[Ranma][Fanfic] Shattered Soul Chapter 8

[syi...@my-dejanews.com]

Shattered Soul VIII

"Another demon?" Soun burst into tears.

"Daddy!" Akane glared at him.

"Is everyone alright?" Dr. Tofu ran into the room. "I felt a powerful
presence a moment ago." Ranma didn't even turned his head, he was still
staring at the spot the demon had vanished.

"A demon came by Tofu-sensei." Akane told him. She waited a moment for
Ranma to start talking. After she realized Ranma wasn't going to say anything
she told the doctor everything as quickly as she could, gasping for breath by
the time she was done.

"It helps if ya' don't try and say everything in one breath Akane-
chan." Ranma smiled at her. She pulled her lower eyelid down and stuck her
tongue out at him.

"Ranma, does this mean what I think it does?" Dr. Tofu looked at him.

"Yes." Ranma seemed to get the across the point of wanting to be left
alone.

"Everyone out. You too Kasumi-chan." Dr. Tofu herded everyone but Akane
and Akana towards the door.

"But, dinner will burn!" Kasumi almost headed back to the kitchen at
the idea.

"I'm sure it'll be alright for a little while Kasumi, Ranma's not going
to take that long." He took Kasumi's hand and the two walked out.

"Father!" Akana jumped up into Ranma's arms. He grinned and held her
close for a while. Akane smiled, he was going to be a good father.

Still smiling he sat down on the couch with her. "Akane, we need to
talk." He said softly. Akane nodded and sat down beside him. "Akane... I don't
take this wrong, but I need to mark you."

"Mark me? Like someone brands a cow?" Akane did NOT like the sound of
that.

"A little. It's more like a protection thing, it means that your mine
and will protect you from other demons." He attempted to explain.

Akane thought this over for a moment. 'I don't like the idea of being
property, but I am his in a sense...' Akane frowned. "Alright."

He blinked. "Alright?"

"Alright, as in yes." Akane told him.

Ranma smiled brightly. "Hold still." He put his hand up to forehead,
recalling the ritual words. "I mark you. You are mine." His hand glowed
brightly and Akane felt a tingling. When he pulled back his hand there was a
brightly glowing red symbol which quickly disappeared. At the sight Ranma
felt an incredible sense of fulfillment. Nobody could take her now, she was
his! Unnoticed by either Akane or Ranma a similar mark had appeared Akana's
forehead. Akana laughed at the tingling sensation and pressed up against
Akane.

Akane looked at Ranma carefully. She thought she saw.. something in his
eyes a moment ago. 'Probably just my imagination.' "That's it?"

"Yeah, that's all." He smiled at her, trying to frame the moment in
his mind. Her blue dress was bathed in the fading light of day (thanks to a
nearby window), the young girl curled up next to her was without a doubt her
daughter. The blueblack hair matching Akane's perfectly. 'Now she is mine in
all ways... Except body I suppose.'

"Well, now that that's done I want to talk about something." Akane
told him, it wasn't really that bad being marked... as long as nobody else
could see it.

"And what's that Akane-chan?" He took Akana from Akane's side. "You
go outside and talk to Aunt Nabiki okay?" The little girl seemed to
understand and went out.

"Well..." Akane slid closer to Ranma. "If were already going through
all this, then why don't we get married?"

"Married?" Some of Ranma's more human characteristics took over at the
thought of the M word.

"Uh huh. You've already proposed to me, you know daddy and
Saotome-san can get us married in under 20 minutes if they got half a
chance." She grew a little uncertain. "You do still want to marry me don't
you?" Her eyes were open wide, obviously very sensitive to the coming answer.

Ranma saw this and mentally hit himself. "Of course I do." As if to
back up the statement he held her, also drawing her into a kiss. Akane's arms
wrapped around his body as they kissed, remaining there after. She smiled at
him, nearly glowing. "Let's just wait until I take care of this demon
alright?" He asked her, smiling.

She grinned. "I'm going to hold you to that, even if I have to drag you
there kicking and screaming."

"I don't think you'll have to much trouble." Ranma said. Each just
sat there for a moment, enjoying the closeness and brief time of peace. "Your
going to make a good mother." He said after some time.

"And you'll make a good father... even if you are half demon." She
laughed as he tickled her in response.

"I'll show you what a demon can do." He grinned as she bent over,
trying to keep him away from her stomach. Suddenly a lightening blot tore
through the sky and the setting sun disappeared under clouds. It was ignored
by the laughing couple.

