[OMG][Fanfic] Too Good To be True - Parts 1-8
Brett Handy
G'day Everyone..
Well it's been a while since I posted anything to RAAC - a couple of years
at least. Well - I'm going to post everything I've written in that two
year break - starting with the OMGod stuff.
I'd like to make a request that my Oh My God stories are put into their own
directory if that's possible...
******
Kasumi hummed as she chopped up the vegetables for
dinner, "Oh.. I hope I got enough for everyone", she thought
to herself. It had been exactly two years since Ranma and his
father had arrived from China, and her father had decided to
celebrate the 'happy' day that Ranma and Akane had become
engaged.
She finished the preparations quickly and left the meal
to simmer for a while, the place still needed a good clean
with the number of guests that were arriving. Everyone else
had thought that it would make problems, inviting Shampoo and
Ukyou, not to mention inviting Kuno and Kodachi. But since
she had been making out the invitations, it had seemed like
the fair thing to do.
Kasumi smiled secretively, "Maybe this will finally force
Ranma into choosing *one* fiancee", she said under her breath.
Yes, it had taken Kasumi quite a bit of planning to pull this
off, she had kept quite about whom she had invited until this
morning. Now it was too late to change anything, or call it
off. "Nothing can spoil this now", she thought to herself,
and then she began setting the extra-long table in the Dojo.
******
Unfortunately for Kasumi, she was wrong, there was one
thing that could ruin *any* feast. "What have you done?",
Kasumi exclaimed, looking at the remains of her kitchen.
Akane was standing in the middle of destruction, looking
around, "I'm sorry Kasumi-chan", she said, "I only thought
that I'd spice up the rice a little, by adding some of this".
Kasumi looked at the label, "Where did you get lighter
fluid from?", she asked, frowning.
Akane was looking at the remains of the kitchen with
dismay, "I'm so very sorry Kasumi, I'll help you re-make
everything", she promised.
A muffled gagging came from outside the kitchen window
and Kasumi paled slightly, "that's alright Akane-chan", she
said, "I'll figure out something out".
Akane left quickly, her head bowed and her expression
sorrowful. Kasumi looked around at the remains, "What am I
going to do now?", she muttered.
"Anything but let that tomboy cook", suggested Ranma,
climbing in through the window.
Kasumi looked at him with a firm expression, "Ranma, why
didn't you try and stop Akane?", she asked.
Ranma smiled, "Are you kidding, do I look suicidal?", he
said, "besides, do you think I want to sit down with Shampoo
and Kodachi for dinner?".
Kasumi frowned (something very rare indeed), "I went to
the trouble of organising this and I won't have anything ruin
it", she said, turning and stalking back out of the destroyed
kitchen.
Ranma rubbed his head sheepishly, "Maybe I carried it a
little far", he mused and then shuddered, "Never mind,
anything's better than having dinner with Kodachi". With that
he decided to go and spar with his father.
******
Kasumi sat down for a while, to decide the best course of
action. It was too late to call everyone and cancel, since
everyone was suppose to be here in a few minutes (and besides
she wanted everyone to get together and talk things out).
Her eyes bored into the small clock in the dining room,
it was ticking away down to 'zero hour' and there was nothing
that she could think of that could help.
"Hey Kasumi?", called Nabiki, walking into the room,
"Everyone will be here soon, where's dinner?".
Kasumi began to despair and she covered her eyes,
starting to cry, "Nabiki-chan.. nothing's gone right..
dinner's ruined", she sobbed quietly, then she suddenly
shouted, "IT'S NOT FAIR!!!!!".
Nabiki realised that it was *very* unusual to see Kasumi
so shaken, so she sat down beside her sister, "Come on Sis",
she said, "I'm sure we'll working something out".
Kasumi looked up hopefully, "No charge", Nabiki added
with a smile.
Nabiki picked up the phone and placed it in Kasumi's
hand, "Here", she said, "this is the name of a Caterer that
owes me a favour".
Kasumi shook her head, "No thankyou Nabiki", she said,
"I'd rather remake everything myself..".
The phone clicked and a male voice answered, "Goddess..
*AHEM* that is to say: Deity Relief Office.. I'll be right
over for an interview..", it said.
"I'm sorry", Kasumi said into the phone, "I must have the
wrong number". With that she hung up.
Kasumi tried to think how she would be able to cook
enough food quickly, when she stopped and her expression
changed to one of confusion. "Nabiki-chan?", she asked, "Did
father get a back-lit clock today?", she pointed at the
glowing clock on the wall. It seemed to glow brighter as the
seconds passed.
Nabiki frowned, "Not that I know of", she said, "I wonder
how they do that?".
Suddenly there was a bright flash of light and a slight
thump, as another person joined them in the room. "What
the....", exclaimed Nabiki, jumping behind the couch.
Kasumi just stared as the figure shook its head slightly
and looked around. The figure was wearing a shimmering blue
shirt and pants, that seemed to rustle and move, even though
there was no wind present.
He looked around the room with dark brown eyes that
looked out from under black hair. Upon spotting Kasumi he
smiled and walked forward, "Excuse me?", he asked politely,
"Would this be the Tendo residence?".
Kasumi nodded weakly, "Good", the strange fellow replied,
"Is Kasumi Tendo available to talk to?".
Nabiki had crawled out of the room by this time and was
running towards the Dojo to get help. Kasumi nodded, "I'm
Kasumi", she said cautiously.
The fellow smiled broadly, "Good, that means I can get on
with it", he said.
Kasumi looked at him apprehensively, "Oh, don't be
afraid", he said, noting her confusion, "I won't hurt you".
Kasumi didn't look reassured, "Oh, right", he suddenly
said, snapping his fingers, "I didn't introduce myself".
Taking a step or two back he drew himself up to his full
height, "I am the God of Destiny, and I am here to grant you a
wish", he intoned, impressively.
When she remained silent the God scratched his head,
"What?", he said looking at his clothes, "Is the uniform too
much?". He muttered a few words and his clothing shimmered
into a set of well-worn jeans and a black shirt.
Kasumi looked even more confused, "Well I guess that
didn't work", the God of Destiny muttered, taking a seat
opposite Kasumi, "are you gonna say anything?".
"The God of Destiny??", she asked.
The gentleman smiled slightly, "If you like you can call
me Brett".
"A god??", she asked, "Named 'Brett'?".
Brett winced, "Hey that's what my parents named me", he
replied, "it's not that bad a name".
Kasumi shook her head, "Your telling me that *your* a
god?", she asked, "And your here to grant me a wish?".
Brett looked around, "Is there an echo in here?", he
asked, smiling, "Yes, anything your heart desires".
Kasumi was dumbstruck, "A wish?", she exclaimed, "me?".
Brett smiled again, "Thats right", he said, "All you have
to do is...". Suddenly he broke off and looked around, then
he jumped up and grabbed Kasumi around the waist, hauling her
forwards and standing in the middle of the room.
"Excuse my rudeness", he said, blushing slightly, "But
it's safer here".
Kasumi was wondering what he was talking about when the
roof collapsed, several strange objects came in through the
windows and Ranma burst through the door. Surprisingly Kasumi
found herself and the strange man standing in the only place
that wasn't covered in collapsed ceiling.
"Ryouga, you stupid..", said Ranma.
"Watch where your throwing those things bimbo", exclaimed
Ukyou.
"Who you calling 'Bimbo', foolish girl", retorted
Shampoo.
"Kasumi.. my lovely daughter.. are you alright?", wailed
Soun frantically.
<Save the food>, insisted Genma-Panda, waving a sign
around.
Akane was standing slightly behind Ranma by the time the
dust settled and everyone was able to make out the figure of
Kasumi and the stranger standing unharmed in the middle of the
room. "Who the hell are you?", Ranma demanded.
Too Good to be True
An OMG (Oh My God ?) / Ranma1/2 FanFic
by
Brett Handy
Brett turned to look at Ranma, "What's going on around
here?", he asked, "Do you always greet visitors this way?".
Nabiki, who was standing off to one side nodded, "If they
appear out of thin air in the middle of the dining room we
do", she said.
Ranma was still standing in a fighting stance, "Who are
you?", he repeated firmly. Shampoo and Ukyou were flanking
him, both holding their respective weapons ready.
Brett sighed, and help Kasumi across the mangled wreckage
of the room, "There you go", he said as she made it to firm
ground.
"Thank you", Kasumi said politely, smiling reassuringly
at Ranma she added, "I don't think he means any harm".
"Let me handle this Kasumi", Ranma replied, stepping
forward and looking straight at the newcomer, "What are you
doing here and who are you?", he demanded again, trying to
grab Brett's arm.
Brett took a step back, just out of Ranma's grasp, "Oh..
sorry", he said, "My name's Brett".
"Alright", said Akane, from behind Ranma, "Then what are
you doing here?".
"Errr...", Brett began, "Well that's a little more
difficult to explain...".
Ranma took another step forward, "Well you'd better start
explaining.. or...", he began.
Brett looked at him dubiously, "Or??", he encouraged.
Ryouga, who had moved up behind Brett, clicked his
knuckles, "Or you're going to get hurt", he finished.
Brett held up his hands, "Hey, I don't like violence", he
said, "All I want to do is talk to Kasumi".
"Hold Knave!", shouted Kuno, stepping in front of Kasumi,
"You shall not prevail against the forces of light, even as
the sorcerer Saotome suggests, you may not approach the
innocent Kasumi Tendo, on my life as a Samurai I swear you may
not touch her".
Brett looked at him curiously, "You got all that in once
sentence?", he said, "I'm impressed".
Kuno, who was drawing another breath (let's face it - if
he didn't he'd be unconscious), raised his sword and charged
at Brett. Not really bothering to fight back, Brett simply
sidestepped Kuno's attack, he seemed to be moving before Kuno
had even decided he was going to attack.
Kuno rammed into Ryouga, sending them both back into the
nearly destroyed dining room, completing the destruction by
hitting one of the remaining house supports. Kuno and Ryouga
received what was left of the roof, right on their heads.
Brett looked at them and winced in sympathy, "Ohhh... that's
gotta hurt", he said.
Brett stepped passed Ranma (who was too busy laughing at
Kuno and Ryouga) and placed a hand on Kasumi's shoulder. Then
after mumbling a few words and making a gesture or two with
his hands, a shimmering shield appeared around the two of
them.
"Kasumi!", shouted Akane, running up and banging on the
shield, ineffectually.
"My daughter!", wailed Soun, frantically jumping from
foot to foot.
******
Inside the sphere there was one confused God. "I don't
believe it", muttered Brett, "My first bloody mission...". He
then noticed Kasumi huddling against one side of the sphere,
obviously a little startled.
"Oh", he said smiling, "Sorry about that, but I didn't
want to get beaten to a bloody pulp, I'm sure you can
understand".
Kasumi nodded, a bit more confident at his friendly
attitude, "How did you do that?", she asked testing the shield
with her finger.
Brett sighed, "I think I already explained that", he said
with a wry grin.
He sat down on the grass, leaning up against the shield,
"So.. back to your wish", he said encouragingly.
Kasumi frowned, "I'm sure I couldn't think of anything",
she said, also sitting (although she kept her distance).
Brett nodded, "I know exactly what you mean", he said,
laughing, "When I got my choice of wish... I got 'drafted'".
Kasumi's eyes opened wider (how does she do that...),
"You had a wish?", she asked, "I thought Gods granted wishes,
not got them".
Brett shook his head, "I'm not exactly a *typical* god",
he said, "I started out as a guy that just happened to wish
for something unusual".
Kasumi smiled, "It looks like you got a good wish", she
said.
Brett grimaced, "Well it's been mostly good", he said,
thinking of Urd and her sisters. Then he remembered Nilthar
and all the problems he had caused, "But there have been a few
hick-ups...", he added after a moment.
Kasumi sat back and nodded, "Well life doesn't turn out
the way you expected", she said, "I never expected to have to
take care of the family, but after mother died....".
Brett looked at her sadly, "I'm sorry", he said.
The conversation paused until Kasumi thought of something
that she noticed earlier, "How did you know that we were going
to be safe where we were standing in the dining room?", she
asked
Brett smiled, "One of the fringe benefits of the job", he
said, "I can see possible threats in the future and then
change things".
"You can see the future?", she asked, amazed.
"Well not really accurately", Brett explained, "Threats I
can usually see, but most of my ability is in the dreams that
I have".
Kasumi clasped her hands in front of her, "That must be
wonderful", she enthused, "To be able to see the future..."
Brett nodded, "It's nice sometimes.. but it drives my
girlfr... Ahhh.. Urd crazy", he replied, smiling.
"You have a girlfriend?", Kasumi asked, looking
interested.
Brett nodded, "Well I suppose I could call her that, her
name's Urd", he said, "We sort of started out as friends and
things went from there".
Kasumi smiled, "That's a good way to start", she agreed.
Brett laughed, "It was almost the way it ended too", he
said, "She wasn't exactly truthful with me at the beginning".
Kasumi frowned, "I'm sorry to hear that", she murmured.
Brett smiled, "But that's ok, we worked things out".
Kasumi lowered her head sadly, "I'm afraid that I'm not
so lucky in love", she said.
Brett shrugged, "Well I'm sure that someone as beautiful
and good as you are, is destined to meet a great guy", he
commented, looking her up and down, "In fact I'm almost
certain of it".
Kasumi's smile was radiant as she accepted the
compliment, "Thank you for saying so", she replied, "But I
think I'm doomed to end up an old maid".
Brett tapped his finger against his head, "Remember", he
said seriously, "You've got a wish due you, that could help".
Kasumi nodded, "I'm sure it would", she said, "But I'd
feel bad forcing anyone into anything".
Brett frowned and rubbed his chin, "Well I can see where
that would be a problem", he said, "But don't worry I think
something can be worked out".
"Thank you", Kasumi said smiling wistfully, "Urd must be
a lucky girl... I wish that I had a boyfriend as supportive as
you...".
Brett winced, "*I* wish you hadn't said that", he said,
closing his eyes and waiting for what he was sure was going to
happen next.
******
Ranma was pacing around the sphere, they had tried
everything, digging under, getting on top, it was impossible
to get inside. "They've been in there for almost half an
hour", Ranma observed as he continued examining the sphere.
They had tried battering it with everything they had,
even Happosai's bombs only made the shield shimmer slightly.
"My daughter..... My daughter.....", Soun wailed pacing
aimlessly back and forth around the sphere.
"What are we going to do?", Akane wondered out loud,
echoing everyone's thoughts.
The wind seemed to rise, swirling around the shield and
whipping about the branches of the old cherry tree. In a few
seconds it had grown in intensity and Ranma found it hard to
stay upright. "What's going on!??!", he shouted over the
shriek of the wind.
Everyone else was too busy holding onto the ground to
answer him. Then as suddenly as it started the wind stopped.
Ranma looked around at his friends, they were all picking
themselves off of the ground. Amazingly there appeared to be
no damage to the house and everything looked the same as
before the wind had arrived.
"What the hell was that?", Ryouga wondered, looking
around bemused.
A moment later his question was forgotten as the shield
convulsed and then broke apart like shattered glass,
disappearing as the shards scattered. Inside was Kasumi,
completely unharmed and smiling happily.
Along side her stood the stranger, he seemed to be a
little tired, till he noticed the ring of people with
dangerous looking weapons surrounding him, "Ahhh... look I can
explain..", he began, standing a bit straighter.
Kasumi nodded, "It's alright", she said, "Brett just
wanted to talk to me for a while".
"Please Kasumi!", begged Soun, "Step away from him".
Brett looked around apprehensively, "I don't want any
trouble", he said, "But I'm not will to be beaten up for my
principles". Suddenly he held a thin sword in his hand and
crouched into something resembling a fighting stance, "En
Guard", he announced.
Kuno took that as a challenge and stepped forward, "So
the sorcerer has become swordsman", he pronounced loudly, "You
foolish knave, prepare to be vanquished by the might of
Tatewaki Kuno!".
"So tell me", Brett said in a conversational tone, "Do
you make those up yourself or do you have a group of failed
writers that supply them?".
Kuno charged, striking as quickly as he could. Brett
parried and blocked, stepping backwards as Kuno advanced, but
never striking back. The moved across the courtyard until
they reached the outer wall, "Are you getting tired yet?",
Brett puffed as he continued to parry and dodge.
"Not in the slightest", Kuno replied, "I am Tatewaki
Kuno, captain of Furinkan High School's Kendo team, I do not
tired easily".
Brett sighed, "Well I do", he said, "And in fact your
putting me to sleep". And with that he parried a thrust, spun
and rammed the hilt guard of his blade into Kuno's skull,
hard.
Kuno stood for a moment, looked at Brett seriously and
then mouthed, "That didn't hurt", before falling unconscious
to the ground.
Brett sighed, "Well I hope your head's thick enough that
you're not seriously hurt", he commented.
******
I shuddered to think how many braincells I'd just killed
in the poor guy's head, god knows he needs every one that he's
got. Looking up I saw to my dismay the rest of my opponents
advancing towards me, looking rather upset. "Please", I
practically begged, "I don't want to fight you".
A young lady with short black hair and a large mallet,
frowned, "Looks like your getting off on the wrong foot then",
she said, indicating Kuno. I don't know why but she seemed to
be a bit familiar.
I stuck the epee into the ground and stepped back, "I'm
sorry, but *he* attacked *me*", I replied.
Kasumi stepped in front of Ranma and the young girl,
"Brett doesn't mean any harm Ranma", she said, "He's here to
help me".
Ranma looked at me strangely, "Your a cook?", he asked
remembering the destroyed kitchen and meal.
I didn't know what was going on, but I nodded, "Oh yeah,
I can cook", I said.
The young girl looked at me curiously, "Have we met
before?", she asked, fingering the mallet.
I thought back, suddenly remembering the girl I had run
into on one of my 'training trips' while I was learning to
travel. Since I had caught her while she was changing, I
didn't think I needed to remind her of our previous encounter.
"We might have", I allowed, "Have you ever been to
Australia?".
Before she could answer, Kasumi stepped forward and
grabbed my hand, "If you'll all excuse us we've got some
dinner to prepare", she said, dragging me into the house.
"But... But how..", Ranma began looking over to where the
shield had been, "How come...".
To my surprise a Panda struck the guy in the head with a
sign, I managed to make out <Shut up - I'm hungry>, written on
it.
I followed Kasumi into the kitchen, it was a mess, broken
cooking utensils and destroyed equipment. I shuddered, "What
the hell happened here?", I wondered out loud.
Kasumi, who had lost her smile, looked at me sadly, "My
sister Akane is not very good at cooking", she admitted.
I looked around, there was not way we were going to get
any work done until we cleaned up the mess. I frowned, "OK,
time to get down to business", I said.
Kasumi looked at me strangely as I began whispering a
spell and gesturing at the room. She gasped as the broken
dishes and bowls jumped off the floor and mended themselves,
going back into the correct cabinets. The repair of the stove
and microwave took a little longer, but was no less
spectacular and in minutes we stood in a perfectly clean room.
She ran a finger over the counter, "It's even been
polished", she noted.
I slumped against the doorframe, a little bit tired from
the effort. I'd have to thank Belldandy for teaching me that
particular spell. With a sigh I forced myself to an upright
position, "Well let's get started", I said.
******
Somehow I managed to keep going throughout the
preparation of dinner. I think that the thought of all those
hungry maniacs outside was all the encouragement that I
needed. Kasumi's energy seemed to be boundless as she raced
around the kitchen. I'd never seen anyone, with the possible
exception of Belldandy, as adept in the kitchen as she was.
"Thank you for the help Brett", she said gratefully, "I
wouldn't have been able to get this finished on my own".
I nodded weakly, "That's alright", I replied, "But I
don't think I've ever had to cook quite so quickly before".
Kasumi smiled, "I'm used to it, living here", she said.
Grabbing up one of the platters of food I gestured for
her to proceed me out the door, "Ladies first!", I encouraged.
To be honest I wasn't sure if I'd be attacked the moment I
left, so I needed some running room.
We walked outside and into what Kasumi called 'The Dojo'.
Now I've always been able to pick up the general feel of a
room full of people and to say there was an 'undercurrent of
hostility' would have been a massive understatement. If the
Jacksons had a family reunion it's atmosphere would have been
more friendly.
Helping Kasumi serve out the food I noticed that there
seemed to be several little groups forming. The young guy
named Ranma seemed to be constantly surrounded by three of the
girls, while he himself seemed to be spending most of his time
teasing the girl named Akane for some reason or another. The
two older gentleman were quite comfortable sitting at one end
of the table, each gulping down their helpings ravenously.
That left a trio of young men (one of which I'd fought
earlier) sitting together.
I quickly dished out their meals and made to leave, but a
hand on my arm stopped me. I looked down to see that the guy
that I'd knocked out earlier was looking at me curiously,
"What manner of man are you that you fight so well, yet you
would degrade yourself by performing menial tasks that no
*warrior* should have to bother with?", he asked expansively,
"You are certainly no Samurai"
I pulled my arm away, "I'm a guest that lends help when
the lady of the house needs it", I replied. Then getting into
it I decided to continue my little speech, "Is it not the
obligation of every true Samurai to aid those in distress and
help in any way possible?".
Kuno frowned, "You speak the truth, however I Tatewaki
Kuno would never stoop so low as to dirty my hands in such
effort", he replied.
I shrugged, "How little you value your own code then", I
said, turning and walking away.
Kuno's mouth worked silently for a moment or two and then
he decided that he was hungry and began eating. Kasumi began
dealing out drinks for everyone, so I decided to finish my
rounds, passing a plate to a girl that introduced herself as
Nabiki. She was quite attractive, but there was a glint in
her eye that made me a bit cautious.
"Here you are", I said, placing it in front of her.
"Thank you", she said, "I saw you trying to talk to Kuno
before?".
I nodded and she shook her head, "Don't bother, I've been
trying to talk some sense into him for about a decade, no
success yet".
I smiled at that and shrugged, "It never hurts to try", I
replied.
Nabiki took a small taste of her meal and nodded, "That's
very good", she said, "Kasumi's outdone herself this time".
I nodded, "Yes, she's a fine cook", but then I couldn't
keep the amusement out of my voice as I added, "Actually *I*
made that particular dish".
Nabiki looked at me cautiously, "So jumping out of clocks
isn't your only ability?", she asked.
I began to sweat a little, "Err... what do you mean??", I
asked.
She nodded, "I just bet you don't know anything about
it", she said sarcastically, "Just like you don't know how to
form a forcefield or change the weather".
I began to get nervous when I noticed that the other
conversations around the room had stopped and everyone was
watching and listen to us. "Well the forcefield thing is...
well... umm.... a...", I began.
"It's a Ki-Shield", said Kasumi helpfully.
Everyone (including me) looked at her questioningly and
she nodded, "It's like some of those moves that Ranma and
Ryouga use", she explained, "But defensive rather than used
for attack".
I didn't have any idea what she was talking about, but I
nodded, "That sounds pretty close", I agreed hastily.
Everyone was looking at Kasumi strangely, "Are you
alright Sis?", asked Akane.
Kasumi shrugged and continued to serve drinks, "Just
trying to help", she said.
Nabiki gave me a long look, "I'm sure", she said, before
turning back to her meal. I had the feeling that this young
lady would be a problem.
******
I sat beside Kasumi as dinner began, getting an
explanation of what was going on. According to her, this was
suppose to be a celebration of Ranma and Akane's engagement.
I winced as Akane punched Ranma in the jaw for a comment
he'd made about her attempt to help with dinner. "JERK!", she
said, calmly beginning to eat her meal again.
I frowned at Kasumi, "They're engaged??", I asked, "They
look more like they hate each other".
Kasumi nodded, "Oh they didn't agree to the engagement,
Daddy is forcing them into it", she explained.
I opened my eye's in shock, "That's horrible!", I
exclaimed.
Kasumi shrugged, "It's a matter of honour", she said.
I swallowed back my response and concentrated on
understanding the people around the table, Ranma seemed to be
getting lots of attention from the other girls at the table
with him, "Who are they", I said quietly, indicating Ukyou and
Shampoo.
"They are Ranma's other fiancees", she said.
"Other fiancees?", I echoed.
She nodded and then proceeded to tell me the story of how
Ranma had acquired the other girls. I shuddered as Kodachi
began laughing at something or other, "And what's her story?",
I asked.
Kasumi sighed, "She's a raving psychotic who's fixiated
on Ranma", she replied.
I shuddered, "That guy must have been beaten with an
unlucky stick", I said, "I've never heard anything even
remotely like this before".
Kasumi shrugged, "After two years you tend to get used to
it", she replied.
Dinner continued, with the occasional fight or two, until
late that night. I was only just keeping my eyes open by the
time the last of the guests left. A hand on my shoulder
brought me back to reality and I looked up to see Kasumi
standing over me, "Come on", she said, "We had better find you
a place to sleep".
I nodded weakly, transporting myself now would have been
a big mistake. I got up and followed her into the house,
heading upstairs.
She knocked on a door and got a muffled "What'd ya want",
from inside.
I followed her in and saw Ranma stretched out on the
floor beside a large Panda. "What's *he* doing here?", Ranma
asked sleepily.
Kasumi pulled a blanket out of the cupboard, "He's
sleeping here for tonight", she replied.
Ranma sat up and looked me carefully in the eye, "Do you
snore?", he asked bluntly.
I shook my head, "Nope", I mumbled and then looked at the
Panda, "Does *he* bite?".
Ranma smiled slightly, "Only if you wake him suddenly",
he replied, "Or have food hidden on your person".
Kasumi gave me a blanket and said goodnight, retiring to
her own room. I laid down comfortably and closed my eyes. A
few minutes later a hand shook my shoulder and I heard a
whispered, "Are you awake".
"No", I replied, keeping my eyes shut.
"Come on, I just wanna talk", came Ranma's response.
I sighed and rolled over to face him, "Yeah?", I asked
sleepily. Then I noticed that the Panda was also sitting up
looking at me. I scrubbed at my eyes, "What do ya want?".
Ranma looked at me closely, "You don't look like a
martial artist", he commented.
I nodded, "I'm not", I said bluntly.
Ranma and the Panda exchanged a glance (I was too tired
to recognise the significance of this), "You must be a martial
artist if you can use your Ki to form attacks", Ranma
insisted, "So what have you studied".
I sat up slowly, "Right now I'd like to be studying
'sleep and it's effect on the body'", I said, "But I've never
studied martial arts before".
Ranma still looked confused, so I continued, "I guess you
could say that I've picked up a few abilities over the years
that *resemble* the tricks that Kasumi said you are capable
of".
"But can you teach them?", Ranma asked hopefully.
I shook my head, "I don't think you'd be able to learn
what I can teach", I replied. Then noticing his outraged
expression I held up my hands defensively, "Hey.. it's not
that you couldn't learn them, but you've got to be a 'unusual'
person to *use* them".
The Panda grunted and laid down to get some more sleep
and Ranma laid back down too, "Ahh well", he said, "We'll talk
more about it tomorrow". While I'd have liked to have
continued talking to him, sleep overcame me.
******
A hand touched my shoulder, "Brett", said a female voice,
"Time to get up".
I rolled over, "G'way Belldandy, I'm still tired", I
replied sleepily.
"He's almost as bad as Ranma", said another voice from
somewhere on the other side of the room.
That woke me up quickly. I sat up and looked around,
remembering where I was. Kasumi was looking at me with a
happy smile on her face, "Good morning!", she greeted me.
"Good morning to you too", I replied, working my way
slowly to my feet. I looked over to where Akane was kicking
Ranma into consciousness and winced sympathetically.
Ranma rolled with the kick and came up into a fighting
stance. Unfortunately he rolled right over the large Panda
who took exception to being woken up. Ranma disappeared out
the window with a sign plastered against his chest that read
"Let sleeping Pandas lie!".
I heard a splash from outside followed by a woman's
scream. I closed my eyes and shuddered, this place was a
total madhouse and I was trapped here. Well I was trapped
until I could come up with a way out of that wish Kasumi had
made.
"Oh don't mind Ranma and his father", Kasumi said, "They
do that every morning".
"You must go through a *lot* of windows around here", I
replied.
I heard a voice from outside the window, "You *UNCUTE*
tomboy!!!", it was a female voice I hadn't heard before.
Akane ran to the window, "PERVERT!!", she shouted,
jumping from the window.
I ran over to the window and looked down to see Akane
chasing a red-headed girl into the Dojo, "Was that another
example of the 'morning routine' around here?", I asked
Kasumi.
She nodded, "I've made some breakfast if you would like
some", she said.
I smiled, "That's great, but I thought *I* was suppose to
be helping *you*", I replied. We walked downstairs and into
the living room (now also being used as a dining room, till
the workmen repair the damages of yesterday) and Kasumi
gestured for me to take a seat at the table, "Everyone else
will be here soon", she said, "Feel free to start if you're
hungry".
Since I was feeling hungry after yesterday I dug straight
in, polishing off my meal quickly. Just after I'd finished a
red-headed girl walked into the room, she had a large bruise
covering one side of her face and was dripping wet. I stood
and bowed to her, "I don't think we've been introduced", I
said, "The name's Brett".
She nodded, "Sure", she said, slumping down on the other
side of the table, rubbing the bruise tenderly.
I frowned, "How on earth did you get a bruise like
that?", I asked.
The girl looked at me angrily, "That macho chick did it
to me", she replied.
"The who??", I asked, not understanding the reference.
"The UNCUTE tomboy...", she said shortly.
"Huh?!", I replied.
"AKANE DID THIS TO ME!!", she finally shouted at me.
I held up my hands, "Hey don't get upset", I said. I
walked around the table to her and examined the bruise, "Would
you mind if I had a look at that?", I asked.
"You a doctor?", she asked hopefully.
I shrugged, "Nope, but I do have some skill at healing",
I replied.
She grunted an affirmative and turned her head so I could
get a better look. I touched it gingerly and she hissed in
pain, "Sorry", I muttered.
Checking around to make sure no one else was around I
quietly began whispering a minor healing spell. The girl
startled at the flash of light and rolled away from me coming
into a fighting stance on the other side of the room. I
smiled, "That should help", I explained
The red-head touched the side of her face carefully,
noticing no pain she moved to a mirror. "How did you do
that?", she asked.
I shrugged, "Just a talent", I replied.
The rest of the family took that moment to appear, all
sitting around the table. I re-took my seat and looked
around, someone was missing, "Where's Ranma?", I asked.
