Setting down the pen Inuyasha studied what he’d written out under Dr. Tofu’s careful directions.
This was the second letter he’d written in this fashion today, the other having already been given to Godzilla to be delivered to the faraway Amazon village. In another ritual performed shortly after Ranma recovered from taking on the mantle of the Lord of Cats he bestowed upon his five feline friends several very special and useful gifts.
Flashback…
Two swift flashes of silver across bared flesh, a spill of hot crimson into five waiting bowls finished the first part of the ritual. All that remained was for his loyal felines to drink.
“Come, partake of my essence, partake of my power.” Ranma intoned solemnly.
As one the cats moved forwards, dipping their heads down, rough tongues lapping up their Lord’s freely shed blood as if it were the finest cream. “You are my Chosen and to you I impart these gifts; strength, speed, speech, longevity, and instant travel so that you may spread my will to the farthest corners of my Lands.”
The cats worked furiously at cleaning the porcelain bowls. It was time for the final gifts to be given before the last drop of blood disappeared.
“To Godzilla, the gift of fire; may you live up to your namesake.” And for a moment the Ragdoll’s crystalline eyes and fur blazed with crackling blue fire anyone who’d seen the giant monster’s movies would instantly recognize.
“To Lotus, the gift of wind; may your voice shatter my enemies will.” A soft breeze stirred the Siamese’ pelt but didn’t so much as shift a single hair on the cats besides her.
“To Pitch, the gift of earth; may your passing shake the world.” Black fur shone with a green light and a fine tremor went through the dojo’s floorboards.
“To Max, the gift of water; may you bring chaos to my enemies.” If a cat’s face could express sadistic glee the shorthair would be sporting one which would shock and terrify every cursed individual in Nerima and beyond.
“To Athea, she who is the heart, the gift of spirit; may your light reveal all truths and cleanse away evil.” A gentle golden light played across the Bobtail’s tortoiseshell marked fur, its warmth soothing the nerves of everyone present.
End Flashback…
“I still don’t see how this flimsy piece of paper’s gonna make the Amazons give up on Ranma.” Golden eyes turned to his mate’s new father. “If they’re only half as obsessive as Ranma’s made them out to be they’re not gonna stop just because he’s mated to me.”
“Cologne is an Amazon Elder so she should know how valuable the treaty is to her tribe. She won’t do anything which might break that protection.” The good doctor said as he sipped his tea. “Not to mention what the other Elders will do to her if she has a momentary slip of reason and attacks anyway.”
“And the bimbo?” That was the name Inuyasha had picked out for the young purple-haired Amazon; using her proper name was giving the bitch too much respect in his eyes. She was just another obsessive little slut whose deplorable manners, violent tendencies, and almost complete lack of concern for others had driven away virtually every suitor that ever turned an eye towards her.
The only people Shampoo cared about was herself and Cologne, the only things Shampoo cared about were her position in the tribe and the potential strength of her heirs. To her Ranma was just prize breeding stock, nothing more. If she and that wizened old crone ever succeeded in dragging Ranma back to their village he would’ve spent the rest of his life being beaten and drugged into complete submission, force fed potions to ensure he performed his ‘marital’ duties in siring as many strong children as possible before he either died from the mistreatment or the two bitches saw no more use for him and removed him from that miserable existence themselves.
“Shampoo’s determination to have Ranma will probably make her disobey her Great-Grandmother so we’d best be on extra special guard after Max delivers that letter.” Tofu locked eyes with his son-in-law “And I want Kirara to stay with you at all times. I know you are a powerful combatant but in your current condition just one lucky shot might seriously harm you or your child. Better to weigh in on the safe side here.”
Inuyasha grumbled a bit but finally agreed to keep the demon cat with him as Tofu requested. It irked him that a warrior of his status and skill had to depend on others for his protection but his momentarily stronger maternal instincts won out. His cub’s life was more important than his pride.
