Chapter 15: Trial of Terror

   Once again the group discovered they'd been split up. 
   The Nerima warriors found themselves staring at a bizarre 
construct which looked like a conglomeration of the fortress of the 
Seven Lucky Gods, and the enormous tree-palace of Togenkyou, balanced 
on a floating island, with the airship of Kirin beached to the east, 
where a blood red sun was rising.
   "What the hell's this?" Ryouga wondered.
   Akane sighed. "I think this stupid lake is having fun with us."
   "Aiyah. We keep getting split up here."
   Suddenly, they were surrounded by armed warriors.

   Umi, Fuu, and Lantis blinked, and looked around. They seemed to be 
floating in the sky, without any effort.
   "What trick is this now?" Lantis wondered. He then gasped as a 
spectacle of horror unfolded before the three of them.
   Umi stared, complexion ashen. "No....not again..."
   Fuu began to cry softly.
   Before them, they saw a great flying chariot. Hikaru stood there, 
sword at the ready, expression defiant as she faced off against...
   ...High Priest Zagato.
   Zagato, smirking evilly, weilded an enormous black sword. He 
snarled, and attacked Hikaru, who parried. She countered, and her 
blow was dodged. Slash, thrust, strike, dodge, parry, block...then 
spells. Bolt after bolt of magical energy whizzed from the pair as 
they continued to try to kill one another.
   "We have to help her!" Umi shouted.
   Lantis stared at the spectacle, uncertain as to what was going on. 

   Fuu frowned. "It is highly unlikely that this is a vision of 
reality. Zagato is at the palace, ill from the Blemish."
   "Nevermind if *he's* real! What about Hikaru? She could get 
killed!"
   Lantis frowned. "Where is everyone else? And that Ranma fellow?"
   "It appears they have been taken away again."
   Suddenly, a dark mist begin to swirl around the two combatants. 
Umi's stomach sank. "Not again..."
   "We've got to help Hikaru-san," Fuu announced, then blinked. She 
hadn't called Hikaru that since she'd been taken away last time in 
Cephiro. After the spirited redhead apparently died, Fuu felt that 
honoring her memory would be to call her "Hikaru-chan" instead, as 
she knew the girl would probably like to be called.
   Umi dashed forward, but was brought short by something. 
   Lantis stared at the Wind Knight, as she closed her eyes and said 
softly, "Imashime no kaze."
   A strong, binding wind wrapped itself around Umi. She gased as she 
realized what it was, and glared at Fuu hotly. "Fuu! How could you! 
Hikaru..."
   "...is not the real Hikaru," Fuu interrupted.
   The dark mists stopped swirling around the dueling pair, as a 
strangled cry rang out. The Winds of Reprimand spell died out.
   And Hikaru's severed head rolled to a stop at Umi's feet.
   The Water Knight shrieked.

   Hikaru and Ranma blinked, and stared at each other.
   "Where the heck are we, Hikaru?" Ranma asked.
   Hikaru shook her head. "I don't know, Ranma-kun. This place isn't 
familiar."
   Out of the void, stepped Hikaru's three brothers and the three 
Tendou sisters. All of them were dressed, oddly, in black suits, and 
wearing completely black glasses.
   "Kakeru-niisama...Masaru-niisama...Satoru-niisama..." Hikaru 
gasped.
   The three boys smirked. "Hikaru," Kakeru said. "Do you realize 
what you've put us through?"
   "We all thought you were dead," Masaru said, scowling.
   "Gomen nasai," Hikaru said, eyes dewing.
   "Ranma-kun...we're getting sick of you," Kasumi said.
   "You eat us out of house and home, your hot baths run our water 
bills through the roof--a roof which, by the way, you shatter on a 
regular basis," Nabiki commented.
   "And you're a baka," Akane said.
   "Hikaru...we'd be happy to see you again if you hadn't gone to 
Cephiro, and made us all think you were dead," Satoru said. 
   "It wasn't my fault!" Hikaru cried.
   "Guys...I don't do it on purpose, honest!" Ranma said.
   The six facing them became stone-faced. 
   "Hikaru, you have a grave, you know. You belong in it."
   "Ranma-kun, I'm afraid you're more useful to us dead."
   And the six of them produced Uzis out of nowhere.