"Are we nearly there?" A richly garbed man in a flowing blue cloak
waited impatiently, chopsticks in hand.

"Yes Master Kirin. In fact we are above the house now." A small man
pointed down to a house on the ground.

"Good, I'm sick of this flying boat." A woman scantily clad woman said
aloud.

"Silence Monlon. It is our sacred duty to purge the world of demons, no
price is too high." He scowled at her.

"Forgive me Master." She bowed her head at the rebuke.

"Always happen when we on vacation." Sighed a orange haired woman.

"I know." Kirin folded his arms around the woman. "But then again we
don't have to 'work' that often." Lychee remained silent.

"What the..." Dr. Tofu stared at the flying ship above them. Genma
looked up while walking and promptly fell into the koi pond.

Genma held up a sign ^It's Kirin^

"That man who thought Akane was his bride?" Realizing that wasn't too
descriptive he Dr. Tofu added a sentence. "With the chopsticks?"

"The one and only." Nabiki replied.

"Oh, he must be visiting Akane and Ranma!" Kasumi said brightly.

"Tell you what sis, if he's just here to visit I'll do laundry for a
week." Nabiki mentally swore as she realized there was a slim chance he might
just be visiting.

"Master! I see a child with the demons mark!" The short man pointed
down towards the earth at a short blue-black haired girl.

"Good job Ebiten. Attack!" He leapt over the rail of the ship, soon
followed by six other figures.

"They- They jumped off!!" Soun stared at the falling figures. The
figures quickly completed their decent, each landing lightly... With the
exception of a large man with a small head, who made a small crater and mini-
earthquake when he met the ground.

"Where is the one who marked you child?" Kirin faced the young girl,
she seemed familiar somehow.

The girl blinked at him in response.

"Wu, take the girl. Everyone else with me." Kirin started towards the
household. There was a blast of wind and the giant man who had gone to pick up
the girl was on the ground.

"Stay the hell away from my daughter." Ranma said in a low dangerous
tone as he took an offensive stance. He looked at them for a moment then
stood, relaxing. "Hello Kirin. I didn't recognize you." His tone was neutral.

Kirin looked at the halfling with contempt. This one had willingly
bonded. "Foul demon, how dare you speak the masters name!" Shouted a spear
holding man.

"Kirin?"

Spinning around at the sound of his name Kirin saw Akane at the door.
"A-Akane. It's been a while."

"What were you doing with my daughter?" Akane voice was still kind, but
there was the underlying threat. Kirin then saw the demons mark.

"Akane! This demon has marked you!" Kirin was in agony, how could he
kill such a sweet woman? She had nearly been his wife.

"Ranma's not a demon!" She said defensively.

"Yes I am Akane, remember?" Ranma called out gently from across the
yard. Akana stared hatefully at the Seven Lucky Gods Martial Artists from
behind Ranma, they wanted to hurt father.

"Actually your a halfling." The bearded spear carrying man said the
last word like a curse.

Ranma shrugged. "I'm not hurting anyone."

"None the less. You are part demon and must be destroyed." Monlon
strummed her lute, managing to make it look threatening.

"I don't want to hurt you. But I will not allow you to harm my
family." Ranma voice hadn't changed tone but his shadow like battle aura
appeared around him.

"But Ranma had to do it! He would have died!" Akane called out,
desperate to try and keep everyone from fighting.

"I too can vouch for him." Dr. Tofu stepped forward. "He hasn't harmed
anyone except in self defense and hasn't abused his powers." He pushed the
thoughts of his earlier 'encounter' with Ranma from his mind, Ranma had been
unstable at the time.

"Foolish simpletons! The demon doesn't reveal himself until it's too
late." Ebiten swung his fishing pole to accent his words.

Kirin's head was bowed. "I'm sorry Akane, you don't deserve to die."
There was a bright flash as Ranma's dark battle aura grew and bolts of blue
flashed through it. Akana yelled in surprise and stumbled away, running to
where the rest of the household stood (which was a good thirty feet from the
upset martial artists).

"You dare to threaten my WIFE!?" Ranma voice shook and his battle aura
doubled in size.

"Restricting Phantom Strike!" Monlon flung strings from her lute
forward but they never got past the dark shadow around Ranma. One of the
small child-like people leapt into the air and flung a small white rock at
Ranma, who quickly dodged. As the rock struck ground a large explosion of
flame erupted and a crater formed.

