I am doing this, you must understand, under protest.

I, Telulu, am a very busy Deathbuster. Bringing about the Apocalypse isn't going
to happen on its own, you know.  It especially isn't going to happen if you sit
around in a house teething some mewling brat and promising that yes, she'll grow
up to be a nasty little Messiah some day.  That cretinous Professor couldn't
even hold on to his supposed trump card!  A far more competent (if laughably
short-sighted) villain named Vega kidnapped her from right under his nose!

Then she was re-kidnapped by my fellow witch Eudial, then re-re-kidnapped by
Ukyou just when the Professor thought she had been returned.  Having no
contingency plan, he was forced to just let Ukyou take his precious saviour
away.  Not that taking her away from her "father" endeared Ukyou much to the
little brat.

Speaking of brats, apparently some girl named Kaede is trying to destroy this
island nation before I, I mean we, can destroy the entire world.  Ukyou made a
big deal about how her friends and loved ones might need to kill her and
conviently excused herself to go re-re-kidnap the brat Hotaru so she wouldn't
have to break her contemptible vow against killing.

One person not so burdened is the youma Tethys, whose use of the human Hayato's
martial arts skills and physical prowess allowed her to kill her former queen
when the foolish woman let her guard down.  Now she rules the Dark Kingdom...
for whatever good that will do her when the Silence comes.

It pleases me that that moron Chris has dragged Sailor Moon and her friends out
of Tokyo, heading for an unimportant school named Ohtori Academy somewhere in
the north.  Just two less problems standing between me, I mean us, and universal
destruction.

One problem I'll have to deal with, perhaps, is the overly self-confident wench
Nabiki Tendo and her imbecilic bodyguard.  They extracted from Ukyou the
information about a sword that grants wishes to the one millionth person to
attempt to draw it from its resting place.  In exchange, they - well, rather
Ryouga, for Nabiki has laudable good sense in sending disposable flunkies to do
her own work - helped Ukyou re-re-kidnap Hotaru.  I understand Vega was most
cross about this whole situation, not to mention his being obliged to retreat by
the combined forces of Ran, Akira, and Ranma.

Hmph.  Really, that ought to suffice for even the most dull-witted of readers.
The more so since none of this matters.  All the characters you love, you hate,
or are indifferent to will perish soon enough!

On that note, I'm leaving now.  Apocalypse to choreograph, and all that...




			      C&A Productions Presents

                          A Work of Blatant Self-Insertion


                                   Hybrid Theory


                              Chapter 16: Step Up






	Akira slid off the end of the bike. She slipped her helmet off and
shielded her eyes from the sun. It was a bright sunny morning. The air was
heavy, almost stagnant, and the heat had crept up so high that it felt like an
oven. It was the first heat wave of the summer, and true to its name Akira could
literally see the air rippling as it rose off the pavement. She sighed and undid
her jacket, pulling off the tight leather so that her torso was clad only in a
blue and yellow t-shirt.
	"Are you sure you'll be okay?" Daigo said. He was still sitting on his
cycle. He looked pristine in his long black coat. The heat didn't affect him in
the slightest: not a hair was out of place in his short black mane, and not a
bead of sweat stood out on his brow. He frowned down at her, and to most people
his scarred face would have been intimidating. But Akira could see the worry
there, the concern and sense of responsibility. He wasn't frowning because he
was annoyed, he was frowning because he cared.
	He reminded her a bit of Ukyou.
	"I'll be fine," Akira said as cheerfully as she could.
	"Akira..." Daigo reached out and clasped her on the shoulder. She
shifted slightly, but his touch was gentle and kind. "You don't have to do
this."
	"I think I want to," Akira said, although she didn't know why she felt
that way.
	Daigo stared down at her for a moment. He released her and sighed. The
hand that had been holding her rose up and stroked the length of his scar, not
flinching away from the ruin that marked where his eye had once been. "I just
don't want you to end up like me," he said. "The only thing fighting does is
lead to more fighting."
	"Brother..." Akira said plaintively. "We aren't fighting today." She
smiled. "This is a victory celebration. The good guys won, yesterday." She
patted him on the arm. "Can't you just be happy for once?"
	"Maybe." He smiled thinly. His was a face not much used to smiling. He
didn't say anything more before kicking his motorcycle to life and riding off
down the street. Akira looked after him wistfully. It would be years before she
could afford to replace her own.
	"Hey, that your brother?"
	Akira turned and saw Ranma walking up to her. He was wearing a yellow t-
shirt with a little bow-tie and a pair of slacks with his hands thrust into the
pockets. Her lip twitched a little.
	"Yeah..."
	"He looks strong," Ranma said with a nod in the direction he had left.
There was a sort of eagerness to his voice.
	"He is," Akira nodded. "Much stronger than me." She glanced out of the
corner of her eye at Ranma. "Probably stronger than you, too."
	"Me?" Ranma laughed. "I'd like to see him prove it."
	Akira poked him in the ribs. Ranma's toppled over with a cry, clutching
his side. Akira giggled.
	"That... was a dirty low down trick," Ranma muttered as he got to his
feet slowly.
	"Sorry," Akira said, feeling a little bad. "It's just..."
	"Yeah, yeah..." Ranma grinned at her. "Everyone wants a shot at the guy
on top." Suddenly Akira didn't feel so guilty anymore.
	"Didn't Ukyou come with you?" Akira asked, changing the subject.
	"She said she'd meet us here." Ranma said. "She didn't want to be
walking around with the kid all day." Ranma grinned again. "I guess she's afraid
Hotaru will try to make a break for it in a crowd."
	Akira didn't have any response to that. She believed Ukyou. Ukyou wasn't
lying when she said that Hotaru's father was a monster... but still... How did
you deal with that? How did you save a girl like Hotaru without coming off as
the bad guy? Well, maybe Ran had done like she promised and come up with some
way to prove Ukyou right.
	"C'mon," Ranma said as he started towards the gates of the school. "Ran
is probably inside working on the big story already."
	Akira followed him with a nod. Taiyo High School was virtually abandoned
at this time of day. The sun had risen not a half-hour ago, and it was still
three hours before first bell. Not even the teachers and other staff would be
here this early. Ran had once joked that it was the only time she could get any
work done. Akira just marveled that the girl could still manage to produce a
daily paper, by herself, and run around helping Ukyou and Ranma out. The
newspaper at Seijyun ran about once a month, and anybody asking about the Gedo
High School paper would be directed to gossip scrawled on the bathroom walls.
	Her office was up on the second floor. Ranma led the way, obviously
familiar with the trip. Akira lagged behind him a little bit. She supposed Ukyou
would know to come in when she arrived. She glanced behind her, out one of the
windows at the hot pavement. She grimaced - somehow it was even hotter in the
building. She did not look forward to attending classes today... especially
since she would have to explain her absence yesterday.
	The door to Ran's office was open. The hallway was deserted except for
Hotaru. The girl was sitting against the far wall. Her black hair gleamed in the
hot light. She was wearing the same dress she had been wearing yesterday. She
was crying. Large hiccuping sobs. Her face was buried in her hands.
	Akira slowed down even as Ranma sped up. Something was wrong.
	Ranma reached her and bent down. He asked her if she was okay, but she
didn't look up at him. She just kept crying into her hands. Ranma turned to look
into the office...
	Looking back, Akira realised that was when she knew. It was his eyes.
Not just the way they widened, not just the way they flinched back... it was how
they changed. The moment they looked into that room... Ranma's eyes changed.
	Ranma stepped forward, his entire expression twisting. His lips pulled
away from his teeth as if he was trying to scream. Akira was running now, but it
was like a dream and everything moved in slow motion. The only sound was
Hotaru's pained sobs and the loud echo of her footsteps. It was so hot.
	"Ran..." Ranma said, his voice a whistle as he forced air from his
throat. He vanished into the room, moving like an automaton.
	Akira skidded to a stop in front of the room. She didn't want to look.
She already knew what she would see.
	It was worse than that.
	Ukyou was inside. Her hands were pressed against the window as she
leaned against it for support. Her hair hung down over her face. Her jacket
fluttered in the hot breeze. It was covered in blood.
	On the floor...
	Oh god.
	"Ran..." Ranma was on his knees. He reached out and grabbed a hand. The
hand was too pale. "No... no... this isn't happening..."
	Akira felt the wall hit her back. She couldn't back up any further. The
air was too hot. She couldn't breathe. It was too hot.
	"Wake up!" Ranma screamed. He pulled her into his arms, cradling her
against his chest. Her arm... oh god... it flopped to the ground at his side.
Just flopped. It was almost comic. "Wake up, Ran!" Ranma's jaw was trembling,
his words kept stuttering. "W-Wake up... oh g-god... this is t-too much.., d-
don't do this to me..."
	Akira closed her eyes. She looked away. She couldn't stand it. She
wanted to cover her ears. To block it out. But Ranma kept talking.
	"Do something!" he roared. "She needs help! We need to get her to a
doctor!"
	"It's too late..." Ukyou's voice; soft, cold...
	"Don't give me that!" Ranma screamed. "Do something! My God, she isn't
breathing... Ukyou... she isn't breathing... DO SOMETHING! Please! Anybody!
Please!"
	"It's too late..." Ukyou said again. "I tried. I saw... I tried... I..."
	There was something wrong with Ukyou's voice. Akira opened her eyes and
looked. Ukyou had turned around and was looking down at him. Her hands were
covered in blood, and they hung limply at her side. Akira remembered briefly the
ruin that had been Ran's chest.
	"Hotaru!" Ranma snapped suddenly. "You said she could heal people,
right?"
	"Ranma..." Ukyou reached up toward him but he wasn't looking at her
anymore. Ranma was staring out the door at Hotaru. The girl was sobbing. She was
curled into a ball against the wall. Ranma stretched a hand out toward the
little girl.
	"Help her," he begged. Akira had never heard Ranma beg. She had honestly
thought that it was something he couldn't do. But he was begging now. His voice
was full of anguish. Akira's sides hurt. Her eyes burned. Ranma was crying too.
The tears were streaming down his cheeks. He didn't notice. He didn't care. He
was begging. "Please! Use your power! HELP HER!"
	"Ranma!" Ukyou snapped harshly. But Ranma wasn't paying attention to
her.
	"She isn't breathing!" Ranma said, his voice catching. He tried to say
something else, but for a moment all that came out was a series of choked 'huh'
sounds. "You huh-have... you have to... she's too cold... we have to..."
	"Close the door." It took Akira a moment to realise that Ukyou was
talking to her. Akira looked up mutely, meeting Ukyou's cold black lotus eyes.
"She can't do anything. It's too late. She doesn't need to see anymore of this.
Close the door."
	Akira walked over. Her body was moving of its own accord. She had no
control over it. She couldn't think. It was too hot. She couldn't breathe. The
door clicked shut under her hand. She spun around and leaned back against it.
Hotaru had changed position. She had stopped crying. She looked up at Akira. Her
little girl eyes looked far too old. Akira could still hear inside the room.
	"Damn you, Ukyou!" Ranma screamed, his voice wavering. "Open the door!"
	"It's too late for her," Ukyou said softly.
	"It's not... it's not..." Ranma's voice trembled. "I'm Ranma Saotome,
damn it!" Now his voice had regained its strength. "Ranma Saotome does not lose!
Not this battle!"
	"Please... Ranma, please... listen to yourself..." Ukyou's voice grew
closer to the door. "Feel her, Ranma. She's cold. She's dead. She's been dead
for hours. I found her... I tried to help, but it's too late. There is nothing
anyone could have done!"
	"I can do something!" Ranma roared.
	"No... no, you can't... nobody can..."
	Ranma tried to say something, but his words kept dissolving. Finally he
gave up and just screamed. It was loud and primal and Akira sobbed to hear it.
His voice grew hoarse and then his scream trailed off. It faded into sobs. Sobs
that continued for Akira didn't know how long.
	Finally there was silence.
	The heat hung on the air like a specter. Akira could see it out the
windows. It was all she could feel, the heat. Her mind was numb.
	"Who did this?" Ranma said. Akira started. That couldn't have been his
voice. It was cold. So cold that even Ukyou at her worst sounded warm in
comparison.
	"Ranma, you have to put her down... the police are coming..." Ukyou said
slowly.
	"Who. Did. This?"
	There was a pause.
	"Vega," Ukyou answered simply.
	"Where is he?"
	"He... left a note..."
	There was a soft sound as Ran's body slid to the floor. Akira fell away
from the door and was suddenly on her knees. Her breakfast came up.
	"Give it to me."
	"Ranma!" Ukyou sounded desperate. "You can't do this! It's just what he
wants-" Ukyou cut off, crying out in pain, and there was a thud as she fell
against something. "Ranma!" Ukyou sounded more desperate now.
	A moment passed. Then the door opened. Ranma stepped out into the
hallway. He wasn't looking at anything. He didn't even notice Akira or Hotaru as
he stepped out into the stiflingly hot corridor.
	"Ranma!" Ukyou appeared in the doorway. She grabbed the frame to hold
herself up. Her eyes were staring at him and shaking. "Ranma, it isn't worth
it!"
	"Ukyou..." Ranma said, his voice still cold. "I am going to kill him."
	"NO!" Ukyou shouted. "You can't... not like this!"
	Ranma didn't respond. He just turned around and started walking down the
hallway. He dropped a piece of paper on the floor as he walked. It was curled
into a ball. Ukyou started after him, but her steps were slow and unsteady.
	Akira reached out and grabbed the note. Her body was moving of its own
accord again. She didn't want to read it, but her hands unfurled the note and
her eyes fixed on it. The handwriting was neat, even beautiful... like the work
of a master calligrapher. "Ranma Saotome, Akira Kazama, Ukyou Kuonji. Please
excuse the drama of this message. I'm afraid you left me little choice. I was
far too disappointed by our last encounter to let it go at that. Perhaps you can
meet me again soon?
	"I would also suggest you bring along the thing you took from me. I have
grown attached to her. If you do not, I shall have to take something precious
from you. Miss Hibiki told me an amazing story, about a fabulous sword. Perhaps
if you do not meet me, I shall console myself by acquiring it?
	"I'll be waiting.
	"Vega."
	Akira stood up slowly. She wasn't moving like a robot anymore.
	That monster.
	He hadn't just...
	He had tortured...
	Despite the heat, Akira pulled on her jacket one arm at a time. Ranma
was disappearing down the stairwell now. Ukyou was caught halfway down the hall.
She kept glancing back at Hotaru. Akira buttoned her collar in place. Ukyou's
eyes met Akira's, and she mouthed 'no' at her. Akira ignored her. She pulled on
her helmet.
	She had to catch up to Ranma, so she moved quickly.
	Alone, he might not be able to kill Vega.

