You see a... well... it's sort of difficult to describe. The term
'landfill' has been used before, but for this occasion lets refer to it as
a 'dorm room.'In the general vicinity of where one would presume the bed
would be lays a figure completely covered by thick blankets and various
items of discarded clothing. The unwashed mass shifts aside a bit to
reveal Eimii, looking pale and somewhat gaunt. 

"Hi there! Sorry for the wait, but certain things prevented me from
getting this done as fast as i might have hoped." Eimii starts to prop
herself up in bed, but them shivers and instead just re-adjusts the
various cloth items covering her.

"No... actually, that's not true. The power outages at my father's house
where i spent most of the winter and the lack of heat in this dorm room
where i've been spending the last week, blissfully enjoying the 
wonderfull, sub-zero rocky mountain winter may have been slightly at
fault. The fact that i've been sick all of vacation and haven't been able
to buy food on a regular basis since i got back to college were a slight
annoyance as well. But the real reason i'm so late with this is because
i'm just plain lazy." The pile shifts a bit, revealing a hand clutching a
dog-eared, chewed up manuscript. It sports numerous stains of
indeterminate origin, and bends sickly under the weight of several layers
of correction fluid. 

"Here it is, Chapter two. In all honesty, this only covers about a third
or maybe a fourth of the material that i had originally planned to have in
chapter two. To he whom i promised a role in this, er... work, you're
still in. Just probably not until chapter four. I've got this thing
planned out until around chapter six or seven, so i'm probably going to be
writing it from here until eternity."

Eimii glances around the room for a moment, an intent look on her face.
Eventually, her eyes settle on a mound of... on a mound slightly to the
right and about a foot away from her bed. Still clutching the manuscript,
she attempts to get out of bed. For several reasons, probably including
sleep deprivation, malnutrition, and the fact that the mess on her bed has
congealed together and may have attained sentience, she dosent get very
far. Sighing, she instead gropes about on the wall until she finds the
electrical outlet. Selecting a cord, she begins pulling on it until the
mound starts moving towards the bed. Upon it reacing the bed, Eimii gives
one final tug, unearthing a desk top scanner. The words 'property of the
university of montana'  have been partially scratched off of it's side.

"Okay. Here it comes. Any C&C, flames, or random musings of deranged minds
will be gladly recieved." Eimii stops abrubtly and glances around the
room. "Actually, i'd appreciate it if you'd clearly label flames. There's
too much combustable material in here..."



                     --SHATTERED HEARTS ON THE ROAD--

                             ..CHAPTER TWO..




                                 -ECHOES-

SUNDAY
JULY 7th, 1996
6:45 AM

A ragged, shadowy figure trudged down an empty, suburban street. his
echoing footfalls pierced the otherwise perfect silence of the still
morning air. The morning was crisp and damp, mist still hanging in the
twilight of pre-dawn.

The figure stopped, extending his senses in all directions. He turned and
slowly scanned the street from under the drawn hood of his dust cloak. The
cloak seemed to sense his agitation, rippling and writhing in some unfelt
rush of wind. But the stranger didn't notice

*Something is following me.*

Warily, the stranger turned back to the street ahead and continued
walking.

*Could it be them? Have they found me again?*

His presence sense piqued again, but he schooled himself to calm, waiting
for the proper moment. Unconsciously he clenched his right hand into a
tight fist. 

*Why?! Why must they follow?! Why can't they leave me in peace?!*

A flicker of motion in the corner of his right eye interrupted his
thoughts. He turned, instinctively drawing his weapon. A blur streaked
across his field of vision, rising from the ground into the air just as
his weapon struck the spot at which it had been standing. A crash rang
through the air as debris flew in all directions. In less than the
space of a single thought the stranger was leaping into the crater that
his weapon had made. In midair he spun to the right. His weapon, which
was held upward in his right hand, was brought down and around then back
up again in a long tilted circle. As he landed, his backhand swing caught the
blur as it descended from its leap.

For a moment frozen in time, the stranger could see the multi-legged
monstrosity that was his pursuer. Then the creature flashed into
blinding green light and exploded.

A titanic roar shattered the last of the morning's calm as a solid wall of
air coursed down the street. When the air calmed the figure lowered his
weapon, but kept it readily in hand. Once again he scanned his
surroundings. 

The wall that he had been walking along had a seven foot hole in it. He
could hear the sounds of the rubble settling. It mingled with the barks of
the neighborhood dogs and the angry protestations of the rudely awakened
citizenry. But the presence was gone.

*Only one. Maybe the last one?*

The stranger heaved a bone-weary sigh and replaced his weapon. Then,
slowly, he resumed his journey. As he pressed deeper into the suburbs, his
mind alerted him to another sensation. It wasn't a presence, but he
stopped to peer around just in case. 

He couldn't recall that he had ever felt anything like this before. Yet,
somehow, the sensation was hauntingly familiar. It was a heavy, oppressive
feeling. It seemed to drag at part of his soul. But it didn't seen to
originate from inside of him. Rather, it was like an echo, if something
unheard could have an echo. It resonated with part of his being that he
knew quite well. A part that felt the walls crumble, a part that
flourished in the darkest hours of his life. Now he knew what he was
feeling. It was despair. 

As he puzzled through this familiar yet alien sensation, the figure
unconsciously began to walk, the echo drawing him onward. As he walked,
the sensation became clearer. The sorrow was as deep as he had ever felt
himself. Such agony was it that even its echo seemed to gnaw at his soul.
He probed further in morbid fascination. *I must be going insane. There's
no way this sort of thing can happen.* Yet, try as he might, he couldn't
deny that this emotion was as real as his own.

His feet halted of their own accord before a medium sized building.
Startled out of his distraction, the stranger looked around. He was in a
shopping area of some sort. Closed shops lined both sides of the still
quiet and empty street. The shop he stood before seemed to be a 
restaurant.

*This looks familiar.*

The stranger backed away a couple of steps and looked up at the sign above
the door.

*Ucchan's. But why would this feeling be coming from here?*

Suddenly, a sinking feeling settled in the pit of his stomach.

*No...No, it can't be...*

The stranger sprang forward and started banging feverishly on the door of
the restaurant.

"Ukyou!! Ukyou, are you in there?! Open the door!!" 

-|-|-

Ukyou woke with a start, the dream thankfully fading quickly. All too
soon, however, it was replaced by harsh reality. She curled up on her bed,
not wanting to face the world. As she tried to puzzle out what had woken
her so early, she heard a banging from the direction of the restaurant
downstairs. 

"Ukyou!! Open the door!!"

The words carried through her window. Stumbling to her feet, she looked
out the window down onto the street below. Whomever was making the
racket was standing too close to the door for her to see them. The banging
started again. 

*Damn it, can't they see I'm closed?!*

Ukyou was in no mood for this sort of thing. She was feeling awful. Her
whole world had been crumbling around her for more than a week now.
Why couldn't she have any peace?

She wrapped a bath robe around herself and hefted her combat spatula.
Who ever it was, they were in for quite a bit more than breakfast this
morning. 

As she reached the bottom of the stairs the banging stopped, but Ukyou
could see that the person had not left. Holding her spatula at waist level
in her right hand, she unlocked the door. Then, swinging the door open,
she trust forward quickly with the spatula. She was surprised when the
figure in the door caught it, and was almost pulled off balance when he
quickly yanked it away. 

