The oni considered the waves of yang chi that whipped to and fro among the steam and hot-springs of the cul de sac he had cornered them in, and it considered the prize it sought. "Can you hold me off long enough mortals?" the oni smiled hideously. It stepped forward into the mists, a discordant aura surrounded the beast as it appeared through the mists "Are you ready?" Mousse asked. Kodachi chuckled and brandished her ribbon. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ "Ah, my faithful Sasuke," Kuno shook his head disapprovingly. "I applaud your bravery, but you should not have interfered with my honorable battle with the vile Saotome. Now, I must sully my victory with the defeat of a helpless foe." He walked towards Ranma, practically ignoring Nabiki, and lifted his bokken to strike. "Hold it Kuno-baby," Nabiki snapped, Kuno regarded her curiously. She smirked, ruthlessly burying the urge to try a more physically active defense of her family. She'd already been shown quiet well that physical confrontation was not her strong point. "You don't want to do that." "And why pray-tell, is that?" Kuno demanded. "If I destroy Saotome here and now, then the evil magic is gone and Akane and the pig-tailed goddess will once again recognize me as their one true love." "You don't know much about magic," Nabiki noted. "Killing Ranma now would be a tremendous mistake." "I fail to see why I should wait," Kuno noted. "But shall listen for the moment, obviously you know much about these matters of the mystical arts. I have seen your prowess already in the summoning of that sweet nymph who has sheltered me all this time." He took a moment to preen. "I assume you mean Mura?" Nabiki narrowed her eyes. "Yes, such a lovely creature, poor spirit could not restrain herself in my great presence," Tatewaki laughed arrogantly. Nabiki noted that it was the second time that he had referred to Mura as a spirit. "But enough of her, why should I restrain myself from killing the foul sorcerer this very moment." "Think about it Kuno," Nabiki said, watching him closely. "Ranma knows you seek to defeat him and break the spell, so of course he must have altered the spell. Defeat him and your loves will only hate you ten fold more than they do already." She edged closer to the paralyzed combatants, as Kuno seemed to considered her words. "Ah, such a vile knave is Saotome," he declared, relaxing his bokken. "To chain my loves even to beyond his death. How then shall I defeat his black magic?" ~Kuno, you're dead,~ Ranma thought as he glared up at the swordsman. ~I hate being paralyzed,~ Ranko was stuck glaring at the ninja, who was watching her nervously. ~Keep him talking Nabiki,~ Akane thought. ~Damn this is uncomfortable.~ "You'll have to get that from him," Nabiki laughed. "But he can't talk now, can he, so you'll have to wait for the powder to wear off." "Yes, and then I can have my honorable duel with the evil Saotome," Kuno's eyes glazed over. "I can repay him for enspelling my loves and turning my own sister against me and not stain my honor, and then I shall discuss matters with his apprentice, Hibiki." ~Ryouga wouldn't stop at hospitalizing you if you managed it,~ Nabiki thought. "Exactly." "Fine than I shall lay a formal challenge before you Saotome," Kuno looked down at him. "Come the strike of noon a week from now you shall lie groveling at my feet here in the dirt, and to ensure that you can practice no evils upon them I shall bring Akane and the…" "NO!" Nabiki snapped, then cursed under her breath. ~Damn it, that was a mistake.~ "Why should I not shelter my loves from the vile Saotome's influences?" he asked narrowly, Nabiki could almost see the paranoid fancies working through his mind. "I can protect them," Nabiki insisted. "This is magic we're talking about, will you cut the spell with your sword?" This was coming quite a bit too close to certain truths for comfort, but she had to play along with Kuno's madness for now. She doubted anybody would think she really knew what she was talking about afterword. "You are obviously incapable of defending them," Kuno noted, indicating her injured foot. "If you wish then you can come with us and bend your mystical arts toward a cure." ~I'll be damned if any of us go with you,~ Nabiki declared inwardly. "If you take us to your house then Ranma can have you arrested for kidnapping, do wish that?" "It is no matter, when the authorities hear the truth they shall bend their forces to aid me in defeating the dark one," Kuno declared. "And I will have your testimony at my side, unless perhaps you do not wish to see your sister and the pig-tailed one freed." "I don't wish to have our honors impugned by the whispers that would travel should we stay with you," Nabiki corrected, taking a cautious step back. She was losing him, and she knew it, but if she stalled than maybe the paralysis would wear off. The last was an empty hope, if they had raided Kodachi's supplies than the powder would last much longer