I've been picking on Ranma, I know. Mostly because I wanted
to spit in the face of the "Ranma always wins" people.
Here, at the end, I wanted to do something that would have
Ranma being the hero, or at least saving everyone else.
Hope you people are happy, I know I am. ^_^
Disclaimer: Don't worry, you'll hear from me again.
Muhuwahahahahahahahahaha-*hack**cough* On second thought,
you should worry.
The Warrior's Path
Chapter 10: Endgame or "Checkmate."
"Time to die, foolish mortals," Errtu growled.
Deedlit glanced around the ring of enemies, searching for
inspiration. She found it watching Drizzt pull out
Guenhwyvar's statue. She moved over to Drizzt, and motioned
Catti-brie over.
"Drizzt, give the statue to Catti-brie, then distract Errtu,
try to stall." Drizzt looked at her in confusion, noticed
Deedlit was walking (well, staggering is closer) over to
Pirotess and Ranma.
He quickly handed the statue to Cattie-brie, then moved
forward of the group. "Let them go, fiend, it is me you
want."
Deedlit whispered a few commands to Pirotess, and a sly
smile came over the other woman's face.
"True," Errtu growled, "but my associate has words to say
with some of your companions. Perhaps I shall save you for
last, so that you may watch all your friends die slow and
painful deaths." The fiend shrugged. "It does not matter,
so long as you are dead." Errtu made a bored motion with his
hand, and the ring began to contract.
"I don't think so," Conner growled. He mumbled something,
and four panels on each of his hip guards sprung open. From
each, a single rocket streaked toward a different point on
the section of the ring he was facing. He spun around,
toward the rear of the cavern, and spoke another code. His
armor's shoulder guards popped open and a full dozen
missiles spread toward the rear flank. The BUGs to the side
were pelted by shrapnel, while the ones to the rear were
blasted by concentrated explosions.
His attack was the cue, but not one to attack. Pirotess
cast a short spell that would give Ranma strength that would
surpass Ryoga's for a few minutes. At the same time,
Catti-brie called to Guenhwyvar. The panther, following
Catti-brie's instructions, jumped on Ranma and licked the
boy's face.
"Go home, Guenhwyvar," Catti-brie screamed. A feline growl
sounded from the mist where the panther had been.
"Everybody down!" Deedlit shouted. Conner and Emerelda,
upon seeing the others compliance with the command, dropped
as well.
Just in time.
Now, the author would like to clear up an event that might
have caused some confusion. Back in chapter one, Ranma
"went neko," and tore up Drizzt and Guenhwyvar. He didn't
do too much damage, but that was mostly because his heart
wasn't in it. There was no threat, and it was mostly just a
set of accidents that startled a frightened cat.
That is not the case here. Here we have a being whose life,
and the life of those dear to it, are in danger. Add to
that the boost in strength received just before the mental
transformation, and the conclusion is inevitable.
The BUGs didn't stand a chance.
Of course, Errtu saw this. He may be an obsessed,
megalomaniacal demon lord, but he isn't stupid.
Unfortunately, he didn't have time take out Ranma, since
Drizzt, Catti-brie, Conner, Emerelda, and Ryoga were doing
their best to send him to oblivion.
It was a loosing battle. The companions may get a few hits
in, but so did Errtu. Every strike of the demon's lightning
sword ripped huge gashes in body armor and flesh. Every
second spent in the inferno surrounding Errtu's body was
agony for all but Drizzt, though it was Drizzt that Errtu
concentrated on. At one point, Emerelda was backhanded
against a nearby wall, causing a loud splat and forcing her
to reform herself (clothes and all) from a puddle of green
goo.
This is not to say that the companion weren't hitting the
beast. Dark energy was leaking from Errtu's body through
dozens of small cuts, but his regeneration was healing them
almost as fast as new ones could be inflicted.
Finally an opening appeared. Conner's buzz-saw ripped
through Errtu's sword hand, opening the beast's defenses for
an instant. An instant was all the companions needed.
