Volcano Girls: A time of deceptive calm at the eye of the storm [Episode 16808]

The Blue Thunder woke sweating from his rest, in his mind a fading nightmare. For a moment he tried to hold onto the images, then they faded, lost to conscious thought. The Blue Thunder shrugged as ego reasserted itself, he would be opposed. Of course he would be, the evil ones would not meekly accept justice. He would face great dangers. He would overcome them, he was heavens champion. The Blue Thunder arose - certain that the world was fouled, but equally certain that it would be cleansed. If not today, then soon.

Finishing dressing, the Blue Thunder went to the living room that the metal creature had led him to last night, where a benevolent priestess had promised him aid and assistance... via proxy. Said priestess had yet to show herself, overcome - the Blue Thunder was certain - by modesty at the thought of being in his presence. Turning on a TV set he settled down and watched the news, including telecasts of the riot and ensuing battle. As the report drew to a close he wept as he beheld the slaughter unleashed by the demon Onryu at the behest of the sorceror Saotome. He clenched his fists:
"I swear, those brave souls who fell at the hands of the demon shall be avenged. For their unjust murder the demon, and his master Saotome, shall *PAY*!"

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The Sorceress considered what had been revealed. The Elemental Trio were formidable, and clearly were still learning. It would be best to kill - or bind - them quickly, before they grew in power. Unfortunately, her knowledge of binding elementals was limited, and she wasn't certain the Trio were true elementals, they showed far too much concern for humans. Kumo-Bara, Cheng-Huang, Naginata girl and her ninja sidekick... formidable warriors, perhaps even true heroes, but none had yet revealed power of real account. The boy who had turned into a monster and had fought Kumo-Bara and Cheng-Huang was of some interest, but she recognized his magic, Jusenkyo was too chaotic and easily countered. The one called Ittan-momen seemed a more promising ally, that she had shaken off the tracker the Sorceress had sent after her only added to her allure. Saotome, every inch the warrior Gosunkugi's memories showed, but as his reaction to the demons killing showed, overly compassionate, a flaw the Sorceress loved to see in her foes.

And the mad joker in the deck, a free and unbound vengeance demon - Onryu. He would have to be dealt with. A smile crept onto the Sorceresses face, it had been a while since she had bent a demon to her will, and his utility done, listened to him beg, plead or threaten as she cast him back to hell. After all, she was most definately familiar with the rituals for binding, compelling and dispelling such creatures. A thought touched the Sorceress and she turned to go to work, it would be wise to craft protections against demons for both herself and Lord Thunder, and then she could work on the chains to bind Onryu to her... ah, Lord Thunder's, service.

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In his office, the Chief of Police glared at Captain Gotoh:
"How long to put the Labours into the field. And leave out the excuses", the Chief sighed and slumped a little, "I know they're still experimental. I know they're not the right answer. I know they won't be able to handle the Kunou boy... but they will give his followers pause, and they might be able to deal with those metal things he seems to have on call. Maybe even the kid who turns into the flying monster and some of the other freaks as well."

Gotoh looked impassively at the Chief and held in a sigh, he knew the pressure that was being brought to bear on the police department. They weren't up to handling this, but someone had to do it, and it was what the Police were for:
"The mechanics are fitting extra insulation and armour to key systems as we speak. I'm told Unit-1 will be operational by 2:30pm, and Unit-2 by 4:00pm. Shinohara Industries has been contacted and their designers are going over the tapes to come up with additional modifications to counter the... powers... so far seen in action", Gotoh held in another sigh, "...but their expectations are that we will probably need to go back to the drawing board, these Labours were not designed for this kind of opponent. In addition, Shinohara Industries has made the original prototype, Unit-X, available to us. But it will take at least 48 hours to make it ready for operations."

The Chief of Police nodded, looking faintly surprised:
"Better than I thought. Be ready to roll out at 5:00pm, the politicians are having an emergency session of the Diet and you're to be the centerpiece of the security force. Be in position around the Diet building before 6:00pm and pray that the Blue Thunder is busy somewhere else."

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Ranma sat by his mothers bedside, holding her hand as she slept. His mind ran over the battle he had fought during the night, again and again he tried to forget the death his attack had helped spread, tried to see how to beat this new Mousse without hurting anyone else. Letting go of his mothers hand as Kasumi and Akane came in, offered them a sketchy bow of respect, and vacated the seat for Kasumi:
"Sorry to ask this of you Kasumi... but I'm now the head of the Saotome School, and I need to go through Oyaji's things. I need to see if he had anything to go with the Forbidden techniques. We...", Ranma found his eyes watering and his throat trying to swallow, "...we need to..."

Akane took his hand as Kasumi gave him a gentle push as she smiled at him:
"I understand Ranma-kun. You and Akane search for something to help end this, I'll make sure Aunty Nodoka is alright."

Not trusting himself to speak, Ranma nodded and left the room, still holding Akane's hand. Kasumi kept her smile as they left then turned her attention to Nodoka and began cautious probing with her power. If she could heal Aunty... then at least she could tell herself she did something right in all this.

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The JSDF base was in a frenzy of activity, at his desk the General glanced up at the angry officer approaching. As he came up and snapped to rigid attention with a full formal salute, the General pushed a document over to the officer and pre-empted the younger man:
"No arguments Captain. Orders direct from the Prime Minister. Both MADOX units are to be moved to Tokyo and brought to full readiness. Once we're there, expect to be going into action on less than 15 minutes notice. So I recommend that you start grabbing all the sleep you can. Oh, and the Americans are sending us some backup, one of their power-suit designs, but it won't be in Japan for 72 hours, and the politicians have decreed that it can only go into action if we get our heads beaten in. Dismissed soldier."

The junior officer gaped at the General briefly and then discipline re-asserted itself and he gave a parting salute and headed off. The General sighed and went back to managing the chaos.

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Cologne listened to a bruised Kodachi and Shampoo as they recounted the nights events. How had things gotten so out of control? As they finally trailed to a conclusion the Matriarch shook her head in dismay:
"Mousse a demon, that is bad. And Tarou running around making trouble... we shall have to deal with him as well. So you didn't get a good look at any of the others fighting the mob? Eh... no don't answer it was a rhetorical question, from your description, it was good that you noticed what you did."

The Matriarch thought for a moment then sighed:
"I fear Kumo-Bara shall have to swing alone for a little while. I need to train Cheng-Huang in new techniques and weapons... demon slaying techniques. As much as I hate to say it, Onryu is an amazon responsibility, we must either restore his humanity or end his menace."

Shampoo's face went impassive, while Kodachi stifled a gasp. Reminding herself that she was samurai, Kodachi bowed to the Matriarch:
"I understand. If I can be of assistance, you need but ask. While you train, I shall seek the assistance of Tendo Nabiki, and while I doubt she can find my fallen brother, all Kumo-Bara needs is a fresh trail to follow."

Cologne suppressed a grimace and gave a curt nod to Kodachi, before telling Shampoo to head upstairs. How had things gotten so bad?

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The cold-eyed mand looked across the table at another, who was clearly unrelated, but in every way that mattered almost a brother of the first.
"The recent events have given me the desire to test the M-66 android, in Tokyo. I feel these events offer an unmatched distraction."

"I see. Shall it be a random test? A challenge to the Blue Thunder? Or a will the M-66 fight for him?"

"Ah... I have decided..."

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