Steadying her footing, she glared angrily at her visitor. He was wearing a
large backpack, soft cloth shoes, and loose brown pants which were bound
with leather cords around the calves. The rest of his clothing was covered
by a tattered, dark brown dust cloak. The hood of the cloak was drawn over
his head, his face hidden by the shadows within. The ripped ends of the
cloak streamed and curled around his legs, seeming to reach for her in the
breeze blowing through the open door. But Ukyou felt no breeze. Despite
herself, Ukyou shivered and backed up a step. 

"What the hell was that for?!" the figure said, hefting Ukyou's spatula in
his left hand. 

*Wait. That voice...* Ukyou's mind snapped into focus. *That voice is
familiar. And is that an umbrella on his pack?*

"Ryouga?"

"Who'd you think it was?" Ryouga said, pushing back the hood of his cloak.
"Can I come in?"

Ukyou nodded and made way.

As Ryouga entered the restaurant, he handed the spatula back to Ukyou.
Accepting it, Ukyou immediately smashed Ryouga upside the head.
Ryouga, for his part, blinked once or twice and looked back at Ukyou.

"Hmm? Is there something wrong, Ukyou?"

Ukyou shifted her gaze from the head shaped dent in her spatula back to
Ryouga, a very irritated look on her face.

"Do you know what time it is you moron?! What's the big idea, banging on
my door like that?!" Ukyou hissed as she tried to press the dent back out.

*She'll think I'm a nut if I tell her the truth. She might be right, considering
how ludicrous it sounds.* "I was just passing through town. This is the first
place I recognized." he said lamely. 

Ukyou gave up trying to fix the dent and sat down on a stool in front of the
grill. "It's seven in the morning you jackass. Couldn't you have possibly
waited outside until later?"

"You're usually open for the morning crowd. I was wondering if something
was wrong." *Yeah, that sounds good.* Ryouga congratulated himself on
his quick thinking as he sat down on a stool near Ukyou. When his hand
brushed the counter, he noticed that it was covered with a fine layer of dust.
He looked around the room. All of the tables were in a similar state; at least,
those still intact were. Several of the tables looked as though they had been
chopped for kindling. Most of the chairs looked like they had been used as
blunt instruments; they lay in crumbled heaps on the floor. Ryouga could
make out numerous gouges in the walls, as well as one or two fist sized
holes. In all the room, only the grill seemed to be in order.

"There isn't anything wrong, is there?" Ryouga hoped vainly, but the feeling
persisted. *Please let it be my imagination.*

Ukyou looked away and didn't answer. The room was silent for several
moments, until Ryouga's empty stomach decided to make itself known.
Ryouga flushed slightly with embarrassment as a loud growl filled the room.

Seizing the chance to change the subject, Ukyou stared at Ryouga for a
second before speaking. "Sheesh hon, when was the last time you ate
something?"

Ukyou stood and walked around the grill. As she walked, she examined
Ryouga more closely. His clothing and pack were covered in a fine layer of
dust and road dirt. On his face and hands the dust had mixed with sweat,
caking his features with grime. *I wonder where he went this time.*
"Ryouga, you're an absolute mess."

"I've been traveling for more than two months straight. I haven't exactly had
time to worry about how I look."

"I'll get something for you to wipe your face with after I finish making
breakfast. I'm wide awake now, thanks to you." Ukyou said as she turned
to prepare the ingredients for a breakfast okonomiaki.

"Thanks. Um, no pork please."

"You got it."

Ryouga watched as Ukyou skillfully prepared the okonomiaki. Somehow,
the image didn't seem right. He'd watched her many times before, as Ukyou
often gave him free lunches when he returned from his travels. She had
always seemed so vibrant, so alive whenever she practiced her art.
Sometimes she would hum a tune, or joke, or simply smile to herself. Now,
she seemed so... so subdued; listless. She went through the motions
precisely, mechanically. There was none of the usual vigor or flair that she
normally displayed. Ryouga could tell that something was troubling her.
Still, he struggled to accept that what this tugging at his soul had been telling
him was true. What could make Ukyou like this?

"Here 'ya go." 

Ryouga started as Ukyou set an okonomiaki before him, then sat back down
on her stool and began eating her own okonomiaki. 

"Huh? Oh, thanks."

They ate in silence for several minutes, neither one willing to break the
unspoken tableau. Then, unable to bear the weight of it any longer, Ukyou
spoke up. "So, where have you been trying to get to for the last two
months?"

"I've been trying to find the Tendo Dojo. I have to stop that damn
wedding." 

*My god, he doesn't know.*

"Um, Ryouga..." Ukyou began, struggling to say the words; unwilling to
hear them herself.

"Yes, what is it?" Ryouga looked at Ukyou. Her face was beginning to
show some of the sadness that he had felt in her. The pain had become
much more distinct, much sharper when he had mentioned the wedding.
Ryouga's own fear and depression surged as a thought occurred to him.
*No, please don't let it be so. Please don't say...*

"The wedding was ten days ago. Akane and Ran-chan are...married."
Ukyou paused again, her will almost failing her. *I will not break down in
front of Ryouga, I won't.*

"No...it can't be. How...?" Ryouga pleaded, his voice barely a whisper. He
could feel the dark tide rising, from within and without, threatening to dash
his heart of glass upon the rocks. He could only sit numbly as the walls of
his world crumbled around him again.

*How could it happen?* Ukyou wasn't sure of that herself. She had been at
the ceremony, and still she had trouble believing it. *Ran-chan...*

In the beginning, two months ago, she had been certain that it would fail.
There was no way her Ran-chan could choose Akane over her. None.
Considering the invitation, it had to be another plot by their fathers. Ukyou
didn't believe for a second that Ranma would actually go through with it.
Then, he came. 

One night, as she was closing up shop, Ranma came to her. At first she had
been delighted that Ran-chan had come to visit her; at first. Then, against
all odds, he had tried to explain his feelings for her, and for Akane. Ukyou
had sat mute the entire time as Ranma awkwardly tried to articulate his
feelings, trying to make the blow as gentled as possible. He didn't love her;
not it that special way that she had cherished him for the last year. He loved
Akane. Why? 

Ranma had left when he couldn't get a response from Ukyou after five
minutes of trying. As he walked out the door, part of her walked off with
him. Then the tears had come. She had cried herself to sleep that night, and
nearly every night thereafter. 

Ukyou had turned to her work, trying to drive the thoughts of Ranma from
her mind. It hadn't worked. Every day was torture; every night was hell. He
couldn't mean it, she had told herself. It couldn't be true. But the sincerity of
Ranma's words and Ukyou's own subconscious doubts had already
weakened her resolve beyond repair. 

The final blow had come a month before the wedding. She hadn't seen
much of Ranma lately. He had stopped coming to her restaurant for free
meals. He seemed to be avoiding her. Then, one day, he walked in the
door. With Akane. Anger, pain, and jealousy fought for control of Ukyou
as she saw her: the girl who has stolen her Ran-chan. They had walked in
hand-in-hand. As Ukyou watched, she could see the subtle signals that
passed between them. Ranma was obviously nervous. Akane was too, but
she steeled herself and gave Ranma's hand a squeeze, trying to lend him her
strength. They stood for several moments, gathering themselves for what
was to come. Ukyou's last hope died. As she stood behind the grill, broken
and alone, Akane broached the question: As it was going to be a western
style wedding, she was going to need bride's maids. Would Ukyou be
willing to do that for her? 

