Insertion

    Part 21

    The best made plans...

+++++++++++++

    "What are you doing?" muttered the golden haired youma as she
walked up to her dark haired companion.

    "Ah, Tochi. Are you well?" said the young boy as he turned to face
her. He was sitting in front of a mirror with an image of deep space
fading in and out of the glass.

    "Incredibly bored. Takibi is having all the fun," replied the
woman irritably.

    "Hmm, you'll like this then," replied the boy.

    "What is it?" she said as she leaned forward, resting her chest on
top of his head.

    "Did you ever wonder what happened to the imperial fleet? I mean,
it wasn't destroyed, Serenity didn't have the chance to call it in to
defend against that idiot Beryl's forces. Where did it go?"

    "What?" said the woman as she stood up and looked at him.

    "The answer is quite simple really, she sealed it away with the
Senshi. Those seals are weakening, and now...ahhhh..." The boy's dark
grin widened as the image suddenly became clear. There was a
distortion in space, a blue swirl of power. In an instant it was over,
and several large starships appeared out of nowhere.

    "That's it?" she muttered.

    The boy frowned at her and snorted. "Don't be silly. I couldn't
pull them all through, besides, how many do you think we need? Those
are Destroyer and Galaxy class starships."

    They looked like nothing more than seven gray slivers in an
endless sea of stars. She smiled and nodded at him. "I see."

    "The thing is, it's going to be about six months before they
arrive here," said the boy calmly. "We're going to play along with the
senile queen until then. Understand?"

    She nodded and kissed him on the cheek. "You are a genius, Kuroi."

    "Where is Ekitai?" said the boy as he frowned at her and glanced
around.

    "Oh, he's off doing who knows what," said the woman. "You know
him."

    "Yes, he's powerful, second only to me. However, he's too easily
distracted. That makes him our weakest link."

    As if on cue a short pink thing walked into the room grinning
madly at the other two. It laughed and glared at them with its wild
black eyes. A sort of tentacle like dorsal stuck up on top of its head
and it jumped up and down excitedly.

    "Really Ekitai," said the woman with a bored expression on her
face.

    The thing's face became serious suddenly. "The humans have become
quite imaginative. I like this thing they call 'Anime'."

    "You're supposed to be watching Takebi," said Kuroi flatly.
"Making sure that temper of his doesn't make him do something stupid."

    "Ha! I'm watching him right now," replied Ekitai flatly. He tossed
a small piece of candy on the floor and shot a stream of liquid onto
it from his palm. It grew into Takebi after a few seconds and the fire
Youma sputtered angrily. "See," commented Ekitai.

    "How dare you!" snarled Takebi as he whirled around to face his
tormentor. Flames danced across his body and he glared at him
hatefully.

    The pink thing's body began to expand as well, and soon a tall and
fit looking man dressed in blue appeared. He smirked coldly and
crossed his arms over his chest, pushing aside his long blue hair as
he did so. "What are you going to do?"

    The red haired youma growled under his breath, but backed down.

    "Ha! Your failure hasn't been forgotten," snapped Ekitai
arrogantly.

    "I didn't fail. My mission was completed successfully," retorted
the angry man bitterly.

    "It's a moot point, now you've got to figure something else out,"
said the female youma lazily. "It's not that big of a deal really.
Those weapons aren't of any real use against us."

    "They hurt," snapped Takebi bitterly.

    "He does have the potential to harm us," said Kuroi calmly as he
turned to face them. "That is not acceptable. He must be eliminated;
Takebi should be well enough to do it now. Have him take Genaku out,
and get those Senshi while you're at it. They'll make good practice.
Don't be an idiot, and don't try it when they are together."

    "The senshi hate him as much as we do," pointed out Tochi.

    "They will work together if properly motivated I think," replied
the boy calmly. "That is something we don't want. As Beryl has taught
us, they are resourceful if nothing else. Dealing with them all at
once isn't advised. Our best bet is to make sure they stay at odds,
and ensure that they fight each other as much as us."

    "And how do we do that?" asked Takebi.

    "We don't have to, they're doing it themselves at the moment. I'll
keep an eye on things though."

