The Wheel of Fire, #22: The Mercenaries 

  Written by Razorclaw X (spiceoflife@NOREPLYhotmail.com) 
  http://www.crosswinds.net/~slythe/ranma/ranff.html 
  Disclaimer: Ranma 1/2 and characters belong to Rumiko Takahashi. 
And all that other good stuff. Proper licenses belong to respective 
properties and characters. The manga has precedence over material 
in the anime. 
  This file can be freely distributed so long as it appears in its 
complete form and proper credit given. No part may be reproduced 
for monetary gain without permission from the author. 

  Fanart can be found at: 
    http://www.crosswinds.net/~slythe/fanart/index.html 

------------------------------------------------ 

  The waiting was what bothered Kodachi the most. 
  Overlooking the valley below from her vantage point, the only 
landmark for all her eyes could see was the railroad tracks 
that snaked below, one end leading to a mountain tunnel, the 
other winding off into the distance, obscured by more mountains. 
Even without the binoculars that hung around her neck Kodachi 
could tell that there were no trains using that track at the 
moment. 
  She planted her elbows on the railing of the lookout point, 
resting her head in her open palms. The gymnast tried her best 
to relax, telling herself that everything was going according 
to plan, and everything was on schedule. 
  Then again, that's what Aya always said, and though she was 
usually right about these things, she also got some things 
wrong, too. 
  When Kodachi ordered Chika, the media specialist, to bug the 
private offices at Saint Hebereke school, it hardly took long 
before the lieutenant brought back interesting tidbits. The sole 
purpose Kodachi and her group were even in such a remote area of 
Japan was based upon the intelligence Chika gathered, and this 
was a critical job. 
  Miles below, near the train tracks, Kodachi knew Aya and her 
team were busy with their appointed task. They had to be finished 
before the train came this way, or all efforts will be for naught. 
  On that train, according to Chika, was a set of 'military 
surplus,' probably acquired through illegal channels. Kodachi 
hardly believed her former headmasters would actually resort to 
using such devices, but she also knew they were desperate to find 
an edge over Tokyo's resident martial artists, when the time came 
for battle. Either way, the church was getting geared-up for war. 
  A war which Kodachi knew she would be a key player. 

  The Furinkan school clock rang once again, signaling the 
departure of its students. 
  Side by side, Akane and Ranma, walked out of the school grounds, 
heading for home. 
  Folding his arms behind his head, Ranma remarked off-handedly, 
"Kodachi's sure been gone for a while." 
  "Mmmhmmm," agreed Akane. 
  "Not that I care what she's doing, mind you," he added. "I mean, 
she's only been skipping class all week." 
  Akane said nothing as the couple continued walking. 
  "And all her goons are gone, too." 
  She remained silent as the two passed over a bridge. 
  They both came to a stop on that bridge. They turned slowly to 
face each other. 
  "Akane...." 
  "Ranma...." 
  The couple laughed nervously, having spoken at the same time. 
  "You go first," suggested Akane. 
  "Nah, you," insisted Ranma. 
  "Alright, then," Akane said, taking a deep breath. "It's... you." 
  "What about me?" 
  "You've been preoccupied lately." 
  "Of course I have! I can't stand waiting." 
  "Waiting for what? For Shampoo to come back to town?" 
  "Well... yeah." 
  "Well... I think...." Akane paused, trying to find the right 
words. "I think you might be setting yourself up for 
disappointment." 
  "What?" 
  "Ever since... since you told me about the spirit guardians of 
Seiryu... I've been thinking. When hasn't Seiryu lied to you?" 
  Ranma blinked. "They've got more to lose than I do!" 
  "M...maybe," Akane said. "But I don't see how this'll bring 
Ukyo back. I think you should let her go." 
  He shook his head. "If there's a chance, I've got to take it." 
  Akane sighed deeply. "Then what did you have to tell me?" 
  Ranma shrugged. "I just thought that... well, you don't have 
the same enthusiasm about this as I do." 
  "What do you mean?" 
  "Shampoo said the same thing," he continued. "She said you don't 
seem to care if I can get Ukyo back or not." 
  "And since when did Shampoo care what happened to her?" Akane 
pointed out. 
  "That's not the point; we're talking about you." 
  "Don't be ridiculous! You're my husband now!" 
  "So why'd you have to get all jealous about it?" 
  "I'm not jealous!" 
  Ranma folded his arms haughtily. "Heh. Figures an uncute girl 
like you would deny...." 
  He never finished his sentence as Akane sent Ranma into orbit. 

  Shampoo loved stalking her prey. 
  With Seiryu's weapon in hand, she eyed the entrance to the 
shrine from her perch in the tree, waiting for her prey to come 
out. The weapon, appearing similar in appearance to a sai, was 
actually a trident with its long pole retracted, and it housed 
three of the spirit guardians of Seiryu: Miboshi, Tomo, and 
Nakago, leaving four to go. 
  Miboshi, the first spirit Shampoo came into contact with after 
taking possession of the weapon, wished to gather his fellows in 
order to merge into Seiryu once more. The Chinese Amazon, following 
the spirit's direction, then found Tomo tormenting Ranma, and then 
Nakago, who happened to have found a host in a stray dog. 
  This trip out of Tokyo was the direction Miboshi chose next. 
Lying in the mountains north of Tokyo was the traditional Japanese 
shrine, complete with a long, winding stairway from the ground all 
the way up to the mountain top, where the shrine was. Shampoo 
always hated traveling to mountain shrines because of those 
stairs. 
  After remaining in the area for nearly a day, Miboshi, speaking 
through Seiryu's weapon, deduced that the next spirit guardian, 
Amiboshi, was probably inhabiting the head priest, since his aura 
radiated the spirit's traces. However, for some reason, the priest 
refused to leave the shrine, and, since Shampoo hardly wished to 
fight a priest in the confined space of the shrine, she waited. 
  She brought the weapon to eye level. "You sure it's priest?" 
  How should I know? Miboshi answered in her head. Why don't you 
go in? 
  "We went over this already," Shampoo complained. 
  You're being overly cautious. 
  "You don't know what powerful priests do." 
  This one can't possibly be that powerful. The Orochi priest was 
much more dangerous than this pitiful creature. 
  "There is an art to hunting you don't understand." 
  Oh? 
  "You can't just run in there and expect everything to be okay. 
Sometimes the prey may surprise the hunter." 
  I see. 
  "He will come out," Shampoo said. "We have time." 