*

	Telulu stood on the tarmac, looking over the base with a critical eye.
Azuma had been right: the place was nearly deserted. She hadn't even been
accosted since she had walked through the front gate. It was wonderful having a
friend with access to nearly any military equipment she wanted. It opened a lot
of doors.
	She paused as she heard a light, musical beeping coming from her coat.
Azuma wouldn't be calling her so early. Then she remembered that only one other
person had access to this number. She smiled and pulled the cell phone from her
pocket.
	"Yes, Professor?"
	She listened to him rant and rave. Apparently he had used the device
Eudial had built to track down the Messiah again. He wanted her to come with him
and help liberate the Messiah from the clutches of the martial artists who had
kidnapped her. Telulu clucked her tongue.
	"I'm sorry, Professor, but I'm rather busy at the moment." She tilted
her head to the side. "Perhaps we can meet up when you are finished doing your
own dirty work... for once?"
	There was silence on the other end of the phone, but that was all right.
Telulu was hanging up anyway. She smiled. Did that fool really think she would
let him pit her against the martial artists alone? And end up in a hospital bed
for the next week like Eudial? She had bigger things to do today.
	Destroying the world, for example.
	Which reminded her that she had a schedule to keep. She walked jauntily
down the tarmac, looking at each of the war machines in turn. The only problem
was: which one to pick? She needed something mobile, but still powerful.
	"You there!"
	Telulu looked over her shoulder. A half-dozen soldiers were walking
towards her. They were heavily armed. Ah, dependable Americans. She shrugged.
She hadn't expected to have the run of the base forever. Besides, she had picked
out her target.
	"Stop! Identify yourself!" the man in front ordered. He was reaching for
his sidearm by now, but Telulu had already finished. She held up the grey ribbed
daimon egg and blew on it gently. It floated forward almost lazily. The guards
shouted something and leveled their guns at her.
	The egg touched the nose of the jet fighter. Immediately, pink webbing
erupted from it and adhered to the machine. Slowly the egg sunk into the machine
until there was no trace of it.
	"On the ground, or we will open fir-fi..." the leader's voice trailed
off as the transformation began. The entire jet was consumed by a swirling
nimbus of light that stretched over its form like a skin. Then it began to twist
and distort, slowly shrinking down as it did so. The humans stared at it in
wonder and horror as it began to take on recognisable shape and form. Slowly it
became humanoid.
	Then, with a blast of light and a sound like a thunderclap, the daimon
was born. She stood two meters tall and was made of white metal that glinted in
the morning sunlight. Her face and body were feminine, but extremely thin and
angular, like a rough-hewn sculpture of a woman's proportions. A large metal
plate descended from her head like hair, and the cockpit of what had once been
the plane emerged from her crotch. She stretched her arms up to the sky and her
mouth opened in rapturous joy. "VALKYRIE!" she cried, naming herself.
	"OPEN FIRE!" the guard yelled, finally snapping out of his stupor. It
was too late. Telulu leaped up and back out of the line of fire as the humans
opened up with their machine guns. The bullets pinged harmlessly off of
Valkyrie's armour. The daimon looked over at them. Her sky blue eyes narrowed.
	"Valkyrie... kill them," Telulu said mildly.
	"Valkyrie acknowledges her command!" the daimon roared and turned to
face the humans. They continued firing. One of them reached down and pumped a
cylinder under his gun. There was a soft exhalation of air and a small black
object flew directly into the daimon's face. An explosion tore across the
tarmac, and for a moment the monster was hidden from view by the smoke.
	Telulu smiled. She had used the most powerful of the daimon eggs to
create this weapon. Eggs that the Professor had intended for the creation of
others like Telulu down the line. She watched as Valkyrie stepped out of the
smoke, not even scratched.
	"Valkyrie is locking on target!" the daimon cried happily as she stared
at the humans and leaned back, thrusting out her chest. The humans had stopped,
stunned by the lack of effect their weapons were having. "Valkyrie is firing!"
the daimon declared.
	Telulu quirked an eyebrow as Valkyrie's breasts exploded off her body.
The nipples became nose cones, and long shafts extended from them as they
transformed into missiles. The humans screamed and began to turn and flee. They
were hopelessly slow as the missiles tracked in on them.
	The explosion was quite a bit more spectacular than what their grenade
had caused. When the smoke cleared, there was nothing but a two meter-deep
crater and the gore of the dead humans. Sirens and alarms were ringing out.
Valkyrie turned to gaze at the base proper. Dozens of soldiers were pouring out
of it now.
	"Valkyrie has spotted new targets!" she declared as she leveled her arms
at the base. Her breasts had regrown, and now her fingers locked forward as
their tips opened, revealing the bores of miniguns. She roared and her fingers
twisted around in circles as a hail of bullets flew forward. A line of torn
tarmac traced across the ground to the base, and a dozen soldiers died on their
feet as their bodies were literally sliced in two. Then the assault climbed up
the side of the base. Valkyrie stopped when her hands were both pointed skyward.
A second later, the side of the base exploded.
	"Excellent," Telulu said with a smile. "But as entertaining as watching
this is, we don't have time to waste here."
	Valkyrie turned and looked at Telulu. Her body snapped rigid and she
gave a crisp military salute with her still-transformed hands. "Valkyrie is
awaiting orders!"
	"Come along," Telulu gestured. "It's a long way back to Tokyo, and we
have a schedule to keep."
	"Valkyrie will escort the commander!" the daimon yelled as she blasted
forward, the flare of her jets coming out from just behind her cockpit. She
scooped up the startled Telulu in both arms, and then without missing a beat
adjusted her aim so that they were both flashing into the sky. Telulu looked
down at the flaming base as it rapidly vanished behind them. Then she began to
laugh.
	Things were working out entirely on schedule.

*

	Kusanagi landed on top of the office building. He glanced to the side.
Another giant ward encircled the building across the way. The second of three,
if Ukyou was to be believed. Even now, the others would be on their way. He
wanted to be below the city with them. He wanted to see for himself what was
happening down there.
	He wanted to know the truth.
	But he had felt it. A power on top of this building. It had been mostly
dormant, but it had been incredible. Momiji was usually the only one who could
sense the aragami, but not sensing this would have been like not spotting the
sun. Ukyou had been right: there was something up here he needed to do.
	There was a man standing on the other side of the roof. He had one foot
up on the raised edge of the roof and was gazing favorably at the giant brown
centipede skin that encircled the other skyscraper. His long black hair blew
behind him, falling to his waist as the morning sunlight tinted it purple. He
was clad in a grey and orange jacket with white slacks. Kusanagi clenched his
fists. Every instinct that he had was telling him to run, but he wasn't about to
do that.
	"So, Kusanagi, we meet at last," the man said, his voice a chilling,
reverberating mockery of a human's. He looked back over his shoulder. His skin
was pale, almost chalky, and he had black irises. His face was pretty, and he
smiled arrogantly before he spoke. "I suspected this would be inevitable,
however."
	Kusanagi already knew the answer, but he had to ask the question. "Who
are you?"
	"I am called Murakumo," the man explained. He turned and bowed, his hair
flowing neatly behind him. "And you are Kusanagi. The traitor who has abandoned
his duty to serve and protect the humans. Now we are introduced."
	"What did you do to Kaede?" Kusanagi shouted. He couldn't play pretend.
He wasn't about to deny what he had been told. Kusanagi raised his arm and
clenched his fist. His blades painfully tore themselves free of his arms and
locked into position. Damn Ukyou and her plan. He was going to beat the
information out of that bastard!
	"Ah..." Murakumo crossed his arms. "I've done nothing to her. And I
don't respond well to threats." He smirked, shadows creeping across his
features. "Especially from a low class soul like you."
	"Low class?" Kusanagi snarled. "I'll show you low class!"
	He charged. Murakumo vanished. Kusanagi slashed through empty air. He
stumbled to a halt, his foot teetering on the brink of the building. He gasped.
That had been fast!
	He looked behind him and saw Murakumo standing on the opposite edge of
the building. He hadn't even uncrossed his arms.
	"You're too slow and weak to fight me, Kusanagi," Murakumo informed him.
"You only have seven pieces of your own soul." He grinned again, a sinister
grin. "I have eight: a complete set. I am as much beyond you as you are beyond
the human worms you fight so desperately to defend."
	"Yeah, right!" Kusanagi turned around. Ukyou had told him that if he
confronted Murakumo, his sole job would be to buy time. Kunikida had told him
that they needed to make sure the most powerful of the aragami was occupied
while they went down there to deal with Susano-oh before he could be awakened.
Momiji had begged him not to get in over his head. Everybody agreed that Ukyou
was probably right and Murakumo would be a lot more powerful than him. The best
he could do was keep him busy.  That was his job.  That was the plan.
	Fuck that.
	"Let's see you beat this!" Kusanagi roared. He grit his teeth and flexed
his muscles. He reached down inside and pulled aside the mental block that kept
his powers in check. His head flew back as pain and energy crashed through his
body, contesting for control. His body shifted and transformed as great spines
ripped free of his back and his feet became twisted claws. His jacket and shirt
were torn asunder and his shoes dissolved under the onslaught. He stepped
forward, breathing heavily as the transformation completed itself.
	Kusanagi grinned. He would beat the truth out of this bastard. He would
find out what the aragami had done to Kaede. He would make them pay for it.
	"Well, well..." Murakumo smirked. "Perhaps I shall have to show you how
truly pathetic you are?" The man spread his arms, and his eyes turned black.

*

	Vega let the monk fall to the ground. He had been unhelpful, so his
death had been long. That had pleased Vega a small amount. On the other hand, he
had been unhelpful, and that had displeased Vega far more. Perhaps he shouldn't
have killed all the other monks in a fit of pique?
	He looked around. The field next to the small temple was empty. There
were only the corpses of the monks that had served the place strewn about here
and there where Vega had chased them down. There was no other living soul in
sight.
	There was no wishing sword.
	All that trouble to torture the location out of the reporter...
	According to the monk, this was the right location. There was even a
dead spot in the middle of the lawn where something large had obviously stood
until very recently. The same monk had told him that they had opened up their
doors this morning just to find the entire wishing sword, stone and all, gone.
	How bothersome.
	Vega walked over to the place where the stone had been up until now. He
flicked his claw, expertly cleaning all the blood off with the motion. He looked
around for some clue as to the sword's new location.
	He stood up sharply.
	Two of them, approaching fast. Vega held up his hand and turned to face
the temple. He watched as two shadows appeared atop it, silhouetted against the
rising sun. One was taller than the other. They paused as they noted him below,
and with a single leap they landed on the lawn not three meters away.
	Vega relaxed.
	"Juni, Juli... what a pleasant surprise," Vega said. His annoyed frown
was hidden behind his mask and his voice was perfectly calm, almost happy
sounding.
	The two Dolls stared at Vega. These were Bison's pets. His most favoured
and trusted servants, aside from that one Doll that had gone missing a couple of
months back. He had... done things to them.
	"Lord Vega," Juli said as she stepped forward. She was the taller of the
two Dolls, with brown hair combed into long bangs that framed her face. She was
also the more well-developed of the pair, a fact that her skin-tight Shadowloo
uniform left in little doubt. "We have been ordered by Lord Bison to assist you.
He felt the death of the other Dolls that had been placed under your command,
and thought it best to send reinforcements."
	Vega chuckled. He just bet that Bison had 'sent reinforcements'. Oh,
these Dolls would obey him. But Bison must have suspected something. Why send
more Dolls? Why not send someone like Balrog who was far more capable of
fighting?
	Because the Dolls were perfectly loyal. No. Vega had just been handed a
pair of watchdogs. Bison must be suspicious. Well, there was no help for it.
	"What are your orders, sir?" Juli said as she knelt in front of Vega.
Her companion knelt as well.
	Vega paused.
	"How did you find me here?"
	"Juni tracked your signature, sir," Juli informed him.
	Vega looked at the other girl. She was shorter than Juli by about half a
head, and had straw-blonde hair. She was less developed than her counterpart,
but had a certain tomboyish appeal to her nonetheless. That was understandable.
They were two of the later Doll series. Vega had screened the candidates for
that series himself. The Doll stared up at him mechanically. Her eyes were
empty. Not calm or controlled... just empty.
	"Explain," he said.
	"Juni can acquire an individual's chi signature," Juli explained. "She
can then trace their trail like a bloodhound. She simply acquired your trail at
the location of the fight you participated in yesterday and followed you here."
	Vega chuckled. He turned and walked over to the raw spot in the center
of the lawn. He knelt next to it. "Juni, come here."
	"Acknowledged." The Doll stood up and walked over to his location. She
stopped and stood over him, looming robotically. Vega wanted to sigh, but
resisted the urge. He had told Bison that not implanting a personality in her
would make her terribly boring.
	"Locate a chi signature that was here... sometime last night. It would
have had to be strong. A person capable of carrying a large rock, say about my
size, for an extended period of time."
	Juni stared down at the ground for a minute. Without seeming to change
expression at all she turned to him and spoke. "Signature acquired."
	"Can you follow it?"
	"Affirmative."
	"Then do so, at best speed."

*

	Ryouga sat down heavily and flexed his fingers. That thing wasn't that
heavy, but Nabiki had kept hounding him through the entire trip not to let it
jostle in the slightest. He glanced at it. It looked simple enough. Just a long
katana, thrust halfway up its blade into a rock about half as big as Ryouga.
	He wasn't sure he believed it was magic, much less that it granted
wishes. But Nabiki's eyes had lit up at seeing it. She had started chuckling and
rubbing her hands together. She wanted it badly.
	"So, now what?" Ryouga said.
	"Heh. Now, Ryouga, we win," Nabiki said. She walked over to his pack and
began to retrieve the items she had stored there before they left last night.
"Ukyou thinks she is very clever. She wants us to have a nice fight over this
little wonder." Nabiki pulled out a long scroll and unfurled it slightly. "Only
one thousand, two hundred and five people left to go before we hit the magic
number. Less than a week if we had left it where it was." Nabiki turned to
Ryouga and winked. "But unlike Ukyou, I am capable of lateral thinking."
	Nabiki gestured for Ryouga to help her pound some stakes into the
ground. He shrugged and did so. Now they were really getting attention. The
students of Todai, aka Tokyo University, the most prestigious school in Japan,
were staring at the two people and the giant rock that had appeared in the
middle of their school commons. Ryouga tried to ignore them as he worked.
	Once he was finished, Nabiki attached some poles to the stakes and then
unfurled a banner which she had Ryouga hold in place while she pinned it up. She
stepped back to admire her handiwork. Ryouga shrugged and did so as well. The
banner was now hanging just over the wishing sword, with the poles framing it
for all to see.
	"Test of Strength!" the banner read. And under that in much larger
kanji. "One MILLION yen to the first person to successfully pull the sword from
the stone. Ten yen per try."
	"This will be over before noon," Nabiki declared with a twinkle in her
eye as the students began to whisper and move towards them.

