OK, I am a little disappointed in this part.  I don't
know why, it just doesn't grab me.  Ah well, it happens...
All previous parts can be found on my web page at:
http://www.emich.edu/public/llb/fanfic.html   or I can
email them if necessary.  C&C is welcome and appreciated.
I do reply to 90% of it at some time or another.

[All Ranma 1/2 characters and 3x3 Eyes characters are not
property of me.  Certain situations are not property of
me.  Parts of this story may not be used in any way, shape
or form without my permission.]



Twisted Destiny 15

Akane looked up.  "Who..."  The words caught in her throat as she
recognized the woman from Alexander's mansion.  "Y... you!"

The woman looked faintly disappointed.  "This would have been so
much easier if the boy had kept quiet."  She gestured at Kuno and
his body was wracked with pain.  "Next time I say quiet, I mean
it," she said to his form.

She looked menacingly at Akane.  "But I forgot.  There won't be a
next time for you."  She reached for Akane.

Akane recovered her senses in time to scuttle away from the
woman's hand.  She bounced to her feet, shoving a few people out
of the way, and put her hands up.  She was going to make sure she
made someone pay this time.

The woman completely ignored Ryoga and Kuno, her attention fully
on Akane.  "Now that I've taken care of your wu, we'll get down to
business."  She took a step towards Akane.  "Kaiyanwang wants a
word or two with you."

Akane was keeping her distance, not trusting the woman in the
least.  There was no telling what this 'woman' was capable of.

"You know, Kaiyanwang might even be able to help you with your
little problem," the woman said enticingly.  "I bet he could make
you human if you asked real nice."  She smiled sweetly.  "That's
what you want, isn't it?"  She gestured at Kuno again and his
whole body spasmed.  "You'll be able to go back to your regular
life.  Wouldn't you like that?  Though I'm afraid the boy won't be
as lucky.  He's caused us too much trouble to not take a little
revenge on."

Akane started to make her way over to Kuno and Ryoga, who seemed
frozen with shock.  She surely did want to be human, but she
didn't think Kaiyanwang was the answer.  And she sure as hell
wasn't going anywhere with scary looking woman in front of her.
"Nice offer, but I don't think so."

"Just make it easy on yourself.  Come willingly and you'll be
fine."  She watched Akane reach Kuno and stand behind him.  "I'm
sorry, but he can't help you.  He is as worthless a wu as you are
a sanjiyan."

Akane glanced down at Kuno, who seemed to be comatose.  She looked
briefly at Ryoga but knew she couldn't get him involved any
further.  She knew how limiting weapons could be, but she couldn't
let the woman get close enough to touch her, or she'd end up like
Kuno.

The staff would do nicely, as long as she didn't break it.  She
reached down and yanked the staff out of her bag.  She held it
pointed toward the woman, the feel of it in her hands giving her
confidence.  "Don't come any closer," Akane warned.

"And if I do, you'll do what?  Poke me?  Your little twig doesn't
concern me," the woman said contemptuously.

Akane frowned.  She had the same feeling she got whenever Ranma
insulted her cooking.  Her gaze darkened.

"Did you really expect to survive without your wu?  You're just a
little girl."

Akane felt the molten lava of her anger bubble.  A little girl?

"Your boyfriends are children themselves.  What did you expect to
accomplish?"

That did it.  "I HATE BOYS!" she screamed.  'Except for Ranma,' a
small cluster of brain cells corrected.  The staff in her hands
began to glow, drawing the woman's gaze to it.  There was almost a
whistling, hooting song it was emitting in correspondence to
Akane's anger.

The entire building began to shake, sending people running and
screaming in all directions.  Akane never noticed the shaking,
though.  Her anger forced her to focus solely on the woman, who
was bathed in a red haze in Akane's vision.

The woman stepped back quickly, wondering how wise it was for her
to tease a sanjiyan.  Apparently, the girl was a bit more in touch
with the sanjiyan powers than initially estimated.  The woman
erected a feeble shield for herself as the staff started making a
noise like a jet engine.

"They're NOT my BOYFRIENDS!" Akane screamed, and a blinding flash
of light burst forth from the end of the staff.