   The martial artists fought off hordes of warriors, but more 
continued to come. Prince Kirin and Prince Touma apppeared at the top 
of the fortress, snickering.
   "Why? Why are you doing this?" Akane screamed. "I thought we were 
friends!"
   "You spurned us, Tendou Akane," Touma said. 
   "You led us to believe you cared for us, then turned your back on 
us."
   "That's not true! You know that you'll always have my 
friendship!"
   "Your friendship isn't what we want," Touma said. "We want your 
blood."
   Ukyou blinked. "This ain't right. Other than that crazy guy Mousse 
and Shampoo fought, nobody working for Touma was a killer."
   Ryouga frowned. "You're right. That monkey of his didn't try to 
hurt me physically...just emotionally."
   "Yeah? Well these guys are trying to kill us physically!" Akane 
shouted.
   Shampoo blinked. "Aiyah...Akane, they right. Touma is no killer, 
even though he try kill Ranma. He good boy when fighting over. Not 
think of revenge."
   Mousse nodded. "And Kirin respects Ranma, and the rest of us. This 
isn't like him either."
   Akane frowned. The warriors continued coming, but none of them had 
any chances against the group. "You're right...this doesn't fit. And 
what would they be doing here anyway?"
   Ryouga shook his head. "They shouldn't be here."
   Ukyou nodded. "He's right, sugar."
   Akane looked up at the two sneering princes, and scowled, hefting 
her enormous steel mallet. "Alright then, let's find out who you 
really are." 
   Dark clouds began to gather, and lightning crackled, striking the 
raised hammer. Everyone backed off a bit nervously. A swirling vortex 
formed in the center of the clouds above. One final lightning bolt 
struck the mallet, and Akane pounded the ground with it, shouting 
"EYE OF THE STORM!"
   A blinding ray of light emerged from the vortex in the clouds, 
striking the two princes. Their features blurred and melted, as did 
those of the attacking warriors.
   When the light stopped and the clouds cleared, all that surrounded 
them were monsters made of pure water.
   Everyone looked at Akane in awe. "Good spell, sugar," Ukyou 
offered.
   Akane grinned. "Let's trash these things!"
   "Yoshi!" Ryouga shouted. Then, an idea struck him. "Alright, my 
turn!" He rammed his fist into the ground, and held it there as the 
creatures began advancing once again. After a moment, he shouted, 
"HOT PRESSURE BREAKING POINT!"
   The ground trembled slightly, and numerous small cracks began to 
form in the surface of the 'island'. There was a loud hissing sound, 
and great plumes of steam began to issue forth from the gaps, 
directly beneath the monsters. In seconds, every water monster had 
evaporated. An ominous blood red portal appeared in the center of the 
island.
   Everyone looked at it nervously. "I hope that's the last one," 
Ukyou said.
   
   "Umi-chan. Don't scream so."
   Umi glared at Fuu with undisguised hatred. "Fuu! How could you? 
Look at what happened because..."
   Fuu raised a hand, her expression hard. She gestured at the 
severed head, and once again uttered her spell. As the winds binded 
the head, something happened to it.
   The eyes turned to pure flame, steam hissing from the empty 
sockets as the organs burst and sizzled. The long red hair blackened 
to a crisp, and the Winds of Reprimand carried its ashes away. The 
skin along the top of the now bare scalp began to bubble, and cracked 
open, peeling down.
   Umi stared. Lantis frowned. Fuu watched, her expression unreadable.
 
   The skin peeled completely away from the skull, and the top of the 
cranium cracked open slightly. A frothing mass of liquified brain 
oozed from the fissure, as flames erupted from the brainpan. The jaw 
dropped open, and a gout of flame issued from the mouth. The Winds of 
Reprimand were dashed.
   "What--what the hell IS that?" Umi asked.
   The thing hissed. "I am Conniption. My massster sssent me here to 
dessstroy you."
   A searing heat scathed the Knights, who dived to the side. 
   "See, Umi-chan? That wasn't Hikaru. It was just another monster."
   Umi glared at the thing, which glared back with its empty sockets. 
Umi scowled. "How dare you take the form of the beautiful face of my 
dear friend?" She gathered her magic about her. "BLUE TORNADO!"
   A powerful swirling jet of water gushed forth, enveloping 
Conniption. It roared as its flames were quenched.  As the torrent 
died down, the lifeless skull dropped to the ground and shattered. A 
red mist rose from its fragments, and became a swirling, blood red 
portal.
   The two Knights and Lantis stared at it ponderously.

   Ranma and Hikaru were in shock. People they cared about, depended 
on, were training lethal weapons on them, ready to fire.
   "Kasumi? Nabiki? Akane? Why?"
   "Be quiet please, Ranma-kun. It really is for the best."
   "I'm sorry, Hikaru dear, but you belong in the cemetery and we're 
putting you there," Kakeru said soothingly. 
   Hikaru frowned, and remembered something...

