Insertion

 Part 47

 The Mighty Swordsman

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

 Ranma sat with Hotaru, nodding to himself with a frown on his face. 

 The young woman found herself surprised at how expressive the mask he
wore was. It was almost as if it wasn't there at all.

 "So, the Amazons are with him as well?" said Ranma as he looked at her.

 "Yes, they reside in China," said Hotaru. 

 "They aren't much of a threat," said Ranma with a small nod. "Makes me
wonder why he bothered though."

 "He says it's because of some promise he made. Keeping them around for
the next three thousand years or something."

 Ranma looked at her and blinked. He remembered that conversation, it was
a rather open ended agreement rather than a promise really. "He doesn't
seem like the type to keep his word."

 "He always does, but he tends to make promises that swing his way. He
may promise not to kill you, and then have someone else do it for him
instead," said Hotaru.

 Ranma nodded again, his scowl deepening. "I think I understand."

 "The Amazons are left alone, they are the largest commune of humans we
know of," said Hotaru with a small frown on his face. "He does keep a
close eye on them though."

 "Shampoo and Cologne?" asked Ranma.

 "Shampoo is still here, Cologne died some time ago," replied the woman
quietly.

 "What does she do for him?" prodded Ranma.

 "Nothing, Shampoo exists outside the organization. She lives in the
city, protected by the agreement with the Amazons as long as she behaves
herself," said Hotaru. "She's the only one not working for him that's
free to travel at will. She doesn't though, I think it's because of all
the other attempts that didn't make it."

 "Keeping the countries out of contact with one another is a good idea,"
agreed Ranma.

 "Helps prevent them from working together," confirmed Hotaru. "Not that
it would do them any good."

 "Of course," said Ranma with a short nod. "Who else is working for him
that I might know?"

 "Chibi-Usa is his right hand," said Hotaru hatefully. "That little
bitch...she was in on it from the beginning. Hiding under that cute
little girl and making sure things went the way they were supposed to."

 "Mousse and Ryoga?" asked Ranma.

 "Hibiki is just a showpiece for Chibi-Usa's arm now. I don't think his
mind is there anymore, he moves on his own, but doesn't ever speak," said
Hotaru calmly. "Who is Mousse?"

 "Nevermind," muttered Ranma with a frown on his face. "Anyone else I
should know of?"

 "Tatewaki Kuno, he's very dangerous," said the woman as she looked at
him.

 "I could beat Kuno with one arm," snorted Ranma as he frowned at her.

 "Don't count on that, he's not the man you once knew," she said as she
glared at him.

 "I can handle that idiot any time," said Ranma with a disgusted frown.
"He's nothing to worry about."

 "What about the three remaining Youma Lords?" asked Ranma.

 "There's only two of them now," said Hotaru calmly. "Ranma isn't in
charge."

 That caught him by surprise. "Huh?"

 "The real leader of our little family is the black youma, Kuroi. He
lives off planet, in the starships overhead." Hotaru looked up and glared
at the ceiling in the room for a moment. "He's the most dangerous, but he
never bothers us. So I suppose Ranma is the one in charge down here."

 "You said there's two of them."

 "Yes, the other one is the female."

 "Tochi," snorted Ranma. "What happened to the other one?"

 "He went insane a few years back, the other two killed him with that
impersonator's help," said Hotaru with her hateful frown deepening.

 "Tried to push your plans ahead a little? Or did he try and revive
Metallia?" asked Ranma as he smirked at her.

 "I'm not sure," muttered Hotaru as she looked at him in surprise. 

 "Which planet are you terraforming?" asked Ranma lazily.

 "Mars," mumbled Hotaru as she stared at him dumbly.

 "Thought as much, waiting until the other planet is finished before you
destroy this one?"

 "That was the idea," said the woman as she looked away. "How did you
know about that?"

 "I figured it out after I heard you were using ships to fly in supplies.
It was either that, or you'd found someplace on Earth that you could grow
food. That would require a place that wasn't blasted to hell already, and
a large number of slaves. Two things I wouldn't leave behind."