than she had. "Woman! How dare you imply that Tatewaki Kuno would sink to the level of common banditry!?" he brandished his bokken in anger, and Nabiki sweatdropped. She should have kept up the art, she could think of several things within her power that would be useful at the moment. The problem was that the quickest of the lot would take time that she didn't have. Contrary to popular belief there was no such thing as a combat spell, such chi manipulations were the province of martial artists. "I didn't say you would Kuno," she insisted calmly. "I suggested that there would gossip." "Silence! No one could suggest such a thing about the Blue Thunder who was not a black hearted scoundrel!" Nabiki saw him tense and braced for the attack, she closed her eyes as the sound of a bicycle bell rang through the scene. *CRASH* "Umph!" Nabiki cracked open her eyes to stare at Shampoo riding her bicycle atop a flattened Kuno. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ The oni lunged forward at Kodachi, growling as the girl dodged out of the way. A flurry of stings in its side were the oni's first warning of the chi-charged throwing knives. The chi in the blades left gaps that the yang chi of the steam drove forward in an attempt to balance the unnatural yin of the demon. The oni took a moment from its pursuit of the girl to charge the hidden weapons expert. Mousse ducked under the huge fist that drove into the rock. "OH-hahahahahahahaha!!!" The laugh hadn't changed, Mousse noted as Kodachi's ribbon slashed at the demon. It seemed that her 'chi trick' was basically the same as his own. A basic trick of any weapon's centered martial artist, connected the weapon to your chi so that it becomes a living part of you. "You have made a very final error, demon." "I shall not be defeated by a pair of mortals!" The oni kicked at the rolling Mousse, propelling the Chinese martial artist into the rock wall. That would stun the boy long enough, he assumed, turning his attention back to his true target. Kodachi found it easy to dodge the pain-wracked oni's attempts to grab her. If it had been intent on killing her, on the other hand, she thought it might have been a different story. Unfortunately, she was too close to use her ribbon, and she had quite a while ago lost her other weapons. "No more laughter girl?" the oni chuckled, despite the shimmering waves of darkness she could see bleeding off of it. The oni's presence made the chi flow of the place successively more and more visible as the natural yang fought the beast. "No more shouting fiend?" Kodachi smirked, rolling under the beast and leaping away, slashing out again with her chi charged ribbon. New streams of darkness leaked out and was destroyed by the surrounding Yang. The demon roared, charging forward, forgetting, in its rage that it wanted Kodachi's body for a host. Thick talons slashed across her side as she swung around the beast's right. Kodachi landed roughly, recovering her balance from the impact, on the edge of the hot-spring's main pool. The glowing pool, she noted with a viciousness that the Nerima crew was well acquainted with, but which most demons only associated with their own kind. "Mousse what would about the water?" she shouted, noticing that the hidden weapons expert was standing up and ready to fight again. "That fool mortal can't help you now, girl," the oni smiled. "I'm weakened, but I'm more than enough for the two of you." Kodachi watched as the oni made its way carefully around the pool, moving slowly to torture her. She recognized the tactics. Kodachi stood up, apparently without pain. Not that there was no pain, but the process of pain messages tended to take the following route. Injury reported to mind, mind files it away to check later, mind instructs body to continue what it was doing. The oni noted this action and paused in its approach. Long enough for Mousse to make a re-entry into the fight, slashing across the front of the beast with a clawed glove. "We're not going to get it in the water," Mousse shouted. "So just keep hitting it!" Mousse dodged the oni's counterattack and then slashed again. Kodachi took long enough to notice that Mousse was doing better than she had been when the thing had been just trying to catch her. He could hold it off long enough for what she had in mind. Heedless of injury and fatigue the gymnast dived back into the water of the main pool. Swimming along the bottom she narrowed her eyes and smirked as she found the source of the hot spring. "The girl is hiding in the pool, mortal," the oni smiled. "And she'll probably bleed death waiting for the yang flow to kill me after I finish with you. Then I'll just return to what I've been doing for centuries, such a pity to miss the opportunity she presented, but I offered you a chance." "Don't be so confidant," Mousse snickered. "You are a minor spirit compared to some of the things I've seen." The boy tossed a series of eggs in the demons face as he dodged another