Nabiki looked at the red-head sitting beside her, "Well
actually", she began.
The red-head clapped a hand across Nabiki's mouth, "He's
gone for a morning run", she explained.
I smiled at her, "By the way, you never introduced
yourself", I pointed out.
"I'm Ran... ko", she said brokenly.
I nodded, "Ranko it is then", I said smiling.
I noticed the strange looks around the table and looked
at the family indignantly, "WHAT??", I asked.
They all shrugged as a group and went back to devouring
the meal. The meal lasted for a few more minutes, everyone
enjoying it immensely. After it was finished and everyone had
sat back contentedly, Kasumi spoke up, "Brett will be staying
with us for a while", she announced.
"What are you talking about?", Soun asked, "I've already
got to support two freeloaders and three daughters, I can't
*afford* adding another to the list".
I frowned at him, "Mr Tendo", I began, "I am quite
prepared to work for my board".
He looked shocked, "You would?", he asked hopefully.
I smiled, "Never let it be said that I 'freeload' off
anyone", I replied. Ranko winced slightly at my statement and
the Panda seemed to suddenly be occupied with eating as much
as possible.
Ranko was looking at me strangely, "Why are you
staying?", she asked.
"Errr... Ummm... well...", I glanced at Kasumi and she
shrugged.
"Ahhhhh", Mr Tendo said knowingly, "You're here because
of Kasumi".
Not really knowing what else to do I nodded,
"Excellent!", he said, "You look like a fine young man and if
you turn out to be as good as your word.. I'll be happy to let
you marry my little girl".
My jaw dropped and my eye's bugged out, "Marriage?", I
asked.
He nodded, "Consider yourselves engaged!", he proclaimed.
Then tears came to his eyes and he began crying happily, "Now
we can have a double-wedding!", he said happily
Everyone finished up their meals and left the room, with
the exception of Kasumi. I looked at her in shock, "I don't
believe this place, I come here for a simple 'wish granting',
next thing I know I'm engaged to marry someone I just met...",
I broke off at the expression on her face.
"Oh.. I'm sorry, I didn't mean it that way..", I said
lamely, "It's just that I've already got a girlfri....".
"What's wrong", Kasumi asked, noticing the expression of
mixed fear/horror on my face.
"Urd's gonna kill me", I concluded.
"I still don't know why *I've* gotta show him around",
Ranma complained loudly to Kasumi.
Kasumi gave Ranma a little smile, "Because unless he gets
to the market, there will be no dinner tonight", she
explained.
"Hey.. slow down mate", Brett complained, as Ranma
dragged him from the Tendo Residence, towards Nerima's
shopping district.
"Hurry up", Ranma ordered, "The sooner I show you were to
go the sooner I can get back home".
Brett shook his arm loose, "Look I appreciate the help,
but I'd really like to keep my arm from being torn off", he
complained, massaging his shoulder.
Ranma shrugged and jumped onto the fence, "Just keep
moving then", he said.
"Why are you doing that?", Brett asked, watching Ranma
walk along the top of the thin fence.
"I just like to", Ranma replied, "It helps me keep my
balance".
Brett nodded, "I guess that would be important for a
Martial Artist", he observed, "But it sure makes it hard to
carry on a conversation".
Ranma gave Brett a glance, "What do you want to talk
about?", he asked.
Brett scratched the back of his head, "Well how about
what that Panda was doing in your room last night?", he asked.
Ranma shrugged, "He didn't want to sleep outside", he
replied shortly.
"Urrr.. ok", Brett began, "To put it another way.. What
are you doing with a Panda as a pet?".
Ranma shrugged, "He's not mine", he responded.
Brett and Ranma walked quickly to the market and spent
about half an hour shopping for things that Kasumi needed for
making dinner. Ranma basically stood around looking bored
while Brett picked out the food to bring back.
"That should do it", Brett said finally.
"Good", Ranma replied, "You can find your own way back,
I've got something important to do".
With that Ranma took off in a rush, obviously overjoyed
at being relieved of his 'babysitting' duties. Brett sighed
and continued back towards the Tendo Dojo. About five minutes
later he noticed a cloud of dust rising into the air behind
him and frowned, "What on earth??", he wondered, moving over
to the side of the road.
A few seconds Brett saw a rather small old man running up
the road, he was carrying a large sack of what appeared to be
women's undergarments. Across his face he wore a black mask
that covered only his eyes. But he was not the one making the
dustcloud, it was the thirty or so women chasing him that were
responsible for that.
"Ahhh my lovelies, I've liberated you all to be with me",
the old man cackled happily.
Brett watched the old man approach, the women were
shouting something about 'Thief, Pervert, Old letch!!", and
other generally unpleasant terms. The old man saw Brett
standing beside the road and noticed the bag full of food.
"Yum!", he shouted, "I tend to get hungry after such a
successful raid". And with that he headed straight towards
Brett.
Brett looked around nervously, trying to find some way to
escape. Seeing none he placed the bag on the ground and
raised his arms, "I don't think you want to do that", he
called to the old man.
"YOUNG WHELP!", the old pervert shouted, "You think *you*
can stand against the mighty Happosai?!?! Fool, prepare to be
trampled!!".
Brett completed the spell he was casting and calmly
picked up the bag. About 3 feet from Brett a shimmering wall
appeared, Happosai didn't have time to stop and hit it at full
speed.
A resounding *CLANG!* echoed across the city and Happosai
fell from the shiled, unconscious. Brett winced and dispelled
the shield, "You ok?", he asked.
"P... P.... panties", Happosai responded.
Brett shook his head at the old man and then noticed that
the mob of women were approaching quickly. He stepped back
quickly as they proceeded to pound Happosai into the ground
and retrieve their respective clothes.
"Are you with him?", one of the angry women asked Brett
suspiciously.
Brett nervously backed up a step, "No.. I'm just an
innocent bystander out doing the shopping", he replied.
The woman looked him up and down, "Alright then", she
said. A moment later the women left, trampling Happosai one
more time for good measure. Brett shook his head and
continued on his way home.
Happosai came into consciousness about an hour later, and
spat out the dirt he'd swallowed. He had one image in his
head, that young upstart who'd made a fool of him would pay...
*******
I returned to the Tendo's place, still amazed that the
old man had survived such a vicious attack. Depositing the
food in the kitchen I noticed a note from Kasumi, it read:
'I've gone to return some books to Dr Tofu, be back soon'.
I nodded, wondering who 'Dr Tofu' was. The workmen had
finished their repairs on the dining room earlier that
morning. I was stunned at how quickly they'd repaired it.
When I asked one of the workmen, he'd just shrugged and
replied, "It's become a routine repair job", he said, "So we
know exactly what has to be done and what to bring along".
I walked outside and into the Dojo, where I heard someone
practising. I knocked on the door and got a 'come in' from
inside.
Inside I saw Akane crouched over a pile of cinder blocks,
she seemed to be concentrating very hard. A moment later she
brought her hand down, splitting three of the four down the
middle.
"Damn!", she swore, "I thought I had it that time".
I gaped at her, "That's incredible!", I said, "You're
splitting cinder blocks???".
She shrugged, "I'm trying to split all four of them", she
said, "But no such luck yet".
I noticed a small black pig, sitting watching her, "And
who's this?", I asked curiously.
Akane smiled and picked up the little piglet and hugged
him, "This is P-Chan", she said.
I nodded and scratched the pig behind the ears, "G'day P-
Chan, I'm Brett", I said, introducing myself.
The pig didn't seem to like me very much, because it
squirmed around nervously. Akane smiled and placed it back on
the floor near where she was practising, "I thought Ranma was
suppose to be showing you around", she said.
I shrugged, "Well he said he had something important to
do so I came back by myself", I explained.
Akane frowned, "Ranma doing something 'important'??", she
mused, "Nope, doesn't sound right.. there are only to
important things to Ranma; Marital Arts and his stomach".
I watched as she hurried from the room and back inside to
change. Glancing at the pig, who seemed to be watching her to
I shrugged, "Hey, what am I suppose to do?', I asked it
defensively, "I don't know Ranma well enough yet to judge if
he's telling the truth or not".
P-Chan grunted and made a 'bwee' sound. I smiled, "You
don't like Ranma much then I take it?", I asked.
The pig nodded and I looked at it in amazement, "You are
certainly an intelligent pig", I observed.
P-Chan grunted and walked outside and headed for the main
house, probably looking for Akane. I shrugged and continued
my inspection of the Dojo, it looked pretty nice, if a little
well-worn. A moment later P-Chan re-appeared from the back
entrance of the Dojo and grunted in disappointment.
I looked at him, "Lost?", I asked.
The pig nodded again, so I grabbed him by the collar,
"Your looking for Akane?", I asked.
It grunted affirmatively and I tucked it under my arm,
ignoring it's struggles, "Stop squirming or I won't take you
to Akane", I ordered.
P-Chan stopped struggling and I walked back inside the
main house, to find Kasumi had returned from her delivery and
was busy making dinner. She smiled as I entered the kitchen,
"I see you've met P-Chan", she observed.
I nodded and glanced at the little pig tucked under my
arm, "Yes, he seems to want to find Akane", I explained, "You
wouldn't know where she is would you??".
Kasumi nodded, "She said something about going to the
Nekohanten to find Ranma", she explained.
"Could you give me directions?", I asked, "It would do me
good to see more of the area".
Kasumi nodded and gave me precise instructions on how to
get to the Nekohanten. I left the Tendo home soon after,
having gone over the instructions with Kasumi twice. To cut a
long story short, I was lost in about five minutes. Have you
ever noticed how easy instructions seem until you have to
follow them? Anyway I was soon wondering the streets of
Nerima, with no idea where I was going.
I looked at the pig on my shoulder (I put him there early
into the trip), "You got any idea where we're we are suppose
to go?", I asked him.
The pig looked at me, "BWEE!!!!", it said, tapping on my
shoulder.
I followed the little fellow's suggestions for a while,
till I noticed we were getting further and further from Tokyo
itself, "Hold it a minute", I said to the pig, "It can't be
that way, that's the highway leading north!".
The pig gave a derisive, "BWEE BWEE!!" and sat grumpily
on my shoulder.
I looked around to see if there were any people around,
noticing no one I pulled out an old watch I carried around.
Placing the watch on the ground I gave the pig a quick glance,
"I wouldn't tell anyone about this if I were you", I advised
it.
Chanting the words to the transport spell, I quickly
teleported to my own room back in the temple. "That's
better", I observed, "I needed to talk to the Goddesses
anyway".
Prying the pig from my shoulder proved impossible, it had
an iron grip and seemed a little shocked. Deciding not to
bother removing it I walked into the hallway, looking for the
Goddesses.
Belldandy was humming happily in the kitchen as she made
dinner, "Brett-san!", she said in greeting, "Dinner is almost
ready, will you be staying??".
I nodded, "It might be better to discuss this over
dinner, now that you mention it", I mused.
"Oh good, I'll set another place for you then", she said,
bustling around the room.
I nodded and decided that I definitely needed a bath,
nodding to Belldandy I made my way to the bathroom. Taking
off my clothes normally proved impossible (due to the little
'clinger' I had acquired) so I simply made the clothes vanish
with a wave of my hand and a muttered spellword.
The pig was startled by the sudden disappearance of his
grip on my shoulder and fell face first into the water. I
muttered a curse and fished around in the water for him, my
hand closed on his collar and I gave a heave. To my utter
shock, a full grown guy rose to the surface, my hand had
caught not the piglet's collar, by the guy's headband.
"What the hell??", I muttered. Examining the guy's
features I noticed that he had the same bemused expression on
his face as the piglet and also the headband looked
suspiciously like the collar the piglet had been wearing.
I slapped the guy across the face a few times, trying to
shake him out of his stunned state. He shook out of it
alright and launched a right-cross at my head. Ducking it I
retreated across the room, "P-Chan?", I asked.
"I AM NOT P-CHAN!!!!!!", the guy shouted angrily and
began advancing on me.
I frowned, "Well if you're not him, where did he go when
he fell in the hot water and why are you in *my* bathroom
wearing nothing but a headband?", I observed.
Ryouga stopped for a moment and then realised where he
was, "Uhhh.. my apologies", he stuttered, "I *err* appear to
have *umm* misplace my clothing".
I nodded and looked at his face more closely, "Aren't you
that guy named Ryouga?", I asked, recognising him for the
first time.
He nodded, "And you're Kasumi's boyfriend", he replied.
I shook my head, "it's not like that at all", I began,
"You see...".
A knocking at the door made me stop for a moment,
"Brett?? are you alright??", It was Urd's voice.
I shuddered at how this would look and quickly muttered a
spell. Ryouga suddenly found himself clothed in his usually
attire, complete with umbrella and backpack. I straightened
out my shimmering-blue uniform, "Damn, I knew I should have
washed this", I muttered.
I opened the door quickly, "G'day Urd", I said, in my
cheeriest voice.
Urd smiled and looked me up and down, "Looks like you
survived your first mission alright", she observed.
"Err... well there were a *few* complications, but I'll
tell you about them later", I explained.
She nodded absently and looked past me at Ryouga, "Who's
this??", she asked.
I shrugged, "Oh, this is a friend of mine that has
'dropped in' for a while, his name's Ryouga", I said,
introducing him.
Urd smiled, "And why is he in the bathroom with you?",
she asked curiously.
I gave her a stern glance, "Because he needed to get
cleaned up", I explained.
She nodded, "Well I'll let Belldandy know we've got a
guest for dinner", she said, "You can tell me all about what
happened at dinner".
I nodded and blushed slightly when she gave me a quick
kiss, "Good to have you back", she whispered to me.
Watching her leave I suddenly realised that Ryouga had
been watching all this. I turned to him, "You want to explain
how you did that?", I said, motioning to the bath.
Ryouga was still picking at his clothes, "These are the
same clothes I left at my campsite", he muttered.
I tapped him on the shoulder, "Hey!", I said, "I asked
you a question!".
Ryouga looked straight at me, "What are you?", he asked
bluntly, "You step into and out of clocks, create impenetrable
shields and produce clothing with a single motion of your
hand...".
I sighed, "It's a long story mate", I replied.
He shrugged, "I'm not going anywhere", he replied,
sitting on the floor.
Seeing that he wasn't going to be moved without some kind
of explanation I leant against a wall, "I'm a God", I said.
He gave me a sceptical look, "*sure* you are", he
replied.
I nodded, "I'm telling the truth", I said, "I'm the God
of Destiny and I came to the Tendo Household to grant Kasumi
Tendo a wish". I opened up my wallet and passed him my ID
card, "Here that should prove it".
Ryouga looked at the licence and frowned, "The 'Goddess'
Relief Office?", he asked, reading from the card.
I winced, "Hey, it's just the department I work for", I
replied defensively, "I'm trying to get them to introduce non-
sexist terms... but you know a bureaucracy...".
He gave the card back, "That really doesn't prove
anything", he said, "I could get something like that made up
at any gift shop".
I nodded, "But will it do this?", I asked, tearing the
card up into small pieces and throwing them into the air.
Ryouga frowned as the small pieces that landed scattered
on the floor began to move together and reassemble themselves.
The card once reformed jumped back up into my hand. Ryouga
nodded, "that was a good trick", he observed.
I led the way back to my own room, "Come on we'll be more
comfortable talking in my room", I said.
Ryouga nodded and followed me cautiously, "What is this
place?", he asked.
"I don't know the actual name", I admitted, "But it's a
temple".
Ryouga smiled slightly, "Where else would a god live?",
he asked rhetorically.
I sat down at my worktable and gestured for Ryouga to
take a seat as well. "So what's this thing with the pig?", I
asked bluntly.
Ryouga seemed to loose his calm manner and clenched his
fists, "I'm angered whenever I think about it", he said
savagely. The bit by bit he explained that he'd fallen into a
'cursed spring' called Jhusenkyo and changed shape when doused
in hot and cold water.
"That's awful", I replied after he finished his
explanation, "How long have you had to put up with it?".
He shrugged, "It's been a little more than two years", he
said sadly.
I had flicked on my computer and logged into my account
during his explanation and done a search on magical springs.
The heavenly database returned it's explanation on the cursed
springs and I sighed as I read it. "Well", I said examining
the files, "It might take a bit of effort, but I think I can
cure you".
Ryouga looked at me blankly, "You WHAT?!?!!", he asked in
amazement.
I frowned again at the screen, "I can even give you a
temporary block against it while I try to work out the
permanent cure", I continued.
Ryouga was still in shock, "You mean I wouldn't have to
be a pig ever again?", he asked hopefully.
I nodded and smiled, "It will take a while for me to
research the total cure, but I can give you the temporary one
right away", I explained.
He dropped to one knee, "You do this for me and I'll
serve you forever", he declared.
I looked at him uncomfortably, "Don't say that", I
replied, "I don't want a servant".
He stood, "Then what would you have me do for you in
return?", he asked.
I frowned, "What makes you think I want *anything*...", I
asked. Then seeing that he wouldn't be satisfied without some
kind of payment I held out my hand, "Let's just say you can
owe me a favour", I said.
He looked at my hand for a moment and then shook it, "Of
course", he replied.
I took him outside into the courtyard, "This won't take
long", I said, "Just sit there and close your eyes".
He nodded, "I'll sit here all week if I have to", he said
with conviction.
Carefully I drew a pentagram around him, making sure that
the lines of power were exact and I hadn't left anything out.
I raised my arms, repeating gestures and words I'd memorised
from the computer files. I felt the power building and
suddenly release all in one burst, energy flowed into the
circle, charging it and completing the spell. Ryouga opened
his eyes and looked at his body as it began to glow with a
soft blue light. Then it was over, the circle I'd draw was
blackened and it's ashes blew away in a swirl of wind.
I also felt totally drained and sat down heavily on the
steps, "How's that?", I asked Ryouga.
He walked across to me, "I don't feel any different", he
replied.
I picked up a glass of cold water, "Ready?", I asked.
He closed his eyes and steeled himself for
disappointment, "Do it", he replied.
I tossed the cold water onto him and waited for something
to happen. After a few seconds Ryouga opened his eyes and
looked down at his hands, "I'm still human!", he said
victoriously.
I nodded, "It should last until I can work out the
permanent cure", I explained, "With luck it should only be a
few weeks or so".
Ryouga grinned, "Thank you Brett-san", he said formally,
bowing slightly, "You'll never know how much this means to
me".
I smiled, "That's ok Ryouga", I said, "I'm happy to
help".
He stood and shouldered his pack, "Now I must go", he
said.
I frowned, "But I was going to take you back after
dinner", I said.
"No time, I must find Ranma immediately", he explained.
"Why?", I asked, "You think he'll enjoy the good news?".
Ryouga gave me a savage grin, "No, I'm gonna beat the
hell out of him", he replied laughing.
At that stage I began to have second thoughts, but before
they I could protest he was out the temple gate. I sighed and
stretched a little before going back inside to face the music.
******
I walked into the dining room to an excited welcome by
Keiichi and the Goddesses. "Welcome back Brett!!", Keiichi
said, happily slapping me on the shoulder, "How did everything
go??".
Skuld gave me a big grin, "How did you like granting
someone's wish?", she asked.
Urd led me to the table and sat me down, "Now come on and
tell us all about it", she encouraged.
I screwed up my courage and told them everything (with
the exception of the engagement thing). I explained Kasumi
and her wish as well as making mention of all the people I had
encountered. By the time I'd finished no one seemed to be
overly happy anymore, "I really couldn't figure out what to do
so I came back here", I finished.
Belldandy gave me a sad smile, "It looks like you'll be
staying there for a while then?", she asked.
I nodded, "I'm afraid so", I replied, "Otherwise it'll be
in violation of the wish".
Keiichi sighed, "I can't believe you're being forced into
helping her", he said, "It just seems like you've become a
servant".
Skuld nudged Urd, "You said the same thing to Belldandy
when *Keiichi* made his wish", she observed.
"I *am* a servant in some ways Keiichi", I replied,
"Besides I kind of feel that she needs some help, living with
*that* family".
Urd looked at me sourly, "You're too nice for your own
good", she said angrily, "I thought we were going to go out to
dinner on Wednesday?".
I nodded, "We can still do that", I said quickly, "I'm
sure it'll be alright".
Urd refused to speak to me for the rest of the meal.
After the meal I found Urd outside sitting under a tree, I
walked up quietly and sat down close beside her, "What's
wrong?", I asked.
Urd played with a small branch nervously, "You realise
that if you can't get out of this you're going to be with this
girl forever don't you?", she asked.
I shook my head, "If I wanted to get out of it I could
simply state that she didn't put any time limit on how long
she wanted my support....", I replied.
Urd looked hopefuly, "So you could get out of this
whenever you want?", she asked. At my nod she gave me a
strange look, "Well... why haven't you?".
I thought about it for a moment and nodded, "I admire the
fact that she's cares about her family enough to put the rest
of her life on hold to care for them", I said, "She deserves
to get something for her wish".
"That's what I thought...", she said sadly.
"Hey?", I asked, placing a hand on her shoulder, "What's
wrong Urd?".
"It's nothing", she replied shortly, "I'll be fine in a
minute".
I placed an arm around her shoulder, "Come on", I
encouraged, "You can tell me".
Urd leaned against me for a moment before whispering,
"I'm just afraid you won't want to come back", she admitted.
I burst out laughing and she looked at me angrily, "Oh
great", she said, "If all you can do is laugh....".
Shaking my head I grinned at her, "Urd you have know idea
how bad it is... poor Kasumi.. she seems like the only normal
person in that family...", I explained.
Urd gave me a chilly glare, "You *like* her.. don't
you?", she demanded.
I shrugged, "Sure I like her... she's a really sweet
girl.. caring, helpful, kind..", I broke off my description
when Urd stood up angrily.
Urd tossed her hair back, "Well.. then you're a very
lucky guy.. getting stuck in a contract with such a wonderful
person", she said tightly, "Don't let me delay you from
returning to her!". Urd turned and stomped off into the
Temple, leaving me wondering what I'd done wrong.
******
I popped back into the room that I was sharing with Ranma
and the Panda, it was empty and I breathed a sigh of relief.
I placed my bag on the floor and walked downstairs, into the
kitchen. Kasumi was washing some dishes and smiled in
greeting, "Did you get lost?", she asked.
"I'm afraid so", I replied sheepishly, "I made the
mistake of following P-Chan's directions and ended up on the
outskirts of Tokyo".
Kasumi nodded, "Yes, that pig's sense of direction is
*almost* as bad as Ryouga's", she noted.
I bit my tongue to stop myself from saying something
damaging and began drying the massive pile of dishes sitting
beside the sink. In no time we'd finished cleaning up after
dinner and I looked at her seriously, "I think we need to have
a talk", I said.
Kasumi nodded, and we went to sit down in the dining
room, "I'm afraid I can't really blame you", she said after I
finished my explanation of why I had to find some way to
satisfy her wish without staying here.
I frowned, "I don't understand?", I admitted, "Blame
me?".
She smiled understandingly, "This place tends to drive
off most normal people", she explained.
I shook my head, "That's not the reason why...", I said,
"I'm not exactly a normal person myself". Then seeing her
blank expression I twiddled my fingers at her, "Remember?", I
said.
She nodded, "But You've got to admit that this family
would tend to scare off most people", she insisted.
"I suppose...", I said.
Kasumi stood almost angrily and put her hands on her
hips, "Do you have any idea what it's like to walk down the
street and have people refer to you as Akane's sister or
Soun's daughter?", she asked tersely.
I shook my head, "It's really that bad?", I mused.
She nodded and sat down again, her anger running away,
"And the worst part is that no one values my opinion", she
finished.
I frowned, "But do you express your opinion very much?",
I asked.
Kasumi shook her head, "No often, because when I tried
everyone ignored me", she admitted.
I sighed, "Well changing people's opinions of yourself
can take time", I said gently, "and you've really got to work
at it".
Kasumi nodded, "I understand", she said sadly.
I gave her a quick clap on the shoulder, "Come on", I
said, "Cheer up, at least it's something that *can* be
changed".
She nodded and stood, "It's getting late", she said, "I
think I'd better get ready for bed".
I smiled, "Pleasant dreams", I said as she left.
Making my way out to the garden, I sat down against a
tree and closed my eyes, relaxing in the cool air of evening.
I looked out over the pond and watched the stars reflected on
it's slowly shifting surface. And then I drifted into a
troubled sleep.
******
"But you can't do that", came a whiny voice.
"Don't anger me mortal", was the chillingly cold
response.
I looked around at what appeared to be a large cave,
torches burned along the walls and the whole place had a scary
feeling about it. I tried to focus on the voices and finally
recognised one of the people speaking, it was that old pervert
from my shopping trip. He was talking to something that
looked like it had stepped from the very depths of hell.
"These shall make excellent sacrifices", the Devil
pronounced grandly, indicating the struggling captives at his
feet.
I was shocked to see Ranko and Ryouga lying unconscious
on the ground. There was also a duck in a wooden cage, a cat
that was tied up tightly and a panda. The Devil licked its
lips at the offerings before it, "Yes, they shall do nicely",
it said.
"But.. but..", the old man began, "*you* are suppose do
be doing what *I* tell you".
The Devil laughed chillingly, "And I *am*", it said, "You
wanted revenge on Brett, now you're getting it".
"I didn't mean like this!!", he insisted, "I just wanted
that upstart taught a lesson".
"He is being taught a lesson", the Devil said, "It's just
not the same lesson as *you* wanted to teach him, it's one of
my own design". The Devil stood and walked from it's throne-
like chair, it's cloven feet struck sparks from the ground.
It stopped and brushed some hair from Ranko's face, "This one
will be even more interesting", it said evilly.
I realised that this was a dream, but still found myself
rushing forward trying to stop the evil thing. I punched it
in the face, hard. Then I found myself on the ground behind
it, having passed right through it. I got to my feet shakily,
have you ever wanted to know what passing though things like a
ghost feels like?? I'd advise you not to ask.
The Devil finished it's examination of Ranko and stepped
back to it's throne and sat down, "This will give me the power
to bring more of my kind into this world", it said, "That will
bring me unlimited power".
I chilled at the though of more of these types of
creatures in the world. Nilthar and Marller are dangerous,
but they do have a code of conduct (even if it was a bit
warped). This Devil on the other hand was just a destructive,
sadistic killer.
I was running over options when I suddenly got the fright
of my life, the Devil turned to look right *at* me, "Have you
finished spying??" it asked.
I looked around nervously, "Who me?", I blurted.
It smirked, "You don't really think it's going to make a
difference do you?", it asked, "Even if you know, there's
nothing you can do about it till events occur".
I started backing up nervously and it gave me a sour
look, "Oh do be serious", it said, "How can I reach out into
the past for you? I'll just wait till you come for your
friends then you'll be mine". Then it raised it's arms and
gestured at me.
******
Waking up screaming has never been one of my favourite
ways to greet the morning and I drew a shuddering breath.
Pulling the blanket tighter around me I tried to shake off the
chill that seemed to fill me. Looking around I realised that
I was still under the tree (someone had obviously decided to
cover me with a blanket during the night).
I yawned and winced at the condition of my muscles,
sleeping on the ground has never been one of my favourite
pastimes. Getting groggily to my feet I folded up the blanket
and started walking towards the house.
"GROWF!!!", came a sudden shout to my left.
I ducked quickly as a black and white blur passed over my
head. A second later Ranma ran up beside me, "Did you see
where that lazy father of mine went?", he asked.
I frowned "I haven't seen your father this morning, but
your panda just about took my head off", I replied.
Ranma nodded, "Which way did he go?", he asked.
I pointed towards the Dojo and Ranma sped off in that
direction. Still rubbing the sleep from my eyes I stumbled
into the dining room and sat at the table. Kasumi came
bustling out from the kitchen and placed a hot cup of tea in
front of me, "Here you go Brett", she said.
I nodded, "Thanks Kasumi", I replied. Looking at the
folded blanket sitting beside me I smiled at her, "I take it I
have you to thank for the blanket?", I asked.
Kasumi smiled, "You looked too tired to wake, so I though
it best to leave you where you were", she said.
I sipped the tea, savouring the warmth, "That was very
kind of you", I said, "thanks".
Kasumi nodded again and stood, "I'd better go and make
breakfast", she said.
I began to rise as well, but she waved off my assistance,
"I can handle it", she said.
I sighed and relaxed for a little while and began to feel
a bit brighter. A few minutes later Nabiki arrived for
breakfast, rumpled and disorganised.
"Morning!", I said in a deliberately cheerful voice.
She grunted and sat down opposite me, feeling a little
awkward I tried to strike up a conversation, "So how's school
going?', I asked.
Nabiki gave me a shrug, "Not bad", she said, "I made 7600
Yen yesterday".
I looked at her curiously, "How'd you manage that?", I
asked.
She gave me an arch look, "Now that kind of information
will cost you", she said.
I sighed, "I'm afraid that I left my wallet in my other
pants", I said.
She shrugged, "Well ask me again when you've got some
cash", she said.
"You're actually serious?", I asked amazed.
"Money makes the world go round", Nabiki replied in a
profound voice.
I gave her a smile, "I'm afraid that money doesn't really
me much to me", I said.
Nabiki looked shocked, "How can you say that?", she asked
in an insulted voice.
Luckily for me Soun arrived at the table before I could
respond, "Good Morning", he said.
I nodded to him and ignored the questioning glance from
Nabiki. It wasn't long before everyone else arrived for
breakfast and I ravenously ate all that Kasumi offered.
After breakfast I noticed that Soun and Genma seemed
nervous and I sat down beside their Shogi board, "What's
bothering the two of you this morning?", I asked.
Genma gave me a serious look, "You don't know how close
you sit to the ultimate evil...", he intoned.
Soun nodded, "Saotome speaks the truth... the master
should be returning soon", he almost wailed.
I looked at them blankly, "The master?", I asked.
The conversation was interrupted as Ryouga suddenly
entered from the kitchen, "How did you get to Mexico City?",
he asked us curiously.
"You're in Tokyo, Ryouga", came Nabiki's disinterested
voice.
Ryouga seemed to think hard for a moment, absorbing that
little piece of data and then dropped his backpack and swung
his umbrella a few times, "Then where's Ranma?", he asked
angrily.
"500 Yen", Nabiki demanded.
I looked at her in shock, "You'd sell Ranma out so
easily?", I asked.
Nabiki looked at me and then nodded, "You're right", she
said, before turning back to Ryouga. "1000 Yen", she demanded
of him.