“Good, now all we have to do is send this to Cologne.” The doctor folded up the letter and handed it to the waiting Max. “Please take this letter to Cologne at the Cat Café if you would Max.”
The shorthair dipped his head. // Am I to wait for a reply Healer? //
“No you’d best leave as soon as it’s in her hands. She might just decide to vent a bit of her anger on you if you stay around and provide her with a target.”
// Very well Healer. // Max bowed again and quickly trotted out the door.
“What now?” The half demon asked the doctor though it was a bit hard to understand since he yawned right in the middle of it.
“Now you should take a nap. Kasumi will wake you when it’s time for lunch.” Tofu rose up and assisted his gravid son-in-law in rising as well. “I have an errand of my own to run so if I’m not back by the time she sets the table you don’t have to wait for me.”
“Where are you going?”
A pensive look came over the normally smiling doctor’s face. “To face a rather nasty bitch.”
“Will you be back in time for the meeting with the Sensei?” The message had come earlier that morning via one of the Sensei’s cat advisors. The entire group, both inner and outer Scouts, would be showing up at noon to speak to Ranma about something they considered extremely important.
“Hopefully my conversation won’t take too long. I don’t expect her to be very cooperative but given her lack of general intelligence I should get something.”
****
After Nodoka had finished getting ‘reacquainted’ with her husband the police moved him to a separate cell and treated the worst of his injuries. It wouldn’t do to have the slimy bastard die before he could pay for all his crimes. Since that time the two Saotomes had been periodically breaking into a heated conversation over the worthlessness of their son and whose fault it was he turned out that way. Genma, now safe from his wife’s vengeful physical wrath, held his ground when she accused him of failing to uphold his end of the contract. He said the boy had been a failure from the start thanks to her early interference in his life. The argument might’ve went on forever if the guards hadn’t told them to shut up they would both be muzzled. Rather than be subjected to that humiliation Nodoka and Genma fell into a tense silence.
The only real visitors either of the pair had were two lawyers who’d at last agreed to take the Saotome’s cases solely on the Captain’s appeal to their sense of civic duty. Without proper representation one or both Saotomes might say that their trial was unfair and have their convictions overturned. Since no one in the legal system wanted to see these two loose once more the lawyers took the case. They would defend their clients to the best of their abilities but consoled themselves with the fact that with the tremendous amounts of evidence against them neither of the twisted pair would ever see a day of freedom again.
However today was different. Today they had another visitor.
Doctor Tofu.
“How dare you show your face here after what you’ve done!!” Genma snarled and slammed himself against the bars, totally forgetting the heavy current running thru them and receiving a nasty jolt of electricity for his efforts. It would take Genma quite a while to recover from that shock which left Tofu and Nodoka to talk alone for a time.
From the level of hate displayed in the caged woman’s eyes Tofu was thankful for the electrified bars separating Nodoka from him. Without that solid protection the physician was sure the woman would’ve tried to kill him barehanded.
“We need to talk.”
“I have nothing to say to you.” She turned her back to him.
“Who is Ranma’s real father?” He kept his voice calm and controlled; it wouldn’t do for him to loose his temper so early in the conversation.
“Genma is of course.”
“I know that’s a lie. Genma isn’t Ranma’s biological father. DNA doesn’t lie about such matters.” Eyes trained to seek out body language noted how Nodoka’s shoulders tensed slightly when he mentioned DNA.
“Genma is not Ranma’s father.” He repeated firmly.
By now the fat fool in the other cell was up on all fours shaking his head to clear the cobwebs. It took him a few moments before he could focus on his surrounding and the conversation taking place between the doctor and his wife.
“No Genma is not Ranma’s true father.”
“WHAT??!!!” Genma screeched and lurched to his feet, just barely stopping himself from throwing himself against the bars and receiving another dose of electricity. “OF COURSE THE BOY’S MY SON!!”
