Permanent Part 31 Ryoga's night out... Akane stood on the rooftops of Nerima and sighed. Standing next to her was her newest companion, one severely annoyed Ryoga Hibiki. "Akane, why don't you just stay home? That would solve a lot of your problems you know." "Who asked you? Besides, I don't sleep anymore, I'd keep everyone else up if I stayed home," replied the girl sharply. "Whatever, lets get this over with," muttered the boy as he pushed off the edge of the roof and jumped into the city. They paused above a small clothing store and Akane leaned against a wall. She relaxed slightly as the sounds of the late-night city occasionally broke the silence around them. "It's peaceful tonight. Maybe nothing will happen?" "Somehow I doubt that," grumbled Ryoga. He was certain Ranma knew something was going on. Otherwise she wouldn't have bothered to send him out with her. Naturally she neglected to mention what it was he was guarding her against. Most magical girls he knew he could probably handle, but something Akane couldn't handle on her own in her present state was something Ryoga Hibiki didn't want to meet. "Is this your normal route?" he turned to her and raised his eyebrow slightly. "No, I change it every night," replied the girl. Ryoga's face fell slightly, that would have explained why the demon hunters were still tormenting Akane. This was a bit more complicated, with an amulet of protection on her she should have been able to hide from them. Her movements alone wouldn't give her away, her demonic half was naturally stealthy, he almost lost her in the shadows several times already. "What the hell is going on here?" He paused when Akane's left eye started to glow slightly. "Keiko," said the girl quietly. "I can feel her, she's close to me." "You getting that signal?" asked Auska from the headset Keiko wore. "You bet, loud and clear," replied the magical girl as she jumped onto another rooftop. "I'm right on top of her." "Go get that evil bitch!" cheered the other girl. "Akane Tendo! Prepare to...oof." Keiko blinked as she fell flat on her butt after running into a rather handsome looking man. The look he was giving her was anything but friendly. "So, you're Keiko?" Ryoga stood with his arms crossed as he stared the girl down with Akane standing directly behind him. She was in a defensive stance and growling to herself in an almost inhuman tone. "Who the hell are you?" cried the demon hunter as she stood up and dusted herself off. "Get out of the way or you'll get hurt!" Ryoga extended his arm as if feeling for something and smiled at the girl coolly. "Somehow I doubt that." "Idiot boy! She's a demon!" screamed the girl in a rage as she jumped back and pulled out her sword... or rather tried too. It wasn't there. "What the? What have you done? Who are you?" she hissed through her teeth and stepped back. "Another demon?" Ryoga sighed and turned away waving Akane to follow. "You don't even know do you?" Keiko looked down at herself in horror and screamed. She was dressed in her civilian clothes. "What's going on?" Ryoga paused and looked back at her with a pitying stare. "Fool, don't you know you've lost your powers? You don't have any magical energy." Keiko fell to her knees and began to sob uncontrollably. She held her shoulders and shook with fear and confusion. "You did this to me?" She looked directly at Akane as she said this; her voice was laced with venom. "Go ahead and kill me then!" Akane walked up to her with her cowl covering her head and her eyes glowing a maddening shade of gold. Keiko looked directly into her eyes and saw the smirk on her face as the girl gave a snort of laughter before turning away to follow Ryoga off the roof. "Goodbye Keiko." "You! I'll get you for this! I swear it!" she rushed up to the edge of the roof and peered down the side, only to find them long gone. For several minutes she simply watched the street below with nothing but numb hatred coursing through her body. She paused when she felt a comforting hand on her shoulder. "You don't realize," Ukyo stood watching her with concern written across his features. "Ukyo..." gasped the girl. She suddenly felt embarrassed and very vulnerable. Another familiar figure walked up behind the boy and smiled at them. "You again..." said the girl as confusion set in. "My child, do you not yet realize that Akane Tendo has not stolen your powers away from you?" His golden hair fell into his face from behind the pure white cloak. "What?" Keiko blinked and stared at the pair in confusion. Ukyo sighed. "Keiko, your hatred of Akane Tendo has slowly eroded your powers away to nothing. Your own weakness is at fault." "No!" gasped the girl as she realized he was right. Her power was based on love and justice. When her negative emotions started to override those feelings inside her, she grew weaker. The cloaked figure frowned slightly and watched the city. "Do not worry my dear. Akane Tendo will be dealt with, severely. Her threat cannot be ignored." The girl whirled around angrily and glared at the pair. "No! She belongs to me! Her life is mine!" She jumped off the edge of the roof into the street below performing a complex assortment of flips of walls and fire escapes until she hit the ground. Ukyo tensed up and prepared to follow, but the cloaked figure placed a restraining hand on his shoulder. "Let her go, we cannot force her back on the correct path. She is lost to us." The former Okonomiyaki chef stared at him and growled slightly, he did not speak. "I refuse to believe that, she was the strongest of all. She can be saved still." Her thoughts wandered slightly as he remembered how happy she looked when he met her on the street. "Do not worry, others are dealing with the Tendo demon," said the mysterious figure as he walked away and vanished into the shadows leaving Ukyo alone. Akane smirked as Ryoga struggled to keep up with her. He was strong and fast, but her powers kept him slightly below her class. "Stop slouching and keep up! How are you supposed to protect me if you can't stay with me?" Ryoga snorted distastefully and suddenly stopped cold in his tracks. "Energy? From... there!" he