Ukyou had just stood, the coldness settling in her. Then she had looked at
Ranma. He tried to put an a friendly smile. For Ukyou, it was like a tiny
flame, beckoning to her through a raging storm. She agreed. Akane and
Ranma had relaxed slightly then, each had given her a reassuring hug. They
talked of the ceremony and of inconsequentials, Ukyou basking in the
warmth of the affection between Ranma and Akane. Then they had to go.
Ukyou had seen them to the door and bid them farewell, and was alone
again. The coldness returned, and this time there was no light, no warmth.
Just the empty pit of her soul, into which all of the joy of her life had just
descended into darkness. 

The time had flown by until the wedding. Ukyou went through the motions
of living, but was not really there. The day had come, and she had gone to
the dojo to prepare. She never did figure out how they had prevented the
Kunous or Happosai or Cologne and Shampoo from interfering, but no
disturbances arose as they readied themselves. Mousse was there, serving as
best man in lieu of Ryouga, though he looked as though he would really
rather have been elsewhere. Ukyou, on the other hand, had nowhere else to
be. 

Beyond all expectations, the ceremony had gone off without a hitch. Ukyou
had lingered at the reception for about an hour, then departed, explaining
that she had to open the restaurant. She said goodbye to Ranma and Akane,
wishing them well, and had returned to her restaurant. She closed the door,
and didn't open it again for a week. After releasing her frustrations, she
would just lie in bed and let the emptiness consume her. When she had
finally left the restaurant, after having gone two days without food, she had
learned that Ranma and Akane had left right after the reception, and that
nobody knew where they had gone. The Tendos and Mr. Saotome had left
then as well, going to visit some of Mr. Tendo's relatives in Hokkaido. They
weren't due back for a few weeks, and nobody had any idea when Ranma
and Akane would return. 

As Ukyou looked up at Ryouga, she suddenly realized that she had been
reminiscing aloud. The ashen expression on Ryouga's face could have been
carved from stone. Ukyou couldn't tell whether he was breathing or not.
*Oh no...Don't tell me he's dead.*

"Ryouga? Ryouga, are you alright?"

Ryouga heard his name being called. Slowly, he turned to face the sound.
Ukyou looked so fragile, just then; like an errant breeze could blow her
away, destroying her forever. Ryouga knew why. He could feel her
depression growing with his own as she told her story. He could feel her
heart shatter into a billion pieces alongside his. Now the dark tide stood at
its highest, towering greater than it ever had before. As it threatened to
crash down upon him, scouring him from existence, he had one final
fleeting moment of lucidity.

"Excuse me."

Ukyou watched as the stone facade crumbled. Even as he drew himself up,
Ryouga seemed to sink deeper into the abyss. When he seemed to feel that
his legs would support him, Ryouga walked out the door of the restaurant
and into the middle of the street. There, he gazed up at the sky. Tears
streaked down his dirty cheek, the grime not hiding the look of utter
hopelessness on his face. Ukyou could feel the anguish radiating from him
as he raised his palms to the sky, looking as though he supported the entire
weight of the world above his head.

"AKAANEEE!!!!" 

Ryouga's cry rang through the morning air like the hammer of god striking
the earth. It continued to reverberate as a column of white light lanced up
from the lost boy's outstretched palms and into the heavens above. A
thunderclap shook the street as the air around Ryouga blasted outward.
Then, with the screech of tearing metal, the air began to spiral upward
along the beam of light. The windows of the shops along the street
exploded outward as the air pressure around the cyclone plummeted. The
Ucchan was spared, as it's door was open, though Ukyou had to brace
herself against the door frame to keep from being blown into the street. 

-]()[-

High above Tokyo, MHI multi-purpose satellite XLB-117c watched and
waited. It was equipped with the most advanced defense system that money
could buy. Armed with laser cannons, scores of missiles, photo-reflective
armor plating, and a powerful electromagnetic p-beam deflector, it could
defend itself from nearly any menace that it might confront. It was blasted
to vapor in less than a second, it's particles scattering like autumn leaves on
the solar wind. 

-]()[-

After about ten seconds, the beam subsided. Ryouga knelt silently in the
street, weeping. He let his arms fall to his sides and pitched forward. Ukyou
caught him before his head hit the ground. 

"C'mon hon. Let's get you inside." she said as she lifted the lost boy to his
feet. "Hurry up. If anyone see's us, they'll probably try to make us pay for
the windows."

"I'm sorry..."

"Shh, don't worry about it. Now move your feet."

Ukyou led the unsteady Ryouga into the restaurant and set him down in a
chair, then went back to close the door. When she turned to him again,
Ryouga was looking at her in an odd way, his eyes seeming to peer beyond
her face and into her soul. His gaze made her uncomfortable, but Ukyou
stared right back at him.

"What are you looking at?"

"It hurts, doesn't it? Will it ever stop...?" Ryouga whispered, an expression
of deep understanding and sympathy mingling with the despair in his
features. 

Ukyou's knees gave, forcing her to collapse into a nearby chair. New tears
welling up in her eyes, all she could do was look at Ryouga and shake her
head.

"I don't know..."


-|-|-


Mihrna wasn't feeling well at all. While this in itself wasn't an
abnormal occurrence, the situation which induced it most
certainly was. Though Yggdrasil had been up and running for
several days now, Skuld was convinced that they still hadn't
completely eradicated some of the more elusive system bugs. This
meant that external and internal communications through the
Yggdrasil system were being kept to the barest minimum.

Mihrna, being the system administrator for the Communications
Department, had been having an especially hard time lately.  Her
resources and access had been severely curtailed, yet still the
other departments expected their mail to be delivered yesterday,
if not sooner.  Without access to Heaven Net, this meant that she
and all of the other deities in the Communications Department had
been delivering messages by hand all over heaven and earth. The
Morale Department, in light of the often unpredictable
temperament of the various deities in the over-worked and 
under-appreciated Communications Department, was beginning to wonder
if they might not have to deal with more than one rogue deity in the
near future.

They wouldn't have been encouraged by Mihrna's current state of
mind. The page from the Monitoring Department almost turned
around and left when he saw her slumped over her desk in the
otherwise empty communications complex, her fist clenched tightly
around the handle of a rather worn looking coffee mug. Still, he
had a job to do. He steeled himself and strode rigidly up to the
desk.

"Excuse me, ma'am?"

"Yess....?"

For several moments, the page considered turning where he stood
and running away. It wasn't that Mihrna was a particularly
imposing goddess. Standing just over five feet tall, with a
petite frame, shimmering violet eyes, waist length dark brown
hair, and a deep tan, Mihrna was generally regarded as cute. Nor
did she have a reputation as being a particularly violent person.
Just a rather depressed person. A _very_ depressed person. She
was under special observation by the Morale Department for
chronic depression. It was only her superb performance that
allowed her to keep her position as Comm. Sys. Administrator.
Still, many of the deities in the nearby departments lived in
fear that one day she was going to decide to end it all, and that
she was going to take a small part of heaven with her when she
did.

The central monitoring complex was rather close to the
communications complex, so this particular page had been
inundated with the many unpleasant stories surrounding the
communications deities. He took another look at Mihrna and
considered what he was about to do. She was quite evidently very
depressed. She also looked like she had just run the iron man
triathlon in plate mail. He was beginning to feel almost
suicidal just looking at her. His chances of living beyond the
next five minutes seemed to him to be rather slim, but the
importance of his message precluded any personal concerns he
might have.

"Ma'am, we've found the rogue god."


-|-|-


Kunou Tatewaki was in a smiting mood. He had been this way for
quite some time now. Ever since that ill fated incident in the
bath.