  Ranma mentally cursed Akane for the umpteenth time as the Tendo 
gates came into view. 
  "Stupid tomboy, she didn't have to hit me THAT hard...." 
  After all, SHE was the one that was jealous.... Jealous of a 
DEAD person. 
  Something pinched in the back of his neck. 
  Reflexively, Ranma rolled to his left, narrowly avoiding a set 
of darts thrown his direction. 
  Coming to a stop, the martial artist's eyes glanced over to 
where he stood only moments before, only to find the darts 
used against him were truly not darts at all. 
  Jutting neatly out against the concrete were three card- 
shaped objects, each as thin as paper and possessing edges that 
looked as if they could split hairs easily. 
  "That's something new," Ranma noted to himself. Already 
images of a martial arts card player entered his mind. "Wonder 
who I pissed-off this time?" 
  "You're as good as they say," someone said, in a low tone. 
  Instantly at his feet, Ranma looked around. "Come on out!" 
  His eyes focused on the shadows near a corner street, as, 
seemingly materializing out of shadow, a lone figure appeared. 
  The newcomer, Ranma realized, was a girl. Decked in a formal 
priestess outfit, the girl's eyes pierced through Ranma, as if 
she could look at his soul. Behind those eyes he found no 
warmth, an unyielding ice. Her dark hair was tied up in a pony 
tail, tied with a red cord in a fashion similar to the way one 
would tie their shoelaces, with an incredibly large bow. Her 
bangs seemed long enough to cover her eyes, but not nearly 
enough. Unlike most girls Ranma had seen, this girl was nearly 
as tall as he was, if not taller. 
  She folded her arms contemptuously. "I believe that is the 
customary greeting you're offered all the time?" 
  "Heh, you got that right," Ranma said, raising his arms, 
tensing himself for the next attack. 
  "Is that ALL you say about your 'annoying new opponents?'" 
she asked, seemingly disappointed. 
  "Then I guess you know the routine," he taunted. "You attack, 
I beat you. Why don't we call it the day?" 
  "I thought you didn't fight girls?" She laughed coldly. 
  "Ain't that Ranma no more!" Ranma shot back. "Met too many 
girls who could beat me." 
  "One too many, then. Of course, there was really only ONE, 
wasn't there?" 
  "Shut up and let's get this over with." 
  For the first time, the girl smiled. "Come get me." 
  Ranma launched himself into battle, catapulting himself fists- 
first toward the new enemy. In rapid succession, he threw 
punches, one after the other, in his flight path. 
  And yet the girl remained standing there, with a wicked, 
knowing smile. 
  The reason behind her smug confidence became apparent to Ranma 
as his flurry of fists bounced off her harmlessly. No... bouncing 
off a little BEFORE coming in contact with her, he realized. He 
stepped back, abandoning his initial attack. 
  "Some kind of shield?" he guessed. 
  "Ha-ha-hah!" she laughed. "I'm not nearly the fighter that 
you are... but I do come prepared." 
  She reached into the folds of her right sleeve, producing a 
paper ward. "In compensation for my... lack of strength... I 
have this!" 
  In her hand the paper spontaneously burst into flame. Throwing 
the flaming paper as if it were a rock, she shouted, "Summon 
Beast Tengu!" 
  Ranma took a large involuntary step back as the paper 
transformed into a small, black rift, the size of a baseball. 
He could see nothing in the rift, but it grew larger as two, 
predatorial eyes stared coldly through from the other side. 
  The rift was now the size of a man, and a bird-like head 
peeked through. Its eyes darted about, searching for its prey. 
  "Well, whatever," Ranma said, readying himself. 
  He threw a flying kick at the bird-beast's head, sending it 
tumbling back through the dark rift. 
  Squawking in surprise, the tengu fell backward, and the rift 
began to collapse on itself. The priestess shook her head in 
disgust. 
  Landing back on his feet, watching the rift wink out of 
existence, the martial artist said, "You need to learn how to 
fight." 
  Raising her fists in anger, the girl shouted, "Damn you! That 
was even quicker than I expected!" 
  "That's what you get, depending on somebody else to do your 
work," Ranma shot back. "Now I think this is the part where you 
go back home in defeat." 
  "I'm NOT through with you yet!" she yelled, producing yet 
a pair of marble-sized metal balls. "The next time we meet, you 
won't see the fight coming! Ah-ha-ha-ha-hah!" 
  She threw the balls down, and they burst into a cloud of smoke. 
  Ranma coughed as the smoke spread quickly into his air space, 
but held his ground. 
  As the smoke dissipated, the girl was still standing there, 
looking down. 
  "Well, shit," she cursed to herself, "forgot I was supposed to 
run...." 

  As soon as Ranma entered the Tendo house he heard Kasumi's 
warm welcome. 
  "Hello, Ranma!" she said cheerfully. "Akane's been waiting for 
you. I think she's upstairs." 
  "Great," Ranma muttered under his breath. 
  Without enthusiasm the martial artist plodded his way up the 
stairs, and turned to face the door of her... THEIR, room. 
Already images of the angry, uncute tomboy entered Ranma's 
thoughts, and he was not in the mood to put up with all of that 
again, not after the mock battle. 
  Instead, upon opening the door, there was a look of worry on 
Akane's face. 
  "Ranma!" she exclaimed. "You're okay!" 
  He shrugged. "What gave you...?" 
  "I just felt... felt that there was something bad going to 
happen," she blurted out. "It's usually dealing with you." 
  Immediately Ranma's spirits raised. "Nah, it was nothing." 
  "Something DID happen!" 
  "Yep. Another half-crazed girl coming for revenge or somethin' 
like that. No problems; she should be on the next train outta 
here by now." 
  "That's... great." Akane hardly knew what else to say. 
  Ranma pointed a finger at his wife. "You were worried about 
me?" 
  "Well... yeah." 
  "Heh, figures marriage would make you...." 