Ryouga grabbed a wad of bills from his shirt and stuffed
them into Nabiki's outstretched hand, "Here, take what you
need", he said.
Nabiki gestured with her thumb, "He's in the Dojo", she
said.
Ryouga jumped up and left, racing towards the indicated
Dojo, not even bothering to retrieve his change. Nabiki
pocketed the money with a smile and gave me a wink, "I won't
charge you for that demonstration", she said.
I looked around, noticing that no one else had taken this
as unusual, Soun and Genma were still playing their game and
Kasumi as cleaning up. I stood and followed Ryouga, hoping to
prevent any violence (silly me!).
"RANMA!! DIE!!!", came Ryouga's battle-cry. A moment
later, Ranma jumped out of the Dojo, dodging a rain of what
looked like bandannas. He hopped across the pond and stood
waiting for Ryouga.
"Here I am Ryouga", he said, "But be careful... this
water looks awfully cold...".
Ryouga roared and charged out of the Dojo, jumping across
the pond and landing with a crash where Ranma had been
standing taunting him. I winced as his impact destroyed
several large rocks, "What... getting slow P-Chan?", Ranma
taunted again as he hung from the low branch of a tree.
Ryouga picked up a rock (a rather *large* rock) and threw
it at the branch Ranma was holding onto. Ranma went into the
water with a sharp cry and a wet 'Sploosh!'. A moment later
the red-headed girl that I'd met earlier surfaced and leapt at
Ryouga.
It took several seconds for events to register and I
think it was only a tap on my shoulder that brought me out of
the daze I was in, "Don't mind them.. this always happens",
said Akane.
I nodded slowly and watched as Ranma... Ranko...
(whatever) kicked Ryouga towards the pool with a laugh. Then
Ranma appeared to noticed Akane looking on and jumped to save
Ryouga from falling.
Unfortunately Ranma missed and Ryouga landed in the
middle of the pond. "Akane!", Ranma shouted running towards
us, "Don't look, turn away...".
A bandanna clipped Ranma's shoulder as he ran towards us
and he turned around sharply, "Ryouga... how the hell?!?!?",
Ranma muttered, seeing Ryouga standing unchanged in the middle
of the pond.
Ryouga laughed grimly, "I bet you wish to know?", he
taunted.
Ranma nodded and Ryouga smiled, "A blessing from the
Gods", he replied, hurling his umbrella at Ranma.
Ranma dodged the umbrella and came down on Ryouga's head,
knocking him backwards out of the pool. Ryouga stumbled and
fell on his back, Ranma landed on top of him, pinning him to
the ground.
"WHERE DID YOU GET THE CURE!?!?!?!?!?", Ranma shouted
angrily.
******
Kasumi had just finished cleaning up after breakfast when
there was a huge explosion from the Dojo area. She rushed out
quickly to see a large area around the pond had been blackened
and destroyed.
Ranma and Ryouga were picking themselves up from the
ground as Happosai cackled and laughed from the garden wall.
"What the hell are you doing here old freak?", Ranma
asked angrily.
"Not bad my boy", Happosai said, "You avoided that well,
but I'm not here for *you* this time".
Ranma gave him a strange look, "You're not?", she asked.
Happosai narrowed his eyes, "I'm here for *him*", he
pronounced, point directly at Brett.
Soun began crying, "Oh no.. I finally find a fiancee for
Kasumi, now he's going to die horribly...", he wailed
miserably.
Akane looked at Brett, "What did you do to him to make
him this angry?", she asked.
Brett smiled nervously, "Well... I kinda stopped him from
stealing my shopping..", he said.
Ranma looked at Brett speculatively and Brett shrugged,
"He also happened to be stomped into the ground by a bunch of
angry women...", he confessed.
"That's right!!", Happosai said angrily, "And he caused
me to lose a whole night's work!".
Ranma grinned and turned to Happosai, "Looks like you got
just what you deserved then", she said.
Happosai turned red, "How *dare* you!", he screamed, "I
am your master!!!".
Ranma gave a disdainful sniff, "I've got more important
things to do then worry about old perverts like you", she
said, turning to Ryouga.
Ryouga grinned, "Come on then", he encouraged.
The two went back to fighting, ignoring Happosai.
Happosai looked around angrily for a while and then jumped
down to where Brett was standing, "Here!", he said shoving
something into Brett's hand, "I expect to see you there!".
Kasumi walked over to Brett to see him hold up a pair of
silken panties with the words, "The park tomorrow, noon",
written across it.
Brett gave her a curious look, "Does this kinda thing
happen very often around here?", he asked.
******
"'Yes' she says!", I muttered to myself. I was sitting
miserably on the edge of the pond in the Tendo's backyard. I
idly watched a fish leap out of the water to grab a small
insect that had foolishly gotten too close, "Hmm.. maybe
someone's trying to tell me something", I mused.
I heard a step behind me and glanced over my shoulder to
see Kasumi walk over to sit beside me. During lunch, I had
been treated to a description of Happosai's martial arts
techniques and it seemed to be everyone's considered opinion
that I was gonna get creamed.
"Are you alright?", Kasumi asked.
I nodded, "I'm just not used to so much 'organised
violence'", I replied, "I mean I sure I've ever accepted a
formal 'challenge' before".
Kasumi smiled, "You've been lucky... just about every
week someone challenges someone around here", she pointed out.
I laughed, "Well, perhaps I've lived a sheltered life
then.. I've only had to deal with the occasional Demon that
doesn't like me", I replied.
Kasumi nodded, "Oh we've had our fair share of those
too", she added.
"HEY!", cried Ranma-chan, running up to us, "Have you
seen Ryouga?".
I shook my head, "Nope, I'm afraid not", I replied, "Why
are you after him anyway?".
Ranma shrugged, "He's got some information I want", she
said.
"I've been wanting to ask you if you had any tips on
beating Happosai", I asked.
Ranma-chan thought for a moment, "Go and see Cologne", he
suggested, "I think she'd be better advising you than me".
I glanced at Kasumi and she nodded, "Cologne is probably
the best person to advise you", she agreed.
Ten minutes later I found myself walking into a
restaurant called the 'Cat Cafe' - I shuddered and hoped that
the name wasn't reflective of what was offered on the menu. A
young man with long hair and *thick* glasses was waiting
tables and he gave me a welcoming smile, "Please take a seat
and I will be with you in a moment", he greeted me.
I nodded and took a seat near one of the windows. A few
moments later the young man walked over to me with a note pad,
"What can I get you?", he asked.
"Actually I was looking for an elderly lady named
'Cologne"", I replied.
The young man gave me a frank look, "Are you sure you
want to see that withered up old monkey?", he asked.
An expertly thrown wooden bowl hit him in the side of the
head, "MOUSSE!!", bellowed (yes, *BELLOWED*) an hunched over
figure from the kitchen door.
Mousse searched around for his glasses (since they had
been knocked off by the impact), "I'm sure she could hear a
pin drop", he muttered. I found his glasses and passed them
to him as I stood, "I'll go and talk to her myself", I advised
him.
I walked across the room and made my way into the
kitchen, "What do you want?", asked an old lady, who was
sitting in front of some cooking noodles.
I looked around the room carefully, "Nice place you've
got here", I ventured.
"I would take that as the opening remarks of a person
wanting to buy my establishment, or someone attempting to
start a conversation about an uncomfortable subject", she said
dryly.
I sighed, "Well... I'm hear to ask you about Happosai", I
began.
"Ahhh", Cologne said, her eyes widening slightly, "You
are the one he has challenged".
I grinned wryly, "Yeah... right, can you give me any
suggestions as to how to handle him?", I asked.
Cologne pondered it for a moment, "Perhaps you should
consider his one weakness", she said.
"Which is?", I encouraged her.
"Panties!", she said firmly.
"Panties?", I echoed.
Cologne nodded, "It is both his strength and weakness, he
must have them.. or he loses strength", she confirmed.
I rubbed my temple (I was starting to get a slight
headache), "You're telling me.. this guy that everyone's
afraid of... his weakness is panties?", I asked.
"Yes", Cologne confirmed.
I leant back against a wall, "Alright... thankyou I
guess", I replied.
"Not at all... it is good to have a god in your debt",
Cologne responded nonchalantly.
I did a double take and gave her a level stare, "I'm
afraid that you're mistaken", I replied.
Cologne smiled, "That you're a god?", she asked.
"What I meant was", I replied, "you're making a mistake
if you think a mortal can make a binding contract with a god
in that way".
Cologne blinked in surprise, "Then you don't deny that
you're a god?", she asked.
I shrugged, "Wether I am or not, you've obviously already
made up your mind.. I was just informing you that mortals can
not instigate a contract in that way, it requires a formal
declaration of the debt.. which I am not prepared to make", I
explained (in legalese for those that can't recognise the
dialect).
Cologne nodded, "I shall remember that in the future",
she replied.
******
Slipping open the door, I stepped into the Doctor's
office, looking around I was surprised to see a large panda
sitting behind the reception desk. The room was almost full
of patients waiting to see the doctor.
<Hello There>, said a sign that the Panda held up.
I nodded, "You're Ranma's father aren't you?", I asked.
The panda nodded and grunted, <What can I do for you?>,
he asked.
"Oh.. Kasumi asked me to return this book for her", I
said, holding it up. At my words there was a muttered gasp
echoed around the room and in less than five seconds I found
myself alone with the Panda.
I gave the Panda an amazed look and it just shrugged,
<You're next!>, it invited me, leading me inside
I warily followed it into the room and was pleasantly
surprised to see that the doctor seemed to be what could be
termed a 'normal' person. "Hello there", he greeted me, "What
can I do for you?".
I shook hands with him, "The name's Brett", I said,
introducing myself, "I've heard some good things about you Dr
Tofu".
He nodded and smiled, "It's always nice to hear that
one's reputation is good", he said, "Where are you from?".
We talked for about five minutes before I got onto the
reason I'd come, "Kasumi asked me to return this for her", I
said, holding out the book.
Suddenly the Doctor's glasses fogged up and his face took
on a stupefied expression, "K..K... Kasumi?", he asked,
looking at the book.
"Uhh.. Yeah, since I had to visit Cologne, she suggested
that I drop this in for her", I explained.
<This is Kasumi's boyfriend>, The Panda said helpfully.
Dr Tofu lost his bemused expression at that, "Her what?",
he asked.
I shrugged, "I'm not really", I said to him, "I'm just
helping her out with a few things".
<He's *engaged* to her>, The Panda continued.
Dr Tofu's eyes bugged out and he spluttered, "But.. when
did this happen?!?!", he asked in a broken voice.
<Just the other night!>, explained the Panda.
Dr Tofu sighed, "Oh.. I see", he said, then he turned to
me, "Congratulations.. you're a very lucky man".
I sighed, "Look Doc.. I'm afraid there's been a mix up
here", I complained, "I don't want to marry Kasumi!".
"You don't?", he asked in confusion, "Then why are you
engaged to her?!?".
"It was her father's idea", I said, "I'm staying with the
Tendo's for a while, kinda helping Kasumi with some things and
next thing I know I'm engaged to her!".
"What's the matter??", Tofu asked, his eyes widening in
surprise, "You object to being engaged to her??!?!".
"No.. err... well yes... ", I explained, "I'm just not in
a position where I can marry as I please".
The doctor sighed, "Well I wish the both of you the best,
no matter what happens", he said with a strained smile, "Now
is there anything else I can do for you?".
I shook my head and bit him goodbye, walking outside just
as the sun was setting. Just walking for a bit I made my way
slowly back to the Tendo home, pondering what to do.
******
Urd and Skuld appeared in the bathroom of the Tendo home,
"Are you sure this is alright?", Skuld asked, looking around
nervously.
"Of course it is", Urd replied confidently, sliding the
door open a crack, "I'm sure no one's around at the moment".
"I still don't see how we're going to help", Skuld
complained, "Brett said was handling things by himself".
"Well.. I have the feeling that Brett wasn't telling us
the *complete* truth", Urd replied. The two of them carefully
walked through the house, looking for the object of their
trip, Kasumi.
They found her humming to herself in the kitchen, "What
exactly are we going to do?", Skuld whispered.
"I think we should just keep an eye on her for the
moment", Urd whispered back, "We don't want to make anyone
suspicious".
"AHEM!", came a voice from behind them, "Who exactly are
you and what are you doing in our house".
Urd and Skuld exchanged a glance and then stepped out of
their hiding place under the steps, "Err.. would you believe
we're here to check the gas meter?", Urd asked hopefully.
"I don't think so", replied Nabiki, "I think I'd better
phone the police".
"Hang on a minute.. we're just looking for a friend of
ours", she began.
A moment later one of the walls exploded and a voice
shouted, "Where Ranma?".
Nabiki sighed, "He's not here Shampoo", she called, "And
I'm invoicing you for that wall!".
Urd and Skuld looked on in amazement as a long *purple*
haired girl emerged from the ruins of the wall, "Where is
he?", Shampoo asked Nabiki.
Nabiki smiled, "That information is going to cost you",
she said.
Skuld and Urd began to back slowly out of the house,
"This place is *worse* than Brett described", Skuld muttered.
"Did you say 'Brett'?", Nabiki asked, her eye's
narrowing. Shampoo was still demanding that Nabiki turn over
Ranma when Nabiki had a brainwave, she pointed at Urd and
Skuld, "They'll know.. since they are friends of Brett and
he's a friend of Ranma".
Shampoo thought for a moment on this (cause some of the
words had more than one syllable) then she turned to Urd,
"YOU!", she demanded, "Where is groom?".
Urd shrugged, "No idea", she replied.
"YOU LIE!", Shampoo accused, "Maybe you want groom for
yourself?!? well Shampoo not let you have!". With that
Shampoo started forward, her bonburi at the ready.
Urd sighed, "Oh no.. Brett's not going to be happy with
this", she thought.
Shampoo had just about reached her when Urd figured 'What
the hell' and cast a quick sleep-spell on her. Shampoo fell
to the ground and began snoring blissfully. "I think we'd
better get out of here now", Skuld suggested.
Urd sighed, "So much for helping the situation", she
groaned. Brett would be quite upset when he heard what had
gone on, but then she had only been trying to help (and keep
and eye on Kasumi..). The two goddesses walked past an amazed
Nabiki (a rare sight indeed) and into the living room. A
moment later there was a flash and when Nabiki arrived a few
seconds later, both of them were gone.
******
I arrived back at the Tendo Dojo after a long walk to
clear my head, some things had become clearer and others more
clouded. It was early evening as I walked into the dining
room. I vaguely noticed that one of the walls had been
destroyed, then I did a double-take - I'd only been here a few
days and the destruction of the wall didn't even ring any
alarm bells. Stepping over a bicycle that was lying discarded
in the middle of the hall I peaked my head around into the
lounge room. Nabiki was sitting in one chair, comfortably
reading a book, while in the other Shampoo was sleeping
peacefully.
"Good Afternoon", I whispered to Nabiki.
Nabiki gave me a speculative look, "Why are you
whispering?", she asked, loudly.
I glanced at Shampoo, expecting her to wake at the sudden
noise. Shampoo mumbled something that sounded suspiciously
like "Ranma" and curled up into a more comfortable position in
the seat. "Oh don't worry about her", said Nabiki, "Your
friend zapped her into unconsciousness".
I nodded, "Fair enough... now I was wondering...", I
suddenly stopped. "My what??", I demanded.
"Oh this girl... blond hair, neat clothes and the little
girl with her was carrying a large mallet", Nabiki explained.
I held up my hands, "Hang on a minute... ", I begged,
"Urd and Skuld where here? ".
Nabiki shrugged, "I never got their names.. they just
appeared... zapped Shampoo and left", she replied.
I fell into a chair, "Just great", I sighed, "As if
things weren't complicated enough... Urd has to butt in".
"So I want you to tell me *exactly* who you are and why
you are here!", Nabiki said, "Or else!".
I sighed, "Look Nabiki.. I'm just here to help Kasumi
along a little bit.. I'm *not* her boyfriend/fiancee.. I'm
just someone that wants to help", I explained.
"And what do you get out of it?", Nabiki asked pointedly.
I shrugged, "Helping people is it's own reward", I
replied.
Nabiki shuddered, "What are you?? a priest?", she asked
sarcastically.
I smiled, "Close... but not quite accurate", I replied,
walking from the room, leaving Nabiki to think. I walked
outside and sat on the steps overlooking the pond, it was
quite peaceful and I found myself beginning to doze off.
"RYOUGA!!!", came a call from just over the wall. I
hurriedly backed away from the sudden grey mist that covered
the wall and nearby landing. A second later Ryouga came
bursting through the wall, followed by an enraged Ranma.
Ryouga was looking decidedly worse for wear, his backpack
was shredded and his umbrella was cracked almost in half. He
was also bleeding from several cuts along his arms. "What the
hell are you doing!?!?!", I demanded of Ranma, standing
between him and Ryouga, "Leave Ryouga alone!".
Ranma snorted and pushed me out of the way easily. I
stumbled a few steps backward and fell heavily down the steps.
Coming to rest against a large rock. I wiped some blood from
a cut on my cheek, "Well that's not a nice way to treat a
guest", I groaned.
Ryouga, who was about to jump the other wall turned at my
exclamation. He growled at Ranma, "You would attack a
defenseless person?", he asked dangerously, "Ranma you have no
honour!!!". Ryouga jumped down from the wall and faced off
against Ranma, the two of them stood opposite each other,
fighting auras visible in the air around them.
I stood and walked over to Ranma, "You're pretty tough..
fighting a guy that's never trained in Martial Arts before", I
said sarcastically, "No wonder you're cursed".
Ranma turned his angry gaze on me, "Then you shouldn't
have gotten in my way", he said flatly, "I'm going to be cured
and Ryouga knows how".
I shook my head, "Ryouga doesn't have a cure yet", I said
carefully, "That's just something temporary to keep him from
changing".
Ranma grabbed the front of my shirt (if I'd been shorter
than him I'm sure he'd have tried to pick me up.. but since I
towered over him... it really didn't impress me much), "WHAT
THE HELL DO YOU KNOW ABOUT IT!?!?!", he demanded.
"RANMA!!!", Akane called from where she'd just walked out
onto the veranda, "What are you doing to Brett?!?".
Ranma glanced in her direction, "Stay out of this Akane..
I think this guy knows how I can be cured..", he ordered.
Kasumi joined her sister on the porch, "Ranma, that's not
a very nice way of getting someone to tell you something", she
said reproachfully, "I'm sure if you asked nicely Brett would
tell you".
I shook my head, "Nope... I don't do favours for people
who threaten me", I said firmly.
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN??", Ranma demanded, raising his fist.
I looked at him squarely, "Punching me won't get you a
cure.. in fact it'll have just the opposite effect", I
promised.
With an effort, Ranma lowered his fist and let go of my
shirt, "What do you want?", he demanded, "I'll give you
whatever it takes to get me cured!".
I shook my head, "If you'd just asked in the first
place.. I'd have helped you..", I replied, looking him
straight in the eye, "But now....".
Akane stepped forward, "You mean you really *can* cure
Ranma?", she asked in amazement, "Who are you?".
I shook my head, "Not yet.. I still need to research a
few things before I make up the potion...", I explained. I
glanced over at Ryouga, who was wobbling on his feet, "I think
Ryouga needs a bit of first-aid", I pointed out (and avoiding
Akane's second question), then I gingerly touched my own
injury and winced.
Kasumi immediately produced a first-aid kit and began
bandaging the nearly unconscious Ryouga. Akane passed me a
patch to cover my own cut, everyone seemed to be ignoring a
fuming Ranma.
"So how about we sit down and talk about this?", I asked
Ranma carefully.
Ranma gave me an almost hate-filled glare, "You're very
sure of yourself for someone who just came within an inch of
beaten up", he observed.
"I *knew* you wouldn't hit me Ranma", I replied
confidently, "Despite what Ryouga may think... you are
honourable enough in your own way". I didn't mention the fact
that my 'sixth sense' would have warned me if he was actually
going to hurt me.
Ranma sighed and shook his head, "It's just that I've
come so close to a cure so many times....", he explained,
"That I tend to go a little nuts when someone waves it in
front of my face".
I nodded, "Well.. I can't really *promise* a cure.. but I
can give you a temporary one like Ryouga if you like...", I
offered.
Akane (who was tending Ryouga's injuries) looked up at
the mention of Ryouga having a curse, "Ryouga's cursed?", she
asked curiously, "What's he turn into?".
I was about to reply when Ranma clapped a hand over my
mouth, "Err... he's a.. umm.... fish!", Ranma concluded.
Akane looked down at Ryouga dubiously, "And how do you
drown a fish?", she asked curiously.
Ranma began to sweat and I gave him a curious look, "How
*do* you drown a fish??", I asked curiously.
"Err... that is... umm....", Ranma replied
unintelligently.
"Perhaps the water had some salt leeched into it?", I
suggested.
Ranma nodded, "Yeah that's it! The fish drowned cause the
water went funny!", he concluded.
Akane gave him a sceptical look, then shrugged and turned
back to where she was bandaging Ryouga's arm. Ranma gestured
to me and we walked a little distance away from the others,
"Don't mention Ryouga's curse!", he warned me seriously.
I frowned, "Why's that?", I asked.
Ranma quickly explained how he'd been the one to cause
Ryouga's curse and how he'd promised Ryouga that he wouldn't
tell Akane. "But.. Akane calls him 'P-Chan' doesn't she?", I
said, confused.
"She doesn't know about the curse.. and thinks P-Chan
*really* is a pig!", Ranma insisted, "She'd kill him... if she
ever found out otherwise".
"And you?", I guessed, "For not telling her?".
Ranma nodded and shuddered slightly, "You don't ever want
to see Akane coming after you with that hammer of her's", he
warned.
I nodded in agreement and then turned back to where
Ryouga was regaining consciousness. Then Ryouga noticed that
Akane was tending his wounds and he went right back into
unconsciousness. I sighed shook my head, "That guy's really
got it bad for Akane", I observed.
Ranma bristled slightly and gave an affirmative nod. I
gestured to him to go into the Dojo, "Come on.. let's see
about that temporary cure", I said.
******
Kasumi and Akane finished packing away the first aid kit
and noticed that Brett and Ranma had disappeared. "Where did
those two go?", Kasumi wondered.
Akane shrugged and pulled Ryouga over so he was lying
against the steps. A sound like thunder suddenly drew the two
girls' attention towards the Dojo, "What was that?", Kasumi
wondered.
They hurried over to the Dojo and rushed up the steps,
"HOLD IT!", Brett bellowed as they went to go in through the
door. He pointed at their feet, "Don't break the circle", he
ordered firmly.
Akane looked in amazement as Ranma was sitting in the
middle of a huge pentagram, with his eye's closed, "What are
you doing?", Akane demanded.
Brett looked up from where he was finishing the design on
the other side of the room, "What Ranma asked me to", he
replied, "Now please be quite and let me think!".
"Yeah right!", Ranma called from the middle of the
Pentagram, "Like she could keep her mouth shut for five
minutes!".
Akane resisted the urge to cross the line and pummel him,
and instead walked over to Brett, "What exactly are you going
to do?", she asked (and the tone in her voice was pretty
insistent).
Brett sighed, "I'm going to lock him into his current
form.. that way no magic will be able to alter it in any
way..", he explained.
"And that will cure him?", Akane asked hopefully.
Brett shook his head, "I'm not sure how long it'll last..
it depends on how much power I put into it", he said.
Akane frowned, "Power? what kind of power?", she asked.
Brett grinned and wiggled his fingers at her, "Magic!",
he announced.
Akane was about to scoff that magic was something that
didn't exist, but before she could say anything Brett
completed the last line of the pentagram and it began glowing
with a blue radiance. "You can open your eyes now Ranma",
Brett announced, "Just try not to move around at all".
Ranma opened his eyes and looked at the huge pentagram
spread around him, "How long is this going to take?", he asked
nervously.
Brett stood and began gently gesturing and chanting in a
strange language. "Not long", Ryouga said from the doorway,
"He'll be chanting for about 5 minutes".
Ranma gave him a hostile glance, "You're not going to
interfere?", he asked.
Ryouga shook his head, "I won't", he said, sitting on the
floor.
Energy began to crackle between Brett's hands, running
across his arms and down his legs. Suddenly he raised his
hands to the ceiling and spoke a word of power, the lightning
impacted straight into the pentagram and flowed around it like
water.
A voice called from the darkness, "NO YOU CAN'T TAKE AWAY
MY RANMA-CHAN!", and a small figure darted into the Dojo,
carrying a bucket of water. Happosai flung the bucket
directly at a startled Ranma (who having been told not to move
and watching lightning dance around him.. didn't dodge).
Brett reeled back in pain as his spell finished, "No!",
he said weakly.
A wind blew up from nowhere and the last, blackened
fragments of the Pentagram blew away into the night. Ranma-
Chan stood in the middle of the Dojo, water dripping from her
nose. It pooled around her feet and she screamed in
frustration, "NO!!!!!".
"Oh My!", Kasumi exclaimed.
******
I awoke slowly, the pain in my head made a hangover look
good in comparison. Forcing one eye open, I quickly shut it
again against the blinding light. Just lying there I began to
notice noises around me, to my right was a light
snoring/mumbling sound. I decided to take a chance and opened
my eyes, the pain was considerably less this time and I began
to make out objects around me, it was obviously daytime and
probably somewhere near midday since there were few shadows to
be seen. Tilting my head to the right I made out the figure
of a sleeping Ranma-Chan, lying beside me on the floor.
She was mumbling lightly in her sleep. "Hmm.. pity she's
really a guy", I thought absently. Sitting up I found that my
sense of balance wasn't too far off and after a moment I stood
and walked over to the window. Opening the blinds I saw that
it was indeed late in the morning, "Nice day", I observed.
I was in the guest room that I had shared with Ranma and
her father. Yawning I walked out of the room and down the
hall to the bathroom. Taking a few minutes to splash some
water on my face I looked at myself in the mirror, what I saw
looking back at me made me shudder, I looked awful. My face
was a pale white colour and my eyes were bloodshot. Obviously
I'd been overdoing it in the spellcasting department.
Almost stumbling downstairs I walked into the dining room
and sat down at the table. "How are you feeling this
morning?", Kasumi asked me worriedly.
I managed a grin, "A *lot* better than I look", I
replied, "Not that it would be difficult".
Soun glanced at me from where he was reading his paper,
"Are you sure You're up to facing The Master?", he said
(practically begging me to say no).
I shrugged, "If he's as bad as you all seem to think..
then will it matter if I'm a bit tired?", I asked.
Genma walked into the room, "Perhaps if you asked him
nicely he'll let you have until tomorrow?", he suggested.
I shook my head, "Look.. I've got until noon..", I began.
The clock on the wall took that moment to chime. I examined
it more closely, a quarter to twelve.
Akane and Nabiki walked into the room, arguing angrily.
"I can't believe you!", Akane said angrily, "Anything to make
money!".
Nabiki nodded, "Of course", she replied, "What else?".
I stood, "Well.. I guess I'm off to the park...", I
announced.
Soun and Genma both began waving farewell, until Akane
came up behind them, "Of course we'll *ALL* be there to cheer
you on!", she said pointedly.
Genma and Soun looked decidedly depressed at her comment
and shuffled their feet nervously, "Must we?", Soun whined, "I
do so want to finish my crossword...".
"And I was looking forward to washing my hair", Genma
added, rubbing his bear head.
Kasumi stood up with me, picking up a basket, "I made a
picnic lunch for everyone", she announced. I gave her a
curious look, but all she returned was a slight smile.
Genma snapped his fingers, "Ahh.. that's right.. I
forgot.. I'm bald... ", he rubbed the back of his neck
nervously, "In that case I'm happy to go along..".
Soun, now without support and facing the prospect of
missing out on one of Kasumi's lunches, picked up his paper,
"I can always finish this at the park", he announced.
Akane looked at the ceiling, "What about Ranma?", she
wondered.
I shrugged, "Don't worry.. she should sleep another hour
or two", I explained. Since I'd cast a quick sleep spell on
her last night when she'd threatened to turn violent, I had a
pretty good idea of when she'd wake up.
I enjoyed the walk to the park, it was a pleasant day,
sunny and clear. As we walked I passed Kasumi one of my
cards, "Here.. this is a number where some friends of mine can
be reached at... just in case", I explained.
Kasumi nodded and slipped it into her basket. A few
minutes later we arrived at the place Happosai had chosen for
our fight. The park was mostly deserted (it seemed that news
about Happosai being in a certain place assured you it would
be vacant).
I helped Kasumi spread out her blanket and then sat down
and just relaxed for a while, "Are you sure you want to go
through with this?", Akane asked.
I sighed, "I wish everyone would stop asking that... I
can't believe *anyone* is that dangerous", I complained.
"Don't underestimate him", Genma insisted.
Soun nodded solemnly, "The master is like a Demon from
hell in a fight", he intoned, "No one can defeat him!".
"You might as well lie down and accept the inevitable",
Genma agreed.
Akane didn't say anything and looked slightly downcast.
I glanced over to Nabiki, "What are the odds?", I asked.
Nabiki looked depressed, "I'm giving 200 to 1 against
you.. but no one is betting", she sighed.
I reached into my back pocket and pulled out my wallet,
"Here.. put this down on me", I suggested, "There's nearly
10,000 Yen in there".
Nabiki brightened as she took the wallet, "At least I'll
make something out of this", she said in an almost cheerful
voice.
I shook my head and looked around, "So where's the old
pervert?", I asked.
"It's not quite midday yet", came a raspy voice from
behind me, "Happi's always been punctual when it came to a
fight". I nodded to Cologne (who had just walked up with
Shampoo and Mousse in tow) and then noticed the dark
expression that I was getting from Shampoo, "What's your
problem?", I asked.
"You girlfriend defeat Shampoo and then flee before I
give kiss", she declared, "Where she go?".
"Home", I replied shortly.
"Where that?", Shampoo demanded angrily.
I gave her a strange look, "Why?", I asked.
"Revenge.. is custom of village", she replied.
I looked at her serious expression and burst out
laughing. I took me several moments before I could control
myself enough to speak, "You're going to go up against Urd?
Believe me little girl.. You're biting off more than you can
chew!", I laughed.
Shampoo looked outraged and advanced towards me with fire
in her eyes. "Granddaughter", Cologne said calm voice, "You
don't want to do that".