    "Right," said the three other Youma.

    "In six months time, it won't matter anyway," said the boy coldly.
"The entire planet will simply be cleansed in a hail of fire from the
heavens."

    "Then we can wake up Metallia?" said Tochi cheerfully.

    "Why bother?" replied Kuroi flatly. "The planet will be ours, what
do we need Metallia for? She'll simply put us back where she got us. I
like being out here, and I'm not going back."

    The three other youma blinked in surprise. None of them said a
word in argument though.

+++++++++++

    Soun and Genma were staring at Happosai in horror. Behind the
shriveled old man, Ranma stood with her arms crossed over her chest.
She was grinning as she watched the expressions on the two men's
faces.

    "M-master!" cried Soun.

    Genma stumbled back; pouring a glass of water over his head before
the old man could notice him.

    "Thank goodness you're safe!" cried Soun as he pulled the man into
a tight embrace. After a moment, he attacked the old man while he was
still in his grip.

    A second later, Happosai stood on top of the beaten Soun smoking
his pipe lazily.

    "This is funny and all, but don't you have something to do here?"
said Ranma calmly.

    "Yes! Of course!" exclaimed the old man as he looked up at Soun
for a moment. "You come over here too, Saotome. I've got something to
tell the both of you!" snapped the old man angrily.

    "I'm just a cute panda!" said Genma's sign.

    "He knows about Jusenkyo pop," replied Ranma calmly as she leaned
against the wall.

    "Traitor!" said the next sign.

    "Get your fat butts over here!" snapped Happosai at the two men.
"Relax, I'm not here for revenge."

    The two men seemed to calm at that announcement, and cowered
before the old man for a moment, bowing deeply. "What is it Master?"
whined Soun.

    "I've come to train my true heir to the Anything Goes School,"
said the old man as he gave a sagely looking nod.

    Ranma stood behind the men, blocking their retreat. She grabbed
them by their shoulders and held them in place.

    "What are you doing, Son?" said Soun.

    "Get out of the way boy!" said the panicked Genma's sign.

    "I don't think so," replied the redhead with a slight shake of her
head. "I want to ask you something first old man."

    "What is it?" said Genma's next sign.

    "Is this really...the great and terrible master? The one you've
been shaking in terror of for as long as I can remember? The horrible
demon thing that tormented you for all those years?"

    "Yes! Now move!" snapped Soun desperately.

    "BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAA!!" Ranma fell over on the floor clutching
his stomach. "You're scared of this little wrinkled twerp?"

    Happosai glared at the boy for a moment. "What did you call me?"

    "You've really got these two idiots terrified of you, you know
that old man?" said the redhead with a small giggle.

    "And they should be!" snapped Happosai as he glared at them.
"However, they won't be my heir. I need someone younger, and
gullible...er...smarter."

    "Hmmm?" said the redhead with a slight smirk forming on her face.

    Soun and Genma were both breathing sighs of relief at that
announcement.

    "Hey Ranma. Who's this?" said Akane as she walked down the stairs
behind them.

    "Huh?" said the girl as she turned to look up at her.

    "Who?" muttered Happosai as he turned to see Akane Tendo. "You
must be...Akane..."

    "Yeah. Who are you?" said the girl cheerfully as she paused about
halfway down the steps. She was dressed in one of her black suits
again and looked like she was about to go out somewhere.

    "Akane!" cried the old man as he jumped forward with his arms
spread wide.

    The girl's eyes went wide as she jumped back and reached into her
coat.

    Ranma jumped back away from the pair. "No! Don't!"

    A loud explosion echoed through the home and Ranma stared at the
smoking hole in the ground dumbly. Akane had been thrown back to near
the top of the stairs and slowly staggered back to her feet.

    Soun and Genma were merely staring at the scene in shock. Neither
of them could speak.

    "You...killed him," muttered Ranma as he looked at the large hole
in the floor and stared up at her for a moment.

    "What was that thing? Was it a youma?" sputtered the girl.

    Ranma blinked and looked up at her for a moment. "Um, yeah..." She
turned towards their parents and frowned for a moment as they merely
stared dumbly.