attack. The natural chi of the resulting explosions gave the demon only minimal pain, but the smoke did aid the steam in obscuring Mousse's motion for a moment. "I've seen a mortal tear a god limb from limb!" The oni growled as Mousse whipped around behind him slashing down with his claw again. The oni whipped around, catching the martial artist on his landing. Mousse's claw blocked the talons, but shattered under the strain and still propelled Mousse against the cliff wall. "But you are not Ranma Saotome," the oni smiled as Mousse stood up again. No room to leap, no room to dodge, a large demon that had been getting slashed for the past five minutes without much visible sign of fatigue, his glasses were shattered and Kodachi still hadn't come up from underwater. Mousse was preparing for a last charge in at the oni when the rumbling started. The oni lashed at in the moment Mousse hesitated at the new factor. Mousse felt ribs cracking as he was crushed against the wall, the oni's talons pressed in as the rumbling grew. The oni was preparing to rip the martial artist in two when the hot spring erupted into a geyser. The cul de sac was bombarded in Yang energies, made visible by the demon's unwelcome presence. "Oh-hahahahahahahahahaha!!!!!" In the flash of chi neither Mousse nor the oni could see Kodachi, but the source of the geyser was quite obvious by the laugh. The oni wasn't in much of a condition to sense anything, the darkness of its essence was thoroughly and utterly destroyed giving one final wordless cry of disbelief. As the demon was obliterated the natural chi faded again into invisibility. "It did not understand whom it was facing." "Kodachi….are you okay?" Mousse asked, the gymnast smiled and virtually bounced her way to where Mousse was leaning against the wall. "You don't think I'd let such a disgusting beast touch me, do you?" she asked, sitting down next to him. "That's good…"Mousse smiled, trying to pull a breath through cracked ribs and leaning his head back. Kodachi leaned her head against his shoulder and relaxed. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Nabiki relaxed, slightly, Kuno had given Ryouga a run for his money. Mousse had beaten him easily, but that was while Kuno was still injured. Shampoo could beat Kuno, but it was by no means a certain victory. "Stick-boy dead!" Shampoo shouted angrily to the body under her bike. The swordsman lifted himself up throwing the bike and rider off as he did. Shampoo flipped off the vehicle and landed between him and Nabiki before lashing out with kick at the distracted Kuno. The samurai barely dodged, moving to Shampoo's side and trying to regain his balance for an attack. ~For once I'm glad she's here,~ Akane noted to herself. ~What's Nabiki doing?~ Nabiki dropped her crutches and hopped to the where the bike had felled Kuno. She dropped herself to the ground and picked up a piece of dark blue cloth. Quickly smoothing out the dirt she placed the cloth down and drew a series of circles and kanji about it. ~If Akane can beat Ken, Shampoo can beat Kuno easy,~ she told herself as she continued. ~But then Kuno won't make the same mistake Ken did, and he gave Ryouga a good run.~ "Ah yes, another of the girls that the evil Ranma has under his vile control," Kuno shook his head sadly. "Be warned fair maiden, that I am…" he had to cut his speech short in order to counter Shampoo's flurry of attacks. He shifted forward, jabbing into her stomach with the hilt of his blade. Shampoo lurched back, grunting with pain while recovering her balance, she had expected something more lethal from the would-be samurai. He wasn't as dumb as he seemed if he could tell she would have taken his head in such an attempt. Kuno glanced back at Nabiki and glared. Shampoo was surprised as he suddenly lost interest in her and charged Nabiki again. She recovered quickly enough and leaped into the air, passing over Kuno. ~Kamisama, I hope that I remember how to do this,~ she muttered, positioning her hands hesitantly. ~No doubts girl!~ "Witch!! You dare cast a spell upon the great Tatewaki Kuno," he pulled up short when the amazon appeared to fill his vision again. Shampoo swung her foot around in a roundhouse as she landed between her new lover and the psycho swordsman. Kuno, off-balance took the blow full and flew out across the lot, this time managing to control the flight and land relatively safely. "You are a tremendous warrior, for a gaijin." Shampoo was already on the way to where he landed. "You no hurt Nabiki!" Shampoo shouted. Nabiki glanced nervously at her the paralyzed martial artists before finishing her drawing. She couldn't be distracted right now, Shampoo had the advantage for the moment, but Kuno had space and time to recover now. ~She's protecting Nabiki?~ Ranma and Akane were confused. ~What's going on now?