[Ranma][Fanfic] Adulthood of a Modern Dynasty - Chapter 9: The Black Wars "First Blood in the Sand, the Fight for Survival Begins" ======================================================================= Adulthood of a Modern Dynasty Chapter 9: The Black Wars "First Blood in the Sand, the Fight for Survival Begins" Ranma 1/2 characters/situations created and copyright by Rumiko Takahashi/Shogakukan/Kitty/Fuji/Viz - Used without permission Adulthood of a Modern Dynasty series created, written, and copyright 2000-2001 by Jim Lazar An ongoing series set after the end of the Ranma 1/2 manga and anime. For maximum enjoyment of this fanfic series, please read my Childhood of Modern Dynasty series before reading Adulthood. E-mail comments and/or criticisms to: jim [at] animeprime.com Make sure to check out my Modern Dynasty website for all released AMD stories, graphics files, and other information: http://www.animeprime.com/ff/md ======================================================================= Some extremely violent and bloody events unfold in this chapter. ======================================================================= April 30, 2009 - Southern Egypt, Africa (Black Wars Day 1) First blood in the sand... Under the hot Saharan sun, dark red blood from the gutted remains of a child and his parents soaked slowly into the sand. Leaving its latest victims behind, the blood-covered tentacles of a Buyierfei shuffled over that red sand and moved further into the small desert village. The mangled organs and tissue floating within its transparent body slowly started to break down and was absorbed along with the blood covering its outer skin by the time it reached the center of the village. Invisible once again, the creature moved unseen through the sand-beaten village until dozens of randomly fired bullets tore through its flesh and exposed its black blood. Despite the numerous wounds, the Buyierfei still lumbered slowly forward on its long tentacles. All around it, about a hundred of its kind were also revealed when an Egyptian Army sergeant had sprayed the area in front of his squad with his automatic rifle. Seeing the large number of approaching wounds, the sergeant's eyes went wide in fright and he lowered his automatic rifle. "Oh crap..." he muttered in Arabic. He looked back at his squad. At least the nine remaining ones, that is. "Swords!!" The soldiers didn't move. "Draw your swords and defend your country and your families!!" the sergeant barked as he slung his rifle over his shoulder before drawing his own sword. The soldier's swords finally slid out of their sheathes, vibrating in the slight breeze that continually pelted the soldiers with grains of sand. "Spread out and don't let any of them through!!" the sergeant yelled as he dashed toward the distant floating wounds. He never reached his intended target, due to the fact that at least some of his enemy was closer than he had thought. An unwounded Buyierfei appeared out of nowhere as it wrapped its tentacles around the sergeant's neck and waist, making it impossible for him to breathe. His men stared in shock at the sight of their sergeant ensnared by the tentacles. When blood erupted form the sergeant's mouth, a young private panicked and peppered the Buyierfei with bullets. And his sergeant, of course. The Buyierfei and the sergeant's body were both quickly riddled with wounds. "Stop it!" one of the other soldiers yelled and drew his sword. "Bullets only show where they are, they won't kill the demons!" He jumped onto the Buyierfei and sliced the creature's main body in half, but the sergeant was already dead. By the tentacles of the Buyierfei or the bullets fired from the private was unknown. And in retrospect, it didn't matter. The small group of soldiers was so horrified by their sergeant's death that they didn't notice the other Buyierfei surround them until the first tentacle pierced the first chest. And by then it was too late. Leaving the soldiers' gutted corpses behind, the large group of Buyierfei glided northward again in search of more energy to feed on. -A- -M- -D- April 30, 2009 - New York, New York (Black Wars Day 1) Bobby opened the door, still wearing the tuxedo pants and shirt from the day before, although they were very wrinkled. "Yes?" he said, shielding his eyes from the morning's glare. "Bobby?" Bobby's jaw dropped. "Deb!! Oh my god, I forgot our date last night!" Deborah was dressed in a pair of jeans and wrinkled long-sleeved T-shirt. "That's okay... I didn't expect you to show up after-" She paused as the sound of a siren raced past. "-what happened, happened." Bobby ran his hand through his messy hair. "Yeah... um... why are you here?" Deborah looked up with eyes that had obviously not seen enough sleep. "I... I... I don't have anyplace else to go." "Huh?" "My mom's in Hawaii to visit some friends who moved there in two-thousand and I haven't been able to get through to her on the phone and my office is closed and..." Bobby put his finger to Deborah's lips to silence her. "I understand. Come on in." Deborah smiled. "Thanks..." She stepped into the house, her hands wrapped tightly around her stomach. "I didn't want to spend another night alone." "It'll be alright." Bobby slid in beside her and put his hand on her shoulder. As they entered the living room, they saw Bobby's father talking on the phone. "Yes... I understand." Mike scratched his stubble. "Okay, please call or send someone over if you hear anything." He put down the phone and then collapsed into a nearby chair, his eyes revealing the pain he felt inside. "Angel..." "Any news?" Bobby asked, hopefully. Mike shook his head. "No... her boss still hasn't heard anything about your mother or the group of reporters she was with. Apparently a lot of satellites got damaged when the moon was blasted, so the communication networks are overloaded and in disarray." "Oh..." Bobby sighed. "Your mother?" Bobby nodded. "Yeah... sh... she was covering the famine in Africa." Deborah gasped. "Oh no... was she in Chad or..." Mike shook his head before she could list all the countries in the area, some of which no longer existed. "We don't know. She was supposed to be at a refugee camp that... that..." He broke down and started to sob into his already tear stained hands. Bobby hurried to his father's side and helped him to his feet. "Come on, Dad, you'd better try and get some sleep." "Alright... alright..." Mike muttered as he was lead down the hall towards his bedroom. Deborah looked around awkwardly for several moments before spotting a picture on the table next to the chair Mike had been sitting in. She stepped over and picked it up. Wiping the tear streaks off with her sleeve, she stared at the picture. "That's my mother..." Deborah almost dropped the picture at the sudden