 Hotaru nodded numbly. 

 "Using Amazon farmers?" inquired Ranma casually.

 "Yes," said Hotaru dumbly.

 "That's the real reason he's still letting them hang around in such
large numbers," he commented with a sort of contemplative nod.

 "I suppose so. I'd never really thought about that."

 Ranma turned his head and smirked as he looked at the door. "Hiding in
the shadows won't do you any good. Come in."

 A young woman with long black hair entered and frowned at him. "I was
sent to see how you were doing."

 "Well, you must be Rei's girl," said the thing cheerfully as it stood up
and smirked at her.

 The girl backed away, slightly unnerved by the intimidating form.

 "Shy?" he chuckled. "You four look a lot like your mothers, but you sure
don't act like them."

 "You knew my mother?" asked the girl dumbly.

 "I knew her," he said with a short nod. "Tell me, what is your name?"

 "Mars," said the girl nervously.

 "Mars?" he replied in amusement. "Are you all named after the planets
you represent?"

 "Yes," said the girl. She looked uncertain, as if trying to decide if
she had been insulted or not.

 "Who is with you? They wouldn't send you in here all alone," said Ranma
as he turned his back to her and looked around the room. "Ah! There you
are!"

 Mamoru walked through the doorway and looked at him angrily.

 "What on Earth are you doing here Mamoru?" asked Ranma with an amused
looking smirk.

 "Spying on you," he replied sharply. "I still don't trust you. Neither
does anyone else here."

 "Good," said Ranma. "I don't want your trust. I'm going to kill Ranma,
and all of you here are too weak to do anything but get in my way. You're
pathetic shells, long since broken in spirit. Useless to me."

 "How dare you!" he snapped. He remained where he was.

 "Your lives have been hard for the past twenty years, but it can't begin
to compare with what I've seen."

 "What would you know?" snorted the man in disgust.

 "More than you'll ever know about," said Ranma calmly. 

 "You know all these people, but none of us remember you," said Mamoru as
he narrowed his eyes at the thing for a moment.

 "I remember him," said Hotaru calmly.

 "You'll forgive me if I'm not convinced."

 "Stop it," said Mars quietly. "I wasn't sent here to listen to you
bicker."

 Ranma blinked in surprise at the statement. "She's right. We all have
more important things to worry about."

 Mamoru frowned at him. "Like what?"

 "Like what that power that's approaching us is," said Ranma as he
strolled past the pair and out the door.

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

 Angela frowned as she stood in the middle of the street calmly. A gang
of punked out young men stood around her.

 "Hey babe. You lookin for a good time? Cause we sure is, and we think
that you're gonna help us find..."

 His pathetic attempt at intimidation was cut short as a loud bang
resonated off the walls of the decimated buildings. He slumped down with
a huge hole now present in his chest.

 The large handgun in the angel's hand was holstered quickly after the
shot was fired. "I don't have time for clich�s. Move now, or die."

 The rest of the gang scattered like roaches, vanishing into the dark
alleyways.

 Angela snorted and continued on her way, tugging the edge of her cloak's
hood down over her face a little more.

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

 Ranma frowned as he noticed the streets of the village were empty once
again. He stood in the middle of the street and glanced around.
"Something is up."

 "What's going on?" said Mamoru as he jogged out behind him.

 "Get back inside and watch over Hotaru. She's weak from our battle.
Don't let her come out, no matter what."

 He looked up the street and gasped. "No!"

 "Do as I say. I'll handle this," said Ranma coldly.

 The man looked at him and backed into the doorway, only halfway because
of what Spawn had told him to do.

 A bulky figure seemed to melt out of the mirage of heat that rose from
the pavement in the afternoon sun. 

 Ranma frowned as his features became more visible, he was surprised to
say the least, when he noted the large man wearing a kendo uniform.
"Tatewaki Kuno."