"You are not a match for me." Ranma's voice was calm once again. "Give
this up."

"Never! Flame Barrage!!" The spear carrying man, 'Bishamonten if I
remember right.' Ranma thought, threw his spear at Ranma.

"Tengokuno Utsuko-to!" Ranma raised his hand and as the fiery spear
exploded into several hundred smaller ones, none of which got through the
barrier. A sharp object slashed the back of Ranma's leg. He backflipped and
grabbed Ebiten by the throat. "I'm much better then before shrimp, your not
gonna take me out with cheap shots this time." Grabbing the fishing pole
Ranma snapped it with one hand while still holding onto the small man's neck.
There was a lull in the battle as the remaining Lucky Gods Martial Artists
thought of what to do next.

"Our very presence should cause the demon agony, touching us should
kill him!" Whispered Monlon frantically.

"I do not know what is happening. How could a man merge with a demon,
yet remain a unharmed by our presence?" Kirin stared at Ranma in awe. A
halfling with none of the side-effects, truly a threat.

"I've never done anything to hurt any of you. You should leave now
before I do." Ranma pressed his thumb a little harder against Ebiten's throat.

"Even if you kill him we must continue on, it is our sacred duty to
destroy those such as you." Kirin took a stance familiar to Ranma. Ranma
tossed Ebiten into the giant Wu and approached Kirin.

"I've beat you before Kirin, I can do it again." Ranma continued to
walk forward.

"A man called Ranma defeated me, not the monster before my eyes.
Besides, I have a little trick to show you. Thousand Piercing Chopsticks!"
Kirin's chopsticks launched out at the equivalent of the Amiguriken's speed.
Saying nothing, Ranma continued to walk towards Kirin dodging the chopsticks
strikes. 'Uh oh.' Kirin frantically increased the speed.

'Not bad, he would have beat me with this a year ago.' Ranma felt a
little pain as a chopstick grazed his arm. The wound healed almost instantly
just like the one on his leg had. Deciding he had enough Ranma waited
patiently, then lashed out an arm.

Kirin stopped his barrage, his chopsticks were gone. Ranma reached out
a hand and placed it on Kirin's chest. The hand was surrounded with a black
flame.

An hour later all seven of the attacking martial artists lay on the
ground, defeated. Ranma had a look of disgust on his face as he looked at
them. "R-Ranma?" Akane stepped out of the house (she had gone back in when
the chi attacks had started). Ranma was still surrounded with a deep blue
aura, tinted through with black, and his left hand was still burning with a
dark flame. "Are you alright?"

He smiled at her. "I'm fine Akane-chan." The sound of slow, steady
clapping made them all turn.

"Very nice. I haven't seen a halfling fight so well since... well
ever." The figure wore a gray business suit. Ranma recognized him.

"It hasn't been six hours yet." He said, face emotionless.

"Oh I'm not here to claim the girl, I said that I would come back for
that in six hours. But now since you've already marked her I suppose that
won't be necessary. Just give me two things and I won't even fight you at
this moment." As the man walked fully within their view they noticed a small
raven on his shoulder. He noticed their looks. "Oh, like my little friend
here? He helps me keep track of souls I collect."

"A familiar." Ranma fairly hissed.

"Yes. Although he has other forms I like this one the best. Picked up
the idea from a human no less... nicely dark human too." The man absently
petted the raven's head as Nabiki's face lit up with a I-get-it look.

"Whatever. Now just what do I have to do to get you away from here."
Ranma said flatly.

The turned to him then looked at Akane and Akana. "You've been busy
haven't you? Ah yes, the terms. First. This place," He gestured to the Tendo
property. "Will be neutral territory, no attacks may be made on it."

Ranma felt a little relieved, but was still suspicious. But it would
mean nobody could attack Akane or Akana behind his back. He nodded.

"Good." He smiled a bright, yet unwarming smile. "Second you must
release me from my promise to come back and try to take the girl back. I know,
stupid isn't it? But rules are rules and I for one enjoy this particular
physical form."

"I release you from your oath." Ranma said the words as if they were
ritual, this made the man let out a short laugh.

"Ahh... so the halfling knows his manners does he? So tell me. Just how
many people have you killed because of this girl?" As he spoke the crow turned
its eyes towards Akane.

"Two." Mentally Ranma was fighting the urge to kill this demon.