*

	"So this is it," Kunikida whispered as he peered around the corner. Two
aragami stood at the far end of the tunnel. They were tall, monstrous parodies
of human shapes with too many eyes and long clawed limbs. He inched his head
back and looked at his people.
	They were all here. Ready to plunge into the heart of the enemy, right
where Ukyou had told them it would be. Two points of a perfect equilateral
triangle, with the sanctuary of Susano-oh lying in the exact center of that
triangle. There had been only two possible places it could be. They had guessed
right on the first try.
	So far, everything Ukyou had told them had been the truth.
	He looked at Momiji. She was staring off through the walls of the musty,
dark tunnel. Her face was lit up from underneath. Not by a flashlight, but by
the soft blue glow of her mitama as it reacted in sympathy to whatever power
lay dormant down that tunnel. Kunikida caught her eyes and she nodded.
	He reached into his jacket and pulled out his pistol. He had never liked
guns. The weight and the cold of them always made his skin crawl. He glanced
around at the rest of his crew, making sure they were ready.
	Koume was grinning. She held a bazooka over her shoulder with one hand
and a heavy machine gun slung under her other arm. She was wearing a backpack
filled with ammunition. Ryoko was next to her. She slid back the top of her own
pistol and let it lock back into place with a soft click. She frowned and looked
up at Kunikida. Next to them, Yaegashi looked almost comically out of place. He
had a rifle, but was holding it like he had never even seen one before. When
Kunikida looked at him he gulped and adjusted his glasses with his free hand,
but nodded.
	Matsudaira was standing just down the corridor, her body half-concealed
in shadows. Kunikida squinted as he looked at her. Was she on a cellphone? Yes,
he could hear her voice just barely over the soft drip of water falling
somewhere in the distance. The woman nodded once, then snapped her phone closed
as she walked back into the light.
	"What was that?" Kunikida whispered harshly.
	Matsudaira blinked as she looked at him suddenly. She cleared her throat
and answered in a soft whisper back. "I was... leaving a message. For my son."
She paused. "In case I don't come back."
	Momiji smiled and patted the woman on the arm. Matsudaira looked down at
Momiji, her expression perplexed. Kunikida sighed. He guessed he could
understand the woman's concern.
	"Okay, everyone, on three..." He held up his gun. "And remember. Shoot
for the mitamas. If you destroy them, you destroy the aragami." Everyone nodded
as he turned back to the corner.
	"One."
	"Two."
	"Three!"

*

	The first sign that something was wrong was the people loitering outside
the gate. Stout-looking men (and the occasional woman) milling about in a
confused fashion. Normally, all shrines in Japan were open to the public. The
giant red arches that served as entryways did not even have doors. But someone
had strung a rope covered in rice-paper wards across the entryway. A small sign
hung from the rope.
	"Due to technical difficulties, the shrine is closed for today. We
apologize for any inconvenience."
	Ukyou only paused long enough to note the message before she leapt up
and over the crowd. It wasn't a long leap, but in her condition and carrying
Hotaru's weight it was a bit of a task. She landed on top of the tori arch and
looked into the shrine proper.
	It seemed like only yesterday she had been here. She and Aaron had found
this place even before they had arrived in Nerima. They had snuck into the place
in the dead of night a dozen times again after that. Always to check the roll.
They watched as the countdown to the magic number continued, slowly but surely.
	It should have been only another week. One week, and then the sword
would have been hers. Then she and Aaron could have been two people, like they
had been before. One more week...
	Someone up there was laughing at her.
	"Are you still there, Hotaru?"
	The girl didn't reply, but Aaron could feel her breath on the back of
his neck. He could feel her aura. It was troubled and turbulent, filled with
that strange deeper power that Aaron had begun to sense only recently. Hotaru
was awake, he could tell that. He really wished they had been able to leave the
girl behind.
	It had all been going so well. They had rescued Hotaru. They had driven
Vega off. In only a week... they would be cured. Ukyou was beginning to feel
like a human being again. It had felt good to be the winner again. Not fighting
for her own survival or living at the mercy of lost friends. Things had been
looking so good...
	Why hadn't they seen this coming?
	"Hold on tight for just a while longer," Ukyou told the girl on her
back. Hotaru didn't reply, but her grip tightened just a little. Ukyou leapt
into the courtyard. It was deserted. But the real action was behind the
building. She dashed across the well-kept lawn and over the roof with only three
hops.
	She knew Ranma and Akira were there before she saw them. Aaron felt
them. Them and nothing else.
	They landed and looked around. Ukyou almost dropped Hotaru. The yard was
full of corpses. She heard Hotaru make a small mouse-like sound before going
quiet. Ukyou kept her face calm as she looked at Ranma and Akira.
	Ranma was standing next to the temple. He was staring at the ground. His
hands were curled into fists. Akira was standing further out, in the middle of
the lawn. She was crouched next to a bald spot in the grass and...
	"The sword!" Ukyou gasped.
	"Gone," Akira said as she stood up.
	"Vega?" Ukyou asked.
	Akira shrugged. "He isn't here."
	"Damn him!" Ranma roared. There was a crash as he lashed out, punching a
hole a good three meters across in the wooden walls of the temple. "That
bastard!" Ranma turned around and walked into the yard. "VEGA! You said you'd be
here!" He raised his fists to the sky. "Come out and fight, you bastard! Isn't
that what you want?"
	"Ranma, we have to look at this rationally..." Ukyou began.
	"No!" Ranma shouted back. "We find him. We kill him!"
	Ukyou staggered back under the force of his words. She knelt down and
let Hotaru climb off her back. Maybe he was right? Ukyou and Aaron could see
where this was heading. They should have seen it all along.
	Vega was not the kind of opponent who ran away. Not unless he planned on
springing a trap. And Ran had been the one to take his picture. Ukyou should
have seen that! She should have been prepared!
	Ukyou grit her teeth. She clenched her eyes shut.
	(...Ukyou looked down at Ran's body and knew she was dead. She heard
Hotaru gasp behind her. She knew Ran was dead and all she could do was stare and
think...)
	No.
	There was no way she could have known. There was no way she could have
done anything. She had to believe that. She looked back up at Ranma. He was
literally seething. His aura was burning with fire chi as his rage flooded
through his body, eradicating all emotion. Ranma would fight Vega. He would
fight Vega and he would die, or he would kill the other man. That was what Ukyou
had to concentrate on now.
	"Why would he challenge us, and then not show up for the challenge?"
Akira asked to the air. She, at least, sounded more reasonable than Ranma. Her
aura was burning with anger too, but it had not filled her like it had him.
Maybe Ukyou could talk sense into her.
	"He wouldn't," Hotaru said suddenly. Everyone turned to look at her. She
was sitting on the ground, staring absently at the grass as it blew by. "He's a
monster, and he'll kill you all. He'll kill you all because you saw his true
face." Hotaru sniffed and rubbed her nose. "He will wait for you to come to him
and then he'll kill you like he did that girl and like he did these men... like
he'll do to me."
	"Hotaru?" Aaron whispered.
	"He showed me, just before you came..." She sniffled, and tears began to
leak from the corner of her eyes. "His face. He'll kill me one day, too. But
first he'll kill all of you. Just for being near me. Because of me. Because of
what I am." Hotaru looked up, her eyes searching each of them in turn. "Why?
WHY?" She was really crying now, the tears coming down in steady streams. "What
am I? What kind of monster am I that everything I touch dies? Why do monsters
fight over me? WHY!?"
	Ranma just turned away. Akira looked at Hotaru for a long time. Ukyou
stepped forward and knelt next to the girl. "I'm sorry, Hotaru."
	"Sorry?" Hotaru clenched her hands into fists and scowled at Ukyou.
"You're sorry? For holding me here? For treating me like a... like a thing, just
like him? What are you sorry for?"
	"I'm sorry this all had to happen," Ukyou said and reached down, but
Hotaru flinched away from her grasp. Ukyou let her hand fall to her side.
"Whether you believe me or not, I want to help you. I'm sorry I took you away
from your father, but he is a bad man... a sick man, who needs help. I'm sorry
that I have to take you with me now, but there is no one I can trust you with.
Kyosuke is still in the hospital and I don't know anyone else well enough to
think they can protect you."
	"You're going to him again," Hotaru said as she pulled her knees to her
chest. "You're taking me right to him."
	"Yes," Ukyou sighed. "And I'm sorry about that, too." She stood up. "The
world is harsh, Hotaru. I want to be a better person, to make this all just go
away. But I can't. All I can do is be who I am and do what I think is right."
	Ukyou turned and walked towards the place where the wishing sword had
been. Aaron had sensed the aura almost as soon as he'd gotten here, but it had
been driven from their mind. Now... now he knew what it meant. It was the
psychopower. It lingered in the air like noxious smoke and trailed off into the
distance like a scar. He glanced in the direction the power had vanished.
	It was too weak to be Bison. It had to be too weak to be Bison.
	"Vega went this way," Ukyou said. "He either has the sword, or is
chasing the person who does." She turned and looked back at Ranma. "I won't help
you kill him, Ranma, but he can NOT get his hands on that sword. He has to be
stopped."
	"You can follow him?" Akira asked.
	"Indeed."