It had been two days before the supposed wedding of that accursed
cur Saotome and his beloved Tendo Akane. Kunou Tatewaki had spent
the greater part of the day searching for Saotome, fully
intending to unleash his righteous wrath upon the fiend. But when
he finally cornered Saotome, the coward had once again resorted
to dark sorcery to put the great Kunou Tatewaki to sleep long
enough for him to make his escape. By the time the scion of the
House of Kunou once again strode through the halls of his
palatial abode, the mighty Blue Thunder of Furinkan High was
mightily tired. Kunou Tatewaki wished for nothing more than a
long soothing bath.

He was therefore quite unpleasantly surprised to find that not
only was the bath water cold, but that the foul Saotome had
arrived in his absence and enchanted it. No sooner had Kunou
stepped into the bath that he suddenly found himself treading
water far deeper than it should have been. When he finally pulled
himself ashore, Kunou discovered that it was not the bath that
had gotten deeper, but he that had gotten shorter. Much shorter.
Kunou had, in fact, been transformed into a small white mouse.

Bitterly enraged by Saotome's effrontery, Kunou immediately
launched into a rodential rant. So enraged was he that he didn't
notice his sister entering the bath room until mousy screams of
panic once again began to emanate from the bath. 

After Kodachi made her way to shore, Kunou continued his rant.
Kodachi, however, could not accept that the foul sorcerer Saotome
was responsible for their untimely transformation. She believed,
rather, that his beloved pig-tailed goddess had perpetrated this
most heinous act. For a moment, Kunou entertained the notion that
perhaps his goddess had indeed done this. Perhaps she had stolen
some of the vile sorcerer's magic, in the hopes of preventing
himself from interfering in Saotome's unholy union with Tendo
Akane, so that she might have the great Kunou Tatewaki all to
herself. He dismissed the notion immediately, knowing truly that
his goddess was far too pure and innocent to contemplate such a
thing.

Nevertheless, both of them were currently entrapped in the form
of small white mice, which effectively nullified any hope they
might have of preventing the wedding. Matters went from bad to
worse when Sasuke came to clean the bath. The fool was apparently
unable to recognize his master when he saw him, thus forcing the
unlucky siblings to flee for their lives with Sasuke and Mr.
Green Turtle in hot pursuit.

Several days later, the Kunous found themselves in a small
Mishima Heavy Industries research complex on the outskirts of
Nermia. They were sharing a cage with a most peculiar pair of lab
mice. Never had Kunou met anyone with such delusions of grandeur
as the mouse with the oversized head. And the other mouse, who
apparently served as the first's lackey, was obviously quite mad. 

Still, when the odd couple readied to leave the lab, in order to
carry out some absurd plan that the egotistical one devised, the
Kunous gladly accompanied them, both secretly intending to flee
in search of Saotome at the first opportunity.

This opportunity never came. Shortly after exiting the complex,
the four were scooped up by a deadly kawaii girl on roller
skates. Not only was she sickeningly cute and absurdly strong,
but she insisted on calling Kunou "Josephine." 

Shortly before the four succumbed to terminal, cute-induced tooth
rot, the girl decided that her new little friends needed a bath.
Having has previous unpleasant bath experiences, this brought the
Kunous back to their senses immediately. They were therefore
quite alert and aware when they were suddenly returned to human
form upon contact with the hot water in the tub. The same
couldn't be said for their companions and the uber-kawaii girl,
who were still in a state of mild shock several minutes after the
Kunous had raided the closets and fled.

When Tatewaki and his sister had returned to their estate,
wearing frilly pink nightgowns no less, they immediately had a
serious talk with Sasuke. After severely punishing him for their
hasty departure, they learned from Sasuke that the wedding had
indeed proceeded in their absence. What's more, the newlyweds and
their families had disappeared immediately afterward.

All of this compounded had put both the Kunou siblings in a
rather inhospitable state of mind. It had been a week since Kunou
had sent Sasuke out to locate his beloved's, and still the man
hadn't returned. The Blue Thunder was growing restless. He was
also developing a rather unique body odor, being that he had not
bathed once during that entire period, but that was beside the
point.

All other concerns were forced from Kunou Tatewaki's head when,
on this fine morning, he witnessed a towering column of light
rising from the vicinity of the restaurant area. Surely this must
be the demon spawned Saotome announcing his return. Never one to
decline a challenge, Kunou Tatewaki. Blue Thunder of Furinkan
High, strode purposefully towards the light.


-|-|-


Gosunkugi Hikaru stopped shoveling clothing into his suitcase for
a moment, and thought about recent events. Despite what many
people would have expected, had they bothered to even give it a
thought, Gosunkugi Hikaru had taken Ranma and Akane's marriage
much better than most of the unfortunate couple's potential love
interests. 

This was because Gosunkugi had inherently low self esteem. He had
long ago given up almost all hope that Akane would ever be his.
When the wedding invitations had gone out more than two months
ago, it was just a confirmation of everything that he had feared.
He had lain about depressed for a time, certainly; but possessed of a
weak will, Hikaru was forced to accept reality far sooner than the
others. In a manner of speaking, anyway. Deprived of his greatest
passion, Akane, Gosunkugi turned his attentions towards his other
passions, photography and magic.

This actually worked out rather well. Despite the almost
nonexistent amount of profit that Hikaru could plead out of
Nabiki for the sale of his photographs, he soon had enough money
to start sending out for the more exotic and esoteric magical
implements that he desired. Thus, by the time of the wedding,
Gosunkugi had a rather unimpressive but still functional
understanding of basic magic. While nobody else realized this,
all of the people who attended the wedding would later admit that
Gosunkugi Hikaru's wedding photograph was by far the nicest that
they had seen. It almost seemed as if the pictures were alive
somehow.

In hindsight, Gosunkugi wondered what the guests would think if
they knew how he had achieved that effect. Admittedly, binding
the life force of insects to the photographs wasn't the most
pleasant way to produce that life-like quality, but it was the
best he had come across so far. And the people seemed to think
that the strange runes on the backs of the photos were just one
of Gosunkugi's little eccentricities. 

*Well, let them think what they will.* It was a harmless effect,
and the neighbors clearly didn't mind Hikaru coming by
periodically to remove any unwanted pests from their basements or
attics. 

*But when Holy Fire starts erupting from the center of town,
that's as good a time as any to find somewhere else to live.*

Gosunkugi had, in his studies, learned how to recognize the power
of the gods. As if the sheer amount of power involved wasn't
enough of a clue. He had just barely seen the thin column of
light rising into the heavens from across town, but the wave of
the magical backlash, when it struck him, spoke of something big.
Frighteningly big.

Hikaru resumed packing with increased fervor. Best not to be
around when things like that are happening. He checked his watch
again. His taxi was due to be here in five minutes. He couldn't
afford to go far, but anywhere was better than here right now.

*Please don't let this be Saotome's fault again. I couldn't bear
the thought of Akane being anywhere near an angry god...*


-|-|-


*He seems to be taking this quite well.* Though Ukyou as she
looked at Ryouga's still form. *He's not throwing a tantrum, or
swearing vengeance, or anything.*

This, while disturbing, was definitely a good thing. After seeing
what Ryouga had just done outside, the thought of him out hunting
Ranma made Ukyou rather ill. 

*And* Ukyou admitted to herself, * It's nice to have company again. 
Someone who understands.*

Nothing had been said since Ukyou had sat down . They had just
watched each other and cried a little, breathing in each other's
sorrows. There was a strange peace here. The peace of those who
have nothing left to fight for.

The emptiness in the room wasn't quite complete, thought Ryouga.
While sorrow was the pervading emotion, something else, something
warm, was glowing in the corner of his mind. A connection of a
sort. Fellowship; sympathy. Ryouga had a friend here; someone who
understands. 

