Note: I don't own the characters, I just play around with them. Ranma 1/2: Cyclopean Structure Vol. 1-Destiny Lost --- "Madness rides the star-wind...claws and teeth sharpened on centuries of corpses...dripping death astride a Bacchanale of bats from the night-black ruins of buried temples of Belial...Now, as the baying of that dead, fleshless monstrosity grows louder and louder, and the stealthy whirring and flappings of those accursed web-wings circles closer and closer, I shall seek with my revolver the oblivion which is my only refuge from the unnamed and unnamable." (H.P. Lovecraft, 1922. The Hound) ---Japan, Nerima Ward--- "Is everyone alright?" Soun Tendo's voice resounded in the silence following the cataclysmic ki storm that enveloped the house. Wisps of smoke still rose from the surface of the table, mingling with the steamy atmosphere. Ranma helped Kasumi up, freeing Nabiki from a fallen dresser. The house was in a shambles, furniture strewn across the floor in a haphazard fashion; the television slumped on its side spewing forth wires and shards of broken glass. The heat had risen suddenly, the winds had ceased, and Ranma drew out his senses like a blade and bore out the sordid details concerning the horrendous storm that lashed at them. It was ki. The fire and heat had been a form of ki he had seen in no creature save one, the Phoenix King of the mount, Saffron. Shuddering from the revelations of memory, he sat down with Kasumi on the couch, his brow caked with sweat. He feared the worst, that through this mad exhibition of Saffron's power he meant to draw him out, destroy him utterly, and leave the others behind in agony. He was right. "What is it my son? What's the matter?" Nodoka bore the situation bravely with a stiff upper lip, betraying no signs of the inner turmoil that even now gnawed at her like some great beast. She noticed the worried look in his eye and assumed the worst...that Ranma would be powerless against this new menace. "It's...Saffron. He's come back, that was him...just now. He lashed out with a ki storm; it must've been huge! He's still in China, he wants a rematch." Ranma stood on his feet then, keeping a cautionary hand upon Kasumi's shoulder. He ran out then, out onto the porch to gaze east at the reddening sky filled with murderous intent. Just as the heat dissipated, someone who had brought great pain and suffering descended from the sky. Kima had flown for thirty straight hours, her wings cramping from the strain. Even as the firewalls blowing from her home singed her feathers, she knew she had to go on, if not for herself than for the next of the Tribe. Japan lay just over the next expanse of wavering gray waves, Okinawa long since passed. The tears had stopped now, and the horror at Saffron's transformation gave way to renewed purpose, to find the Guardian. Ranma Saotome. He was an enigma to her, a strong able-bodied man that seemed to possess an irresistible tenacity, a drive to be great, and the power to humble a god. After the climactic events at Jusendo, he became somewhat of a teen heartthrob for those few young women at the mount; tales of his heroism were emblazoned upon historical tablets recalling past glories. She flew on with hope, then the ki storm overtook her. A tangible sort of liquid fire burned at her flesh, napalming her feathers to non-existence. She screamed in impotent rage at the injustice of being burned so close to her goal, then was carried by the resulting shock wave to the final destination of her journey. Burnt, tired, and disillusioned, Kima fell to earth with an ear-piercing scream. ---Title--- Ranma 1/2: Destiny Lost Chapter One-The Hound By Dr. Suekeiichi Kaiton vze2jcwc@verizon.net --- A scream tore through the ears of all present; it's pitch and timber compromising its level of pain and anguish. Kima spiraled down from the crimson heavens, her wings burned and smoking from the latest of Saffron's firewalls, her eyes were closed and her breathing shallow as she headed straight for oblivion. The winds had picked up now, a chilling breeze that cooled the hot, humid air around then and gently put out the fire on Kima's wings, in so doing Ranma could clearly decipher the shape and identity of their visitor. Leaping from the porch, he caught her in mid-fall, her body burning with an unnatural heat. As he completed his mid-air rescue, Kasumi and Akane held their breath, concern for the one they loved evident in the tearful visage of their face. In truth, Akane still loved Ranma, hatred for herself building up until there could be no release for its power. It festered and boiled; concentrated into a force of such evil