*

	"Are you okay, Yaegashi?"
	"Don't worry about me..." Yaegashi grit his teeth and clenched his hand
over his shoulder. The blood seeped through his fingers and his face was pale,
but his eyes were focused and clear behind the rims of his glasses. "I can still
move. We have to hurry. They know we're here."
	"He's right..." Momiji gasped. The light was still shining from within
the breast of her jacket, bathing her in an eerie blue glow. Her eyes had taken
on a disturbing far-away look, and her voice seemed to be echoing slightly. "I
can feel them coming. Many angry souls closing in on us..."
	Kunikida nodded and gestured for everyone to start down the tunnel. He
paused and grabbed Koume as she started moving.
	"We need to stop them from following us more than we need to get out of
here quickly," he explained. The woman blinked at him, then a slow, happy grin
spread across her face.
	"I know just what you're thinking, boss man," she said slyly. She turned
around and dropped her machine gun to the floor with a clatter. Using her now
free hand, she levelled her bazooka at the roof of the corridor dozens of meters
down the stretch. Already Kunikida could hear the clatter and shuffle of the
approaching aragami. "Fire in the hole!" Koume roared. Her red hair snapped back
behind her as flames erupted from the back of her heavy weapon.
	Kunikida shielded his eyes as the dust and smoke thrown up by the
backblast temporarily blinded him. He could hear the low-pitched whine of the
rocket as it flew down the subterranean tunnel. The explosion was almost anti-
climactic, but the thunderous roar of the cave-in that followed was deafening.
Kunikida stumbled and fell to his knees as the shock wave raced back down the
length of the tunnel.
	He looked up as the dust cleared. There must have been fifty tonnes of
earth and rock blocking the path now. It should be enough.
	"Good enough," he barked. "Let's go!"
	Everyone nodded and started sprinting down the corridor. Yaegashi
trailed slightly behind, but Koume fell back with him and began to urge him
on... perhaps with slightly more insults and profanity than Kunikida would have
used, but it got the job done. Momiji took the lead. In fact, it was hard to
keep pace with her.
	Her eyes kept staring straight ahead and she began to take turns and
branches in the tunnels without pausing. Her feet were barely touching the floor
as she sprinted. Kunikida didn't like that. He didn't like that at all.
	Suddenly, as they turned a corner, there was a door in front of them.
Less a door really, and more a sort of organic valve... like the kind found in a
heart. It was dark purple and pulsated in the light cast by the TAC's lamps and
Momiji's radiance.
	Everyone paused at the doorway... except Momiji. She walked straight up
to it and the opening irised apart. Kunikida shouted for everyone to follow him
as he charged off after her. He almost broke his neck when the doorway opened up
a good two meters above the floor of the chamber beyond.
	The landing was harsh, but almost-forgotten training saved him from a
more vicious spill as he rolled with the impact. He grunted in pain. He could
hear Ryoko calling out his name in concern. Looking up, he saw Momiji floating
towards the floor. Her radiance had formed a bubble around her body now. Her
eyes were staring at something only she could see.
	"MOMIJI!" Kunikida roared as he climbed to his feet. He heard a grunt as
Koume leapt down beside him. Momiji landed a few meters away... and as her feet
touched the ground, the aura around her, and her far-away look, both vanished.
	"What... what is this?" Momiji asked softly.
	They were in the center of a large circular room, like the inside of
some alien flower. The green-purple walls pulsed slightly and glimmered
organically. The center of the room was a raised dais, out of which grew a short
slender stand like a weed. On top of this was a huge glowing blue seed: a mitama
as large as a human baby. A baleful blue glow, almost too bright to look into,
radiated from the mitama.
	"Susano-oh," Kunikida said breathlessly. He heard the other members of
the TAC climbing down behind him. "Step away from it, Momiji!"
	"R-right!" the girl gulped and ran back, placing herself behind Kunikida
and Koume. Ryoko stepped in front of him, kneeling and levelling her pistol at
the giant blue seed that was the incubator of a a god.
	"This is it?" Koume grinned. She pulled her bazooka into place again.
"Let's not waste time then! I'll blow that thing to kingdom come!"
	"NO!" Matsudaira cried and pushed the barrel of her weapon into the air.
"We have no idea what attacking it will do. The explosion could kill us all!"
	"We don't have time for this..." Koume began to bark back, but she was
cut off as a wet, viscous noise alerted them all to a new arrival.
	Kunikida turned his head slowly. He watched, stunned and unable to speak
as the girl stepped from the opening that had grown in the wall. Kaede. She was
dressed in long virgin white robes, and moved with an almost inhuman grace. Her
short blue hair was exactly as he remembered it. Her face, so much like Momiji's
and yet so unlike that of her fraternal twin's... it was smiling. She looked so
happy and at peace.
	"Father..." Kaede inclined her head slightly. She turned to Momiji.
"Sister..." She looked at the others in turn. "Everyone. Welcome to my home."
	"Kaede..." Kunikida said, his voice cracking. He could feel the gun
trembling in his hands.
	"You are alive!" Ryoko called out.
	"Very much so," Kaede said with a stern nod. Her smile transformed into
a dangerous frown. "Something I can't promise of the rest of you if you disturb
this sacred place."
	"Oh yeah?" Koume stepped forward and swung her machine gun into place.
"You and what army?"
	"Koume, no!" so many people screamed at once that it was hard to tell
exactly who had spoken.
	"This army," Kaede said as she raised her hand and snapped her fingers.
"Did you really think that..." She trailed off and snapped her fingers again.
"That I would..."
	"What's going on?" Ryoko whispered.
	"I..." Kunikida had no idea.
	A dark shadow appeared in the portal behind Kaede. Koume growled and
levelled her firearm at it. Kaede smiled and turned her attention back to them.
"As I was saying..."
	Everyone gasped as the creature stepped into the chamber. It was tall,
almost three meters so. It was covered in pristine white and grey armour and
looked like nothing so much as a sculpture of a human woman made out of the
parts of a jet fighter. The creature looked down at all the humans in front of
it and smiled. Then its eyes locked on the giant mitama in the center of the
room.
	"Valkyrie has located the primary objective!" it roared.
	"What?" Kaede spun in place, her robes flapping about her. Underneath
she was wearing some sort of strange outfit that Kunikida caught a glimpse of.
"Who are you?"
	"She would be my servant," a new voice said. A woman appeared, literally
fading out of the shadows behind the giant mechanical woman. The newcomer had
vibrant green hair done up in two large buns with small, thin locks dangling
from them. She was dressed in a tight black dress cut low on her chest with a
short skirt and strings that criss-crossed her bare arms and legs. Her vivid
green eyes flashed in the blue glow of the chamber. "I'm sorry none of yours
could make your summons. Valkyrie is very enthusiastic about her work, you see."
	"Who are you?" Kaede gasped. She was backing up towards the giant
mitama.
	"My name is Telulu," the woman said imperiously. She glanced over and
her eyes locked with Kunikida's. "I want to thank you for leading me straight
here, Daitetsu Kunikida. Without your help, it might well have taken me weeks of
waiting to distract her bodyguard and set up just the right circumstances for my
mission."
	"Your mission?" Kunikida asked, but there was a sour taste in his mouth.
He began to raise his arm, trying to bring his gun to bear on the newcomer, but
his arm felt like it was made of lead.
	"Yes..." Telulu laughed into the back of her hand. "I'm afraid I can't
let this girl be the Kushinada anymore." With a flick of her wrist, she gestured
at Kaede and two long green vines snaked forth like whips from her wrists. Kaede
gasped as they encircled her and snapped tight, trapping her arms and legs
together. "There can only be one saviour!"
	Kaede screamed. Black lightning was flashing from the vine whips,
running along the length of her body as her back twisted in pain.
	"Kaede!" Kunikida stepped forward. "Open fire!"
	All further words were drowned out by the hail of gunfire. Every member
of the TAC was firing, from the loud constant roar of Koume's gun as it chewed
through a long belt of bullets to the small, almost comical pops of Momiji's
little derringer. Telulu didn't even move. She didn't have to. The huge white-
grey form of the mechanical monster landed on its knees between them and her and
the lead bounced off it like rain drops.
	Kunikida gestured frantically, signalling for Ryoko and Koume to try and
flank the beast. He could easily see the horror show just beyond the giant metal
creature. Telulu was reeling in Kaede like a fish. The girl was screaming,
but her screams were lost under the roar of gunfire.
	"Valkyrie is commencing suppression fire!" the mechanical woman cried.
Her hands snapped up and her fingers locked forward. Bores opened on the ends
of them. Kunikida gasped and dove to the ground. He could only hope everyone
else did the same. The roar of the monster firing made the retorts of their
pitiful guns seem like firecrackers. He could hear bullets tearing into the wall
and rock behind him, chewing it up and causing echoing explosions. Dust and
debris began to rain down across the chamber.
	Kunikida looked up. Telulu had dragged Kaede over to her, and had raised
her hand.  Something glittered from her fingers, some sort of device. She
reached back, and then calmly shoved her hand straight into the screaming
girl's chest. "KAEDE!" Kunikida roared, but he couldn't hear his own voice. He
could only watch in horror as the woman drew back her hand, and instead of gore
she was carrying a small floating crystal. It was pink and white, formed like a
star, and glowed with an internal radiance unlike any Kunikida had ever seen
before. The soft, warm light of it seemed to echo across something precious
inside of him. He instantly knew that it was Kaede's soul. He couldn't tell how
he knew, but the certainty was so sharp and acute that there was no doubting it.
"Kaede!" he cried again.
	Heedless of the danger, he leapt to his feet and charged. He was firing.
He realised dimly that he was out of ammunition, but he kept pulling the trigger
as he screamed and ran. The green-haired witch turned to look at him. She smiled
as she looked him straight in the eye. Then she pulled the crystal up to her
lips and... swallowed it. She licked her lips.
	Momiji screamed and the room was suddenly bathed in a brilliant blue
glow. Everything faded into that blue light. Kunikida stumbled and fell to his
knees. The world had gone silent. He blinked and the glow slowly receded from
his eyes, leaving only dark spots that lingered until his vision cleared
entirely.
	Telulu was standing at the back of the chamber. Her head was thrown back
in exultation, and in her hands she was carrying the glowing blue mitama that
was the unborn Susano-oh.
	"Yes!" she declared to the sky. "Just as I suspected. The Kushinada
effect was tied directly to her soul." She looked down. "With the consumption of
her heart crystal, I have become the new Princess Kushinada."
	"Kaede!" Kunikida yelled. "What did you do to her?"
	Telulu gestured at the body lying at her feet. Kaede's eyes stared into
the sky. Unblinking. Unmoving. Her skin was pale.
	"Do not grieve. I only gave her peace."
	"You monster!" Kunikida somehow flipped a cartridge from inside his
jacket and reloaded with one motion. He was already aiming when Telulu pointed
at him.
	"Valkyrie, kill them all aside from the other Kushinada. Then bring her
to me."
	"Valkyrie confirms the command!" the monster roared. It threw its body
in front of Telulu again, and Kunikida's bullets bounced harmlessly off its
shell. He kept firing, roaring mindlessly. It wasn't supposed to end like this!
The machine-woman raised her hand and pointed it at Kunikida, her fingers
locking into place for firing again. Kunikida could feel tears rolling down his
cheeks.
	Then a weight impacted with his side. He heard the ear-shattering whine
of the monsters miniguns as they opened up. He also heard a scream. The ground
smashed into his side so hard the breath was knocked out of him and his gun was
sent flying.
	"Sir, are you alright?" Ryoko said from on top of him. But her voice was
a pain-filled hiss. He glanced up and saw her looking down at him. Her face was
drawn and pale. He saw blood drip down her arm. He could see that the back of
her jacket had vanished and her entire back was a bloody ruin.
	"Ryoko!" he shouted.
	"Dammit!" Koume roared. "Fall down and go boom, bitch!" She had replaced
her machine gun with her bazooka again. She gave a wild yell as the rocket
blasted forth. It streamed in on Valkyrie in a short arc. Valkyrie's arm snapped
up so fast Kunikida couldn't see her move. The rocket crashed into the palm of
her hand and Kunikida saw the warhead breaking and deforming around her fingers
before it mushroomed into a titanic explosion.
	The blast didn't even completely obscure the monster. It just grinned.
Koume stared in shock. There was a snap as the fingers of the beast turned into
guns again, pointed straight at Koume. He could see Telulu vanishing into the
same portal that Kaede had entered through, still cradling her giant mitama.
Ryoko had fallen unconscious in his arms.
	"Valkyrie will kill the human!"
	"STOP!"
	For a moment, everything did. All eyes turned to the far side of the
room. Momiji was standing there. The wall behind her was a blasted ruin from
where the creature's initial assault had torn it apart. The dust and wind of the
battle blew her long brown hair around her. She was staring straight at
Valkyrie, and holding her derringer to her temple.
	"Momiji, no!" Yaegashi shouted, but his voice cut off into a pained
gasp. Valkyrie just blinked at her.
	"If I pull this trigger," Momiji said, and her voice was deadly calm,
"then the power of the Kushinada will activate. All of the aragami will be sent
back into stasis! Even Susano-oh!" Valkyrie paused. Obviously it was not the
brightest of monsters, but even it could fathom that there was something wrong
with that. "Unless you let everyone here live and leave right now, I'll kill
myself! Then your master won't get her prize! The power of the Kushinada means
nothing without Susano-oh and the aragami!"
	Valkyrie stepped back. Then it slowly lowered its guns. "Valkyrie will
report back for further orders!" A high-pitched roar filled the chamber as the
jets on Valkyrie's back ignited. It spun in place and bent forward before
blasting out the still-open portal.
	Momiji stood strong for a moment longer, then slumped to her knees. Her
pistol collapsed from her suddenly nerveless fingers. Koume ran over to her.
Kunikida looked back down at Ryoko. She was bleeding so badly... but the attack
had not been deep. It looked worse at first glance than it did now. At least, he
hoped it did.
	"She needs a doctor!" he cried. "Matsudaira, get over here!"
	Everyone looked up. Yaegashi was leaning against the wall. His shoulder
was still bleeding and a piece of debris had fallen on his leg, trapping him.
Koume was holding the shivering Momiji. There was no sign of Matsudaira
anywhere.
	"Matsudaira!" Kunikida yelled again.
	"Matsudaira?" Yaegashi added his own voice. "I haven't seen her
since..."
	A cold chill ran up Kunikida's spine. "Azusa? Matsudaira!" He looked
around. But she was gone.

*

	Ukyou sprinted across the rooftops of the university. Ranma and Akira
were two steps behind her, Akira moving slightly more slowly since she was
trying not to jostle the little girl she was carrying on her back. Ukyou
tightened her grip on her staff. Her hands were slick with sweat. The heat was
only growing worse as the day continued.
	The university was packed today. Below them, thousands of students
milled about. None of them looked up to see the three shadows flick across the
roofs in the midday sun. The trail of the psychopower was growing stronger. They
were here, somewhere on campus.
	She clenched her teeth. Too many people. Too many ways that people could
get hurt.
	Then Aaron felt it. It was like a beacon. It blazed with repressed
power, hissing through his consciousness like a pressure cooker screaming in the
dark. He pulled them to a close and stared off to the side. He could feel a
large concentration of life forces off in that direction, but nothing specific
enough to pin point.
	But the beacon... it was much like the power he had felt from Hotaru,
Eudial and Pluto. Except it was different. It wasn't as... alive. It simply was.
Focused, held, bound...
	"The wishing sword..." he said softly.
	"What was that?" Akira asked as she landed. Ranma was standing there
too, but he wasn't looking at Ukyou. His eyes darted around what he could see of
the school. Looking for Vega.
	"This way!" Ukyou called and charged off in a new direction. Ranma
followed her without question, but Akira paused before she leapt off.
	They came to a large common area on the school grounds, and Ukyou saw
the booth almost immediately. Her eyes focused in and saw Nabiki standing
beneath a banner next to the sword, collecting money as a line of students made
their attempts at the sword. A long line of students.
	"Clever girl..." Ukyou muttered, leaping down, landing on the grass with
a soft thump. Nabiki wasn't going to relinquish the sword easily, and Ryouga was
with her. He had been wearing cotton in his ears when Ukyou had watched him go
last night, but now he appeared fine.
	"Nabiki?" Ranma said as he landed.
	"Come on," Ukyou shouted. "She has no idea Vega is coming!"
	"Coming?" Akira said sharply. "I don't think he's coming."
	Aaron cursed. He could feel it now. The power of the wishing sword had
temporarily driven all other concerns from his mind. Stupid. Those kind of
mistakes could get people killed.
	Ukyou turned and saw what Akira saw. Vega was standing on top of a
flagpole. The rising sun standard of Japan snapped and flickered in the hot, dry
wind beneath him.
	She heard Ranma snarl as the boy spotted Vega. Ukyou wanted to shout,
but it would do no good. Ranma was charging. What students were unlucky enough
to get in his way he jumped onto and over, sprinting across the heads and
shoulders of the crowd like they were stepping stones. Akira placed Hotaru on
the ground and ran after him.
	Ukyou took a step forward, then looked back. Hotaru was standing on the
grass, looking at her calmly. She hadn't cried since her outburst at the temple.
	Then Ukyou realised she had other problems. She snapped her head to the
side as Aaron pinpointed two psychopower signatures moving through the crowd
towards him. He spotted feminine figures in black leotards with blonde and brown
hair. He recognized them.
	"Juni, Juli..." he said with a groan. Of course, Vega didn't plan on
making this a fair fight. Suddenly the two Dolls emerged from the crowd into the
calm spot that had formed around Ukyou. The students still milled about, but
they gave Ukyou and her two provocatively-clad enemies a wide berth. Their
expressions were curious, but not worried. Not yet.
	"Hotaru, stay behind me," Ukyou said softly. Hotaru nodded and moved
behind her. The Dolls watched this impassively.
	In the distance, the students began shouting in panic. Aaron could feel
the auras of his friends flaring. Juni and Juli stepped forward, mirroring each
other's movements. Then Ukyou heard a god scream.

*

	The world was a tunnel of darkness and pain, then it exploded into hot
air and bright sunlight. Kusanagi flew across the street. A car was sent flying
as his shoulder slammed into it. He screamed, but his voice cut off as he rammed
into a telephone pole and came to an abrupt stop.
	The thick concrete pole cracked and snapped, before tumbling lazily to
the side. He could hear people screaming, but only barely over the ringing in
his ears. The coppery taste of his own green blood filled his mouth.
	An electric whine was his first warning. He was already leaping by the
time the blue lightning flashed out, passing through the tunnel his body had
plowed through the high rise. The mere passage of the blast was enough to
shatter all the windows and send a hail of razor-sharp glass into the streets.
The impact, as it struck where Kusanagi had been, created a blast so large it
flung a parked bus half a block away.
	Kusanagi gaped at the destruction below him as his leap carried him into
the air. Then the side of the high-rise burst open in a geyser of dust and
debris. Murakumo shot forth from the explosion like a bullet. His long blades
flashed out and Kusanagi roared and brought up his own. He parried the attack,
but just barely.
	The force of the impact was enough to send him careening into the
building opposite. The window he hit gave way without preamble and the desk he
crashed through only slowed him down. The floor stopped him, but dented in the
process. He groaned and stood up.
	Office ladies and salarymen were screaming and fleeing from the room. He
paid them no attention. He was staring out the window at Murakumo.
	The man was floating over the street, framed perfectly by the window
Kusanagi had blown through. That just wasn't fair. Kusanagi couldn't fly in his
battle form! But Murakumo was just laughing as he floated lazily in the air. He
had assumed his own battle form. It looked much like Kusanagi, with the same
shoulder pads, spines on the back and deformed feet. But where Kusanagi had
swept-back blades on his forearms, Murakumo had straight swords extending
forward from his wrists, and a sort of organic gauntlet over his forearm. His
eyes had become more inhuman: they were now completely black, with white specks
where his pupils should be.
	And on his chest were four mitamas, where Kusanagi had only three.
Kusanagi could see all the others glowing on the man's body. He had eight.
Kusanagi had seven. One seed. How could there be such a difference between them
because of just one seed?
	"I know what you're thinking," Murakumo called out in his disturbing and
smug voice. "But I am simply superior to you in every way. You are imperfect,
incomplete. I will give you points for sheer stubbornness, however."
	"Shut up!" Kusanagi roared. He held up his arms, flexing his blades
again. Parrying that last blow had shaved a nick out of them. "I'll find a way
to defeat you!"
	"I don't think so..." Murakumo said, almost sadly. "But I have no more
time to waste with you. I-"
	Murakumo cut off, his head snapping down and to the side. Kusanagi
grinned, ready to start his attack while the man was distracted, then he felt it
too.
	He screamed. It was like a voice was roaring in his mind. A voice so
huge and loud it blocked out all thought. And as quickly as it came, the feeling
vanished.
	Kusanagi came to his senses on his knees, his hands clenched over his
ears. What on earth was that?
	"Lord Susano-oh!" Murakumo shouted. Kusanagi snapped his head up and saw
the man flash downward. He cursed and leapt forward, falling out of the twenty-
story building without a care. The others had done something. Something big.
	Kaede! Momiji! He prayed they were safe.