The woman's weak powers were unable to withstand the emergence of
the entity that was escaping the staff.  She got a good view of a
monstrous pair of jaws and four eyes coming straight at her.

The presence of the monster did not even concern Akane.  The only
thing she could see was the target of her anger.  She advanced on
the woman, ready to beat her senseless.

The woman, in the meantime, was having her troubles with the
beast, that was rapidly growing in size.  It had started out about
the size of a large collie, and was quickly expanding; the head
getting wider, the body and teeth getting longer.  It was
attempting to pull free of the staff, thrashing about, the teeth
coming close to flaying the woman.

The woman screamed, her shield useless against the physical might
of the creature.  She tried to back away, but the creature found a
hold on her arm.  And the sanjiyan was advancing on her too.  The
most humiliating thing about it all was that the girl wasn't even
using the full power of the sanjiyan; the sanjiyan was still
dormant.

She gathered her power in preparation to warp away.  Things had
gone completely against her.  She had to escape and regroup.
There was no shame in that when Benares had been forced to do the
same.

The woman began to phase out when the creature fully got its teeth
into her side.  Concentration broken, the woman came back fully
into reality to be gored by the sanjiyan's pet.  She tried one
last spell, her last resort.  It would cause an explosion big
enough to level the entire airport and the sanjiyan with it.

"I'll see you in Hell, sanjiyan!"  The woman's aura flared
briefly, and then the creature bit down on her neck, effectively
severing her head.

Immediately, Akane's anger began to fade as its focal point was
lost.  The creature, however, did not fade; it was busy finishing
off the woman.  Fortunately, it seemed to have stopped growing and
was maintaining its size around that of a horse.

Akane sank to the floor, her anger completely gone.  Still the
creature didn't register to her brain.  She couldn't believe what
she had just done; she was actually ready to murder.  She was
ready to kill the woman for insulting her.

Ryoga blinked.  He wasn't sure if he was believing what he was
seeing.  Was there really a flying monster, hovering in front of
him, chewing on the corpse of an evil... demoness?  No.  He was
most definitely NOT seeing that.  "Akane?"  Just ignore it and
it'll go away.  That's what his grandfather had always told him.

"Ryoga?" she said, not moving from the floor.

At least she wasn't in shock.  "Wha... what just happened?"  Ryoga
looked down at Kuno, whose condition hadn't changed.  He looked to
where the monster shouldn't be.  It was still there.

"I was going to kill her, Ryoga.  I was going to kill her."  Her
voice was quiet and frightened.

"Akane, what happened?  What was all that?"  He looked at the
creature.  "What is that?"

Akane looked up at the creature, finally seeing it.  "That was
what killed Kuno-sempai."

"Killed him?  That doesn't make any sense.  Akane, you're not
making any sense."  He looked at the bloody body and grimaced.
"Akane, please talk to me."

Akane stood up, ignoring Ryoga, and walked over to the creature.
She ran her hand along its back, completely unafraid.  "Why'd you
kill him?  Why him?"

"Akane..."  Ryoga was confused and flustered.  What was wrong with
her?

Akane left the creature to its bloody jubilation and approached
Kuno.  The woman was right; there wasn't anything she could do.
Would he be stuck that way forever?  Unable to do anything, and
unable to die...  She dropped to her knees next to him.
"Sempai," she said quietly.

No, there was nothing Akane could do.  Nothing she could do... she
was only human.  "It's all my fault...  Please help him," she
said.

Kuno knew he wasn't dead.  Death was supposed to end pain.  He was
in blackness, void of everything but pain.  He knew he was being
torn apart, slowly, cell by cell.  Then Akane would be dead and he
would be a failure.

Anything but that.  To fail, to be a failure was to be forgotten.
Forgotten and left alone.  He didn't want to be alone again; even
Sasuke or Gosunkugi was better than being alone.  He struggled
more.  Against what he didn't know, but he wouldn't be left alone
again.

Pain, agony filled him, defined him as he attempted to do
anything.  He wasn't sure if he was accomplishing anything, but he
must have been or it wouldn't have hurt so much.

Kamiko pulled up his shirt and looked at his side.  There were
three hideously discolored gouges in his skin, just over the
floating rib.  She frowned.  Why hadn't she noticed them before?
She should have been able to 'feel' them and the poison as soon as
it happened.