that gods themselves would weep. Both sisters watched as the one they both loved dived into the koi pond, oil black smoke wafting off it's glassy surface. Ranma himself, stunned beyond belief, could not believe who had fallen from the darkening sky. Though burned and bloody, charred skin flaking off her arms, her face remained intact, unburned flesh giving way to her crystal blue eyes. ---An atoll, two miles off the West Coast of Japan--- The figure sat resting after his long journey. Tiring, though satisfying work when ordered by his liege. Lord Divus of the Phoenix was on a mission to the Nerima ward of Japan, to capture the Guardian. Graying in his old age, the first lieutenant of Saffron had never once in his two hundred years as an honor guard to his majesty disobeyed a direct order. As Saffron unleashed his ki storm, a telepathic message entered Divus' mind, alerting him to the dangers. Settling down on the atoll and covering himself with the heat-resistant cloth Saffron had generously provided was simple; surviving the ordeal was not. The heat singed his feathers and partially asphyxiated him as the flames raced across the heavens as divine retribution to the mortals that dared stand against it. Inside the Lord Divus' mind were hidden the impulses of a raging psychopath; rape, murder, torture, all forms of debauchery were equal and in practice in his mind. When hunting the Amazon tribes of the area he would rape and mutilate then until tiring of the exercise, casting away the skins for adornment on his trophy wall. Musk warriors were simply gutted and their flesh devoured. Saffron had long since discovered his lieutenant's grisly practices and endorsed them wholeheartedly, knowing that one-day he may use the information as advantage against Divus' betrayal. Now, as the time of The Closing drew near, Saffron's burst of energy had uncovered large bands of men of more...undesirable stock from the foetid holes of depravity from which they spawned. Such groups were tribes that were mentally or physically deformed, people who were cast out of tribal society for inbreeding or mating with creatures cursed by Jusenkyo. No Musk warrior was ever cast out for such a practice, consequently Musk were only cast out for the former. Superstitious people one and all, they prayed to heathen gods of antiquity, evil malevolent spirits that promised mastership of the Earth, messengers of the Great Old Ones. In the darkness cast by the clouds, an inhuman chortling could be heard for miles. ---Tendo Dojo--- Cologne had arrived swiftly, Shampoo and Mousse following behind with medical supplies. She pogoed in on her gnarled wooden staff, the ancient elder of the Joketsuzoku had come at the beck-and-call of her most promising pupil for the aid of her tribe's mortal enemy. Kima was lain on the porch, none wanting to touch her burned flesh for fear that in so doing might cause irreparable damage to her fragile health. The heat had risen again, Saffron's message and reminder of doom, he would not accept Ranma's refusal, rather his death. Blending herbs and oils in a bowl provided by Kasumi, Cologne crushed fine powders into the dish, erupting in a cloud of hazy smoke. Ranma and Akane had already knelt at the fallen's side, anxious to hear her excuse for once again disrupting their lives. With knowing eyes filled with esoteric knowledge and shaman practice, Cologne smeared the resultant salve over the phoenix woman's body, sections of burnt flesh peeling away with her hand. "This salve I have made will expedite her recovery, but it still will not come in time. Saffron has no doubt sent others after this one, we must be prepared." She closed the sliding panels, separating the reality of Kima's wounds with the unreality of their situation; Saffron had caused a shock wave which would change the weather patterns of the world itself! To that end Ranma had to go back. Back to China. "I will send a messenger to my tribe, they will provide us with transportation. You must return to take Saffron's challenge, without appeasement his rage could boil until the entire world could be swallowed in his hate." Kasumi had walked in, taking her place at her fiancˇe's side. "I found this clipping of parchment in Kima's satchel. It was the only thing to survive the fire." She withdrew an oblong tube tied with an official ribbon of Phoenix Mountain. "It is written in Chinese, I can't translate it." "Give it to me child, someone must have wanted us to know why she came. Such parchment would crumble to dust in such heat, under normal circumstances." She cracked the wax ribbon with a twisted nail, reading eagerly the text scrawled upon