*

	Ranma's foot flashed out and the metal flagpole suddenly had a leg-sized
hole cut straight through it. The pole toppled. He saw Vega flip gracefully from
the top and fly toward the ground. Ranma spun in place, kicking out at the
toppling pole and bouncing away. He bounced right past Akira and charged at
Vega.
	Vega.
	The man was waiting for Ranma when he arrived. He moved with the same
grace, the same speed as before. Ranma didn't care. He cried out in wordless,
unexpressable rage and did his damnedest to take Vega's smirking head off his
shoulders.
	Vega ducked the blow. Ranma followed him, kicking and punching. Vega
slid along the ground, kicking up gouts of dirt. Ranma flashed through them, his
body striking out as quickly as he could.
	All Ranma felt was the pumping of his heart. His breath felt acrid in
his own mouth. He didn't feel his wounds. He didn't feel tired. He didn't feel
the pain. Any of the pain. He didn't dare. Vega had to die.
	Suddenly Vega's foot connected with Ranma's jaw. Ranma grunted as he was
thrown back. He focused through the pain. He pictured Ran in his mind. He
pictured her dead eyes.
	Ranma handsprung from the ground. He saw Vega land where he would have
been. The assassin's claw flashed through the air. It brushed so close to Ranma
that the pressure of its passage tore a hole in Ranma's shirt. Ranma was
twisting even as the strike missed. His foot caught the ground and he shot
forward.
	Vega floated back, his chest unbearable millimeters from Ranma's punch.
The man laughed and snapped his hand back, trying to gut Ranma. Ranma saw Vega's
foot sliding back. He was a bit off-balance. Ranma had to strike NOW.
	Ranma could have dodged the blow, but it would have wasted the
opportunity. Instead he continued his twisting spin. The tips of Vega's claws
brushed up against his ribs rather than his gut and peeled off a shallow strip
of flesh. Ranma continued spinning, his blood arcing out, and then drew all his
momentum into a backhand blow.
	Vega took it straight in the side. He gasped in pain and was sent
flying. The grass rippled in his wake as Vega flew ten meters back before
rolling to a stop. Ranma was already moving after him.
	He didn't feel the pain.
	"Wonderful!" Vega laughed and leapt away. Ranma bounced up after him,
but he couldn't even get half of the other man's height. Vega spun in place and
bounced off the side of a building Randa hadn't even noticed was there, then
flashed off again. Ranma growled and rolled into a ball, conserving momentum
just enough to bring him to the wall of the same building. He copied Vega's
trick and was bounding after him.
	Vega landed on the ground again. "This is the battle I was waiting for,
Ranma Saotome! It appears I have truly discovered your motivation!"
	"What?" Ranma roared. He fell on top of Vega but Vega slipped out from
under him. Ranma's kick ripped a chunk out of the earth. He kicked back as
Vega came in, thrusting at the boy's heart. Ranma slipped to the side at the
last instant, and turned that into an elbow strike. Vega somehow flipped up and
over the blow.
	"Come now, Ranma," Vega said, laughing as he landed with a flourish.
"Haven't you guessed? Don't you know the real reason she is dead?"
	"Don't you mention her, you monster!" Ranma roared. He charged in again,
and his fist lashed out again and again and again. He just kept punching,
pumping his arm as fast as he could. Vega fell back under the onslaught. It was
all he could do to block the blows. But it didn't shut him up.
	"I didn't care about her, Ranma Saotome," the man said, his voice calm
even as he struggled to weather Ranma's attacks. Ranma could feel the strength
leaving his arm. He grit his teeth. Just a few more seconds! Just a few more and
Vega's guard would open! "But had I known that killing her would produce such a
spectacular battle, I would have done so weeks ago!"
	Ranma stopped. Vega slid back, his breathing fast and shallow. Ranma's
fist was still extended from its last strike. Ranma couldn't breathe. He wanted
to, but couldn't. His eyes were fixed on the end of his fist.
	Ran had died... because... because that bastard...
	Ranma's eyes drifted up and settled on Vega. Vega was chuckling. He held
up his unclawed hand and gestured for Ranma to continue the battle. Ranma's eyes
narrowed to slits. The world fell away. Suddenly there was nothing but a narrow
red tunnel and the man that had to die at the end. Ranma didn't even hear his
own wordless roar as he met Vega's challenge.

*

	Ranma was so fast! Akira sprinted to keep up, but he was flashing along
the heads of the crowd. The crowd was scrambling and screaming as they tried to
get out of his path or fell tumbling in his wake. Akira vaulted and slalomed
through the chaos. There was no way she was going to catch up to Ranma at this
rate.
	But Ranma needed her help. She grimaced and forced herself to move
faster. The crowd was shifting and tumbling like molasses and she ran through it
like a deer in a forest. Ranma couldn't fight Vega alone. He couldn't win.
	And Vega had to die. He was a monster.
	There was no other solution.
	Akira heard her brother's voice in the back of her mind. She heard him
talking to her about his battles. She remembered the starry-eyed awe she had
held for him back then. Then came the day when he hadn't come home. When her
parents had taken her to the hospital where her brother, her strong brother, her
invincible big brother, had been lying unconscious on the bed, bandages wrapped
around half his face.
	He had won the fight. He always won the fight. Everyone Akira had asked
confirmed that. Daigo had simply grown to possess a skill that seemed almost
inhuman. He never lost a brawl, he never lost a battle. His reputation grew, and
so too did the number of challengers who came looking for him. Then one of them
had taken his eye. According to witnesses, Daigo had kept fighting after that,
and put the boy through the side of the school. He had won the fight.
	But after that, Daigo never told her stories anymore. When she asked, he
just looked down at her. She was just old enough to get into school herself
then. She had even been in a few tussles. Like her brother, she had not lost.
She couldn't have lost. Daigo had looked down at her from his hospital bed and
refused to tell her the story. He had told her that fighting was pointless. He
had told her that all it brought was pain.
	He still got into fights. He still won. He had proceeded through school,
the unconquered champion. But he never talked to Akira about fighting anymore.
Any requests about the subject only prompted a lecture on the evils of it, or a
clumsy segue into another subject. The only thing they had been able to really
talk about after that was motorcycles.
	Daigo had never forbidden her from getting into fights. He had never
said a word when he heard about her brief tussles at school. But the look of
sadness in his eye when he did was enough. The fights at school stopped for
Akira, but not for her brother. He was trapped, trapped by his own invincible
reputation and talent.
	Akira hadn't really fought for years, not until Daigo had vanished one
day. Not until she had learned that only she could save him. Only she could
fight for him. That had changed everything between them, somehow.
	But now she heard Daigo's voice. It was rough and calm, filled with
brotherly affection and sadness. It wanted to know why she was doing this. It
wanted to know why she had chosen to kill. Daigo, in all his fights, even in
those that had tested his limits and cost him his eye, had never once taken a
life. He had even beaten that urge out of all the boys at his school. Gedo High
was notorious for its gang wars, but when they fought, everyone involved walked
home.
	Akira tried to block out the voice. Vega had to die because he was a
monster. He had killed Ran! He had tortured her and butchered her like a pig! He
was a wild animal that had to be put down!
	Her heart, her rage, her mind, they all told her that this was the
truth. Even if Daigo's eyes would never look at her again, she knew she had to
do this. Except...
	Akira was just pulling free of the crowd, just watching as Ranma
destroyed Vega's perch when she heard the scream. She skidded to a stop as Ranma
flashed past her, after Vega. Her eyes scanned back and she saw Ukyou.
	The young woman was screaming and clutching her ears. She had fallen to
her knees. Two girls in skin-tight black bodysuits were converging on her. The
Dolls? No, these two looked slightly different. But they must have been more of
Vega's minions.
	Akira stood, caught for a moment. Ranma needed her. But Ukyou was
injured, and unaware of the two women about to attack her.
	As the two Dolls grabbed Ukyou by the arms, Akira struck. She roared,
spinning up in a violent roundhouse kick that pulled her body off the ground.
Her foot caught the taller, brunette Doll right in the cheek. The Doll creid out
and released Ukyou as she was sent flying. Akira touched down for a fraction of
a second, then spun up with another roar and another roundhouse. The other Doll
was also caught flat-footed and sent spinning off to land on the ground a few
meters away.
	"Ukyou? Are you okay?" Akira asked as she stepped in front of the fallen
girl.
	"I'm..." Ukyou looked up. "I'm fine. It was just... something powerful
screaming through the energy of the city. But it's over now."
	"Good," Akira said with a brisk nod. "Get the hell away from here, then.
I'll deal with these two!"
	The Dolls had kicked to their feet and noted Akira. They raised their
hands and started closing in. Akira waited for them. She could handle them. She
had defeated two of the other Dolls by herself with no real problem. These two
didn't even have any weapons or fancy tricks, just their fists. She could hear
Ukyou backing off, and taking Hotaru with her.
	The crowd was running screaming in all directions. There was plenty of
room. Akira grinned, raised her gloved hand and gestured for the Dolls to make
their move. They looked at each other and then flashed forward, high and low
diving jump kicks. Akira roared and met them head on.