But there was something else. Something that wasn't right. It had
a far away feel to it, so he knew that it wasn't his own or
Ukyou's, but it was getting closer. Quite aside from the cold
emptiness, or the small warmth he felt from Ukyou, this feeling
was almost a blazing inferno. It swirled in manic intensity, yet
it was focused to a single, fine point. The feeling was driven,
unwaveringly, towards a single purpose.

"SAOOOOTOOOMEEEE!!!"

Ukyou started and looked out the window towards the street. "That 
sounded like...."

"Kunou." Ryouga finished.

"C'mon, lets see what he's carrying on about now." Ukyou said as she 
grabbed Ryouga's hand and fairly dragged him up the stairs in the back of
the restaurant. She led them to her bedroom, which had a window that
overlooked the street below. From this vantage point, they could see Kunou 
striding arrogantly down the street towards the Ucchan.

*Yup, it's definitely coming from him.* thought Ryouga as he observed
Kunou's expression and body language. "I wonder what's got him all 
worked up."

"Shh! It looks like he's going to say something." Ukyou hissed as she 
waved Ryouga to silence.

Indeed, Kunou had stopped walking, and seemed to be gathering himself 
for something. Most likely one of his pointless, long winded speeches 
about the evils of the foul sorcerer Saotome Ranma.

"Whence, WHENCE HAST THOU FLED! Oh Foulest, Darkest,
Misogynist Villain, 
known to the world by that so undistinguished name: Saotome Ranma?!!"
 
Kunou turned in a slow circle, raising his bokken defiantly.

"In that base and filthy company, composed of all the cowards ever to
infest and to besmirch our nation, no, our PLANET wide and fair, surely
you, Saotome Ranma, rank lowest, even among those!  Call forth what
sorcery you will, cast fire and brimstone, summon the very Demons to do
thy bidding, Yet shall I find thee, and then shall I smite thee truly and finally
from face of all the earth. Long though you have fled and hid from me, yet
shall our duel of Honor, lingering upon the threading finger of a careless
Fate, still shall it come and in that moment, full mightily shall I smite thee! 
THE BLUE THUNDER WILL NOT BE DENIED!!!" Kunou shouted as
he raised his bokken to the cloudless sky. He was momentarily backlit in
this dramatic pose as a lightning bolt arced across the sky behind him,
thunder rolling ominously.  


*Someday, I'm going to figure out how he does that...* mused Ryouga to 
himself. "Why on earth would he think that Ranma was here?"

"Oh, I don't know... Maybe it was that little light show that you put  on
earlier. That sort of thing _does_ tend to happen a lot around Ranma, you
know." Ukyou said sarcastically, favoring Ryouga with a mildly accusing
glance.

Ryouga had the good grace to look slightly embarrassed before turning 
his attention back to Kunou. "Regardless, someone is going to have to go 
down there and shut him up, else he's going to be raving and ranting up and
down the street all day." Ryouga muttered. As he was preparing to jump 
out the window, Ukyou caught his arm and pointed down the street.
Ryouga turned to see what appeared to be a large, black rat scurrying down
the street towards Kunou. Upon closer inspection, Ryouga realized that it
was, in fact, Sasuke.

"Master Kunou!" Sasuke shouted as he waved his arms about, trying to 
get Kunou's attention. Upon reaching Kunou, Sasuke went to one knee and 
bowed his head.

Eventually, Kunou noticed his servant kneeling at his feet. After further
deliberation, Kunou decided that there was probably some reason for 
Sasuke being here, rather than undertaking the most important task on 
locating his beloved's.

"Base, clumsy serving man, Dare you interrupt Blue Thunder in the full
vigor of his warrior like pursuit of honor!?!  Say to me again that thee
have dallied in pursuit of clues to foul Saotome's lair and I shall 
pause to smite thee in his place!"

 "I've found them, Master Kunou."

"WHAT?!  Thou claim success?  What bliss, What music to mine ears,
noble Sasuke, how welcome and how manlike does thy stature seem.  Tell
me, how fare's my beauteous, my courageous, Tendo Akane, raven-haired
compilationof all virtue.  And what of the Pig-tailed Goddess, do her
flaming tresses, even now, grace the space where I would rest my
chivalrous head, Tendo Akane's lap?  I have a vision of them, horrible and
sublime, cowering in some dungeon of Saotome's making.  Brave Akane
seeks even now to comfort the lively Pig-tailed one, whispering in her ears
how soon, ah very soon, the terrible BLUE THUNDER shall strike their
captor, heinous Saotome, down to the depths of Hell!  That day, that
glorious day too long has been delayed! Out, OUT with it Sasuke! Where
hides, where cowers, STINKING SAOTOME RANMA!?!" 

"They reside at this address." Said Sasuke as he held forward a 
folded piece of parchment.

Snatching up the parchment, Kunou unfolded it and scanned it quickly
before clenching his fist around it and holding it up to the heavens in
triumph.

"AHAHAHAHAHA!!  Behold Ye Gods, the worm Saotome's end, at last is
nigh!  At once I shall avant, with swift and noble strides unto the blighted 
earth wherein Saotome lurks. His wicked sorceries shall not prevail, and 
finally and for all time, my two beloved goddesses in mortal guise, shall
with their deserving protector be united! At once I go!"

With that, Kunou spun on his heel and stormed off down the street.
 
For a moment, Ryouga and Ukyou stood silently at the window, watching
Kunou's departing figure. In that moment, several thousand arguments 
and counter-arguments waged war for control of their minds and wills... In 
the end however, there was only one real choice.

"If he really does know where they've gone..." Ryouga started.

"Then maybe we ought to follow him." Ukyou continued. " Just to make
sure..."

Ukyou nodded in agreement before ducking into her closet for a change 
of clothes. "Watch him, so that we don't lose him." came Ukyou's muffled
voice from behind the closet door. Ryouga grunted his assent.

As a sign of how preoccupied both of them were, neither one gave any
thought as to how well Ryouga would be able to keep from "losing" 
someone. Ryouga leapt out the window and onto the roof of the Ucchan.
He scanned down the street, searching for Kunou. He couldn't see him, but
that didn't matter at the moment. Ryouga could have pointed at that intense, 
single minded determination blindfolded and unconscious. It was departing 
quickly in the direction of the rising sun. *Damn it! What's taking her so 
long?*

"Okay Ryouga, where is he?" Ukyou said as she joined Ryouga on the 
roof. She was wearing a traditional okonomiaki seller's outfit and a 
bandoleer of mini-spatulas. Her combat spatula was strapped to her back
and she was carrying Ryouga's pack and one of her own.

"That way." Ryouga replied as he accepted his pack and pointed towards 
the direction of the quickly diminishing feeling.


Ukyou nodded and leapt off in the direction that Ryouga pointed, jumping
from rooftop to rooftop. Ryouga followed, catching up quickly after
shouldering his pack and tightening the straps holding his umbrella. As the 
feeling grew stronger, Ryouga took the lead for a time, correcting their
bearing slightly. Eventually, Ukyou realized what she was doing. She was
following Ryouga, the lost boy of Nermia. She was following a boy  that
could get lost in an empty room with one door and no windows. She was
about to slap herself upside the head and scream in frustration, when
Ryouga stopped abruptly and pointed down at the street.

Hardly believing it was possible, Ukyou bounded up to Ryouga's side 
and looked in the direction he indicated. There, running quite quickly down
the street, still clutching the crumpled piece of parchment in his upraised
hand, was Kunou.