voice. She looked over and saw that Bobby had returned. "She's beautiful." "Yeah..." Bobby sighed and plopped down on the couch. "I hope she wasn't near the monolith when it..." Deborah nodded. "Yeah..." She sat down on the sofa next to Bobby and put her hand on his. "Don't worry, she'll be okay." "You sound so confident." "Once, when I was in a bad situation, someone told me to think positively." "Yeah, but..." "She's okay... say it," Deborah said with a confidence she didn't have back in ninety-nine. "She's okay." Deborah slapped his hand lightly. "Now, say it like you mean it." Bobby straightened up and looked Deborah in her eyes. "She's okay, I know it!" "That's better." Deborah smiled for the first time since the news broke. "Just remember that there are people out there fighting for our sakes." "I know," Bobby said, looking at the muted television. An image of army troops preparing to be airlifted to Africa was currently being shown. But Deborah had someone else in mind. They sat on the couch and talked, occasionally clicking through the television channels that were still broadcasting in hopes of any news. There wasn't anything that led Bobby to believe his mother was okay. They say no news was good news, but when the rest of the news was so horrifyingly bad, one started to doubt the news you were looking for would be the single piece of good news in a sea of endless bad news. After five hours of nothing but news of whole platoons being wiped out, avian sightings, damage reports, and death toll estimates in the multi-digit millions, they had shut the television off. Two hours after that, Deborah opened her eyes and looked around the empty room. "Did I doze off? Bobby?" She started to rise from the couch when she realized where Bobby had gone. She looked down at his sleeping form, which stirred and readjusted his head's position on her lap. "You'd never think this was the same breast fixated teenager I used to tutor," she remarked as she ran her hand through his hair. *********************************************************************** >From the personal journal of James Davidson July 4, 2058 "Looking back, I think that's when I fell in love with him." I stopped dead in my tracks at hearing the familiar voice. Looking over to the porch, I saw Akane sitting next to her medical equipment and, quite unexpectedly, my mother was sitting in that old chair she refused to let us replace or reupholster for her. What on earth did Akane call my mother about? "That was an unusual first date," Akane commented, then added, "Even stranger than mine with Ranma." "We didn't think of it as a date then, but it turned out to be the real start to our relationship." "The REAL start?" Akane asked, emphasizing the 'real'. "Before then, he seemed like an immature child lusting after his teacher. But that night..." My mother sighed. "Maybe it was our shared pain or our uncertainty of what was going to happen, but I saw a new person in my student that night." "It's nice to know that even as that horrible war was breaking out, people found time for love." "Yes and no," my mother said sadly. "What..." Akane's question was interrupted when she saw me approaching. "Morning, James." I smiled. "Morning, Akane." I looked at my mother's image. "Morning, Mom." "Morning, Dear." I kissed Akane and smiled at my mom. "So what are my two favorite women talking about?" "No kiss for me, Dear?" my mother asked. "Well, if you were here, I'd give you one." My mother looked at Akane and laughed. "You're getting spoiled with all these high resolution holo-phones, I see." "Huh?" Akane smiled. "She flew in last night to surprise you." "Huh?" "Come give your mother a kiss, Dear." My mother patted her cheek. Amazed, I slid over and kissed my mother's cheek and gave her a hug. "I'm sorry, but... but with the chair and everything I thought you were at home." I touched the old chair to make sure it was real. "She insisted we bring it with us so she could be comfortable." I looked at the source of the voice. "Mary?" My older sister stood in the entrance to Akane's house. "You don't think I'd let Mom fly alone halfway around the world to the one place most likely to be attacked by any number of assorted monsters, fiances, and nutcases, would you?" I smiled. "I see you've been reading my books." "Someone has to." I hugged my sister, amazed that she was in a good mood for once. Must be the jet lag. "Why didn't you tell me you were coming?" "Your wife thought this way would be better," Mary said as she pulled up a folding chair and sat down next to my mother. "Hanaki knew?" I laughed. "Aahhh... that's why she's been acting a little strange lately. I though it was because her due date was getting close." My mom smiled. "I wasn't going to miss the birth of my first grandchild." She glanced at my sister. Mary rolled her eyes. "Mother..." she growled. There's the Mary I knew. "I didn't expect you for another hour, so I was asking your mother about your parents' interrupted first date," Akane said, looking between my mother and me. "Who's the reporter here?" Akane chuckled. "Well, Mr. Reporter, sit down next to your mommy and I'll tell you about how I spent the early days of the Black Wars." "Sure, I've been wanting to find out the details of those early battles," I said as I grabbed a folding chair and sat down on the other side of my mother from Mary. "You may be surprised at how little I can tell you, your grandmother was closer to the action than I was." My mother and I both nodded, knowing that story all too well. *********************************************************************** April 29, 2009 - Sudan, Africa (Black Wars Day 0) "How's it coming?" The driver sighed. He looked out from the under of the bus and saw two legs showing under the frame of the bus. "It come faster if bossy birdie shut the farnarkle up," he replied in broken English. He wasn't sure what farnarkle meant, but he thought it fit the woman's personality perfectly. The legs stomped the desert sands in exasperation and walked away. Back inside the bus, a group of sand covered reporters looked up from their notepads, PDAs, and laptops when the woman climbed back into the bus. "Don't rock the bus!!" the driver yelled from under them. "Well?" a tired blond woman asked. The crusty older woman shook her head and then made her way down the aisle. "He doesn't know what he's doing." Angela Rodriguez-Davidson sighed. "I'm sure it won't be long until someone comes by." She looked out the window at the endless desert and tried her cell phone again. "I guess having cellular service out here is too much to ask." "Tell me about it," the older woman said as she sat down across the aisle from Angela, much to Angela's regret. "My boss wouldn't even let me take one of the satellite phones. How