Disclaimer time: Rumiko Takahashi, Shogagukan, Kitty and Viz Communications
own Ranma 1/2. Kosuke Fujishima, Dark Horse Comics and Studio Proteus own
Oh! My Goddess (Ah! Megami-sama).


A big thanks to my pre-readers for this chapter: Gary Kleppe, Jeremy
Fogelman, Merc-for-Hire, Paul Steele and Thomas Hackwood. Special thanks to
Rakhal and Brian for their help.

Corwin (ely7@inter.net.il or corwin@virtuallyjeannie.com)
http://www.virtuallyjeannie.com/ranma.html

* Previous chapters can also be found at:
http://members.xoom.com/phu_lam/index.htm
http://tannim.anifics.com/rfics.html
http://www.fanfiction.net

--------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------------------

In previous chapters...

The events of Jusendo cause Ranma and Akane to have disturbing dreams that
they can't understand. Help appears in the form of Urd, who comes from the
Goddess Relief Office to grant Akane a wish. When Akane wishes to know the
meaning of the dreams, she and Ranma recall their past. Akane was a guardian
angel to a high ranking demon that the goddesses hold responsible for trying
to start Ragnarok... and that demon is Ranma. Urd's attempt to kill Ranma
fails, and she begins to plot his murder with Skuld, Belldandy abstaining.

The resultant clash between the two flushes Amaterasu out of hiding as she
appears to protect her son, Ranma. Susano-o lays his trap, managing to
banish Amaterasu from their dimension and triggering the First Sign of the
Apocalypse. And so, the countdown to Ragnarok begins. Ranma needs to do
something quick, and calls on an old friend to get him some good access to
Yggdrasil. Meanwhile, Belldandy is trying to find Ranma, and has taken a job
at a school, while Skuld finally thinks she has a way to defeat Ranma for
good and avert Ragnarok.

--------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------------------

Wrath of Gods

Chapter 10

Two women were huddled over a computer, squinting their eyes at its small
monitor. Marller was furiously typing on the keyboard, Megumi standing
behind her and watching the monitor over her shoulder.

"Can't this pile of junk work any faster?" the leather-clad blonde muttered
in disgust, kicking the tower case in frustration.

The fan whirred erratically, making strange noises in response.

"Aww, geez, don't talk about it that way," Megumi complained, giving her
computer an apologizing glance. "It's the latest thing on the market! I'm
lucky to even get it through the university!"

Marller snorted derisively and smirked. "If this piece of antique crap is
the best you humans got..."

Megumi balled her fists in anger. "Knock it off, you demoness!"

The blonde's smirk grew in volume. "Why, thank you."

"I knew you'd take that as a compliment." Megumi sighed, throwing her hands
up into the air. "Aww, geez..."

"Stop repeating that! I'm very close, and your negative mood is distracting
me."

The college student looked at the other woman incredulously. "How can a
demon be discouraged by negative emotions?!"

Marller wasn't amused. "Just shut up."

"Oh? Did I hit a nerve?"

"Shut up!" the blonde snapped in irritation.

Megumi made a face. "I'm so-o scared..."

Marller retaliated with a fierce glare, muttering quietly, "You will be...
if you don't let me work."

Several moments of awkward silence followed, only interrupted by the
clicking of the keyboard and the women's breaths.

"This must really mean a lot to you, huh?" Megumi asked eventually, not
looking at the other woman.

Marller sighed, wiping a few gathered beads of sweat off her forehead.
"Ranma... my kid brother..." She sighed again. "We've been apart for so long
now..."

"You miss him."

"Yes. Yes I do. But more than that, he needs my - our - help."

"Cool." Megumi gave the other woman a reassuring smile. "So, what can I do
to help?"

Marller smirked and pointed at a nearby vacant chair. "Sit right there."

"Here?"

"Yes," Marller replied with a curt nod.

"Okay." Megumi gathered her hands in her lap, looking at the demoness
expectantly.  "And now what?"