*

	"What on earth is going on?" Ryouga shouted.
	"I don't know and I don't care," Nabiki snapped from beside him. "But
it's driving away all our business." Ryouga glanced at her askance. She was
frowning as the crowd scattered in all directions. Her beautiful eyes flicked
across the area and finally latched on one person. "Ukyou," she hissed.
	"Ukyou?" Ryouga followed her gaze. Yep, that was Ukyou alright. She was
screaming and clutching her head as she fell to her knees. The little girl he
had saved the other day was there behind her. He hadn't gotten a chance to talk
to her then: Nabiki had dragged him off before his deafness had worn off. There
were two girls in black, almost indecently tight, bodysuits converging on Ukyou.
But Ryouga's attention was suddenly caught as he saw a flash of red spring by in
the distance.
	Ranma. He was fighting that creep Vega. He was moving faster than Ryouga
had ever seen him move. He was snarling. Vega was just backing up, doing his
best to deflect the boy's blows.
	"How did they all follow us?" Nabiki asked slowly.
	"I don't know..." Ryouga said. His fists curled and uncurled. He could
feel the intensity of the fight from all the way over here. The air was filled
with a dangerous power that he couldn't pin down. A part of him wanted to join
this fight.
	"It was a rhetorical question," Nabiki snapped. Then she sighed and
rubbed her forehead. "Four to go. Just three more people, and then..." She shook
her head. "Grab the stone. We're getting out of here."
	Ryouga glanced at the fight again. However large the part of him that
wanted to join in was, a far larger part knew it was Nabiki's. His own desires
didn't matter in the face of his overwhelming debt to her. He nodded and reached
for the stone.
	"Ryouga, drop it," Nabiki said.
	"But you just told me..."
	"Nevermind what I said!" Nabiki sighed. "We have company."
	Ryouga released the stone and it settled to the ground with a clatter.
He turned and saw Ukyou sprinting towards them. She was carrying Hotaru under
her arm. He frowned. Nabiki gestured for him to step forward. Reluctantly he
did.
	"You aren't getting the sword," Nabiki called out as Ukyou skidded to a
halt a couple of meters away. Ukyou frowned, her black lotus eyes narrowing as
she glanced at Nabiki. She put down Hotaru and rose up to her full height.
	"Nabiki, I don't think you know how important that sword is," Ukyou
said.
	"Oh yes, I do," Nabiki laughed. "But don't insult me by trying to talk
me out of this. Ryouga, if she tries anything... break her."
	Ryouga stepped between Nabiki and Ukyou. He cracked his knuckles. He
really didn't want to fight Ukyou. She was a girl, an injured girl. It wouldn't
be right. He would destroy her. "I don't want to do this, Ukyou," Ryouga
growled. "But I will if I have to."
	"If all you want is your curse cured, I can do that for you too,
Ryouga," Ukyou said calmly. "But I need that sword. If I get it, I can... I can
save things."
	Ryouga's eyes narrowed. Of course, Ukyou didn't know the truth. Nobody
knew his shame. Nobody knew his undeniable karmic debt. Against that, what did a
little curse matter? Turning into a pig with a touch of cold water was a better
curse than he deserved.
	"What kind of power does she have over you, Ryouga?" Ukyou said slowly,
curiously.
	"It doesn't matter," Nabiki said quickly. "Either back off now, or
Ryouga will make you back off."
	"Nabiki, I don't want to debate this..." Ukyou trailed off. Then she
looked over her shoulder. "Akira!" she shouted in sudden concern.
	Ryouga followed her gaze. He watched as the girl in the black motorcycle
leathers staggered back as the taller brunette punched her. The smaller girl
with the blonde hair suddenly materialised behind her like she had teleported.
The two were striking and pummelling at Akira, bouncing her between their blows
like a human tennis ball. Finally they backed off and launched a set of flying
drop kicks that caught her torso like a vice. Akira screamed and slumped to the
ground.
	"Their auras..." Ukyou hissed. "Damn. Ryouga, look after Hotaru!" Then
she was sprinting forward, her staff held out behind her.  Ryouga glanced at
Nabiki. She was frowning at the fight. He glanced at Hotaru. The girl was
looking not at that battle, but on the one taking place between Ranma and Vega
across the commons.
	Ryouga clenched his fist. He knew what Nabiki was going to say. He would
order them to leave. But Ukyou would be little help in that fight. He closed his
eyes. "Nabiki, look after the girl!"
	"What?" Nabiki shouted, but Ryouga was roaring at the top of his lungs
as he ran so he couldn't hear what followed. He flicked his umbrella open and
launched it with a flick of his wrist. Ukyou slid to the side as it passed
through where she had been, its spinning shaft carving a furrow into the lawn.
	The two black-clad girls noticed it and leapt away, both just clearing
the top of the weapon. They landed with easy grace. Akira watched as the weapon
curved around her in a tight circle, the spinning edge of the bamboo coming
within centimeters of her. But Ryouga's aim had been true, and it didn't touch
her at all. He reached out and caught it as he ran on.
	"Thank you," Ukyou said as she skidded to a halt on one side of Akira.
Ryouga came to a stop opposite her. He turned and faced the taller black-clad
girl.
	"I just... couldn't sit back and watch," he explained.
	"The newcomer is unlisted," the brunette said as she circled to join
her companion.
	"Evaluating combat power..." the shorter blonde said.
	"Don't let them touch each other!" Ukyou suddenly shouted. She stepped
forward and swung her staff down, cutting between them. The girls cartwheeled in
opposite directions. Ryouga frowned. He didn't want to fight these girls. But
they were bad guys. He could feel it. It was like the air around them was sick
with darkness.
	"Back off!" he shouted and stepped forward, swinging at the brunette.
She slipped to the side of his attack, but just barely. Her knee pistoned up and
caught him in the stomach. He grunted and backed up. He had felt that, but
only a little. With a snarl he swatted at her with his other hand. She managed
to just roll enough that a solid hit only nudged her, sending her flying into
the ground.
	"Warning, new combatant has structural reinforcement energy at 170," the
blonde said mechanically. Ryouga glanced back at her. She was dodging around as
Ukyou thrust her staff. Ukyou was moving too slow to tag her. Akira was shaking
her head and getting back to her feet.
	"I already discovered that..." the brunette said simply. She rose to her
feet, rubbing the cheek Ryouga had tagged her on. Ryouga turned to face her. He
held up his umbrella, waiting for her to make the first move. "Designate primary
target!" she shouted.
	"Acknowledged," the other replied.
	Ryouga growled. He didn't know what they were planning, but he had to
prevent it. He dashed forward and the girl charged at him, moving low to the
ground. He swung his umbrella up, hoping to catch her if she tried to jump over
him.
	His umbrella was about to connect with her chin. He grunted and tried to
pull a bit of the blow. She was supposed to dodge! He didn't want to take her
head off! A split second before his blow connected, the girl seemed to blur and
shift, the air around her rippling. Then she was gone. Ryouga's eyes widened as
his weapon swung up through empty air. Then the air blurred again and suddenly
the girl was there, but running away from him now.
	Ryouga blinked as he got a fantastic view of her behind before she
plowed to a stop and spun to face him. But this was the blonde. Where had the
brunette gone? He stood there, stunned, as the girl rose to her full height.
She clenched her fists and crossed her arms.
	"That surge of..." Ukyou said. "Ryouga! Get away from her!"
	"What?" Ryouga cried back over his shoulder. But then he felt it.
	It was a presence like nothing else he had ever felt. It was huge,
powerful and full of hate and malice. Ryouga had felt strong fighting spirits in
his time, but nothing like this! It was like someone had ripped open a hole into
hell.
	Purple flames shot out from the blonde's body. They focused and grew in
front of her. Ryouga could only stare. He wanted to move. He wanted to do
something but he couldn't. His mind had locked up. He felt like a man staring up
at the sky and watching a rocket fall from the heavens. Out of the fire he heard
a sudden burst of laughter. Loud, deep, malicious laughter. Following the
laughter there was a face, then a whole body seemed to form out of the flames.
	He was huge, almost seven feet tall. His body was a mass of muscles,
clad in a red military outfit. A blue cape flapped in the air behind him. He was
wearing a red cap with a skull and wings emblem on it, with the bill pulled down
so his face was cast into shadow. Only his burning blue eyes and the flashing
whites of his teeth were visible. Ryouga backed up a step. The power flowing
from him was staggering. But Ryouga realized he could see right through him,
like he was a ghost.
	No, not a ghost. A projection.
	"Psycho Crusher!" the man roared, and then he was flying towards Ryouga
hands first. A huge shockwave of burning blue flames exploded out in front of
him. Ryouga threw up his arms. He screamed as the flames washed over his body,
but they only singed his flesh. Instead, they shot straight through his flesh
and seemed to burn through his nerves. His brain exploded with pain; burning
blue pain.
	He felt somebody catch him. He blinked, trying to focus as the pain
slowly faded. He could hear the person holding him grunting, then fling him to
the side. He was about to protest the harsh treatment when he saw the blonde
girl fly through the air where he had been, corkscrewing feet first. He watched
Akira take the flying kick in the chest and she fell back.
	Ryouga forced one hand down and began to prop himself up. His brain
still hurt, all his nerves were on fire. He could see he hadn't even taken so
much as a singe from the assault... not that that helped any. But that
overwhelming presence was gone. He forced himself to his feet.
	"It will take more than that, to put me down..." Ryouga gasped.
	He felt Ukyou land beside him. She was holding her shoulder, and her arm
hung limply. She frowned as the blonde and brunette cartwheeled across the
lawn. They landed next to each other and posed, both thrusting an arm at the sky
so that their forearms crossed and formed an X. Akira rose to her feet,
clutching her chest and moaning softly. The sound came out eerie and distorted
as the helmet gave it a strange echo.
	"Akira... back off," Ukyou said suddenly.
	"What?" Akira gasped.
	"Go help Ranma," Ukyou said levelly.
	"Not this time!" she growled back.
	"I can handle this," Ukyou said. "I've seen how they got so strong. I
can beat them."
	"You're injured!" Ryouga pointed out forcefully.
	"Doesn't matter," Ukyou said. "But I need both of you away from here.
What I'm going to do... I don't think I can control it that well. It'll hit
everyone, friend and foe."
	Ryouga was about to argue, but then he heard Nabiki screaming.

*

	Nabiki cursed as Ryouga ran forward. He obviously wasn't listening to
her. Then she sighed and covered her eyes. She should have expected as much. The
whole reason Ryouga was so loyal was because he was such a naive idiot that he
couldn't let a girl be hurt. That was bound to come back and bite her in the
proverbial ass sooner or later. She wiped some sweat from her brow and cursed
again.
	"Ryouga..."
	Nabiki looked down. The rugrat was standing now, staring after Ryouga.
She looked concerned. To be fair, she wasn't exactly a child. She looked to be
on the cusp of puberty. Still, it was annoying to have to look after her. Not
that Nabiki really cared.
	"Hey, kid," Nabiki said as she knelt down next to her. "Wanna do me a
favour?" The girl looked at her. Her large purple eyes had a strange, mournful
quality to them... Nabiki resisted the urge to grimace. The last thing she
needed was to start feeling sorry for her. "Could you pull that sword there out
of the stone for me?"
	"Excuse me?" Hotaru said softly, obviously confused.
	"Just give it a good yank," Nabiki explained as she picked up the kid.
She grunted at the effort. The brat was heavier than she looked. Hotaru glanced
back at Nabiki, but shrugged and grabbed the hilt of the sword. She gave it a
yank. Of course, nothing happened. But Nabiki put her down with a smile. Now, if
only two more people could do that, then Nabiki could draw the wishing sword,
and make all this stop happening. "Thanks."
	"Okay..." Hotaru said, still sounding confused. Then she gasped. Nabiki
looked down at her. That hadn't been a startled gasp, or a frightened gasp. It
had been a happy gasp. Nabiki looked up. The battle was still going on. In fact,
Ryouga was being propped up by that Akira girl as Ukyou was being battered
around by one of Vega's stooges. There was nothing to be happy about happening
at that fight.
	"Daddy..." Hotaru said softly, her eyes suddenly brimming with tears.
Then Nabiki realized Hotaru was looking behind her. Nabiki turned.
	A man with white hair was walking towards her. He was smiling. His
visible eye was wide and filled with glee. The other was hidden behind an
elaborate symbol etched onto the lens of his glasses. He was wearing a long
white labcoat which billowed behind him. The air was so hot and there was barely
a breeze, yet his coat seemed to move with a life of its own. He had his hands
in his pockets.
	"Daddy!" Hotaru called again and started to step around Nabiki. Nabiki
frowned, and some instinct made her reach out and grab Hotaru's shoulder. The
girl looked up at her in surprise. Nabiki wasn't looking at her. Her eyes were
fixed on the man. There was something not right about him. Something in his
smile and his eyes that sent off the creepy alert in the back of Nabiki's mind.
	Then it hit Nabiki. She had seen that kind of expression before. Jadeite
had looked at Nabiki like that. That same smile, and the same flashing insane
eyes.
	The man pulled his hands from his pockets. He was holding a gun. Just a
gun. Not even a large one. Nabiki froze. She heard Hotaru gasp. The man raised
it, and fired.
	Nabiki didn't scream as the bullet tore through her shoulder. She didn't
scream as she tumbled to the ground. She was in too much shock. The ground
hitting her snapped her out of that and the pain hit her all at once. But she
still didn't scream. She just moaned and lay on the ground. She reached up and
clutched her shoulder.
	The man stopped over her. He looked down at her and he was still
smiling. The sun was behind his head now, but Nabiki could see his gleaming
glasses and the flash of his teeth despite the shadows.
	"Daddy!" Hotaru screamed, but she was no longer sounding relieved or
happy. "Daddy, stop!"
	"Back away, Hotaru," the man said, his voice eerily calm.
	"No, Daddy!" The girl ran up and grabbed his leg. "She isn't one of the
bad people! She isn't the one who took me away from you!"
	"It doesn't matter," the man explained. "I can't let her live. She must
die, or she'll tell the others that I took you." He glanced at the girl. "We're
going far away, Hotaru. Away from all this. I'll hide you from them. They won't
stand between us again!" His voice had grown higher and higher pitched as he
spoke, until it was a literal shriek.
	"D-daddy..." Hotaru stared up at him. "No... you can't do this...
you're not my father!"
	"Of course I'm not," the man said and turned his face back to Nabiki.
She stared up into the barrel of his gun. "And you are not Hotaru Tomoe. You are
a vessel. But I love you all the same. I will protect you, until the Messiah
inside of you awakens to cleanse this awful world."
	Nabiki screamed. Her paralysis had worn off, and she screamed. The man's
smile only brightened and he squeezed the trigger... and the end of his gun went
flying away as a yellow and black blur streaked through where it had been.
Nabiki stopped screaming. She turned her head to the side.
	Ryouga was charging. His body was covered in a nova of green light, his
hand still extended from his throw. His eyes were focused directly on the man.
His lips were pulled back in a vicious snarl. Hotaru's father was turning slowly
to face him, but it was too slow.
	Ryouga pulled his hands down to his side. The aura around him suddenly
condensed, snapping into a flickering light behind his palms. He skidded to a
halt, his feet tearing tracks in the ground. His hands started up.
	"You bastard! I'll kill you! SHISHI-"
	"NO! Don't kill him!"
	Hotaru threw herself in front of her father, her arms extended to
prevent any attack from getting past. Ryouga hand kept rising. He couldn't stop
it, Nabiki saw that. The energy of his attack, his depression, was too intense
for him to hold it back. "-HOKO-" Ryouga lifted his arms, and kept lifting them.
He pointed them skyward. "DAN!"
	The blast exploded from his palms like a depth charge. It rose into the
sky, hovered briefly like a balloon, and then fell. Ryouga had already leapt to
the side, and his attack fell into the earth. The ground heaved as the ball sunk
into it. With a final puff and a sudden draft the energy dissipated, leaving a
crater almost a meter deep.
	Ryouga was getting to his feet. He looked at Hotaru, then at her father,
then finally at Nabiki. His eyes fixed on Nabiki's shoulder. They fixed on the
gun in the man's hand, or the half of it that was still there.
	"Move, Hotaru," he said. He was beginning to glow with green light
again.
	"No!" Hotaru shouted back. "I won't let you hurt him!"
	"Hotaru, you said it yourself, he isn't your father!" Nabiki said as she
backed off.
	"I... I didn't mean it!" Hotaru was crying now. But there was something
in the air around her. "I don't care what he did! He's my father!"
	"That's right..." the man said, cackling with the light still
silhouetting his face. "If you want to hurt me, boy, you will have to go through
this girl first."
	Nabiki was aghast. Couldn't Hotaru see what the man was saying? Couldn't
she see what he was doing? He was using her as a shield. His own daughter!
	"Get out of the way, Hotaru," Ryouga repeated. His hands were clenched
into fists, and the aura around him was pressing all the grass for a good meter
around flat against the earth.
	But the man leaned down and cupped Hotaru's cheek with one hand. He
rubbed a tear from the side of her cheek. "Messiah..." he said softly. "I know
this is a strain. But you must awaken. For one moment. Just one moment..." He
began to laugh. "Just long enough to kill these fools! Just kill them, Messiah!
Then we can be together!"
	Hotaru's eyes stared forward, and they filled with shock and horror.
Nabiki felt herself sympathise. She hadn't cared much for Ukyou's explanation
that the girl was a pawn in a game far bigger than her, but looking at her now,
she couldn't help but feel bad. How would Nabiki handle this? How could anyone
handle the sudden brutal realization that your father was a monster and was
raising you to become a worse monster yet?

