Heh.  This chapter struck me as the best yet; really
clever plotting, among other things.

After all, hadn't there been a point in Kasumi's own 
life where she had acted horribly out of character,
perpetrating Loathsome, Terrible, and Unspeakable
acts upon her family and those around them?

<clip> 

Kachiko Tendou had been possessed by an oni.

Heh.  All that buildup, to come to this conclusion?
Inspired characterization.

Kachiko stared cross-eyed at the piece of paper dangling
in front of her eyes. "This is some sort of weird napkin,
right?"

Shaking her head, Kasumi said, "No, it isn't. It's an ofuda 
to drive the oni out and make you feel better and more like
yourself. Do you feel more like yourself?"

"If you put an ofuda on someone's forehead in act one, scene
two, then you have to use it to exorcise a demon by act five,
scene one."
	- Chekhov

...though, honestly, I never dreamed the ofuda would be used
later.

at which point she lashed forward with a kick, shouting,
"Ailuropoda Melanoleuca Bloody Assault!"

She's better educated than I gave her credit for, to
know the scientific name of the giant panda.

"That's not a real... Why is there an ofuda sticking to your 
head?" Ranma asked.

...and you even courteously remind us that it's there...
(Well, actually, you kind of have to, for the full effect
when its trigger is actually pulled.)

This is a rather amusing digression of Ranma's, though; and
SO in-character.  Might want a "Ranma asked curiously",
though.

As was our wont on such days, we ended up embroiled
in an intense discussion on matters of a deeply
philosophical nature...

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"...And I'm telling you Speed and Trixie were made for
one another!"

LOL!  The choice of anime series for them to be debating
is just icing on the cake here, I thought.

"What's this computer keyboard doing in here?"

"I found it in a cave in Norway," Gosunkugi explained. 

Heh.  Much better than finding a war hammer in a cave
in Norway, I am thinking.

Gosunkugi said, "I've become convinced that this beautiful 
demon goddess is nothing of the kind, but is in fact an
artificial life form created in a magnificent world in
another dimension that traveled here to Japan in
ancient times and was buried so that someone would wake her
up in the future. If I'm right, then all I need to do to make
her mine is find her, awaken her, and she'll be loyal to me
and me alone.

Actually Gos would need to wind her up with her key...

"Let's face facts. I should just kill myself and get it
over with. The only way I'm going to get a date is 
if some girl that has a thing for skinny, pathetic,
guys with no self-esteem suddenly appears out of nowhere
and asks me out."

There was a tapping on Gosunkugi's shoulder.

Of course...

"Hello, I am to be introducing myself. I am foreign exchange 
student from Sweden. My name is Ingrid Thorlson. I am to be
new here and wish to make friends."

How about "Thorsdottir" as the surname?  Of "Sifsdottir"?

"Effendi, I have found something," one of the foreign 
laborers shouted to Gosunkugi.

Actually using "effendi"... you ARE lacking in shame. ;)

'Whosoever dares to release the insanely powerful,
immortal Arch-Demon, Pandamonious

Ack!  HORRIBLE pun...

"Kachiko Tendou, the day of your doom has finally arrived!"

"Oh, hey, Wakaba! What's shaking?" Kachiko gave a casual wave 
of her hand.

You know, for all that we've seen this type of scene before,
in various manifestations, this may be the single most blase
attitude ever done on the part of the hero.

That's just Wacky Wakaba.  She's harmless.

Infuriating her still further, of course...

"And she is always to be coming to school riding the back
of pandas of collosal proportions?"

(sp) colossal

....Beautiful and vivacious girl in half. It was a tremendous 
battle that lasted well past third period.

Heh.

I took possession of the prison box and hid it in a safe place
that no one would ever discover in a million years."

Nabiki pondered that. "Let me guess. You buried it under a rock
in our backyard."

Kachiko's jaw dropped until it was almost low enough to hit 
the ground. "How did you know?" she gasped.

One of the large rocks in the yard exploded in spectacular 
fashion, sending shards of granite shrapnel all around.
From the smoky ruins left behind, a formerly beaten and buried
panda emerged. The eyes of the beast had taken on
an unearthly golden hue, and the pupils had become vertical 
slits fill of malice and hate. "FREE AT LAST!"

Magnificent.  Sheer genius.

Kachiko wrung her hands in worry. "We used a spirit ward to 
drive it out of Wakaba's pet, but that won't do us any good.
Where can we find a ward at this time of day?

Sighing, Akane removed the piece of paper between Kachiko's 
eyes and walked over to where the Pandamonious was deeply
embroiled in conversation with Kasumi.

and here the ofuda, in plain sight since the beginning of
the story, is fired.  Heh.

Akane went inside the house to store the box in a safe place 
until they had a chance to give it to Cologne.

...guaranteeing that someone will free it in the next chapter...

"No. Well, there's the remains of a vampire buried under the 
back porch. But you don't have to worry about that, just so
long as you don't remove the stake from its rib cage. 

Genma, who had finally recovered, held up a sign.

...made just a moment before, from a loose board and a stick
he'd found stuck in the ground under the back porch.

Akane wanted to protest, but what her mother was saying made
sense.

Heh.  Doesn't it just?


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