Ryoga's hammer smashed Errtu's head as Drizzt's scimitar
pierced the beast's belly. Conner spared a look back, and
saw Pirotess carving some kind of large circle in the
ground. Deedlit was trying to calm Ranma down, while the
numerous bloody chunks scattered about testified to the
boy/cat's effectiveness.
Errtu went down on his knee's, clutching the sword in his
belly, but unable to pull it out. All of a sudden, he began
to laugh. "You have done what very few mortal can claim,
Drizzt Do'Urden," he wheezed. "The final death awaits me,
but I have the last laugh." Bursts of energy arced over his
form like lightning. A bright glow began to emerge form the
wound in it's gut, around the sword.
"Everyone," Pirotess shouted, "get in the circle, now!"
There was no hesitation. They dashed toward the circle as
though some cosmic force was urging them on. Barely had the
last person entered it's perimeter then Pirotess spoke a few
quick syllables. Errtu's final, agonized scream assaulted
their ears as the circles lines began to glow. The glow
finally reached it's brightest when the demon, and
everything else in the cavern, was consumed in an explosion
rivaling a supernova.
*******
<Nerima>
Happosai was less than a dozen feet from a mob of angry
women (1). It was amazing how much his bag of goodies
slowed him down. A few more turns, a couple of roof-hops,
and he lost then. With a content sigh, visions of the silky
darlings in his pack danced in his head. Said images did
not prevent him from noticing the woman reclining in the
middle of the street while wearing a see-through body
stocking.
"Hotcha!" Happi had never seen a sight so beautiful. The
long, black hair, the perfect body. It was heaven. He must
have it. Though it did look a little familiar.
Just before he reached the angel, he realized why the woman
looked familiar. Though he had not seen the image in two
hundred years, it was burned into his memories. "Oh shi-"
He was cut off by a burning agony that penetrated his entire
being. His body would not respond to his commands. He was
trapped.
Cologne quickly stood and put of the robe she had been
laying on. "Was it truly necessary for me to do that?"
Tofu emerged from a nearby ally. "Of course, mother," he
said, a slight smile on his lips. "The spell would not have
worked if he had not been distracted. I'm sorry if it was
embarrassing."
"No you are not. But that does not matter. How can we
finish him off?"
Tofu sighed. "I do not believe we can. On this world, he
would only be banished for a while and could return after
twenty years or so."
Cologne was silent for a while. "That would explain how he
returned after being sealing in that cave."
"Yes, he was never sealed, just banished. He then returned
to that spot, I do not know why."
"You have been hunting him for centuries, surely you know
how to destroy him."
Tofu smiled again. "I do. If you can open another of your
portals."
Now it was Cologne's turn to smile. "And you wish to throw
him into a black hole?"
"I was thinking a supernova, but any such event would work
as long as the dimension it is in has a high enough level of
magical energy to draw his entire being there."
They began walking to Tofu's office, where the ceremony
would be performed.
*******
Three days later, the demon known as Happosai was thrown
into a planet-less yellow star at the edge of the
Thundercloud Galaxy. Twelve hours later, a scout-ship from
the Consortium of Civilized Worlds observed the star going
nova. Since the star was not of a type to do such a thing,
it was catalogued as an 'anomalous event' and lost in a
shuffle of paperwork.
*******
"By the way, mother, what was the second task you wished me
to perform?"
Cologne hesitated. "My attempts to instill any sort of
wisdom in my charges has failed. I was hoping that you
would take care of them for a while."
"How long is a while?"
"I believe it to be beneficial to the tribe if the next
matriarch have detailed knowledge of how the world outside
our territory functions. To that extent, I wish Shampoo to
go through at least high school here."
"And what of Mousse? And aren't you afraid of the child
learning my view of Amazon laws?"
"I would consider it a good thing if Mousse never returned
to the village. Perhaps you could help him see beyond
Shampoo."
"Ah, that will be an interesting challenge."