 "So. I have found you at last demon. You can no longer hide from the
sword of righteousness."

 Ranma blinked at this. "Man, this idiot hasn't changed at all."

 "Tremble in terror! For you now face the might of the Blue Thunder!"
said Kuno as he raised the Katana in his hand into the sky.

 "I'm not impressed," said Ranma calmly. "Your power is nothing special.
Stronger than most, but you're hardly a threat."

 "You must be a most foul demon to this place of beauty and light,
shadowing your darkness over these lovely maidens."

 Ranma chuckled at this. "You're absolutely right for once in your
miserable life, Kuno. I am indeed a demon."

 "So, the evil does not bother to mask its villainy. My light of truth
was too much for you to hide from the might of..."

 "Oh for god's sake! Shut the hell up! Can't you talk like a normal human
being?" snapped Ranma.

 "Fine. Tell me who you are and why you're here. You must be quite
powerful if you managed to defeat Mistress Nine all alone."

 Ranma's jaw dropped like it had a lead weight in it. He shook his head
for a moment. "This is really too weird. Go back to the way you talked
before. I had no idea how disturbing it would be to hear normal speech
from you, Kuno."

 "You know the Mighty Blue Thunder? No doubt you've heard of my prowess
in battle, and have come to feebly attempt to take my title of 'Greatest
Fighter in the Universe' away! I'm sure the battle will be pathetic and
short," said Kuno without missing a beat.

 "You'll find my feeble attempts aren't very feeble..." Ranma paused.
"Err...wait. I mean my attempts won't be very feeble. Yeah."

 "It is difficult to come up with dramatic dialogue for battle on the
fly," said Kuno with an understanding nod.

 "Yeah," agreed Ranma.

 "It matters not your strength! For I shall fell you easily, no matter
how mighty you are! For I am the most great!" said Kuno as he held his
sword in the sky. Lightning crashed behind him dramatically.

 "Greatest," said Ranma.

 "Pardon?" said Kuno as he looked at the thing, still standing in his
pose.

 "Most Great is wrong. It's 'greatest'."

 "Oh," said Kuno. "Never mind that! Come, let us do battle!"

 "But, I haven't done my introduction and dramatic pose yet," said Ranma.

 "Eh? Oh, very well..." muttered Kuno as he relaxed a bit and waited.

 "I am Spawn! Warrior of hell and demon in training! You will never
defeat me mortal!" cried Ranma angrily. His cape flared out and his
chains seemed to levitate off of his hips by an unseen force. "Prepare
yourself! You will never defeat the evil that stands before you now!"

 "Most impressive," said Kuno with an appreciative nod.

 "Thanks," said Ranma.

 "May we begin?" asked Kuno as he stepped back into a defensive Kendo
stance.

 "Okay," replied the thing with a shrug.

 "Have at thee knave!" cried Kuno as he rushed forward and slashed at the
thing with his Katana.

 Ranma sidestepped easily, and frowned as he realized that Kuno wasn't
any faster than he was when he was younger. "You haven't improved at all.
Those muscles are just for show."

 "I have no need to improve upon perfection! Only my strength has
increased with time, my undefeated prowess is more than a match for you
demon!" roared Kuno as he rushed again and passed by Ranma.

 The demon jumped and avoided a quick slash easily, landing lightly on
the ground behind the kendoist. "I'm not in the mood for playing around.
I'm just going to kill you and be done with it."

 "He's fast! Surely his unholy powers are preventing my strikes from
felling him! Such magics are all that could possibly disrupt my perfect
aim!" growled Kuno as he slowly turned to eye the monster for a moment.

 Ranma charged, slashing out with his chains and claws as he dove towards
Kuno in a headlong attack.

 "Fool!" roared the man as he readied his Katana.

 Ranma swatted the weapon aside with his bare hand, snapping the blade in
two as he lunged forward and raked his other claws across Kuno's chest. 

 The kendoist screamed in pain and fell to his knees. clutching the wound
in shock. "Impossible!"