I got stuck with this crappy drought story, I'll never know." She looked at Angela. "How'd you get stuck doing a dammed human interest piece?" Angela smiled. "I requested it." "Why?" "It's a change of pace for me. I've been doing a lot of follow-up on the Blackness and found it hard to get an assignment that got me in the field again." The woman nodded. "I never had a chance to do any field reporting in ninety-nine. Did you?" "Yes... up close." Angela shuddered. "Real close, I was in Florida." "Wow, I wish I could have been." "No... you don't. And it's not something I'd care to repeat." "Still..." The woman's reply was cut off when the old bus was suddenly tossed a couple meters into the air and crashed down to the desert sands, the earth buckling and shaking beneath it. Angela and the other reporters all hung on for their lives as the bus rocked and shook. "What's going on?" Angela screamed. "Earthquake!!" was one of the more accurate guesses, but it wasn't quite the real reason. "What's that?" the older woman asked, glaring at the western sky, which was growing dark. "Huh?" Angela asked as she fought to stay in her seat. "That's... OH SHIT!!" She leapt out of her seat and stumbled towards the front of the bus. "Driver, we have to get out of here!!" she yelled as she emerged from the door. The driver didn't respond. Since his head was currently crushed under one of the tires, that was to be expected. Angela rushed back into the bus and dropped into the driver's seat. "Shit..." she spat as she tried the key. The engine sputtered, but didn't turn over. "Shit..." "What's going on?" "The driver's dead and-" Angela continued to try and start the bus. "-so are we if we don't get out of here!!" The other reporters all looked around in confusion. "Why?" Angela pointed towards the darkening western sky. "I've seen that before." "What is it?" The bus's engine came to life. "The Blackness." The bus was suddenly deathly silent except for the sound of the old engine coming to life and grinding gears. The reporters started at the dark sky, where they could just make out an onrushing wall of dust. "It's just a sand storm." "Like hell it is!!" Angela yelled as she managed to get the bus into gear. She slammed her foot on the accelerator and spun the wheel. The bus protested the sudden movement by violently shaking and tossing its occupants around. Angela left the dirt road--as it could barely be called--as she swung the bus around in a wide arc. Finally heading eastward, she bounced back onto the road and floored the accelerator. "Come on..." she muttered, doing her best Sandra Bullock impression trying to get the bus up to fifty-five and beyond. One of the reporters--a small man with a day's growth of stubble--stumbled up behind Angela. "You're going to kill us!!" "If we don't outrun the shock wave, we're dead anyway!!" The man looked doubtful. "If that's a monolith explosion, you can't outrun it!!" Angela smiled through clenched teeth. "I've done it once already, no reason I can't again." She looked at the endless desert in front of her. "I'd give my left breast for a lake right now," she muttered, looking around the driver's seat for something. "And the right one for a seat belt." "Look!" Everyone except Angela looked towards the west and saw the dust cloud had gained on them. Faint flashes of black lightning could be seen stretching out ahead of the black wall of dust. The man paled. "Step on it!" Angela gritted her teeth and resisted the urge to ream the man a new one. Fortunately for the man, she had more important things to do. Like keeping ahead of the huge shock wave that was rapidly closing the gap between them. The distance between life and death. And most importantly, the distance that would determine if her children would ever see their mother again and her husband would ever see his 'Angel' again. Without her becoming a real angel, that is. -A- -M- -D- Twenty minutes later, that gap between life and death vanished and the bus was tossed into the air and blasted by sand whipped up by the gale force winds that preceded the shock wave. Angela was thrown out of the driver's seat and slammed her head against the handrail near the door. "Damn... where's a lake when you need it." As the bus grew dark as the sand started to block out the light from the windows. "Mike... I'm sorry." Angela muttered as she passed out. Outside, the shock wave started to dissipate and fold back on itself, leaving the desert winds to bury the bus under the black sand left in the blast's wake. -A- -M- -D- April 30, 2009 - Nerima, Japan (Black Wars Day 1) "She's finally asleep..." Akane said as she stumbled into the family room, rubbing her weary eyes. Ranko and Ranma looked up from the table with their equally weary eyes. Across the table from them, Soun leaned against the wall and snored softly. Little Hinako was curled up at his side with their young son between them, both sleeping soundly. No one had wanted to disturb them once they had finally fallen asleep since the residents of the Tendo house had gotten very little sleep that night. Neither had the rest of the world, for that matter. Ranko looked out at the garden and saw the morning's light trace its rays across the lush green foliage. Inside she wondered how long it would stay green. "Her eyes?" Akane shuddered. "Still black, but she doesn't seem to be in pain anymore." "Why her..." Ranma muttered. No one had an answer. Akane knelt down between her husbands and was immediately encompassed by arms. "What now?" Ranma looked out beyond the garden where the Amazons could be seen along the inside of the wall that encircled the Tendo compound. They were all in full armor, had two swords strapped to their belts, and busily working to prepare for an attack. "We fight." As if right on cue, the sound of a gong rang out. Akane and her husbands jumped to their feet and looked around for signs of an attack. After nothing happened for several seconds, the three of them decided not to wake the sleeping family and headed to the front gate as fast as they could. "What is it, Nipplering?" Nipplering looked at Akane with weary eyes. "We have guests." She looked at the front gates. Akane didn't think that Nipplering would choose that moment to call attacking Buyierfei 'guests'. She walked over to the large wooden door and looked through the small viewing hole. "Ukyo!!" Ukyo smiled wanly. "Can we stay here for a while?" She looked down at the six kids swarming around her legs. Two Amazons were trying to keep the kids corralled with their swords. And failing. "Of course..." Ukyo smiled slightly. "Thanks. I tried to contact Sanma in China, but the phone lines are all busy and I don't want to stay alone at our house without him during..." Ukyo looked around to finish her statement silently. Akane