Before the Storm

  "Fold!" Ranma and Nabiki cried out in unison. The frustration of
holding a losing hand sank in once more.
  "Heh, heh, thanks for your generous donations!" Ukyo said with a
snicker, raking in the pile of chips at the center of the poker
table.
  "I don't believe this," complained Ryoga. "Out of seventeen
hands, Ukyo has won thirteen of them!"
  "Yeah," agreed Ranma. "And the dealer got the rest."
  "Your fault for playing in a game you knew you'd lose, Ranma,"
Akane pointed out.
  Other players have come and gone to Nabiki's table, but it wasn't
long before the table was deemed 'cursed' by the patrons, who sought
better odds elsewhere. Shampoo had long since gone off to other
games, not wishing to lose her money. Konatsu had left, choosing to
find something to eat at the snack bar. Akane was the only one among
the group who refused to play at all.
  "And she won with three kings!" Nabiki pointed out. "NOBODY
should win with that kind of hand!"
  "It's in the cards, my friends!" the okonomiyaki chef insisted.
  "Fine, well, deal me in!" Ranma said, throwing chips into the pot.
  "Ranma, don't you think you lost enough money for one day?" Akane
asked.
  "I'm not going anywhere until I win a hand!" her husband replied
defiantly.
  "Well, I guess I'm in, too," Ryoga said, throwing in chips of his
own. Ukyo did likewise.
  Nabiki dealt the initial hand to all three players and to herself.
  "Okay, who wants some?" asked the dealer.
  "I'll take three," Ryoga replied, throwing down three cards of his
own onto the table.
  "One for me," Ukyo said.
  Unable to contain his excitement, Ranma declared, "No cards!"
  Both Ryoga and Nabiki stared at the young Saotome coldly, throwing
down their cards angrily. "Fold!" they announced.
  "Oh no you don't, I'm not falling for that one!" Ukyo replied.
Waving a finger at Ranma, she said, "I know you, Saotome, and you're
the worst card player on the planet! My gut says you don't know what
you have!"
  She threw several chips into the pot. "I raise fifty."
  "I'm on!" Ranma threw in chips of his own, then added, "I raise
twenty!"
  Akane, Ryoga, and Nabiki watched the exchange between the two old
friends, watching as Ukyo forcefully emptied Ranma's stack of chips
to nothing before ending her bidding.
  "Well, Saotome," the okonomiyaki chef declared smugly, "let's see
what you can do against this!"
  Throwing down her cards on the table, all eyes feasted on the faces
of the five cards: the ace of spades, the ace of clubs, the ace of
diamonds, the eight of clubs, and the eight of spades.
  With the appropriate silence past, Ukyo declared, "Full House,
aces high."
  Then all eyes turned to Ranma, who stared at his cards sternly.
Slowly, the martial artist's smugness cracked, and burst in one
great explosion.
  "Dammit!" he cursed, throwing down his hand face-up. "All I had
was a flush!" Ranma banged his head on the table, disturbing the
pile of chips at Ukyo's side of the table.
  "Well, I'm glad you warned me first," Ryoga said, reaching for
Ranma's cards. "I had single pairs." Then, as soon as he brought them
to eye-level, the Eternally Lost Boy stopped.
  "What is it?" asked Nabiki, leaning in Ryoga's direction.
  "Ranma," Ryoga said, shuffling the cards around. He tapped the
martial artist on the shoulder.
  "What?" asked Ranma.
  Ryoga showed Ranma the sorted hand. He stated simply, "Straight
Flush."
  "Let me see!" demanded Ukyo, leaning over the table. The chef girl
grabbed Ryoga's arm, forcing him to turn the cards her direction.
  In sequence, there was the nine, ten, jack, queen, and king, all
of the heart suit.
  "Ranma, you won!" Akane declared, elated.
  "I... won?" her husband repeated in disbelief.
  Ukyo sunk back into her seat, surprised.
  "I WON!!!" Ranma yelled at the top of his lungs, jumping on the
table top, scattering chips all about and forcing the others to
flee his mad dance.
  "Do you suppose he was better off losing?!" wondered Ryoga, taking
cover with Nabiki.