      "Hikari...why?"
      //Girl from the other 
      world.//
      "Nani? Who...?"
      //This creature is someone 
      you care about, isn't it?//
      "Yes! Hikari is my dear 
      friend. We have been together
      since we were very small. 
      Whenever I'm lonely or hurt,
      he always takes care of me, 
      and I do the same for him."
      //Then you must ask yourself,
      if your dear friend would
      ever harm you.//
      "No! Never! Hikari would
      never try to hurt me!"

   Hikaru's eyes widened. "Ranma-kun...this is an illusion. A trick. 
These aren't real people."
   Ranma blinked. "Huh?"
   Hikaru turned to him. "You care about Kasumi, Nabiki, and Akane, 
right?"
   "I guess so."
   "And they care about you?"
   Ranma nodded. "Yeah..."
   "Do you think they'd ever seriously try to hurt you?"
   Ranma thought about that for a minute.
   Hikaru pressed on, "My brothers would never do anything to me. 
They love me, and they care for me, and they treat me very kindly. Do 
you think they'd be trying to kill me?"
   Ranma shook his head. "If what you told me is right, they'd be so 
happy to see you they'd cry."
   Hikaru nodded. "That's right. This is all a trick. The lake Eterna 
did this to us when we came for the Escudo last time."
   "Oooh, I get it," Ranma said.
   Suddenly, the six began firing.
   Ranma and Hikaru wildly dived to the floor and rolled to avoid 
sprays of nine-millimeter rounds. Their armor managed to protect them 
from the few rounds that hit, but it still stung.
   Finally, Ranma rose to his feet, glaring. "I've had enough." A 
fiery aura sprung up around him, and he began punching into the air 
at high speed, shouting, "You want firepower? I'll give it to you! 
HONOU TENSHIN AMAGURIKEN!"
   Hundreds of small bursts of flame spewed from Ranma's blurring 
fists, streaking towards the three black-clad girls. With anguished, 
demonic cries, the illusions were banished as the flames struck them. 
The machine guns and sunglasses clattered to the ground as their 
bodies evaporated to ashy smoke.
   Hikaru cheered, then prepared her own spell. "HONOU NO....YAAAAA!" 
Her arrows of flame tore into the false brothers, who screamed evilly 
and vanished in the same manner as the other three.
   "Yoshi!" Ranma called. "We did it!"
   Hikaru grinned. "And you just learned your first spell, Ranma-
kun!"
   Ranma blinked. "I did..." A slow grin spread across his face. "I 
learned a spell! Alright!"
   A blood red portal swirled into existence before them. Glancing at 
each other, and shrugging, they stepped through.

   The martial artists finally summoned the courage and the will to 
see what lay beyond, and breached the portal.
  
   Desiring to know the fate of their friends, Umi, Fuu, and Lantis 
entered the portal before them.

   The three parties blinked as they faced each other in the center 
of a vast chamber. The walls and floor here were carved from black 
stone, and the ceiling was obscured by roiling black mist. The only 
light source here was provided by dark red gems set into the stone 
walls, which shed an eery, blood-hued glow. 
   "We're all together again," Fuu observed.
   "I'm glad to see you're all okay," Hikaru said.
   Lantis looked around. "This chamber is...foreboding," he decided.
   "I wonder...is this the end of it?" Akane mused.
   A strangely familiar, yet raspy and cold voice intruded. "Yes, 
it's the end. For you."
   Everyone looked to the center of the room. A large, ebony throne 
sat there, containing a decidedly feminine figure, whose features 
were obscured in shadow. She appeared to be leaning to one side, head 
resting on one hand in an expression of boredom.
   "I'm not particularly impressed with you," she told them. "So you 
beat all my traps...big fuckin' deal. You're nothing but an annoyance 
for me, so you might as well give up and die now. Save yourselves the 
painful death I'll give you."
   Ranma glared at her. "Who the hell are you anyway? Show your 
face!"
   She shrugged. "Okay, if you want." She stood, and stepped forward. 
Everyone gasped.
   She appeared to be about sixteen, with scarred, tanned skin. She 
wore a jet black body armor similar to the original armor of the 
Magic Knights, with a blood red gem set in the back of the left glove.
 The clothing beneath her armor was the color of dried blood, as was 
her ankle-length braided hair.
   Her second most disturbing feature was her eyes. The outer rims of 
her eyes were black, soulless, while her irises were red, and glowed 
slightly. 
   But her most disturbing feature was her face...it looked exactly 
like Hikaru's. 
   She grinned at them evilly.
   "Who...what..." Hikaru paled. 
   "Who are you?" Umi asked.
   The girl laughed softly. The sound of her laugh sent chills up all 
their spines.
   "My name is Skylark," she said. "And I'm about to kill all of you.
"



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