“No he’s not,” Nodoka turned around to stare seriously at her imprisoned husband and the Doctor whom her son now called Father. “During the physical before the wedding it was discovered that Genma was sterile, incapable of siring children. Since I desired the old Saotome name I destroyed the true test records and substituted someone else’s in its place. Once the marriage was done I counted my cycle and on my most fertile day drugged Genma and went in search of a sire for my child.”
“Me? Stt-err-ile??” Genma stuttered in rage. “That’s a lie!!!”
Nodoka spat out a sharp laugh. “You are sterile. And even if you hadn’t been I would have done the same thing again! You are nothing but a fat, lazy, glutton with the IQ and honor of a mole. The only redeeming factors you had in your favor was your name and the small skill in martial arts you possessed. You didn’t need to be Ranma’s biological father to pass those on to the boy.”
“Then who is the boy’s real father?” Saotome snapped back at his wife, or should he say soon-to-be ex-wife. Since she’d been unfaithful to him he had good cause to divorce her. Half her estate should come to a hefty little sum.
Now a cold smile graced her pale pink lips. “I met him at the Jade Tiger; a high class club, one that caters to rich businessmen, celebrities, and sports stars from all countries. He was by far one of the most handsome men there. Clear blue eyes, thick shiny hair, and a firm body. He had an air of power, intelligence, and of danger to him that drew many women to his side that night and I was hard pressed to secure him for myself. It didn’t take that much persuasion to entice him into taking me back to his room at the Hilton.”
“YOU SLUT!!”
“He was far more a man in bed than you could even hope to be.” Nodoka had to rub it in as to just how much of a failure her husband was in his marital duties. “The sex lasted for hours instead of your partly four minutes of fumbling and grunting. His stamina and skill were absolutely amazing; I lost count of how many orgasms I had.” Her smile turned wicked. “Hmmm, perhaps it had something to do with him being a Ganjin.”
“A GANJIN!!” By now Genma was frothing at the mouth.
“Of course. I wanted my child to have an exotic air, to be strong, to be tall. He wouldn’t have possessed any of those traits if I’d chosen a Japanese man.”
“But do you know his name?”
Nodoka blinked, then laughed. “Perhaps I do, perhaps I don’t. Since Ranma no longer acknowledges me as his son I don’t have to answer any questions about him or his heritage.”
Tofu sighed in resignation. He hadn’t expected the woman to just hand him a name on a silver platter but he’d managed to get more information out of her than she probably knew. He had a general description, a place, a hotel name, and after counting back from the time of Ranma’s birth a time span in which to check.
Tofu glanced at his watch; 11:23 am. Time to go.
He would set the investigation in motion just as soon as he returned home. Without sparing another glance towards either one of the caged wastes of human flesh the good Doctor left, his ears picking up the start of another argument starting before the door even finished closing.
****
The meeting between Ranma, Inuyasha, and the Sensei wasn’t going well at all. The girls were all talking, well more like demanding, that he sacrifice himself for the good of humanity; the fact that he was mated and soon to be a father didn’t faze them or change their request in the slightest. Rather than just kick the whole bunch of loonies out on their barely covered asses Ranma asked them to explain themselves which unfortunately the girls were only too eager to do so. He should’ve known better than to ask a group of girls to talk; it took two hours for the whole wacky story to come out.
Ranma now faced the group of scantly clad magical girls, making sure to keep himself between them and his gravid mate at all times. He wouldn’t put it past a couple of the more overzealous girls to attack his mate to force Ranma to obey their commands.
“Okay, let me see if I’ve got this right. Somewhere in the future there’s gonna be a big disaster that’ll destroy Earth’s global environment. You girls freeze the whole planet to stop it and ages later thaw everybody out. You then take over and use that hunk of crystal blondie’s got to ‘cleanse’ everybody of their negative energy. Those that don’t want to be ‘cleansed’ you brand as evil and exile them to a barren hunk of cold rock in space. Have I got it right so far?”
“Basically yes.” Pluto said; she would’ve worded the explanation a bit more elegantly but for now it would do.
