My phenomenal luck with AOL continues. I have YET to have a piece of
Ranmazoku make it through to the list on the first try. Firing up the ol'
modem again, here we go...
-- Attached file included as plaintext by Listar --
-- File: ranmazokuworkingch2B.txt.txt
Ranmazoku Chapter 2 - First Contact By PansutoTarou5925
** * * * * * * * * * * * * **
DISCLAIMER - I do not own the rights to Slayers nor do I own the rights
to Ranma �. Long live the rightful owners of these two fine anime. This work
is non-commercial and is done only in imitation of Rumiko Takahashi and
Hajime Kanzaka. Imitation is the sincerest flattery, no? US rights owned by
Viz and Software Sculptors.
** * * * * * * * * * * * * **
Author's note - This story originated from an idea on Nighthawk's page and is
some guy named NesTea's fault. So there. C&C, MSTs, random comments,
letters of praise, hate mail, and accidental clicks on the reply-send button all
welcome. If asked when the next chapter will be out, I will bob and weave, lie,
stall , and bend more truths than a drunken Senator. So there.
ALTAVERSE WARNING - This is an ALTAVERSE. Events, characters and
the like may not resemble canon. People who are rabid canon-thumpers
beware!
** * * * * * * * * * * * * **
I was adrift on the Astral Plane.
You must understand, we mazoku are more creatures of thought and power,
nightmare made form, than the sort of solid, walking embodiments of evil most
think we are. It's why solid food does not feed a mazoku, but the greed, petty
anger and cruelty of a pitiful excuse of a 'father' could nourish a young
mazoku. It's for the best that I was born what I am, and not what they think I
am.
I was on a fishing expedition, you see, a search which had occupied my wasted
nighttime hours, which otherwise would have been wasted pretending to sleep.
In a way, I no longer needed sleep because I was asleep when I was walking
abroad, interacting with the world. To me, the real world is the dream, to be
altered at my whim. The dreams and nightmares are the stuff of my reality. I
could see and feel the dreams of the other residents of the Tendo house, but I
had bigger fish to fry tonight: no more poking around Nabiki's dreams to lead
her around by the nose. I needed some serious hardware, and that meant
poking around the Nekohanten. Dealing with Happy's perversions could
probably drive a mazoku insane.
I had a very specific purpose in mind. I knew from the start that this was one
of the Four Pillars L-sama had constructed, the pillar of the Dark Lord known
as Death Fog. Just as in the Overworld and Shabranigdo's pillar, there would
be items of vast magical power left behind by the Dark Lord in question, iems
that, with the ridiculously low number of serious magic users on this planet.
Most of the heavy duty magic users seemed to be in Juuban and near Jusenkyo,
but none would be a match for even the minor mazoku I currently was.
Meaning that if I had no competition for such objects of power, and I could
drain them to further my own strength. Such items had been picked over and
already drained by the five Mazoku Lords of my family homeworld, but here I
could gain a significant advantage if I could hoard such sources of power. Of
course, I already had my master plan in place, but there's no such thing as too
much power. And if I was reading events right, Gaav would be dead soon.
That would create a hole in the ranks of the mazoku like never before. There's
be an open spot in the highest levels, and Seigraam, Gaav's flunky, would
probably be dead too. While Pops might be first in line for the position, it
wasn't like I wasn't going to pass up this golden oppritunity.
So that's why I was off poking around in Cologne's mind. Which is a hell of a
lot more dangerous than poking around in Nabiki's mind. For one thing, the
old ghoul was on the alert for mental tampering, and for another she knew all
sorts of nasty stuff... childhood rhymes and warm memories of children and
grandchildren, for instance. At least it wasn't as bad as Kasumi's mind,
though... I began to prod at her memories, inserting fleeting, random images of
raw magical power and seeing what kind of response that got.
The very first thing I got, an instant after I began, was the image of a guy with
gold hair and wings, looking like some cross between human and evil. It was
also the first time I've ever consciously tasted fear from the old mummy. The
image was hazy and indistinct, though, as if she had never actually seen it.
Maybe it's the Joketsuzoku bogeyman or something. All sorts of things on him
carried a name and a legend in Cologne's thoughts, but it was a set of gems he
wore that seemed to carry a current of pride when Cologne thought of them.
Hmm.. so the amazons stole.. Demon's Blood! I involuntarily flared my power
in my excitement, and Cologne instantly went aware in her mind, the image of
Saffron vanishing into the fog of her mind. In his place stood a mature woman,
perhaps 40, with black hair just starting to go grey, very strong and exuding
martial skill - not the ancient hag I know now, nor the young girl I saw when
we used the Nanban Mirror. So this, then, is what Cologne's self image is.
Fascinating.
"Show yourself!" she yelled, clutching the talismans. She looked back and
forth, trying to find the intruder in her mind. She held the talismans. "I don't
know who you are," she whispered viciously, "but you will never get these
talismans! They are a treasure of the Joketsuzoku, and you will suffer our
wrath!" She was still glancing, for I had not yet emerged from the mists. I
laughed, a deep booming effect that reverbrated and seemed to come from
everywhere.