  "And this is the same Ranma my sister married," Nabiki commented,
shaking her head sadly. "He IS a loser."
  Ukyo stood back, allowing the flying chips to hit her. Shocked, she
whispered to herself, "Straight Flush...."
  Akane grabbed her friend's arm. "Ukyo! Get a grip on yourself!"
  "I can't believe I lost...." the okonomiyaki chef muttered.
  "Look, it was just a game, right?" assured Ranma's wife. "So what
if Ranma's being a jerk about winning?"
  "Right," replied Ukyo, trying her best to force a smile. With her
free hand she patted the hand Akane held her other arm with.
"Thanks."
  Ukyo, it has been done!
  "Who said that?!" exclaimed Ukyo, frantically looking around for
the source of the voice.
  "What?" asked Akane, staring at her friend in confusion. "Did you
say something?"
  Don't you remember? It's me. It's you.
  "Never mind," replied the chef. Seiryu-- it must be!
  Nemesis arrives, announced Seiryu. Don't you feel it?
  No, answered Ukyo. The chef almost thought she heard a sigh.
  No matter. Inform the others, for Nemesis will emerge shortly.
  Where?
  It doesn't matter, as Nemesis will come to you. I suggest being
in a better location before that happens.
  Right. Still....
  While you hesitate, Nemesis will grow stronger with each passing
moment. You know this already; it's what I've trained you for. Don't
delay, for the clock is running now.
  Stop putting all this pressure on me. I'll get to it!
  You're not doing it fast enough.
  That's not fair. I'm still busy arguing with you!
  That doesn't matter. I have no wish to live through the disasters
a second time.
  With that message finished, Ukyo found herself saying, "Nemesis is
coming!"
  "What?" Akane said, her attentions previously fixed solely on the
mad Ranma.
  "He's coming," repeated Ukyo. "And he's going to come to us, so I
think we should go to someplace more remote than this."
  "Uh... okay," agreed Ranma's wife hesitantly. "Let's gather the
others, and leave." Akane left Ukyo behind to retrieve the others.
Had she turned to look back, she would have seen her friend's eyes
glow an eerie sky-blue.
  Don't you do that again! snapped Ukyo.
  Or you'll do what? taunted Seiryu. You can't do anything to me.
  How the hell did I ever become you?
  THAT is what we're working to prevent, aren't we? Our continued
cooperation is necessary if we want to survive.

  The Orochi assassin known as Shifter glided down the dimly lit
hallways of the underground temple as if he were traveling on air
instead of walking, his long, dark robes concealing his feet from
view. In his hand the Japanese cultist held his feather fan, as
always-- more of a weapon than an accessory. Although the heavy
hood he wore covered most of his features, there was no mistake
that this assassin was extraordinary.
  While he WAS an assassin, the Shifter wasn't always so; in the
past, he was once a powerful Shinto wizard, but that was a bygone
day and age. Now, the fallen wizard was needed to commence the
transfusion ceremony.
  And may the kami forgive me for what I am about to do, he thought.
Such abominations of nature should not be unleashed, not even on
one's enemies.
  Those enemies, of course, included Ranma Saotome and his band of
heroes, who previously foiled the great Orochi's designs by ruining
his original host body for the upcoming Reunion. The Orochi, most
powerful of the kami left in existence, was banished long ago to the
Kami Plane by rival kami Susano-O, who separated the great serpent's
essence from his earthly body. This earthly body was later put to
long slumber through the work of the magical mongoose horn of the
long-dead horned mongoose kami, an enemy of Orochi. And who blew the
horn but Ranma Saotome's wife, Akane. That began a wheel of events,
from subtly-interrogating the caretakers of Ryugenzawa to tracking
down the girl Akane to her home in Nerima.
  The Warmage, arrogant and foolish as he was (and still is), blew
the chance to destroy the offender, seeing as how the girl's martial
artist friends were there to help her. Shifter truly believed the
odds were still in their favor even then, for the assassin team had
the element of surprise. But, in the end, the Warmage issued a call
for challenge of combat, and Shifter ended up fighting Ranma himself.