  Nabiki flipped through the channels on the television just as 
Ranma landed in the pond out in the yard. With a bored expression, 
she cast a glance out at the now-female Ranma, shaking her head. 
  "Well," she muttered, "time to get everything set, I guess. 
Those two can't possibly wait it out forever." 
  No, she thought, for within a few days, those two's 
arguments will be the least of their problems. 


That Evening

  Nabiki hardly needed to find excuses to get herself away from 
the other members of her household, but for times like this she 
needed to be away from them. All of them. 
  Taking the time to go to the nearest pay phone, three blocks 
away from the Tendo household, Nabiki punched in the numbers on 
the keypad that would give her what she wanted. 
  She dialed in a toll-free number and waited. 
  "Welcome to the Pacific Hell Tele...." 
  Nabiki punched the star key, followed by the seven key. She 
counted to herself for three seconds, then quickly punched 
the pound key, followed by three, seven, and three. 
  A series of three, low beeps, then a dial tone, was the 
middle Tendo sister's reward. She waited. 
  At the other end, someone picked up the receiver. 
  "Yes?" answered a scrambled voice. 
  Good, Nabiki thought. Time to get to business. 
  "It's Black Widow," Nabiki answered, using the pseudonym 
she had used many times before. "I've got another job for you." 
  A slight pause. "What now?" 
  "Remember how I told you last time I may need you to bug a 
house for me?" she asked. "Well, I hope you've got the stuff 
ready, because I'm calling you up on that. And I don't need the 
entire house done, lucky for you." 
  "Go on." 
  "You see, I only need two rooms done. Two critical rooms. 
After that, I want you to continuously monitor both of those, 
and give me the tapes when a certain event happens in either one 
of those rooms." 
  "What... kind of event?" 
  Nabiki smacked her lips twice rapidly. 
  "I see." 
  "Alright... I hear that hesitation." She sighed. "Look, if you 
do this for me, not only will I forget about the locker room 
incident, but I'll pay you a little extra than your usual price." 
  Another pause. "Do I have your guarantee on that?" 
  "Of course." 
  "You didn't give your word. Promise, or deal is off." 
  Nabiki sighed, wishing she didn't have to put up with such 
nonsense. "Okay... I promise." 
  "You promise WHAT?" insisted the voice. 
  "I promise I'll let you go over the locker room incident." 
  "AND...?" 
  "And I'll pay you a twenty-percent bonus if you do this job." 
  She heard a slight click in the transmission. A recording. 
  "That's better." 
  "You're getting better at this," complimented Nabiki. 
  "I only make a mistake once." 
  "Make sure that's very true." 
  "How soon do you need this done?" 
  "I need it done by tomorrow night." 
  "That's not a lot of time... but it is just two rooms." 
  "You got that right. Also, I...." 
  "Hang on a sec. I've got to switch frequencies." 
  Nabiki shook her head as a low static replaced the voice on 
the phone. Glancing quickly at her watch, she realized that it 
was five minutes since the start of the conversation. 
  Yup, she thought, as usual. 
  A moment later the static was replaced by the voice. "Almost 
forgot that time." 
  "Yes." 
  "If I didn't know any better I'd think you were trying to 
stall me." 
  "Oh, come on... I gave you my word I wouldn't...." 
  "You only said you wouldn't hold the incident against me." 
  "True enough." 
  "Well, here's your fair warning: I can disappear a lot faster 
than you can find me." 
  "But that would be counterproductive for both of us." 
  "Of course." 
  "Anyway, I gave you the address last time, so you should know 
where I want you to go." 
  "And which rooms did you want me to wire?" 
  "One of them would be the bathroom." 
  She heard the sound of retching on the other end. 
  "I'm not going to watch THAT carefully, then." 
  "The other is a bedroom." 
  "That shouldn't be too hard to handle." 
  "I need you keeping tabs on these for at least a week. If 
everything goes according to plan, then you won't have to wait 
even that long. And, if worse comes to worse, I'll pay you 
another week and bonus pay." 
  "Until you hear from me, it's in my hands." 
  "Ah, almost forgot. One other thing you could do for me." 
  The voice sighed. "What else?" 
  "See if you can locate Kodachi Kuno for me. If you do there'll 
be another bonus for you." 
  There was a slight pause. "I'll see what I can do." 
  "Good. Black Widow out." 

  The shadow priestess hoped she wasn't making too much noise 
as she slid the window open. 
  There they were-- two slumbering people, a male and female, 
each at the opposite ends of the room in their own beds. The 
intruder was hardly interested in the girl; it was Ranma she 
wanted. 
  Quietly, the intruder slipped inside, making careful, 
deliberate steps toward the sleeping Ranma. She reached into 
the folds of her robe, producing a single steel card, feeling it 
was more than sufficient for the job. 
  Standing over Ranma, the shadow intruder raised her arm high. 
And then, aiming for the neck, she slashed downward.... 
  ...only to slice through the pillow as Ranma rolled away. 
  There was a blur of motion, and suddenly, the intruder found 
her arm being clamped to a strong hand. 
  "You don't like to give up, do ya?" Ranma hissed, breaking out 
of his false slumber. 
  "You...!" yelled the intruder. 
  Instantly, she realized the other girl was behind her. 
  "Who are you?" demanded Akane. "And what do you want?!" 
  "What?" replied the intruder. "You aren't going to ask, 'why 
are you here?'" 
  "We already know the answer to that!" Ranma shouted back. 
  The priestess chuckled to herself. "Not really, but I 
suppose you get the general idea." Quickly, quietly, she 
slipped her free hand back into her sleeve. 
  "Answer the questions!" Ranma demanded harshly. 
  "Another time, I think!" 
  With her free hand the priestess threw three pellets against 
the ground. Upon impact, all three pellets exploded into a 
cloud of smoke and flashes, forcing Ranma and Akane to shield 
their eyes and mouths. 
  "Dammit!" cursed the martial artist, making his way to the 
window. "Can't believe she did it again!" 
  There was a startled scream, then something landing on 
the ground below. 
  "Shit!" Ranma heard the priestess say from the ground. 
"Forgot that was the second floor!" 