“So this ‘cleansing’ business takes all of a person’s negative energy and all the emotions that go with them.”
Sailor Moon nodded eagerly and smiled. “Yes, all the hate, anger, sorrow, everything! It leaves the people so very peaceful and happy.”
Ranma frowned and shook his head, ears laid back as he began to pace. On the surface their plan sounded so nice, like a paradise on earth; but that was only on the surface. Scrape beneath that sparkling vision and the horrible hidden reality reared up its ugly rotting head. He shuddered in revulsion at the mere thought of a shattered earth populated by a mass of happy controlled corpses.
No. This couldn’t be allowed. It must not come to pass.
“Now do you understand why you must die? If you live Crystal Tokyo will never happen.” Setsuna’s voice held a rarely heard pleading note in its cultured depths. He just had to see this was the right thing to do. If Ranma had any feelings for humanity at all he would allow the Scouts to kill him thus ensuring the bright wonderful future that awaited them.
“No.”
“No? You don’t understand?” Mercury asked.
“No, as in I refuse to die so you can set up you little mind-controlled dictatorship.”
“WHAT??!!!!”
“Everything sounds so sweet, so perfect. But past experience has taught me very painfully to take a second look at everything, especially if it sounds too good to be true. The disaster that destroyed the ecosystem could’ve been stopped, most likely by the very people or the descendants of the people you and those two dikes have been slaughtering.” His insult bounced off Pluto but Neptune had to forcefully restrain her blonde lover. “There is a balance to everything in the universe; Ying and Yang. How can you tell if you love someone if you don’t know what hate is first? Can you truly feel calm if there isn’t anger to compare it to? Without sorrow happiness is nothing more than a false mask. By taking away half the emotions that make us human you’re creating nothing more than a bunch of smiling animated corpses!”
“That’s not true!”
“Isn’t it? Let me ask you a couple of things. In this Crystal Tokyo are there any babies being born on a regular basis? What’s the suicide rate? Have there been any great works of art, literature, or music being created? Has there???” He directed his questions towards the one girl who the answer to those questions; Pluto.
“Go ahead Pluto, answer him!!!”
But Setsuna couldn’t answer him.
“Setsuna, tell him!” But still the older girl remained silent; her head hung low, face hidden by her long locks.
“Can’t answer? Then let me take a guess. The only folks that are having babies are the ones bubblehead there hasn’t wiped with her shiny stone.”
“Hey!” Sailor Moon squealed at the insult.
Ignoring the outraged blond Ranma went on. “Suicide is a common occurrence among the wiped people, and the only ones being creative are those same un-wiped folks. Am I correct lady?” When Setsuna remained silent Ranma started to loose his patience and snapped.
“ANSWER ME!!!”
Flinching away from the angry Cat Lord and seeing as she had no other recourse Pluto finally decided to talk. “Yes, you’re right. The Sensei and a few of the Castle’s elite guards are the only ones who have been able to successfully conceive and carry a child to term, everyone else fails to conceive naturally and miscarries any implanted fetus within two days.”
“And the rest?” The one called Mercury, who had a disturbing resemblance to his most violent ex-fiancée, urged her fellow Sensei.
“He is correct there as well. The people of Crystal Tokyo lack the motivation to create anything.”
“That’s not surprising.” Dr. Tofu shook his head. He knew these girls were stupid but they couldn’t be this dense could they? “When you stripped away their negative energy you destroyed a section of their souls. You took away a part that makes them human and doomed each and every one to spend the rest of their lives as shadows of what humans truly are. Women whose souls have been damaged in such a fashion can’t support a baby since she gives a little of her soul and life force to the growing fetus. With her soul shredded she can’t give the baby anything so she looses it. You’ve probably developed some kind of artificial machine to carry babies so that the population remains stable but children made this way probably are weak and slow at best, mentally unbalanced at worst.”