*

	Akira lingered as Ryouga sprinted back towards Nabiki. Aaron could feel
the power back there. More magic, if that was what the strange energy he could
now sense was. Another of the Witches 5? Likely. Maybe even Pluto and her lot.
But Ukyou couldn't afford to go help them now.
	Ryouga would do the right thing. She had to trust him.
	The Dolls were standing ready, waiting to see what happened. Aaron could
see the psychopower swirling around them. It laced through their bodies,
connecting them together like a web. Pure power. Far more than any of the other
Dolls had been capable of calling forth. They must have been reinforcing each
other somehow like a catalyst, their shared power far greater than either could
control alone.
	It made them stronger than Akira. It made them perhaps even stronger
than Ryouga. But that power would be their undoing. Ukyou frowned and clenched
her fist. Her aura was still under control. Her focus was perfect. The heat of
the day had vanished. The ground around her was covered in a thin layer of
frost. She continued focusing her power, all of it into her wind chakra. The
temperature continued to drop.
	"Akira, get out of here," she asked again, her voice like the ice she
was calling.
	"Ukyou, I won't abandon you..."
	"If Ranma dies at Vega's hands, none of this matters!" Ukyou said
levelly. "Vega will kill us all, just for the sport of it. Go. Help him. Win!"
	Akira glanced at Ukyou again, then at the Dolls. Aaron could feel the
conflict in her aura. Her rage had not vanished.
	"If not for me, then for Ran!" Ukyou shouted.
	Akira looked at her again. Then she nodded and ran away. The Dolls
watched her go impassively.
	"Proceed with primary objective," Juli said as she started forward.
"Non-lethal attacks only."
	"Acknowledged," Juni said mechanically.
	Ukyou didn't have to wait long. They were on her in a second. She
flickered to the side, avoiding Juni's initial kick and just barely ducked under
Juli's backhand. Ukyou continued like this, dodging as fast as she could,
deflecting what attacks she couldn't avoid with as little force as possible.
Juni and Juli came in like twin infernos, their motions perfectly coordinated.
	They were two halves of a whole. As one moved, the other moved to
complement her perfectly. To avoid one attack was to set yourself up for the
attack of the other. Their feints and strikes were synchronized to a level that
no human could have hoped to achieve. Keeping ahead of them was like a game of
chess, played out at the speed of sound where you had to stay fifteen moves
ahead to even have a chance.
	Yet Ukyou and Aaron were doing just that. Alone, neither of them would
have been able to survive the assault. Aaron could feel their strikes coming, he
could almost feel their intentions in their aura. Ukyou could focus and move
faster than them. It took their entire concentration to do just that. If one had
been forced to break their focus for even a micro-second, the battle would have
been over. But they didn't.
	They didn't struggle against each other. For a short time, they just let
go and worked together. One feeding perfectly into the other, depending entirely
on the other.
	They retreated and retreated, always turning back slowly. The Dolls came
at her. As the fight dragged on, they only intensified their attack. The power
they shared flared and roared. Pure aggression, pure anger linked their bodies
together. The psychopower was nothing but unbridled passion. Ukyou continued
backward, leaving a slowly closing spiral of frost in her wake.
	They couldn't doubt themselves now. They had never actually managed to
pull off this move. They had twisted it once, using the Third Circle. They had
practiced it endlessly, but then they had abandoned it.
	But now was not the time for doubt. They had to focus too sharply.
Either it would work, or it wouldn't.
	"HIRYUU SHOTEN HA!"
	The moment of truth. They stood in the center of the spiral, their fist
raised skyward. Juni and Juli were both leaping at her, from opposite sides.
They couldn't hope to dodge the Dolls' attack. The Dolls had guessed their
course, and had led them into this single unblockable strike. For a moment the
air was still and heavy and hot.
	Then the tornado came. It sprung from the earth, and Ukyou stood in the
eye of the whirlwind. She could see why the Chinese had called this a dragon
rising to heaven. It swirled and twisted around them with serpentine savagery.
It roared, a deafening animal roar like an enraged beast. The power of it was
primal.
	Ukyou lowered her arms. Aaron could feel the Dolls above them now. Their
auras were weak, fluttering on the verge of unconsciousness. But the tornado had
spat them out, almost a kilometer up. They would not much like the fall. But the
storm lingered, still fed by the swirling ribbons of the psychopower as the
tornado leeched it from the earth and ejected it into the sky above.
	The storm didn't just fade, it flashed out of existence with a
suddenness that was almost unnerving. Ukyou stood in the center of the
devastation, the one spot for almost ten meters that had not been torn or
shredded by the savage winds.
	She grinned, then fell to her knees. Her arm ached. Her body was on
fire. She had pushed it too hard, too fast. She could feel blood seeping from
several wounds that had reopened.
	She wanted to rest. She needed to rest. She had defeated the Dolls,
right? That had to be enough for one day, right?
	But Aaron had felt something change. The aura of the wishing sword, the
brilliant spike of unimaginable magical force. It had changed. It was no longer
straining or twisting like a force penned up. It was humming cleanly through the
air. It was free. No... it was READY.
	Aaron didn't know how he knew that. He just did. With a groan, Ukyou
rose to her feet.

*

	Vega ran along the side of the building, angling steadily upward. His
sheer momentum and skill carried him higher and higher in defiance of all
natural laws. Ranma rose with him. The boy was exceeding all his expectations.
He matched Vega stride for stride, his strikes never stopping.
	It was taking everything Vega had to keep ahead of him. Such a battle
was something he had dreamed about for years.
	Ranma made a small mistake: his fist went a fraction of a millimeter
too far. Vega slipped to the side, through the suddenly appearing hole in
Ranma's defense, and slashed out with his claw. Again, the boy did not dodge. He
simply leaned back, letting the tips of the claws brush across the flesh over
his heart. The blood flew out. It was beautiful! Vega was struck by the poetry
of it. And Ranma struck him.
	The blow sent him through the wall. The concrete crumbled and exploded
as Vega flew into the classroom. Pain burned in his chest from where Ranma's
fist had hit. His ribs ached. They had almost broken. Almost.
	Vega landed gracefully, balancing on the back of a chair. Ranma came
after him, down the gently sloped classroom on the tops of the desks. Vega
flipped back, kicking the chair he was on into Ranma's path. Ranma just punched
through it without stopping.
	Vega rose through the cloud of splinters. The two were moving so fast
that to them the debris was like a drifting mist. Vega's fist lashed out, and
Ranma blocked with his forearm. They exchanged five more blows, blocking and
parrying each, before the wood settled to the floor.
	Vega retreated again. He was breathing quickly. His heart was racing. He
had never felt so challenged! He felt what might have been a tingle of fear, a
small bit of doubt in the back of his mind. He might lose this fight.
	Vega laughed and backflipped, easily outpacing Ranma's attacks. The boy
growled wordlessly and followed, somehow speeding up. But Vega matched his
speed. He reached down, drawing on his reserves. Ranma's foot drifted past
Vega's face, and Vega grabbed it with one hand. The other came up, and his claw
sunk into the boy's calf.
	Ranma screamed. Vega grinned. He pulled his blade free, twisting it at
the last second so that he tore a bloody chunk from the boy's body. The boy
stumbled back, trying to balance on one leg. Vega slid forward, kicking the
boy's foot off the floor. Ranma fell backward, his body crashing through a desk
as he fell.
	Vega leapt up, twisted, bounced from the ceiling. He dove claw-first
towards the fallen boy. Ranma saw him and rolled to the side. Vega's claw sunk
into the floor. Vega laughed and slapped his palm against the ground. The floor
cracked and Vega was pushed into the air again. His feet touched the ceiling and
he pushed down, angling for Ranma's new position. Ranma rolled again, his good
leg kicking out and knocking a desk from his path. Vega only laughed again and
did the same trick.
	This time, as he descended, Ranma rose to meet him. He kicked to his
feet and thrust his fist into the air, a strong uppercut. Vega realised that the
blow was angled so that his own claw would just brush against Ranma's shoulder,
but Ranma's would catch him full in the face. Vega frowned and tried to change
his trajectory, but the speed of his assault was too fast for even him to
compensate.
	Then Ranma's leg betrayed him. He screamed as his wounded leg spasmed
under him and he fell. Vega landed, his claw sunk into the ground a centimeter
away from Ranma's throat. Vega allowed the momentum to carry his legs down, and
he rammed both knees into Ranma's gut, curling him forward.
	This time the impact was too much for the floor. It gave way around them
and in a shower of drywall and piping they fell to the next floor. Vega's eyes
widened as, even while they were falling, Ranma increased the arc of his folding
body and brought his forehead into Vega's.
	There was a sharp crack, and Vega was sent flying back. He landed
roughly, tumbling into a desk which shattered around him. He groaned in pain,
and rose slowly to his feet. He shook his right hand, dislodging a fragment of
wall that was still stuck to his claws. He could see Ranma rising across the
room. His forehead was bleeding slightly from the cut Vega's mask must have
caused. But Vega grinned. The boy could barely stand.
	Vega only realised he was standing with his back to the window when it
exploded inward. He twisted in place and a black form crashed into him knee-
first. He cried out, and was sent flying across the amphitheatre, careening down
the sloping desks and into the chalkboard. The board snapped around him.
	He slapped his hands against the wall and kept from falling. His eyes
narrowed at the black-clad figure standing on the top of the amphitheatre. Of
course, Akira. How could Vega have forgotten about her? She had been part of the
reason he had killed that girl. He chuckled.
	"Welcome to the dance," he greeted her.
	"Shut up and die!" she roared and sprinted down the aisle of the
classroom. Vega stepped away from the wall to meet her. Ranma was moving to join
them, but he was hobbling on his bad leg.
	Akira came in with a jumpkick. Vega caught her ankle and twisted it. She
was sent spiralling towards the ground. She landed on both palms. An instant
later, she pushed off and came at him foot first. He ran backward, feet
propelling him up the wall, and flipped gracefully over her attack. She hit the
wall and kicked off. Vega spun to the side as she arced past him, fist
extended.
	His claw came up, and caught her in the side. She cried out in pain as
the metal easily sliced through the thick leather and the flesh beneath. But the
cut wasn't deep. Vega watched, amused, as she landed badly. She rolled and came
up, clutching her side.
	"That was pathetic," Vega admonished. "You can do much better than
that!"
	"Damn you..." Akira hissed.
	"Your fight's with me!" Ranma roared. He grabbed the edge of a desk
and flipped himself forward. He cartwheeled through the air and came down on
Vega, axe-kicking with his good leg. Vega slid to the side and stabbed down, but
Ranma deflected the blow with a chop to Vega's wrist that sent a stinging flare
of pain up his arm. Vega backed off, barely avoiding a follow-up punch.
	"This one is much more entertaining," Vega pointed out to Akira. "Your
heart obviously isn't in this as much as I thought it would be." Vega snorted.
"Perhaps I will have to find what motivates you as well?"
	"You won't get the chance!" Akira retorted, and she charged.

*

	Ryouga grit his teeth. His hands were levelled at the madman. He could
feel the depression welling up inside him. It was like the earth was rising up
and pulling down on his body with fingers of doubt and sorrow. Every time Ryouga
caught a glance of the blood leaking from Nabiki's shoulder, he wanted to
scream. And he couldn't stop glancing at her.
	He had failed. He was supposed to protect her! He had promised to
protect her! He had failed!
	But Hotaru was between them. Her father was crouched behind her. He was
holding her kindly, almost cradling her to his chest with a fatherly hug. His
lips were near her mouth and he was whispering into her ears. Ryouga couldn't
hear what he was saying, but he could guess. Hotaru stood rigid in his grasp.
Tears streamed down her cheeks. Every now and then, a red light flickered from
behind her eyes.
	That feeling on the back of his neck warned Ryouga that he was in
danger. Something was happening, something was happening to Hotaru, and if
Ryouga didn't do something he would be in danger. But he couldn't fire. The
Shishihokodan was too indiscriminate, too large to hit the madman cradling her
and not Hotaru as well. She was small and frail, she would be hurt... maybe even
killed.
	"Professor Souichi Tomoe, you are under arrest!"
	Ryouga started. He looked up. A woman was standing behind the madman.
She was tall, older, with mussed-up black hair and wore a grey and red jacket.
She was standing with a pistol which she held to the back of the Professor's
head. The man froze. Ryouga found her very familiar, but couldn't place her.
	"Who...?" the madman said slowly.
	"Azusa Matsudaira," the woman introduced herself. "I have full authority
to arrest you, and will use this weapon if you force me to. Now, release the
girl."
	"Matsudaira?" Nabiki asked. She had risen to her feet. Her face was
contorted with pain, and she was using her good hand to prop herself against the
top of the wishing sword's stone. Then Ryouga remembered her, the nice scientist
lady from the other day. He hadn't recognised her without her labcoat.
	"Sorry I'm late," the woman said. "But I was taking care of some other
business until recently."
	The madman looked up, and Ryouga allowed more of his aura to seep into
the air. He made it clear without words how badly it would go if the man tried
to do anything stupid. The madman slowly uncurled his arms from around Hotaru
and rose them above his head. Ryouga stepped forward and grabbed Hotaru, pulling
her to him.
	She grunted, and the red light in the back of her eyes snuffed out
suddenly. She began to hiccup and sob into Ryouga's chest. Ryouga felt his
depression melt away as he held her. What was his life and his failures compared
to what she had gone through? His heart filled with a strange, comforting
warmth, and he held her gently.
	Tomoe turned and suddenly blinked as he got a good look at the woman
holding him at gunpoint. "But you're-"
	"The person holding you captive!" Matsudaira pointed out sharply,
cutting him off. The man paused at this, then began to chuckle softly, his body
quaking a bit as he did.
	"Of course, of course..." he said when his laughter receded for a
moment.
	"Ryouga," Matsudaira addressed him. "I have him under control now. Why
don't you..." She trailed off, and Ryouga spun around.
	A tornado roared in the center of the commons. It stretched down from
the sky like the finger of a god. Ryouga's mouth gaped, but he saw that the
cyclone was perfectly stationary. Ryouga took a step forward, then there was a
sudden gunshot.
	He spun back around. The Professor had collapsed to the ground. He was
staring at Matsudaira. His hand was clutching his chest. Blood welled up between
his fingers. "W... how..." he said, his voice a choking, liquid gasp.
	Matsudaira was just staring down at him, her expression impassive.
Ryouga heard Hotaru gasp, and he gently grabbed her chin and turned her face
away from the scene. He was glad he did.
	As the man lay on the ground, he suddenly started spasming. Ryouga
backed up as a bright light shot forth from his eye. The eye with the symbol on
it, Ryouga realised a moment later. Matsudaira just stood calmly, looking at
this without any visible reaction. The man spasmed again and coughed blood onto
his lips. Then there was a flash of yellow as something shot forth from the
madman's eye. It was thin, like a vine with a large bulb on the end. The bulb
had a parody of a human face painted on it, nothing more than a cyclopean eye in
the shape of a star and a red half-circle for a mouth, with a black star on its
forehead.
	The thing shot up from the man's body, then spun in the air before
landing with a crash a few meters away. A huge cloud of dust arose from the
landing, and Ryouga watched as a giant... thing climbed out of it. It was huge,
almost two stories tall, and shaped like some giant alien flower mixed with an
insect. It had a huge red bulbous body and pink petal-like things extending from
the top to frame a head made of some sort of molted green material. Two limbs of
the same material stretched from its 'neck'.
	On the ground, the man the monster had come out of spasmed once before
he fell back. The symbol had vanished from his glasses, but now his eyes were
glassy and stared lifelessly into the air. In the distance, the roar of the
tornado suddenly became muted. It seemed to have shifted so it was now just
hovering in the air somewhere. It also sounded different now... but Ryouga shook
that out of his mind.
	"Oh, Hotaru..." Ryouga moaned. He was still holding her face away, but
his tone was enough to start her screaming. She kept yelling for her father,
again and again.
	"Why do you cry, child?" the thing said in a voice like madness
incarnate. "All I did was discard that useless shell of a human body. I can find
another. This changes nothing!"
	"It changes everything, daimon Germatoid," Matsudaira said as she turned
to face the monster. The creature swung its stalk-like head to face her.
	"And who are you?" it hissed. "I never authorised this!"
	"No, I did it myself!" a new voice shouted over a sudden roar.
	Suddenly Ryouga felt the heat in the air double and a powerful wind was
blowing down. He shielded his eyes with his free hand, trying to keep his grip
on Hotaru with the other. The roar was like an engine, or a jet, and Ryouga
looked up to see that his guess was not far off.
	A huge woman made of white metal was floating in the air. From the small
of her back two thrusters emerged that pushed hot air straight down into the
ground, sending the grass billowing out in all directions. The metal woman had
what looked like a cockpit emerging from her crotch. Another woman, this one
clad in green and black with bright green hair in buns, sat on this cockpit. She
was cradling a huge blue seed in her lap.
	"Telulu!" the beast roared.
	"Of course," the woman said, laughing. "Germatoid, you have failed yet
again. Your plan was foolish. Whereas I, on the other hand, have achieved in one
day what you couldn't in four years." The woman smiled down at the seed in her
hands. "Look at it! This soul is a heart crystal, as powerful if not more
powerful than the Holy Grail! Not only that, it is alive! With my will, I can
guide this unborn god and summon Pharaoh 90. There is no need for your Messiah,
your plan... or for you."
	"Damn you, Telulu!" the creature roared and started forward. But the
woman only pointed, and suddenly the metal woman reared back.
	"Valkyrie is deploying missiles!"
	Ryouga could only stare in shock as the woman's breasts exploded from
her chest, fell past Telulu - barely missing clipping her head - then reshaped
into missiles and spun down into the beast. It roared impotently before the
explosions blew it into pieces. Ryouga shielded himself as bits and pieces of
the thing fell down across the area.
	He watched as Matsudaira walked over to where the centre of the blast
pattern, where the creature had been standing. Ryouga caught a glance of a
strange grey-ribbed egg near her foot before there was a retort from her gun and
the egg shattered. A wisp of black smoke emerged from the pieces, briefly formed
into what could have been a face, and then vanished.
	Ryouga backed up a step. He had no idea what was going on, but his
instincts told him that he wasn't finished here yet. The metal woman was
descending to the earth. She set down and knelt to allow her passenger to
disembark.
	Telulu looked around, before her eyes settled on the wishing sword.
	"Is this the sword you told me about, Azuma?"
	"Yes," Matsudaira said, her voice cold. She walked towards the sword.
Nabiki gasped as the woman shoved her roughly aside. "I can feel the magical
energy inside of it as we speak."
	"It can grant any wish," Telulu mused. Ryouga slowly put down Hotaru.
She ran over and knelt over the body of her dead father. He ignored her pain. He
started gathering his depression again. The metal creature slid to the side,
placing herself between Ryouga and the green-haired woman.
	Matsudaira reached out and gave the sword a good yank. She frowned and
released it. "There appears to be no way to determine exactly how many tries it
will take to get to one million. It could be one, or a thousand. We could take
it back to the labs and..."
	"One good try, then..." Telulu nodded and tried the sword once herself.
She shook her head regretfully. "Forget it," she said calmly. "It would be
useful to have, but I'm more concerned with somebody using it against me. Just
back away and I'll have Valkyrie destroy it."
	"NO!" Nabiki shouted, but Telulu ignored her. The metal woman turned,
taking her eyes off Ryouga.
	He struck. With a roar, he leapt and punched, throwing all his strength
and all his emotion into one blow. He didn't care about holding back against
this monster! "Shishi Hoko DAN!" he roared, and his fist exploded with green
light just as it struck the metal woman. The blast caught Valkyrie in the side
and sent her flying back. She struck the ground with enough force that her body
carved a five meter long trench in the lawn before she came to a rest.
	Ryouga landed and stepped in front of Nabiki. The two women looked at
him and backed off. But Telulu was smiling. He turned to the side and watched as
the creature slowly got to its feet. It wasn't even scratched... and it looked
mad.
	Ryouga grit his teeth. That had been everything he had, literally. He
didn't think he could produce a blow much stronger than that. Maybe if he used
the perfected Shishihokodan... but Nabiki and Hotaru were too close. And despite
appearances, the thing seemed to be alive, so he doubted the Bakusai Tenketsu
would work either. He heard a rustle behind him. Nabiki was moving, crawling
towards the sword. She was grinning. Ryouga tore his eyes off her.