"All right. It looks like he's heading towards the train station." Ukyou 
said as she continued pursuit. Running carefully along the rooftops, trying 
to keep out of sight, Ryouga and Ukyou were unaware that yet another 
figure was following them. Creeping along in the shadows, Kodachi smiled
to herself.

"OHOHOHOHO... So brother dear has located my Ranma-sama and the
wicked Tendo Akane, has he? Soon, horrid girl, soon you shall pay for
trying to steal my Ranma-sama! OHOHOHO!"

Ryouga paused for a second. There was something decidedly... disturbing...
emanating from somewhere a bit behind them. It was much like what he
was feeling from Kunou, but somehow... twisted; warped into a sickening
parody of itself. It made Ryouga's stomach turn sour, so he quickened his
pace to match Ukyou, trying to keep as much distance between him and this
new feeling as possible. That it seemed to be moving in the same direction
as they were started to bother Ryouga Greatly, but Ukyou was too intent on
following Kunou to notice his distress. Soon they reached the train station,
as Ryouga and Ukyou made their way to the ground, Kunou entered one of
the ticket counter lines.

"Here," Ukyou said as she shoved a wad of bills into Ryouga's hand, " Pull
up that hood of yours and get in line behind him. Buy us two tickets to
wherever he's going."

Ryouga complied and began to elbow his way into line. A few of the people 

behind Kunou began to protest, but after feeling the cold glare from
within the shadows of Ryouga's hood, they backed off timidly and gave
way. They gave Ryouga plenty of room, in fact, staying several feet behind
the streaming and swirling ripped ends of his dust cloak. Into this space,
Ryouga felt the twisted presence enter. It stayed there for a good second
too, before quickly backing up to a more comfortable distance. Ryouga
turned his head slightly, trying to catch a glimpse of his pursuer through
the corner of his eye. The hood, however, limited his field of vision such
that he couldn't do so without being obvious.

With a sigh, Ryouga turned his gaze forward again and attempted to 
patiently wait out the line. Try as he might, though, his mind kept returning
to the presence behind him. It was so close. He _knew_ what he was feeling
from Kunou was somehow related to the feeling emanating from whoever was
standing behind him, but he couldn't put his finger on  how he knew. But
Ryouga couldn't deny that there was something... wrong... with what this
person was feeling. *Hell, I can't even figure out how I can feel these...
things... in the first place. This whole situation is insane. Some weird
things have happened to me in the past, but never anything like this. I
can _feel_ whatever Ukyou and Kunou and whoever this is are feeling. I
shouldn't be able to do that, but I can. It led me to Ukyou, then to
Kunou. Now, this... person... is following me, I'm sure of it. And I can't
even bring myself to face them because whatever they're feeling is so
warped it's making my stomach turn. If I have to stand here much longer, I
think I'm going to be sick.*

Ryouga fidgeted irritably, trying to block out the invading sensations. The 
presence seemed to be getting agitated as well, for both this new _thing_
that Ryouga had and Ryouga's presence sense told him that the person
behind him was moving around quite a bit. In fact, if Ryouga didn't know
better, he'd have guessed that they were dancing a jig of some sort. It would
have been quite an amusing image if Ryouga didn't have to swallow hard
every time the presence came within arm's reach. 

"One for Shinohara station." Kunou intoned as he reached the ticket 
booth.

 "Thank you sir. Have a nice trip."

The presence had come _extremely_ close when Kunou had reached the
counter. The resultant wave of nausea left Ryouga quite distracted for
several seconds afterward. 

"May I, er... help you?" the attendant asked Ryouga uneasily, unconsciously
trying to scoot farther back into the booth.

"Hmm? OH! Yes... two for Shinohara station." Ryouga said absently, trying
to clear his mind. Eager to put the presence as far behind him as possible,
Ryouga quickly paid for the tickets and walked in the direction that he
thought he had left Ukyou.

"Psst. Hey! Ryouga, over here!" came Ukyou's voice from somewhere off 
to his left. Ryouga spun, trying to lock onto the source of the voice. He
didn't see Ukyou, but he knew that she was there. The familiar resonance of
her depression to his own was once again very clear in his mind. As he
started towards it, someone brushed quickly past him. Ryouga realized that
it must have been the presence he had been feeling when the wave of
nausea struck again. Ryouga grunted and stooped over slightly, clutching
head and stomach.

"Ryouga, are you all right?"

As the other feeling retreated, the cold, heavy emptiness of Ukyou's
depression settled over him. As the small, warm feeling behind the despair
seemed to reach out for him, a hand  landed on Ryouga's shoulder. He
looked up at Ukyou. 

Apparently she had gone off to change somewhere. She was now wearing
jeans, a sweater, and a pair of dark sunglasses. She had let her hair down
from the usual ponytail and her combat spatula was wrapped loosely in a
large cloth and secured to the top of her pack, which she was now holding
in her right hand.

"I'm... fine. Just a slight headache. Ukyou, did you see who was in line
behind me?" Ryouga asked evenly, trying to sound nonchalant.

Ukyou gave Ryouga a puzzled look. "Someone in an oversized hat and
trench coat. I couldn't really see what they looked like, but they seemed to
keep getting their feet tangled in the ends of that cloak of yours. Why?"

"Nothing. Maybe nothing..." * If I tell her we're being followed, she'll want
to know how I know.* "Don't worry about it. Just an odd feeling. It's gone
now." *The hell it is!* chimed a small voice. *It's there, right over behind
that support column.* "Here's the tickets. He's going to Shinohara." Ryouga
said as he handed Ukyou one of the tickets and her change.

Ukyou looked over the ticket and frowned. "This train leaves in five
minutes. C'mon, the terminal is this way." Ukyou almost grabbed Ryouga's
hand, but then seemed to decide against it and instead waved Ryouga on in
the direction of the terminal, always keeping an eye on him to make sure he
didn't wander off. For some reason, Ukyou seemed to be maintaining an
unusual distance from him.

*Better to worry why people keep doing that later.* Though Ryouga. The
other presence wasn't getting farther away anymore. When they reached the
train, they only had about a minute left to board.

"Damn. Now we're going to have to find him again when he gets off the
train." Ukyou growled.

Ryouga looked up and down the train, and could feel that Kunou was in the
car second from the front. "Um, I think I saw him go this way." Ventured
Ryouga tentatively before indicating the correct car. Ukyou peered at him
quizzically for a second before shrugging and walking quickly towards the
car. As they boarded, Ryouga released a small sigh of relief when he felt
the other presence enter the car behind them.

"There he is! Good job Ryouga." whispered Ukyou as she nodded slightly 
towards Kunou's quite obvious form. Ukyou led them to another set of
seats a bit closer to the rear of the train than Kunou. Ryouga would have
preferred to sit closer to the front, to get away from the other presence, but
he couldn't think of any sane way to justify it to Ukyou.

A few minutes after the train started moving, Ukyou looked over to Kunou,
then back to Ryouga. She removed a damp washcloth from a plastic bag in
her pack and offered it to Ryouga. "Here, he's not watching. Clean yourself
up a bit."

Obliging, Ryouga first wiped his hands as clean as he could get them, then
pulled back the hood and started wiping his face. Ukyou relaxed slightly
when Ryouga doffed the hood, though Ryouga didn't notice. When the
cloth stopped coming away from his face and neck dirtier than it started,
Ryouga handed it back to Ukyou. "There. How's that?"

"Better. Hmm... I didn't know you were into tattoos, Ryouga." Ukyou said
as she peered intently at Ryouga's face.

"Tattoos? I don't have any tattoos."