One lone tear slipped down Pluto’s tanned cheek. What Ranma and Dr. Tofu were saying was absolutely correct. When the problems with the city’s inhabitants first came to light it was thought as nothing, just the people having difficulty adjusting to their new and better society. But as the months passed and matters got worse not better the investigation started. The findings were both startling and terrifying. The number of people committing suicide was rising at a steady rate, the birth rate had plummeted to zero, and the advance and development of their new culture had come to a screeching halt. Every means available was brought to bear to correct these disturbing problems but their efforts brought their own set of problems. Babies grown and birthed from artificial wombs lacked something; most were slow and rather dull witted and those few who seemed normal later became dangerously violent, a true threat to everyone they came into contact with, to be allowed to live amongst the general population. It was a terrible tragedy that no one had foresaw.
“It’s not your right to dictate the future of humanity, its not your right to destroy the planet’s plant and animal life, its not your right to rip apart people’s souls just because you think they’ll be better off for it.” Ranma’s eyes were glowing, his tail lashing angrily.
“But Crystal Tokyo...” Sailor Moon whined.
“Will never be. I’ll strip your powers and leave you as simple mortals and if you fight me I won’t hesitate to kill you. I’d be doing the future a favor by taking you morons out of the gene pool.” By now a fierce red aura was raging about the Cat Lord, his feline eyes glowing like twin orbs of fresh magma. Behind him Mousse, Kirara, and Dr. Tofu were positioning themselves as a shield around Inuyasha. If matters dissolved into a battle they would spirit the gravid demon to safety and guard him with their very lives. Ranma was more than capable of handling this crowd of imbeciles by himself and probably would be angry if they interfered.
Ranma stood tense and ready. He fully expected at least one of the girls to react violently towards his final declaration. His intuition proved correct.
Shaking herself free of her lover’s embrace Uranus threw herself at the one who had just sung Crystal Tokyo’s death knell, the only thought on her mind was beating the damned man to a bloody pulp.
Ranma didn’t sidestep. As soon as the woman was within range he struck. Uranus didn’t even have time to gasp before one long clawed hand seized her by the throat. Holding her effortlessly off the floor Ranma sent a surge of power thru his arm the struggling woman. Uranus silently screamed as red energy crackled along her body. Right before the rest of shocked Scouts eyes their fellow Sensei’s fuku turned back to her everyday clothes. Once he was sure his captive was completely subdued Ranma released his grip, letting the limp woman fall down to the ground.
“Don’t worry, it’s only temporary. Think of it as a warning. Cross me again, do anything I might consider an attempt to kill me, and I will make her change permanent and do the same thing to all of you as well. Crystal Tokyo is a dead dream. I will not allow you to create any empire here on Earth. If you want to make an empire go back to the Moon Kingdom and restore it, that’s your ancestral land anyways.” At that moment Ranma looked every bit the Lord he truly was.
For a moment some of the Scouts considered trying to succeed where Uranus had failed but didn’t want to risk loosing their power permanently.
Pluto hung her head in shame. So intent upon creating the bright and beautiful future she envisioned Crystal Tokyo to be Setsuna had blinding herself to the hideous truths at its heart. Without saying a word to her fellow Scouts Pluto stood and slowly walked out of the room. Sailor Moon nodded to her friends and one by one the others followed suit, Jupiter assisting Neptune in dragging the still unconscious Uranus out with them.
Ranma waited till they walked out the gate before turning to the waiting Pitch. “Spread the word Pitch. I want a round the clock watch on the Scouts. I don’t trust them, they gave up too easy.”
The ebony cat bowed his head. // It shall be as you say My Lord. //
****
To Elder Ku Lon,
This is to inform you that the one known as Ranma Saotome is now the mate of I, Inuyasha, son of the Inutaishou, Lord of the Western Lands. In accordance with the ancient treaty all Amazon claims upon Ranma Saotome are now void. You and your great-granddaughter will cease all capture and subdue attempts on Ranma or I will declare the treaty broken and leave your tribe to the mercy of your enemies the Musk. Be aware that a similar letter has already been delivered and in the hands of your fellow Amazon Elders.