"And now... try to keep your mouth quiet while I break through the
Yggdrasil's firewall."

Megumi's scowl showed her irritation at being manhandled in such a manner.

"Oh, and smile whilst I work on this. This firewall isn't the easiest thing
to break though."

"Huh?" the college girl asked intelligently.

Marller turned her head to give her companion the evil eye. "Shh!"

"But..." Megumi protested.

"Shhhhhh!" Marller repeated in irritation, putting a finger to her lips.
Megumi made a move as if to say something, the demoness cutting her off with
"Zip!"

A moment later, Marller smiled widely. "Ahh! The sweet sounds of silence!"

Megumi sighed, and having nothing better to do, sat in the place Marller had
indicated earlier silently, her mind wandering towards the boredom of her
normal daily life. Her heart sank when she realized all the finals she was
going to flunk.

Of course, she reasoned with herself, unless we revolutionize the world, all
the finals in the world won't matter anymore. The so-called goddesses would
kill the world's only chance at survival, dooming them all to a slow but
sure death.

"Aha!"

Marller's voice getting through her little reverie, Megumi blinked and
turned towards her companion. "What? Did you get in?" she asked expectantly.

"Defensive layer number six hundred and thirty successfully breached!"
Marller announced cheerfully, beaming at her. "Less than four hundred more
to go!"

--------------------------------------------------

"Mistress Peorth! Someone is trying to break through our firewall!"

Peorth frowned. "Isolate the breach at once, and..."

A shout interrupted her. "The Yggdrasil spotted another intruder! The kernel
and core functions had been compromised! The other one must have been a
diversion!"

"The hacker has breezed through the outer defense layers at amazing speeds!"
another female voice yelled in panic.

Peorth stood up from her chair in alarm. "This is no ordinary hacker... no
human could get this far!" she exclaimed urgently.

This only served to drive the trio of goddesses under her into further
disarray.

"We have to cut off the Midgard/Asgard uplink!" the pink-haired goddess
seated at the left yelled, her hands reaching for her console. "Ami,
Mihoshi, back me up!"

The other two goddesses working alongside her looked on in horror. The
blue-haired goddess seated at the middle shook her head furiously, shouting,
"Nene, no!"

The third goddess, a tanned blonde, asked the room, "Umm... if we do that,
what will happen to all the poor gods and goddesses stationed planet-side?!"

"ENOUGH! Stop the idle chatter and get to work! Isolate the intruder and
dispatch security to apprehend it!" Peorth commanded, getting her senses
back.

"Yes, Mistress Peorth!" the trio replied as one, returning their attention
to their consoles.

Peorth sat back, gripping the handles of her chair tightly. 'Is it you...?
After all these centuries...' She bared her teeth in anger briefly. 'We
barely survived your lunacy last time!'

"Intruder located! Setting up a trac-- Wait!"

"Mistress Peorth, they disconnected!"

"I can't find any signs of them in the system!"

"Check the logs! Hurry!" Peorth ordered, glaring at her subordinates.

At that moment, the system crashed and Heaven was plunged into darkness.
Amidst the eerie blinking of red auxiliary lights, everyone waited for the
Yggdrasil to come back online, refusing to accept the alternative. Mihoshi
started wailing loudly in fright.

A few moments later, everyone got their wish as the system rebooted. The
system getting back online also served to pacify the crying goddess.

"Report!" Peorth growled. 'If it was him, we won't find a trace.'

"The intruder seems to have remotely forced a system shutdown," Nene
theorized, going over the data coming up on her monitor.

Ami nodded to herself, and glanced backwards at Peorth. "Yggdrasil is back
online, Ma'am, and functioning within normal parameters."

Mihoshi nodded enthusiastically and petted her console affectionately,
cuddling it with a contented sigh.

Peorth massaged her temples, feeling the beginning of a gigantic headache.
"Sweep the system for viruses and trojans at once!"

"Yes, Mistress Peorth!" the goddesses replied, getting back to their work.