nodded. "I know how you feel." She looked at Nipplering. "Why didn't you just let them in?" Nipplering stood stiffly. "During a siege no one is allowed to enter or leave the Compound without permission of the senior Amazon present." Akane sighed and looked at the two Amazons womanning the gate. "Let them in." She looked back at Nipplering with a look of irritation that was only amplified by her tired eyes "I sent those Amazons to bring back our friends and family." As her warriors opened the gates to admit Ukyo, Nipplering nodded. "I know, but we must be careful. They have been tested with the rod and do not appear to be possessed, but we already have one possessed person in the Compound who the rod doesn't respond to, so we can't be sure that it is effective anymore." She lifted her right hand, in which she held the ancient Amazon rod that was supposed to react to Buyierfei energy. Akane tensed as she remembered the Amazons' preferred method of dealing with possessed people. "You keep your sword away from my daughter's neck!" Ranma and Ranko echoed their wife's statement. "Leader, I would not hurt her unless there was immediate danger." "You will not hurt her at all!!" three parents shouted at Nipplering. Nipplering decided not to force the issue. Her chest muscles tightened. Ukyo appeared around the gate, which was immediately closed after her. "What's going on? Who's possessed?" "Daiji..." Ranko said softly, clutching her chest. Ukyo gasped. "How is she?" "She's been sleeping since..." Akane took a deep breath. "Kasumi and Tofu are coming over to see if there's something they can do." -A- -M- -D- "She doesn't seem to exhibit any signs of being possessed other than the black eyes," Kasumi said as she knelt down at the table with her husband several hours latter. Ukyo was upstairs watching Daiji, while Soun and Hinako tried to keep the kids occupied. "But..." Tofu spoke. "I don't know why her eyes have turned black, but based on all that we know from our prior encounters and from the Amazon's history, I don't think she's possessed." Three parents relaxed somewhat. "But..." Kasumi answered her little sister's question before Akane got the second word out. "There is obviously a connection to what's going on in Africa-" She glanced at the widescreen television, which was showing news information from a local Tokyo station, but the sound was muted. "-but other than that we don't know what's happening to her." She hesitated before continuing. Sensing his wife's reluctance, Dr. Tofu took up the explanation. "Physically, she's healthy and alert." The three parents frowned. "Physically?" Akane asked. Dr. Tofu nodded sadly. "Mentally, she's aware of us, but can't talk or stay focused on anything. The pain apparently comes and goes, you can tell when she sleeps that she has moments of calm, restful sleep interrupted every now and then by spasms." "So, what do we do?" Ranma asked. Kasumi and Dr. Tofu looked sadly at each other and then looked at the parents and shook their heads. "Other than making her comfortable and using some of my husband's pain blocking techniques, we don't know how to help her. Since she was just a fetus when you entered the Australian monolith; she might have been affected then or she could have some Buyierfei energy within her. We just don't know." Ranma face betrayed the helplessness and anger that he felt inside. "So there's no way to force the Buyierfei energy out of her?" Dr. Tofu shook his head. "We're not sure she could survive the only way we know to drive Buyierfei energy out of a person." The three parents tensed, knowing that in the past the only way they found to drive Buyierfei energy out of a person was to blast them repeatedly with chi blasts. That wasn't something they were prepared to do to their young daughter. Ranko stood up. "Then we've got to destroy the damn Buyierfei once and for all!" Ranma stood up by his sister's side. "Right." "Sit down!!" Akane snapped. Ranma and Ranko frowned. "But we have to fight them..." Ranma insisted. "We will..." Akane looked out at the garden. "They'll be here soon enough and I won't let them hurt my family!!" Ranko knelt down next to her wife. "I know how you feel, but I don't think we should just wait for them to come here. We'd be better off stopping them before they get here." "No, we don't have enough people to safeguard our family here as it is..." Akane said with her eyes clenched tight. "Let the armies of the world handle them; it's not our fight this time." Ranma and Ranko understood what their wife was saying, but found it hard to just sit back and do nothing. They glanced at the television, which at that moment was showing a telescopic view of a swarm of black flying creatures engaging a squadron of military jets. The jets were clearly losing judging by the number of smoke trails rising from the ground and the number of black creatures still in the air. His fists clenched tight, Ranma looked back at his wife. "No, we have to..." His protest trailed off when he noticed where Akane's hand was resting. "Okay, we'll wait here." Ranko's jaw dropped open and he looked at Ranma, amazed that her brother would just sit back and do nothing. A glance from Ranma made Ranko look at their wife and then she understood. "We don't know that they'll come after your baby." Akane was rubbing her stomach absently. "No, but with Daiji in her current condition... who knows what will happen?" Ranko and Ranma nodded in unison. -A- -M- -D- April 30, 2009 - Over northwestern Africa (Black Wars Day 1) A YAK-40 Russian-built fighter jet with a Libyan flag emblazoned across its fuselage screamed as its pilot put it into a tight turn to avoid the two small avian Buyierfei that had just tried to trap it. Instead, the two black creatures hit each other. Black blood erupted from the point of impact and rained down towards the ground with various other parts of the black creatures' anatomy. The jet leveled off and fell in beside another jet, this one with a forty-nine star flag emblazoned across its sleek surface. In clipped English, the Libyan pilot spoke into his radio, "Thank for warning." The pilot of the American F-26 wiggled his plane's wings. "No problem. We have reports from the ground of two large avians to the northeast. Let's see what kind of damage we can do." "I'm on your wing," the Libyan pilot replied. The two jets--the sole survivors of two separate squadrons--shot off towards the northeast. "Break left!!" the Libyan pilot shouted and put his YAK-40 into a sharp dive. The American pilot responded, but not fast enough. The black fireball that had prompted the Libyan's shouted warning grazed the bottom of the F-26. Pieces of twisted metal tore from the bottom of the aircraft along with two of the F-26's three remaining missiles. The pilot fought