One month later . . .
Gosunkugi Hikaru laughed as he finished the finishing touches to his greatest masterpiece. It took him forever to find it, but at last, he had the Comendium of Baator in his grasp!
With this, Saotome would be finally defeated, and Tendo Akane would be his at last!
Please hold for the mad cackling of the pale faced wannabe sorcerer.
Finally completing the magical circle, Gosunkugi opened the ancient book, and began to chant. The room darkened, and evil commenced to seep into the room.
The one thing that many wannabe sorcerers never learn is that demon summoning, while a great way to meet powerful beings that will serve you in return for something vital (say, a soul, a magical name, etc), is a very specific process. One type of demon may require one method of control, while another demon breed may require a completely different array.
Thus, when Gosunkugi began the part of the spell that would, in essence, order the demon to kill one person and bring another to him, he was ignorant of the fact that the demon was leaving the circle, becoming like so much vapor, until that vapor entered his body through his mouth and nose . . . .
Both Kasumi and Nabiki were forced to ignore their youngest sister as she sulked behind them.
Construction companies loved Nerima, but since one could never tell when a building would be trashed by wandering Amazons, lost Hibikis or brawling martial artists, it wasn’t the best place to put up shop. Juuban, however, also had a great demand for construction repair, and the senshi were never as destructive as the fighters of Nerima.
However, for citizens of Nerima, there were often special deals made by these companies. So whenever somebody needed something like . . . concrete blocks, for example, one could get them for an extremely low price over in Juuban.
Normally, Nabiki could handle things like this on her own, but ever since Ranma changed in attitude, Akane started breaking far more concrete blocks in her ‘training’ (ie, stress relief) sessions. Their new quota was several degrees higher, and the middle Tendo sister feared that, without the blocks, Akane might start breaking other things . . . like say, the boys at school, anyone who really pissed her off . . . Nabiki herself . . .
In order to carry some of this stuff, Nabiki asked Akane to come help her. The youngest Tendo sister, however, was more concerned with finding out who Ranma’s latest hussy was (there had to be one, because there always is one . . . ) When Kasumi asked if she could come along, however, Akane finally had to grudgingly agree to come . . . if only to protect her sisters from perverts, youma, and perverted youma.
Suddenly there came a scream from the end of the road. Akane, believing that this was something that called for a real martial artist, ran forward, followed by her worried sisters.
Thus, they were the first to see the dead horde . . .
They had risen from their graves, some made up of bones and rotting cloth, others of rotting and maggot infested flesh. The more desiccated corpses shuffled like stereotypic zombies, while the more recent ones walked slightly faster, demonstrating that they could go faster still if necessary.
People in Juuban were used to youma. Some would stand by at senshi fights, to either watch their heroes kick ass or to catch peaks at their favorite girl’s leotard covered bum. This however, was something out there.
Akane had frozen in shock and horror when she saw this. So did Kasumi, who was used to normal, everyday violence, and not the aura of pure evil here. Nabiki did no such thing, and made a point to drag her sisters behind her as she tried to get past the crowds.
The sailor senshi showed up within minutes, but were put into a stalemate. At first it was because these were dead bodies, and desecrating them seemed the wrong thing to do . . . and then it was because several of the more intact corpses began to leap at them with supernatural speed and strength, forcing them to go on the defensive.
Nabiki tried to get her sisters out of there, but was elbowed in the face by a panicking business man. She went down, and then screamed when a heavy set man stepped on her leg, snapping her left tibia and fibula like chopsticks. This snapped Akane out of her funk, who then turned to try and defend her sisters against the horde of undead.
They shuffled towards her, closer and closer, and then they stopped, standing not ten feet from her. Absently, she noted how the risen dead surrounded them, as the infamous heroes of Juuban fought even more of them. While they were doing well against the zombies individually, the fact was that for every undead killed/burnt/crushed, three more took its place.
They were fighting a losing battle, and they knew it.
Suddenly the ranks of the dead split down the center, presenting a black cloaked figure who stalked down towards the three Tendos. Akane recognized him . . . or at least, she thought she did.
“G-Gosunkugi?”
The figure smiled, and raised his head towards the girls, causing all three to gasp in sheer terror. Gosunkugi’s eyes glowed red, and his teeth looked as if they had been sharpened into cruel points. His face seemed to flicker with shadow and darkness, giving him a malevolent look. At last, the boy hissed out, “So, that is what my host calls himself. Interesting . . . and such interesting young ladies, too! A pure soul, a crafty vixen, and to top it all off, a mere girl who dares stand alone against me, with nothing but her body . . . and such a body . . . such bodies . . .