Cologne held the offending scrap of paper in one thin skeletal hand while the other flipped through the ancient law book of the Amazons, her eyes searching furiously to find some loop hole which might yet lead to Shampoo claiming Ranma as her husband.
If it were anyone else, anyone at all, the elder would’ve urged her great-granddaughter to seek out and slay this new obstacle without a moment’s hesitation. But this was different; there was a very important treaty involved here, one that had kept her tribe safe for many centuries. Just one wrong move and the treaty and the magical protections on their lands would fall within a heartbeat. The Musk would waste no time in launching an attack on their weakened enemies.
Ranma’s defeating Herb and later Saffron in battle had weakened the two tribes considerably and had kept them from moving on Amazon territory. The Phoenix people were too busy looking after their reborn Lord to bother with the Amazons for some time to come. But the Musk were gaining strength each day, being held back from attacking the amazons directly solely by the treaty. If Ranma was brought into the tribe as Shampoo’s husband the Amazons could attack the Musk on their enemy’s own home territory and thus avoid breaking the treaty. Once the Musk were gone they could breed up their numbers for an eventual assault on the Phoenix people. Shampoo wouldn’t mind sharing Ranma with a few other women so long as it was acknowledged he was ultimately her property.
But how was that dream to become reality now?
The pact with the Lord of the Western Lands was still in effect. Ranma’s mate was the Lord’s son and so according to the treaty both he and Ranma were untouchable by any Amazon. If she or Shampoo were to attack Inuyasha they would be breaking the magical treaty, a fact which would be immediately felt by every magically sensitive individual within a hundred mile radius of the village; it would have the same effect as lowering a side of beef into a tank full of hungry sharks.
It was for this very reason she hadn’t informed her great-granddaughter of the letter and its shocking contents. Cologne had the restraint of age and wisdom on her side but Shampoo was another matter. The young warrior lacked patience and would’ve set off immediately to eliminate the threat to claiming Ranma. The girl was just too headstrong sometimes for her own good; she constantly failed to think about the consequences of her actions. Not only would an attack break the treaty it would undoubtedly enrage Ranma. The black haired martial artist had killed Saffron to protect Akane, what would he do to protect someone he truly loved? Cologne shuddered at the mere thought; there wouldn’t be enough left of Shampoo’s body to fill a sewing thimble.
So here she sat, pouring through her law book, hunting for something, anything that she could use to salvage her great-granddaughter’s honor and perhaps her very life.
****
Kagome sighed in relief as she opened the well building’s doors and was greeted by the skyline of modern Tokyo. She was home again.
After Inuyasha left she and the others were left with the task of seeing to the wounded and burying the dead. So busy with these grim tasks that none of the remaining shard hunters had any time to think about the implications of the half demon’s departure from their little troupe. It was only after a week had passed and the rebuilding of the village was well under way that there was time to think such thoughts. Without Inuyasha’s superior strength and fighting skills the group was at a severe disadvantage. True they no longer had to fear Naraku but that didn’t change the fact that other demons existed out there whose power, once amplified by a jewel shard, might be more than their meager band could now safely handle.
But that brought another thought to mind.
Kagome couldn’t feel any more shards in the past. They hadn’t found all the fragments yet, the jewel was still incomplete. So where were the remaining pieces? Kaede had several ideas on that; perhaps they were under heavy wards or maybe the shards had been removed from Japan and thus were out of the girl’s sensing range. Neither prospect sounded very good. If pieces of the jewel had been taken to other countries how were she and the others supposed to find them? Kagome could spend the rest of her life hunting for the fragments and still come up short. And a well made and properly spelled ward could block her senses just as it had with that accursed mask.