 "You're pathetic Kuno. The servant of a monster more ugly than I could
ever be," snarled Ranma as he clutched the man's head and lifted him up.

 "Silence! You know not what you speak of!" growled the boy.

 "Ranma Saotome is a sorcerer more evil than any demon I've ever met.
You're serving him like the pathetic dog you are. I'm curious as to why."

 "Heh. Saotome? The ruler of the planet? I he is my Lord, as a Samurai, I
must serve him until death. He honorably relinquished his claim upon
Akane Tendo to me, and asked that I join him in bringing peace to the
world."

 "Akane?" said Ranma as he tossed the pathetic man on the ground in the
dust and stood over him with a scowl on his face. "You pathetic weakling.
You mean to tell me that you did this, for a mere woman?" He pointed at
the devastation around them.

 Kuno chuckled. "Peace has been achieved, there is no war."

 Ranma frowned at this. "I see...but Akane Tendo is here."

 "I await the day that my tigress comes into my arms willingly. One day,
she will bring my son to live with me in the tower. Until that time, she
is no doubt training him to be a warrior fitting his station as a ruler
of the planet. When she returns to me, there will be much rejoicing."

 Ranma felt his blood run cold. "Son?"

 "Yes, for a time she declared her love to me, and laid with me," said
Kuno as he stood up and frowned at the man. His chest was puffed out and
he looked quite proud. "As before, she showed her love to me with her
battle prowess, and her demure nature prevented her from voicing her
love. Still, after our son was born, she left me to take him upon a
voyage of training."

 Green flames danced around Ranma's body, his anger and hatred filling
him with power. "Oh. I see."

 "Indeed. Your dark power protects you as I imagined it would. Thus, I
must resort to my own magics to defeat you." Kuno sneered at him.

 "I'm going to tear you apart Kuno, you have no idea the torments you are
about to endure," said Ranma calmly as he looked at the man with all the
life of a statue in his body.

 "So you say. The thunder of justice will never fall to your darkness
monster! Behold! I am the light and the darkness as one! A god among
men!"

 Ranma gasped as the man pulled something from his robes and held it into
the air. "No! That..." He rushed forward, attempting to stop the insane
man from completing the act. He didn't make it.

 "Hahahahahahahahahahaaa!" laughed Kuno as the Mask finished melding to
his face. "Oh. A little hellspawn has come to play with me. How nice!"

 "Loki!" growled Ranma as he backed away cautiously. "I should have known
that idiot had something like you to have lived this long."

 The green headed Kuno blinked in surprise. "Oh? You know of me?"

 "What do you get out of helping him? It doesn't seem like the god of
chaos to work for a mortal, as powerful as he might be." Ranma narrowed
his eyes and desperately tried to think of a way out of the mess he had
found himself in. "I knew I should have killed him right away. Hotaru
tried to warn me about this..." he muttered to himself.

 "What do I get? Oh, I suppose I'll tell you, since you can't do anything
about it anyway." It grinned at him for a moment and smirked. "I get out.
When this world is destroyed, I will be released from my prison,
Metallia's connection with this dimension will be severed, and I'll
finally be able to return home."

 Ranma nodded at this. "So, you're using him?"

 "It's somewhat mutual I'll admit, the boy youma and I have an
understanding," said the green headed thing that leered at Ranma in
amusement. "I can see Hild is upset that someone is doing a better job of
destroying the world than her. How petty she is."

 "Whatever. I'm not really able to say much about that," said Ranma with
a small frown on his face. 

 "Yes, I know. Tell me Hellspawn, how do you intend to fight a god?
You're not even a full demon yet."

 "You're not really a god anymore," said Ranma as he glared at the thing.

 "Oh?" snarled Loki as he frowned at the thing.

 "That's right. I know quite a bit about that form of yours. Your power
has been severely weakened, but you're basically invulnerable."

 "My power may be weak, but it is also limitless. A convenience you don't
share," said Loki flatly.
 