~ Ranko whined internally, glaring at the ninja. ~She's going to rip me to pieces when this wears off,~ Sasuke would of swallowed nervously if he could have done more than breathe. "Very well, since you leave me no choice," Kuno lashed forward with a succession of high speed strikes as Shampoo was still apparently out of reach. Shampoo hadn't ever actually faced Kuno in combat, so she was surprised when something seemed to strike her. The impact sent the amazon off balance, a situation that was worsened as more air waves struck and threw her to the ground. "My apologies brave one, but so must all who face the great Tatewaki Kuno fare." He noticed Shampoo's battle aura flaring though, and something in his brain that faintly resembled logic realized that Shampoo was merely stunned. Then of course there was the matter of the Tendo witch. "By the kami the devious Nabiki is still casting her sorcery upon me!" The girl in question seemed to be meditating, holding an almost unmoving position and staring at Kuno. Behind he could hear the sound of rushing air as the amazon again took to the air. Kuno twisted about in a spin, thrusting up with his sword, sending a senpou ken whirlwind Shampoo's way. ~That should stall her long enough,~ he decided. "Oh that I should be forced to harm such valiant woman. These sorcerers shall pay for their misdeeds!!!" Kuno turned around to see Nabiki thrust her hand into the dark cloth at the center of her drawings. Kuno couldn't see chi flows, but he could see the ground explode in front of his target. When the shower of dust cleared the apprentice, Hibiki, was kneeling before him, laughing sinisterly. "So do you want a real fight or do you just pick on girls?" "At last I see the truth," Kuno growled. "The lowly Ryouga is but a servitor demon of the virtuous Akane's vile sister. Well then, fiend, I shall accept your challenge." Kuno lunged at Ryouga snarling as the other martial artist dodged to the side. He struck out again, chasing the backpedaling, smirking Hibiki, never noticing that he was being drawn away. "Shampoo?" Nabiki called out as Kuno ran further and further away. A moment passed as Kuno vanished around a corner, chasing a figment of his imagination, and Nabiki heard the unmistakable sound of an amazon angrily extricating herself from a pile of discarded furniture. She released her breath in relief. ~Where's Nabiki?~ Shampoo scanned, about and about and about. ~Good, there she is. Damn whirlwind, mental note: be careful jumping around stick-boy.~ "You had me worried, Kitty," Nabiki said as Shampoo walked, wobbly at first but recovering her grace quickly. She cautiously kneeled down next to Nabiki, still watching for Kuno. "You okay?" Shampoo asked quietly. ~What's going on here?~ Akane asked herself. "Am I okay?" Nabiki said in disbelief, as Shampoo methodically examined her for any new injuries. "What about you? You're bleeding!" She took the amazon's head in her hands, and gently brushed aside the blue hair were it was being stained red. "Just a scratch," Shampoo assured her cheerfully, but she let Nabiki examine it anyway. "See? Scratch head on broken mirror." "And everything else?" Nabiki asked, doubtful. Shampoo smiled cheerfully, with the adrenaline leaking away everything hurt like hell, but it was nothing too serious by her standards. "Is fine," Shampoo assured her, then gritted her teeth as Nabiki poked her shoulder. "Really?" Nabiki noted wryly, then remembered certain other parties. "We should get some help, soon, Dr. Tofu's is right over there!!!!" Nabiki gripped strongly about Shampoo's neck as the amazon picked her up off the ground and ran for the clinic. "What about my sister and Ranma?" "Kuno coming back?" Shampoo asked. "Not for several minutes." Akane and Ranma meanwhile were left to consider things. "Plenty of time!" She declared cheerfully. ~She didn't glomp me,~ Ranma noted. ~Which is too bad because that might have cured Akane.~ ~That was weird,~ Akane thought. ~She was really fussing over Nabiki.~ ~What's going on here?~ ~Dead ninja! DEAD ninja!~ ~MASTER KUNO HELP ME!!~ ------------------------------------------------------------------------ "Okay are you ready to…" Ryouga looked away as the chi flash erupted perhaps a mile away. He grabbed his umbrella and his backpack. "What are you bringing that for?" Ukyou asked as she snatched her spatula and the two of them made for the flash. "First aid kit," Ryouga answered simply. Of course, Ryouga's idea of a first aid kit would have made some paramedics drool with envy. That is, if they had any training in holistic medicines. Ryouga might not have compared with Dr. Tofu, Cologne or even Kasumi, but he believed in being prepared. "Oh, herb garden in bag?" the commentary passed over Ryouga's head. Ukyou took the lead, for the usual obvious reason. As the chi flash faded their goal was revealed as a rapidly dwindling geyser. "Hey, I know that place!" Ryouga shouted, moving faster. The spatula smacked into his head as he tried to pass. "Don't try it lost boy, that pharmacy of yours won't help in Brazil." Ryouga laughed and sweatdropped as he fell back into line behind Ukyou. Moving