Shampoo looked back at her grandmother, <Grandmother..
you can't be serious... he looks like he could barely stand
up.. let alone fight me>, she replied in Chinese.
I rubbed my eyes tiredly, "If You're going to attack me..
hurry up about it", I said.
Shampoo looked surprised and carefully stepped back to
her grandmother, "We talk later", she said finally.
I nodded wearily and looked around for Happosai, "Where
is that little bugger", I muttered.
"RIGHT HERE!", Happosai called from the far end of the
vacant lot, "Now it's time for you to be destroyed... you
first humiliate me in public... then you try to take away my
fair Ranma-Chan... you must pay horribly!".
I sighed and walked towards him, holding my hands out
wide, "Well.. hurry up then and beat me up", I insisted, "I'm
too tired to put up much of a fight at the moment".
Happosai charged forward, a small bomb in each hand. I
had planned on him attacking me violently, but not with his
little grenades. Flinging up a shield, the bombs exploded
harmlessly against the magical barrier. Happosai stopped and
frowned as his bombs did no damage. "You have some power
then", he admitted.
I forced my attention on the next spell I had prepared,
fishing into my memories I pulled up an image of Urd, clad
only in the lacy thing she called a 'nightgown' (you'd be
surprised at the clothing - or lack thereof - that Urd wears
around the temple).
Happosai began to drool, "SWEETY!", he bellowed and ran
gibbering towards her. I dropped my shield and waited. Three
seconds later Happosai executed the largest 'Glomp' in
history. About 0.1 seconds after that, he realised that it
was an illusion. Then 0.25 seconds later he impacted into a
good size boulder.
I coughed a bit at the dust that it threw up, "I hope Urd
never finds out about this", I muttered.
Soun and Genma were dancing a little jig, singing
something about 'die pervert die'. I was feeling a bit light-
headed so I began to carefully make my way back to the
blanket. A figure suddenly hopped over my head, blocking my
path.
A rumpled and dirty Happosai looked at me speculatively
and then shrugged, "So much the better", he said, pulling out
a scroll. He began chanting in some kind of magical tongue.
The wind began to blow, a chill breeze that seemed to cut
right through my clothing. I shivered, "Trying to freeze me
to death?", I asked curiously.
Happosai ignored me and continued chanting, his voice
rising deafeningly. I noticed that some low clouds were
beginning to form above us and the sun was swallowed by by
them. "Weather control doesn't really frighten me much", I
said calmly.
"But this will!", Happosai declared as he finished the
spell, "NOW TEACH HIM A LESSON!"
A brilliant billow of fire leapt up from in front of him,
blackening the earth and causing the grass around it to smoke.
From that pillar of flame, a manlike shape began to emerge,
horrible in appearance, it had four huge arms, with razor-
sharp claws on the end of them. It's head was a cross between
a rhino and an elephant, but it's mouth was fully of wicked-
looking teeth. It stood nearly seven feet tall and sparks
crackled from the earth as it walked.
It was at this point that I began to panic. Quickly
throwing up a forcefield spell I tried to think of a way out.
The Demon walked up to my forcefield and brought one of it's
fists down on it. There was a deafening roar and the Demon
was flung backwards a few paces. I frowned in surprise, "Now
that's something I didn't expect", I observed.
"You're telling me!", the Demon growled, sitting up and
shaking it's head. It stood and walked over to the edge of my
shield, gingerly testing it with a finger, "That's a nice
forcefield", it complimented me.
I blinked in surprise, "Thank you", I replied.
The Demon began to pace around the shield, testing it
occasionally, "Neat... well constructed... little energy
expenditure... I've never seen a mage construct a shield
that's so impervious to my physical attacks".
I shrugged a little weakly, "I've had a bit of practice",
I admitted.
The Demon nodded, "Well.. it's been nice knowing you..
but I'm afraid that I've gotta fulfil my contract now and kill
you", it said, almost apologetically.
Happosai was jumping up and down, "Well hurry up and
finish him off!", he demanded.
The Demon sighed and ground it's teeth in frustration,
"Alright.. I'll get around to it... it's just nice to meet
someone who's serious about spellcasting.. and not a dabbler
like you", it replied.
"If you don't hurry up I won't let you out for another
hundred years!", Happosai threatened.
The Demon shrugged, "Promises, Promises", it mumbled.
Then it began casting a fireball spell. I winced as the spell
impacted into my shield. But was surprised when I felt the
shield take only a little. The Demon was obviously surprised
too, because it's jaw dropped and it stared in amazement.
"Alright!", the Demon said (getting angry), "Enough Mr Nice
Demon...". It drew up as much energy as it was capable of and
threw it at me in one huge burst.
The shield shuddered and almost buckled, but it held out.
The Demon dropped to the ground in exhaustion. I heard a
cheer from behind me and noticed that Soun and Genma were
dancing around in a circle. Kasumi was smiling broadly and
Akane was grinning openly. Only Nabiki looked downcast.
Happosai ran over and tried to force his Demon back to it's
feet, "Come on.. get up... You're suppose to be all
powerful!", he insisted.
The Demon slowly regained it's feet and looked at me,
"Who are you?", it asked slowly.
I dropped the shield and walked (trying not to stagger)
over to it. Pulling out a wallet I showed him my ID card.
The Demon nodded and gave it back to me, "That'd be my luck",
it groaned, "My master would have to try to pick on a God".
Happosai looked confused, "A what?", he asked in a small
voice.
Then it sat up, "Hey!", it exclaimed angrily, "That's not
in my contract!". It spoke a word and a large scroll appeared
in one of it's hands, reading quickly it got about half way
through before it came to a passage. Which it read carefully:
------------------------------------------------------------
DEMON SUMMONING - SUB PARAGRAPH A - SECTION 5
At no time shall the summoner force or trick the summoned to
engage in hostile actions with Gods above class level 4 -
breach of this contract entitles the summoned to the
summoner's immortal soul or eternal freedom on the mortal
world
------------------------------------------------------------
The Demon looked at me, "What class are you?", it asked.
I shrugged, "Class two... ", I admitted.
It smiled in triumph, "There.. now I've got your soul!",
it said to Happosai.
Happosai shrank back and I tapped the Demon on the
shoulder, "You *really* want *his* soul?", I asked seriously.
The Demon shook it's head, "Naw.. I guess not", it said,
"I'll settle for bringing ruin and destruction to the whole
planet". It began rubbing it's hands together in anticipation
of the damage it would cause, "Oh this is gonna be good!", it
enthused.
I sighed, "Well.. there's only one problem with your
plan", I said, whispering a quick spell.
It looked up curiously, "What's that?", it asked.
I pointed down at it's feet and it noticed the shackle-
spell I'd cast on it's feet. The Demon howled in pain as it
tried to move, "That's not fair!", it shouted, "I should be
free to roam the Worlf uhggg". I finished another spell and a
gag appeared around it's mouth. Then I turned to Happosai,
"Are you finished?", I asked him.
******
Kasumi and the others were smiling happily as Brett
walked past Happosai and sat down once again at the blanket.
"Well done!", Soun encouraged, "That's the way to do it!".
Brett nodded and wearily laid down on the blanket, his face
was rather pale and drawn.
Genma was busily stuffing his face so he only managed a
muffled, "Excellent!".
Only Nabiki didn't look happy, she picked up her camera
and stomped away. "Hey!", Brett called after her, "How about
returning my wallet?".
Nabiki turned around slowly and walked right up to him,
throwing the wallet at his feet, "Here", Nabiki said, "I'll
have the money I owe you by tomorrow!". Brett looked a little
startled by her anger, but before he could say anything, she
had stomped off towards the Tendo Dojo.
Akane gave Brett a serious look, "Now I think you should
explain eaxctly who you are and why you are here", she
insisted, "I've never seen anyone do those kind of things
before".
Cologne spoke up, "He's a god", she said simply, from
where she was sipping her tea.
Genma choked on his lunch, "A..A what?!?!?!", he managed.
Soun gave Brett a curious look, "Must be from one of
those 'new age' religions", he observed.
"Oh come on!", Akane scoffed, "He can't be a god.. gods
don't wear jeans and help cook!".
Brett shook his head, "You'd be surprised", he said,
standing carefully, "I think I'd better go and have a bit of a
rest, I'm not used to all that spellcasting". He took three
steps and collapsed in a heap on the ground. Soun and Genma
carefully examined him, "He's exhausted", Genma confirmed,
"We'd better get him back to the Dojo".
Cologne stood, "Ahh the young.. always overtaxing
themselves", she sighed. She handed Kasumi a small packet of
herbs, "Here, this will help restore his strength", she
explained.
"Great Grandmother... what about 'Kiss of Death'?",
Shampoo insisted, "Surely he not put up a fight now?".
"He might not.. but *we* will!", she announced.
Shampoo smiled evilly, "Violent girl not problem", she
said confidently.
Soun and Genma looked grim, "You'd best leave", Soun
suggested. Cologne smiled slightly and then led Shampoo and
Mousse back towards the Nekohanten.
Kasumi finished packing away the food and picked up the
blanet, "Hurry now.. the faster we get him home, the faster
he'll get better", she insisted.
Soun and Genma (with a little assistance from Akane),
picked up the young man and carried him carefully back to the
Dojo. They placed him in the guest room, beside a sleeping
Ranma. Kasumi examined the card Brett had given her before
the fight, "I wonder?", she mused.
******
Urd was carefully measuring out her latest love potion,
this one was her most powerful yet, one drop and whoever was
effected would fall hopelessly in love with the first person
they saw. She gingerlly added the last componant, noticing
with satisfaction the mixture had just the correct texture.
"That's enough", she murmered, placing the completed
potion in a shock-proof case with the rest of her collection.
Then the phone rang. "Damn.. who on earth would that be?",
she wondered.
"Hello!", she said angrily into the reciever.
"Oh.. I'm trying to reach... a 'Belldandy'", the female
voice said hesitantly.
"She's my sister", Urd said impatiently, "But she's out
at the moment, what do you want?".
"Well... my name is Kasumi, I'm a friend of Brett",
Kasumi said carefully.
Urd frowned, "How did you get his number?", she demanded,
"Brett should know better than to give out our cards....".
"Well, you see he told me to ring this number if anything
happened to him", she explained.
"What!?!?!", Urd exclaimed anxiously, "What's happened??
is he alright??? describe what's wrong".
"He seems to be sleeping", she said, "but we can't wake
him up".
"How did this happen?", Urd asked carefully. "Sound's
like he's been overdoing it", she muttered to herself.
"Well.. there was this Demon..", Kasumi said, explaining
the fight.
"Alright", Urd said frimly, "I want you to go into your
loungeroom and turn on the TV".
"But... ", Kasumi began.
"No arguments!", Urd said, hanging up the phone. She
rushed back into her room, she scribbled down a quick note to
her sisters and then grabbed her potions. A few seconds later
she stepped into her TV.
******
Kasumi and Akane were standing in front of the Tendo's
TV, "And that's all she told you?", Akane asked (for the tenth
time).
"Turn on your TV", Kasumi confirmed.
A few moments later, the TV began glowing. The two girls
stepped back as a brilliant flare of light blinded them
momentarily.
"Where's Brett?", asked an anxious Urd.
Akane was standing openmouthed, "Who.. what....", she
muttered thoughtlessly.
Kasumi pointed at the stairs, "Up there, first door on
your left", she said quickly.
Urd scooted upstairs and Kasumi turned to an amazed
Akane, "Are you alright?", Kasumi enquired.
Akane nodded slowly, "We'd better catch up with her", she
suggested.
The two girls rushed after the Goddess, what they failed
to hear was the faint click of a camera. Nabiki slid the door
open all the way and stepped into the room, "I've got it!",
she enthaused, "This film will make me more money than I can
count!". The third Tendo Sister made her way upstairs to her
room, rubbing her hands greedily.
******
Urd threw open the indicated door and then stopped.
There was Brett, lying alongside a red-headed girl. Urd did a
double-take and examined the young girl closely, "What the
hell?!?!", she began.
"Oh that's just Ranma", Kasumi said, noting Urd's
outradged expression, "Never mind him".
Urd shook her head, "Him?", she asked blankly.
The object of her examinations blinked and rubbed her
eyes, "Whatz goin on??", Ranma mumbled. Seeing Urd, Ranma
scrubbed at her eyes, "Who are you?", she asked.
"I'm Urd", Urd replied, "Now move so I can see to Brett".
Ranma stood and nodded, "I'm gonna grab some hot water",
she mumbled, walking out the door.
"Whatever!", Urd said, kneeling down next to Brett and
examining his face carefully. She also took his pulse and
temperature. "He seems alright to me", she said a moment
later, "I think he probably just needs to recharge a bit".
She quickly opened her case and sorted through some
potions, "I know I've got something in here that should at
least help him regain conciousness", she muttered.
A moment later the wall exploded as Shampoo arrived.
"Now we finish what we started", she announced, advancing
towards a startled Urd.
"Most people with half a brain use the door", Urd
commented.
"If she had half a brain, she'd be a vegetable", Akane
muttered.
Shampoo narrowed her eye's at Akane, "I deal with you
soon", she said.
Akane stood up and assume a fighting stance, "Any time!",
she announced.
Kasumi slipped quietly outside as Shampoo advanced
towards Urd and Akane. Urd stood up and gave Shampoo a frank
look, "Don't annoy me", she warned.
"HA!", Shampoo said scornfully, "You coward to fight with
magic!".
Urd raised her eyebrows, "Alright then!", she said,
whispering a quick spellword. Her swords appeared and her
dress changed into something more suitable for fighting. She
assumed a ready stance, "Let's go!", she said.
Shampoo charged and the two of them began fighting back
and forth. Akane was lost after a few moments of watching the
fight. Both of them new their weapons and looked evenly
matched. Akane shuddered as another wall was destroyed, along
with a few bits of furniture. She ducked as a section of the
roof came down, narrowly missing her. Not knowing what else
to do, she grabbed a bunch of potions from Urd's case.
Looking at the writing she had no idea which potion was for
what.
"Oh well", she thought to herself. And promptly began
emptying the potions down Brett's throat, one after the other.
Urd noticed what she was doing after a few moments, "NO!", she
shouted, "Stop it!".
Akane was about to stop, when Brett's eyes opened and he
sat up suddenly, "Where am I?", he said sharply. Akane
grabbed him by the ears and turned his head to where Urd and
Shampoo where fighting, "There, your friend needs your help!".
Brett's eyes focused on the pair fighting. "YOU!", he
said coldly, "You shall die!". Energy began cascading down
his arms and Akane backed off fearfully. Brett calmly cast a
bolt of energy, right at Urd.
Urd noticed it coming and quickly threw up a shield. The
impact knocked her from her feet. A surprised Shampoo took
one look at the angry god getting to his feet at the other end
of the room and promptly stepped out of the way (thus proving
that even vegetables are not *completely* stupid).
Urd shook her head and stood, "What are you doing?", she
demanded.
Brett calmly cast the spell that changed him into his
uniform and then summoned his sword, "Well, I see you're
armed?", he asked, "Very nice of you to come prepared!". Then
he lunged forward in a quick striking motion.
Urd desperately parried and backed off, "What's wrong
with you?!?", she asked warily.
"I've come to see just how much I dispise you!", he
uttered, through clentched teeth, "It turns my stomach to even
be in the same room with you!". With that a huge glow began
to build up around the hilt of his epee. A burst of raw
energy began to run down the blade.
Urd saw it coming and realised that she wouldn't have a
hope of stopping so much energy. "Goodbye sisters", she said
softly, "Goodbye Brett".
The energy buildup continued, until the air in the room
was charged and discharges of electricity began sparking. Urd
closed her eyes and waited. But the burst never came.
Opening her eyes she saw the energy begin to fade. The epee
dropped from Brett's hand and he fell to the ground.
Akane peeked out from where she had taken cover in the
closet, "Is it over?", she asked.
Urd walked over to where Brett was lying on the floor,
prudently kicking the epee across the room. She turned him
over and peeled open one of his eyes, "He'll be out of it for
a while", Urd announced.
"Just like you!", Shampoo said, bringing her mace down
towards Urd's unprotected head.
There was a splash of water and Urd found herself facing
a small cat. "Oh My!", Kasumi said looking at all the damage,
"Did I take too long to get the water?".
******
Urd was examing her potion collection, trying to
dertermine which ones Akane had forcefed Brett when a scream
echoed through the house. A frantic Ranma burst into the
room, "I'll KILL HIM!", she screamed. Ranma was wearing
nothing but a towel and had scald marks on her shoulders.
"Ranma!", Akane said, "What's wrong?".
Ranma began advancing towards an unconcious Brett, "He's
destroyed my life!", Ranma replied shortly, "Now it's time for
revenge!".
Kasumi frowned, "But it wasn't Brett's fault the spell
went wrong.. it was Happosai", she pointed out.
"Then I'll deal with him next!", Ranma said bluntly.
Ksaumi nodded, "Well before you do that, here, say hello
to Shampoo", she said, holding out a wet Shampoo-cat. Ranma
went berserk and jumped out a window. Kasumi clamly put down
Shampoo (who of course, ran after Ranma). "There we go", she
said happily, "Now who would like some tea?".
Akane's jaw dropped and she stared at her sister, "I'll
have some tea thankyou", Urd said, from where she was back
examining her collection.
After a few minutes Urd had found out which potions Akane
had given to Brett. Firstly it had been the love potion she
had been working on, followed by another potion that was
suppose to provide honesty, that was followed by a fear potion
and finally a hate potion. Urd shook her head, it was just
back luck he had looked at her first.
"Alright", Urd said finally, "You are only suppose to use
the potion in small amounts, I'm not exactly sure what happens
if you drink the whole thing".
"You mean he's going to be a bloodthirsty maniac
forever?", Akane asked, "Isn't there something you can do?".
Urd thought for a few moments, "Perhaps, I might be able
to cancel out each of the effects, but it will probably take
me a while to get it right", she said carefully.
"And it's hard to administer a potion to someone when
they're trying to kill you", Kasumi added.
Urd frowned, "We *might* be able to get Brett to help
himself", she mused, "If we explain things to him, it *could*
convince him to stop attacking me long enough for me to help
him".
Akane looked dubious, "Are you sure you want to risk
it?", she asked, "He seemed pretty dangerous".
Urd shrugged, "The potions aren't suppose to change
someone's personality, just bring out one particular emotion
with one individual", she explained, "Now I know that Brett
isn't a violent person, to be totally frank he's a little too
concerned with self-control".
Kasumi nodded, "But perhaps you shouldn't be present when
we tell him about it?", she asked.
"That might be best", Urd agreed, "While you're
explaining things to him I've got a few phonecalls to make".
With that, Urd passed Akane another potion and went
downstairs.
******
"Brett!", came a voice from the darkness, "Come on.. wake
up!". Someone was tapping my shoulder. I pushed away the
hand, rolling over, "Brett, you must wake up now", came the
voice again. Something in my memory reminded me that it was
Kasumi's.
Rubbing my eyes I slowly sat up, "Oh... did anyone see
what hit me?", I groaned. My body was rather sore and I had a
few bumps and scratches that I didn't remember getting. The
room was totalled, walls destroyed, windows smashed and what
looked like the aftereffects of a fireball in one corner.
I smiled up at Akane and Kasumi, "Did I miss the party?",
I asked.
Kasumi and Akane seemed to both be rather relieved and I
frowned, "What's been happening?", I insisted.
Akane forced a smile, "Shampoo paid a visit", she
explained, gesturing to the wall.
I streched and yawned, "How long have I been asleep?", I
asked.
Kasumi sat down opposite me, "Not long, Akane woke you up
with a potion", she said.
"A potion?", I wondered (something in the back of my mind
was shouting warning messages at me).
Akane nodded, "But unfortunately I gave you the wrong
one", she said apologetically.
I groaned, "Oh no.. which one?", I asked. Remembering
the effects of a potion if it's not properly used can be
disasterous.
Akane blushed slightly and Kasumi expalined quickly which
potions I'd been doused with. I shook my head, "Let me get
this straight, you hit me with a love potion, followed by a
potion of Honesty, then fear and then a love potion?", I asked
with a sinking feeling.
The both nodded and I frowned, "Well, why haven't they
done anything?", I asked, "If I remember correctly I should
feel those things for the first person I see..".
I looked carefully at Kasumi and then Akane, "Well,
obviously it's not working", I said, "Since I'm not feeling
any different towards the two of you".
Akane murmered something that sounded like 'Thank God'
and I frowned at her. "What's the suppose to mean?", I
demanded.
Kasumi took my hand carefully, "Brett, you didn't see
either of us first", she said gently.
I scrathed my head, "I didn't?", I asked.
"You saw an old friend, someone that you are quite close
to", Kasumi explained.
"I did?", I asked in amazement, "Who was it?".
Kasumi and Akane exchanged a long glance, "Before we tell
you, please promise that you won't hurt or in anyway injure
them", Kasumi asked firmly.
I looked at her in disbelief, "Me??!?!", I said in a
wounded voice, "I'd never hurt anyone!".
"Promise!", Kasumi insisted.
I shook my head, "I'm afraid I'm not allowed to promise
you anything on the mortal world", I said (luckily remembering
that rule).
"Then promise me!", came a voice from the door.
I looked up to see Belldandy standing in the doorway,
"G'day Belldandy!", I greeted her warmly, "What brings you
here?".
"You do", she said firmly, "Now since you can't make that
promise to your mortal friends... how about to me?".
I thought for a moment, "Sure, I promise I won't hurt
anyone", I promised.
A second later Urd stepped through the door behind her
sister. "YOU!", I shouted, bounding forward I summoned my
epee.
Urd involuntarily took a step back and I moved in for the
kill. Then I realised what I was doing and brought myself to
a stop. "You don't mean *her*?", I demanded of Kasumi and
Akane, gesturing at Urd with my sword.
Shakily Akane nodded and I forced away another urge to
run my hated enemy through. I banished the sword and forced
myself to walk across the room and sit down. "What are we
going to do about this?", I said, keeping my voice level with
an effort.
Belldandy and Urd exchanged a quick nod and I was
relieved to note that Belldandy stepped forward to talk to me,
"We're going to try and reverse the effects of the potions",
she said, "It's probably best if you stay here for now".
I nodded, "That stays in line with Kasumi's wish", I
replied, "So how long is this going to take?".
"That depends on how long it takes me to refine an
anitdote", Urd called from where she was examining an empty
potion bottle.
I ignored her and looked at Belldandy, "How long is it
going to take you?", I asked carefully.
Urd looked up indignantly at being ignored, "Not too long
I hope", Belldandy answered quickly.
I nodded and kept my eyes on the floor, keeping well away
from looking at Urd. The two Goddesses talked for a moment
with Akane and Kasumi, before Belldandy turned and waved
goodbye. I managed a half-hearted wave, but stopped the
moment I noticed Urd wave back. I turned my back on her and
waited until the flash of their departure had faded.
Forcing a smile I turned back to the two Tendo ladies,
"Well, now that this unpleasentness is over and done with,
perhaps we should try and repair this place a bit?", I said.
******
Happosai was pacing back and forth in front of the
shackeled Demon. The Demon was watching him carefully, "Why
are you still here you old pervert?", it hissed angrily.
Happosai was puffing on his pipe as he walked, "I'm just
looking at my folly", Happosai replied in a calm voice.
The Demon looked confused, "Pardon me?", it asked.
Happosai stopped and sat down, "Oh, I must be getting too
old, picking on someone I can't beat", he sighed, "Maybe I
should retire...".
The Demon snorted, "*YOU*?? retire??", it scoffed,
"You'll probably be chasing after girls even after your
dead!".
Happosai sighed, "It seems to be my lot in life", he
agreed, "I just wish I could have taught that young man a
lesson he'd never forget!".
The Demon licked it's lips, "Well, we *might* be able to
make a deal", it offered.
"How?", Happosai asked, looking interested.
The Demon lowered it's head, "Well, obviously one such as
myself is no match for even a lesser god... but *my* master
is", it explained.
"Your master?", Happosai asked.
"Tupnixua is my master", the Demon explained, "He's a
Devil".
"A Devil?", Happosai said in amazement, "You mean I could
really command something that powerful?".
The Demon shrugged, "I could change places with him if
you like, I'm sure he'll more than live up to my contract", it
suggested.
Happosai nodded, "Very well, bring your master here to do
my bidding", he ordered.
The Demon smiled evilly, "You asked for it mortal!", it
proclaimed. There was a wash of blackness and a moment later
the hideous Demon was replaced by a creature straight from the
very depths of hell, "Did I hear something about a deal?", it
asked in a voice that brought a chill to Happosai's heart.
******
Mixing potions had always been one of Urd's favourite
pastimes, getting that perfect blending of each element took
years of painstaking practice. "DAMN IT!", Urd shouted
angrily. Her fifth attempt at an antidote for the hate potion
had met with a dismal failure.
Skuld yawned and looked up sleepily from where she'd been
sitting, "What's wrong this time?", she grumbled.
"The consistency isn't right, it's not potent enough to
make a difference", Urd said wearily.
Skuld looked at the time, it was late even by Urd's
standards. "How about we get some rest and pick this up in
the morning?", Skuld suggested.
Urd began rummaging around in her notes, "I'll give it
one more try.. I'm sure that I can get it right if I just..",
she broke off as Skuld gently but firmly reached over and shut
her notebook.
"What?", Urd asked defensively.
"Stop it!", Skuld said sharply.
Urd frowned, "Stop what?", she asked.
Skuld sighed, "Stop blaming yourself for what happened!",
she said firmly.
Urd sighed, "Well if you think about it... it really is
my fault, I shouldn't have left my potions alone like that",
she admitted softly.
Skuld shook her head, "It was an accident.. there's no
way you could have know that girl would start pouring them
down his throat", she argued.
Urd smiled sadly, "Accident's aren't suppose to happen to
us.. remember??", she said.
Skuld frowned, "So you're saying it wasn't an accident...
then why was it allowed?", she asked.
"As near as I can tell, Brett is suppose to stay with
Kasumi, since I'm living here and he hates me, the only place
left for him to live is with Kasumi", Urd explained.
"So your saying that the reason he happened to drink the
potions was to keep him with Kasumi?", Skuld asked.
Urd nodded, "I can't see any other reason", she replied.
Skuld bit her bottom lip, "Well if that's the case
*should* you be trying to reverse the potion? I mean if it's
fate that he remains with her...", Skuld began.
Urd shook her head violently, "No, I won't have Brett
going through the rest of his life hating me!", she declared
angrily, "I won't!!".
Skuld sighed, "I wondered how long it would take.. now
I'm the only one left", she said quietly.
Urd looked at her strangely, "What are you talking
about?", she demanded.
Skuld looked up at her with a disgruntled expression,
"First Belldandy and now you.... I wonder how long I'll last",
she mused.
"Last against what?", Urd asked frowning.
"These mortal men", Skuld said, "I mean if *you* can fall
in love... *anyone* can".
Urd blushed slightly, "I don't know what you're talking
about, Brett's just a friend", she argued.
Skuld nodded, "Sure he is", she said sarcastically, "But
I know that you don't get *this* worked up over 'just a
friend' - Brett is something else to you".
Urd bit her lower lip nervously, "I made too many
mistakes with him when we first me for him to consider me in
that way", she admitted, "But I certainly don't want him
hating me".
Skuld shrugged, "Whatever", she said, "You can deny it
all you like... but if I might make a suggestion, get some
rest, you'll be no use in finding a cure if you are half-
asleep".
Urd watched her sister walk from the room. "She's
smarter than I thought", Urd thought suddenly. Then realising
that her little sister was right, she went to her room and
stretched out on the bed. But sleep wouldn't come, the image
in her mind of an enraged young man kept her awake until
almost dawn.
******
I was just relaxing in the loungeroom with a cup of tea
when a scream echoed through the house, "BRETT!!!!", shouted
Ranma angrily, "WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU!?!?!?!?!".
I steeled myself as Ranma walked into the room, "Oh..
G'day Ranma", I greeted her cautiously, she'd been missing for
two days.
Ranma gave me a chill gaze, "Don't 'G'day' me!", she
replied, "I want you to make me normal! NOW!".
"Even a god would have trouble with *that*", Nabiki
commented from the doorway.
Ranma didn't even spare her a glance, she continued to
look straight at me, "Well?", she asked.
"Well... I'm afraid I can't do that", I replied, eyeing
her cautiously.
"YOU WHAT?!?!?!", she screamed, stepping forward and
placing a threatening fist in my face, "You'd better change me
back or I'll make you sorry you ever came here!".
"Too late", I murmured. Looking at the *very* upset
young lady (well.. sort of) standing in front of me I sighed,
"I'd help you if I could Ranma, but that spell I cast on you
prevents *all* magic from altering your form.. including
mine", I explained.
"Well.. work out a way to fix it", she insisted.
I shook my head, "I'm afraid you'll have to wait till it
wears off", I explained, "I can't break my own spell in that
way".
Ranma looked dejected and hung her head sadly, "Come
on!", I said, "It's not so bad... ".
"What do you know of how bad it is?", Ranma demanded,
"You haven't experienced anything remotely like this!".
I gave her a serious look, "You don't think it's a
change, going from a mortal to a god?", I asked, "Let me tell
you.. these marks on my forehead mean aren't for show.. I'm no
longer me... I had to leave everything I knew behind to take
up this life!". I noticed that Ranma had lost her angry
expression and was looking at me curiously.
"Look Ranma", I said firmly, "I would help you if I
could, but I'm afraid that I can't at the moment, once the
spell wears off you'll be back to normal".
"Or as normal as he can get", Nabiki added.
Ranma tossed her an annoyed glance and sighed, leaving
the room. I glanced over to Nabiki, "What do you want?", I
asked her bluntly.
She blinked and then smiled, "So you *are* a god?", she
asked.
I nodded, "As if I hadn't given away enough hints
already!", I said sarcastically.
"So tell me", Nabiki asked, "What's it worth for the
world not to find out about you?".
I thought for a moment, "You ever been a toad before?", I
asked jokingly.
Nabiki paled slightly and I rolled my eyes, "I was just
kidding.. I don't turn people into toads", I admitted.
"So what's it like?", Nabiki asked softly.
I frowned at her, "What's what like?", I asked.
Nabiki waved a hand in my general direction, "You
know...", she said.
I nodded, "Well, it seems like I left behind a lot of
problems.. only to take on double the amount", I admitted,
"The only bright spot has been the people I've met, Belldandy,
Keiichi, Skuld.. they've all made it worthwhile".