"Then what are those weird marks on your face?"

"Marks?" Ryouga blinked and brought his hand up to his face. "Where?"

"On your cheek bones, near your eyes. And there are some more on your
forehead, though those are mostly covered up by that bandanna of yours
and your hair. Here, look." Ukyou offered Ryouga a small compact.

"I didn't know you wore makeup." Ryouga said. As he accepted the
compact, he took a closer look at Ukyou's face.

"I don't, usually. I'm not wearing any now; I didn't have time."

"Ah well, you don't need it anyway." Ryouga mumbled absently as he
peered into the small mirror in the compact, completely missing Ukyou's
slight blush. Indeed, there they were. Right where Ukyou had said they
were. In the middle of Ryouga's forehead, slightly covered by his bandanna,
were three small golden diamonds, arranged in a pattern somewhat
reminiscent of a flower blossom. At the corner of each eye were two more
golden diamonds, these arranged to be a partial mirror of  the design on he
forehead, with one diamond pointing down and the other pointing away
from the center of his face. Ryouga brought his hand up to touch one of the 
diamonds near the corner of his right eye. It didn't feel any different from
the rest of his skin, but the diamond had a slight but distinct chrome-like
sheen to it.

"Where the hell did those come from?" Ryouga muttered to himself.
"Ukyou, couldyou give me that cloth again?"

"Here's a new one." Ukyou said, handing Ryouga another cloth.

Ryouga began scrubbing at the marks, to no noticeable effect. "Grr... come
off..." Ryouga growled under us breath as he started scrubbing harder.
People began to stare at this bizarre spectacle, much to Ukyou's dismay.
She reached out and grabbed Ryouga's hand.

"Quit already, you moron. You're making a scene." Ukyou hissed.

"They won't come off. Damn it, they wont come off." Ryouga grumbled
disbelievingly as he returned the washcloth to Ukyou.

"They don't look bad Ryouga. They actually suit you rather well. But you
have no idea where they came from?" Ukyou asked as she leaned back and
glanced over to see that Kunou hadn't noticed.

"I can't think of anything that might have caused it." Ryouga said, thinking
back upon his recent journeys. "Well, there was this time a couple days ago
when I fell asleep and woke up somewhere else. I was in this damp, marshy
forest, and I had seen some natives the day before, so I assumed that they
had moved me during the night. They left all of my stuff, so I never
bothered to check if they had done anything else to me." Ryouga rubbed at
the design on his forehead. "But I'd think that anything permanent would at
least hurt a bit. I don't think it's any sort of paint..."

"Hmm..." Ukyou nodded as she examined the marks. "Where else have you
gone during the last two months?" She asked, a bit of idle curiosity
surfacing.

"Well. By chance I was at home when the invitation arrived. After reading
it, naturally I set out immediately in search of the Tendo Dojo..." Ryouga
dove into a long and detailed account of his most recent trip. Both absorbed
in Ryouga's story, they quickly lost track of time.

A trench coated figure, sitting across the car and slightly farther back,
discreetly eavesdropped on the peculiar pair of young people. A most
peculiar pair of young people indeed, if any of the boy's story was true.
Periodically, one or the other would glance over at a second young man,
this one sitting towards the front of the car.. Wearing traditional samurai
garb, carrying a bokken, and looking quite dignified if rather unkempt, that
was truly an odd one. Then there was the fourth. A girl, if he wasn't
mistaken. Wearing an oversized hat and trench coat, and riding in the front
of the car just behind them, she divided her attention between the previous
two parties.

Mr. Yotsuya shook his head and leaned back in his seat. Now, the samurai
wanabee he knew as Kunou Tatewaki. A man of great prowess, and a
greater ego.   Kunou Tatewaki was also renowned as the biggest fool in
Nermia, if not all of Tokyo.  "Ahh, but who is truly the fool? One who
commits foolhardy actions, or those who would follow him?" Yotsuya
mused to himself as he returned his attention to his newspaper. "What we
have here is a veritable parade of fools..."


-|-|-


Urd, sitting up in her bed, looked up from her romance novel and checked
the clock on the dresser once again. Setting the book in her lap, she heaved
a sigh of relief. It had been more than ten minutes since she had felt the
wave of divine power wash across her, and still she hadn't been contacted.
This most likely meant that someone else was handling it. It was worrying
though. If that backlash was any indication, whomever was summoned to
deal with the Rogue was going to have their hands full. That was a class
two blast at least. *I hope it isn't Belldandy that they summoned.* But no,
that wasn't possible. They would have contacted the nearest available deity,
and that blast had definitely come from somewhere in Tokyo. Belldandy
and Keiichi were still in Yokohama, and not due back until tonight. Urd
peered speculatively out the window. *I wonder who else is operating out of
Tokyo...*

Her train of thought was abruptly derailed by a faint hissing noise
emanating from somewhere nearby. After peering around the room, Urd
looked down to see that a thick, shimmering mist was issuing from her
book; or, more specifically, from the words on the page. Urd hastily flipped
the book off of her lap. It landed face down on the floor to the left of her
bed, and then proceeded to rise off of the ground on a column of fog-like
mist. Urd rolled off to the right side of her bed and began preparing a
simple lightning spell. As she watched, the mist coalesced into the form of a
kneeling human female. Urd relaxed and released the spell as Mihrna stood
up slowly, Urd's novel still perched atop her head. 

"Well, if it isn't the prozac pin-up girl,"Urd remarked sarcastically as she
leaned up against the wall. 

"It's nice to see you again too, Urd," Mihrna sighed, carefully removing the
book and setting it on the bed. "I assume you know why I'm here?"

Urd blinked. "No, please enlighten me."

"You didn't feel the backlash wave? You're surely close enough here..."
Mihrna cast Urd a puzzled glance.

"What...?" Urd's mouth opened and closed several times, her mind reeling
in confusion. "But...But that was ten minutes ago! Someone _must_ have
been assigned to it by now!" Urd fairly cried in disbelief. 

Mihrna's mood seemed to darken yet further, a feat that Urd would have
previously thought impossible. "I got your notice of assignment seven
minutes ago. It took that long to get authorization to come down here and
inform you. I would have used a prime temporal shift to come earlier, but
they suspect the Rogue to be capable of innate temporal shifting 
capability, so a distortion might have given them an advanced warning." 
Mihrna looked up at Urd, a look of regret and apology on her face. "I'm
sorry Urd. You've been assigned to pursue and contact the Rogue."

"That can't be! Me?! Just me??!" Urd bounded over her bed in a panic,
grabbing Mihrna roughly by the shoulders.

"At this point, there's no one else available to assist you that's also close
enough to come without further unnecessary delay." Mihrna recited
mechanically, trying not to meet Urd's gaze. 

"What about you?! You're here!" Urd stared intently at Mihrna, her eyes
pleading for some chance, some avenue of escape. 

Mihrna turned away. "I... can't.. I have previous obligations. I'm sorry Urd,
my hands are tied." She replied, her voice almost a whisper.

Urd released Mihrna and let her hands fall to her side. She stood for a
moment dumbstruck, her mind slowly absorbing the responsibility that had
be put upon her. Upon _her_, and only her. It was almost too much to
believe.

Seeing a chance to escape without making the situation any worse, Mihrna
grabbed Urd's left hand and pressed a small disk into it. "Here are the exact
coordinates of the sighting, as well as power level estimates of the blast, a
list of viable entry points, and instructions on how to proceed once you've
made contact. Good luck." She gripped Urd's hand tightly, not wanting to
let go, to abandon Urd to fate. Then, silently, she turned away from Urd
and picked up the now forgotten book. Opening it to a random page,
Mihrna set it face up on the floor and departed, the whole time unwilling,
unable to face Urd.