    "Shit, there goes that plan out the window," muttered the boy as
he looked at the hole for a moment.

    "Master?" mumbled Soun.

    "Akane?" said Genma as he looked at the girl for a moment.

    Ranma reached into her shirt and took out his neuralizer. He put
on his shades and Akane did the same. He flashed the two men and
nodded towards the girl. She put the weapon back in her coat and
frowned.

    "Jeez Akane, you didn't have to punch him so hard," said Ranma as
she looked directly at the two men.

    "Um...sorry..." said the girl with a heavy blush on her face.

    "Akane...you killed the master?" said Soun as he slowly stood to
his feet and walked towards her.

    Genma took a moment longer to snap out of his daze and shook his
head.

    "Master?" muttered the girl in horror. "You mean...that wasn't
a..."

    "Oh! You've made your father very proud Akane!" cried Soun as he
rushed up and grabbed her in a tight embrace.

    "What?" said the girl.

    "You've freed us from that demon's torment! Oh! To have you as my
future daughter in law!" said Genma with tears in his eyes. "It makes
me so proud!"

    "Ranma, what's going on?" muttered the girl as she shook her
father off.

    "Nothing, you just killed a demon is all," replied the redhead
with a slightly faked smile. It was a small white lie, but enough to
calm her down a bit.

    "Indeed!" agreed Soun.

    Ranma was in a slight state of shock. His plan had been ruined.
Now she had to think of another way to beat convince Cologne to teach
him the technique. She paused and looked up at Akane for a moment.
"I'm gonna go change."

++++++++++++

    Several moments later Ranma was walking down the street with a
frown on his face.

    "That wasn't a demon was it?" asked Ranma.

    "No. Losing Happosai isn't that big of a loss, believe me,"
replied Carrot. "He was evil, and a real pervert."

    "We should have done something. He didn't deserve to die!" cried
Pissant.

    "Yeah, he did," said Dan calmly. "We're not going to tell Akane
what she did, she'd break down. We do need to do something so that it
doesn't happen again."

    "We'll worry about that later. Right now, we've got to find a way
to get that ghoul to train us."

    "We could just tell her what we need," said Dan.

    "That would compromise too much," commented Carrot.

    "Why?" muttered Pissant in confusion.

    "What? We just walk in and tell her we want to kill some fire
monster? Get real," commented Ranma.

    They paused in the middle of the sidewalk and blinked. "You know.
I never thought of that. It's not a bad idea," said Carrot dumbly.

    "What?" said Ranma in confusion.

    "We don't need to give her the particulars of the situation,"
explained Carrot. "Just tell her that some fire demon is trying to
kill us, and we weren't able to kill it with what we knew. She still
wants us to marry Shampoo, so that would be enough to make her help
us. It would be a shame if we were to die."

    "Let's go to the Cat Cafe then," said Dan as he started moving
foreword again.

++++++++++++++

    Nabiki Tendo was in a state of shock. She was stepping out of her
room when she saw her little sister blow away some shriveled up little
troll. As soon as it had occurred, she had jumped back into her room
before anyone noticed and watched the scene play out from a crack in
her doorway.

    Now, she simply sat with her back against her door staring at the
wall. "What the hell was that?" she mumbled to herself.

    Ranma, it had to be. But what though? She wasn't sure she wanted
to know all that much anymore. The two had started talking about
demons, and then did something to her father that made them forget
what they had just seen. "I've got a feeling I'm in over my head on
this one."

    Still, it involved her sister. Plus there was the thing that drove
her, the little voice in the back of her mind that just had to know.
"I'm going to get to the bottom of this." She swore it silently to
herself, taking care not to finish the statement with: "If it's the
last thing I ever do."

+++++++++++++

    Ranma was walked up to the Cat Cafe and looked up at the sign.
"Well, we're here."

    "Not much of a place for your end, but that's also fitting in a
way," said a voice from the rooftops.

    Ranma looked up and growled. "Takibi?!"

    "Yes. I thought it would be wise to finish you off," replied the
youma arrogantly as he stared down at the boy and smiled. He was
standing on the edge of the roof.