  Certain elements turned the challenge into a media circus, for
there was a crowd rooting for Ranma. Still, although Shifter himself
possessed no martial arts abilities whatsoever, his magic more than
compensated for that-- by using secret Shinto sorceries, true to his
title, the Shifter transformed himself into an exact replica of the
Saotome martial artist, down to everything but his memory. Still, in
the end, Ranma Saotome managed to defeat himself because the assassin
never realized that Ranma suffered from a curse activated by water.
  Badly beaten from that battle, Shifter was dragged from the battle
back to the underground temple, where he was placed upon a cold stone
slab not unlike the one Lady Kuno was restrained to. Since Orochi's
blood flowed through the veins of each and every member of the Cult
of Orochi, and since it was what kept each man alive for the many
centuries they lived, the punishment was simple and cruel: draining
of Orochi blood from the body.
  Shifter was only the first; he was followed by six other assassins,
until it was down to only Warmage. Unfortunately for him, the leader
of the Cult of Orochi suffered a more torturous fate-- having his
very soul ripped from his body. Thus, the arrogant cultist was
reduced to nothing but a ghost of his former self, forced to possess
other bodies in order to interact with the world.
  Of course, it didn't take very long afterward for Shifter to
remove himself from the stone slab; his Shinto sorceries allowed him
to recover from the shock and trauma much sooner than the others. He
had doubts that some of them would make it, but, surprisingly, the
one with the least life left in him, Clash, survived. The now one-
armed swordsman was severely-burnt by an incredible attack, and his
pride was destroyed. Shifter almost felt pity for the former samurai,
but times forced him to forget such things. His brother didn't
survive the punishment.
  It wasn't easy to have normal, human blood flowing through one's
body, not after having Orochi blood for the past few centuries.
  For the past year Shifter worked hard to get used to his old body
once again, his HUMAN body, constantly forcing the thought of truly
dying out of his mind. Working in shadows, the Shinto wizard
researched for his leader, Warmage, on the precise means to bring
Nemesis, the abomination! into Earth. After careful studying and
deliberation with fellow cultist researchers, it was Shifter who
formulated the ceremony necessary to summon the great champion. It
was up to Warmage to find a suitable host body and the dark energy;
all the rest was up to Shifter.
  Still, if legends proved correct, drawing Nemesis to Earth may
have dire consequences indeed. The Lady Kuno hardly deserved to be a
part of this-- if she ever survived, the psychological damages of
what Nemesis would do would be... unbearable.
  But, if she can further the aims of the Dream, then perhaps it is
worth the sacrifice. There are simply no other choices anymore.
  Silently, Shifter entered the ceremony chamber, and hoped for the
best.

  Alone in silent meditation in the Phoenix Chamber, Tatewaki Kuno,
eyes closed, sat pondering the dilemma foremost in his mind: will
it be family, or honor?
  On one hand, honor is more than life to a samurai. Honor is what
drives the samurai-- it is a way to live by. Ranma Saotome, though
unworthy, has earned honorably the right of my support.
  On the other hand, I despise and hate Saotome. I have known
Kodachi far longer than I have known Saotome; should there be any
reason why I should help one I know little of? If I stay with dear
Sister, then I would be obligated toward family. However, family is
not exactly a likable choice; Father is a possessed man, driven to
insanity by whatever muse in his mind, and Mother is the ruthless
one whispering behind the lord's throne. Would I to give to remove
myself of them both!
  Therefore the difficult choices are before me: put up with one man
I despise, or two I despise and one I love?
  Suddenly, Kuno's eyes burst wide open. Something was wrong.
  Shaking off his reverie, jumping to his feet, the young lord of
the house snatched up his trusty bokken lying by his side. With a
sense of great urgency, Kuno exited the Phoenix Chamber in great
haste.
  He burst into Kodachi's bedroom, startling the younger Kuno, who
was reading a book on her bed.
  "Sister!" he huffed, "we must depart at once!"
  "What are you talking about?!" shouted Kodachi. "How DARE you
enter my room unannounced?!"
  Kuno ignored his sister's words, instead choosing to grab Kodachi
by the arm. "We are being called; I can feel it!"