the paper. Ranma was leaning with his back against a wall, Kasumi draped over his lap. A comforting aura pervaded her very being as such close contact with him was wont to do. Wrenching a fistful of silken shirt, Kasumi pulled herself even closer, drawing herself even further into his warming embrace. Cologne drew in a straggling breath, air sucking in too forcefully eliciting a dry cough. Her owl-eyes were wide in fear, both fear and comprehension. For written upon that scrap of paper, were the first three verses of 'The Prophecy of Guardians,' a secret Phoenix scroll only seen by a select few. Mounting her cane, she hollered for Mousse and Shampoo to make haste to the Nekohanten. Finally she turned, rather eruditely, to the languishing pair. "Ranma, I have underestimated you. You have proven to be the one we've all been searching for and I simply didn't see it. What is written upon that scroll concerns you, it was written thousands of years before you were born yet it speaks the truth of your soul, your destiny! For that we must go to China! You must face Saffron and prevail! Not only does Japan rest in the balance, but also the fate of multitudes of ageless spheres just beyond our reach." She exited the Tendo walls, looking back one final time at Ranma and Kasumi, happy and loving for the last time. "But not beyond yours I think." She left leaving Ranma to ponder her words. ---"?"--- It is time. Saffron must make the sacrifice soon or else all will be lost! He has wasted enough time as it is! Quiet, the guardian must be brought. Only through him will they awaken. The dark one shall rise from centuried kelp from myriad seas of old, he will strike down those that have made their world and institute his law. That is not dead which can eternal lie... And with strange eons even death may die... The dreamer dying faces death with scorn... And through his seed will rise again reborn... In his lair, _He_ awaits dreaming... It will come time soon when the hounds will descend upon this sphere and devour the world if they are not awakened. Saffron's opponent is the key, he is the centre of our destiny. He must be aided then, none could resist our pawn so easily. True, the Gods of Eld must have some stake in his plans. We shall have to see... ---Nerima, outside the Tendo Compound. Midday--- Divus was sickened by the wonton degradation these humans of the outside world displayed, they lived only for themselves, they had no right to live in the world of Saffron. The females were submissive, no aggressiveness to them, he found the whole culture...distasteful. Vendors hawked their wares everywhere, charging exorbitant charges for simple enmities of life. "Can I interest you in some fresh fruit or vegetables? I grow them myself, twenty yen apiece." A fat slob pushed his way through the throng of people gawking at the winged man standing in almost roman armour at the centre of all the chaos in Nerima. "Where'd ya git the ratty wings pal? A yard sale?" He grinned showing plaque encrusted teeth. He reached out with dirty fingernails and grabbed a fistful of feathers. "You will remove your hands from my wings or you will lose them. I haven't come here on a hunt but I can easily," he grinned hideously at the man, "change my plans." He backhanded the slug from his wing, the greasy unfortunate hitting the Yamada's stone wall headfirst, his gray-matter splattered across the street. "Pathetic fools." The crowd ran in all directions from the great trapper of Phoenix mountain, all except two. Takewaki Kuno and his mentally-imbalanced sister Kodachi had been out to the market, as her new pollen extracts had arrived at the local curio shop. After eating at their usual French restaurant in the square the crowd of people in front of the Tendo gates drew their attention. Suddenly a man was thrown backwards, his head exploding in a wave of gore flushing from his ruptured skull. Even the scion to the noble House of Kuno couldn't allow the slaughter of innocent surfs near his estate. "You there! I beseech you to throw down your weapon and give yourself up, ye cannot hope to prevail over the majestic glory of The Blue Thunder!" He drew his bokken from a navy sleeve, his sister ripping away the hand-embroidered kimono in favor of her sea-green leotard. Wood and cloth, brother and sister, lashed out at the attacker. "Have at thee foul daemon!" Divus assessed the power of his assailants, finding them pathetically wanting in skill and technique. Gold carapaces enclosing his wings slid off at the twitch of a muscle becoming twin bucklers and razor edged circular axes, he ripped through their flesh like ricepaper, entrails falling