The man stared then blinked. "Amazing. Considering you had the Lust
before you bonded I would have suspected the number to be at least in the
tens." His face took on a thoughtful look. "You are quite the mystery boy.
First of all you posses the Lust. Very rare in demons, and nearly unheard of
in humans. Then you manage to fight the Lust." He looked over at Akane and
blinked again. "She's even still a virgin. How is that possible for you to
resist, knowing she isn't yours fully? Although you have claimed her in all
other ways..." He trailed off but picked up again before anyone could
interrupt. "And you seem to be in control of your body. I wonder. Just how
did you manage to destroy my brother's consciousness?"

"Time." Ranma again replied quickly with one word. This demon was
revealing far too much.

"Time? Which spirit helped you I wonder? I shall have to look into
that... Very good choice by the way. Pure soul, young, beautiful. How will
she react to you though?" He turned to Akane. "Tell me child have you ever
heard of the Dark Lust?" Akane stared at him like he was a two headed snake.
Dr. Tofu meanwhile had gone white at the start of the conversation and was
mentally thinking of the fastest way to get everyone out of harms range. "No,
of course not. Amusing... very amusing." He looked at Akana. "This child,
born of the spell. I wonder boy, does the Lust extend to her? She seems to be
sharing a soul with your mate."

"No." Ranma's arm was shaking with the effort of not attacking.

"Oh, pity. That would have been interesting. Alright. I'm done." He
silently waited.

"How did you find me?"

"The spell of course, I also sensed the other being who didn't pay the
price." He smirked.

"Will you try and claim Akane?"

"Maybe, I'm not sure yet."

"Will you try and claim Akana?"

"Yes, without a doubt on that one. Although it will be difficult since
you marked her through your mates soul."

A flash of surprise was on Ranma's face but it disappeared swiftly. "Is
there a cure to the lust?"

"None whatsoever."

"What rank are you?"

"Just above the one you merged with."

"Are you one of the seven?"

"Idiot boy! Would I even be having this conversation if I was one?"

Ranma bowed slightly.

"Very well, I'll see you later." He winked at Akana then disappeared.

"Bad thing." Akana said and glared at the spot where the demon had
disappeared from.

After a while the world began to move again. Soun and Genma were
instantly trying to find out what the 'Dark Lust' was, Akana ran up to Akane
(who hugged the girl tightly), Nabiki silently mulled over everything that had
happened, and Kasumi let out her well known phrase as she realized dinner was
burning.

Ranma finally had enough of Soun and Genma and brought his hands
together. As they touched a mini whirlwind swirled around him and the two
parents found themselves flug away from Ranma. Ranma blinked. "I was wondering
if that would work."

Akane walked up to him slowly. "Ranma?" Her voice was cautious, even a
little scared. "What's the 'Dark Lust'?" Ranma visibly flinched. Akana seeming
to sense her fathers pain walked up to him and took his hand, her 4 foot frame
just about under chest height on him.

"Are you all right Father?" Each word was pronounced slowly and with
care as Akana tried to form the unfamiliar words. Akane and Ranma both looked
at their daughter.

"You can talk?" Akane and Ranma said together.

"Yes. It's hard to learn the words but it's getting easier." The words
were pronounced a little faster this time.

"Learned? Who's teaching you?" Ranma asked, baffled. She had been here
the whole time.

"Mother." She smiled at Akane. Akane looked shocked, she hadn't been
teaching anyone anything. "I don't know how though." Akana frowned when she
stumbled over the last word.

"Must be some kinda' link or something caused by the spell." Ranma
was acting like himself again, not the cold person he was to the rest of the
world. "Oh well. Hey Akana, want some dinner? I'm sure Kasumi has gotten
something ready by now."

"I'm Akana?" The girl gave a happy smile. "I like that name." Her
words were much faster and precise. However she was learning she was doing it
fast. Ranma and Akane burst out laughing when they realized they hadn't even
told her her name.

"Sorry Akana-chan. I forgot to tell you." Ranma grinned and the family
proceeded to walk into the dojo, thoughts of the Dark Lust forgotten.

Two eyes that had watched the whole confrontation turned away. 'So he's
developed a way to create a different heat source for Hiryu Shoten Ha
technique....' Silently muttering to himself the demon disappeared just as the
fallen Seven Lucky Gods Martial Artists were rising.