The being’s leer sent shivers of fear and revulsion down the backs of the three Tendo sisters, as the being motioned for the dead to get closer. Akane raised her guard, and Kasumi, fearing the worst, grabbed a nearby frying pan, but all three knew that they’d be overcome . . .
As the dead stalked towards them, a voice rang out, one that gave even Akane hope, despite the fact that she was still rather angry with his (er, her) ‘cheating ways’, “Ya’ know, I wouldn’t do that if I were you.”
Ranma had felt the aura of darkness from miles away, and had taken off to intercept it. In his rush, he accidentally knocked over a pale of water, activating his curse. Having made the mistake of wearing one of his white silk shirts, Ranma snatched a linen towel from a clothes line, using it to dry herself off as she ran, and then tying it around her like a hooded cloak. With the white shirt, black tangs, and the hood up, she looked like a foreign priestess.
The demon possessing Gosunkugi noticed none of that. “Aw, you must be the Saotome kid, the one with the gender shifting curse my host wanted me to kill . . . maybe I should find a way to keep you around . . . such curves . . . you would make an excellent addition to my . . . collection.”
The way he said it made all the females, Ranma included, shudder. However, Ranma ignored the fear, trusting in Lathander-sama himself. “Drop the undead puppets, leave Gos alive, and I won’t make this TOO painful!”
The demon laughed, “Aw, such spunk! I shall enjoy using that body of yours, and I shall ensure to leave it quivering, broken, in pleasure and pain before I put you out of your misery!” He then motioned, and twelve of his undead horde leapt up to attack.
Sailor Moon, seeing this, tried to leap to the redheaded girl’s defense, but was tackled by two more zombie fiends, forcing Tuxedo Kamen to fend them off of her. The damage was done though, as all the senshi were more focused on her then on Ranma.
Ranma didn’t care though. As the undead leapt onto the roof, she smirked and waved her hand in front of her. Immediately, all twelve burst into white flames. Leaping down to ground level, she repeated the motion, doing that to twenty more and causing the hundred or so behind them to stumble back and tremble with fear.
The demon recoiled in shock from the wave of holy energy. “Cleric!” He hissed in anger, and was about to call in some more of his shock troops when Ranma sprinted right in front of him, placing a hand onto his host’s head.
When Lathander-sama had blessed him/her with his gifts, Ranma had felt three new pools of energy form within himself. The first was the pool of holy energy that all clerics use. The second two were the energies of the domains he had chosen, which felt both similar and yet different to the first energy.
In terms of his clerical studies, he had only just recently passed into the second tear of spells, and was only half way through it. The true banishment spell that would get rid of the demon here was still quite some ways away. However, Ranma was always a quick study, and there was one spell that he had looked into in the Good Domain that Ranma made a point to learn right off the bat.
With all the demon summoning the old pervert tended to do, having a spell like this would be useful, ne?
“Holy smite!” Ranma called out, pushing as much Good energy into Gosunkugi as she could. Immediately, the demon howled and pain, as Gos was knocked back into a wall. Since the spell was meant to harm evil creatures more than it did neutral creatures, Gos managed to live through it with only a few bruises. The demon possessing him, however, couldn’t take the light, and began pouring out of the boy’s mouth, forming into a goat legged, bat winged, horn demon.
“Behold, foolish mortals, I am Orcus, Demon Lord of the Undead, thou shall perish for thy slights against me!”
Gos cowered in terror and pain, as did the Tendos, who felt as if they were being crushed by the aura of darkness that was beating upon them.
Ranma just scoffed. “Nope, not gonna happen!”
Orcus grinned scarily, causing Akane to nearly pee her pants, with the other two Tendo sisters not far behind. “Oh really? You can do a good job acting, but I can tell you have nothing left in you. That holy spell of yours completely wiped you out! I am far more powerful than any worm on this rock! How do you plan on stopping me?”
“By distracting you!”
“MOON HEALING MEDITATION!”
What Orcus never really noticed is that, once he was pushed out of Gosunkugi’s body, his undead minions froze. Having a chance to do the windup, Sailor Moon immediately did what she did best, vaporizing the evil being where he stands!
The one thing Orcus could truly regret was being destroyed with such a cutesy attack.
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(Posted Sat, 16 Oct 2010 00:19)
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