to the pavement in a wet, slushy, heap. Both their torsos went sailing into the air, finally coming to a rest in the Tendo courtyard. Faces frozen in horror. Within the bottomless depths of those eyes lay a natural insanity, that and a horror that even throughout the countless millennia past and future would forever remain unnamed and unnamable. With the annoyances gone and the Tendos alerted to his presence by the screams coming from behind the stone wall, Divus took flight. The carcasses of his previous victims were splashed about the yard, intestines strewn about the plum trees dotting the perimeter of the house, staining the flowers crimson. The sanguine rippling surface of the defiled koi pond reflected the gossamer hue of Divus wings as he stepped foot in the Tendo yard. "Where are the Tendo females!!!???" He bellowed into the house, tearing the paper doors with a gleaming rapier. The inside of the house was in shambles, a grim reminder of Saffron's powerful attack across the ocean, burning ki obliterating the Chinese Military forces in the surrounding area of the Bayankala Range. A shadow danced in the corner of his eye, his swift vacuum blade strike puncturing cleanly the shoulder of Genma, the surrounding tissue exploding in a geyser of blood and bone. The fat martial artist fell at the feet of the conquering lord, bleeding stunted by his white kerchief, Divus sword at the back of his exposed bald skull. "Tell me where they are slug, and I may allow you to die a painless death." His face contorted into a sadistic grin, his sword lightly cleaving the flesh on Genma's head. "I know they are here." Watching the reaction on his victim's face he saw a brief eye movement to the kitchen. Turning swiftly, bashing Genma's head with a quick kick, he flew to the kitchen. "So this is where you hide!" Kasumi screamed as the warrior grabbed her throat, lifting her in the air as she flailed madly for breath. "Let go of her you creep!" Ranma swung into the kitchen, executing a 44 strike combo into Divus' chest. The hunter flew back to impact the far wall with a muffled thump. Grasping Akane and Nabiki's hands, Kasumi gathered her sisters and ran for the tearoom where Genma's bleeding body lay mercifully unconscious. "Get out of the house! All of you!" Nodoka helped Soun with her husband, dragging him out into the cobblestone entrance, only to be met with the cold steel of swords and the fluttery beating of wings. "By order of the lord of Phoenix Mountain, Saffron, all of you must surrender the women to us!!!" A squad of tribesmen were floating before them, crossbows and swords trained at the group. Heads turning swiftly at the sound of battle, Nodoka watched as her son threw the Phoenix out into the courtyard, ki raging like wildfire around his body. "Take the woman and help lord Divus." They wrenched Akane Nabiki and Kasumi off the ground, utilizing shiatsu sleep points to calm them, and flew off. "Know this! Mighty Saffron will hold your daughters alive for seventy-two hours, after that they will die, one after the other!" With that the squad flew up and into the clouds. "KASUMI!!!!" Ranma leapt into the air, firing off twenty Moku Takabashi before falling back to earth, broken and disheartened. "...ranma..." Genma motioned feebly towards his son with his intact arm, the other held to the remainder of his frame by a hideous strip of sinew and muscle. Blood gurgled up from his hemorrhaged lungs and stomach, warm blood coursing across the cobblestones. "...the Saotome forbidden techniques...unseal them...exceed your father...finish my work..." "Pops...don't worry you're gonna be alright." Fresh tears began to creep along the boy's eyes, rivulets of a scarring event in the youth's life. His father would die, in some jarring way he knew that but detached himself from reality, hoping to give some small bit of comfort to the parent that had given him the most grief. "Dr. Tofu'll get you patched up, we'll unseal them together." "...No time...I'm dead." He chuckled softly, blood streaming from his nose, eagerly devoured by the cotton gi desperately clinging to his frame. "At the house...under the plum tree...Yama-sen-ken...Umi-sen-ken...tried to do good...failed..." The color had left his face, draining out onto the courtyard in one torrential gush. And so Genma Saotome's body joined the Kunos' rotting carcasses in the Tendo courtyard. Nodoka and Soun had dropped Genma's rapidly cooling corpse on the walk, his mother's touch seemingly awakening the broken youth from his stupor. Helping her son to his feet, Nodoka wept, not for her less than honorable husband, not for the insane and meddlesome Kunos