  "Who is calling who?!" she cried as her brother dragged her out the
door and through the hallways of the Kuno Estate.
  "I do not know why," explained Tatewaki, "but, when I thought of
our mother, a sudden rush seized me!" With his free hand the
swordsman opened the front door, then lead Kodachi out. "I do not
know how, or why it has happened, but I know it is a message delivered
in the care of the agents of Heaven!"
  "Well?!" shot Kodachi, impatient, her feet dragging behind her
brother.
  "Our mother is in danger," answered Tatewaki solemnly.

  "I don't know what you've asked me here for, old bag," Taro
shouted sourly to Cologne, "but whatever it is, it'd better be worth
my time!"
  Forcing herself to resist the temptation of batting the young man
across the cheeks with her staff, the old Chinese matriarch replied,
"If it were not important, then I would not have summoned you."
  "Phaw!" spat Taro. "Nobody 'summons' me!"
  "Then it's quite pleasing that I am the first," Cologne shot back
with amusement.
  The Chinese man said nothing; instead he folded his arms, as if
to say, "Go on."
  Cologne turned on her heels and beckoned Taro to follow her. The
two entered the back room of the Nekohatten, a room that usually
stored supplies for the business, but with the impending closure it
was laid bare. As soon as Taro entered the room the old woman,
reaching out with her staff, gently slid the door shut.
  "Do you have any idea what is going on at home?" Cologne asked
calmly.
  "Why should I care?" replied the man. "They're the ones who left
me to fend for myself!"
  "Though you do display an air of distaste toward your people,
somehow I feel that it is merely the outer shell." With her free hand
Cologne reached into her pocket and produced a folded sheet of
paper. "Not only do you wish to change your name for yourself, but
for others as well. That is beside the point; this is." She handed
the folded paper to Taro with an outstretched arm.
  Taro accepted the paper, then carefully unfolded it. Taking a few
moments to glance it over, his eyes widened. "You can't be serious!"
  The old matriarch shook her head. "I have nothing to gain by lying
to you, young man. The fact is, we are all threatened."
  Angrily, Taro crushed the paper in his fist. "Nothing I've done
will matter if I don't do something!"
  "Then you understand what you must do?" ventured Cologne.
  The only response necessary was cracking knuckles.
  Just as Taro was about to turn to exit, the old woman added, "Before
you decide to travel, I suggest you throw the water on yourself AFTER
you get outside."

  "Well," started Ranma, "do you think this is far enough away?"
  Ranma, Akane, Konatsu, Shampoo, Ukyo, and Ryoga stood amidst an
empty, green field, just outside the city limits, in hopes that when
Nemesis arrived there would be nothing to bother the teens in battle.
Once used as a park, the field fell into disuse when the locals
preferred one in town; it was now ruled by the overgrown, knee-high
wild grass, left to its own devices after abandonment. The wild grass
was enclosed in a square fence made up of imported pine trees, whose
needles were still fresh with the dawn of spring.
  Only the gentle wind gave life to the still picture.
  "I think so," Ukyo replied. "There's not much out here."
  "So, when's this Nemesis going to show up?" asked Ryoga. "I really
don't want to have come here for nothing."
  "He'll come," assured the okonomiyaki chef. "I can feel it...."
  "Since when you trust feelings?" wondered Shampoo.
  Konatsu leaned over to the girl's ear. He whispered, "She's never
done that before. Not before...."
  "Hey," interrupted Ranma, who stared out into the empty field, "do
you feel that?" He raised a hand for silence in emphasis.
  Shampoo soaked in the atmosphere, taking a deep breath, and
concentrated. Turning to Ranma, she said, "Strong aura."
  "I feel it too," added Akane.
  "Nemesis," whispered Ukyo.
  Akane turned to the chef in surprise. "How...?"
  "You never forget that aura," interrupted Ukyo. Seemingly staring
off into oblivion, she recited, "It is the bitter taste you get in
your mouth when you bite down on something... you never forget it."
  Ranma's wife shot a worried look at Konatsu, who shrugged.