 "That's a lie," said Ranma as he smirked at the thing. "If that were
true, you'd still be attached to the first host you managed to con into
putting you on."

 Loki frowned at this. "You know too much."

 "I suppose I do," replied Ranma coolly.

 "At any rate, you won't live long enough to do anything about it!"
snarled Loki as he vanished.

 Ranma seemed to fade from the street as well, moving at an incredible
speed towards where the God had once been standing. "Damn! He's faster
than us!" he muttered as he appeared a short distance down the road, his
golden aura burning around him brightly. 

 "Indeed I am!" chuckled Loki as he appeared behind them and slammed a
mallet down on their heads.

 Ranma lurched forward, but wasn't knocked down by the blow. "Shit!"

 "Come on, you can give me a better fight than that can't you?" sneered
the thing as it shoved a bomb into his hands and shoved him in the chest.
Ranma staggered back and was blown back into a wall when the bomb
exploded in his hands. "Such a weak thing for a hellspawn. Hild is losing
her touch."

 "You're one to talk," grumbled Ranma as he stood up from the rubble his
impact had created. "Picking an idiot like Kuno for a host."

 "Idiots make the best hosts I've found," said Loki with a calm shrug.
"All I had to do was tell him that with me he'd be invincible, and would
be able to finally take that which he wanted most."

 "Akane," growled Ranma hatefully.

 "Yes, such a sweet virgin she was too," said Loki with a wild grin on
his face.

 "Ranma! You've got to calm down!" snapped Carrot as he suddenly stopped
them from attacking. "He's playing you like a flute!"

 "Calm down? She was our friend! Is our friend! How can you..."

 "What good will we do her if we die now?" replied Carrot calmly.

 Ranma seemed to relax a bit and took deep angry sounding breaths.

 Loki watched the scene in confusion. He couldn't hear the conversation,
and hellspawn were usually easy to enrage. They weren't made from the
best kind of people after all.

 "All right, what do we do?" asked Ranma coldly. "Tell me how to take
this bastard down."

 Loki frowned as the thing's gaze intensified, the gold aura that
surrounded it suddenly became very focused and had a slight green tint to
it. "He's up to something..." 

 Ranma vanished in a flash of light, and Loki scowled as he whirled
around in every direction, searching for where it had teleported too. He
paused when it didn't appear. "What? He's run away? Smarter than I
thought he'd be." A hand reached down and grabbed Loki by his head from
above. "What?!!" screamed the god in alarm.

 "You didn't look up," said Ranma coldly as he dug his claws into the
back of the thing's head and began to rip it apart. He was floating
upside-down just over his head. His cape and chains hanging from him as
if he had reversed gravity and was standing on the ground.

 Loki screamed and struggled, grabbing the thing by it's arms and trying
to pry his hands away and rip his arms off at the same time.

 Ranma screamed with effort as Loki's fingers dug into his flesh. His
aura burned brighter than ever as he pulled harder and harder, prying the
thing off of Tatewaki's head forcefully. 

 "Nooo! Nooooooooo! NOOOOOO*" cried Loki as he was finally removed,
almost pulling Kuno's face off in the process. Kuno slumped down on the
ground and gasped before he passed out.

 Ranma glared at the mask in his claws for a moment, thinking to himself
for a moment. "What to do with you?" He smirked to himself for a moment,
vanishing in a green flash of light. 

 Moments later he appeared in space glaring at the floating rock in front
of him for a moment. It was a large asteroid in the orbit of Jupiter. He
placed the mask there and frowned for a moment. "Goodbye Loki. You can
stay out of trouble here for a while." With a shove of his wrist, the
asteroid plummeted into the atmosphere of the planet, vanishing into the
center of the red storm that raged across the surface. He vanished again
in another flash of light, appearing in front of the fallen Kuno again.

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

 No one knew what had happened, most of the villagers had hidden away.
Usagi was the first to emerge from one of the buildings. "It seems you've
won again."