Peorth sighed, and shook her head sadly, trying to shut off the outside
world. 'Ranma... was it you? What were you looking for? Or were you just
trying to mess with our heads?'

--------------------------------------------------

"Shit, they're on to us! We gotta bail!" Marller exclaimed urgently, backing
away from the computer.

A male voice stopped the demoness in her tracks. "On the contrary, big
sister."

"What?" Marller whirled around, seeing only Megumi's concerned face. "That
voice..."

"Don't tell me you've forgotten all about your kid brother, Marller?"

"Ranma?!" Marller shouted in disbelief.

A small cloud spontaneously gathered in Megumi's apartment, the pigtailed
boy stepping out of it, followed closely by his guardian angel. The cloud
then disappeared just as quickly.

"Ranma! Akane! You're here!" Marller ran towards the pair and gathered them
into a rough hug.

"This is your little brother?!" Megumi gaped at the pigtailed youth,
glancing over his form with fascination.

Akane then coughed rather loudly, alerting the human girl to her presence.

"And this is Akane, my... err... angel." Ranma said lamely, indicating his
companion with a nod in her direction.

Suddenly recalling something, Marller grabbed Megumi's hand. "Ranma, Akane,
we have to get out of here before security..."

"They won't come," Ranma replied calmly.

"They won't?" Marller asked dumbly, blinking.

Ranma flicked his pigtail over his shoulder dramatically, posing. "Not
unless they've got someone better than me!" The pigtailed demon then laughed
megalomaniacally, repeating, "I'm the best, baby!" occasionally.

Everyone backed away from him a few steps.

Akane and Marller sighed simultaneously, trying their best to ignore him,
while Megumi stared at the bragging demon with morbid fascination.

"So he's still like this?" Marller asked tiredly.

Akane sighed again, nodding her head slowly.

Marller shook her head in disbelief. "Even death couldn't change him."

"Hey, I never died!" Ranma interjected, appearing by his sister's side in a
flash.

"You didn't?" Marller appeared to be confused about that.

"Nah." Ranma waved his hand lazily. "Exactly like with Saffron, I just
bounce right back!"

Akane looked at him in confusion. "But... didn't you kill Saffron?"

Ranma frowned, his smile disappearing. "I see your point," he drawled out.
"And I hated doing it, even though it was necessary." Shrugging a moment
later, he added, "In any case, _I_ didn't die and revive. You did."

"I died?" Akane asked quietly.

"Well, yeah. Didn't you know that... from your memories an' all?" Ranma
wondered, looking at his companion strangely.

"I guess so..."

"Hey, don't be so down! I tried my best to die that time as well!" Ranma
said sincerely, patting her shoulder.

"That's supposed to cheer her up?" Megumi asked in disbelief.

"Well, I didn't want Akane to think that I left her to die alone back then,
without doing my best to stay with her!" Ranma retorted indignantly.

Megumi sighed and threw her hands up in frustration.

"So, what now?" Akane asked the gathered group.

"We counter-attack and rescue Bell," Ranma replied simply. "Then, we start
the first phase of our plan."

"What? Don't tell me you've forgotten what she'd done!" Marller exclaimed
angrily, looking closely at his face to see if he was serious.

Ranma looked at his sister curiously.

'Oh... he doesn't remember,' Marller thought to herself, cursing inwardly.
Out loud, she said, "But we can't just attack them without a good plan.
Hell, I don't even know where they are--"

"But I do," Ranma interjected with a smile.

"For ambushing us, they would be punished," Akane added grimly.

"But what about the Revolution?" Megumi wondered out loud.

Ranma looked at the college student and smirked, bringing a blush to her
cheeks. "Sis recruited you?"

Megumi nodded, shy all of a sudden.

"Don't worry, kiddo! We'll continue right after saving Bell! After all, we
can't forget why we're trying to revolutionize the world in the first
place!" Ranma announced happily, smiling.

'No, we can't...' Marller looked at him sadly. 'Oh, Ranma...'