Behind her Miroku and Sango were gazing at the modern Tokyo skyline in awe. Both had decided that it would be for them to accompany Kagome home to see if her belief about the remaining shards being her in time was correct. It would probably take a few days for the pair to get accustomed to all the new things this time had to offer. After that they’d search for Inuyasha.
****
Soun Tendo stared down into his sake cup something which he’d been doing for the last three hours.
How had things gone so wrong? Akane was supposed to be happily married and pregnant by now. Nabiki would’ve been in college. And Kasumi would be where she always was; tending to the house and its inhabitants. He and Genma would’ve been relaxing on the porch playing shogi while Ranma sweated through classes in the dojo.
It would’ve been so perfect, just the way he and his dear old friend first envisioned it.
Now that dream was being irrevocably shattered. Kasumi was gone, her reasons for leaving completely foolish in his opinion. She was needed here to take care of them all, not gallivanting around with some boy she claimed to love. Clearly she’d forgotten where her duty and honor truly lie.
Nabiki was up on criminal charges though Soun was certain those fraudulent claims would be dismissed as soon as the police got their facts strait. Really, who could possibly believe his daughter capable of such low illegal dealings as what they were accusing her of. The very idea of it was preposterous.
And Akane, his dear sweet little girl, was listed as being a violent maniac and was under the ‘care’ of a trained therapist. HAH! Trained his ass!! The woman looked like she just stepped out of some extreme bondage/domination magazine! What respectable medical practitioner walked around in leather like that?
Both Genma and his wife were in jail though again he believed they would be out soon enough. The Nerima police must be hiring their detectives from the monkey exhibit at the local zoo they were so stupid. Imagine thinking such a fine upstanding citizen as Genma was really a long term criminal wanted for an immense list of felonies and lesser crimes! And his wife was the very picture of a proper Japanese wife; so she couldn’t possibly have done anything to warrant the charge of attempted murder being laid on her.
One hand clenched around the old newspaper which reported on Genma and Nodoka’s arrest. The article stated that Ranma had been accepted into Doctor Tofu’s clan. That the boy was now an Ono made little difference to the Tendo patriarch. Ranma was his daughter’s fiancée and no change of name was going to alter that. Once everything was straitened out between his girls, the Saotomes, and the authorities they’d force the boy back and see him wed to Akane even if they had to drug him almost to the point of a coma to do it.
With a proper plan laid out Soun settled back to enjoy his sake and take out sushi, so lost in his pipe dreams he wasn’t even aware of the diabolical plans being hatched above his head in his daughter’s room.
Negotiations were going well. Nabiki was pleased with the reports her remaining contacts had managed to sneak in under the undercover surveillance which the police had set up around her house shortly after her release. Currently she had two top underworld families and three international terrorist groups vying to add her immense talents to their organizations. Now all she had to do was pick the one which offered her the best opportunities and arrange for the creation of her bonus prize.
The therapist that Akane had been seeing, some fellow named Clyde, had finally agreed that her sister might benefit from seeing her family. She was to spend the upcoming weekend with them and then return to her current housing Monday morning. Just a couple of little reminders about Ranma’s opinion of her cooking and the fact that much of their misery was his doing and Akane would be angry enough to create a culinary catastrophe the likes of which had never been seen before even in the foulest demon’s nightmares.
And what about Ranma?
She couldn’t walk away and leave the pig-tailed bastard believing he’d outsmarted her. No Nabiki had no intention of allowing Ranma that pleasure. She’d see him broken and sprawled at her feet before she left. Thanks to the intense media coverage of Ranma’s confrontation with his former mother Nabiki now knew where he was hiding. His switching over to the Ono register was a crafty one; it cut off the Saotome pledge avenue of her revenge. She couldn’t hold his damn family’s so called honor over his head any longer.
A small setback but not an insurmountable one.
There was an old ganjin saying Nabiki was rather fond of; never put all your eggs in one basket. She’d lost one potential weapon over Ranma but the others still remained just as sharp and deadly as when she’d first unearthed them. Now all she had to do was figure out in what order would she use them. Each one in itself was dangerous and could destroy any normal young man’s life quite easily. But this was Ranma she was talking about here; each and every one of her secrets would be required to bring him down hard enough to keep him down.