"Of course. As for the laws," Cologne smiled bitterly,
"that's the idea. It's time for a revolution. Too much
stale blood, and not enough new. I have lived through two
such. I think it is time for another."
*******
<Rift's Earth>
When the glow faded, the cavern had become a crater.
Pirotess' protection circle had saved them form the
explosion of energy that accompanied the demons final death.
Catti-brie sifted through the rubble where Errtu had been.
The heat bled through her armor to burn her fingers, but she
did not care. She dug deeper, until she finally found it.
She lifted the dagger. The silvery metal was strangely cool
dispute the heat of the explosion. She felt a familiar
presence tickle the corners of her mind, and nearly broke
down in tears as she recognized Wulfgar. The communication
had no words, but she knew he was trying to comfort her.
Reverently she sheathed the dagger and placed it on her
quiver's strap, just below her heart.
"You found it." Drizzt's words were a statement, not a
question, but she nodded anyway.
"I don't know how we can free him," Deedlit said, "but I'm
sure someone, somewhere does."
"They we'll look," Catti-brie replied, "until we find that
person."
"We also have Ashram to worry about," Ryoga said, "he wasn't
around here during the battle. But he's still alive."
"Man, I'm sorry to have missed that," Ranma muttered, just
now recovering from the cat-fist (meaning he was splashed
and is now a she).
"You saved our asses," Conner said.
"True," Drizzt held his hand out, "I doubt I could have come
close to the feat you achieved. You also bought us the time
needed to destroy Errtu. Thank you."
Ranma smiled, and took the extended hand. "Anytime."
"And between the dagger and Ashram," Pirotess commented,
"you'll have plenty of chances."
"Wouldn't have it any other way."
"I guess we should get going," Deedlit said. "There's a lot
we have to do."
"Hey," Conner said, "don't forget us."
Ryoga turned to him. "You two were a great help, but you
also have responsibilities elsewhere."
"Not really," Conner replied. "We simply explain to high
command about this Ashram character. If he's anything like
the stories you told on the way over here, then the Admiral
will most likely agree that he's a threat."
"There's no way," Emerelda put in, "that you're keeping us
out of this."
Ranma laughed. "Give it up, guys, we're not getting rid of
them. Besides, getting rid of them would be a mistake."
There was nothing more to be said. They entered the ATV,
which was located just outside the crater (though it did
have a few more dents in it), and rode off into the sunset.
"Dam it, Ryoga," Ranma yelled, "Psyscape is east of here!"
End Chapter 10.
End Hero's Journey, Book 1: The Warrior's Path.
Notes:
1: Is this a surprise? I didn't think so.
Yes, you saw right, book 1. If I decide to, and I have the
time, and I think enough people would read it, I'll continue
the series. I purposely left a few loose ends for that
purpose.
What does the future hold? Well, there's the hunt for
Ashram, freeing Wulfgar's soul, the whole bundle of lunacy
in Nerima, and explanations as to why the Xenogears crowd
and a ship from Robotech are there. But no, it's not the
SDF-3. Oh, who am I kidding? I'm about a ways through the
first chapter (immobilization die to injury gives you plenty
of time and bordom, both of which aid in fanfic writing).
For those who think Ranma is being treated badly, wait to
you see what goes on with Ryoga. The hunt for Ashram
intensifies when Ryoga begins to waste away. A plot by
Ashram, or is it simply a matter of the soul being exausted
from managing two bodies?
Those who wish to use the characters, items, and magic from
this story in their RPG sessions (Palladium compatible only,
sorry), e-mail me about it. Instead of compiling and
releasing everything at once, like originally planned, I'll
release the material as I complete it (at this point, I only
have races and most items complete).
So this is the end. Or rather, the end of the beginning. I
hope those reading this have enjoyed this story. I know I
enjoyed writing it. My thanks go all who helped me while
writing this. To Mark, for his pre-reading, and to all who
sent me the comments that kept me going on this, thank you.