Akane woke up early the next morning. Smiling at the silent warmth
next to her she snuggled up against Ranma's body and closed her eyes. 'I
could get used to this... I wonder if Kasumi had any trouble with Akana?' She
considered getting up and checking but decided Kasumi could handle any
trouble that Akana caused, not that there was any reason to think that Akana
was causing trouble. Ranma suddenly shifted his arms a little and hugged
Akane tighter against himself. Just as Akane was falling asleep again the
morning light rose through the window, hitting her eyes. Moaning a little she
tried to flip over but found Ranma was holding her too tightly for that.
'Fine, if I have to get up so does he.' She kissed Ranma full on the lips to
wake him. It didn't work. She broke it off the kiss frowning. 'It worked last
time!' Trying again she added a little more to the kiss. Ranma's started
kissing back as his eyes opened, then continued to do so even when they he
was completely awake. Running out of breath Akane tried to pull away but she
felt Ranma's mouth attempt to smile and he matched her move for move. Soon
they were at the very edge of the bed and Akane was getting dizzy when Ranma
finally broke off the kiss.

After giving her a few moments to catch her breath (well most of it
anyhow) he started covering her in kisses. "You.. should... be careful...
about... what.. you start." He said between kisses. Akane was laughing as she
half-heartedly tried to fend him off. He finally gave her a long kiss and
stopped the 'attack'.

"Ranma *gasp* no *gasp* Baka." She said weakly, smiling at him while
she made a mental note to do that more often. After a moment both got off the
bed and walked out, still dressed in the clothing from last night.

Kirin sat at the table silently as most of the household ate. Being
unable to digest any of the foods Kasumi had prepared for breakfast he was
forced to endure without. He turned at the sound of laughter coming from the
top of the stairs. Looking up he saw the halfling and Akane smiling, it all
disappeared in a flash. Ranma's head turned ever so slightly and suddenly
Kirin found himself in the air with a hand clutching his throat. Looking down
at the halfling's eyes Kirin shivered. There was no happiness or joy in this
one's gaze, only a dark coldness.

"What are you doing here?" Ranma voice was ice.

"Release me halfling!" Kirin shouted as best he could. A low growl like
sound came from Ranma's throat and the hand began to close. Then Akane caught
up to Ranma.

"Let him go Ranma-chan, he's not worth killing." She put her hand on
his shoulder.

The halfling glanced over at her and as he did so Kirin saw Ranma.
Not a halfling but the same overconfident, happy, HUMAN Ranma that he had
come to respect. His eyes lost their darkness and a light came into them,
tinged with something Kirin couldn't quite place. The blackness around Ranma
faded away and was replaced by a faint blue one, and Kirin could see Ranma's
chi go from dark to light. 'How could this be?' He thought. Then the Halfling
was back. it sneered at him and dropped him onto the floor. Kirin lay there
stunned for a moment but was quickly back on his feet. Meanwhile the whole
table idly watched the confrontation. When you'd been through it several
hundred times it started to lack interest.

Ignoring the situation Nabiki spoke to the couple. "You two spent the
whole night together huh? I can only imagine." She smirked at Akane's blush,
Ranma however was in his unemotional I-am-demon mode. She decided to give it
another shot. "Considering what you did as cats-" Ranma had jumped a good
inch into the air before he managed to get himself under control. "Whoops,
sorry Ranma." For once, Nabiki was genuinely sorry. She didn't like hurting
Ranma, or scaring him..... that much.

Kirin meanwhile was very interested in Ranma's response. 'That was
pure terror... but what too? Was it a word or the action that girl was
referring to?' He decided to experiment. "Cat." He said aloud and Ranma
visibly flinched, and was very unhappy when he recovered. Kirin found himself
off the ground yet again. After much pleading from Akane, Ranma set him down.

"What do you want?" Ranma said the words sharply.

"I came to apologize to Akane." He turned to her. "We have decided that
there is no need to kill you or the other child."

"Oh your too kind." Akane practically growled. 'What's wrong with him?
Can't he see Ranma is still Ranma?'

Kirin, who was still working on his Japanese, didn't catch the sarcasm.
"It is the least we can do." He looked back at Ranma. "We will come for you
again though halfling. Meet us in three days at the building called Furikan
High." Kirin had chosen the building because it was the easiest thing to spot
from the air. With that, he turned and left.

Akane sighed. "Why won't everyone just leave us alone?"

"I'm a trouble magnet." Ranma smiled at her.