"I don't want to be rude or anything, but you look younger than me, Ranma."
Megumi frowned. "I think I should be the one calling you 'kiddo'."

"Hmm, you're probably right. Look being the key word." Akane smirked. "He's
an old pervert."

"Hey, who's an old pervert, you uncute hag?" Ranma snapped back.

"Hag?" Akane repeated after him, a vein popping on her forehead.

"Don't like it? Fine." Ranma paused for a few moments, looking for the right
word. "Tomboy. And an uncute one, to boot."

"Ranma... DIE!" Akane growled, starting to glow.

Megumi looked at the demoness incredulously. "Please don't tell me that it's
the way they always act."

"Nope, news to me," Marller replied to her with a small shrug.

"Umm... doesn't it bother you that this girl is trying to kill your brother
with a rather large crossbow?" Megumi asked timidly, pointing at Akane.

"They recovered their weapons?" Marller looked excited. "Coo-- Duck!"

The pair dropped onto the ground as an arrow whizzed by their heads, barely
missing them.

"I'm alive!" Megumi cried out happily from the floor.

"Yep." Marller nodded at her. "Now you see why I'm not worried. Akane won't
be able to kill him even if she tried... in fact, the more she tried to kill
him..."

Megumi suddenly pushed the other woman aside, rolling away as another arrow
flew at them at great speeds. Several dozen more followed, and the demoness
was forced to create a small protective shield around the two of them.

"This has gone far enough," Marller said with a frown, standing up. "Akane,
there are civilians here. Mortal ones." The demoness emphasized the last two
words.

Megumi waved shyly, rising from the floor as well, and Akane lowered her
head in shame.

"I'm sorry, big sister Marller," Akane muttered quietly.

Marller sighed. "That's alright, Akane-chan. Just don't do it again."

"I promise," Akane replied in the same obedient tone of voice, not daring to
raise her head.

Ranma smirked, getting Megumi and Marller's attention.

"As for you, young man..." the demoness started, pointing an accusing finger
at him.

"You're not my mom!" Ranma snapped back defensively.

"Why, you brat!" Marller growled, throwing a mana bolt at Ranma, lightning
crackling across her body.

'What have I gotten myself into?' Megumi asked herself with a sigh, burying
her face in her hands.

Akane's aura lit up the room, momentarily dwarfing the two demons'. "Stop
acting like children!"

"Hey, you ain't my mom either!" Ranma shouted at her angrily. "In fact,
you're _my_ angel, so you have to do what _I_ tell _you_! Now, SIT!"

"You... you..." Akane growled, balling her fists. Glancing at Marller out of
the corner of her eye, she saw the demoness nod slightly. "You are going to
be in a whole new world of pain, Ranma..."

"Just try it, tomboy chicks!" he threatened, summoning a shield of water
around himself with a scowl. "And uncute to boot!" he added after a moment's
thought.

Megumi looked at the rapidly deteriorating situation and tried very hard not
to faint. 'My poor apartment...' She almost sobbed at the devastation, which
continued to grow by the minute. 'I know they look like they're having
fun... but they're not the ones who will have to explain this to the
landlord!'

--------------------------------------------------

"Are you sure that's where they are staying, Brother?" Marller asked
curiously. 'Brother... it still sounds so weird to call him that.'

Smiling confidently, Ranma replied, "Yep! Yggy said they were here."

"Yggy?" Megumi interjected, confusion written all over her face.

Seizing the opportunity to boast a bit about his skills and knowledge, Ranma
grabbed a pair of thick glasses out of thin air and put them on, turning to
face Megumi. "Yggy, the Yggdrasil Mk. II supercomputer that runs the world.
It also keeps track on everyone, deities included. Once you know how,
hacking it for the info is a piece of cake."

"Mark II?"

"Don't ask," Ranma replied to Megumi with a frown. "They really, really
don't like it when people ask. The only one who knows is Kami-sama, and he
ain't telling," Ranma concluded, quietly adding, "the bastard."