 Ranma looked at her for a moment and nodded. "Tell me. Where is Akane
Tendo?"

 "None of your business," said Usagi sharply.

 "I'll find her myself then," he replied as he started walking.

 "Wait! Why do you want to know?" asked Usagi sharply.

 "That is a personal matter for her," said Ranma calmly.

 Mamoru had emerged from the building with Mars at his side. "Who are you
really?"

 "That is still a secret. When the time comes, I'll tell you," said Ranma
calmly.

 The villagers slowly emerged from their homes, looking on in a sort of
stupefied shock at the warrior who had managed to defeat two of the
invincible minions so far.

 Ranma turned to look at them all. "I suggest you all find another place
to live. Once word of this gets to him, he will eliminate this place from
the planet. I'm not going to be hanging around to stop him much longer."

 There was a murmur of surprise through the crowd at this.

 "Wait! You've already beaten..." started Jupiter as she emerged from the
crowd.

 "I've managed to catch two of them by surprise," said Ranma as he glared
at her. "The next time they come here, they will be in greater numbers,
and even I could not take them all on." He turned away from her coldly.
"I'll fight him on my own terms and in my own way. If you stay here, you
will die."

 Usagi nodded calmly. "He is right. This will not be ignored."

 "We'd best get moving then," agreed Mamoru.

 Akane stepped out of the crowd and looked at Ranma for a moment. Her
features unreadable. 

 "You have a son?" asked Ranma as he glared at her for a moment.

 "I...Who told you that?" she asked in horror.

 Ranma dropped Kuno at her feet. 

 She stared down at him in horror. "Kuno..."

 "Is it true?" asked Ranma calmly.

 Akane nodded. "He would have been fourteen."

 "Dead?" asked Ranma.

 "He died with my family. Kuno never knew about it, he used to come here
every few months and ask me about him." She kicked the fallen man in his
ribs hard and spit on him. "He'd always spend the night," she almost
screamed. She kicked him again and again, stomping on his body
mercilessly. "Always! No matter where I'd run! I could never hide, I
could never..."

 Ranma frowned as he watched her and put a restraining hand on her
shoulder. "If you have the stomach for it, you could help me torture and
kill him."

 Akane glanced at him for a moment. "Wha?"

 "Hotaru was possessed, this one...he has no excuse. I'm going to kill
him, and personally escort him to hell. I don't want it to be a quick
death. Perhaps you could help me with that?"

 "Who are you?" muttered Akane dumbly as she looked at him again, trying
to find some familiarity in him, a feature on his face, a mannerism she
recognized. It was there, but she could not grasp it.

 "I'll tell you," said Ranma as he looked at her. "But not here. Brace
yourself Akane, this is really going to suck."

 The small crowd of spectators that were around them gasped as the pair
vanished in a flash of light. 

++++++++++

 Akane screamed as she found herself in the middle of a wasteland. It
wasn't far from the village. She stumbled to her knees and emptied her
stomach onto the sand. Kuno was awake now as well, and had a similar
reaction, he managed to contain his lunch and merely shuddered on the
ground, curled up in a fetal position in pain.

 "What was that?" gasped Akane painfully.

 Ranma looked down at them and smirked. "Teleportation. Doesn't feel very
good does it?"

 "Wha?" muttered Akane as she looked at him.

 "I ripped our bodies apart on a molecular level and reformed them here."

 "Don't ever do that again," growled Akane as she managed to stand.

 "I shouldn't do it at all really. I don't really have the power to
spare," muttered Ranma, more to himself than them.

 "Who are you?" asked Akane. 

 Kuno was groaning on the ground and rolled onto his back. "I fight
on..."

 Ranma stepped on his gut and pushed him back onto the ground as he
attempted to rise. "Not yet bright boy. Your fun is just starting." He
turned to look at the woman who was sitting nervously nearby and glaring
at the two of them hatefully. "I know what you're worried about.
Wondering why I brought you out here all alone? I'm sorry to say that I'm
not equipped for that, it isn't possible for me to rape you."