to keep his aircraft under control, but just as it looked like he'd be able to stabilize his aircraft, his last missile exploded while still attached to the twisted underside of his aircraft. The F-26 disintegrated, showering the desert below with debris. The Libyan pilot cursed and then fired one of his two remaining missiles at the large avian that had fired the black chi ball. The missile had nothing to lock onto, so the pilot used a remote camera to guide it into a dead-on impact with the creature's gelatinous body. Before the missile could go all the way through the avian, the pilot triggered the remote detonator. Thanking the advanced missile guidance and detonation systems introduced since ninety-nine, he tore his eyes from the spot where his missile had just vaporized the avian and searched for the other one. He found it the hard way when his plane shook violently and his airspeed dropped rapidly. He cursed and looked around him. His eyes went wide when he saw the large maw of the second large avian, which at that moment was doing its best to eat his aircraft, tail first. He pushed his throttle to full, but found that the Buyierfei stuck to his tail like a child to a lollipop. The jet shook and strained as he tried to get out of the creature's hold. Hoping that a creature of flesh and blood wouldn't be able to hang on in a controlled dive, he pointed his nose downward. Every bone in his body shook as he felt gravity start to drag him and his captor down towards the desert below. Looking back along his jet's fuselage, he saw the tentacles that lined the creature's mouth start to inch their way forward. Surprised that a creature of flesh and blood could withstand the direct exposure to the speeds and G-forces that were pressing him back into his seat, he got an idea. He wrenched his stick to the left, then right, and then straight back to climb. At the same time he pushed the throttle to full and kicked in his afterburners. With the sound of tearing metal, he felt his jet free itself from the creature and lurch forward. He only had a couple seconds to congratulate himself before he realized that while he had escaped, the creature had kept about half of his jet's tail section as a souvenir. As his jet started to spiral downward, he fought his controls in vain. He was about to punch out when he saw the avian coming after him. Checking his status displays, he grinned and shot off his last missile. His first attempt to hit the avian failed as the black creature veered out of the way of the missile, but he used his remote control to swing it around and rammed it up the avian's backside. Triggering the missile first, he hit his ejection system and shot into the blue sky. Yanked savagely as his chute deployed, he searched for both his plane and the Buyierfei. The twin explosions made them real easy to spot. His jet ended its heroic fight against the side of a mountain. The avian hit the same mountain, reducing it to several debris-strewn hills. -A- -M- -D- May 1, 2009 - Nerima, Japan (Black Wars Day 2) Nabiki opened her door and peeked out. "Oh, hi, Akane." Akane's eyes narrowed. "Oh, hi, Akane?! Why did you tell the Amazons you weren't coming to the Compound until..." She glanced back at the deserted streets, everyone having quickly fled or had boarded up their homes to hide from the expected onslaught. All around the world, people assumed the major cites would be primary targets and had quickly started to evacuate to the supposed safety of the country. That didn't save the people who were in the way of the expanding wave of Blackness that was engulfing Africa. "Until all this blows over," Nabiki finished Akane's question and the brushed some of Akane's long hair out of her younger sister's face. Both women had obviously not had time to really worry about their appearance, Akane more so. "How are you doing?" "Don't try to change the subject!" Akane swatted her sister's hand away from her hair. "I'm worried about you, come stay with us so we can protect you." Nabiki looked away. "I'd like to say you can, but I won't take my family into that Compound of yours." Akane looked puzzled. Nabiki had always made wise cracks about 'Akane's fortress' and the 'Tendo Compound'--Nabiki having named it after all--but it was always in jest. At least that's what Akane had thought until that moment. "Why?" "Akane, you have to know that you and your husbands are prime targets for the Buyierfei." Nabiki chose not to mention that Daiji was too. She had heard about her niece's condition and didn't want to bring up that subject. "I can't put my family in the middle of a potential battle." "But if the Buyierfei come to Japan-" Akane looked at the two story house Nabiki and Mouse had recently built a couple blocks from their old place above Mon Canard Duex. "-you'd be defenseless here." Nabiki gulped. "I know, but I can't put my son and daughter in harm's way. Although I like the idea of them being defended by an army of Amazon warriors armed to the teeth, putting them in the one place that the Buyierfei are certain to attack if and when they come to Japan isn't something that I'm prepared to do." Akane stared at her sister for several silent seconds. "I don't know if I could get anyone over here in time if the Buyierfei attack you." Nabiki nodded. "I understand. I trust my husband to protect us. You should go someplace safer, you know." Akane sighed. "We talked about it, but being behind the reinforced walls is safer than being out in the open. And the trains, airports, and roads are all clogged with people trying to second guess where the Buyierfei might not attack. I'm not sure there is such a thing as a 'safe place' anywhere in the world anymore." "That's why I don't want to increase my family's chances of being in harm's way." "I thought we were your family?" Akane asked sadly. "You are, but... I have to think of my husband and kids first. I hope you understand." For several minutes, Akane desperately tried to find a way to convince her sister to change her mind, but soon found it was an impossible task. "Okay... but if you need anything..." Nabiki smiled. "We'll be fine... thanks. You're getting more and more like Kasumi every day. Every bit the good mother." She winked. Akane looked embarrassed. "Maybe, but I don't think I could do everything Kasumi can." -A- -M- -D- May 4, 2009 - Shinjuku, Japan (Black Wars Day 5) Blood spurted everywhere when Kasumi thrust her hand into the man's stomach. "Oh my..." "Doctor!!" Kasumi looked across the ER. "I've got my hands full here," she said as she tried to find what was hemorrhaging in the man's abdomen. The nurse flinched when Kasumi was covered by a second layer of blood from the stomach wound. "Um... I can handle this." Despite being covered with blood, Kasumi grinned. "Good