The Next Morning 

  "Hey, Ranma!" Hiroshi shouted as he ran by Ranma and Akane, 
"did you see the new girl?!" 
  Ranma's eyes narrowed suspiciously at the news. He turned 
to Akane and said, "Why do I get the feeling we already know 
who this is?" 
  However, much to Ranma's surprise, he had gone to class and 
never encountered the 'new student.' He almost expected her to 
be in his class-- with his luck, that's where they usually 
ended up. And, for a brief time, his innate suspicion seemed 
to be for naught. 
  It wasn't until gym that his suspicions were confirmed. 
  While playing basketball Ranma couldn't help but note that 
the same girl who had attacked him twice before was simply 
sitting there at the benches, watching him play. She sat alone, 
though she was hardly without company, as guys who were not 
currently involved in the game were trying to talk to her. 
  During his divided times paying attention to the game and 
paying attention to the new girl, Ranma concluded that she 
wasn't interested in them. And yet.... 
  When it was Ranma's turn to be rotated out of the game, and 
unable to locate Akane within the gym, he headed straight for 
the girl, against his better judgement. 
  Other guys parted as Ranma stood in front of her, but the 
girl didn't bother to look up at him. She stared blankly 
straight ahead, her elbows resting on her knees, as if lost in 
thought. 
  "Hey," greeted Ranma, offering a hand. 
  Breaking out of her reverie, the girl looked up at Ranma and 
smiled, taking the hand and shook it. 
  "You're new here, right?" he asked, even though the answer was 
a given in his mind. 
  "Everybody here seems friendly," the girl replied, ignoring the 
question. "You trying to ask me out?" 
  "Nah," he replied casually. "Already covered there." 
  "That's good to hear." The girl sighed. "I've never met so many 
guys that wanted to go out with me before." 
  "That's no surprise." 
  "I'm Shizuka," she offered. "Shizuka Minazuki." 
  "Ranma Saotome," Ranma said in turn. 
  "It's read as 'quiet month of rain,'" Shizuka added. "Of 
course, I'd hardly think that possible...." 
  "Ah, some of us have strange names. So, where'd you come from?"  
  "Osaka," she answered. "It's a nice place, but I've been sent 
here to live with my cousin Kyoko for a while." 
  Ranma had no idea what to say next. The conversation had hardly 
gone the way he'd expected. For a ruthless killing machine, this 
Shizuka was an awfully nice girl. 
  And the thought of that confused Ranma even more. 
  He waved. "Nice talking to ya, Shizuka. I gotta get goin'." 
  "Bye!" she said, obviously happy. 

  "That girl is even stranger than the rest of 'em," concluded 
Ranma, as he walked beside Akane on the way home. 
  After gym class was over Akane, too, got the chance to 
confront Shizuka herself, during lunch. She, too, met the same 
merry girl that Ranma had met earlier, and this puzzled her 
much. 
  "It's almost as if she's an entirely different person," Akane 
agreed. "What do you suppose it is?" 
  "Beats me," Ranma said, shrugging. "Maybe she has an evil 
twin or somethin'." 
  "I don't know what to think," admitted Akane. 
  "I dunno either... but I don't think it's safe to say that 
she won't try to atta...." 
  As if on cue, three steel cards flew toward Ranma. He leaped 
back in surprise. 
  "I've got to think of better entrances than that," a voice 
said. 
  Shizuka revealed herself from around the corner ahead of 
Ranma and Akane, dressed in her priestess costume. Gone was 
the happiness of only hours before, replaced by the cold 
gaze of yesterday. 
  "Shizuka!" both Ranma and Akane shouted. 
  The priestess slapped herself on the cheek. "Dammit! How'd 
you figure that out so fast?!" 
  "Wha...?" stuttered Ranma, confused. "You just told...." 
  "Shut up!" commanded Shizuka angrily. She pointed a cold 
finger at the martial artist. "This time, demon, I've got 
something that'll destroy you for sure!" 
  Quickly, the priestess whipped out her new weapon from up 
her sleeves. 
  Ranma's eyes narrowed with contempt. "A SHOTGUN?" 
  Shizuka leveled the barrel to Ranma's head, a twisted smile 
forming on her face. "Send my regards to the beyond!" 
  She pulled the trigger. 
  Ranma felt stupid about dodging as a banner shot out from 
the barrel of the shotgun. Unfurling itself in the air, 
bits of confetti rained down upon the concrete walkway. 
  Akane stood, stupefied by what she had just seen. She read 
aloud, "'Happy Birthday Kobayashi?!'" 
  Shizuka lowered the shotgun, staring up at the banner that 
fluttered in the air. "Damn. That's the last time I work at 
birthday parties before I go hunting!" 
  Tossing the shotgun aside, the priestess reached into her 
sleeves again. "But THIS...!" 
  But Ranma was already in front of her, holding her arms fast 
before the priestess could find what she was looking for. 
  "I don't know what's going on with you," Ranma started, "but 
you're going to tell us." 
  Akane stood next to her husband. "Why are you doing this?" 
  Shizuka snarled in anger, realizing she was really beaten 
this time. "Damn, fuck, shit!" 
  "Hey, save that for AFTER we finish!" Ranma insisted. 