 "Why is that?" growled Akane as she seemed to calm a little.

 "Because, I am a demon," said Ranma calmly. "I was sent from hell to
destroy Ranma Saotome."

 Akane frowned at this. "Yeah right. Tell me another one," she spat as
she turned away.

 "Don't believe me?" chuckled Ranma in amusement. "Or is it just that
you'd rather believe that the gods would never allow this if they
existed?"

 Akane glanced at him for a moment. "Why would a demon care about this?
I'd think this would be what you wanted."

 "Someone high up is a little pissed off that someone is doing a better
job of destroying the world than they are," said Ranma with a small
shrug. "Jealousy."

 Akane snorted and looked down at Kuno for a moment. "What are you
planning on doing with him?"

 Kuno was barely able to speak, much less move. Still very disoriented
from having the mask pulled from his head forcefully.

 "I think you'll either like what I have planned, or you'll run away
screaming."

++++++++++

 Akane looked on in a sort of terror at the scene in front of her. "My
god!"

 "Yes, impressive isn't it," said Ranma from beside her.

 Kuno groaned painfully from where he was suspended in the air. Thick
straps of wet rawhide left him dangling from several tree branches on a
dead trunk they had been teleported near too. He had a gag over his mouth
and his eyes were wide with pain. Rather than tie the strips so that they
would tighten and pull him apart, Ranma had tied them so that they would
pull him higher up, and into the blades that were now stabbing him along
the back of his body. 

 The demon had rigged a board with hundreds of blades jutting from the
bottom of it just over the man. Blood was already running down from
behind him and onto the ground below, only to dry up into the dust.

 She sat down in the dirt and watched in horror as the man was tormented.
He stared at her with pleading eyes, begging her to free him.

 "The same eyes you probably used to beg him with," said Ranma coldly
when he noticed Akane's horrified face. "Remember what he stood for, what
he did to you and your family."

 The girl's face hardened into a mask of hatred as she glared at the man.


 That was when Kuno realized that there would be no escape. He started to
scream from beneath the gag. 

 Ranma waved his hand over a small stone nearby and smirked at the woman.
"I'm giving you a choice. You can end his pain, or you can intensify it."
A knife appeared on the stone, with a small wooden box next to it.

 "In this box, are a number of rather sharp needles, and a chart with
acupuncture points. These points will cause a maximum amount of agony to
him before he dies. I should note, that most of them are in the groin
area."

 Akane looked at it and said nothing.

 Ranma looked at Kuno for a moment and pointed to the knife when he
looked back at her. "This knife. Use it to cut the rope that holds the
blades over his body, and his suffering will end. The choice is yours."

 Akane looked at him as he stood up and turned towards the village. "It's
about a fifteen minute walk back. Don't take too long, or he'll die
before you decide."

 Akane frowned as she looked at the knife and the box, moving her eyes
back and forth for a moment. "Revenge? Or mercy?" It was not an easy
choice. Still, one had to be made. She reached out and made her decision.


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

 Ranma's welcome back to the village was anything but warm. "Where is
Akane?" growled Mamoru.

 The four young senshi stood behind him, eyeing the newcomer hatefully.
 
 "She is dealing with Kuno. She should return shortly. If you wish to
find her, I suggest you start walking that way. It's about fifteen
minuets away. I also suggest that you don't bring a weak stomach, or such
young eyes to find her. She might not be finished with him yet."

 "What?" gasped the man in shock.

 "I don't imagine she'll be more than an hour or so," said Ranma calmly
as he looked over his shoulder. "I've come for Hotaru. She and I should
be leaving."

 "She's in the same place you left her," said Usagi as she emerged from
the home where the girl was resting.

 "Thank you," replied Ranma as he brushed by her.

++++++++++

 "You're back," said Hotaru as she looked up at him calmly.

 "That's right. Do you feel ready to go? We can't stay here long," said
Ranma calmly. 