girl." Her eyes widened as her fingers brushed against something her long years of training and work in the hospital had taught her to identify by touch alone. "Got it." Slipping a clamp into the wound, she ran it along her arm until it met her fingertip. A second later, the end was clamped over the torn small intestine. Pulling her hands out of the man's stomach, Kasumi wiped her hands off on a towel and checked the man's vitals. Satisfied that he was out of immediate danger, Kasumi headed towards the nurse and the other patient. The nurse looked up from the young woman on the gurney in front of her. "That's okay, Doctor, she's stable now." Kasumi smiled. "Good work." Another nurse rushed in pushing a gurney with a paramedic. "We've got another patient from that big wreck on the expressway!!" Kasumi sighed. "Prep that man for surgery and call Doctor Kon in." She started to check the new patient. "I have a feeling that there will be more needless accidents before we even get to the real horror of this war." She glanced at a television that had been set up in the corner and tuned to one of the any news reports covering the fighting in Africa. "All too soon, by the looks of things." "Yes, Doctor." -A- -M- -D- May 7, 2009 - Nerima, Tokyo. (Black Wars Day 8) Near the stairs, Ukyo slammed down the phone. "Dammit, why can't I get through?!" Ranko paused on the steps she was walking down. "I'm sure he's okay." Ukyo looked up. "I hope so... I can see why Akane doesn't want you and Ranma to go fight. Sanma's not even fighting and I'm worried sick about him." Ranko nodded as they made their way towards the family room together. "Yeah, but I'm getting a little frustrated every time I see a new report and think that I could have helped. "You'll be needed here." "I'm not so sure. The Buyierfei haven't made any move on us yet, they just keep spreading out across Africa." The only person in the family room, Soun, looked up when they entered. "They just announced that they are crossing the Sinai Peninsula towards Israel, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia." He gestured at the widescreen television. Southern Africa and western Africa are still being defended." He took a deep breath. "The avians have been seen over the Atlantic headed to America and over Europe as well." Ukyo sighed, but didn't look at the television. She didn't want to see the death toll estimates again. Ranko, on the other hand, couldn't resist and watched the screen, thinking that she'd be better off fighting than defending the Compound. She cringed as she saw the death toll estimate go up by another million. As she knelt down, the screen showed two weary men sitting at a table. "So, what do you base this latest casualty count on, Mr. Hito?" the younger of the two men asked. "Well, we can't be sure, of course, but given the known populations of the areas devastated and accounting for the people who are fleeing the area, we can come to some estimates of how many people have been killed." "Can you break it down for us?" "Certainly... before the Fourth blew--that is assuming it was another monolith in the desert that caused the initial explosion--we had around nine million dead due to the drought and famine. Most experts now believe that had to have been caused by the Buyierfei and not natural causes as we once thought. They base that theory on the dieback--although smaller due to the wider variety of life in the area--seen around the First." The younger man nodded. "Given the radius of the initial blast, we've estimated the death toll on day zero at around a hundred and seventy million." The younger man flinched, while Mr. Hito remained impassive. "In the battles that followed as the Buyierfei spread out from the location where the Fourth was presumably located, we have reports of missing soldiers to base our numbers on plus estimates of people who haven't been accounted for." Mr. Hito looked into the camera. "We believe another hundred to two hundred million people have died since the initial deaths caused on and before day zero." The younger man did the math--or at least made it look like he was doing it, since he was really reading it off a teleprompter. "So you believe as many as three-hundred and eighty million people might have already died?" "That's correct," Mr. Hito confirmed impassively. "Turn it off!" Akane snapped as she came into the room. Soun frowned. "We really have to keep track of the Buyierfei, Akane." "Then change the channel... we don't have to be reminded about the deaths," Akane said, her voice trembling. Ranko rose to her feet and put her arms around her wife. "Take it easy..." Akane opened her mouth, but shut it when Soun changed the channel. "...and the world is asking: Where are the Amazons?" a stiff looking reporter said on screen, a large desert visible behind him. The image was shaky and occasionally dissolved into a burst of digital static. Suddenly, scores of women in revealing armor ran past him, filling the screen with bouncing breasts. The reporter gasped and looked around him as his cameraman tried to follow the action. "Um... it looks like the Amazons have arrived here on the Sinai Peninsula." All the eyes in the room snapped onto the television screen. A long shot showed hundreds of Amazons swarming across the desert sands. Akane gasped. "So Yukiko sent her people in..." Ranko nodded. "It's not surprising... the Buyierfei are their ancient enemy. I wonder where the rest of the tribe is?" Akane looked out at the garden. Akane turned back to the television and saw the Amazon warriors running across the desert, each wielding at least two swords and many of them had shields and other assorted weapons. She gasped as the image zoomed in on a familiar figure in a revealing set of golden armor. "Yukiko..." Ukyo gasped louder. "Sanma..." She shuddered as she saw her redheaded husband running alongside of Yukiko carrying a large battle spatula. The first thing Ukyo noticed about the spatula was that it was thicker than a normal battle spatula and had some odd protuberances on the handle. "He didn't take his spatula with him, where did he get that one?" Then she stated the obvious when she saw her husband's breasts bouncing. "He didn't change into a man..." She started to tremble. Akane just stared at the image in disbelief. She started to tremble. -A- -M- -D- April 30, 2009 - Joketsuzoku, China (Black Wars Day 1) The sun was just rising over Joketsuzoku when Sanma rushed into Yukiko's bedroom, sweating from her mad dash from Jusenkyo. "What's going on?" Yukiko, her husband, the members of the Circle of Elders, and many high-ranking warriors were all crowded around the room. Yukiko looked at Sanma with weary eyes, not having any sleep since her showdown with Calluse had been interrupted by the return of