  Ukyo continued, "It is like a disease... one that you cannot
shake... no, more like a parasite, always there when you thought
you've gotten rid of it. No, it is both a pestilence and a parasite;
it would not be satisfied until you lay dead."
  Ryoga tapped Ukyo on the shoulder, startling her. "That's all nice,
but where's this Nemesis?"
  "Right here, fool," intoned a strange voice.
  All six teens turned in alarm at the voice, but the owner was
nowhere to be seen.
  "I am all around you," taunted the voice. One could distinguish a
high-pitched, feminine speech from the alien voice, but at the same
time one could also hear a deep, masculine speech. Both voices spoke
at once, and with the same intent and meaning, yet should have
belonged to two different persons.
  "Shit," cursed Ukyo. "He's masking his aura!"
  Just like one of my techniques, thought Ranma. Hmmm....
  "Look at yourselves!" Nemesis roared, his voice sending shivers
down the teens' spines. "What can you defeat that you cannot see?"
  "Hah," Ranma laughed. "Don't think I know your little trick!" The
martial artist forced himself to concentrate, staring out at nothing.
  "What's he doing?" Ryoga whispered to Akane.
  "How should I know?" replied Akane, shrugging.
  Carefully scanning the area around him, Ranma concentrated on
finding the hidden aura of Nemesis. Similar to one of his own
Umisenken techniques, as Ranma guessed, there should be a faint
outline around the body of the user.
  When he had used it during the fight with Ryu Kumon, Ranma's
position was given away when Ryu made him angry; however, Ranma did
not count on such luck against Nemesis. However, no matter how well
one hid his aura, a trace would still be left-- as there was always
exhaust from a car.
  Ranma's eyes came to a halt just passing Shampoo's position. Yes,
there it was!
  Leaping past Shampoo, he shouted, "Got you!!"
  Startled, Nemesis became visible to the teens. He stepped aside,
allowing Ranma's attempted flying tackle to pass unhindered.
  For the first time the teens got a look at their enemy. He appeared
no taller than Ranma, dressed in a black kimono decorated with
carnations-- a woman's kimono, no doubt, tied back with a blood-red
sash. Gathered on the left side of his head was a pony tail, tied off
with a red ribbon.
  Staring at Nemesis' face, Akane gasped. "Kodachi?!"
  "Kodachi?" repeated the others, just as surprised as Akane.
  Nemesis' ruby red lips curved into a frown. She roared, "Do not
mock me! I could destroy you insects in an instant!"
  "No," said Ranma, getting up from the ground, staring at the face
of the woman, "that's not Kodachi. She's... older."
  "Damn, not another one!" Ryoga shouted in frustration. "Why won't
you time jockeys leave us alone?!"
  "No, you idiot!" Ukyo yelled, slapping Ryoga across the cheeks.
"That's NOT Kodachi!"
  "Well, what else did you expect?" Nemesis said. "He is obviously
too much of a fool to recognize an obvious fact!"
  "I not care!" Shampoo cried, unsheathing her twin flamberge.
"Let's get it over with!"
  Both Konatsu and Ukyo unsheathed their own weapons, raising them
up, ready to strike.
  "I don't fight girls," Ryoga said flatly, folding his arms.
  "Ryoga...." Akane said.
  "Now's not the time for that!" finished Ukyo, waving a fist angrily.
  "That's all right," replied Nemesis. "You do not have to fight-- I
only need to kill you."
  All at once, Shampoo, Konatsu, and Ukyo charged, each raising
weapons high, straight for Nemesis.
  Nemesis, with her lithe form, easily dodged Shampoo's wild slashes,
dodging left for the right blade, and right for the left blade. She
ducked under Ukyo's spatula swipe, then leaped over Konatsu's slash,
carrying herself into the air as if she could fly. Without
hesitation, Nemesis leveled her palms toward the ground at her three
attackers, glowing balls of violet energy pulsating in each hand.
  The three teens threw themselves out of the way as Nemesis' energy
barrage began-- one after another, as fast as a gattling cannon,
destructive chi bolts scattered the earth.