 "I know. It is time to leave," she said with a light smile on her face.
"You defeated Kuno?"

 "He won't be bothering us again," said Ranma.

 "I see," said Hotaru calmly as she rose to her feet. "You've changed."

 "Time and torment will do that to people," said the thing calmly.  
 "So, where will we go?" asked Hotaru as she glanced at him.

 "Away from here, someplace where we can wait and pick our battles,"
replied Ranma calmly.

 "What of the others here?" she asked as she glanced at him.

 "They'll be in less danger without us," he replied.

 "We should leave then." Hotaru stood up and walked out the door, with
Ranma right behind her.

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

 Usagi watched the village disappear into the distance. Her face was sad,
but not too much so. It had served its purpose well until now, but was
far from a home to them. Such moves were not uncommon.

 Mamoru walked beside her, a strangely disturbed look on his face. When
Akane Tendo had returned to the village as the thing had said she would,
she was covered in blood. He had rushed to aid her, but found out that
she wasn't injured.

 "I'm finished," she said as she looked at him. A strangely haunted look
in her eyes. "I'm free."

 Not knowing what to say, he had nodded at her. She walked over to the
large fountain that supplied the village with water and simply walked
into it fully dressed, rinsing most of the blood away. 

 After that, the whole place packed what little belongings they had and
left. 

+++++++++++

 "Oh, Okasama," said Ranma as he peered into his mother's eyes. "You
would be so proud of me I think."

 Beryl stared back at him soullessly from within the crystal encasing.

 He smirked at her and stepped back. Only her head was inside the
crystal, her body on the other side of the room, in a similar prison. "Ah
well. I suppose you'd still be her if you hadn't tried to force me to be
your servant. You never were one to think about things for very long
though."

 "Sir!" said one of the guards that walked into the room and saluted him.

 Ranma paused and looked back at him with a frown on his face. He was
completely nude. "What is it? This had better be good."

 The guard glanced down at the man's feet for a split second, where Tochi
was sleeping soundlessly in the nude. She was on top of a bearskin rug,
halfway buried in the fur of the animal.

 "Neither Kuno nor Hotaru have reported back yet sir," said the man as he
swallowed hard.

 Ranma narrowed his eyes at this. "Nani?"

 "I thought it would be best to inform you now, rather than wait until
later sir."

 "Very good, Captain," said Ranma as he frowned and nodded.

 "Lieutenant sir," corrected the man.

 "Not anymore," said Ranma as he walked by him and grabbed his pants from
where they were hanging. On the antlers of a stuffed deer, the room was
full of such trophies.

"Thank you sir!" said the man as his jaw hardened.

 "How long has it been?" asked Ranma.

 "They haven't reported in about six hours sir," said the man.

 "They are supposed to report in every hour," he said as he frowned at
the man.

 "It's not unusual for them to go three or four without doing it sir,"
said the man as he kept up his pace and strolled just behind his leader.

 "Of course. Those prideful idiots," growled Ranma hatefully. 

 "What should we do sir? Shall I inform Dark Lady?"

 Ranma frowned at him. "No. I'm not going to send her out alone. I want a
full sweep of the area from the starship, destroy everything. I'll go
myself, and take both Tochi and my daughter along."

 "Sir!" snapped the man as he turned away to carry out his orders.

 "Shimatta," he growled as he threw open the doors of his throne room and
strolled in. "Kuroi."

 "Yes?" asked a voice from a nearby speaker system.

 "Kuno and Hotaru haven't reported back in."

 "So? Do you always have to react this way when this happens? Those two
are hardly reliable."

 "I'd rather be sure," said Ranma coldly. "I think there's something new
in the area."

 "Take care of it," said Kuroi calmly.

 "I am working on it," said Ranma. "It may take a little time, especially
if it's managed to avoid those two idiots."

 "Very well." 

 Ranma pressed a button on the arm of his throne. "Wake up Dark Lady."

 "Sir!" came the reply. 

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

 TBC...

 Next Time: Angelic interlude!
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