Nabiki looked curious, "What about Urd?", she asked.
I gritted my teeth, "Well, I remember that she's treated
me alright - for the most part - but at the moment I'm not
exactly happy with her", I said firmly.
Nabiki nodded, "That's the hate potion talking", she
guessed.
I nodded, "Probably", I allowed.
Nabiki stood, "Well Mr God", she said teasingly, "I'll
leave you to your almighty thoughts".
"Thank you, mortal!", I said sarcastically. Nabiki
walked out of the room with a smile on her face and I went
back to thinking over my current situation. If Kasumi was to
have something worthwhile from her wish, I had to organise a
boyfriend for her. I sighed in frustration, matchmaking
wasn't something I was terribly good at. "If only Urd where
here...", I began. Then I stopped myself, realising that I
was thinking of *her* again.
I stood and walked to the door, looking out over the
small pond. That was something unusual, Urd had never been
far from my thoughts in the last few days and I couldn't seem
to equate my feelings of hostility with her - I felt
uncontrollable anger when I heard her name spoken, but for no
reason. I remembered that I was suppose to take her out on a
date this Wednesday and the thought turned my stomach. But in
the back of my mind I realised that I'd been looking forward
to the date for the last week or so.
I went into the kitchen and found Kasumi busily preparing
dinner. I picked up a knife and began pealing potatoes,
relaxing with that familiar duty. After I'd finished the
potatoes I began working on some other parts of the meal, in
no time I found that I'd ran out of things to do. Kasumi
nodded in thanks and I suddenly realised why she enjoyed
cooking so much. It was relaxing and in this kind of
household, anything that relaxed you was good.
Dinner was a subdued affair, Ranma still ate as much as
always, but didn't respond to any of Akane's taunts. After
she had finished eating she went back upstairs, downcast and
depressed. I felt rather guilty about the whole thing, but
didn't really have anything that I could do that would help
the situation. I helped Kasumi clear off the dishes and clean
up a little, before the two of us sat down and tried to work
things out.
The two of us were sitting overlooking the pond, "So when
are you leaving?", Kasumi asked seriously.
I frowned at her, "I'm not sure", I admitted, "But I
can't stay here forever...".
Kasumi nodded, "I understand", she said quietly.
I looked at the sad expression on her face and took hold
of her chin, firmly turning her head so she was looking at me,
"No.. I don't think you do", I said firmly, "Why do you think
I'm leaving?".
"Obviously", Kasumi said, pulling slightly away, "You
don't like living here... you've been attacked constantly.. I
would have thought it obvious".
I smiled, "Look Kasumi, the fact is.. *if* I was really
your boyfriend, I'm sure I could put up with all that", I
explained, "But I'm not, I have responsibilities that I can't
ignore and I'm not sure how much longer I'll be able to stay
here".
Kasumi's eye's brightened momentarily, "You *would*
stay?", she asked hopefully.
I gave her a fond smiled, "Of course I would", I said
firmly, "But you've got to remember, I'm not free to make that
choice".
She nodded sadly, "Well.. thank you anyway", she said,
"It's nice to know that I'm not completely unattractive to
men".
I laughed out loud, "Kasumi I don't think you could be
unattractive if you tried! you only have to take one look at
that Doctor to tell you that!", I exclaimed.
Kasumi frowned, "What do you mean?", she asked curiously.
I paused, "You mean you haven't noticed?", I asked.
Kasumi shook her head and I grinned a little
uncomfortably. "Well", I began, "When I mentioned your name
to Dr Tofu, he seemed to become rather distracted... ".
Kasumi frowned, "Why on earth would you think that means
anything?", she asked curiously.
"Well", I explained, "When a guy becomes *that*
distracted, it usually means he's fallen pretty bad". Seeing
her blank expression I gave her a friendly punch on the
shoulder, "He's stuck on *you*", I confirmed.
Kasumi looked shocked, "What are you talking about??!",
she demanded, "Dr Tofu has been a friend of the family for
years... he's our doctor!".
I gave her an innocent expression, "And that means he
can't have feelings?", I asked.
Kasumi shook her head, "I'm sure you must have been
mistaken", she argued, "He couldn't be in love with me".
"You don't like him?", I asked, genuinely curious.
Kasumi blushed slightly, "Well.. I mean I never thought
about it...", she said nervously.
I realised that she probably didn't feel comfortable
talking to me about it so I stood, "If you don't believe me..
ask Nabiki.. I'm sure for a small fee she'd be willing to
confirm everything I've said", I walked away smiling. It
looked like there might be a way out after all.
I was walking across to the Dojo when a blur of grey
appeared in my path. Stopping suddenly at the warning, I
jumped backwards as a horde of weapons impacted into the
ground where I'd been standing. "Ranma!!!", shouted Mousse,
"What have you done with my beloved Shampoo!?!?!?!".
He landed a few feet from me and I sighed, "Mousse.. put
your glasses on!", I ordered.
He lowered the huge lenses and then frowned, "You're not
Ranma.. where's Ranma!??!", he demanded.
"What's he done this time?", I asked.
"He's kidnapped Shampoo!!", Mousse replied angrily, "Now
tell me where he is!".
I shook my head, "Mousse.. Ranma wouldn't do that.. now
what's happened?", I asked.
He frowned, "About an hour ago, Shampoo was busy in the
kitchen, cooking ramen when I heard an unusual noise... anyway
I went in to see what was wrong, only to find signs of a
struggle and her missing!", he explained.
"Well, that lets Ranma off straight away", I pointed out,
"You think she would be struggling if he were taking her
away?".
Mousse thought for a moment and then nodded, "But who
else could defeat her?", he replied. I thought about it for a
moment and then shrugged, "Have you talked to Cologne about
it?", I asked.
Mousse scratched his head, "She's on a trip back to the
village", he said.
"Now who on earth would have a grudge against Shampoo?",
I wondered. Even as I said it I realised that there were
probably a number of people that fitted that description.
Thankfully I didn't have to wait long for an answer.
"Oh... not a grudge, just a need!", a voice from above
announced.
I bounded out of the way as a large figure jumped down
from the garden wall. I whispered a quick spell and encased
myself in a shield, "Who are you?!?", I demanded, "and why are
you here?!?!".
"I am known as Tupnixua", the figure replied, "And I am
here to teach you a lesson".
I gave it a speculative look, "And how are you going to
do that?", I asked.
Tupnixua pointed a finger at Mousse and a web of sticky
fibres suddenly shot from it's hand, encasing the startled
Mousse in a thick net. "By making you wish You'd never been
born!", it enthused. Then it brought it's fist around and
punched my shield as hard as it could. I found myself flying
through the air, smashing through trees and the odd wall.
Finally the shield managed to right itself and I looked up to
see a figure flapping off into the darkness.
"I think we have a problem", I muttered, restating the
obvious.
******
"Mousse??", Ranma asked curiously, "as well as Shampoo?".
I nodded, "As far as I can tell, this Devil looks like
it's going after those that have curses", I warned her.
"Me!?!?!", Ranma scoffed recognising my hint, "If this
Tupnixua or whatever comes near me he'll regret it".
"Not 'he'", I corrected, "*it* - this thing is about as
far from being human as you can get".
Ranma shrugged, "Whatever... I've yet to meet someone
that can't be defeated", she stated firmly, "So I'm sure I'll
think of something".
I gave her a quizzical look, "Why *you*?", I asked, "I'm
pretty sure that it mentioned that it was trying to get at
me".
Ranma shrugged, "Well, obviously you'll be no match for
it", she explained, "You can't even fight...".
I sighed, "Ranma", I said firmly, "Fighting isn't the be-
all and end-all of existence, just because I can't fight it
physically, doesn't mean that I can't fight with magic".
"Oh, I've seen your magic", she said, looking pointed at
her breasts, "And I'm not impressed".
I sighed and nodded to Ranma to follow me inside, "If
we're going to fight a Devil, I'd better let my friends know",
I explained.
I grabbed up the phone and dialled the number for the
temple. It rang a few times and then phone went dead and I
looked around nervously, "Err... I think we may have a bigger
problem", I announced.
At that moment the lights went out and the room was
plunged into darkness, a tortured scream echoed from upstairs
and I heard Ranma rush quickly (if a little awkwardly in the
dark) up the stairs. I followed a little more slowly.
We arrived in the guest room where we'd layed out Ryouga
after his fight with Ranma, it was empty and there was a large
hole in the wall. I tapped Ranma on the shoulder and gestured
that we should get back out into the corridor. She nodded and
we backed out of the room, "I can't believe that *thing* took
out Ryouga so quickly", Ranma admitted a little shakily.
"We've got to get everyone together, downstairs", I said
quickly, "I *should* be able to protect us from him".
Ranma gave me a speculative look, "*Should*?", she asked.
"Just find everyone that's left and get them together in
the Dojo", I said, "I'm going to take a quick trip home and
try to get some help".
Ranma nodded and I dumped a watch on the ground, quickly
chanting a transport spell I stepped into it.
******
******
I appeared in my room at the temple and rushed out into
the corridor, "Yo! anyone around?!?", I called.
I got a muffled yell from the loungeroom and I walked in,
"I think we've got some bigger problems now", I began. Then I
broke off, noticing the person in the room for the first time.
It was Urd. I clenched my teeth, "Where are Belldandy and
Skuld?", I asked sharply.
She shrugged, "Skuld's asleep and Belldandy's out with
Keiichi", she answered.
I nodded, "I would appreciate it if you could wake her
and get in contact with Belldandy", I forced myself to say
politely.
Urd nodded and went to wake up her little sister, "She
sure doesn't act like my worst enemy", I reminded myself
quietly.
A few moments later Skuld appeared, rubbing her eye's
sleepily, "This had better be good", she grumbled.
I made some tea and by the time I'd finished, Belldandy
had reappeared, "What's wrong?", she asked, after sipping on
the tea.
"I'm afraid that somehow, a *Devil* has been released", I
explained, "It said that it's here to 'teach me a lesson'".
"What?!?!", Urd exclaimed, "Why would a Devil be after
you?".
I gave her a peeved look, "Like I'm suppose to know!", I
said sharply.
Urd's face took on a blank look, "Well, do you know
anyone that might be powerful enough to summon up a Devil?",
she asked calmly.
"Present company accepted, no", I said, looking at her
meaningful.
Belldandy set down her cup with a sharp clink, it was the
first expression of near-anger I'd ever seen from her, "That's
enough Brett", she said firmly, "None of us would do that, and
you know it!".
I shrugged a little guiltily, "If that's right, then I
don't know who would be after me", I admitted, a little
sullenly.
Skuld looked thoughtful, "What's the Devil's name?", she
asked.
"Tupnixua", I replied, "and I have to admit I've never
heard of it before".
The three Goddesses exchanged a concerned glance, "And
what's it done so far?", Belldandy asked.
I explained the disappearances back in Nerima and they
nodded, "It'll try to use them as sacrifices", Belldandy said
in a sick voice, "To bring more of its kind into the world".
I nodded, "Well, what can I about it?", I asked, "I have
to rescue the people it's kidnapped before something horrible
happens to them".
"First we have to work out where it is", Urd reminded me.
I gave her an annoyed glance, "Alright, and how do I do
that?", I snapped angrily.
"We'll work something out and let you know", Belldandy
assured me, "You should probably get back and try to protect
the others".
I nodded and stood, "Thanks for the help Belldandy", I
said as I stepped through the clock on the wall.
******
Neither Belldandy or Skuld missed the angry glance that
Brett gave Urd as he transported out. Apparently Urd didn't
either and she slumped down at the table, resting her head in
her hands.
Skuld sighed, "How is the antidote going?", Skuld asked
quickly.
Urd shook her head, "I've made one up, but I don't know
how successful it'll be", she admitted.
Skuld forced a smile, "Well at least this time he didn't
try to kill you!", she said brightly.
Urd nodded sadly, "Yes, that's true", she said in a small
voice.
Belldandy gave her sister an encouraging smile, "When you
think about it, it is a good sign", she said firmly, "Maybe
it's time to try one of your potions?".
Urd thought for a moment, "I think you had better give it
to him", she said quietly, "Cause I doubt he'd drink something
if I offered it to him".
******
I eyed the potion that Belldandy was offering me
suspiciously, "Where did you get that from?", I asked
cautiously.
Belldandy smiled, "Just try it", she encouraged.
I sipped a little and grimaced, "That's horrible!", I
exclaimed, "It tastes worse that Akane's latest attempt at
soup".
Ranma placed a hand on my shoulder, "I feel for you", she
said firmly, "Anything *that* bad would be almost impossible
to drink".
Genma smacked his son in the back of the head, "That's no
way to talk about your fiance!", he bellowed.
Ranma rubbed the back of her head and gave him a sullen
glace, "You didn't hit him!", she accused her father.
Genma looked at me worriedly, "Yes, well... when you
defeat Happosai, I'll stop hitting you too", he said. Ranma
grumbled that she'd already defeated Happosai any number of
times.
I looked at the vial and shuddered, "Here goes!', I said,
upending the vial.
The taste hit me strongly and I shuddered convulsively.
"Ohhh... that was awful", I groaned.
Belldandy nodded, "Now... do you still hate Urd?", she
asked.
I felt a chill run through me, "Err.. no, of course I
don't hate Urd", I replied.
Suddenly the door to the room burst open and Urd hurried
in, "Thank goodness", she said, "I was beginning to wonder if
I'd mixed the potion wrong".
I edged away from Urd slightly, standing a little behind
Belldandy, "Thank you Urd", I said, forcing a smile.
Urd noticed me keeping my distance from her and frowned,
"What's wrong now?", she asked in an exasperated voice.
"Nothing, Nothing", I assured her quickly, "Everything's
fine, don't get upset".
"Oh!", Urd said, snapping her fingers, "The fear
potion!". I winced reflexively as she snapped her fingers,
Ranma and her father frowned. "What do you mean, didn't you
cancel out the potions?", Ranma asked.
Urd shook her head, "No, each potion needs to be
cancelled separately", she explained, "At the moment it's
probably taking all of Brett's willpower to even remain in the
same room as me".
I edged further behind Belldandy, making sure I had a
clear run to the door. Belldandy looked at me and smiled,
"Don't worry Brett", she said in a reassuring voice, "You have
no need to be scared of Urd".
I shook my head, "Nope.. no reason at all... but I am", I
replied. I straightened a little, "I'm not going to run
away", I said in what I hoped was a firm voice, "Just so long
as Urd remembers to keep her distance".
Urd sighed, "Alright Brett", she said, "I'll keep away
from you". I noticed an expression of deep sadness pass over
her face, then she turned, "I'm going to get back to the
temple and see what I can do about this fear potion", she
announced.
I noticed that Belldandy was watching sadly as her sister
walked away and I gave her a quizzical glance, "Are you
alright?", I asked.
She nodded, her eyes still on Urd, "Yes Brett, I am quite
alright", she said.
******
Skuld was bored. She'd arrived at the Tendo Dojo
expecting a fight and what did she get?
"Kasumi which of these is ripe?", Akane asked, holding up
two tomatoes.
Skuld sighed, she'd been talked into keeping an eye on
the rest of the family, while Belldandy and Brett took care of
Ranma and Genma. She glanced across at Soun Tendo, he was
sitting calmly reading his paper. "I wish I could be so
relaxed", she thought to herself.
Skuld idly flicked through the latest issue of OMNI,
smiling at the simple, yet compelling designs this month.
Nabiki was flicking through another magazine, grumbling at the
declining value of the Yen over the last quarter.
"We're done", Kasumi announced, as she and Akane walked
up with two full shopping bags each.
Soun raised his eyebrows, "That seems like a rather large
amount of shopping this week", he commented.
Kasumi nodded, "Well, since we're having so many guests,
I thought that we'd best be prepared", she explained.
Skuld stood, "Well, come on", she said impatiently,
"Let's get moving".
The Tendo family watched as the young Goddess quickly
walked out of the shop. "Does she seem a little young to any
of you?", Akane asked awkwardly.
Nabiki nodded, "She can't be much older than 13", she
commented.
Kasumi smiled brilliantly, "I think she reminds me of
another young lady at that age", she said, looking fondly at
Akane.
The four Tendos caught up quickly to Skuld, who waited
impatiently beside the road. "So what's the hurry?", Nabiki
asked Skuld curiously.
"I don't want to miss out on the fun", she replied
bluntly.
"Fun?", Akane asked.
Skuld nodded, "Brett's pretty sure that Tupnixua is going
to go after your boyfriend soon", she replied.
Akane blushed, "That pervert is *NOT* my boyfriend!", she
said angrily.
Soun nodded, "Certainly not", he said, "He's her
fiancee".
"DAD!", Akane protested.
Skuld looked bored, "Whatever!", she said, cutting off
the conversation.
They were silent for the rest of the walk home, Skuld
walking far in advance of the Tendo family. They walked up to
the front door of the temple and Skuld stopped suddenly.
"Hmmm", she murmured, "Look's like the wards are up".
Akane looked closely at the front door, "I can't see
anything", she protested.
Skuld gave her a condescending look, "You aren't suppose
to", she said, "But the Devil certainly will".
Akane gingerly pushed open the door, expecting something
unpleasant to happen. Skuld shook her head, "No, you mortals
don't have to worry about it, it'll only effect Demons/Devils
or any other evil creature attempting to enter the house", she
explained.
"We're back!", Akane called as she walked into the house.
"In here", came Brett's call from the loungeroom.
Kasumi and Akane were putting the shopping away, when a
wail echoed through the house. It was a wail that they'd both
her often enough. "Father?", Akane called, running into the
living room.
Soun was sitting in the middle of the now empty room,
crying furiously. Ranma and Genma were sitting in the middle
of the room. All the furnishings had been removed and there
were strange designs inscribed all over the floor, ceiling and
walls. Ranma and Genma were sitting in the middle of a large
pentagram, that glowed slightly. Brett and Belldandy were
just finishing painting a pattern on one of the windows when
Soun came in.
"Oh, don't worry", Brett said, "We can clean all this up
in no time, once the Devil is dealt with".
Soun settled down and eyed Genma regretfully, "Saotome!",
he said firmly, "You must do you best to ensure your son's
survival!".
Genma nodded solemnly, "Of course Tendo", he said,
placing an arm around Ranma, "Nothing will happen to him while
I'm around".
Ranma gave her father a curious look, "Wow Pop", she said
in an amazed voice, "I never knew you cared..".
Tendo looked at Ranma seriously, "Of course we care,
son", he said, "If anything happens to you, our families can't
be joined!".
Ranma grabbed her father's arm and calmly threw him
across the room. He came down on top of Soun, "Now that's the
kinda talk I *don't* need to hear", he said angrily, "As if
I'd marry that Tomboy anyway!".
"Tomboy?", Akane asked, her face enraged,
"TOMBOY!?!?!?!?". Akane took two steps and then punted Ranma
into the ceiling. Amazingly, this time the ceiling didn't let
him through and he stuck to it like a pancake.
"That's never happened before", she noted absently.
Brett, who was trying to quietly explain things to
Belldandy (she seemed a little disturbed for some reason),
looked up at her observation, "Oh, I magically enhanced the
strength of the roof, floor and walls, it's to keep the Demon
out", he explained.
Ranma dropped from the ceiling and lay still on the
floor, "Now he tells us", she groaned quietly.
"I'll get started on dinner now", Kasumi announced.
Belldandy looked up, "Would you like some help?", she
asked, smiling.
Kasumi nodded and the two of them went off into the
kitchen, discussing what would be the best to prepare for
tonight's meal. Brett peeled Ranma off the floor and sat her
down in the middle of the room, "Stay here", he ordered,
"You're safer in the Pentagram".
Genma (who had picked himself up off the floor), looked
around nervously and quickly moved into the middle of the
design. Brett sat down against one wall, "Now that we've got
the two of you safe, we've got to work out how we're going to
get the other's back", he began.
Ranma looked up, "We do?", she said in a disappointed
tone.
"Of course we do!", Akane insisted, "Ryouga may be in
trouble.. and while I don't like Shampoo much... I don't think
even she deserves to be sacrificed by a Devil".
Ranma sighed, "I guess your right", she said, "I thought
I'd just gotten rid of three of my biggest problems".
******
I knocked hesitantly on Urd's door. It was taking
everything I had just to stand there. "Come in", said Urd in
a weary tone.
I hesitated for a long second, before sliding the door
open. "Err... Good evening?", I said timidly.
Urd looked up from where she was mixing a potion,
"Brett?", she said in disbelief, "What are you doing here?".
I smiled a little nervously, "Well, I thought you might
like a little dinner", I said, holding out a tray in front of
me.
"You did?", she asked, "Or Belldandy?".
I nodded, "Belldandy asked if I'd bring this back here",
I explained, "She thought that if I spent some time in your
presence it might help".
"And you agreed?", she asked curiously, "I thought you
were afraid of me?".
I nodded, "Yes", I admitted, "I'm quite scared at the
moment".
Urd frowned, "Then why did you agree to bring it?", she
asked, taking the tray and sitting down.
I unconsciously moved to the opposite side of the room to
where she was sitting, casually looking at a few potions.
"Well", I began, "I thought Belldandy was right".
"You did?", Urd asked, as she opened the cover on the
tray and inhaled the magnificent smell of the dinner.
I nodded, "I can still remember all the things that's
happened to me", I explained carefully, "And I can't find any
reason I'd be *this* scared of you".
"What's that suppose to mean?", Urd asked, through a
mouthful of food, "You mean you do have reasons for being
scared of me?".
I nodded, "You remember what you said about the potions,
that they only enhance the feeling for the individual in
question?", I asked.
Urd nodded, "So?", she said.
I paced back and forth a little nervously, "Well, since I
you explained that, I've been doing some thinking", I
explained, "If it enhances emotion then I must have had those
feelings about you before...".
Urd sighed, "You mean you hated me?", she asked in a
quiet voice.
I nodded, "Yes, I did", I admitted, then noticing her sad
expression I held up a hand, "If you remember, I didn't take
too well to the 'Okuda Incident'".
"I understand", Urd said, turning back to her work,
"Thank you for the dinner, if I'm going to work out a cure for
this fear potion, I'd better get moving".
I nodded and picked up the tray, moving over to the door,
"But I want you to know Urd", I said firmly, "The potion
brought out a side of me that *I'd* rather not see... and.. I
really do consider you my friend now". With that, I closed
the door quietly and took the tray back to the Tendo's place.
******
Urd sat for a long moment after the door closed. She
stood and walked over to the window and looked out, "How could
I have been so stupid?", she asked herself.
She had no excuse to offer and she knew it. But she had
wanted to get to know Brett and the easiest way was to become
his friend. Unfortunately, Urd had decided that he would
probably be more open to a male friend and used a disguise
spell to fool him into thinking that 'Okuda' was a guy. In
the few months they had been (to use Brett's words) 'mates',
she had learned a few things about the young Australian.
Sometimes she wondered how she could have misjudged him so
badly at their first meeting, dismissing him as 'just another
upstart mortal'.
She looked up at the stars and thought again of their
time in heaven, he had seemed quite distant after what had
happened to him in Hell and Urd was surprised when he had been
willing to talk to her about it. In the weeks following his
encounter with Nilthar, she had been amazed at how easily
she'd gone back into the role of his friend and how he had
accepted it without a problem.
Closing the window she walked back across the room and
sat down in front of her notes, "Hmmm..", she said, thinking
of something unusual, "Why would he be afraid of me? I've
never given him reason to be...".
******
I smiled as I washed up the dishes from tonight's meal,
I'd cleared the air with Urd and felt better for it.
"Brett?", Skuld asked (she had volunteered to help clean up
with me), "How did things go with Urd?".
I passed her another dish to dry, "Why do you ask?", I
asked her curiously.
Skuld shrugged, "I was curious as to why you'd want to go
near her at all", she admitted, "Aren't you really afraid of
her?".
I nodded, "Oh, I'm afraid of her alright", I admitted,
"But I'm not afraid for my life or anything like that".
Skuld frowned, "What other kind of fear is there?", she
asked.
I stopped washing for a moment and thought, "The feeling
isn't one of fearing for my life.. it's more... ", the words
were difficult, "Fearing for myself".
"Yourself?", Skuld asked, "What do you mean?".
I passed her another dish to dry, "I don't know", I said,
"I'm not really sure how I'm feeling... ".
"Well, you just remember that she's my sister and if you
hurt her you'll have to answer to me!", Skuld said firmly.
I gave her a puzzled look, "I'm over the hate potion,
it's not like I'm going to try and kill her again!", I
protested.
She finished drying the last dish and walked out of the
room, "It's not that kind of hurting I'm referring to", she
said cryptically.
******
Happosai had a resigned expression on his face after
Tupnixua locked the cell door. He had tried to talk the Devil
out of going after Ranma and Genma, but the creature had been
adamant, everyone with a curse had to be captured.
He looked over at Shampoo and Mousse, they were caged and
in their cursed forms. Ryouga was lying unconscious on the
floor, the water that the Devil had thrown on him appeared to
have no effect. Tupnixua had grumbled something about
'interfering godlings' and stormed out of the cell.
Happosai had never considered himself evil, just
misunderstood in a rather large way. He'd tried to instruct
his students in the joys to be found in letting your feelings
run free, not holding back anything. It got him into trouble,
but he figured that leading a 'stress free' life had been the
reason he had lived so long. Of course he lost his temper
occasionally, most notably when Ranma interfered with his
schemes, but he'd never tried to kill anyone deliberately or
go beyond his own moral code (as perverted as some would call
it). Finally, his decision made, Happosai pulled a small
implement from his clothing and began working quietly on the
bars of the cages.
******
A demonic scream of rage, echoed throughout the Tendo
home. I sat bolt upright and got to my feet, Ranma and Genma
also jumped to their feet but I held up a hand, "NO!", I said,
"Don't leave the circle, if you do, you'll be in trouble".
I whispered another spell and my epee appeared and my
clothing changed into a tight-fitting form of armour. Rolling
my shoulders I tried to settle the body armour into place.
The armour had been made for me by Chia-Yao, the God of Truth.
It was a Christmas gift from him, which I'd not had an
opportunity to use.
The rest of the family came running into the room,
followed by Belldandy and Skuld, "What the hell was that?",
Nabiki demanded.
I exchanged a glance with Belldandy and she nodded, "It
was that Devil", I confirmed, "It sounds like it just came
across our first ward".
There was a detonation in the distance and I knew that
our first ward hadn't stopped it. "It's through into this
part of town", I warned them.
"Skuld, take the Tendo's out to the Dojo", I said,
"Tupinuxa will be coming here, it shouldn't bother you".
Skuld looked like she wanted to protest, but a stern look
from Belldandy silenced her before she could. Akane looked
like she wanted to stay as well, but Kasumi placed a hand on
her shoulder, "Come on Akane, I'm sure that everything will be
alright", she said.
Akane nodded and took a long look at Ranma, "Good luck",
she said quietly.
Ranma grinned at her, "Hey!", she said, "It's me! I don't
need luck".
Akane managed a small smile before she followed her
sisters and father out of the room. Belldandy summoned her
staff and also changed into armour, "Do you think you'll be
able to stop it?", Genma asked worriedly.
I gave him a smile, "So long as you stay in the circle,
the two of you have nothing to worry about", I reassured him.
Another detonation echoed in the distance, this one
closer than the first, "He'll be outside the front door soon",
Belldandy said, "Where did you want to meet him?".
"How about just inside the front entry?", I asked, "You
take one side and I'll take the other?".
Belldandy nodded, "Good luck", she said.
"Right back at you!", I replied.
The two of us took up flanking positions, either side of
the front door. Waiting for the Demon to defeat our wards.
He did it in spectacular fashion, the front door to the house,
blowing open in a whirlwind of splinters and flames. The
armour allowed me to largely ignore the explosion and I lunged
forward at the creature.
It danced backward and parried my blade with it's claws.
I recovered from my lunge and stood back as Belldandy swung at
it with her staff. She rammed her staff into it's head and it
was blown back outside. She nodded to me and the two of us
raced outside, pursuing the fleeing devil.
As it ran I managed to get in a good stab at one of it's
legs and it fell to the ground, howling in pain. I tried to
jump back out of the way, but one of it's claws caught me
across the chest, raking sparks from my armour. I was turned
complely around by the glancing blow and I quickly flicked the
tip my my blade at it's eyes. Belldandy took advantage of
it's preoccupation with me and landed another stunning blow to
it's back. Another sizzle of magical energy filled the night
and the Devil fell to one knee. I lunged at it's neck,
ramming my sword into it's unprotected throat. The blade went
in easily, running the creature through smoothly.
The Devil spluttered and coughed up black blood, before
collapsing onto the ground. I pulled the sword back as the
Demon began to shimmer. The fearsome creature suddenly shrunk
to a smaller size and a hiss of steam filled the air. I
watched in amazement as it was suddenly reduced to the size of
a small statue. I nudged it with the point of my blade,
"What the hell is that?", I wondered.
Belldandy gasped, "It was a decoy!", she shouted.
I threw a watch on the ground and grabbed her arm, "Come
on!", I shouted, hoping we'd be in time.
******
Ranma was sitting sullenly in the protective circle that
Brett had created. She winced at the demonic screams from
outside, "Looks like they're winning", she noted.
Genma grunted, "Don't be so sure boy", he said, "Devils
are much trickier than common Demons we've fought".
A figure strode into the room, "I'd listen to your
father!", it said in a low voice.
Ranma and Genma recoiled in fear from the creature in
front of them. Whisps of steam rose from it's horns and it's
hiedous face was twisted in a grin. It's feet struck sparks
from the floor as it walked across the room.
Comming to a stop just at the edge of the protective
pentagram it examined it closely, "Very interesting", it
mused, "It seems that they've got a protective ring around
you".
"How did you get past Brett and Belldandy?", Ranma
demanded.
"Oh.. I didn't... they're just occupied fighting one of
my more interesting illusions", it said, "now for the two of
you!".
"Yeah right!", Ranma said scornfully, "Nothing you could
do will force us out of the circle!".
"You know what?", the Devil said, "You're right.. nothing
*I* could do would force you out.... now on the other hand..".
Another, lesser Demon walked into the room, carrying a
struggling figure that both Ranma and Genma recoginised.
"NO!", Akane screamed, "Let me go!".
Genma grabbed Ranma's arm, "We won't be fooled by your
illusions!", he shouted, "Son.. it's not her.. it's just a
trick!".