She was either too far out of practice or getting soft.  The
gouges themselves had simply blended in with all the other
injuries at the time.  His mind had been screaming at the dislocated
arm and the fireball flying at his face, not some little
scratches.

The poison had just taken far too long to take hold.  By the time
it had, she had blocked the link, his pain too difficult to deal
with.  And the fool had refused her help.  Teizo had never
refused her; he always cooperated.  Teizo had been grateful for
the chance given him and did everything she said.

This one though...  Not many sanjiyan ever took more than one wu.
It just wasn't an easy thing to do.  How could she have made such
an error on such a rare event?  How could she have gone from a
loyal, intelligent, caring person like Teizo to a fool?  Tatewaki
Kuno was arrogant , foolish, lacking in common sense,
insubordinate, and...  And he was handsome and caring, and he was
loyal...  Just not to her.  Things would have to be changed.

She gathered her power; it would take a considerable expenditure
since the disease had gained such a foothold in his body.  Still
annoyed at him, she slapped his hand over the wound and smiled
when his body twitched.  She concentrated; it was hard, the
healing.  Destroying things was easy, and the sanjiyan had always
been good at it. But healing was more complicated.  Maybe it was
the fact that the sanjiyan had never really needed to heal before.
After all, who heals a wu?

She released her power into his body, feeling it burn through him.
She could almost feel the disease scream in terror as it was
annihilated in his veins, also taking pleasure in the feel of his
body shaking and spasming.  Served him right for being so
stubborn.  The whole thing was as much his fault as it was hers.

There was a bright, all consuming light.  The pain began to fade
and Kuno knew it was the end.  Death had finally reached him and
in a most unbecoming fashion.  He had died and never had the
chance to fight it; that wasn't any way for a warrior to exit his
life.  Especially when that warrior had tried so hard...

He waited for something to happen.  The pain was gone and the
light was starting to fade, yet he was still caught in the void.
So death, his punishment, was having to exist with himself for the
rest of eternity.  That was fine; he could deal with eternity.

But if he was dead, that meant Akane...  Oh no.  He couldn't start
thinking about all the things he had left behind, all the things
he never did but wanted to.  That was the true punishment.  Hell.
It sounded so fake.  A fake place made up by fake men to make
little gaijin children do what their parents told them...  Hell.
It was a pretty good description of where he was.

The light winked out completely and he felt weight on his chest.
But... if he was dead, how was he feeling weight on his chest?
With great effort, he opened his eyes.  He saw Ryoga looking at
him.

"I don't know what happened," Ryoga said.  "But someone better
explain something right now."

Kuno tried to sit up, but found every muscle stiff and aching.  He
managed to prop himself up on his forearms without too much
discomfort and look around him.  The most obvious thing was Akane,
slumped over him; she looked unconscious.  Then there was the
empty airport, complete silence.  Except for...  He turned and
looked at the source of the grunting, squelching noises, and
immediately tried to get to his feet.

"That monster!" he said, pushing Akane off him and getting
unsteadily to his feet.  He looked for his sword, but his quick
motions made his head spin.

"Yeah.  Can you believe that saved Akane?  It's pretty...
freakish," Ryoga said, looking at the creature.  It seemed
content to chomp on the woman's body, mangling it further.

"It saved Akane?"  Kuno couldn't believe it.  It was the beast
that had tried to hurt Akane, and had...  But it was much smaller.
He hunted around and finally found his sword.  "I can not believe
it.  It is another trick!"

He advanced on the unsuspecting creature, his sword at the ready.
He would cut it down the middle and celebrate its destruction.
The creature paid him no mind as he raised his katana.

"Stop, Tatewaki Kuno!"

Kuno turned to see Kamiko glaring at him.  "Why?  This is the
creature that..."

"I know what it is.  It saved my life on more than one occasion.
You will not harm it."  She got slowly to her feet and walked over
to the staff on the floor.  She looked at Kuno, who still had his
sword raised.  "I said you will not harm it!"  She picked the
staff up.

Kuno lowered his katana and backed away.  It was a monster; it had
killed him.  But it had saved Akane, and Kamiko did not want it
harmed.  Why?  How?