  Ranma paced slowly around the bound Shizuka in the Tendo 
dojo, hands behind his back. The priestess' arms were tied 
with a thick rope, with her hands tied in turn in front of 
her, in case she tried to escape. Akane stood nearby, along 
with the other members of the Tendo household. 
  "Alright," Ranma began, "what's going on here?" 
  "You wanna be more specific than that, demon?" Shizuka 
shot back. "Do your worst!" 
  "Who are you, and what is it you want?" 
  Proudly, she answered, "Shizuka Minazuki, the 'Silencer' 
of evil spirits, demons, and their ilk. I'm here to get rid 
of demons like you, of course." 
  "Ranma's not a demon!" Akane protested. 
  "Of COURSE he is!" Shizuka insisted. "I can feel it in his 
aura. Demons leave a nice signature in them." 
  All eyes turned to Ranma. 
  "Last time I checked," Ranma answered defensively, "I don't 
have anything in me!" 
  "Don't be stupid!" the priestess yelled. "You're a Grade A 
host! Demons and spirits LOVE you!!" 
  "He's telling the truth!" Akane said. "Shampoo's got it now." 
  Shizuka turned to face Akane. "You mean the girl with the 
demon weapon?!" 
  "What's all this talk about 'demons,' anyway?" Ranma asked. 
"You just label EVERYTHING a demon!" 
  "If you're not a demon, you're consorting with one!" the 
priestess insisted. "They're very clever, these spirits!" 
  "You think she's talkin' about the Seiryu spirits?" Ranma 
asked Akane. "That's the only thing this could be about." 
  "Yeah," agreed his wife. 
  "Dammit, you fools!" Shizuka cried. "If they were TRULY the 
Seiryu spirits, then why are the star jewels of Seiryu still 
in their proper orders?" 
  "You know about that stuff?" Ranma exclaimed in surprise. 
  "Of COURSE I do! As a priestess of Genbu, it's my duty to 
look after the affairs of the Four Gods!" 
  "'Priestess of Genbu,' eh?" Soun repeated, scratching his 
chin. "I had no idea people still worshipped them." 
  "It's the black turtle of legend," added Nabiki. "Supposed 
to be the ruler of the North, or something like that." 
  "Big deal," Ranma said. "What does this have to do with me?" 
  "You're in collusion with malevolent spirits that claim to 
be the spirits of Seiryu, that's what!" Shizuka said. "I'm 
the only one available to deal with them, and I need to 
destroy each and every one of them!" 
  "And you haven't succeeded yet, have you?" guessed Akane. 
  Shizuka shook her head. "So far those seven malevolences 
have been very sneaky. They're just as tricky as the real 
seven spirits." 
  "You know, I'd like to explain the reason for that and all, 
but I don't think you'd buy it," Ranma remarked. 
  "That doesn't explain why you're trying to kill Ranma," Akane 
pointed out. "You should know that Tomo isn't in him anymore." 
  "It doesn't matter if the false Tomo is in him or not!" 
screamed the priestess. "He's been marked! They WILL come back 
for him, and when they do...." 
  "That's getting a little premature, don't you think?" Ranma 
said. "After all, you're not even good enough to scratch me, 
so why don't you just go home?" 
  "Shut up, you prick!" the priestess shot back angrily. "You're 
in their web, whether you like it or not! Enjoy your last 
fleeting moments of freedom while you can, for when they 
return for you...!" 
  With a sudden rush of adrenaline, the thick bonds holding 
Shizuka burst apart. The priestess was at her feet in an 
instant. She turned to face Ranma with bloodlust in her eyes. 
  "THEY WON'T HAVE A BODY TO COLLECT!!!" she screamed, lunging 
at the martial artist with a concealed knife. 
  Ranma broke and ran from the crazed priestess, bursting out 
of the dojo quickly, leaving the others behind. He glanced over 
his shoulder, surprised to see that Shizuka was keeping up 
with him. 
  He leaped over the wall, landing in the streets behind the 
Tendo property, and looked around in puzzlement. 
  Decorating every wall on the block was a set of ofuda paper 
wards, meant to contain evil spirits. 
  "She's got to be kidding," Ranma muttered under his breath, 
as said girl vaulted over the wall. 
  "Nowhere to go, demon!" Shizuka snarled, holding the knife 
with a steady hand. 
  Stepping back, Ranma said, "You don't really expect all 
these stupid post-it notes are really going to keep me here, 
do ya?" 
  "Just long enough for me to kill you!" 
  "Ranma!" Akane shouted from the other side of the wall. 
  "Akane, stay back!" Ranma shouted, frantically looking 
around the street for something that could help him 
against the crazed priestess. 
  And then he saw it. 
  Ranma scrambled toward the closest manhole cover, running 
through the matrix of wards as if they were never there. Small 
arcs of lightning slammed through the martial artist's body as 
he made his mad dash. 
  "Come back, you coward!" Shizuka yelled, close behind. 
  Quickly, Ranma lifted the heavy manhole cover, holding it 
up in front of him like a shield. A heartbeat later, 
something heavy crashed against the cover, and the knife 
meant for his throat was stopped short. He watched as 
Shizuka, almost comically, fell into the open sewer. 
  Suddenly realizing he was breathing hard, Ranma dropped the 
manhole cover back over the hole, glad to be rid of the 
priestess of Genbu. 
  Feeling heavy, the martial artist collapsed on the pavement, 
just as the shouts from Akane grew louder. 