    "Didn't have enough last time?" snapped the boy as he moved into a
combat stance.

    "I intend to pay you back for every blow," replied the thing
coldly as his body burst into flames.

    "We're not wearing the shield," said Ranma to himself. "We're in
deep shit."

    Takibi jumped down onto the street. Even the hardened residents of
Nerima knew enough to vacate the streets. Soon Ranma was standing
alone with the thing.

    "We're not strong enough to beat him yet. We've got to get away,"
he thought as he spread his feet a little and grit his teeth.

    "Die," said Takibi as he charged forward.

    Ranma was thrown back by a burning right hook and landed in a pile
of garbage. He rolled away from a jet of flames from the thing's hands
and pulled out his weapons.

    "Not this time," said Takibi coldly as he shot a concentrated beam
of heat that struck the weapons.

    Ranma screamed in pain as he was forced to drop them and backed
away.

    Takibi smirked as he melted them where they lay on the pavement.
Within moments there was nothing more than a glowing red spot on a
boiling puddle of concrete. "Now. You will not escape me."

    "Shit!" muttered Ranma as he backed away slowly.

    Takibi vanished and appeared behind him, thrusting his elbow into
the boy's back. Ranma lashed out with a quick kick that merely bounced
off of the youma harmlessly.

    "Not so much bite this time," said the thing coldly.

    Ranma rolled across the ground, putting out the flames on his back
before he jumped back to his feet. "I'm not so easily killed."

    "That's why I'm going to enjoy this so much," replied the youma.

    Ranma rushed forward punching and kicking at the thing at top
speed. His Kaio Ken attack barely allowing him to even stay close.

    Takibi chuckled as he dodged and blocked strikes, causing the
boy's clothes to burn as he attacked.

    Ranma ignored the flames and jumped back. "Eat this! Moukou
Takabishi!" A beam of energy shot from his hands and the youma
vanished. The wall of a nearby shop was destroyed.

    "Damn! He's too fast!" snarled Ranma as he spun around just in
time to catch a punch aimed at his face.

    "You're nothing. This isn't even sporting anymore. I think I'll
just kill you and be done with it," said the Youma coldly.

    "Katsutenshin Amaguriken Special!" cried Ranma as he launched his
strongest attack at the thing.

    Takibi was thrown into a wall and screamed in rage. "Damn you!
That hurts!" he snarled as he jumped up again. He paused and looked
around for a moment. The boy was gone. "I see..."

+++++++++++++

    Ranma staggered against a wall in a nearby alleyway and gasped for
breath. He was beaten and burned. It wouldn't take long for Takibi to
find him if he started looking. He glanced down at his watch and
frowned, it was charred and broken. "Shit. We've got to keep moving
and hope he doesn't look for us."

    "I wouldn't worry about that," said a new voice.

    Ranma turned to glare at the newcomer. "You!"

    Tsuki stepped out of the shadows and smirked at him. "You're hurt?
Too bad."

    "What the hell do you want?" he snapped at her angrily.

    "Nothing much, I'm just going to finish you off. You're a threat
to the future. I can't allow that," replied the girl coldly.

    Ranma stared at her. "You think you're strong enough to kill me
alone?"

    "Normally no. I just got lucky and watched you fight with that
monster back there. I never expected to actually find you today."

    The boy growled at her and staggered. "Damn."

    "You barely have the strength to stand up, much less fight me off.
Lucky break for me."

    "Do you really have what it takes to take someone's life?" replied
the boy coldly as he glared at her.

    She smirked and pulled a long sword from some magical pocket in
space. It was huge, the blade was about five feet long and at least
three inches wide at the base. It was also glowing with a red energy
of some kind. "Let's find out."

    Ranma fell onto his back as he tried to step back and stumbled
over a bag of garbage. He glared at her, staring her directly in the
eyes.

    She smiled as she pointed the sword at his neck and slowly moved
forward.

+++++++++++++

    "It can't end like this!" snapped Carrot angrily.

    "We've got to do something!" said Dan desperately.

    "We can barely move," said Ranma tensely.