"How are we gonna do this?" Marller questioned, narrowing her eyes.

Cracking her knuckles, Akane said coldly, "We charge and take them
off-guard, what else?"

"Right." Megumi snorted. "Don't they, like, have some kind of wards and
spells to protect the place?"

"There's a way to do this," Ranma muttered quietly, causing everyone's eyes
to train on him. "My cursed form won't trigger them, so I can get close
enough to disable them and call you guys."

"Cursed form?" both Megumi and Marller asked dumbly in unison.

Ranma smirked mysteriously, before snapping his fingers. A bucket of cold
water materialized in mid-air over his head and upended itself on him. A
buxom red-head pushed her wet bangs out of her face and grinned at her
surprised audience. A little off to the left, Akane snorted at Ranma showing
off again.

"Just wait for my signal, Sis!" Ranma-chan exclaimed happily, before winking
at Megumi suggestively and disappearing from sight.

"I guess you weren't kidding when you said your brother wanted to bring
equality to everyone," Megumi commented lamely, staring dazedly at the spot
the red-head had been at a moment earlier.

The demoness noticed Megumi's flush. "Still gonna deny you're not into
girls?" Marller asked her new friend, who was currently too busy blushing to
do more than stutter half-hearted denials.

A loud shout brought their attention to Akane, who was visibly glowing in
anger. "He left me behind, the jerk!" she yelled, before melting into the
shadows on the floor.

"Akane, wait!" Marller cried out urgently, but to no avail. "Nuts!" she
exclaimed, grabbing Megumi's right arm. "We're going too."

"But didn't your brother... sister... sibling say to wait here?" Megumi
asked, still flushed.

"It's brother. He's all man, babe!" Marller replied with a seductive wink.
"And all of that would be kinda meaningless when Akane gets there in a few
moments. We need to back him up."

Megumi nodded. Then, with a mischievous smile she commanded, "Beam us up,
Scotty!"

--------------------------------------------------

Ranma appeared in the bushes near the Morisato house. She immediately looked
around to make sure no one had noticed her arrival, or that she hadn't
triggered any wards accidentally. Rubbing her hands together after
completing her search, the red-head smiled. The stupid goddesses didn't
think to protect themselves from virtually anything, only relying on the
Yggdrasil to alert them. Too bad ol' Yggy didn't read her as evil... or at
all.

Ranma smirked in satisfaction. It was so easy! Such a foolproof plan... and
the wards were ringing loudly?!

The pigtailed girl raised her head to see Akane materializing on the front
porch, looking around for Ranma in confusion. A moment later, Akane was
forced to jump backwards to get out of the way of a lightning bolt coming
from inside the house. Urd and Skuld ran out of the house hot on its tail.

Cursing loudly, Ranma summoned some hot water and changed back to his real
form, before stepping out of the bushes. He made a great show of dusting off
his shirt and pants, getting the goddesses' attention and allowing Akane to
retreat safely. A faint buzzing in the back of his head told him that the
rest of their party just arrived.

'Just great!' he thought darkly. 'What else could go wrong?'

A mortal boy of fourteen years stepped out of the house hesitantly, and a
loud cry of "Brother?" sounded throughout the neighborhood.

--------------------------------------------------

The disorientation caused by the sudden teleport wore off, leaving Megumi
with but a slight headache. Holding her head and trying very hard not to
wince, she looked at her surroundings. The girl couldn't help but think that
they looked... familiar... somehow.

But that couldn't be, could it?

Taking a better look around, she saw two women standing on the front porch,
glaring in the same direction. Following their gaze, Megumi saw Ranma
standing a small distance away from Akane.

'Those must be the goddesses we're here to fight,' she deduced, immediately
congratulating herself on her cleverness.

But something still seemed... off... somehow.

Megumi could see Akane starting to power up, and noticed the goddesses
respond in kind out of the corner of her eye.