  Shampoo knew the best time to attack was now. 
  Silently descending from her perch in the tree, the Chinese 
Amazon, having watched the head priest of the shrine for over 
a day, quickly formulated her prey's mannerisms. She knew, at 
around this time each afternoon, the priest would leave the 
confines of his shrine and feed the birds. From the previous 
day Shampoo determined that the priest was most relaxed, and 
thus, most vulnerable, during this time. 
  Not that he'd expect an attack in the first place. 
  She made her way to the side of the shrine, her back against 
the wall. Edging to the corner, she poked her head around, just 
as the priest exited the building. 
  Miboshi warned, Something's not right. 
  "What?!" Shampoo hissed silently. 
  I hardly detect Amiboshi's trace anymore. 
  "Don't be stupid!" the Chinese Amazon shot back. "When you 
figure out it wasn't priest?" 
  What? 
  "Aura not same as when Tomo in Ranma," Shampoo pointed out. 
"Instead of presence, only traces. So he only have some contact 
with Amiboshi." 
  So Amiboshi isn't here. 
  "No, that means Amiboshi is inside." 
  With the priest's back turned, Shampoo quietly slipped into 
the shrine, and began to count to herself mentally, counting down 
from six-hundred seconds. 
  Not surprisingly, the shrine was empty, for Shampoo had not seen 
any other at the shrine other than the priest. Her predatorial 
eyes darted left to right, scanning for the alien aura while slowly 
moving through the building. 
  Her eyes stopped at the far left corner, where a suit of samurai 
armor hung. 
  Five-seventy-two. 
  The Chinese Amazon, throwing away caution, ran to the armor, 
drawing Seiryu's weapon with her right hand. Smiling to 
herself, she thrust the weapon into the armor. 
  Only to be stopped by the armor's glove. 
  Looking up in shock, Shampoo finally noticed two glowing 
coals of eyes under the empty helmet, and cursed. 
  Forgetting her stealth, and losing count, the Chinese Amazon 
planted her right foot into the armor's chest plate, and kicked 
back. The desperate move forced the armor's glove to release 
her. 
  "Amiboshi," Shampoo hissed. 
  "I'm not going back," the armor said, a disembodied voice from 
a bodiless suit of armor. A nearly invisible energy lifted the 
armor from the corner. Shampoo could detect the faint outline of 
a man under the armor, as it clashed against the now-glowing 
samurai armor. 
  "You have no weapon," the Chinese Amazon pointed out. "Don't 
resist, and I'll make this easy for you!" 
  Without reply, Amiboshi attacked with his gloved fists. 
Shampoo easily dodged the untrained attacks, but found she 
could not find an opening while the ghost armor attacked. 
  All I need to do is puncture it, Shampoo thought. He probably 
knows that, too. 
  She leaped back as another of Amiboshi's wild attacks punched 
a hole in the floor, forcing wood splinters into the air. 
Planting her feet against the wall behind her, Shampoo 
catapulted herself forward, ready to thrust with Seiryu's 
weapon, backed by momentum. 
  But Amiboshi anticipated the move, and stepped aside, allowing 
the Chinese Amazon to continue her path into the opposite wall. 
Realizing her mistake, Shampoo forcefully turned herself around 
in mid-air, angling her feet first to the wall. She sprung from 
the wall in turn, now with greater speed, and tackled Amiboshi 
in the side. 
  The samurai armor against the ground, Shampoo turned the 
weapon downward, and thrust. 
  Piercing the armor through the chest plate, the glow faded, 
being sucked like a vacuum cleaner into Seiryu's weapon. 
  Breathing heavily, Shampoo brushed her forehead, just as the 
shadow of the priest, standing in the doorway, cast over her. 
  "Who're you?!" demanded the priest. 
  To tired to answer, Shampoo realized now was the time to 
leave. Standing to her feet, sheathing the weapon into her 
belt, the Chinese Amazon feigned a fighting stance. 
  Taking the bait, the priest whipped out an ofuda. Shampoo 
charged. 
  And ran past the priest. 
  With great speed Shampoo jumped down the long stairway to the 
valley below, satisfied her work was done. 
  For now. 


That Evening 

  "What a rush," Ranma described the flight, sitting up on his 
bed. He winced as Akane dabbed a swab over a bruise. "Hey, 
careful with that." 
  "Sorry," apologized his wife. "I was worried about you." 
  "Second time this week," he pointed out. 
  "I know." 
  The couples' eyes met each others'. 
  "You know," Akane started, "Shizuka said something about 
'moments of freedom' and stuff...." 
  "Yeah...." Ranma nodded. 
  "And... well... maybe we have all the time in the world...." 
  "Maybe... or maybe not...." 
  "And...." 
  But words were nothing compared to action as Akane jumped 
into Ranma's waiting arms. 

  Sitting in a dimly-lit office, far from the Tendo household, 
yet so very near, Chikatomo Hisho's face wrinkled as she watched 
Ranma and Akane passionately kiss each other on the surveillance 
camera. She checked the tape deck, making sure that it was 
indeed recording, just as Black Widow asked, and cursed, for 
she realized she dropped her cigarette somewhere. 
  Knowing human behavior, one thing leads to another. 
  "That's disgusting," Chika said aloud, turning her face away 
from the monitors. 
  Why the Yakuza would want to see this was beyond me, Chika 
thought. 
  Ignoring that particular monitor, the girl turned her 
attention back to the more important tasks at hand. 

  Patience rewarded Kodachi with the exact event she wanted. 
From her vantage point she could make out the freight train 
coming around the tracks toward the tunnel. 
  The gymnast reached down to her belt, and picked up her 
walkie-talkie. "Aya... it's coming." 
  After a brief moment, a girl on the other end replied, "I 
think we're ready." 
  Setting down the walkie-talkie, and snatching up her 
binoculars, Kodachi's eyes followed the path of the freight 
train as it quickly made its way toward the tunnel. In her 
head she counted down the seconds, the seconds it would take 
for the train to make it to the tunnel. 
  And then she reached the point when it was long past the 
point of no return. 
  It's not going to work, she thought bitterly. 
  But, just as the train was about to enter the tunnel, an 
explosion from the tracks below it caused the freight train 
to topple. Kodachi stared at the inferno with relief, glad 
that the bombs she had to import were good, after all. 
  A message from the walkie-talkie interrupted Kodachi's 
moment of celebration. "Train's not going anywhere. I think we 
got most of the weapons, too." 
  "Good," replied Kodachi. "Make sure you don't leave any 
evidence of our being here, and let's go home." 