but for the possibility that Ranma would lose another love. Tears streamed down his cheeks unbidden, his head facing west, to the sky. ---Phoenix Mountain, later that day--- Saffron had ordered the auditorium cleared so that he may spread his wings and rule from a majestic place suiting his new power. His face had grown more feral, canines jutting from his lower lip, and far more angular. His body had retained the stature and poise of his position but his golden crown had been replaced by a sheer strip of metal heated until malleable then affixed to his skull. Where once two wings beat with furious intensity, now beat twelve, five pairs taken from those of his blood, their differing plumage offering a host of grisly acts of violence against his own kin. The Musk had retreated after their mountain stronghold was destroyed, the citadel now they're only base of operations, the Amazons, however, proved to be far more complicated. Since they were spread along the valley several had escaped into the mountains, seeking outside help. Saffron himself thought the idea amusing, no one could dare face him now, resplendent in victory, and after the foolish mortal Saotome was ground into dust by his boots none would bar his path to glory. The immense double doors opened and Divus limply approached. "My great lord Saffron! Most exalted of the divine and bearer of the light and heat of this mountain, I give to thee your requested 'guests!'" His ribs had been taped earlier, his eye before he entered, as such his eye patch was growing increasingly bloodier and bloodier with each movement of his head. "The Saotome is a mighty foe, but who whom you can easily best! As I have done this almighty deed I bring you the boons of my expedition!" Three armed guards shoved a respective Tendo through the door. "The Tendo sisters that you described, with them the Saotome will come and meet his doom!" "Be silent Divus, lest I grind your bones to dust." Kasumi shuddered at the voice that seemed to be rippling on the surface of the air, rippling her torn clothes. It was just as Ranma had described, when in the presence of Saffron for the first time one truly felt powerless, for here sat a god! Nabiki had long since wet herself from fear as they were flown back to the mountain, the surrounding Sharptooth Cliffs nicking her feet, and stood embarrassed in her soiled rags. Akane seemed to be holding up well considering he was the one that almost killed her. "You! The one with black hair! You were the one he first came after, but I know that it is you," he pointed at Kasumi, "that holds his heart. You will be the bait that will entice him to his death." He chortled, his insane laughter bouncing off the cavernous walls. It was through this sound that Akane's mind snapped. "Kasumi! You fucking bitch! You stole him from me!" Akane elbowed the guard in the gut, making a beeline for Kasumi. "You worthless whore, he loved me until you convinced him I was crazy, using your body to lure him away from me!" She lashed out against her bound sister, legs felling the elder woman and pinning her to the stones. Snapping her bound hands, the rope falling to the floor in tatters, she viciously began beating Kasumi into the ground. "Harlot! Bitch! He came here to save me, not you!" Nabiki began to weep, falling to her knees. "Very interesting! It seems the black-haired bitch he came to save last time wants to kill her sister! Very good!" He shot his hand out at the younger Tendo, a pinprick of flame hitting Akane's shiatsu sleep spot leaving her to crumple to the floor. "Take them to the cells, make sure the younger and eldest are separated, I wouldn't want Saotome to miss the show! Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!!!!!!!!" ---"?"--- It seems the boy has done it. The wind walker will soon return to Earth, taking his soul with it. It seems he is fated to die once more. No matter to us, his death will suit a far greater purpose than light and heat. He will be the key to unlocking the Guardian's destiny. True, we already had to change the destiny of several others as well to suit the Guardian's quest. He won't even know what he has done before it will be too late. He will free us or all the world will suffer! But to him our rule would be the hell, the Hounds would almost be a mercy in his eyes. We have invested far too much of our own time and effort into this realm, it will not be wasted because of one insignificant mortal. Now that he possesses what he deems to be worthy fighting techniques he will be difficult to defeat. At least for the boy. He is far from insignificant. Is that not how we planned it? ---To be continued---