"RANMA!!!!", Akane screamed, "STAY IN THE CIRCLE!!!!".
The Demon carrying Akane slapped her across the face,
drawing a line of blood from her lip. "SHUT UP!", it
growlled.
Genma locked his arms around Ranma, "It's a trick!", he
repeated.
The Devil looked up, "Well.. you know what.. it might be
a trick... but then that little Goddess that was protecting
them wasn't much of a challange, in fact she was delicious",
it said, smiling broadly, "Now I haven't feasted on the flesh
of a mortal in a long time... I think I'm feeling hungry!".
With that it began advancing towards Akane, claws
extended. Akane shrunk away then she looked over and saw
Ranma trying to break her father's grip, "NO!!!", she
screamed, "Ranma stay where you are!!!". The Devil ran it's
forked tounge over it's teeth and advnaced towards Akane.
With a feral growl, Ranma kicked her father across the
room and leapt to Akane's defense. She rained punches on the
huge Devil, striking sparks from it's armoured hide. The
Devil gave smile, "You're an energetic one", it commented. It
ignored Ranma's kicks and punches and after several tries, it
grabbed her around the waist.
"BASTARD!!", she screamed.
The Devil laughed at her, "Foolish mortal!", I intoned,
"You should have listened to your father". Akane also
laughed, then her body deformed into a grotesque shape, with
long, stalk-like eyes and sharp teeth, "My hero!", it burbled.
Ranma ceased struggling and concentrated. The Devil
walked over and picked up a gibbering Genma, "Hmm.. been a
while since I ate a Panda too", it commented.
Then it noticed the glow forming around Ranma, "What's
this?", it asked in amazement.
Suddenly Ranma punched out at the hand that held her,
forcing her fighting spirit along with the punch. The
startled Devil's arm was ripped off at the elbow and it
screamed in agony. Ranma grinned, "Never underestimate an
opponant", she cautioned, "Leads to all kind of trouble!".
The other two Demons looked shocked at the damage to
their master and froze in confusion. The thoughts going
through their head were obvious 'if she can do *that* to *him*
what could she do to us?'.
The Devil drew itself up, "Very good little girl", it
said, "But you'd be best taking your own advice!". Ranma
watched as the severed arm seemed to crawl across the room and
reattach itself to the Devil. It stood and streatched, "Ahh..
that's much better", then it looked at it's cowering servants,
"FOOLS!", it thundered, "Take them and follow!".
The Demons tackeled Ranma and Genma and after a brief
struggle, one wrapped them up in something resembling spider
web. They were then slung over the Devil's shoulders and the
three creatures of darkness slipped quitely out of the Dojo.
******
Skuld led the Tendos back into their home. They walked
quickly to the room where Ranma and Genma had been sitting in
the protective circle. What they found was less than
encouraging. The circle was broken and the Saotomes were
missing. The room was also splattered in blood, a dark, thick
blood that seemed more black than red.
Akane bit her lower lip at the sight of the blood,
"That's not...", she began.
Skuld shook her head, "Nope.. that's not human blood",
she said, "Looks like that Devil got more than it planned
for".
A few moments later Brett and Belldandy walked into the
room, claw marks were slashed across the front of Brett's
armour and he looked tired.
"They're gone", Brett announced, "We got back too late,
I'm sorry".
Akane sunk to her knees, "What's going to happen to
them?", she asked, already knowing the answer. Soun began
crying silently and even Nabiki looked depressed.
Brett rammed his sword into the floor, leaving it
standing in the middle of the ruined circle, "DAMN IT!", he
swore, "I should have known something like this was going to
happen!".
Kasumi touched Akane's shoulder, "Don't worry", she said,
"I'm sure everything will be alright".
Akane nodded slowly, "I'll never forgive that pervert if
he lets anything happens to himself!", she promised.
Brett gingerly unsnapped the chestplace of armour,
wincing as he relased the clips, "That's gonna hurt in the
morning", he said, testing his bruised ribs gently.
He looked serious at Belldandy, "I don't think we can
leave everyone here", he said, "Do you think it would be
alright for them to stay at the temple for a while? I mean the
wards there should protect them".
Belldandy thought for a moment, "Alright, I'll go and
make the preperations", she said, turning and walking over to
a mirror. A moment later she dissapeard in a flash of light.
Brett turned to the Tendos, "It'll only be till we can track
down that Devil", he explained.
Skuld examined Brett's armour, "Wow!", she said, "That
was some decoy", she said, "Another inch or two and you would
have been hurt".
Brett shrugged and then winced, "Well... I'll have to
talk to Chia-Yao", he commented, "That armour is good for
penetration, but it doesn't do a lot for impact".
Kasumi looked concerned, "Are you going to be alright?",
she asked, "Maybe you should go and see Dr Tofu?".
Brett nodded, "Perhaps you're right", he allowed
toughtfully.
Skuld picked up the chestplate and examined it more
closely, "I'll have this fixed by the time you get back", she
said.
"Do you think you could manage to get everyone back to
the temple?", he asked Skuld.
Skuld nodded, "No problem", she said confidently, "We'll
see you back at the temple". Brett walked outside and Skuld
began hurrying everyone along, the sooner she got back to the
temple, the sooner she could rework the armour.
******
I walked calmly throught he streets of Nermia, the
evening was quite pleasent and warm. However every step I
took, jarred my sore ribs and I had to concentrate on walking
carefully. I must have looked pretty unusual, form-fitting
body armour covering everything but my chest and mincing along
to avoid the pain in my ribs. Finally I came to Dr Tofu's
office. I pressed the night button and waited.
A few moments later the door opened and a disshevelled Dr
Tofu peered out at me, "Brett?", he asked, recoginising me
from my previous visit.
I nodded, "Hey Doc!", I greeted him, "I seem to have hurt
myself, would you mind taking a look?".
Dr Tofu opened the door and gestured me into the
examination room. I unclipped the rest of my body armour and
placed it in a pile on the floor. Gingerly I took off my
shirt and then winced as I moved my hands above my head. Dr
Tofu carefully pressed on my ribs several times, judging by my
reaction how damaged I was.
"Not too serious", he commented, "If you'd been hit
straight on, it might have cracked some of your ribs, as it is
they're just bruised".
I nodded and he applied some kind of cream, before
wrapping my ribs up carefully. "Now how on earth did that
happen?", he asked, as I slipped back into my shirt.
I sighed, "Well Doc.. it wasn't anything from this earth
that did this to me", I replied. Seeing his blank expression
I shrugged, "Never mind, it's not that important".
Dr Tofu looked pointedly at the pile of body armour on
the floor, "If you got that injury while wearing armour.. it
must have been something *really* serious", he countered, "If
you're in trouble, you should tell me, I might be able to
help".
I smiled, "Doc.. of offense... but I think you'd be out
of your depth", I replied, "I got myself into this mess, so
I'm gonna get myself out of it".
Dr Tofu shook his head, "Brett", he said seriously,
"Remember you have a responsibilty to not only yourself.. but
to your Fiancee".
"My what?", I asked, confused for a moment. Then I
realised what he said and I shrugged, "Oh.. you mean Kasumi?".
At his curt nod I smiled, "Don't worry Doc", I said,
"Kasumi and I have already talked things through.. I told her
that I couldn't marry her.. ".
Dr Tofu looked almost offended, "Why not?", he asked
sharply.
I shrugged, "Firstly... *I* don't love her", I replied,
"And secondly *she* doesn't love *me*".
Dr Tofu nodded, "Those are good reasons not to get
married", he admitted.
I picked up a piece of body armour and looked at it, "I'm
afraid my life's a little too complicated at the moment...", I
said quietly, "Kasumi needs someone who can support her here
and now.. not occasionally or when circumstances allow".
Dr Tofu leaned against the table, "You still didn't
answer my question", he said, "How did you get hurt?".
I smiled, "You asked for it Doc", I replied. Over the
next few minutes I explained about my duel with Happosai and
the Demon he'd summoned.
"So you managed to trap the Demon?", Dr Tofu asked.
I nodded, "The method I used should have kept it trapped
until it ran out of energy.. but somehow it managed to call
for it's master... a Devil named Tupnixua", I explained.
Dr Tofu blanched, "A *real* Devil?", he asked in a sick
voice.
I nodded, "It's pretty tough too", I said. Then I
explained to him about the kidnappings and how only those that
were cursed were taken.
Dr Tofu's expression hardened, "You know what the Devil's
planning to do to them, don't you?", he asked.
I nodded, "But then I've got some friends who can help",
I replied.
Dr Tofu frowned, "The only thing that might stand up to a
Devil is a god", he said firmly.
I nodded, "Yup!", I replied cheerfully, "It's nice to
have friends in *high* places".
Dr Tofu looked on dubiously as I picked up the heap of
armour. "Well?", I asked him.
"Well what?", he replied, looking confused.
"Do you want to come along?", I asked, "You seem to have
a good knowledge of Demons and your medical skills certinally
come in handy".
Dr Tofu looked around, "But.. my practice... I can't just
leave it", he exclaimed.
I shrugged, "The Tendo's are going to need some help
getting along", I said, "They could do with a familar friend
around".
Dr Tofu thought for a moment more, "Well, just let me
gather up a few things", he said, walking out of the room.
I leant against the table and unwound the bandages that
Dr Tofu had so expertly tied around my chest. Whispering a
quick healing spell I sighed in relief as my injury was
repaired. Dumping the bandages I laughed slightly, "Urd's not
the only one who's tricky!".
A few minutes later Dr Tofu returned, he had a small
doctor's bag and a suitcase, "Well, I'm ready", he said,
"Let's get to the Tendo's".
"Err", I said, "Actually Doc.. the Tendo's are staying
with those friends of mine".
Dr Tofu frowned, "And where is that?", he asked
cautiously.
"Oh.. at a little temple", I said offhandedly, "Over near
Nekomi".
Dr Tofu shrugged, "Well, let's hurry up then, it's a long
trip to Nekomi", he said.
I laughed, "Not as long as you think", I replied.
Snapping my fingers I made the armour dissapear and my uniform
spring up around me.
I was quite surprised to have a piece of paper suddenly
flung at me, it stuck to my forhead. I reached up and pulled
it off, it was a bhuddist charm to ward off demons. I looked
at Dr Tofu, "What was that for?", I asked.
Tofu shrugged, "Well... I didn't want to be joining the
wrong side", he expalined.
I nodded, "Good", I replied, handing it back to him, "You
arn't joining the wrong side...".
"What are you?", Dr Tofu asked firmly, "I'm not going
anywhere till you explain!".
I explained my history to him. He didn't comment till I
reached the end, "So that's what you meant about having other
responsibilities", he said quietly.
I nodded, "You can see why it wouldn't have been fair on
Kasumi", I replied.
He picked up the cases in response, "Well then", he said,
"Let's get moving, I can hardly wait to see a temple populated
by Gods and Goddesses".
I laughed, "Alright, off we go then". I placed a hand on
his shoulder and cast my transport spell. Stepping forward I
reached out and touched the clock on the wall.
******
******
I was nervously examining a bubbling and steaming potion
that Urd had place in front of me. "*THAT* is suppose to cure
me?", I asked anxiously.
Urd nodded emphatically, "That's it all right", she said,
"What you're looking at is the result of several nights work".
I stood nervously, "I dunno... Is it really so
important...", I began.
Urd gave me a chill stare, "Do you want me to feed it to
you?", she asked bluntly.
I looked around for some support, but Skuld and Belldandy
had stern expressions on their faces. I sat down again and
picked up the potion, "Well... here goes...", I gulped the
potion in one go.
The taste was everything I'd expected and I gritted my
teeth to keep from gagging, "That's the most vile stuff I've
ever tasted", I muttered.
Skuld leant over, "Now... is the fear potion still
effecting you?", she asked.
I shook my head, "Nope, it appears to be under control",
I said.
Urd raised one eyebrow, "Are you sure?", she asked
stepping nearer.
"I am sure", I replied in a monotone voice. I shook my
head and grinned, "No problem Urd", I said, "It looks like
that your cure has worked".
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief, "Now how about we try
and find Ranma and the others?", Belldandy suggested. I
nodded and followed the three goddesses out into the dining
area, where the Tendos and Dr Tofu were waiting. I noticed
that Dr Tofu had a serious expression on his face, but had
also found a seat that wasn't facing Kasumi.
"How are you Brett?", Kasumi asked in a concerned voice.
I smiled, "I'm alright Kasumi", I reassured her, "Urd's
gotten rid of the fear potion".
Akane frowned, "What about the other two?", she asked.
I shrugged, "I don't think the honesty potion is going to
interfear with much", I explained.
"But doesn't that mean you've got to answer any question
put to you truthfully?", Keiichi asked, "that could be a
problem if you're captured or something".
I shook my head, "Don't worry about it", I replied, "It's
targetted on Urd, she's the only one I have to answer
truthfully".
"Really?", Urd asked.
"Yes", I answered bankly. Everyone looked at me
strangely and I frowned, "Must be the potion's effect", I
mused, "I zoned out for a moment.. what'd I say?".
"You answered her question", Nabiki replied, "You really
didn't know what you were saying?".
I shook my head, "No... it must be the potion...", I
said. Then I looked at Urd carefully, "I think you'd better
be careful when asking me questions", I cautioned her, "If
that happens at a critical moment things could become
awkward".
Urd nodded, "So what's the plan?", she asked.
"I don't have one", I replied.
"WHAT!??!?!", Soun wailed, "You don't have a plan?!?!?!".
I gave Urd a frown, "Stop that!", I admonished her.
Urd nodded, "Alright", she said, then she gave me a small
smile, "We'll have to talk later", she promised.
I gave Urd a dubious look and turn back to the
discussion, everyone was talking at once and I held up my
hands, "HEY!", I said, trying to get their attention, "I don't
have a plan yet... I'm still working it out!". I gave a sigh
of relief as they stoped arguing, "Look", I began, "I'm not
really very good at this kind of thing... but I do know
someone who could help".
Urd sighed, "Not him again!", she complained.
******
Chia-Yao, the God of Truth blasted another evil demon
into it's componant atoms and sighed. "This is no fun", he
groaned. He was standing in the middle of a virtural training
area that he'd designed for training. Unfortunately, since
he'd designed the game, he was rather bored because he knew
exactly what the enemies where going to do at any given
moment.
Holstering his pistol, Chia-Yao watched as the scenery
dissolved around him. Unbelting the holster, he dumped it on
a worktable, "I've gotta have someone else recode those
monsters", he mused, "I wonder if Bug's doing anything this
weekend?".
He was just walking towards the kitchen when a loud gong
echoed through his home. He winced reflexively, "I've gotta
get that doorbell fixed", he muttered, turning and walking
towards the front door. He threw the switch that lowered the
drawbridge, before walking out to meet his guests.
"Hey!", he exclaimed, "It's been a while Brett!".
Brett nodded, "I've been a little busy", he admitted.
Then Brett looked around curiously, "What posseses you to live
in a place like this?", he asked.
Chia-Yao shrugged, "Hey, a God's home...", he began.
Brett shook his head, "Yeah, I know... 'is his castle'",
he said, cutting Chia-Yao off, in the middle of his cliche.
"I was just going to have some lunch", Chia-Yao said,
"Would you like to join me?".
Brett nodded and the two gods walked inside. Over lunch,
Brett explained the situtation and Chia-Yao simply listened.
"So do you think you can help us?", Brett asked.
Chia-Yao shrugged, "Nope", he replied.
"WHAT?!?!", Brett asked in disbelief.
Chia-Yao held up his hands, "Hey!", he said defensively,
"I would if I could... but I... well...".
"What's wrong?", Brett asked curiously.
"Err... well...", Chia-Yao began, "I'm sort of.. err...
grounded at the moment...".
"How'd you managed that?", Brett asked.
"I'll show you", Chia-Yao said, leading Brett back into
the castle.
They walked into a huge lab. Everything from computers
to a smithy filled the room. Sitting on a stand in the middle
of the room was a huge oversized rifle. Chia-Yao picked it
up, "Isn't she great?", he asked, "Indepedant tracking and
target identification for over 100 different types of
Demons... laser targetting... all in a package easily
transportable...".
Brett nodded, "Not to interrupt the sale's pitch", he
said, "But how did this get you 'grounded'?".
"Well.. it's not really my fault... you see, some of the
Security Daemons and I figured that it'd be a real help if we
had a weapon that could vapourise demons in one shot", he
explained, "Well.. I designed and built this one... the only
problem is that it blew the rear wall out of the firing
range... and the firing range just happened to back onto the
Lord's private garden...".
"You blew up God's garden?", Brett asked in disbelief.
"It wasn't really my fault", Chia-Yao complained, "I just
overdid the power level a bit".
Brett nodded, "Well.. do you think I could borrow it for
a while?", he asked.
"You've gotta be kidding?!?!", Chia-Yao asked in
disbelief, "Taking it to the mortal world???". Chia-Yao
looked at the gun and shrugged, "It's your funeral", he said,
"I've been told in no uncertian terms that if I use it again
I'll be turned into a cat and given to some blond girl", he
replied.
Brett smiled, "Well.. I was going to have Skuld look at
it first", he admitted as Chia-Yao handed him the huge weapon.
Chia-Yao threw his arms up in dismay, "OH great!", he
huffed, "Now Bug's going to be improving on yet another of my
inventions!".
******
I stepped out of the clock in my room and awkwardly
carried the huge gun over to Skuld's room. I knocked on the
door and received a sleepy, "Come in", from inside.
"What on earth is that?", Skuld asked blinking owlishly,
as I dumped the gun on her workbench.
"This is Chia-Yao's contribution", I explained, "He can't
leave heaven at the moment.. so I figured a little firepower
might be a good idea".
Skuld rubbed the sleep out of her eyes and began checking
the gun over carefully, "If this is your idea of a 'little'
firepower, we've got to have a serious talk", she said, "This
has enough magical energy to wipe out a medium-sized city!".
"Well.. it should be effective against Tupnixua then", I
concluded.
"After I tone it down a little bit", Skuld said, expertly
dissasembling the rifle. I walked back over to the door and
Skuld shouted out to me, "Hey Brett", she said, "Urd wants to
talk to you".
I shuddered, "Oh no", I muttered.
"What do you mean 'oh no'?", Skuld asked in an insulted
voice, "You're not still afraid of her are you?".
I nodded, "Yup, I'm even more scared of her now", I
replied.
Skuld looked confused and I grinned a little sheepishly,
"Well... let's say that she might ask some... awkward
questions...", I explained.
Skuld gave me a blank look and I shrugged, "Never mind",
I said, "I'll go and see her".
******
Urd was lying in bed reading a spellbook when she heard a
quite tap on her door. "Come in", she called, placing the
book on the bed beside her.
An anxious looking Brett peaked around the doorjam, "What
did you want to see me about?", he asked nervously.
Urd smiled at his expression, "Relax", she said, "I just
wanted to talk to you about these last two potions".
Brett nodded and slid the door closed behind him, "What's
up?", he asked, "I don't think there's any particular need for
us to rush... it's more important to get Ranma and the others
back..".
Urd nodded, "You seem to be rather anxious not to have
this particlar potion cured", she said carefully phrasing her
words as a statement, "Anyone would think you're trying to put
something off".
Brett nodded sheepishly, "Well.. if you must know", he
admitted, "I'm more than a little hesitant about that love
potion".
"Why?", Urd asked curiously.
Brett's expression went blank, "Due to the fact that the
fear and hate potions had such a delibitating effect on me,
showing emotions that I've always tried to hide", he answered.
Brett frowned, "I hate that", he said, "It's like someone else
is answering for me...".
"Sorry", Urd apologised, "I'll try not to ask any
embarassing questions while you're like this".
Brett sighed in relief, "Thanks Urd", he said gratefully,
leaning back on a chair.
"I could assume that Chia-Yao isn't going to help us",
Urd said.
Brett nodded and explained what happened during his visit
to Chia-Yao's home. "That kid is always getting into
trouble", Urd said shaking her head.
Brett smiled and nodded, "He seems to be a trouble
magnet", he replied.
"*You* can talk", Urd said, laughing, "You've been
nothing but trouble ever since I met you!".
Brett looked up indignantly, "HEY!", he said, "You're the
one that granted my wish! if you don't like it there's only
one person you can blame!".
Urd grinned, "Oh and I suppose you could have done a
better job?", she asked.
"Yes", Brett replied with a blank expression.
Urd frowned, "You really think you could have handled
that wish better than I did?", she asked curiously.
"Yes", Brett said in a monotone voice.
"Well!", Urd huffed.
Brett looked a little nervous, "Urd.. could you please
not ask me those kind of questions?!?!", he pleaded.
"WHY NOT!?!?!", Urd snapped.
"Because with the potion effecting me I am unable to lie
to satisfy your ego", Brett said blankly.
"MY EGO?!?!?!", Urd growlled.
"A part of your personality", Brett explained
methodically, "In you're case one of the biggest parts of your
makeup".
"Would you care to repeat that?", she asked dangerously.
"Not really", Brett replied.
Belldandy opened the door slightly, "What's going on in
here?", she asked, "You two are being awfully noisy!".
Brett stood, "Maybe we should talk later", he suggested.
Urd stood, "Oh no!", she said turning to Belldandy, "Not
till he explains exactly what he meant by that ego remark".
Luckily for Brett she forgot to phrase it as a question
and he quickly stepped out of the room, "See ya tomorrow", he
said, hurrying towards his own room.
Urd was going to follow but Belldandy placed a hand on
her arm, "Sister", she said seriously, "Don't do this".
"What are you talking about?", Urd asked in an angry
tone, "If you think I'm going to let him get away with
that....".
Belldandy sighed, "Listen Urd...", she said quietly,
"Everyone lies in their daily lives... for the most part they
are small lies or lies of omission, but they enable us to get
along with each other".
"What's your point?", Urd snapped, shaking off
Belldandy's hand.
"Brett isn't in a position to lie to you at the moment",
she said, "So that means if you ask him something he'll give
you his truthful opinion".
Urd frowned, "You mean he really thinks *I've* got a big
ego?", she asked in disbelief.
Belldandy sighed, "If that's what he said then that's
what he truly believes", she said softly.
Urd took a deep breath, "Well he hasn't heard the end of
this... I think I'm going to have to have a nice long
*private* chat with Brett", she said.
******
"Ranma is *where*?", Akane asked in disbelief.
"A mountain range in China", Skuld confirmed, "pretty
close to that 'cursed springs' place you keep telling us
about".
"Why would the Devil take them there?", Soun wondered.
"Who knows?", Nabiki replied, "It's a Devil remember??
we're probably lucky we don't know how it thinks".
"It must be something to do with the curses", I mused
thoughfully, "Now what on earth could that thing be
planning?".
"Well!?!?!", Akane asked, "We know where we're suppose to
be going.. what's the delay?".
"Settle down Akane", Dr Tofu said gently, "Without a good
plan we'd just be throwing our lives away".
I glanced over to Skuld, "How are your modifications to
the BFG going?", I asked.
Skuld looked at me angrily, "It's a Bi-Molecular Force
Generator!", she said, "No nicknames from computer games
please!".
I smiled sheepishly, "Well.. you've gotta admit it fits..
no matter what the acronymn you use...".
Skuld huffed and then picked up the gun and placed it on
the table, "It's ready", she said, "If you hit Tupnixua with
it, that'll be the end of him".
I nodded, "And that little problem with it?", I asked.
"Oh", Skuld said, "It *shouldn't* do any more than
eliminate your target, I'm *hopeful* that my modifications
will work".
I glanced at the gun, "That's reassuring", I said
blankly.
Akane picked up the gun, "So this is the only way to get
rid of that Devil?", she asked, testing it's weight.
I shook my head, "There are a few others", I admitted,
"But they all involved the use of something that we don't
have".
"What's that?", Nabiki asked, frowing.
"Oh, we can banish the Devil if we can get our hands on
it's summoner", Belldandy piped in, "But from what you've said
about this Happosai person.. I doubt he'd be inclined to
help".
Dr Tofu walked over to the door, "I would have thought
that it would be more difficult than just shooting him with an
oversized rifle", he said, glancing out at the early-morning
sky.
"It is!", I insisted, "We've still got to get the others
away from him before he can do anything to them".
Urd took that moment to appear, "And how are you planning
to get them free?", she asked.
"Live bait", I droned.
Everyone looked at me and I shrugged, "He really wants to
get to me", I explained, "Now if I give him that chance I'll
be able to see exactly what we're up against and I might be
able to get everyone else out".
"No!", Skuld said, "Brett... that's much to dangerous and
it gives him another person to keep as a hostage!".
I nodded, "But it also makes the most sense", I insisted,
"There's very little difference in freeing five people than
six".
"Don't count on it!", Urd said firmly, "You really
shouldn't risk yourself like this".
Akane placed the gun back on the table, "I agree with Urd
and Skuld", she said, "Ranma wouldn't want anyone to risk
themselves for him...".
I shook my head, "Do any of you have any better ideas?",
I asked.
Urd looked at me, "Is this the best you could come up
with?", she asked.
"Yes", that monotone voice replied.
I nodded, "See.. I'm telling the truth", I replied,
"Besides.. I think if I surrender to it.. it might buy a
little more time".
Urd stood, "Well.. if you're surrendering.. I'll go with
you", she said firmly, "That means there's two of us to plan
an escape.. besides I'm more experienced than you are with
this kind of Devil".
"Urd", I said carefully, "That would give Tupnixua an
even bigger piece to use against me.. I'd really feel a lot
better if...".
Urd cut me off with a gesture, "No", she said, "Don't you
agree that two of use would be better off facing up to a
Devil?".
"Yes", replied that blank voice.
"NO!", I said, disagreeing, "I don't mean that...".
Urd smiled, "You've caught yourself this time", she said,
"You know that two of us have a better chance".
I tried to dissuade Urd from comming along, but for some
reason she wouldn't listen to my arguments. And to be honest,
deep down I knew that she was right, she was much more
experienced in dealing with Devils than I was. It was early
afternoon when our little 'council of war' broke up and I
still wasn't happy about Urd tagging along.
I should have expected a knock on the door to my room,
"Brett", said Urd, walking into the room, "are you still
upset".
"Yes", I replied.
Urd gave a wry grin, "At least with you this way I know
I'm getting an honest answer", she observed.
I shook my head, "I would have told you 'no' normally", I
admitted sheepishly.
Urd sat down, "Is that because you don't want to alienate
your partner?", she asked.
"Yes", I replied. I smiled and shook my head, "Urd,
you've gotta stop asking direct questions *I* can't answer you
if you keep talking like this".
"I know", Urd said, smiling, "But there's something I've
been wanting to ask you for a while...".
******
Skuld was pushed rudely aside as she walked into Brett's
room to talk to him. "What the!?!?!", she began, seeing Urd
hurrying past.
Brett was sitting, red faced, on the edge of his bed,
holding his head in his hands, "Oh great", he muttered.
Skuld grabbed his hair and jerked his head to face her,
"What did you say to her?", she demanded.
Brett slapped her hand away, "I DON'T BLOODY WELL KNOW!",
he shouted angrily, "The TRUTH I suppose".
Skuld nursed her hand, he'd hit pretty hard, which was
unusual, "What did she ask?", Skuld asked in a more subdued
voice.
Brett sighed, "She asked me to tell her *exactly* what I
thought of her", he said.
"So what's wrong with that?", she asked. Then she
thought for a moment, "oh no", she said quitely, "You would
have answered completely truthfully...".
Brett nodded, "And half the time *I* don't know what I
think about Urd", he admitted, "I've got no idea what I said
to her, but she got out of here real fast".
Skuld sighed, "Well... we've still got to rescue...", she
began.
Brett stood, "Alright, let's get going", he said, "Urd's
going to have to deal with whatever I told her later on".
Skuld nodded and followed him outside, "You know where to
go from the Amazon Village?", Skuld asked.
Brett smiled, "I've studied the map enough", he replied,
"And I'm sure that someone in the village will help us...".
The two walked out into the courtyard, where Urd was
waiting with everyone else. Her expression was carefully
neutral and she refused to meet Brett's gaze. "Everyone
ready?", Belldandy asked.
Brett nodded and offered Urd his hand, "If you're still
comming with me...", he began.
Urd grabbed his hand tightly, "Get on with it", she said
shortly.
The two dissapeared in a flash of light. Akane looked
over at Skuld, "What's wrong with Urd?", she asked.
"Urd found out there are things that Goddesses weren't
meant to know", she replied.
******
I winced reflexively as yet another shower of small
stones dropped down from above, "Hey!", I shouted up to Urd,
"Watch it!".
Urd glanced back down at me, "Hurry up a bit", she
insisted, "That Devil will die of old age before we get
there".
"Look!", I said, "I don't know what I've said to upset
you so much.. but...".
"Never mind that", Urd snapped, "Just pick up the pace a
bit". Then she turned and continued up the steep slope. We'd
been climbing most of the afternoon, after having the route
pointed out to us by one of the Amazons. Actually they had
been quite helpful after Urd explained who she was (by casting
a lighting bolt at one particlarly obnixious young Amazon, who
should probably now change her name to Afro). For some reason
Urd still refused to speak more than two words to me,
obviously I'd said some things that I shouldn't have.
I glance back the way we had come and shuddered, I didn't
like heights at the best of times, and going up the side of a
mountain wasn't even vaguely the 'best of times'. I gritted
my teeth and continued up the slope, trying to avoid the
occasional shower of loose stones that Urd sent down. We
finally made it to the plateu where the cursed springs were,
just as the sun was setting. "Perhaps we should rest until
morning?", I suggested, "It's starting to get a little cold".
Urd gave me a steely glare, "Too tired?", she asked.
"Yes", I replied.
Urd looked at me strangely as I nodded, "Alright then",
she said, "*I* was hoping to make a few more miles before
nightfall, but if you need to rest...".
"If we go much further we're going to be in danger of
falling into one of those cursed springs", I pointed out, "And
I'm not particularly interested in changing species, sex or
whatever else those things can do for you".
"You're right", Urd said. She took off her pack and set
it down. I set my own pack down and pulled out the tent
parts, clipping them together with practiced ease. Urd looked
at me curiously, "You know camping then", she said.
I nodded, thankful that I'd get to answer this one, "The
school I went to was very much into the 'survival-style'
camps... I've put up enough tents to know how it's done", I
explained. It took about fifteen minutes to set up the tent
and get a fire going. I pulled out a pair of foil-wrapped
packages from my backpack and shoved them into the hot coals
of the fire. "That's dinner", I explained. It was a lovely
night, the moon was almost full and it was quite bright in the
little clearing we'd chosen for out campsite.