'My friend, you saved me.'

Kuno stared at Kamiko, the strange tickling in his head.  She was
not speaking to him, not making the effort to be heard.  She was
petting the creature, smiling at it.

'Don't worry.  I won't let him hurt you.  He'll be your friend
too.'

'Friend?  Her friend?'

Kamiko shuddered and looked back at Kuno.  "How did you do that?"
she asked.

Kuno took a step back.  "Do what?"

"You know what I mean.  How did you do it?"  She began walking
toward him.

"I do not know.  I did nothing."  His back hit a wall and he
had no place left to go.

"When did you learn to do it?  Why didn't you inform me earlier?"
She walked up to him and effectively pinned him to the wall.  "I
save your life and you repay me by eavesdropping on my thoughts?"

"I did not mean to.  It was a mistake.  I do not know how I did
it."  He dropped his sword and got as flat against the wall as he
could.

"So you don't know?  You read my mind and you don't know how?
That's a poor story; do you think I will believe it?"  She touched
his mind briefly.  He was frightened of her and no clue as to what
he had done.

"You're learning and you don't even know it.  You might actually
turn out to be a decent wu in time."  She smiled wryly at him.
"You want to know what I'm thinking?  You want to understand?"  He
would get his education by fire.  "Then here."

"No.  I..."  It was too late.  There was a wrenching sensation and
it felt like his mind was being pulled from his head.  "Stop!"

'I've made a grave mistake with this one.  That wu will be the
death of me.'  Kuno blinked.  There were random thoughts rushing
through his head, accompanied by images, mostly of him messing up.
'If he can't do one simple thing, how can he protect me?  Serves
him right for being so stubborn.  His pain is too much to deal
with.'  There was an image of Ranma slamming Kuno against a wall.
'If only I had be able to have that one instead.'  Kuno felt a
sudden wave of shame.  'He is arrogant and unloyal.  He can't be
trusted.'  There was a torrent of similarly negative thoughts
about him.

And then, suddenly, it ended.  He felt the wall against his back,
his mind in his own body.  "Be careful what you wish for," Kamiko
said, still standing in front of him.  "You just might get it."

"What is going on?!" Ryoga yelled.

"Later, guardian," Kamiko said, closing her eyes.

The last thing Kuno heard from her was the thought 'Still, he is
handsome and caring.'  He blushed and caught Akane as she started
to fall.

Ryoga was staring dumbfounded.  He knew he had not just seen Akane
with three eyes.  That was... impossible.  So he repeated his
question.  "What's going on?"

Kuno carried Akane over to Ryoga.  "Watch over her.  There is one
last thing to take care of."  He thrust Akane into Ryoga's arms
and pulled the staff from her hand.  He wasn't sure how he knew,
but he knew the creature had to be returned to the staff.

He faced the creature, who was beginning to tire of its toy, and
walked towards it slowly.  "You saved Akane and Kamiko.  For that
I owe you my thanks.  Kamiko said you are my friend," he said
quietly.  "Just because you killed me does not mean you have
malice in your heart."  Heart, or whatever...

That caught the creature's attention and it spun about lazily to
face him.  It made a soft mewling sound, a surprising noise for
something of its size.

"You are my friend.  You want help Akane and Kamiko the way I wish
to."  He took two steps forward, using the words to encourage
himself.

The creature made another sound, its eyes fixed on Kuno.  It swam
through the air and circled him, bumping him lightly.

He reached out and touched the creature's side as it moved around
him.  It was smooth, almost silky feeling, and warm.  It was like
the flesh of a person, not the hide of a beast.

It made a purring noise and swatted him playfully with its tail,
knocking him off balance.

"Good creature," he said, feeling like a complete fool.  "You must
return to the staff now.  We must leave."  The creature continued
to circle him.  "Come now, we must get Akane to safety and that
means you must return to the staff."

The creature hit him again, and rubbed against his arm.  Then in a
flash of light, the creature disappeared back into the staff.

Kuno exhaled heavily and looked at Ryoga.  "We have to leave
before the people begin to return."  He began to collect the bags
and his katana when he heard voices heading their way.