"Mommy, Daddy!" Akane ran downstairs full speed and launched herself at
her parents. Ranma moved swiftly and caught her in the air.

"Your lucky I caught you, that could have hurt." Ranma smiled at his
daughter.

"I knew you would." Akana's voice was clear and each word was spoken
without hesitation. Ranma set Akana down.

"I gotta get in some training. I'll be back by tonight." He kissed
Akane and started out the door.

"You haven't eaten anything!" Akane called out.

"I'm not really hungry." Ranma said, and was gone. Under normal
circumstance Akane would have wanted to go with him and train, but right now
she had a feeling that he would be training with his special techniques.

"Mother?" Akana interrupted Akane's train of thought.

"Yes Akana?"

"Could you train me?" Her face was shining with hope, making her look
cute.

Akane laughed. "Okay, I'll train with you after breakfast." The two sat
down.

Ranma stood in the center of a small forest clearing. A large ball of
energy hung suspended in the air above his palm. Concentrating, he willed the
ball to grow larger. After ten minutes of this the ball had reached a size of
a large beachball. Ranma was pleased, he had never been able to keep this
much control of his chi before. His left hand became surrounded with a dark
flame as he reached up and touched the energy ball. The energy rushed back
into Ranma, giving him a rush of sorts. Ranma stood still for a moment, a
smile on his face. 'That's good to know.' he thought. Last night he had used
the same chi draining technique on the Lucky Gods Marital Artists out of
reflex.

His eyes closed and his breathing slowed. He began to draw in the
energy he felt around him, the energy he had never sensed before. This went
on for several more minutes until finally he opened his eyes. He felt the
energy inside of him, flowing through him. Curious, he jumped as high in the
air as he could... and his eyes nearly bulged out of his head. He was above
the treetops and could see Nerima to the south and far below him. Then the
ground started to rise and meet him. Not too worried he waited until the
right moment and flipped in air, feet meeting the ground perfectly. "I wonder
what else I can do with this" He said aloud. For the next hour he exhausted
himself using this newfound energy. His speed rose significantly, the
Amiguriken speed training taught him how to use it. He could now punch around
500 times a second, although they weren't quite as strong as normal. In
addition he found his endurance was about the same Ryoga's and he would put
Ryoga to shame if they ever had a strength contest.

After a moments rest he focused and drew in the energy around him,
which he now recognized as Ki. It was much easier this time, almost as fast as
gathering his chi. Using the neko-claw he lashed out at a tree a foot away and
smiled when it fell over, cleanly sliced. He brought his hands together and
tried to use the ki in a energy blast. It didn't work. He tried to be as
confident as possible, or angry, or any emotion. But it didn't work. "If
emotions don't work..." He grinned.

Instead of concentrating on emotions he concentrated purely on
gathering ki into his palms. A bright red energy ball appeared in his hands,
it grew to until Ranma felt it was the same size as his normal chi attack
then he released it. The red energy streaked away from him, barreling through
trees, bushes, rocks, and anything else that got in its way. Ranma stared for
a moment then walked up to the first tree the energy had gone through. There
was a hole about a foot in diameter in the tree. Looking through the hole he
found that the tree behind it was the same, and the rock behind that, and the
other tree, and the....

Akane spotted Ranma walking back to the house. Smiling she rose and
walked over to him. They embraced wordlessly and walked inside. "So how did
your training go Ranma-chan?"

"Very good." He said, a grin on his face.

"You should see Akana. She's already as good as an average black-belt."
Akana looked away from the TV and smiled at the compliment.

"Of course, after all she is my daughter." Akane punched him.

"Baka." She was interrupted by a loud meowing sound. Ranma's eyes
opened wide and he glanced around nervously. Akana too seemed nervous. Akane
quickly covered Ranma's eyes with her hands as she saw a small cat enter the
dojo. "Ranma, stay calm. Everything is alright." Ranma was shaking and she
knew he would go into the Neko-ken at first sight of the cat.

Akana stared at the cat as it approached her. "Gg-g-gg-et away!" She
told it. It continued to approach her. "Mother!!!" She called out.

Akane saw Akana pressed up against the couch, trying to escape the cat.
Kirin suddenly walked in the door. "Prepare to die halfling!" 'The cat worked
perfectly.' he added silently.

"Kirin?! You don't know what your doing! Get that cat out of here!"
Akane stood up as she yelled, only realizing she had taken her hands off of
Ranma's eyes when a loud meow came from beside her.