jumped up into the air and came down on top of a dumpster right next to Akane. His face scrunched up in anger as he looked around. "What's up?" said Akane in confusion. "We're surrounded," replied Ryoga coolly. The Tendo dojo was quiet and peaceful in the late night. No sounds save for the crickets and the occasional bark of a nearby dog broke the serenity. A lone figure stood across the street staring at the gates to the home. It spoke a single word, very softly before moving along silently. "Ranma." In it's hand was a postcard. Written on it where only a few words... "You will find Ranma Saotome at the Tendo Dojo." Ranma sat up in her bed and screamed. She glanced around the room and found herself covered in a cold sweat. Talcum lay next to her nuzzled up comfortably to her chest. She blinked and realized neither of them was wearing any clothing. "What have I..." she started to say. The Amazon's eyes slowly fluttered open and she slid up her lover's body and kissed her. "Sister is having bad dream?" Ranma shook her head slowly and hung her head down as she remembered the reason she had woken from her comfortable sleep. "I don't remember what it was about..." "Ranma say 'I no want die!' then wake up," said the girl as she pulled the sheet up over the both of them. The ponytailed sorceress shook her head and found only fog. "Someone was going to kill me, and I was going to let them...it's all I can remember. I don't even know why." "Is ok darling, go sleep now," comforted the young Amazon as she pushed Ranma back down on the futon. Cologne sat in the restaurant with Ko li drinking tea. The younger Amazon smirked and looked at the stairs wistfully. "So, your little plan worked out well didn't it?" "Of course, it was only a matter of time," snorted the old woman playfully. "The Tendo girl could still cause problems..." noted the younger girl. "Maybe, but I don't believe she would ever have a relationship like that with another woman. She is strong, but..." "She might surprise you," retorted Ko li. "Ranma is honorable, the fact that Talcum has bed her will be enough to keep her in line," snorted the old woman indignantly. "Matters of the heart cannot be judged by honor," was the simple reply. "You are certainly too wise for your age," said Cologne indignantly. "She still has much to do before we can return to Joketsuko," said Ko li carefully. "I am aware that it will be some time before we can coax her back to our home, but the commitment is now in place. She will return with us." Cologne sipped her tea delicately and sighed in contentment. All of her plans where coming together quite nicely. "Yes. She will return with us...eventually." The beach, the soft murmur of the waves as they gently broke against the sand; the shine of the moonlight against the water, the cool breeze that washed across the open sand. The perfect spot for a romantic date. Such was the idea that Soichiro had. He had not expected what he found when he brought Ayane here for a late night picnic and perhaps a little privacy, and intimacy. "Sweeto!" "AAAAAAAUUUUUGGGGGGHHHHH!" It was the last thing he heard after he attacked the evil little troll who had attached itself to his girlfriend's chest, right before he hit the sand on his way down from the sky. Happosai rubbed the sore spot on top of his head where the woman had hit him. He felt much better after the long voyage back to Japan, but still nowhere near where he needed to be. The girl Ranma was cunning and strong; he needed much more power than he had just to be sure. What better place to recover than the beach? He cackled evilly to himself as he rubbed his hands in anticipation of the daylight. Soon the bikini-clad women would come to him in droves; he would have ample time to recuperate the energy he used during his cold slumber. In a few weeks time he could return to Nerima and have his revenge. Of course he would then make up with the girl and she'd let him have her most frilly pair of undergarments, but that would just have to wait. The sound of evil laughter overtook the crash of the waves suddenly causing all the young couples along the beach to shudder in unexplainable fear. Hikaru Gosunkugi studied diligently over an aged tome. He blinked and realized he had only gone over two pages since the evening started and it was almost three o'clock in the morning. "What the? How could it take that long?" He looked over to the window and out at the night sky. After a moment he paused and realized something was wrong. "How did that get open? The air conditioner is on, my parents will kill me if they find out I've left this open." TBC... Next time: Akane and Ryoga run into trouble, Ranma discovers a new surprise, [and I know you will be too!] and Kuno philosophizes some more. P.S. just so you know now, this is not the end of Keiko. Before anyone tries to tell me about it: Ranma does not sleep with the girls for three basic reasons. 1. Honor: He isn't married to them, and it would dishonor the other fiancée's if he did sleep with one of them. 2. Akane: Her simply because of stubbornness, and the others because she would kill them. 3. Multiple fiancée's: simply because he has so many, sleeping with any one of them would basically mean he would have to marry them. These are problems this Ranma doesn't have. She doesn't have any fiancée's, she's a lesbian and can't get married, and as far as she is concerned Akane is straight and a friend. C&C: to Carrotglace@juno.com URL: http://www.geocities.com/misatira/ BTW: my site should be updated on Monday night, check on it Tuesday morning and all the newer chapters to my fics should be there. Coming Up on Yahoo! Chat More... Tomb Raider! Join us for a webcast and live chat from the set of next summer's most anticipated film - Tomb Raider! It all takes place on Thursday, November 9th at 2:30pET/11:30aPT (8:30pGMT). It is your one chance for an exclusive sneak peek at the production from Pinewood Studios in London. Chat with the film's producer Lloyd Levin, stunt co-ordinator Simon Crane, production designer Kirk Petrucelli and more! Coming Up on Yahoo! 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