'It must be something big!' she realized fearfully after a few seconds.
'That girl never waited so long before trying to blast Ranma back at my
place!'

Another part of her mind tried to calm her down, saying that perhaps Akane
simply didn't have enough patience for her - friend? lover? - whatever he
was, that time when he teased her, but Megumi wasn't buying it. They weren't
here to play... in fact, neither side was fooling around. However badly this
started, things were only going to get worse. Much worse.

And she would probably be just another bystander caught in the crossfire.

Wait! A bystander? She came with Marller, ready to do her part! She was no
bystander!

Oh joy. She would be a casualty, then. How lucky of her.

Shaking her head to clear it of all the unpleasant thoughts and any
lingering doubts she might have, Megumi moved out of Marller's way, glaring
at the duo of goddesses.

She already had this discussion with herself before! And she decided, for
better or for worse, to stick with Marller and her brother's Revolution. The
Revolution was necessary! Needed by the world to heal itself! It was their
only chance!

They were going to break the world's shell! Revolutionize the world!

Even if from Marller's description, Ranma's plan for it sounded an awful lot
like the idealistic communism that she had learned about in one of her
history courses, only on a much more global scale.

'Figures a demon would be behind communism,' Megumi thought with a frown.

But it was no time for inner battles... not when a very important fight for
the future of virtually everything hanging upon its outcome was about to
start.

And this other person that just had to exit the house would be a potential
casualty for the other side, like she was for hers.

Other person?! This was her brother!

"Brother?" she shrieked, unable to stop herself from doing so.

What was he doing here? Unless...

Damn it, she knew the neighborhood looked familiar!

--------------------------------------------------

"An opening!" Akane cried out, launching a massive blast of mana at the
momentarily distracted goddesses.

The goddesses stared at the attack stupidly, as if not believing they had
been caught off guard like that. Scant seconds later, Urd started chanting a
shielding spell, praying she would be able to erect it in time.

But he knew she wouldn't make it in time. He didn't know how he knew, nor
did it matter to him. At that moment, it became crystal clear that only one
thing mattered...

"No! Skuld!!!" Keiichi exclaimed, leaping in front of the blast.

It burned. Scalded. His skin felt like it was on fire... as if he a large
fireball was impacting against his chest. Keiichi blinked. That was exactly
what had happened. Therefore, it was normal to feel that way.

Keiichi chuckled, coughing up blood as he did so.

He watched the blood float away from him, his own fragile body hurtling
backwards at an impossibly slow pace. Seeing the older goddess' worried
face, her lips moving slowly... the boy realized that something had been
wrong with his perception of time.

'Is this how it feels to be a hero?' he wondered silently.

And then, time seemed to resume its normal course with a vengeance. He was
thrown backwards mercilessly, bowling into the petite goddess he had sought
to protect. Both of them were sent flying back towards the house, landing
roughly on the ground next to the front door.

'The pain... it's receding.'

That was strange, Keiichi decided analytically. The more time passed the
easier it seemed to be to think clearly. However, along with the elation of
the spirit, his pain started disappearing gradually.

'However?' he thought curiously.

Did he want the pain? Did he need the pain?

Voices were shouting around him. Bright lights appeared on his already
clouding vision. Four sources? The lights were pretty...

There were no shock waves. It felt strange. Or, maybe... he simply didn't
feel them? A strange numbness took over the recent pain, driving all memory
of it from his mind.

It felt... sad. As if he were losing a part of him. A vital part.

Was that so?

Liquid. A tear.

Not his.

His hands refused to move and wipe the tear that fell on his forehead. Or
the next one. Or the next. Or the next...

Was it Skuld?

He didn't want her to cry...

It seemed...

It seemed that she always cried around him.

He always made her cry.

Light started dimming all around him, as if slowly eaten away by something.
An endless darkness came in its place, inviting and warm.

Keiichi sighed softly, closing his eyes; shutting away the outside world.

Was it better to simply walk quietly into the night?

--------------------------------------------------

End of Chapter 10.


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