The Next Morning

  Cold silence was the only sound that issued between the couple 
Ranma and Akane as they passed through the Furinkan High gates. 
Although there was nothing different to see from any other school 
morning, to Ranma, he almost thought the voices aournd him were 
aimed squarely at him. 
  No, he had nothing to be ashamed of-- Ranma felt quite good, 
actually. No, the other students probably were talking about 
him-- but about the fight, and not.... 
  "D'you suppose," Ranma began, directing his voice at Akane, 
"that Shizuka'd still be here? I mean, after yesterday?" 
  Akane quickly scanned the students around the yard. "I don't 
see her." She turned her eyes to Ranma. "Do you think she's 
gone?" 
  He shrugged. "Maybe...." 
  The couple had no sooner reached the front entrance of the 
school when their expectations were shattered. 
  "Hi Ranma, Akane!" shouted the voice of Shizuka. 
  Both heads turned to look over their shoulders as the girl, 
dressed in the girl's uniform, ran up to them, smiling. 
  "Shizuka...." Akane stuttered, surprised. 
  The girl raised a large paper bag for the couple to see. "I 
thought I'd give you two a present." 
  "What for?" asked Ranma, becoming more puzzled by the moment. 
  "I'd thought this'd be a nice 'thank you' for being so 
friendly," Shizuka explained. "Not unlike most guys who want to 
go out with me, or girls that want to talk about guys." 
  "Well... who woulda thought?" he answered. 
  The girl held the bag out for Ranma, who accepted. "I've got 
to get to class. See you at lunch?" 
  "Ah... sure," Akane agreed. 
  Both Ranma and Akane watched Shizuka take off ahead of them, 
and, as soon as she was out of sight both turned their eyes on 
the paper bag. 
  "You don't suppose it's explosive?" wondered Ranma. 
  Without waiting, Akane opened the bag, and reached her arm 
down into it. Quickly grabbing an object, she pulled it out. 
  In her hand was a small stuffed Keroppi doll. 
  Ranma scratched his head. "She's definitely the weirdest 
we've met." 

  Tofu hardly acknowledged Shampoo's return as she slipped 
into the office, going through some papers on his desk. Glad 
she hardly had to fake pleasantries with the acupuncturist, 
the Chinese Amazon made her way to her room down the hallway. 
  Glad to be back in her room after the trip, Shampoo pulled 
Seiryu's weapon from her belt, throwing it on the desk. 
  What was that for?! demanded Miboshi. 
  "You're stupid." 
  Well, nobody's perfect. Besides, why are we here? 
  "I need a break. I can't run around all the time." 
  Just because of your human frailties, doesn't mean you can 
slack off. We can track Soi, Suboshi, or Ashitare next, 
whichever you prefer.... 
  "Not now!" the Chinese Amazon shot back. "I need break." 
  The sooner, the better. One day at most. 
  "One day not enough!" 
  We are growing impatient. Ukyo finished in six hours. 
  "She no had to search for you!" Shampoo pointed out. 
  Excuses. 
  Her anger flaring, Shampoo grabbed the weapon with both 
hands. "Be silent or be destroyed!" 
  You wouldn't. 
  "Yes, I would!" she threatened. "One trip to smelter, and no 
more you!" 
  No, no! Alright... I concede. 
  "Never forget who control your destiny!" 
  Of course... of course not. 
  Satisfied, Shampoo threw the weapon back onto the desk, then 
threw herself into bed. 


That Evening 

  Nabiki waited patiently at the pay phone, one farther away 
from home than she would have liked. This pay phone was not 
the same one she had used before, but it was the one used 
when the results of a job were in. 
  Earlier in the day Nabiki received a strange message in her 
anonymous mail box, one she used to conduct delicate business. 
Although Nabiki had a good idea what the message was for, 
the message itself was quite cryptic: "Cookies done. Get them 
while they're hot at usual place, one at night." There was 
no return address or any indication from who it could have 
come from, but Nabiki suspected that it was a message from 
Tomo. 
  As soon as the phone ringed, the middle Tendo sister 
picked up the receiver. 
  "Black Widow here." 
  The scrambled voice of Tomo answered in response. "It 
happened a lot sooner than you predicted, but I got it." 
  "That's good." 
  "Stick the money in the slot." 
  Nabiki opened her wallet, producing the requisite amount 
of payment. She stooped to her knees, and found the hidden 
bill slot under the pay phone. As soon as the bills 
disappeared, a hidden compartment in the floor opened, 
revealing a small stack of two VCR tapes. 
  "That WAS fast," admitted Nabiki. 
  "If you hadn't paid me extra, I would've turned you down 
quick. That was the most... revolting thing I've ever seen." 
  "I thought it would." 
  "What you're going to do with those tapes, I don't care, 
but leave me out of it." 
  "Don't worry, nobody'll suspect a thing." 
  "Next time you ask me to... surveillance THAT, the rate is 
tripled." 
  "I'm sure I won't have to ask you again. Oh, by the way... 
did you find Kodachi Kuno?" 
  There was a slight pause. "Slip in more money." 
  Nabiki groaned as she fed more bills into the hidden slot. 
  "Good," answered Tomo. "Kodachi's at home." 
  "That's not good information!" 
  "Well, she wasn't there yesterday, but she's there now." 
  "That's cheap!" 
  "You PAID for it. 'You get what you pay for.'" 
  "Fair enough." 
  "Nice doing business with you." 
  The other end of the line hung up, leaving Nabiki with her 
tapes. She hung up the phone, shrugging. Gathering the tapes 
in her arms, Nabiki headed back home. 
  "I think I can do interesting things with you two," she 
muttered under her breath. 