with the average speed of Neriman martial artists heading for a possible fight, they managed the distance in about a minute, long enough for the geyser to dwindle away to nothing. "Hey, anybody down there?" Ryouga called down into the thick pool of mist. There was no answer, and neither waited long for one. It took very little time to find Mousse and Kodachi passed out against the rock, looking as if they had taken on a horde of bears. If it had been one or two bears then they probably wouldn't have had trouble. "She's still alive," Ukyou declared, checking Kodachi's pulse. "They both are," Ryouga confirmed as he dug through his pack, looking for his medicinal materials. "One of us needs to go to a phone for help." "I'm gone," Ukyou said. "Just don't try to go anywhere." ------------------------------------------------------------------------ "Cease your cowardly retreat fiend!" Kuno demanded as slashed again at the dodging Ryouga-illusion. He failed to notice all the people watching him strangely as he seemed to be flailing against thin air. "Come on Kuno, you have to save your loves don't you?" The samurai slashed again, and finally managed to connect, or he would have connected. The lack of anything to connect with sort of ruined that possibility. "What is this?" he demanded. "Ah ha, further proof of the fiend's true nature. It is obvious that he cannot remain long in this world without his mistress's power to sustain him. All this time I have been a pawn in the battle of these two demonic servants. Well, that shall continue no longer. As of this moment I vow to continue in my quest to free my loves and Nerima itself from grips of these vile villains." He scanned the street about him, and the people staring at him. "Ah they are terrified of the fiend that I did battle with and now, of course, the gaze in awe upon the majesty of Tatewaki Kuno. Yet I know not these buildings, where has the sorceress' servant led me?" The sound of approaching police cars attracted his attention. "Perhaps the witch has followed through on her threat to call the authorities down upon me, best not to engage. Some innocents escape not the thunderbolt, but if there is no need for the thunderbolt…" Kuno faded into an alley and made for the rooftops, he did not usually partake of the martial artist's highway. For the moment, however, he would take an exception. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ "Hey thanks doc," Ranma declared as the paralysis flowed away from his body. "It is certainly no problem," Tofu smiled. "After the last few years mixing the antidotes to Kodachi's powders has become almost second nature." "Well at least SHE isn't tossing them around right now," Ranma hmphed. "What happened to Kuno anyway?" "I don't know," Akane said flexing to make sure everything still worked. "The freak was charging Nabiki when he suddenly just ran off yelling about Ryouga being Nabiki's demon servant." "Yeah, I was wondering about that," Ranma noted. "But knowing Kuno he probably just took another dive off the deep end and imagined the whole thing." "Okay, Kuno I won't bother trying to explain," Akane put in. "But am I the only that noticed Nabiki and Shampoo acting kind of weird." "You ask them yourself, they're on the other bed behind you," Dr. Tofu said as he moved on to Ranko. Akane sweatdropped as she turned around to face an annoyed looking pair of girls. "Define 'weird' sis," Nabiki said levelly. She was hardly in a mood for more of this. Nabiki had called around for reports while Shampoo and Tofu were relaying paralyzed fighters to the clinic. Apparently a rather large monster had chased Kodachi and Mousse out of town, only a few minutes ago. That was the last anybody had seen of them. That was moderately disturbing news. Kuno had also managed to disappear, again. He had chased her illusion out of the Nerima district where her minions had only minimal safety and she had to rely on less trustworthy means of acquiring information. The police were now after him as well, for property damage and public endangerment it sounded like. Nabiki hoped they wouldn't actually try to capture him themselves, that would be a disaster. "You know, like flirting and stuff," Ranma said in his normal subtle fashion. A stream of violent Chinese filled the air as Ranko felt herself again in control of her body. "Miss Ranko, that is hardly appropriate language," Dr. Tofu lectured. "Is too appropriate language," Shampoo argued. "Stick-boy and toad-ninja need die very painful deaths!" "Very painful," Akane agreed, then started to turn back to her sister and the amazon. They were sitting awfully close, really close. "Wait, how water girl know amazon dialect?" whispered more to herself than anyone else. ~Ahh, confirmation,~ Nabiki smirked and crossed her arms, chuckling quietly to herself. The other people in the room glanced at her nervously, Nabiki laughing like that was rarely a good sign.
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