*

	Aaron took in the scene with a sweep of his eyes as he ran. He noted the
magical aura permeating Matsudaira. He noted the giant mitama in Telulu's hands.
He noted the huge daimon made out of a fighter jet squaring off against Ryouga.
He noted the dead body of Souichi Tomoe and Hotaru kneeling over it, her eyes
shocked.
	But he only noticed these things in passing. His full attention, Ukyou's
full attention, fixed on the sword. It was humming in their minds. It was like
it was calling to them. Ukyou stretched out her hand.
	Nabiki was pulling herself up the stone. Her hands also reaching for it.
She knew. She knew it had reached the magic number. Ukyou poured on the speed.
She was faster than Nabiki. She could cross the five meters in the time it would
take Nabiki to reach the hilt! She had to!
	It was their salvation! No more dreams! No more lost memories! No
more...
	Ukyou's hand snapped around the blade and she smiled. Then she realised
that Nabiki had grabbed it too.
	They stared into each others eyes. Neither of them moved. Neither of
them breathed. Aaron blanked his mind, blocking out his senses. They must have
grabbed it at the same time.
	But it didn't matter. Nabiki's eyes were filled with fear. She knew that
Ukyou could take the sword from her. Tired and injured, Ukyou was still much
stronger and faster than the short-haired girl. Sweat started to form on
Nabiki's brow as the seconds stretched out.
	Ukyou could tear Nabiki's hand off the hilt. Break it off if it came to
that. Nothing could stop her from taking the sword. So what that Nabiki had
grabbed it first? So what that Aaron had felt it shifting up a little as his
palm had settled on it? It wasn't proof that she had gotten there first!
	Even if it was...
	Ukyou felt the power down inside of them. Quiet and alien and there for
the taking. She NEEDED this sword... just like she needed a solution to the
problem of the Dolls a few nights ago. It would be hers. The sword could belong
to them if they just wanted it badly enough!
	No more living as one person. They could defeat Telulu. They could bring
Ran back to life. They could do anything.
	Just... take it. That was all they had to do. Take it. It was theirs. It
had called out to them! It was their Destiny!
	Who was trying to convince who? They couldn't tell anymore.
	Ukyou closed her eyes. Aaron looked deep inside of them. The Third
Circle, its power was there... quiet inside them. Would it bend the world to
their will like this? Was that how it worked?
	And what cost? A bit of strength in desperate times had cost them so
much... how much would virtual omnipotence cost them?
	Neither one of them could tell who slowly unlaced their fingers from the
sword. They both stepped back. They both opened their eyes and watched as
Nabiki, eyes flashing with rapture, slid the sword free. She was laughing.
	Only then did Aaron see everyone else in the clearing again. They had
all stopped, all except Hotaru, and looked at the confrontation over the sword
in silence. Telulu's face contorted in surprise and rage. Ryouga's expression
was unreadable.
	"Valkyrie!" Telulu pointed. "Destroy..."
	Ukyou flung a flour bomb at the daimon. It exploded and filled the hot
air with a white cloud. The daimon squawked. The flour wouldn't delay it for
long, but Ukyou didn't need very long.
	"Snap out of it, Nabiki," Ukyou barked. "Or your victory will be very
short-lived." Nabiki nodded and turned, wincing but holding the sword aloft.
	"I suggest you get out of here," Nabiki said with a sneer. "I wouldn't
want to waste a wish on you, but I will blow your bodies to the four corners of
the globe if you make me." Nabiki chuckled. "Unless you think you can stop me
before I say a few simple words, that is?"
	Ukyou stepped around the stone, placing herself to one side of Nabiki.
Ryouga stepped back and flanked Nabiki on the other side. They both let their
auras go. They flashed and flared, Ukyou's cold aura sapping the heat from the
air, Ryouga's heavy aura causing the grass around him to wilt.
	Telulu frowned. "Very well," she said. "Consider this a draw, then." She
gestured and Valkyrie stepped forward as it rubbed the last of the flour from
its eyes. The daimon glared at Ukyou before picking her mistress up. Matsudaira
also reached up and climbed aboard. A moment later, the monster shot into the
sky.
	"As for you, Ukyou..." Nabiki said, trailing off.
	"Save it, Nabiki," Ukyou said with a sigh. "You win. Okay? I just want
to go help my friends." She let her aura die down, but slumped. She had been
pushing her injured body too much. With the adrenaline no longer flowing, it was
going to start catching up to her. Ukyou turned and looked at the university
proper. Aaron could sense the battle now. He began to walk towards it.
	"Ukyou..."
	They paused at the sound of Hotaru's voice. They glanced back over their
shoulder. The girl was walking towards them, absently wiping the tears from her
eyes. Her face was so cold and adult that it made a part of both of them want to
cry. The girl stopped a hand's breadth from them.
	"You tried to tell me the truth, to warn me," the girl said.
	"Hotaru, I... don't know what to say..."
	"I hate you for that," Hotaru said, her voice calm. "But I understand."
She reached up and touched Ukyou's hand. Aaron gasped as he felt the magic
inside her flash to life. For a moment, he thought she was attacking him, then
he saw the white light spreading up their body and felt the warmth and strength
returning to his limbs.
	A moment later, Aaron blinked as the sparkles of Hotaru's magic faded
away. He raised his hand. His strength was back, his injuries were gone. Hotaru
didn't even look tired. He gazed down at her in wonderment.
	"Go. Help your friends," Hotaru urged. Ukyou didn't need any more
prompting.

*

	The battle was not going well. Ranma was injured, the wound in his thigh
too deep and bleeding too badly to ignore. He could barely stand, and every
moment more and more of his strength bled away. Vega must have severed an
artery.
	Akira tried to make up for him. She tried to push herself, to fight at
her full strength. She knew she was always able to fight better with her helmet
on. The confidence always brimmed in her when she had that reflective sheen
between her and the world. Even the sound of her own breath echoing in the
enclosed space was familiar and comforting.
	But it wasn't enough. Vega was able to dance around her attacks. His
claw slashed out playfully, tearing at her leathers and cutting lightly into the
skin beneath. Not one of the attacks he inflicted on her were as bad as the one
he had done to Ranma, but they were adding up.
	It didn't help that with how mobile Vega was, Akira was being forced to
fight him virtually alone. The best she could do was pin him down for a few
seconds while Ranma made his way to them and struck.
	Vega leapt away from her suddenly and turned his head to the window. He
shook his head. "Ah, I think this game has to end now," Vega announced. Akira
immediately leapt away, but he was too fast.
	He snapped out one hand and forcibly yanked her hand away from her body,
then sunk his claw into her gut. She screamed as the metal pierced her. It was
pain worse than any she had felt. She had taken spills at a hundred kilometers
per hour. She had been hit hard enough to crash through brick walls. None of
that compared to this.
	All she could do was gasp and grab at Vega's wrist. He was staring into
her faceplate. From this close, he could probably see through it and get a good
look at her gasping pale face. Akira could see nothing of his face behind his
featureless white mask, except his eyes. His eyes were smiling.
	He kicked her free of his claw and she stumbled across the room,
clutching her gut. She collided with the wall and sat down hard. She couldn't
help thinking of her brother. 'All fighting does is lead to more fighting. All
it does is lead to pain.' Maybe she should have listened.
	She tried to rise to her feet, but the strength deserted her. She could
feel her energy flowing out of her body. She tried to resist it, but the wound
was deep and wide. He must have tagged an organ, something important. She
struggled to rise again, but all she got for her efforts was a scream of pain as
she bent forward.
	She hadn't been good enough.
	"I can feel your friend Ukyou approaching," Vega announced. He was
standing in the center of the room. Ranma was opposite him, slowly working his
way forward. It was unclear who exactly Vega was addressing. "She's moving at
good speed. Perhaps she can be more of a challenge? Bison was so interested in
her." He laughed. "I think that, if I kill one of you... it will really get her
in the spirit of the fight!"
	"NO! You bastard!" Ranma leapt across the room. He punched at Vega, but
Vega sidestepped with ease and kicked Ranma to the floor. Ranma grunted as he
landed, but rolled to his feet.
	"Oh come now, Ranma Saotome," Vega said with a slightly pitying smile.
"Our fight was beautiful, but even you must see it is over. You've lost too much
blood, and this young lady never really had her heart in it to begin with." He
raised his claw. "Maybe I'll let you pick, Ranma Saotome? Which of you do you
think killing will motivate Ukyou more? The girl, or you? Please tell me
swiftly. We haven't much time."
	Ranma stood silently. He looked down at his leg. He closed his eyes...
and the anger seemed to drain out of his body. All the tension, all the energy
seemed to seep down and out of him. When he opened his eyes, he was serene. His
eyes were clear of hate and pain. He smiled.
	"Me. If you want to kill somebody, kill me."
	"Ranm-!" Akira shouted, but cut off as she began coughing.
	Vega chuckled. "Very well then," the man raised his claw. "It was a
beautiful battle. I shall cherish it always. Do not regret. You are simply
slower, less experienced and less skilled then me. You are just no match for
me!"
	Vega thrust his claw right at Ranma's heart. Akira winced, either in
pain or anticipation, she wasn't sure. But she blinked, and thus missed it.
	When she opened her eyes, Ranma was standing with his hand outstretched.
His fingers were laced between the blades of Vega's claw, just touching the
razor edges but not actually being cut. His hand was clasped firmly onto Vega's.
Vega stared down at his hand in shock.
	"I am today," Ranma said simply.
	Ranma roared and with a vicious twist pulled and broke Vega's arm. Vega
screamed in pain and the sound of the bone cracking retorted across the room.
Ranma continued yelling, punching his fist into Vega's face. There was another
crack as the man's mask shattered into shards. Vega's head snapped back, blood
flying from his cut lip and nose. Ranma's hand moved like a snake, twisting and
grabbing Vega's ponytail. He yanked the man forward, even as he twisted the
man's shattered arm with his other hand.
	Akira watched, unblinking, as Ranma buried Vega's own claw in the man's
stomach.
	Ranma released his grip on the Spaniard. Vega stood there for a second,
staring at Ranma in shock. His eyes blinked once, twice. With a groan he fell
backward, toppling a chair as he crumpled. He coughed, blood flecking his lips.
Akira tried to smile bitterly, at the pain she knew Vega must be feeling. But
she could feel no real joy.
	Ranma stood there, look