  With a grunt Shizuka Minazuki pulled herself out of the 
river dump of the sewer. 
  Tossing herself into the concrete riverbed, sucking in the 
clean air as if it were scarce, glad she was out of the 
disgusting sewer, the priestess never felt so unclean 
in her entire life. She gazed up at the stars, momentarily 
wondering what Kyoko would say when she got home. 
  Throughout the entire day she had been wandering the sewer 
maze, Shizuka had a lot of time to think about her time in 
Tokyo. She had come to the conclusion that she had made 
several very bad mistakes, enough mistakes to jeopardize the 
mission. Ranma Saotome was obviously a bit too much to handle. 
  Worst of all, Shizuka had no idea how they figured out who 
she was. 
  Weary, the priestess crawled to the river, and stared at 
her own reflection. Dirty blemishes smeared her face here and 
there, from bumping into black walls to bad falls. She cupped 
her hands, ignoring the slash she made on her left arm during the 
first fall, dipping it slowly into the river, and slowly lifted 
it back out. 
  A few small drops broke the cupped water's surface, and for 
the first time the priestess realized she was crying. 
  How in the world did I end up so bad? she wondered. Why am 
I crying? 
  "Those spirits are indeed very clever. Perhaps it is time to 
take a different approach to all this mess." 
  Staring in the reflection of the water Shizuka saw the 
familiar image talking to her. "I... I don't know what to do." 
  "It will come to you in time. For now, rest, Daughter. You 
are in no shape to continue at this time." 
  Shizuka nodded slowly. "But... but... during all that... the 
Chinese girl will gather them...." 
  "You are not fit to confront her either. It was a mistake to 
send you alone in the first place." 
  "I can beat them!" the priestess replied. 
  "Rest now, fight later." 
  Defeated, Shizuka sighed. "Oh... all right...." 
  Too tired to move, the priestess collapsed to her side, her 
eyes closing slowly. For a moment, she wished Thanatos was 
with her, but sleep overcame her. 

  "Shizuka failed," a deep, male voice announced. 
  The source of the voice, as with the rest of the chamber, 
was shrouded in darkness. A single light source, mounted 
perfectly at the center of the room on the ceiling, shone 
down, proving the only illumination. No one stood in the light, 
but many stood around it, as if afraid to step within. 
  "We were wrong to send her alone, even if she was better 
trained than the others," continued the male voice. 
  "Then what would you have us do?" asked a wizened, female 
voice. "The others are too busy with their tasks to assist the 
girl now, and we need her to finish up soon." 
  "There is another option," growled a third voice, a male. 
  "We can send the apprentice," a fourth voice said, a young 
female. "The apprentice, though training is not complete, can 
supplement Shizuka's skills, and thus increase the success 
rate." 
  "Is that wise?" asked the wizened female. 
  "Summon the apprentice, then we may decide," the deep voice 
decided. 
  In a brief moment, the apprentice now stood in the light. 
Dressed in a flowing black robe which hid all features, the 
apprentice stood tall and dignified. 
  "You have been chosen," the deep voice said, "to aid 
Shizuka of Genbu in her hunt. You will depart immediately." 
  "But...." protested the apprentice. 
  "Your training may not be complete, but you are competent 
enough," the wizened female interrupted. "It is time for you 
to return to the land of the living." 
  "I suppose," agreed the apprentice reluctantly. 
  Almost as an afterthought, she added, "Say 'hi' to Shizu for 
me." 
  The apprentice nodded carefully. "I will. It'll be good to 
see her again." 
  "Then, go," the deep voice commanded, "and good luck." 

  As soon as the second tape was done, Nabiki rewound it. 
Flipping on the television, setting a low volume level, she 
instantly pushed the record button, utterly disgusted by what 
she saw. 
  The first tape, as expected, was the one for the bathroom, 
which Nabiki instantly destroyed by taping over it. She knew 
that was the dummy tape, and was far more eager to view the 
contents of the second tape-- the one of Ranma and Akane's 
bedroom. 
  Disappointed, and angry at herself for wasting such good 
money, Nabiki realized her blackmail plans were for naught; 
the contents on the tape was worthless. 
  Nothing happened. 

  In her private office, alone in the night save for the wall 
of monitors, Chika sat back in her chair, holding the master 
tape in her hand, an almost-spent cigarette between her lips. 
She flipped the tape back and forth, debating to herself on 
its final fate. 
  'Black Widow,' as the wretch called herself, was just a two- 
bit ronin, Chika realized, recognizing her from the locker room 
tapes. Nabiki Tendo was an incredibly sloppy character if she 
thought she could hide from 'Tomo' for very long. 
  It was merely a simple matter to compare the voice from the 
video with that of her recorded voice of the promise, then a 
quick check in the archives. Very, very sloppy indeed. 
  For a time, the media specialist even considered cutting off 
Nabiki's access to 'Tomo.' 
  However, for Chika, revenge was a subtle process. The one 
she had feared since the locker room tape incident deserved it 
where it hurt her hard-- in the piggy bank. Denying Nabiki of 
her objective was a great bonus as well; if she ever wanted to 
try this stunt again, the profits would be immense. 
  But, that still left the matters of the tape. 
  Chika sat up in her seat, seriously considering the 
consequences of holding such footage, snuffing out her 
cigarette in her ash tray. She, too, probably could use it, 
just as Nabiki had hoped to; she, too, could blackmail 
Ranma and Akane. Even better, she could blackmail Nabiki Tendo 
into doing what she wanted. 
  Without a second thought, the media specialist ripped the tape 
out, then ran them through the shredder under her desk. 



------------------------------------------------ 
Author's Notes 

  The second part, herein we introduce Shizuka to the Ranma 
gang. I've realized by now that I've effectively gotten rid 
of most of the male characters in this story, so now there's 
only Ranma left... for now. I'm not sure if that's a 
particularly good thing, that I'm writing a bunch of girls. 
  Unlike fire, ice does not burn itself out, but melt.... 
  Another look at the Nabiki Mercenary angle-- being outwitted 
by someone even better at being a mercenary. For a complete 
wuss (in the last story), Chika is the better, because she has 
the right stuff. 
  'Black Widow' is the Japanese name for Beast Wars' 
Blackarachnia, the femme-fatale. 
  On the Shizuka part: this was an attempt by the author in 
order to carefully simulate the action in the manga. While 
the medium is limited, hopefully there's enough for the reader 
to draw points to one another. It wasn't particularly easy, but 
I think it's passable. 
  Feel free to comment/rail about the tape's contents. Careful 
readers should know what's on it. 


Razorclaw X (spiceoflife@NOREPLYhotmail.com) 
http://www.crosswinds.net/~slythe/ranma/ranff.html 

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