If only Nabiki knew how fruitless her efforts would prove to be.
****
Flexing her claws the tortoise shell cat rolled over to expose her belly to the warm sunlight. The others were out doing errands and checking the perimeter of the grounds which left Athea to ponder their Lord’s predicament.
Why humans believed themselves to be more evolved mentally and physically than cats continued to a source of amusement and irritation for her. True, humans were very talented at creating things like machines but they had developed such an intense dependency on material goods that once deprived of them many humans couldn’t survive. A cat removed from human care could usually adapt quite easily to living off the land if they hadn’t allowed their instincts to be extinguished like some of those pampered rich cats had.
Ages ago her ancestors reasoned out the advantages of allying themselves with humans and with hard work and care they achieved their goals. Humans didn’t domesticate cats, cats allowed humans to believe this in order to use humans for the betterment of the feline race; trading off a bit of affection, companionship, and the use of their hunting skills in order to gain better food, shelter, protection for their young, and aid to the sick and injured. Though they didn’t know it humans were the servants of cats and would always remain so.
She no longer considered Lord Ranma a part of the human race and therefore he, given a bit of time, would devise a feline plan to the deal with the last meddlesome ties to his old life. But where was the fun for her in that?
She held no belief the Amazons would drop the issue of dragging Lord Ranma into their tribe; such a powerful male was a prize any female worth her fur would fight fang and claw to have for a mate.
No, they would attempt to force Lord Ranma to mate with that purple-haired female and Athea found that utterly unacceptable. In her opinion Lord Inuyasha was a fine mate for her Lord. He was beautiful, intelligent, strong, and a fine warrior from all that Kirara had told her of their past adventures together. Their love was true, the bond between them incredibly strong, and Lord Inuyasha would provide her Lord with many fine kittens which to raise.
One paw lazily scratched at her left ear as she started going thru the facts she knew.
The Amazon Shampoo was the younger of the two and would act impulsively which could definitely be turned to their advantage. She was a skilled fighter but no where near the level of Lord Ranma or his mate. And of course one must not forget the curse which she carried.
That perhaps would be their best avenue of attack against the girl. Being a feline based curse it placed her in the sphere of Lord Ranma’s influence.
The elder one would think before she acted therefore making her the more dangerous opponent. Her great age had given her wisdom and her fighting skills were nothing to shake fur at. Taking her out would require far more preparation and firepower than the younger one.
Hmmm. Perhaps there was a way to slay two birds with one claw.
All the Amazons efforts were geared towards getting Lord Ranma to be the girl’s mate.
Therefore she must be ‘persuaded’ to take another mate.
If she mated with someone else…and it didn’t have to be a human…her claim to Lord Ranma would be destroyed.
Sporting a wicked cat grin Athea began planning; once again cat intelligence would triumph over human.
****
Night fell over Tokyo.
At the ancient shrine set amidst the modern buildings the door to the old well house creaked open. Golden eyes gazed up at the sky, senses taking in all the new sights and smells. If he was going to survive in this new land and time he needed to become accustomed to all of this and quickly.
There was nothing left for him in the past.
Jaken was dead. Rin was dead.
Damn that wolf Koga! Damn him for making that alliance with the Bat and Snake Demons to seize his Lands. At least he had the small satisfaction the mangy beast and all his allies were dead.
But the cost had been too high, far too high. Everything that mattered to him was gone.
He flinched as one broken rib shifted, the gash above it opening again to add a new bloodstain to already soaked bandages. He needed to find a place to rest, somewhere safe to heal himself of his many wounds. A familiar power drifted over his senses and even as muddled as they were he recognized his brother.
“Inuyasha…” Sesshoumaru groaned and marshaled his flagging strength before staggering away into the darkness.
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