I oozed out of the mists, taking my inhuman monster form. No sense having
her tie this to me. "Amazon." I snarled, dropping the cheesy echo effect and
using as guttural a voice as I could manage. "What makes you think you can
dare best me in the battlefield of the dream!" I laughed again, sans echo.
Cologne smiled, the knowing simle I've come to know. "I have many
techinques to use against you, demon! Behold the secret unknown even to the
greatest of the Indian mystics, the Iron Soul Spear!" She formed a spear by
pure willpower and fury, directing the mighty blast against me in an attempt to
eject me from her mind. Of course, she was doomed to failure. Cologne might
have more experience fighting here, where the normal rules of combat went
out the window and will alone determined the victor, but I was born to this. I
absorbed the spear, accepting the anger and hate she had used to make it, and
grew larger, losing my form and turnign into a great black mist.
"Hah! You cannot resist me, little Amazon. I will take your talismans..." I said,
enveloping her and firing nightmares - actually just Happousai's stray thoughts
rerouted into her head, but that was probably worse, anyhow - as she screamed
and hacked into me with a sword she had pulled out of nowhere. Just before
she went back under she realized what she faced.
"MAZOKU!!!!"
** * * * * * * * * * * * * **
The next day, I was jarred awake by Akane. It was still dark out.
"What's the big idea?" I said sleepily. "Not even oyaji is up yet." She kicked
awake the panda in question. I stretched and made like I was going back to
sleep to keep up the ruse.
"Cologne wants to see us right away. Says it's important. Or at least, that's
what Mousse is telling us. She and Shampoo are still at the Nekohanten." she
said, " They say some horrible monster is trying to steal their treasure and want
us there right away."
"Jeez, OK, you'd think it could wait. I mean, monsters gotta rest too, don't ya
think?" Ranma said, smiling internally 'Well, I hate a fight in the middle of the
night, anyhow...'
"Ranma, this isn't a joking matter! Now get moving!" Akane yelled, chasing
me out the door with a bucketfull of water.
It is a few minutes later that I find myself in the Nekohanten, watching a very
distraught Cologne. She looked like she hadn't gotten enough sleep last night,
heh heh. It was a struggle to keep a grin off my face as she yawned her way
through the explanation. "Ahh.." she said, drinking some tea. "I need to warn
you all of a very powerful demon among us. Somewhere in Tokyo is a being of
almost unrivalled magical strength. He is searching for items of magical power.
I felt I should warn all of you with Jusenkyo curses that he might come after
the power of the magic in your curses." Actually, I hadn't thought of that, but
it was a good idea. Well, maybe not. Nevermind. My own experience had
shown that Jusenkyo's magic was beyond my control. I'd probably end up
absorbing the other curses if I went that route.. 'Sorry, sir, you have curse of
female winged pig-cat riding panda fighting yeti riding bull carrying eel and
crane!' Yech. I tuned out the disgusting mental image (though I filed it away to
stick in Happousai's dream if he ever fantasized about my girl side in one of his
ecchi dreams again) and tuned back into Cologne's speech. " -thrive off
negative feeling and emotions such as depression, anger, and jealousy. I think
for the moment we all know what this means. Akane, Shampoo, Mousse,
Ukyou.. you four really need to calm down until the danger passes. We need to
deny the mazoku such a potent source of nourishment." Damn! Well, at least I
had Ryouga.. "Tell Ryouga if you see him, though he is probably safe." OK, so
I still have Happi to piss off most of the female population of Nerima. No
problem. "But, I believe the demon has something specific in mind."
"What is, Great-Grandmother?"
"These." she said, opening a box and revealing four reddish stones set in silver.
To me they seemed to be blinding in their power, and yet I had been unable to
detect them when they were in the box. "These are the legendary Demon's
Blood talismans, taken from Saffron the Pheonix God in a great battle a
thousand years ago. They are said to contain the power of the four lords of the
Mazoku. This box itself was constructed to hide the power of the talismans
eight hundred and twenty-three years ago."
"She saw it being built, that's how she knows," Genma whispered, earning a
bop on the head form Cologne.
"None knows how to use them save the Pheonix God. But in his hands, they
were a tool of unparalleled terror, amplifying his already incredible power to
levels unthinkable by any but the gods Saffron claimed he was one of. That is
why a thousand Amazons attacked him, seeking to take these stones away
before he destroyed us all. He nearly did anyhow: only two survived." Cologne
paused to smile. "One of them was my own ancestors, Toothpaste." I ignored
the irrelevant history lesson: if she didn't know how to use the talismans, I
could drain them to the tiniest fraction of their power without her noticing. "In
any case, if they were bad in the hands of the Pheonix God, they would be a
catastrophe in the hands of such a demon as a mazoku." Akane picked up a
talisman and inspected it, seeing the chinese inscribed on it.
"What does this say?" she said, pointing at the inscribed writing.