I waited till I was pretty sure that the food was cooked
and I carefully rolled the little packages out of the fire. I
unwrapped them carefully, trying not to burn myself. "Here ya
go", I said, passing one to Urd.
"What is it?", she asked.
"Damper", I droned.
"It's basically bread", I explained rummaging around in
my pack, "Here, I've got something to go with it if you
like....". I pulled out a few little containers, "Here we go,
you've got a choice of Honey, Apricot Jam or my personal
favourite: Vegemite".
Seeing her blank expression I smiled, "It's an Australian
food topping... it spices up the food a bit", I explained.
Then noticing her still-confused expression, I broke off a bit
of my Damper and smeared some on a piece for her, "Here, try
it".
She gingerly tasted a bit and made a face, "That's
awful!", she said, "It's too salty...".
I grinned at her, "You'd be surprised how many people
tell me that", I said. Smearing another piece in the thick,
black paste, I gobbled it down, much to Urd's disgust. I
passed her the honey and jam, "Here... for your more
*delicate* tastes", I teased her.
Urd gave me a tight grin (the first I'd seen on her face
since we talked in my room), "How about more refined tastes?",
she asked, nibbling on her food.
I was grateful that this potion didn't respond to
retohrical questions. After we finished eating, the two of us
sat in silence for a long while, watching the glowing embers
of the fire. I was in a half-doze when I felt a hand on my
shoulder, I looked up to see Urd standing over me, "Come on",
she said, "We'd better get some sleep".
I nodded and shovelled a pile of stones over the fire and
carefully checked around the campsite, before crawling into
the tent and zipping it up. By the time I slithered into my
sleeping bag, Urd was already asleep. I lay beside her in the
small tent, the moonlight casting a surreal glow through the
tent. I just watched her peaceful expression for a while,
before sleep overcame me as well.
******
I awoke the next morning to a suffocating feeling,
somehow in the middle of the night, Urd had swapped ends
(don't as me how she did it without waking me in a tent near
to 5 foot wide), but for some reason she'd decided that my
face would make a good foot-rest.
I don't know what possessed me, but I tickled her foot
lightly through the sleeping bad. She giggled slightly in her
sleep and I had to hold back laughter at the expression on her
face. I continued to tickle her until she twitched and kicked
me in the nose. At that point I decided to leave off tickling
the Goddess and unzipped myself from my sleeping bag.
Edging myself outside I took a deep breath of air, I love
early morning in a forest, this forest wasn't too different
from where I'd camped back home. I rolled the rocks off of
the fire and tried to coax it back to life. After a few
minutes I had a nice warming blaze going and I gratefully
warmed my hands. After letting the flames die down a bit, I
began breakfast.
It must have been the smell of the food, because no
sooner had I poured out a cup of hot tea, Urd emerged from the
tent. She looked rather rumpled, her hair was a mess and she
was rubbing her eye's sleepily. I stilfed a laugh as she sat
down across the fire from me, sniffing. "Hmmm... breakfast?",
she mumbled curiously.
I looked at her innocently (since that didn't consitiute
a question), "Well.. I've got mine", I said blandly, "What are
you having?".
Urd's eyes narrowed, "You had better be joking", she said
in a chill tone.
I passed her the tea I was about to drink, "Here", I
said, "I'll make myself another".
She mumbled a 'thankyou' and sipped the hot tea
gratefully, "What a horrible night's sleep", she commented, "I
had this weird dream about walking on feathers!". I choked on
my tea.
About half an hour later we were back on the trail to the
cursed springs. However this morning Urd was keeping pace
with me, rather than going out ahead and she was also talking
to me again.
******
Tupnixua and his two Demon cronies were hanging from a
mountain ledge, overlooking the Cursed springs of Jusenkyo.
The BEM (Bug Eyed Monster) on his right retracted most of it's
eye-stalks, "Master, it's cold out here, can we go inside
now?", it whined.
"Listen you stupid creature", Tupnixua snarled, "Do you
want me to tie those eyes of yours in knots?".
The BEM shuddered back, "No master... I just thought that
you might be more comfortable inside...", it began
apologetically. The other Demon, who's nickname was 'Slasher'
chuckled slightly.
Tupnixua sighed, "Look", it said slowly to it's minions,
"We're here because now that I have the cursed ones, all I
need is a drop of water from each of the springs that they
fell into".
"But master?", asked Slasher, "Why would you need that?".
The Devil raised his eyes to the sky, "Why me?", it asked
mournfully, "Is it an unwritten law that I must put up with
stupid henchdemons?".
The two assistants looked at each other and shrugged, "So
master?", BEM asked, "How do we find the right spring?.
Tupnixua smiled viciously, "Well..", it began, picking up
a startled BEM, "THIS IS HOW!". With that, the Devil pitched
BEM into one of the nearer pools. A few moments later a small
lizard crawled out of the pool and hissed angrily.
"Trial and error", Tupnixua announced walking back
towards the cave where they had stashed the prisoners, "Get to
it!".
The little lizard flicked it's tongue spitefully and
proceeded to the next pool. It jumped in, only to come out a
moment later as a large boar. The boar grunted and continued
along. After nearly an hour of jumping into different pools,
BEM finally had a sample of each. The final pool that it
found was the spring of drowned girl and it walked out
muttering angrily.
Slasher grinned at its companion, "You know you look good
enough to eat!", it commented.
"Very funny", the now female BEM replied, "I didn't see
you jumping in any pools!".
Slasher raised one claw, "Ahhh.. but that's because I've
got enough sense not to question the boss", it proclaimed.
Tupnixua was waiting for them when they returned,
"Excellent", it said, taking the potions, "I'm very pleased
with you".
It turned to walk away, "Errr... master?", BEM asked,
"How do I get back to normal?".
Tupnixua gave her a glance, "You don't", it replied, "And
I wouldn't go near any hot water... I don't know which of your
curses would come out".
BEM stood shock-still for a moment, "I'm going to be like
this forever", she asked.
Tupnixua nodded, "Yes.. now I've got a ritual to get
ready for", it said as it strode off.
Slasher placed a friendly claw on it's companion's
shoulder, "Don't worry about it", it said, "Your still the
same evil, corrupted Demon under that cute little exterior".
BEM didn't say anything, she simply walked to where she had
set up her lair, closing the door behind her.
******
"I never realised how much I've come to rely on
teleporting", I observed, as Urd and I trudged through the
forest.
"We're suppose to be sneaking up on that devil", she
reminded me, "Not walking up and announcing ourselves".
"I know, I know", I replied, "That doesn't mean I have to
like it". We'd been walking for most of the morning and after
we'd finally gotten out onto the plateau surrounding the
springs we'd made better time. It was nearly midday when we
reached the springs.
"So", Urd said, wiping the sweat from her brow, "Now
we've just got to find the devil".
"Well it looks like you've come to the right place", a
voice answered.
The two of us spun around to see a large demon facing us,
it's body was covered in greenish scales and it had wicked
looking claws extending from it's hands. "The master was
wondering when you'd get here", it said, running it's tongue
over it's fangs.
I stood a little straighter, "Go and get your master", I
said to it (in what I hoped was a confident voice), "I want to
talk to it!".
The demon sat back on it's haunches, "Well", it said,
scratching it's head with one claw, "That's the first time
anyone's ever actually *wanted* to come with me".
"I didn't say anything about going with you", I snapped,
"I said bring your master here... I want to discuss a deal".
The Demon's eyes opened wide and it nodded, "Wait here",
it said, "I'll see what I can do".
Urd and I exchanged a quick glance, "Well, it looks like
any sneaking up is out of the question", she said resignedly.
A few minutes later a bat-winged shape dropped out of the
sky a few meters from us, "I understand you want to talk to
me?", Tupnixua asked in a mock-curious voice, "Now what could
I possibly interest you in?".
"Let's cut the crap!", I said bluntly, "I want my friends
released".
Tupnixua grinned savagely, "Oh?", it asked, "And what are
you prepared to offer in exchange?".
"Me", I replied bluntly, "You take me and the others go
back with her", I gestured at Urd.
"But...", Urd began angrily, "I thought that...".
"Shut up!", I hissed at her, "This is the best way!".
Urd was fuming and she ground her teeth together, "Very
well", she growled, glancing at the devil warily.
Tupnixua watched our little exchange and smiled, "I sense
a little lack of discussion here", it laughed, "Perhaps you'd
like time to think about it....".
I shook my head, "Me in exchange for the others", I
restated, "Take it or leave it!".
Tupnixua thought for a moment, "Alright", it said, "You
have a deal, I will bring the five cursed ones here". It
extended it's hand and I reluctantly shook hands with it.
Surprisingly it recoiled suddenly and dropped my hand, "In one
hour", it replied (in what I thought was a less-confident
voice). Then it jumped into the air and flapped it's wings,
flying into the distance.
******
Urd grabbed Brett's shoulder and spun him to face her,
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!?!?!?!", she demanded dangerously.
"Carrying out my plan", Brett answered in a monotone
voice.
Urd pushed him backwards against a tree, "You stupid,
pig-headed, half-whited..... ", she began.
Brett held up his hands in surrender, "I agree", he said,
"I'm pretty dumb, but I just rescued Ranma and the others,
without having to put anyone else in danger".
Urd clenched her fists, "Listen", she fumed, "That devil
isn't going to just let them go... he's up to something!".
I shrugged, "What's the difference, so long as you get
everyone back to the temple?", he replied.
Urd took a deep breath, "Nothing except I don't have any
way to travel...", she began.
Brett rummaged around in his backpack and brought out a
small pocket-TV, "Here", he said, handing it to her, "Now
you've got a way home".
Urd looked at the small TV in her hand, "You planned this
all along, didn't you?", she asked.
Brett nodded, "Yes", he droned.
"You arrogant bastard!", she shouted angrily, raising her
fist, "I was suppose to be helping! why did you do this!??!".
"I don't want you to get hurt", Brett said blankly.
Urd's fist stopped in mid swing, "You what?", she asked,
blinking slightly.
"I don't want you to get hurt", Brett repeated.
Urd lowered her fist reluctantly, "Alright", she said
quietly, "I won't stop you.....".
Brett nodded, "Thank you Urd", he said smiling.
Urd gave him a steely look, "But if you go and get
yourself killed, I'm never going to talk to you again!", she
said firmly.
******
******
Urd refused to speak more that two words to me as we
waited for the devil to return with his prisoners. I gave up
trying to talk to her after the sixth or seventh time of being
ignored. Then I noticed several poles sticking out of the
pools that dotted the area and remembered that Ranma mentioned
they used to be used for training.
Walking over carefully I wondered who in their right mind
would risk being changed into an animal just because they
wanted to train. I was contemplating one pool when I felt
someone shove me from behind. I waggled my arms, trying to
keep my balance, I was just teetering towards falling, when a
firm pair of hands grabbed my shoulders, pulling me back from
the edge.
"WHAT THE?!?!?!", I began, turning to see who'd pushed
me.
"Scared you!", Urd said in a half-teasing voice.
I looked at her dumbfounded, "Urd, that's gotta be the
stupidest stunt you've ever pulled!", I roared at her, "Are
you trying to give me a heat attack!!".
Urd looked at me seriously, "Yes", she said, "Now you
know how *I* felt when you made that deal!". With that she
turned and walked back to sit down and wait.
I sat down on a rock, my heart still pounding. My hands
were shaking slightly, I'd almost joined the 'cursed' club.
Looking over at Urd, I noticed that she had her head bowed and
was idly watching the miniature TV that I'd handed her. I
walked over and sat down opposite her, "I'm sorry Urd", I said
quietly, "I know you feel responsible for me...".
Urd looked at me, her expression unreadable, "That's
right", she said resignedly, "I *am* responsible for you...
everything that's happened to you is a direct result of my
granting your wish".
I shook my head, "Please don't feel that way", I urged
her, "I make my own mistakes.. it's not your fault". She
shook her head and I smiled, "In fact you've been one of the
brightest spots since I got this wish".
Urd gave me a curious glance and I laughed easily,
"You're the one person I can count on to make my life
interesting", I said.
"I would have said 'complicated'", Urd replied sullenly.
I grinned at her, "So would I", I replied, "But that
wouldn't have been polite".
Urd smiled slightly, "You seem to have a talent for
making *my* life unusual", she said, "And that's something
I've found to be quite unique".
That seemed to clear the air and the two of us waited in
companionable silence until the flapping of wings in the
distance alerted us to the devil's approach. I stood and
whispered a quick clothes-change spell, replacing my outdoors
clothes with my uniform. I dusted it off, trying to pull the
creases from it, "I keep forgetting to wash this bloody
thing", I complained.
Urd stood beside me, "Good luck", she said softly,
placing a hand on my shoulder. I was about to reply when she
reached up and kissed me firmly. I gave her a quick smile and
a hug and turned back to the approaching devil.
******
Urd placed her hand on Brett's shoulder as the devil
landed, not sure if she was trying to reassure him or herself.
A few moments later the hideous creature landed with a thump a
few meters in front of them.
"Where are they?", Brett asked bluntly.
Tupnixua grinned openly, "They will be along shortly", it
said pleasantly, "My minions are bringing them". A moment the
echo of footsteps and creak of a cart filled the air. From
behind a formation of rocks came Ranma, she was hauling an old
cart, on which rode a bound and gagged Ryouga, a leashed
Shampoo-cat, a caged Mousse-duck and there was also a Panda
that was chained to the back of the cart. Ranma was puffing
heavily and she was walking with shaky steps. A Demon was
walking behind her, cracking a whip around her heels.
Brett and Urd ran forward, "Stop that you bastard!",
Brett shouted at the demon.
Tupnixua stepped in front of Brett and Urd, blocking
their approach, "First, I want my payment", it said, smiling
evilly.
Brett nodded, "Alright", he said, walking over to the
devil, "You've got me, now let my friends go".
The devil smiled, "Put these on", it said, holding out a
pair of ornate handcuffs. Brett took the handcuffs and
clipped them on, "There, are you happy now?", he asked.
Tupnixua nodded, "Very", it said, striking Brett across
the face. The young man was lifted off his feet and thrown to
the ground, "have more respect for your master!", it hissed.
Urd turned towards the demon, anger in her eyes and a
spell on her lips. "NO!", Brett shouted to her, from where he
was picking himself up off of the ground, "Take the others and
go".
She lowered her gaze and stalked across the uneven ground
to where Ranma and the others stood. She pulled out the small
TV that Brett had handed her earlier and began reciting a
transport spell, returning her and the others to the safety of
the temple.
******
I watched as Urd and the others disappeared in a flash of
light, leaving behind the small, hand-held TV in their wake.
I gingerly wiped the side of my jaw, noticing that the devil's
claws had done little damage. I turned to face the smiling
devil, "Let's get this over with", I said quietly.
"Get over what my dear boy?", the devil asked, "That was
just to put the goddess off". It gestured to it's demon
companion, "Help him", it said, "and don't damage him". With
that the devil jumped into the air and with a few beats of
it's wings it flew off over the mountains.
The demon stepped forward and gestured with one sharp
claw, "Move", it said bluntly, "Tupnixua doesn't tolerate
tardiness in his slaves".
I squared my shoulders, "I'm no one's slave", I replied.
The demon nodded, "So many have thought before", it
replied, "But they all come around eventually". It shoved me
and I started walking slowly in the direction it indicated.
After about a fifteen minute walk I glanced back over my
shoulder, "So what's your boss got in store for me?", I asked.
The demon looked disgruntled, "I don't know", it spat,
"He's being too nice to you!".
I stopped, "What?", I asked, confused.
The demon nudged me again, "I'm sure he won't mind a few
cuts", it suggested, waving a claw, "If you don't get moving".
After a few more minutes the demon stopped me, "We're
here", it said. I looked around at the barren landscape, the
narrow pass that we were in looked pretty solid to me.
Chanting in a language I didn't understand, the Demon did a
grotesque little dance and a door appeared on one side of the
canyon, "Get in", it ordered.
I walked through a passageway that had been cut from the
heart of the mountain, it was even down both sides and I
noticed absently that it passed through some veins of precious
metals. We walked for a few moments, before we came out into
a large chamber, I recognised it from my dream. This was the
devil's lair. Sitting on the throne-like chair at the other
end of the room was Tupnixua, "Come in!", it invited
cheerfully, "Sit down and make yourself comfortable".
A smaller chair had been placed in the middle of the room
and I shuffled over to it and sat down, "What's going on?", I
asked suspiciously. This devil wasn't acting anything like it
was suppose to, I had expected to find myself thrown in a
dungeon, or put on a rack.
Tupnixua smiled grimly, "Ahhh", he said, "According to my
'contract' with the old pervert, I'm suppose to teach you a
lesson".
I nodded, "So what?", I asked.
Tupnixua lifted one claw, "Until this afternoon, I had
planned to simply teach you the futility of existence and
destroy you", it said off-handedly.
I gulped nervously, "And now?", I asked.
The devil gestured at my handcuffs and they disappeared,
"I'm going to teach you a much more important lesson.. about
power... my power and your power", it said quietly, "you are
unique amongst the gods.. because you once were a mortal..".
I stood indignantly, "So You're going to corrupt me?", I
scoffed, "Do your worst!".
The devil shook his head, "Oh no", it replied, "I don't
need to try to corrupt you.... someone's already done that job
for me".
I shook my head, "I have no idea what You're talking
about!", I shouted, "You can't fool me with these mind
games!".
"Alright then", Tupnixua said, standing, "Try this!". He
gestured and I felt something clasp around my neck, "That's a
special bond You're wearing, You're god-given magical powers
are now useless".
I tried a simple spell, but it failed. I was totally
blocked from using magic. "What is this going to prove?", I
demanded.
Tupnixua shrugged, "It'll keep you from causing trouble",
it said, "When the sacrifice is made, you'll be powerless to
stop it".
I felt a chill, "What sacrifice?", I asked in a sick
voice.
A moment later, a struggling Ranma was dragged into the
room, by the lesser demon. "You lying...", I began.
Tupnixua held up a claw, "I didn't lie.. I kept my
promise and gave you five cursed ones...", it drawled.
******
Skuld looked up as a flash of light filled the room and
her sister appeared, "What the??!?!?", she began. An instant
later, five other figures filled the room, "You got them back
by yourself?", Skuld asked in disbelief.
Urd wasn't happy, "No", she snapped, "Brett gave himself
up to get the devil to release them!".
Skuld felt cold, "But how could...", she began.
"How could I be that stupid?", Urd asked, "I've been
asking myself that same question..".
The door to the living room was flung open and Akane
bounded into the room, followed by the rest of the Tendo
family and Belldandy. "Ranma!", Akane asked anxiously,
shaking her by the shoulder, "What's wrong?!?!".
Ranma groaned something incomprehensible and then shook
off her grip, "Leave me be!", she hissed, "I'm fine!".
Akane stepped back at the anger in Ranma's voice,
"What?!?!", she began, feeling her own anger growing.
"Cut it out!", Urd ordered sharply, "We don't have time
for another of your little lover's tiffs". Akane blushed and
was about to respond angrily until she saw the look in Urd's
eyes.
Urd stomped out of the room and made her way to her lab.
She walked over to a bunsen burner and checked the mixture
against the light. This was the cure for the honesty potion.
She carefully poured it into a metal container, she then
placed the small container in a pouch on her belt.
Gathering up her other potions, she walked back to the
main dining room. Belldandy and Kasumi had served some dinner
to the ex-prisoners, everyone but Ranma was gobbling down the
offerings hungrily. Akane looked at her strangely, "What's
wrong Ranma?", she asked, "Usually you'd be shovelling it down
and asking for more at the same time".
Ranma stood angrily, "Maybe I'm not hungry", she said
curtly, turning and walking to the door, "I'm going to get
some air".
Akane was about to rise and follow, when Dr Tofu placed a
hand on her shoulder, "Let me", he said quietly. Tofu waited
a few minutes before following Ranma out into the courtyard.
Looking across at Kasumi, Akane frowned, "Kasumi's here
and he's not dancing with the hat-rack?", she whispered to
Nabiki in amazement.
Nabiki nodded, "I think it's something that Brett said to
him", she replied, "About providing comfort and help for us".
Akane looked around, "That's right!", she said suddenly,
"Where *is* Brett?".
Urd exchanged a long glance with her sisters, "He
surrendered himself in exchange for your friends", she said
angrily, "And didn't leave me any option but to bring them
back here!".
Everyone shrunk away from the tone in her voice, "If I
were in Brett's shoes I'd stay with the Devil", Soun whispered
to Genma, looking pointedly at the angry goddess. The giant
panda nodded and continued stuffing his face.
"So when are we going to go and get him?", Skuld asked,
hefting her mallet suggestively. Ryouga surged to his feet,
"Yes, we must rescue him, it is a debt of honour!", he roared.
Shampoo-cat and Mousse-duck both meowed and quacked
respectively in agreement. Belldandy nodded, "Yes", she said
firmly.
Everyone looked at Urd, who was sitting gruffly in the
corner of the room, "OK", she said finally, "But when I get
through with Brett, he's gonna wish that the Devil had kept
him!".
"I'll just go and get Dr Tofu and Ranma", Kasumi said,
walking into the courtyard.
******
Dr Tofu caught up to Ranma as she was getting to the
front gate of the temple, "Hey Ranma!", he called, "I'd like
to talk to you!".
Ranma stopped just under the doorway, "What do you want",
she asked bluntly.
"This isn't like you Ranma", Dr Tofu said, in a concerned
tone, "Why are you walking away from the people that care
about you?".
Ranma turned back to the Doctor, "What's it to you?", she
said.
"Ranma!", Dr Tofu replied in a stern voice, "I'm your
doctor and your friend, if something is bothering you.. you
know I'm here to help".
Ranma's face twisted in a cruel grin, "OH?", she asked.
Dr Tofu ducked as Ranma suddenly spun and kicked out at
his head. Jumping back a few feet, Dr Tofu crouched in a
fighting stance, "What are you doing?", he demanded.
"Having some fun", Ranma replied, swinging a punch.
Tofu blocked the punch easily, "Ranma", he said, "I don't
want to fight you". Ranma followed up the punch with a leg
sweep. Dr Tofu back-flipped and landed some distance from
Ranma.
He raised his hand, "You are not Ranma, that isn't his
fighting style", he said firmly, "What have you done with
him?".
The fake Ranma smiled, "Oh of course I'm not", she said
scornfully, "My master would never give up all his trump
cards... soon the energy within Ranma will be released and my
master will rule the mortal world....".
Tofu's gave the fake Ranma a steely glare, "First you'll
have to get past me!", he said, pulling a ward from his
jacket.
"Oh?", the imposter asked, "And how do you expect that to
effect me?". It moved forward never flinching from the ward.
Dr Tofu backed up slowly, "I don't understand!", he said,
"This should work on a creature of darkness like you!".
The imposter nodded, "Ordinarily it would.. but I am
locked into this form by the curse! this body is not effected
by those charms!".
A shower of hot tea suddenly rained down on the imposter
and it shrieked in pain. "Doctor!", Kasumi called, from where
she'd tossed the tea, "Get away from that thing!".
Tofu flung the ward directly at the convulsing creature's
face and rolled away. He quickly ran over to where Kasumi was
standing, then seeing the look on her face he turned back, "Oh
my God!", he exclaimed.
The transformed demon was shuddering and twitching on the
ground, a thin line of smoke was rising from where Tofu had
hit it with the ward. After a moment it was still, then
carefully and deliberately it reached up and pulled off the
ward. The demon looked liked the odd pieces of nearly two
dozen creatures, mixed together in one form, "Fool!", it
hissed/spoke/grunted from it's mouths, "You are now mine!".
"RUN!", Tofu said to Kasumi, pushing her back towards the
temple, "I'll keep it busy!".
Kasumi took a few steps back and stopped, "No", she said,
"I can't leave you...".
"KASUMI!", Dr Tofu hissed, "You've got to go! I can keep
it busy for a little while....".
A bolt of white lighting streaked across the temple,
impacting into the mutated creature's chest, and knocking it
from it's feet. A second later, three bottles arced through
the air, landing in a perfect triangle, surrounding the demon.
Then a whirling hammer spun across the distance, striking each
of the bottles, shattering them. The dust the bottles carried
formed into lines and the lines curved into intricate
patterns. The demon screamed as the wards locked into place.
It smashed it's arms against what appeared to be thin air, but
where it's arms touched the air above the lines, energy
crackled.
Kasumi and Dr Tofu looked at the temple and saw the three
goddesses, Urd was still holding a bottle in one hand and
Skuld had just caught her whirling hammer. Belldandy lowered
her hand, "BEGONE!", she intoned, "TROUBLE THIS WORLD NO
LONGER!".
"BEGONE!", Urd and Skuld echoed, "THE NORNS COMMAND IT!".
The mutated demon howled in defeat and whimpered as it
began to fade. A gust of wind rose and the demon disappeared.
A few seconds later Akane and the others ran up behind the
goddesses, "Are you two alright?", Genma asked, "Where did
that thing come from?".
******
"So I see you didn't fair very well out of this either",
I remarked to Happosai. I was leaning against the bars of my
rather well-appointed cell, looking at the little pervert, who
was sitting in something that resembled a birdcage.
Happosai just grunted and refused to respond. A demon
walked past and spun Happosai's cage causing it to rock back
and forth. The old man's face was rather green.
"So how are you going to get us out of here?", Ranma
whispered loudly from where she was sitting in a cage only
slightly bigger than Happosai's.
I tested the strange necklace/collar that I was wearing,
"Unless I can remove this damn collar, we're not going
anywhere", I replied.
"Why is he treating you so well?", Ranma asked (almost
suspiciously), "I mean that cell of your's looks more like a
penthouse apartment!".
I glance around the room, it was quite nice (for a cell),
it had everything except a TV, mirror, clock and running water
(I guess Tupnixua wasn't taking any chances). I shook my
head at Ranma's question, "I don't know, but it worries me", I
replied.
Happosai, who had managed to get his stomach under
control glanced in my direction, "So the almighty god of
Destiny finds himself trapped", he said, "Now how could that
happen to someone so powerful?? Hmm.... maybe You're not as
good as you seem to think you are?".
"Shut up old man", Ranma snapped, "If it wasn't for you
we wouldn't be in this mess!".
Happosai glanced at Ranma, "Oh?", he asked. With that he
pushed sharply on the bars of his cage and they broke with a
snap, "I am more resourceful than you give me credit for!".
He jumped to the floor and scooted across to Ranma's cage.
Pulling a hairpin from his clothing he began to work on the
lock.
"What are you doing?", I asked, "I thought you were the
one that wanted revenge?".
Happosai didn't even spare me a glance, "That's right",
he murmured, "But if this devil brings more if it's kind into
this world.. it's just to horrible to contemplate!".
Ranma looked surprised, "OH?", she asked suspiciously.
Happosai nodded, "Of course, being separated from
beautiful women for so long.... those devils will do
unspeakable things to the young women of the world", he
muttered, "*that* should be a right reserved for ME!!!!!".
Ranma resisted the urge to pound the pervert into the
ground with great effort, "Keep the reasons to yourself", she
suggested, "And hurry up with that cage!".
I began to pace nervously, the demon guard would be back
shortly. Happosai accidentally broke the pin the lock and had
to begin again. I was beginning to feel rather restricted,
"Hurry up!", I hissed, "The demon...".
"Is here!", a voice finished. The guard was advancing
towards Happosai, it's wicked claws extended menacingly.
At that moment, Ranma's cell door snicked open. Ranma
vaulted over Happosai and landed on the demon's head, knocking
it over, "Hurry up and release Brett", she said, "I'll take
care of this one!".
Happosai scampered to my cell and began picking the lock.
Ranma was dodging most of the demon's attacks, occasionally
punching or kicking when she saw an opening. "Move it!", I
shouted at Happosai angrily.
"I can't open this!", Happosai said reluctantly, "it's
not a lock that I'm familiar with".
Irrationally I shook the bars as hard as I could. And
felt something snap. The door fell forward, barely missing a
stunned Happosai. I looked at my hands and then at the door,
"Hmm.. they must have set it in the rock incorrectly", I said,
trying to find an explanation.
Happosai shrugged and ran off to help Ranma, who had
taken a few small nicks from the demon. I moved a little more
slowly, not having much experience at hand to hand (or hand to
claw) combat. The two martial artists were holding their own
and even pushing the demon back step by step. Feeling
frustrated and useless I picked up a small rock (hoping I
might be able to distract the demon), I pitched it as hard as
I could at the demon, releasing some of my anger.
The little rock cracked into the demon's skull and kept
going. Ranma and Happosai stepped back in amazement as the
demon fell dead at their feet and began to fade into smoke.
"How the hell did you do that?", Ranma demanded, "I thought
you were cut off from your powers?".
I was looking at the hand that had thrown the rock in
amazement, "I don't know", I said shakily, "it's like my anger
gives me some kind of strength...".
"What are those marks on your face?", Happosai asked,
peering at me curiously.
I frowned at him, "What marks?", I asked warily.
"On your forehead", Ranma confirmed, "Some vertical
lines.. just outside that diamond marking...".
I froze for a second, "You really see that?", I asked.
Both of them nodded and I felt a surge of hatred fill me,
"THAT BASTARD IS TURNING ME INTO A DEMON!", I cursed.
Happosai and Ranma exchanged worried looks, "Let's just
get out of here", Ranma suggested, "I'm sure your friends will
me able to help...".
"NO!", I spat, "I'm going to rip that devil's black heart
out first!", a red haze descending on my vision.
******
"Are you sure this is the right way?", Skuld whispered
urgently.
Urd glanced back at her sister, "For the tenth time:
YES!", she replied shortly, "He's down this passageway!".
The three goddesses were warily walking down a stone
passage, escorted by a BFG-toting Akane, Bonbouri-wielding
Shampoo and a pair of resolute-looking young men.
Mousse bumped into the wall, "I recognise this passage",
he whispered, adjusting his glasses.
"Yeah right!", snorted Ryouga, "Like you can see beyond
your own nose".
Mousse was about to respond when they noticed Urd glaring
back at them. He swallowed his retort and continued down the
passage. They had managed to find this secret tunnel with
help from Urd. She was following a magical trail, left by the
little ward she had placed on Brett's shoulder before the
demon had taken him away. The little spell left a trail of
magical 'breadcrumbs' for them to follow.
