The voice came from one of the figures who had come as
backup.  The front line of fighting women stood aside to
admit two girls from back rank.  Ukyou and Ryouga blinked

Suggest: from the back rank.

"Akane's sisters in truth, now," the tall martial artist
said.  "Tendou Natsume and Kurumi of the Anything-Goes
School of Martial Arts.  Also," she gestured to the other
women around them, "Guardians of the Temple of Three."

Suggest:

Also," she continued, gesturing to the other women around them, "Guardians of
the Temple of Three."

Not sure if it's grammatical to include a complete sentence of narration like
that between fragments of dialog.

"Ranma's gone!" Akane threw aside her sleeping bag and
began to yank on her clothes. <Damn his father for teaching
him that Umiken-sen crap!> The "Quiet Thief" techniques

Umisen-ken

"I KNOW!" she all but screamed. "Just when I think he
respects me... just when I think he TRUSTS me... he runs
off and pulls something like this. DAMN that STUPID RANMA!
Why did I have to be engaged to him? Why do I... WHY do I
have to LOVE him?" She slammed the ground and ignited a
huge Bakusai Ten-ketsu blast. Snow sprayed in every
direction along with the shrapnel of her attack.

I like the treatment of Akane. She's managed to grow but still remain the same
person.

"The first goddesses," the High Priestess explained.  "The
final goddesses.  They are past, present, and future -
daughter, mother, and crone.  The Three have appeared in
different forms, by different names, in every culture on
the Earth.  They are the Norns and the Fates, the Wyrd
Sisters and the Kindly Ones.  Their names are Callieach and
Brigit, Elaine and Morrigan, Saravasti and Lakshmi and
Kali, Urd and Skuld and Verthandi..."

"Er... Bell-dan-dy?" Ryouga-chan repeated falteringly, her
tongue stumbling over the foreign syllables.

PRIESTESS: (mutters) Bloody anime geek.

RYOGA: Hey! I heard that!

Akane drew back a fist, ready to let fly with the punch
that would save the life of her beloved and mark her for
death...

... and suddenly, the Reikoku vanished.

Interesting that this happens when the Reikoku is summoned by the priestesses.
This would be a way they could use to (temporarily) get  ol' Rei off of Ranma's
back -- summon him to chase Happosai (by name this time). It'd be interesting to
see whether Ryoga (and Ukyo, if it turns out she's actually still alive) would
have compunctions about doing this.

Before, she didn't think she would have had the speed to
get within the spinning radius of the Reikoku's deadly
magnetic arm.  But her training had focused on her natural
agility as well as her sense of incoming danger.  Trusting
her instincts, she darted towards the Reikoku,
somersaulting forward under the arc of its swinging weapon.
The lumpy iron-hard mass brushed her hair as it past, but

as it passed,
(or)
as it went past,

But he WAS there, all the same.  He was beside her, with
her as she fought.  His encouraging words, spoken every
night they had shared together on the road, came back to
her and lifted her spirits.  The skills he had taught her,
patiently coaxing out her inner strength as they walked in
the dark wild lands together, had helped save her so far in
this fight.  He was her friend, her traveling companion,
and he was there in her heart.

<Ryouga,> she thought, trying to find that space of harmony
in her mind.  <Ryouga...>

REIKOKU: (imitating Ryoga's voice) Of course I'm here. Did I mention that I'm
marrying Akari?

UKYO: AAAA! SHI-SHI HOKODAN!

** BOOM! **

REIKOKU: Well, *that* didn't work.... (falls over)

Good chapter, as usual. Really good action scenes.

One thing I'm wondering about is what happens if Ranma defeats Rei for the
fourth and final time. Does that cause it to stop chasing Ryoga and (if she
isn't really dead) Ukyo? If that's so, then it rather makes these initiation
rituals a waste of time, as Ranma is going to have to fight the level-four
version either way.


-Gary



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