"Ah. Those are the names of the four Dark Lords the stones represent." I
thanksed her question, as it had everyone passing around the talismans. I made
a show out of inspecting each one , draining it carefully, so as not to raise
suspicion. I would need to do this carefully, and provide the 'mazoku' she
expected so she could forget all about these stones. I smiled as I felt the
familiar energies of Shabranigdo from the second talisman. "As I recall
correctly, the legends record them as Death Fog, Chaotic Blue, Dark Star, and
Shabranigdo."
"So there are four of these demons in the world?" I said, feigning ignorance as
I drained the fourth talisman. The energies were familiar,and earned an internal
scowl Apparently the reason I couldn't destroy the Jusenkyo curse was
because Death Fog's magic had created the place.
Cologne shook her head. "No. Only one is said to exist in each world, and the
four worlds they reside in are connected. In this world, the forces of the
demons and the gods destroyed each other, and they were sealed away in many
pieces across the world." I smiled, my power had grown fivefold and all I
needed to do was act normal. "Yes, Ranma, that means that the one we fight
cannot be powerful by their standards. Nor is he even from this world." She
got up and hopped over to the counter for a second. "Sixteen years ago, there
was another mazoku, who came across the village. He was looking for
Jusendo, the spring that feeds Jusenkyo. None of the three tribes that lives in
the valley, the Musk, we Amazons, or the Pheonix Mountain people, wished to
see him accomplish whatever mission he had with the spring. Despite our
combined best efforts we were unable to destroy him."
"Then how are we supposed to fight such a creature?" Genma roared, fearful.
"Hopefully, we don't," Cologne said. She put the talismans back in her box.
"But.. if worse comes to worst, I need to know that I can depend on you. I
cannot fight off such a demon alone. Ranma, Genma, I would need you two to
keep it away from the talismans until I am able to use a powerful scroll I have.
It should destroy the demon."
** * * * * * * * * * * * * **
At lunch later that day, having already been asked to defend possessions
against a crime I had already carried out, Nabiki came up to me. "I need to
speak with you, Saotome." she announced loudly, more to Hiroshi and
Daisuke than to me. I shrugged and followed her. We went back by the Kendo
shed, where people were unlikely to interrupt us.
"OK, Saotome, you still owe me 1500 yen. I'm going to cut you a deal. I'll cut
your debt in half if you answer a few questions. Deal?" I nodded absently.
"Deal. Anyhow, Saotome, I figure you're the person to ask on the
whereabouts of other werewolves in Tokyo, so I'd like to know if you know
the whereabouts of the wolf demon. Has it left the city? It hasn't been seen in
Juuban the past few nights." She waited expectantly with pencil over paper.
"As far as I know, Nabiki, he's still in town. I'd know if he left." Duh.
See nodded and wrote that down. "All right then. What was Cologne all upset
about this morning? Just for confirmation, Saotome."
"Oh, she was worried about some demon stealing a tribal treasure or
something." I said, as uninterestedly as I could. "You know how that goes."
"We seem to be hip deep in demons lately." Nabiki grumbled as checked off
something on her sheet.
I put my hands behind my head. "Well, it ain't like it's as many as Juuban has
on a weekly basis, ya gotta admit. And ya know Nerima is weirder than
anywhere else. You'd think we'd have at least as many as Juuban."
"You might have a point, Saotome." She then seemed to flash with anger for a
second. "Hey Saotome?"
"Yeah?"
"Do you know who took these pictures of me?" she said, waving a handful of
photographs under my nose. They showed a nude Nabiki rolling around in
wolfsbane at midnight. I smiled internally. This ought to be fun - and increase
my poser besides.
"Come on, Nabiki, and you accuse me of being stupid. Who's the only person
likely to know you got permission to enter the botanical gardens at night?
Who's the only person around here who'd even care about the botanical
gardens?"
"Kodachi." Nabiki said, with more venom in her voice than I ever heard in
anyone's ever before.. It took all my years of martial arts training not to hug
myself in glee at THAT anger. Damn, I needed to get her pissed more often; it
was even tastier than Akane's.
"She usually gets Gos to do her camera work." Sending grief to one's students
was a prime tenet of the Anything-Goes school. It's something Gos should
have kept in mind.
Heh heh.
Nabiki, of course, merely smiled. Evil smile. A smile so evil Phibrizzo could
only manage it if you fed him sourballs for an hour. Her eyebrow was
twitching. "Saotome.. thank you for your input. I'll see that those two are
properly thanked..."
"Oh, don't mention anything about me telling you this, OK?"
"It's completely fine, Saotome, I want all this payback to myself."
** * * * * * * * * * * * * **
Well, I'm back in action. Ranmazoku is entering the new year.
I hope to crank out the rest of 2-B soon. Revenge as only Nabiki and an
amused mazoku can stir up and a demon attacks.. or does it?
As mentioned at the top, C&C, random comments, blatant spam, and the like
are all welcome. Even flames. Fire away.
Oh, and wild guesses are always welcome if you feel like predicting Ranma's
actions. I always try to respond promptly - I'm on the computer most of the
day, so I generally respond fast and often.
it's on Nighthawk's page
www.geocities.com/NighthawkTM/index.html
and Crossover Corner
www.geocities.com/animecrossovers