I warned you for the last couple of months that this was heading back into the 
Darkfic realm. Here it is...
 
 
Permanent
Part 34
Dark Shadows of Vengeance.
 
She sat nothing more nothing less. All around her a river of fire flowed, her 
chair made of skulls and demonic skeletons. Screams surrounded her, but not the 
screams of mortal souls. The screams came from the dark beasts that surrounded 
her, bowed to her. Nightmares she had when only a child remembered now, and 
stood before her with flames surrounding them. They bowed before her; monsters 
more horrible than she could imagine scraped at her feet and begged for her 
attention.
"Mother! Make us yours!" screamed a ruby-eyed creature far larger than any of 
the other beasts around her. "We exist only to serve you!"
She frowned and said nothing, ignoring it completely. It was horrible, evil. Yet 
somehow it's pleas pulled at her heart, in some way she felt love for this 
thing. 
A blue light pushed back the things; another figure appeared in the flames. It 
was a man surrounded in a blue light, his eyes were clouded yet piercing. A long 
dark cloak kept his features in the shadows and he simply looked at her with an 
unreadable gaze. "The path you must follow is long and hard. I shall defend you, 
even at the cost of my own soul."
She felt her heart go out to this man more than any of the horrible things 
around her. The strange evil beasts that loved her and she returned the feeling 
to them. Somehow, this was more. "You are a shadow of my past!" she cried. The 
words meant nothing to her now; she wasn't sure why she had said them.
"Because of you I have become the enemy of all that lives, because of love." The 
figure faded back into the shadows and the beasts around her cried out in 
triumph. Akane felt pride growing in her heart at those words.
 
 
The youngest Tendo sat upright on the roof gasping for breath. "What the hell 
was that?" She glanced around and blinked. She hadn't slept in months, not since 
that night at the Kuno mansion. She wiped the cold sweat off her brow and 
grimaced at her reaction to the dream. It didn't seem like a nightmare to her. 
After a split second she realized something was wrong, smoke surrounded her and 
she was lying in a pile of broken tiles and wood in what was left of her living 
room. A cold cruel laughter filled the room and she slowly rose to her feet 
ignoring the pain that wracked her body.
"Akane!" cried a familiar pair of voices in almost perfect unison. 
Her eyes adjusted and the smoke became a mere haze. Standing in the center of 
what was left of her living room was a tiny figure. It was standing on top of a 
large brown and red lump cackling madly.
"Akane? Sweeto!" Happosai bounded through the air towards her with his arms 
spread wide.
She felt a cold anger grow inside of her and her eyes flared with power casting 
a golden glow into the room. 
Kuno appeared inside the room and slashed at the perverted master catching him 
mid jump. The tiny figure slammed into a wall and twisted his body landing on 
his feet despite the impact crater he left in the plaster. "Who dares?"
"What's going on?" said another more feminine voice through the cloud of dust 
and smoke.
Happosai jumped away from Kuno's follow up strike and spread his arms out at the 
figure just outside the room. Akane whirled around as a scream filled the air 
that slowly died away.
"Nabiki?" She rushed towards the sound and paused as the tiny ball of perversion 
rushed towards her again with his aura brighter than ever.
"Li'l Akane! That wasn't very nice tricking me that way!" snapped the old man. 
"Soun paid for what he did, and now it's your turn!"
Akane's body froze in place as his powerful aura washed over her body. She heard 
a wooden clank beside her and realized that Kuno was also caught in the trap.
"Tendo! What are we going to do?" snapped the boy as the old man slowly walked 
towards them with his hands spread out.
"My, what a cute boy! It's lonely up there, in the cold," giggled the old man. 
"I could sure use some energy right now. What with me getting all deprived and 
all! I'll get that nasty Ranma for taking away my precious darlings...even 
though I don't need them anymore."
"He is quite mad," commented Kuno as he struggled to move.
Akane gulped as the lecher moved within striking distance. Behind her a rustling 
noise caught her attention for a split second. The sound of debris being moved 
aside. The old man pounced laughing madly.
"Aku ryo tai san!" screamed a familiar voice from behind them.
Akane screamed as a slip of paper flew through the air and impacted on the old 
man's head sending him screaming to the floor in a painful rage. Akane felt the 
power holding her wash away. She turned and looked at the figure standing behind 
her and gasped.
"That wasn't very nice grandfather," said Kasumi calmly. Her dress was in 
tatters and a long bleeding scar was evident on her forehead. She was holding 
her side and limping slightly through the pile of plaster and wood that blocked 
her way.
Kuno picked up his bokuten and rushed forward into the smoke where the old man 
had vanished. "He's gone."
Akane walked over next to him and frowned at what waited for them. A smoking 
paper ward with the edges slowly burning away lay on the ground in a pile of 
rubble. She turned towards Kasumi and saw her standing by the remains of the 
table. "Kasumi, what happened here?"
The elder Tendo said nothing and flipped the red and brown mass on the table 
over with a grunt of pain.
"Father!" screamed Akane as she rushed to his side. He was not in good shape; 
several wounds were easily visible on his body. Some of his intestines were 
poking from his gi. His breath was ragged and short, he was still alive.
Kasumi gently pushed her back and lay her hands on him. "Stay back Akane. I'll 
handle this." Her hands began to glow with a familiar pink light.
Soun Tendo started to scream the moment she touched him. The burning pain rushed 
through his body as his wounds sealed shut and his organs twisted and writhed 
back into place inside his body. After almost two minutes it was over, he 
slumped down unconscious for the night.
"What the hell was that thing?" snapped Akane desperately.
"It was that dirty old man that Ranma helped us get rid of a few months ago," 
replied Kasumi gently. Her face was stern and surprisingly serene.
The younger girl sighed with relief. "Where did you learn that sis?"
"Ranma let me borrow some of her books while she was staying here. I used to 
dream about being a priestess when I was a little girl. So I borrowed a few on 
exorcisms and healing."
Akane nodded and smiled at her. "I'm proud of you sis."
"Oh my! Where is that nice Kuno boy?"
Akane blinked and glanced around the room. He was nowhere to be seen. 
A piercing scream erupted from the yard and both girls whirled around in shock.
 