the Buyierfei. "Sanma..." She sighed and then told Sanma what she knew. "A large chunk of Africa was destroyed by a monolith that exploded and blasted the moon with a bright golden beam; death tolls are expected to be in the hundreds of millions; there's yet another huge crater on the moon; the world's armies and air forces are being sent in to deal with an uncountable number of ground and avian Buyierfei-" She paused to kiss her fingers and touch her forehead. "-and the Libyans have exploded a nuclear bomb at their southern border in an attempt to protect their country from attack from the ground." Sanma blinked and tried to absorb all the information. "How... how can you know all that already?" Yukiko stood aside and revealed the widescreen television that her husband had brought back with him after their last trip to Japan. It was tuned to CNN. "Oh..." Sanma looked at the assembled Elders and warriors. "What are you going to do?" Yukiko's voice trembled slightly as she responded. "Powder is arranging for transport to Africa while the Circle deci... and I decide on our plan of attack." "Plan of attack?" "The Blackness has returned, it is the duty of all Amazons to fight," Yukiko recited. Sanma considered her statement. -A- -M- -D- Later that afternoon, Yukiko caught Sanma before she left through the main gates. "Sanma, I need you to come with us." Sanma shook her head. "No, I have to get back to my family." "I know you're worried, but as an Amazon your duty is to fight the Blackness." Sanma set down her large backpack. "I will, but not until I make sure Ukyo and my kids are safe." "I have already assigned a hundred warriors to join those already in Nerima." Sanma frowned. "Can you spare that many?" Yukiko nodded. "Yes, that is nothing compared to the thousands I'm sending to Africa. They'll attack in three groups from the west, south, and east to contain the advance of the Blackness." Sanma was a little amazed to hear Yukiko speak like that. It was a far cry from the flirtatious little bimbo that had once chased her from China and back. "It sounds like I'd just be in the way." Yukiko shook her head. "I want you in the eastern group with me. We'll try to keep them from spreading into Asia and Europe. Although some of the Amazon warriors have learned the chi techniques you have taught them whenever you visited to activate your..." She frowned suddenly. "Why aren't you a man?" Sanma looked downcast. "Something happened when the spring refilled. A burst of light or something when the Buyierfei's beam first appeared." She cupped her breasts with her hands. "I guess I'm stuck with these things for a while." "Oh... sorry." Yukiko went back to her explanation. "Anyway, of the three thousand warriors in the eastern force, only a hundred or so know your chi attacks. The rest will have only their weapons and traditional Amazon attacks to rely on, like the Hiryu Shoten Ha. The other two groups will have the remainder of our warriors spread among them, since they'll have a wider area to defend. Seven hundred will stay behind to protect the men and children here." Sanma's jaw dropped open. "Are there that many Amazons?" she asked, looking around the small village, which was busy with preparations for the upcoming battle with the Buyierfei. He couldn't imagine there being more than a few hundred warriors, let alone thousands. Yukiko nodded. "Yes, the tribe is quite strong." Sanma considered this. She grimaced at the memories. She looked back towards the east. "I'm sorry, Yukiko, I can't risk it. I won't see my wife hurt like that again." Yukiko put her hand on Sanma's shoulder. "I know how you feel, but can you fight off hordes of Buyierfei by yourself? Our best course of action is to stop them before they get close to your family." She then added, "OUR families." Sanma turned back and met Yukiko's tear filled eyes. "Yukiko... I heard what happened last night. Why didn't you just leave the tribe?" Yukiko gulped. "I was tempted, but this village and these people have become my home and family." She looked towards the west. "I was willing to fight Calluse last night to keep it and I for sure will not let the Blackness take it from me!" Yukiko knelt down and scooped up some dirt and sifted it through her fingers. "It's the same decision as when I challenged Calluse, only on a larger scale." She threw down the dirt and stood up. "I fight now before they get too strong to stop." Sanma remained silent for several moments before speaking. "I understand." He looked towards the east, towards Japan. "Can you spare another hundred warriors for Japan?" Yukiko seemed to consider this for several seconds before answering. "Yes, I think I can. It'll mean pulling off the Amazons running Nabiki's servers, but..." "Okay, I'll go with you then. A hundred Amazon warriors is pretty close to being my equal," Sanma said without modesty and looked back into the village. "Do you have a good blacksmith?" "Yes, why?" "There's something I need made if I'm going with you to Africa." -A- -M- -D- May 7, 2009 - Sinai Peninsula, Egypt. (Black Wars Day 8) Throughout human history, the Sinai Peninsula has seen many wars. The blood of many fallen warriors has stained the sand and the weathered bones of some of those who have fallen still lie buried deep beneath the sands. They were about to receive more company. Much more. A solider in a tan uniform crumpled into the sand, his red blood soaking into the already red sand. A dozen or so half-visible Buyierfei traveled relentlessly forward over the blood-red battlefield, the red blood of their most recent victims slowly fading from their skin. "Fire!!" ordered the platoon leader in Arabic. The sound of automatic rifles was heard across the blowing sands. Thousands of black blood spots appeared over the desert sand. "Grenades!" Fifty grenades were tossed at the approaching blood spots. Seconds later, fragments of Buyierfei and black blood joined the human casualties and red blood already present on the desert sand. But more Buyierfei still came. Some were missing tentacles, some had small wounds that were already starting to heal, and some had escaped the grenades completely unscathed. "Swords!!" Fifty recently polished, hi-tech swords were removed from their sheathes. Fifty swords swung at hundreds of floating wounds. Twenty-three Buyierfei became forty-six when they were sliced in two. Their corpses appeared and disgorged their black blood onto the red sand. Nineteen tentacles pierced nineteen chests. Eight soldiers dropped to the ground, bathed in their own blood. Six staggered backwards, surviving the battle for the time being. Five others struggled with their impalers. Two took their impalers with them. Two others were ripped apart by their strong opponents. The other lived to tell the tale of killing