When she had gone, Urd peered for a moment at the empty space in which
Mihrna had stood. She was alone now. She examined the disk, her face
locked in the morbid expression that one might have while standing over a
tombstone with your name on it. Then, expression unchanged, she marched
out of her room. There wasn't time for regret. In the breeze caused by her
passing, the pages of the book flipped by rapidly until, finally reaching the
end, the book shut.

-|-|-

Marler gave the street another once over. There was some residual trace of
the power that had been used, but it had been a very clean and efficient
blast. Most of the effective energy had been channeled out into space. Still,
there was enough to confirm that it had indeed been the Rogue. *But why
on earth would they do something so obvious as that?* 

There had been little actual damage to the area around ground zero, other
than several broken windows. Curiously, one building directly adjacent to
the blast didn't seem to have any apparent external damage at all. When
Marler entered the building to investigate, she found that the inside of the
building was in much worse shape. It looked as though there had been some
sort of fight in the front room of the building, which was apparently a
restaurant. Tables and chairs had been smashed and scattered about, and
there were several oddly shaped holes and marks on the walls. When
Marler did an active scan of the building, she discovered residual traces of
the Rogue's energy signature in the front room as well, though the damage
was nowhere near the extent of what she would have expected had the
Rogue released in there. 

*So he builds up in here, then he goes outside and releases. But why? He
didn't actually _do_ anything. Well, nothing serious. This seems like
random destruction, with the destruction part left out. He just fires off a
blast into space and leaves? That doesn't make any sense. Is he insane or
something?*

Marler sat down in a chair and leaned back, glaring irritably around the
room. It had taken her forever to fly out here from Nekomi when she had
felt the backlash wave. Still, it seemed that she was the first to arrive. A lot
of good it did her. She came all this way just to find a few broken windows,
some faint energy traces, and a scene in a restaurant that makes even less
sense than anything else. 

"Unless... unless the blast was just bait." Marler stood up and glanced
cautiously around. Suddenly she felt an powerful active scan play across her
skin, originating from the outside of the restaurant. "Oh shit..."

-|-|-

Urd had arrived a few minutes ago inside an electronics store about a block
away from ground zero. Fortunately the store was still closed, so she didn't
have to bother with any explanations. Still inside the store, she steeled
herself for the task at hand

"All right, the file said that it was just above a standard, unrestricted class
two spirit blast. I'm stronger than most class two's, so if that's all they've got
then it shouldn't be a problem." There was still, however, the suspicion that
the Rogue could draw on the Ultimate Force without authorization.. *No!
Can't think like that. They must have adjusted the protocols by now.* Urd
glanced down at herself and clenched her left hand into a tight fist. "Right!
Lets do this." With that, Urd exited the store and proceeded to stride down
the street, her passive senses as wide open as possible.

She slowed when she approached the area where all the windows were
broken, but she still wasn't sensing anything abnormal. Eventually, she
reached ground zero. Glass and other debris were strewn about in circular
pattern around a small empty space in the center of the street. Still nothing.
The circle looked to have been disturbed by something, for the debris was
brushed out of place in a rough line leading from the center of the circle to
a building on the right side if the street. That building didn't appear to be
damaged. Urd took a deep breath. *Okay, here I am.*

She initiated an active scan spell, sweeping it over the center of the circle,
then over the building. In the circle she found residual traces of the Rogue's
power signature. When she swept the building, however, she sensed
something rather different. A demon. *Damn it! Someone beat me here!"*
She sensed the demon moving towards the back of the building, probably
seeking some avenue of escape. *No you don't!*

Urd rushed towards the building, slamming the door open and scanning the
room. It was a rather large mess, with broken furniture everywhere. The
demon had been in here, and so had the Rogue. Momentarily, she worried
that perhaps the Rogue might be in league with the demons. But she could
tell by the scan that the Rogue had probably been here and left a few
minutes before the demon had arrived. Curiously, the energy signature of
the demon seemed... familiar, somehow. She felt as though she had sensed
this demon before. Now, what demons did she know that she had dealt with
often enough to recognize by energy trace, and were also usually operating
close enough to this area to sense the blast. With a snarl, Urd rushed
towards the back door and shouted at the top of her lungs, "MARLER!!"


Halfway up the wall in the back yard, Marler paused and looked back. *She
knows my name?! Then this _was_ a trap! Damn it all, I wasn't prepared
for this!* She turned back to the wall and continued climbing. *Shouldn't
have used so much strength on those scans and on flying here so fast.* She
nearly lost her grip as a lightning bolt impacted on the wall next to her.
*Shit!*

Marler let go of the wall and, turning around in midair, landed facing the
across the yard at the house. There, just outside the back door, stood a
familiar platinum haired goddess. Small bolts of lightning arced around a
blue luminescent sphere in her hand, and she was looking rather peeved to
boot. 

"YOU?!" Marler shouted in surprise, quickly readying a force bolt. 

"Marler! What the hell are you doing here?!" Urd growled, raising her hand
and pointing it at Marler.

"Oh, just sight seeing. Nothing for you to get out of bed over." Marler
smirked and glanced over to Urd's left. 

"What have you seen?!" Urd shouted back, trying not to be distracted by
Marler's glance. 

"What makes you think I've seen anything? My, but you seem to be in a bad
mood today. Get up on the wrong side of the bed?" Marler grinned,
assuming a more relaxed posture. 

"Grr...you..." Urd took a step forward, giving Marler the opening she
needed. 

Marler quickly dropped to one knee, sending the force bolt flying at a spare
grill top that was leaning against the wall on Urd's left. Urd, expecting an
attack, jumped to her right and adjusted her aim on Marler. Meanwhile, the
force bolt flew swiftly towards the grill top, then ricocheted off of it and
flew back at Marler. The bolt impacted with the wall a few feet above
Marler's head, sending a cloud of dust and debris flying into the yard and
spoiling Urd's aim. When the dust settled, Marler was nowhere to be found.

Urd stood slowly and clenched her fist, causing the ball of lightning to blink
out of existence in a crackling hail of sparks. "Damn. Now I have to worry
about her as well. This whole business is getting more interesting by the
minute..."








Eimii drops the scanner unceremoniuosly on the floor, or at least where
she assumes the floor to be. It is quickly enveloped by the thick layer of
clutter covering everything, thus casting serious doubts on that
assumption.

"Well, that's it. Chapter three should be out in a week or two. I know i
haven't resolved anything, but i haven't properly introduced many of the
principal characters either. This is turning out waaay longer than i
expected. I may have sort of gone overboard with the angst thing, but it
_is_ a Ryouga-fic."

"My undying thanks to my prereaders, Jim Nutley and Peter Schell, without
whom this and probably at least the next five chapters wouldn't be
possible. After all, without prereaders, who would i steal all of my ideas
from? Also thanks to Jim "Prince of Rant" Nutley, who is responsible for
Kunou's brilliant and disturbingly convincing rant, and to Peter, for
keeping Jim from driving me completely insane."

"Please, _please_, _PLEASE_ tell me what you think of this!" Eimii tries
to get on her hands and knees, but the pile of clothing has other ideas.
It begins churning about, slowly sucking Eimii under.

"Now, if you'll er... excuse me, i have to go panic now."

After a few minutes, Eimii's screams are completely muffled out by the
further encroaching clutter. 

The moral? Um...remember to clean your dorm room _before_ you go on
vacation...