 
 
Ranma Saotome wept in her mother's arms quietly. She said nothing and pushed 
away slightly. "Mrs. Saotome, I..."
"Mother," corrected the woman sternly despite her tears.
"Mother, I have to go. I have something important I need to take care of," said 
the red haired sorceress as she pushed her ponytail back over her shoulder.
Nodoka could see something dangerous in the young girl's eyes and sucked in a 
quick breath. "What's going on?"
"It's nothing, I just have responsibilities. I want to talk with you again, tell 
you about your son..." she smiled, it was harsh and broken, but honest. "I just 
can't...tonight."
 
 
 
Ranma walked out of her room and closed the door. She was not surprised to find 
Cologne waiting for her. "You felt it also?"
"Something very dangerous is here," said the old woman with a stern frown. "I 
don't see how we failed to detect it before how."
"Where is the panda?" snapped Ranma coldly forgetting the urgent business for 
the moment.
"He disappeared several days ago, right after we made him help clean the kitchen 
and do a little bussing work in the restaurant," snorted Cologne casually.
"You think this is connected?" said Ranma coolly. Her icy demeanor covering her 
emotions completely.
Cologne froze and shuddered for a moment before pushing her nervousness aside. 
"This must have been what she was like while Shampoo was..." 
"Answer the question," said Ranma mechanically.
"Not likely, he'll show up in a day or two when he gets hungry," said Cologne. 
She narrowed her eyes at the girl's back. It was rude of her, and disrespectful, 
but she deserved it for getting distracted that way. "How do you think he got by 
us without us knowing?"
"I knocked out a major portion of our early warning system when I sealed away 
that angel," replied Ranma.
"I see. Do you think I should send the others with you?" The old woman pointed 
towards the two girls who were looking at them in confusion with tea sitting in 
front of them.
"No, they'd be a distraction this time," commented Ranma coldly as she walked 
towards the door.
Nodoka appeared behind them, her face was wracked with worry and tearstains 
flowed down the sides of her face. "What is going on?"
Cologne raised her eyebrow at her and smiled in spite of herself. "Relax Mrs. 
Saotome," She poked the woman in the neck and sent her gently to the floor.
The ponytailed sorceress stopped in the doorway and didn't look back. "If the 
panda shows up before I get back..."
"Don't worry, he'll still be here when you return. Unharmed of course, I 
wouldn't want to deprive you."
"What going on?" said Talcum in confusion. She could feel the ice coming off of 
Ranma. She'd never admit it, but it was kind of turning her on.
Ko li snorted; "Don't worry about it, we'll hear about it when it's over."
Cologne turned to them and frowned. "You two stay here tonight and put out the 
closed sign. Don't take any more orders, I don't want you outside until I give 
the ok."
Both girls blinked and looked at one another. "This is serious," commented Ko 
li.
 
 
Ryoga turned into the Tendo yard, the rice long discarded into the street. He 
gasped for breath as he stopped and saw the smoking remains of the living room. 
"No! Akane! What happened here?" he rushed forward and met the group standing in 
the yard.
The two sisters where standing over a figure sitting in the grass with his wings 
folded behind his back. Kuno was rocking back and fourth with someone in his 
arms. Locks of brown hair fell over his arm and Ryoga slowed down as he neared 
the scene.
"Nabiki," sobbed the boy as he brushed the hair gently aside.
The former lost boy froze as he finally got a good look at her. Kuno was holding 
what looked like a mummy. The skin was shriveled and brown and a grinning scream 
was etched into the features of the face, two black sockets stared at him where 
her eyes used to be.
Ryoga fell to his knees and stared as Akane and Kasumi stood numbly on either 
side of the pair, Kasumi slumped to the ground roughly as she finally gave in. 
Akane merely watched the scene emotionlessly. Her eyes glowed brighter with each 
passing second. He struggled to his feet and placed his arm on her shoulder 
without looking at her. He was still unable to take his eyes off of Kuno and the 
girl's remains.
Finally she snapped; Akane rose her arms into the air and let out a roar that 
could not be remotely human. She spun around and thrust her head into Ryoga's 
chest sobbing loudly. He could feel the insane heat from her eyes burning at his 
chest and ignored the pain as he held her. His ears were ringing from the sheer 
volume of her cry and his knees were weak and numb. He vainly attempted to 
mutter some form of consolation and all he managed was a single word. "Akane..."
TBC...
 
C&C to Carrotglace@juno.com
URL: Http://www.geocities.com/misatira/
Next time: Ranma arrives at the scene, and some even more disturbing discoveries 
about Happosai's newfound powers. Plus, Nodoka tries to deal with the 'death' of 
her son.
 
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