"TUPNIXUA!!!!!", a familiar voice bellowed from up ahead.
Skuld and Belldandy exchanged a glance, "Was that
Brett?", Skuld wondered.
"I'M GOING TO TEAR YOUR BLOODY HEAD OFF!!!!", Brett's
voice echoed through the corridor.
The group moved more quickly down the corridor, coming
out into a large hall. At one end of the hall, the devil was
sitting on a large throne, "Welcome", it said grandly, "I was
expecting you".
A creaking noise filled the corridor and everyone jumped
forward into the room, it collapsed with a deafening noise,
filling the air with dust.
"Akane!", Urd coughed, "Shoot him!".
Akane blinked the dust from her eyes and raised the BFG,
aiming it directly at the horrid creature in front of her.
Tupnixua looked on curiously as she pulled the trigger. A
bolt of greenish energy leapt from the barrel, racing across
the chamber and impacting into the devil's chest.
The devil exploded into millions of fragments. "YES!",
Akane exclaimed in triumph.
"Good shot", Tupnixua commented, from slightly behind the
throne, "You killed that illusion very efficiently!".
Urd released a bolt of lightning at the devil, it
impacted into the throne, sending fragments of wood and stone
into the air.
Tupnixua nodded, "Commendable", it observed, "Sacrificing
yourselves for a friend... a pity that it's too late".
Urd's eyes narrowed, "What you do mean by that?", she
asked.
Tupnixua raised his arms and an image of Brett, Ranma and
Happosai appeared. Urd recoiled at the image, Brett was
ripping the arms off a demon. The expression on his face was
something that she'd only seen once before, when she had so
angered him that he'd almost hit her. "Observe closely",
Tupnixua encouraged, "You'll see the reason".
It took Urd a few moments to notice the difference in
Brett's features, the twin stripes of a demon were visible on
his forehead. "What did you do to him?", she demanded.
Shampoo, Ryouga and Mousse picked that moment to begin
advancing towards the devil.
"Shampoo no care about pervert or god-type", Shampoo
said, "But you no hurt Ranma!".
Mousse glanced at Shampoo, a flicker of disappointment
crossing his face, "I will defend Shampoo against your evil",
he declared.
Ryouga smacked his umbrella against his hand, "Let's get
on with it", he growled.
Tupnixua smiled, "Of course", it said, "Let's begin".
Three demons suddenly leapt out of the shadows, facing
off in front of the three young martial artists. "Coward!",
Ryouga growled.
Tupnixua nodded, "Of course I'm not going to bother with
the three of you", it replied, then it looked at it's minions,
"Kill them!", it ordered. Tupnixua looked at the goddesses
and raised it's claws, "Shall we see how well you learned your
lessons?", it asked, chanting the beginnings of a spell.
Akane looked at the three goddesses in frustration, "What
can I do?", she demanded, "This thing's not working!".
Skuld hurried over and began tinkering with the BFG,
while her sisters began countering the devil's spells.
Ryouga, Mousse and Shampoo were being forced backwards, barley
keeping from being impaled on the demon's claws and fangs.
Belldandy and Urd began to cast their counter-spell and
Tupnixua flinched back, "So", it hissed, "You are more
powerful that you appear!".
"That's correct", Belldandy said in calm voice, "You
cannot defeat us".
"TUPNIXUA!", Brett's voice bellowed from a corridor, it
seemed to be getting closer.
Tupnixua nodded, "Perhaps not", it allowed, "But someone
will soon be here who you won't be able to fight".
Belldandy and Urd exchanged a glance and began weaving a
warding spell. Tupnixua snarled and began another spell of
his own. A moment later the dismembered corpse of a demon
flew into the room, landing in the middle of the throne room.
Tupnixua smiled, "Right on time", it said.
Brett stalked into the room, his face a mask of rage.
"I've found you!", he snarled, advancing towards Tupnixua.
One of the lesser-demons that was fighting Mousse, Ryouga and
Shampoo made the mistake of getting in Brett's way. A sharp
crack echoed around the room and the unfortunate demon's head
was suddenly hanging from it's shoulders.
Tupnixua spread his arms in greeting, "Brett my friend",
he said in what was probably a warm voice for a devil, "I'm
glad you could make it!".
Urd and Belldandy moved forward, but were stopped by a
shimmering wall of energy, from which black flames spouted
occasionally. Urd nearly screamed in frustration, hurling one
of her exploding potions against the wall. It had no effect
other than a slight shimmering.
Brett continued advancing and Tupnixua held up a hand.
Brett was suddenly choking on the ground, fighting for air,
"None of that", Tupnixua said sharply, "You cannot attack your
master".
"No one is my master", Brett gasped.
"Oh no?", Tupnixua asked, "I'd reconsider that if I were
you.. I've gone to so much trouble getting that collar.. I'd
hate to see it go to waste, just because You're a little upset
with me".
"Go to hell...", Brett whispered.
Tupnixua smiled, "You first", it replied, causing the
collar to shrink even more, "You are my servant until the end
of time!".
Unnoticed by Tupnixua, a small object, similar in size to
a bowling ball rolled into the chamber. It rolled across the
room and came to a stop just behind the gloating devil.
Tupnixua heard a sizzling noise and looked down just as the
fuse burnt down.
A massive explosion rocked the room, throwing the devil
to it's knees. The protective wall that the devil had
summoned, gave a last spurt of flames and then disappeared.
That was what Skuld and Akane were waiting for, Skuld
held two wires in her hand, "Ready?", she asked Akane. Akane
nodded and aimed the massive gun at the devil, who was slowing
getting back to it's feet.
Skuld touched the wires together and the gun shuddered, a
thin beam of greenish energy lanced out and hit the devil in
the waist. The devil screamed as the beam cut into it's
flesh. It's flesh melted under the beam, forming a puddle of
black gore on the floor of the room. Akane dropped the gun
just as it began to melt, a discharge of energy threw her and
Skuld a few meters away.
Urd threw a trio of her potions at the devil's remains,
this time the bottles shattered, sprinkling the glittering
dust in a circle. The two goddesses created a quick ward
around the devil's remains. The two demons that were fighting
Ryouga, Mousse and Shampoo didn't hang around to see what
happened, they charged out of the chamber, heading deeper into
the mountain.
******
Akane picked herself up from the ground and walked over
to where she had dropped BFG after it's final discharge. It
was melted beyond recognition. "Typical", a sarcastic voice
called, "The tomboy always breaks other people's toys!".
Akane was about to retort angrily, till she noticed
Ranma-chan limping out of a passageway, carrying a badly hurt
Happosai. Akane ran over to her, pausing a few steps away and
looking at the unconscious pervert, "Why are you helping
*him*?", she asked, "He's the cause of all this!".
Happosai (who was barley conscious) held up a lit match
and one of his explosives, "You think you could have gotten
out of this without me?", he groaned.
"AKANE!!", a voice bellowed, "HE WAS *MINE*!!!!!".
Ranma and Akane looked across the room at an enraged
Brett, who was stalking towards them. Akane blinked in
confusion and Ranma (who had seen the strength Brett had
displayed earlier) stepped protectively in front of Akane.
Brett's face was a mask of rage and he clenched his fists
at his sides, "WHY DID YOU DO THAT?!?!?!", he roared.
Urd stepped in front of Akane and Ranma, "Brett!", she
said sharply, "Stop this!".
Brett's eyes examined her carefully, "Get out of my way",
he said coldly.
Urd cowered back slightly at the image that Brett
presented. The markings on his forehead were becoming more
solid, and seemed to be writhering on his skin. The Devil, or
what was left of it, smouldered and sizzled, releasing plumes
of greenish smoke, "He's mine", it whispered.
Belldandy and Skuld finished up the warding circles
around the remains of Tupnixua, "Finished!", Skuld said after
adding her own power to the ward. Then she turned around and
saw Brett advancing on Urd. She whipped out her mallet and
scooted over behind Brett, intending to knock him out before
he could hurt her sister.
Unfortunately for Skuld, the impact of her mallet against
the back of Brett's head had very little effect. He rubbed
the back of his head and turned around, "Skuld", he said, "You
will pay for that".
Belldandy raised her hands and began a spell. Skuld
picked up on it immediately and joined in. The two goddesses'
voices filled the hall as the spell took shape. As the last
echoes faded Brett was left standing in the middle of the
room, frozen in time.
"What's going on??!?", Urd demanded, "What happened to
him?!?!".
Ranma shrugged, "I don't know", she said, "All of a
sudden he became really strong... and angry.. he mentioned
something about that collar that Tupnixua put on him".
Urd walked over and looked at Brett carefully, "It's an
unusual item", she said, "I don't think I've seen anything
quite like it".
The other two goddesses gathered around, "You'll never
release him!", Tupnixua whispered, "He's one of us now!".
Urd walked over to the edge of the ward, "What are you
talking about", she demanded, "What did you do to him?!?!".
A mocking laughter filled the room, "It wasn't me",
Tupnixua said innocently, "It was you!".
"Me?", Urd said, "What did I do?".
"You gave him some of a demon's soul", Tupnixua replied.
"What?", Belldandy asked, looking at Urd in amazement,
"How?".
Urd threw a guilty glance at her sisters, "It was when
Nilthar had possessed his body", she admitted, "I couldn't
remember how much energy each of them had...".
"..So you just divided it between them", Belldandy
finished. Belldandy and Skuld looked at Brett carefully,
"He's had that energy in him for nearly six months", Belldandy
said quietly, "There's nothing we can do to remove it after
all this time...".
Ranma, who had been listening to the conversation, looked
up, "So you mean he's stuck like this?", she demanded, "This
didn't happen till Tupnixua put that collar on him!".
The three goddesses examined the collar more closely, "I
suppose if we remove it...", Skuld began.
"You cannot!", Tupnixua said, his body was regenerating
quickly, and he had reformed his head and torso, "If you try,
he will kill you... the only way to remove it is for him to
take it off... and the collar won't let that happen!".
"What are you talking about?", Urd asked angrily, "The
collar?".
Tupnixua sighed, "Must I explain everything?", he asked
in a mournful voice, "The collar is feeding on his energy, by
provoking his anger... if you try to remove it, it will direct
all his anger at you!".
Everyone was silent for a long moment, "Well what we
do?", Shampoo asked, "We rescue Ranma, leave crazy man here".
Urd glared at Shampoo, "We can't just abandon him!", she
said angrily.
Ranma and Akane both nodded, "Can we take him with us?",
Ryouga asked from where he was guarding the door nervously
(the mountain was making some unusual noises, shaking and
rumbling), "I don't think this mountain is the safest place to
be".
Belldandy nodded, "We can move him", she said, "He's been
frozen in time.. not we do can effect him physically... but we
can move him around".
"How long can you keep him like this?", Akane asked.
Belldandy shrugged, "As long as we need to", she replied,
"Time is something that we have quite a bit of control over".
"Not enough to prevent him from awaking eventually",
Tupnixua gloated, "And once he wakes, he will wreak havoc
across the world... he's not limited to the underworld.. and
he cannot be banished like other demons". The devil had
reformed it's body and it was testing the wards that the
goddesses had set up around it.
Urd gave the devil a furious look, "Do we have to put up
with that thing any longer?", she asked pointedly.
Belldandy and Skuld smiled, "Not at all sister", Skuld
said, "If you would just aid us for a little while". A few
moments later there was a terrible scream and the devil
disappeared with a flash of acrid smoke.
******
******
There was a tearful reunion (well, on Soun's part anyway)
as they returned to the temple. "What's going to happen
now?", Nabiki asked, looking at the frozen Brett, "While it's
good that you got him back.. I don't think he'll look good as
a garden ornament".
"We'll have to see if we can find a way to break the
spell", Urd said, slumping against the wall, "but to tell you
the truth, I'm stumped".
Belldandy and Skuld nodded, "That's a problem alright",
Skuld agreed, "I checked the heavenly database for data on
that collar.... so far I can't find any way to remove it".
"Why don't you just ask him to remove it?", Kasumi asked
curiously.
Urd gave her a scornful look, "He was ready to rip us
apart", she said flatly, "I don't think he's in the mood for a
logical discussion".
Kasumi frowned, "I can't believe he'd hurt us", she said,
"no matter what's happened to him... he didn't hurt you Urd..
even when Akane fed him a hate potion".
"But that's a totally different kind of magic", Urd
argued, "This is forcing him to hate... if we start talking to
him about removing the collar.. it will just overwhelm him".
Skuld tapped her chin thoughtfully, "You know", she said,
"I think that gives me an idea".
Five minutes later, after Ryouga had carried Brett's
inert form out into the courtyard, Urd was looking dubiously
at her sisters, "You really think this is going to work?", she
asked.
"Look", Skuld said carefully, "We know that your potions
are still active... with a bit of luck if you ask him a
question.. he'll have to pause and answer you..".
"That's where I come in", Ranma said, holding up a vial.
"You just make sure that when he opens his mouth, you
pour that in!", Akane said, "If you miss, we're all going to
be in trouble".
Belldandy nodded Skuld and the two of them cancelled
their time-freeze spell. Brett staggered slightly as the
spell was released, "WHAT'S THE MEANING OF THIS", he bellowed
angrily.
Urd glanced at him nervously, "Brett", she said.
He turned to face her, "What are you doing?", he said
coldly, "Why did your sisters attack me?!?!?!?!".
Urd squared her jaw, "Why are you angry?", she asked.
Brett's face suddenly relaxed and his expression became
blank, "I..", he began.
Ranma executed a jump-kick that had her passing within
inches of Brett's head and she tossed the potion down his open
throat. He reeled back and staggered a few steps before
turning back to Urd.
"Urd", he growled, advancing towards her.
Skuld raised her mallet, but Belldandy placed a hand on
her shoulder, "Wait for it to take effect", she said calmly.
Urd began to back away as Brett walked steadily towards
her, his eyes almost burning with emotion. She suddenly found
herself against the outer wall of the temple, "Oh no", she
thought to herself.
Brett stopped in front of her, "Now I've got you!", he
said, reaching out.
Urd closed her eyes, "Sorry for making you into this",
she whispered. Then she suddenly found herself picked up and
Brett's lips pressed against her own. She opened her eyes in
shock, she'd been kissed by Brett before, but never like
this. It seemed to last forever.
Skuld and Belldandy exchanged a smug look, before
Belldandy spoke up, "I don't mean to interrupt", she began.
Urd broke off the kiss reluctantly, "I know", she said,
"The collar".
Brett looked a little disappointed and he didn't put her
down right away, he looked at her lingeringly, "Urd", he said
softly.
Urd blushed under his gaze, not used to having someone
look at her like that. "Brett", she said, "Could you please
remove that collar You're wearing?".
Brett nodded and placed her on the ground, then he moved
his hands to the collar at his neck. His arms seemed to tense
and a sweat broke out on his forehead, "I...", he stammered,
"I.. can't... it's fighting...". He fell to his knees,
straining with effort.
"Here, let me help", Ryouga began, stepping up and
reaching out for the collar.
"NO!", Brett shouted, backhanding Ryouga across the
courtyard. Ryouga impacted the wall, turning it into rubble.
Ranma and Akane quickly dug him our from under the wall, "He's
alright", Ranma replied examining him, "He gets worse from me
all the time".
Brett's expression became pained as he struggled with the
collar, "No", he moaned, "I won't...".
Urd placed her hands on his, "Please Brett?", she asked,
"Can I help?".
He nodded slowly, as if it was taking all of his
concentration. Urd added her strength to his, whispering a
quick spell. There was a high-pitched scream as the collar
broke apart. It fell to the ground and disappeared in a puff
of smoke.
******
I woke suddenly, wondering when I'd fallen asleep. What
amazed me even more was that I was kneeling in the middle of
the temple's courtyard. Urd was standing in front of me, her
hands clasped in mine.
"Ummmm", I began, "What's going on?".
Urd smiled at me and I felt my heart soar, her smile was
like the sun on a rainy day. "You're alright now", she said
with relief.
I stood carefully and looked around, "How did I get
here?", I asked, "The last thing I remember is throwing a rock
at a guard demon".
Noticing everyone's expressions I frowned, "What?", I
asked defensively, "Did I miss something?".
Urd started laughing and then slowly, everyone picked up
her laughter. I smiled in spite of myself, "Oh great", I
sighed, "Everyone's gone nuts!".
Urd controlled herself with great effort, "Come on", she
said, pulling me towards the temple, "I think we could all do
with a good meal".
Belldandy nodded to Kasumi and the two of the hurried
inside, my stomach growled in anticipation at the thought of
the two of them cooking together. I felt a profound
disappointment as Urd released my hand and I frowned slightly,
something still wasn't right, I couldn't seem to think about
anything but Urd, her eyes, her hair, her... I stopped that
line of thought before it took me too far.
I went inside have a quick shower and change clothes, I
was drying my hair when I noticed my reflection. Bending
closer I traced two thin lines, which ran vertically down my
forehead. Even as I watched, the lines thinned and began to
disappear.
Shrugging on a clean set of clothes I almost bumped into
Ranma, who was waiting outside, "Hey!", she said indignantly,
"I was a prisoner longer than you! let someone else use the
bathroom!".
I bowed and gestured grandly for her to enter, "Your bath
chamber awaits, m'lady", I announced.
Ranma gave me a flinty look, "Yeah, right", she huffed,
pushing past me.
Smiling slightly I walked back to my room, only to stop
as a shout of joy filled the air. I turned back in shock as
the bathroom door was flung open and a taller, male Ranma
emerged. "YES!", he shouted literally jumping for joy, "I'M A
GUY AGAIN!".
I grinned slightly as he moved toward the common area to
share the news with everyone, "You keep jumping around like
that wearing just a towel and you'll prove that beyond a
doubt", I observed dryly.
Ranma, who was still grinning, settled down slightly and
slipped back into the bathroom to change. I sat down in my
room and flicked on the computer, bringing up the report I had
downloaded on Ranma's curse. "At least I can try to help
Ranma and the others", I noted.
******
Brett was frowning slightly as he walked back into the
dining area. He sat down at the table, but made no move to
eat anything.
"What's wrong?", Skuld asked, eyeing him over a bowl of
seasoned rice, "Usually you'd be giving *them* a run for their
money", she indicated Ranma and his father, who were
shovelling food down at an enormous rate.
Brett shrugged, "Nothing, I suppose", he replied, half-
heartedly picking at his meal.
Belldandy looked a little concerned, "Are you feeling
unwell?", she asked, "Is there something wrong with the
meal?".
Brett shook his head, "No... I'm fine", he said, looking
around, "Where's Urd by the way?".
"She said she had some work to do", Skuld replied, "She's
probably in her lab".
Brett nodded and stood, "I think I need to have a talk
with her", he said.
Then he noticed the strange look that passed between
Belldandy and Skuld. "What?", he said defensively.
Skuld grimaced and Belldandy had a knowing smile on her
face, "Oh nothing", Belldandy said innocently.
Brett quickly retreated from the room, wondering what on
earth was going on. He scratched is head thoughtfully as he
walked through the temple, to Urd's lab. Knocking on the door
he heard a distracted "come in" from inside.
Quietly sliding the door open he smiled broadly at the
picture Urd presented. She was sitting cross-legged in the
middle of the room, stacks of magical encyclopaedias floating
at various levels, surrounding her completely. One wall was
covered with blue characters in her handwriting. Her back was
to the door and she didn't look up from the two test tubes she
was mixing.
"Just dump the food somewhere out of the way", she
ordered briskly, "I'm busy here".
Brett snapped his fingers, "Damn", he muttered, "I should
have remembered to save you something".
The was a muffled crash as Urd dropped the two test tubes
and the encyclopaedias fell to the ground, she swung around
angrily, "What the hell are you doing?", she demanded,
"Scaring me like that??!?!".
Brett winced at her outburst, "Sorry", he mumbled, "I
didn't mean...".
Urd sighed and shook her head, "No", she said ruefully,
"I should be apologising". She muttered a few spell-words and
the books suddenly flew off and found their perches on the
bookshelves. She dusted herself off and carefully cleaned up
the spilled potions.
Brett watched her silently for a moment, his expression
unreadable. "What's wrong with you Urd?", he asked, "Since we
got back you've done nothing but closet yourself in this room,
you've hardly said two words to me... this isn't like you".
Urd turned to him with a half-angry expression, "Who do
you think I've been doing this for?!?!", she demanded, "Do you
think I've been enjoying myself here or something?!?!?".
Brett was about to respond when he realised something, "I
didn't blank out and answer your questions", he noted, "That
means the honesty potion has been removed".
Urd sighed and explained how they'd freed him from the
collar's hold, "That's why you've been staying away from me",
he surmised, "But why didn't you explain this right away?".
"I thought that I'd be able to find a cure for you
quickly and you wouldn't have to know...", she began.
Brett frowned, "Why should that make a difference.. I
mean it's not that big a deal.. really", he said forcing a
smile.
Urd raised and eyebrow and smiled slightly, "Oh it
isn't?", she asked in a coy voice. Urd stepped forward and
wrapped her arms around Brett's neck, "Do you really feeling
nothing at all?".
Brett gritted his teeth, "Well", he said awkwardly, "I'm
just glad that I know you well enough to know You're just
teasing me".
Urd smiled, "Am I?", she asked, raising her chin.
Brett gulped a mouthful of air, but couldn't stop himself
leaning forward. Abruptly, Urd pulled away, "Don't worry
Brett", she said, laughing slightly, "I won't let you get too
carried away".
Brett looked almost disappointed, "Oh?", he asked.
Urd's smiled faded slightly, "I know what you really
think of me, remember?", she asked.
Brett frowned, "And what exactly do I think of you?", he
asked sarcastically, "You keep throwing that back in my face..
*WHAT* did I say to you?".
Urd smiled slightly, her lips twitching upwards slightly,
"Well", she said, "If you knew.. I'd spoil the surprise of
working it out for yourself".
"Oh great", Brett replied, "You're a big help".
******
Urd and I were walking back to talk to Ranma and other
others suffering from the curse, when I noticed Kasumi and Dr
Tofu, sitting talking in the garden. They were both smiling
and sat very close together. I grinned at Urd, "Not bad
huh?", I asked, indicating the two.
Urd shook her head, "Don't put your arm out of it's
socket by patting yourself on the back", she said
sarcastically, "It's the ultimate force.. not any supposed
skill at matchmaking on your part".
I gave her a wounded look, "Hey!", I said, "At least my
one match has worked out better than the many *hundreds* of
yours!".
I stepped out of range as she took a swipe at me with one
hand, "Just you wait", she promised, "I'll get you for that!".
I grinned at her as we walked into the dining room.
Ranma and his father were sitting, talking quietly at one end
of the room, while Shampoo was pointedly ignoring Mousse.
Ryouga was sitting quietly at the table, sipping on a cup of
tea.
"Now as corny as it sounds", I began, "You're probably
wondering why I asked you all here...".
Ranma rolled his eyes, "Just get on with it... you
mentioned something about our curses?", he asked.
I nodded and sat down at the table, "I'm very sorry", I
began, "But none of us can cure your curses".
There was near outrage around the room, "WHY!", Ranma
shouted, "You said you could help us!".
Ryouga was on his feet, "Brett-san!", he said, "I thought
you were my friend...".
"We help you escape.. now you give us cure!", Shampoo
insisted.
I looked at Urd and she shrugged, "It's your party", she
said, "You explain it to them".
I shook my head and turned back to Ranma and the others,
"It's not that I don't want to help... ", I said, "I'm just
not allowed to!".
Ranma frowned, "What do you mean?", he asked.
I sighed, "Alright", I began, "Do you all know about the
'ultimate force' that comes into effect when a wish is made??"
Seeing blank looks around the room I sighed, "Alright,
this force is up into effect to see that a wish will be
fulfilled, it can be something really simple, like making sure
that a coin lands on heads instead of tails... or it can be
really complex, turning the law of probability on it's ear", I
explained.
Ranma nodded, "What's that got to do with us?", he asked.
"The curses you are under have the same force working
within them", I said quietly.
"WHAT?!?!", Ryouga exclaimed, "How do you know that?".
"Firstly", I said, "What do you think the odds are that a
devil like Tupnixua would be released??".
Everyone looked confused, so I continued, "Look, that
kind of devil is really powerful.. really nasty and it'd take
a horrible set of coincidences to set it free", I explained.
"But that doesn't prove anything!", Mousse said, speaking
up for the first time, "It could just be chance".
I nodded, "That's possible", I allowed, "But remember,
everything that's happened has been because I was trying to
cure Ranma... Happosai's antics wouldn't usually lead to
something like that, would it?".
Ranma shook his head, "Now that I think about it", he
said, "Usually he stops short of using demons and stuff".
I nodded, "There's also the fact that I looked it up in
the heavenly database", I explained, "It said that no god or
goddess is to try to interfere with a Junsenkyo curse".
I looked around at the disappointed faces, "I'm very
sorry", I apologised.
******
It was late in the evening when we returned to the Tendo
Dojo. Shampoo and Mousse left quickly, saying that Cologne
had demanded they return as soon as possible. We couldn't
find Ryouga, he had wondered off after I'd explained about
being unable to provide a cure for the curse.
I walked out to the fish pond, watching the darting and
shimmering shapes just beneath the surface. Ranma and Akane
were arguing about something and I glanced up in time to see
Ranma sailing out of one of the second story windows. "UNCUTE
TOMBOY!", he groaned, picking himself up off of the ground.
I shook my head, "You never cease to amaze me", I
laughed, "It's not often you find two people so stubborn in
one country, let alone living in the same house!".
Ranma snorted, "So what do you do now?", he asked,
sitting on a rock, nursing his bruised cheek.
I shrugged, "Well", I began, "I think Kasumi's wish is
taken care of, Dr Tofu certainly makes a good match for her...
and now that she's finally thinking of him other than just a
family friend....".
"Does that mean You're leaving?", he asked.
I noticed a wistful tone in his voice and I smiled,
"What?", I asked, "Gonna miss me?".
Ranma grinned, "Actually I was thinking that Happosai has
been pretty scarce since we got back here", he admitted, "I
think the old pervert actually respects you".
I laughed, "Well mate", I said standing, "it was nice
meeting you". I extended my hand and Ranma shook it warmly.
Walking back inside I almost fell over Nabiki, she was
sitting in the middle of the dining room, pictures spread over
the table. "What are you doing?", I asked curiously.
Nabiki picked up one of the photos, "I just finished
developing that last roll of film", she said innocently, "I
was wondering if you'd like to buy any of them?".
I laughed, "Why?".
She held up a photo, it was of the illusion that I'd
created to distract Happosai (one of Urd wearing only a little
more than a smile), "Oh I thought that you might find these
interesting", she said, then she grinned, "If You're not
interested, I know one person who would be".
I gulped nervously and licked my lips, "I tell you what",
I began, "Give me *all* the pictures and negatives... and
we'll call it even".
Urd nodded, "I thought you might say something like
that", she said, handing me a strip of negatives.
I muttered a quick spell and the photos on the table
burst into flame, Nabiki jumped back in fright, but they
burned down to a powder and blew away as she watched. I
stuffed the negatives into my pocket and said a grateful
goodbye to Nabiki.
I stopped by and said farewell to Akane and Soun and
before I knew it I was walking into the kitchen. Kasumi was
busy washing up some dishes, I picked up a towel and dried
them off as she passed them to me.
"Well", I began, "I think you'll be alright from here on
out".
Kasumi smiled, "Thankyou Brett", she said, "This wish has
worked out better than I'd ever hoped".
I grinned, "Oh?", I asked, "that well?".
Kasumi blushed, "Not yet", she said quietly, "But it's a
start".
I walked back out into the dining room and muttered a
quick transport spell. In a flash I was back at the temple
and my first mission for the Relief Goddess (I've *really*
gotta try and get that name changed!) Office was over.
******
"Brett!", called Keiichi, as the young God appeared in
the temple's dining room.
Brett grinned, "Hey mate!", he said warmly, "How did the
race go?".
Keiichi gave Brett a thumbs-up, "We won!", he said
happily, "It was close, I almost thought that the team from
Honda was going to beat us...". Keiichi gave Brett a blow-by-
blow description of the race, it concluded with Keiichi asking
if anything interesting had happened since he left.
Brett burst out laughing, "You wouldn't believe it if I
told you", he said.
Urd walked into the room, yawning and wearing only her
wispy nightgown "Are the two of you going to talk all night?",
she asked, "Some of us would like to get some sleep here!".
Brett glanced at Urd, "What?!?!", she said defensively.
"Oh nothing", Brett said, "It's just nice to know I've
got a good memory".
"What?", Urd asked, frowning.
Keiichi stood and announced that he was going to get
changed. Urd watched him scoot out of the room and then
turned back to Brett, "What are you grinning at?", she
demanded.
Brett shrugged, "Nothing", he said, standing.
At that moment the roll of negatives he had been keeping
in his pocket fell out onto the floor. Urd snapped her
fingers and the roll of flim winged over to her. She held it
up to the light, examining it closely.
Brett began edging towards the door. Then Urd lowered
the film, "YOU!!!! ", she began. Brett didn't wait for her
to finish, he bolted out the door and across the courtyard,
wishing that he had a spell that would let him fly.
THE END
(for now)
--------------------------------------------------------------
Author's Notes:
I never thought that Oh My God would become as popular as
it has, every week I get a few more notes, some requesting
stories, some asking about new stories and some just to tell
me they enjoyed it. This particular story has taken me many,
many months to complete (due to commitments in Real Life) -
but I've gotten a lot of enjoyment out of writing it, I hope
you all have enjoyed reading it.
I've got to apologise for the recent state of my Web
Page, I simply don't have much time to update it. As of this
time, it should contain *all* my stories, including A Trek
into The Past, A Flaw in The Blade and Freedom. I've also put
preview chapters for some other OMGod stories that I've been
messing around with. Check it out - if something's missing,
let me know and I'll fix it (I promise! ;)
If you'll indulge me, I've got a few people who I'd like
to thank, aside from the creators of Oh My Goddess (imitation
is the sincerest form of flattery, after all), my friends have
been very supportive of my stories.. thank you all.. you know
who you are.. so there are no need for names!
I hope everyone has enjoyed this little tale and I'm
looking forward to writing the next instalment... as always -
C&C is welcome....
-----Brett (dar...@sv.net.au) (11/11/96)
(http://www.ozanime.com/darkwind)