Neko-Ranma glared at the enemy. This had been one who tried to steal
his mate. A low growl started in his chest as he got into a pouncing stance.
(Note from the author: Cats do growl, try taking something they caught {ie
mouse, bug} away from them sometime.) He glanced over and saw his offspring
backed up against the couch, another cat scaring her. Parental instincts
kicking in Ranma leapt over and swiped at the cat, sending it flying against
the wall.

Kirin stared at Ranma, why was he on all fours... and growling? There
was a dull thud behind him. Kirin spun around and saw Ranma in front of
Akana, glaring at the cat Kirin had brought in. "What in the name of-" Kirin
didn't get any farther. Ranma, seeing that Akana was safe, decided to take
care of the other enemy. He launched himself full speed at the man, attacking
with one 'paw'. The only thing that saved Kirin was that Ranma wasn't going
for his head. Ranma's claws passed through Kirin's hand, slicing it in half.
Kirin was in shock for a moment as he stared at his severed fingers lying on
the ground, then he ran. Idly watching his prey run Ranma gave him a thirty
foot head start and chased after him.

"Ebiten!" Kirin called out frantically. Seeing his master frightened
Ebiten shot out with his pole, the line caught Kirin around the and hulled him
up to the ship. Ranma, seeing his prey getting away, tensed himself and
gathered in the energy around him. Then he sprang.

Monlon watched the scene before a little frightened. What could have
done such a thing to Master Kirin? She froze suddenly. What was that noise?
It sounded like a... cat? The entire ship moved a little as something
impacted with it. "What was that?" Monlon ran to the side of the ship and saw
the halfling clinging to it. It's eyes raised to meet hers and Monlon
involuntarily took a step back. Those were the eyes of a hunter, a hunter who
knows the prey can't escape. Then Ranma was onboard.

"Monlon!" Bishamonten stepped in front of her, blocking the halfling's
view of her. Bishamonten was perhaps the most spiritually attuned out of the
Lucky Gods Martial Artists, thus he had a knack for seeing aura strength. At
the moment he knew there was only one thing that could get Ranma away from
Monlon. "Monlon, don't forget me." He drew a small spear from his belt.

"What are you- BISHAMONTEN NO!!" She couldn't let him do this! But it
was too late.

"Perfect" Bishamonten raised the spear above his head. "Flame" He
lowered it to his waist. "BARRAGE!!" He turned a bright red and launched
himself at Ranma.

Neko-Ranma watched curiously as the man spoke and moved his spear
around. Then it changed and the man charged him. Ranma lowered his body
closer to the ground so he could safely intercept the charging human, then
the man burst into a pure red burst of energy. Unable to dodge the blow Ranma
felt his hair and skin burning then a spear shoved completely through his
shoulder, continuing on through his body and puncturing a lung. Hissing in
pain Ranma fell of the ship, unable to keep his footing due to the onslaught
of energy. He plummeted towards the ground with a loud yowl.

Monlon numbly stepped forward, kneeling down to pick a piece of red
armor. It was all she had left of him. "Bishamonten.." Monlon fell to the
floor and wept as Ebiten frantically steered the ship out away from Nerima.

^_^_^_^_^_^_^_^_^_^_^_^_^_^_^_^_^_^_^_^_^_^_^_

Notes from the author:

Whew, finally done with that chapter. First of all the Chi and Ki things. I
think Chi is inner energy and Ki is the other kind, but I'm not sure so if I
mixed those up you'll just have to deal with it. The whole question and
answer bit the demon and Ranma had was a very formal and required ritual (at
least in this fanfic). I'm going to have several other demon formalities more
likely then not so you might as well get used to it ^_^. And just in case any
of you got confused, Ranma is one person. There aren't two people in Ranma
(ie. the halfling and Ranma)inside of him. Ranma just acts completely
different around those he cares about compared to the cold harsh person he is
to the rest of the world.

I put the Seven Lucky Gods Martial Artists in here because I always
felt they could use a little more plot to them... and I needed to have some
action in this chapter. For those of you who are still a little uncertain,
yes. Bishamonten did a suicide final attack. The reason it went through
Ranma's shoulder and a lung was because he was on all fours, thus the spear
went through him horizontally.

I think that's about it. See ya in chapter 9.

~Syithe
ssau...@hotmail.com
http://members.xoom.com/Syithe__/

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