    "Pissant. You're the only one not hurt, can you get us out of
here?" said Carrot desperately.

    "Huh?" muttered the voice.

    "Do something you idiot! You weren't fighting that thing with us!
You can still move!"

    "I won't hurt her," said the voice calmly.

    "Then don't! Just get us the hell out of here!" snapped Dan.

    "I can't move the body like you three can," replied the voice
calmly.

    "Shit!" said Carrot as the blade touched their throat. "Can you
use that chi of yours to heal us? Maybe we can escape!"

    Tsuki had frozen, her face growing very serious as she stared them
directly in the eyes.

    "Maybe..." said the voice nervously.

    "We promise we won't hurt her! Just get us the hell out of here!"
snapped Dan.

    Pissant went silent, and a warm energy began to form around them.

++++++++++++

    "He hurt Mistress Pluto," said Tsuki to herself as she stared into
the eyes of Ranma Saotome. She could see the mixed emotions of anger,
fear, and anxiety in them. "He's beaten my friends, tormented them,
and even threatens the future." She poked the sword a little further
down, forcing him to lower himself all the way to the ground. A small
trickle of blood ran down his neck.

    She looked deep into his eyes, not noticing the white glow forming
around his body.

    "I can't do it."

    "Huh?" said the boy dumbly.

    "I can't kill you..." she said with a frown forming on her face.
"I don't know why."

    The boy breathed a sigh of relief and the glow slowly faded from
around him. She didn't appear to notice this. He laid his head back
against the pavement and seemed to relax a bit.

    "That doesn't mean I can't get rid of you," she said with a smirk
forming on her face.

    "What?" said the boy dumbly as he looked up at her face again.

    "I call upon the power of Pluto, as a defender of the time gate. I
banish you into the past, too far to harm the events leading into the
future of our world. I'll send you back a few hundred years or so,
that should be enough."

    A staff shaped like a key appeared in her hand and she smiled at
him coldly.

    "Shit!" said the boy as the white glow formed around his body once
again.

    With a flash of light, he was gone. Nothing but a few small wisps
of vapor gave any indication that he was ever there.

    Tsuki frowned and looked at the staff for a moment. "It seemed
stronger than it should have been."

+++++++++++

    On a nearby rooftop, Takibi smirked to himself as he watched the
scene play out. The young senshi vanished onto the shadows leaving him
alone.

    "It looks like she did my work for me. Those generals are no
threat to me," he chuckled as he turned away. "With only those
pathetic senshi and the generals in our way, victory is assured. Heh."


    There was a small burst of flames, and he vanished as well.

++++++++++++

    "Let me get this straight chap. I've got to get you a shrubbery
before you'll let me pass?" said Ryoga as he arched his eyebrow and
stared at the tall knights who stood in front of him. He was in a
forest somewhere and really had no idea about the location.

    "Nee!" cried the knights before the largest one.

    "That is correct," said the head knight.

    "No," replied the boy darkly as he narrowed his eyes at them.

    "Oh come on. Please?"

    "I'm going through these woods, and you can't stop me," he said
coldly as he started walking.

    "I shall say 'nee' to you again!" warned the knight.

    "Blow it out your arse," replied the boy as he walked through the
middle of the knights. They parted and let him through.

    "Well, that wasn't very nice," said the large knight with a frown
on his face.

    "Nee!" cried his cohorts in agreement.

    Ryoga calmly went on his way, a deep frown on his face as he
walked. "Just you wait Ranma. I'll find you soon enough."

    He walked into a swirling vortex of some kind that had appeared in
front of him, not even seeming to notice as he did so.

    "Well, can't say I didn't warn him," commented the knight with a
shrug as he watched this.

    "Nee!" agreed the others. The vortex closed after they had spoken
the word and left them alone in the forest.

    "Ooh! A traveling salesman!" cried the large knight as he noticed
another victim walking through the woods towards them. "Places
everyone!"

+++++++++++

    Next Time: Trapped in the past!



C&C to Carrotglace@juno.com

Previous parts can be found at Http://www.fanfiction.net and R&C Books
International Fanfic Company at Http://www.rcbooks.org

Ja!
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