  Without turning around, Nemesis' battle aura flared to life,
destroying all chances of Ranma's behind-the-back flying attack from
succeeding. The young martial artist yelped in pain, falling back to
the ground in surprise.
  "How do you expect to defeat that which is unnatural to this
plane?" taunted Nemesis, her voice crackling with energy.
  "Damn," cursed Ranma, rubbing his back. "She didn't even have to
turn around!"
  "Nemesis knew exactly what you were going to do," noted Akane. She
turned to Ryoga. "You've got to help them!"
  "Akane," Ryoga said, "when I started this out, I thought I was
going to fight a man. Then it turns out that this 'man' is a woman.
How can I fight a woman and stay true to myself?"
  "Ryoga!!" Akane pleaded, pounding a fist into the man's chest. He
stood as still as a statue, as if the punch didn't hurt.
  The Eternally Lost Boy turned to face Akane, tears forming in his
eyes. "I'm sorry, Akane!" Turning away from the battle, Ryoga burst
into a sprint.
  Resisting the urge to run after him, Akane shouted, "RYYYOOOGAAAA!!"
  "Shit, shit, shit!" Ukyo spat, turning her attention away from the
battle for a brief moment. "I knew we couldn't count on that jackass!"
  However, the moment taken to speak those words left the okonomiyaki
chef open to an energy bolt to the chest. She flew backward from the
impact, the giant combat spatula flying wildly in the air.
  "Pay attention!" cried Nemesis. "How do you expect to win without
your attention on the fight?!"
  "Take your own suggestions!" screamed Konatsu, leaping at the
adversary with his sword high above his head.
  Nemesis raised her right arm in the air, as if that alone would
deflect the slicing attack.
  Konatsu's blade arced downward, ready to sever the evil one's arm,
but the sword bounced back, striking something around the exposed
arm. Stepping back in surprise, he left himself open long enough for
Nemesis to launch a bolt from her left hand into his gut.
  At the same moment, however, Nemesis felt her feet give way, as
Ranma tripped her feet with a strong foot sweep.
  Lying on her back against the tall grass, Nemesis stared up at
her opponents left standing: Ranma and Shampoo. Shampoo's swords
were both pointed at her heart.
  "Blast," cursed Nemesis.
  "You aren't as tough as they say you are," taunted Ranma.
  "Not yet," corrected Nemesis. "But that was not the purpose of this
battle."
  "What you up to?!" demanded Shampoo, as Ukyo, Konatsu, and Akane
stepped into Nemesis' view.
  The adversary smiled, chuckling softly to herself. "Call it a test
run, if you like, but while I am here gauging all of your powers, my
minions are preparing to infuse my vessel with more energy. I could
destroy you whenever I liked, but this time, I will learn to savor
the pain of my prey!"
  In the moment it takes to blink, Nemesis vanished, the depressed
grass where she lay returning to their upright position.
  Shampoo stabbed the grass in vain. "We had her!" she cried angrily.
  "More like she had us," corrected Ukyo. "We played right into her
hands. She never did this the last time...."
  "Hell, now what?" Ranma asked nobody in particular.
  "Let's go back," suggested Akane. "There's nothing else we can do
here."
  Silently, she added, "I hope Ryoga will be okay, wherever he
is going."

----------------------------------------------------------
This has been yet another exercise in interpretation.
"Decepticons FOREVER!!" --Ravage, former Decepticon
"If you go to Z'ha'dum, you will die." --Kosh, Babylon 5

"[Y]ou're lamer than your signature and screen name indicate."--Chris Davies
"The FFML exists to judge the writing, not the writers."--Richard Lawson
"There was a recent case where a fanfic author put together his work with 
only another fanfic serving as his primary resource.  *I* started writing 
fanfiction that way, and consequently I never grew attached to this whole 
idea of remaining true to the original.  I call it "correction."--Reverend 
Prez

--Razorclaw X
Author: "Wheel of Fire", "The World's Worst Ranma Fanfic!", "The Geometry of 
Shattered Souls", "The Balance of Power".
"I sold my soul to buy a copy of the dubbed 'Ukyo Can Cook'"
"Pathetic authors beg for flames. Wait, that's me."


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