a Buyierfei. One brief skirmish in the eighth day of skirmishes ended with twenty-six dead Buyierfei and twelve dead soldiers. A win for the humans, but when there were thousands and maybe millions of Buyierfei behind the twenty-six that this single skirmish managed to kill, the math would clearly indicate that the humans would probably lose in the long run. The numbers were against them. The squad's leader--a corporal since the squad's sergeant was killed in a skirmish that morning--fell back with his remaining men and regrouped with his thirty unwounded men. "There's going to be more, stay sharp!!" he barked, then his headset crackled. "Heads up, they're doing another burn run!!" The soldiers held their swords in one hand and their automatic rifles in the other. Spraying the area in front of them, they saw a few scattered Buyierfei outlines. They looked up as a low flying bomber flashed over their heads, stirring up black and red sand. Way too close for the soldiers' comfort, napalm canisters dropped from the sleek black bomber. A heat worse than hell itself assailed them as the desert in front of them was engulfed in a firestorm to end all firestorms. Until the next bombing run, that is. Indistinct, multi-tentacled forms thrashed within the flames as their flesh burned. A cheer went up from the squad. The cheering ended when two of the soldiers had tentacles thrust through their chests by some Buyierfei that had been ahead of the firestorm. "Swords!!" the corporal yelled as he raised his own, only to feel it yanked out of his grip as he was pulled into the air. Two large Buyierfei appeared around him and pulled on his limbs. As he felt his arms being pulled out of their sockets, he knew death was near. Then he saw a golden ray of light flash in front of his eyes and he fell to the desert sand. "Wha..." he gasped as he looked up and saw a half-naked woman dressed all in gold. "Wha...." he gasped again, rubbing his sore shoulders. The woman looked down at him and smiled. "Don't worry, my warriors and I are here to fight the Blackness," she said in Mandarin. The corporal didn't understand a word that the white-haired Amazon had said, but as he scanned the area he said one word in English. A word that he and his fellow soldiers had used in hushed tones during their all too brief breaks between battles. A word that meant salvation to them. "Amazons." The Amazon dressed in gold knew that word all too well. She nodded before slashing a Buyierfei in half. The soldiers all gaped as dozens of large breasted women swarmed into the battle, dissecting Buyierfei like the well-trained killing machines they were. "Hiryu Shoten Ha!!" The corporal looked at the source of the shouted attack and saw a small tornado form in front of two well-endowed warriors. His eyes widened as several multi-tentacled forms appeared within the growing vortex. As the Buyierfei swirled around the edge of the whirlwind, the two Amazons thrust their swords into the winds. As they raised and lowered their blades, assorted black chunks of flesh flew from the aptly called 'Amazon Washer of Death'. As the wind died down, the corporal smiled. "Thirteen... they took out thirteen with that... that... thing." The taller Amazon looked at him and smiled. "Sixteen and one wounded," she replied in Arabic, then slashed into the flesh of a half-visible form in front of her. "Seventeen." The corporal and several of his fellow soldiers gaped as the Amazons all around them hacked and slashed through Buyierfei after Buyierfei. Suddenly, a redhead landed in front of them and slashed the air in front of the soldiers with what looked like a very large spatula. A Buyierfei fell to pieces and pooled at Sanma's feet. She glared back at the soldiers. "Hey, buttheads, this ain't no beauty pageant. Stop your gaping and FIGHT!!" The soldiers didn't understand a word the small redhead had said, but they got the idea when she swung her spatula to the side and a black line of blood appeared within a foot of them. The soldiers' swords flashed out and ended that Buyierfei's life with a sickening squelching sound, then they started to swing their swords around to locate their attackers. Compared to the skillful movements of the Amazons, the soldiers looked like the Three Stooges, but they did manage to help catch some that slipped through the Amazons' line. The corporal's sword sliced through black flesh, spraying his tan uniform with black blood. He didn't mind, it was better than the red blood already staining it from the battles that morning. He reached to wipe the blood off his shirt, but was interrupted when his headset crackled. He listened for a bit and then replied. "Yes, Sir, the Amazons have arrived." He paused. "Yes, Sir, they are something." He paused. "I was talking about their skill as warriors, Sir, not their cleavage." He nodded. "Right, Sir." He looked at his men. "Prepare for another bombing run!!" While his men braced for explosions, he ran up to the woman in the golden armor. "They're going to do a fire bomb run." Yukiko slashed a tentacle that had wrapped around her leg and looked at the corporal. She said something in Mandarin before thrusting upwards with her sword, not even looking at the Buyierfei she dissected. The corporal strained his neck to find the Amazon that had spoken Arabic earlier. "They all look alike," he commented to himself as he surveyed the sea of bosoms. Before he could try to warn them somehow, the plane shot over their heads. Several canisters dropped down behind the plane. As the canisters exploded on the sand under it, the plane veered off to the side trailing smoke behind it. The corporal frowned and followed the plane. "Did one of the canisters explode inside?" His question was answered when he spotted a black speck in the sky. Grabbing his binoculars he located the speck, which through the binoculars turned out to be a large black object with flapping wings much like the fins on a manta ray. "Avian..." he muttered under his breath as the plane finally ended its dive against the side of nearby mountain, its explosion barely registered by the frightened corporal. Knowing that an entire company of Libyan soldiers had been wiped out the day before by a single avian, he started to back up. "Fall back," he commanded, the fear evident in his voice. One of the Amazons looked back at him. "Amazons never retreat," she said in perfect Arabic. Recognizing the Amazon who had spoke to him before, he pointed at the dot in the sky. "There's an avian coming, dammit!" The blue-haired Amazon nodded. "We know. We will deal with it. And please watch your mouth, there are ladies present." The redheaded Amazon chose that moment to swear like a drunken sailor when a tentacle ripped her red Chinese shirt. The corporal took a few steps back, knowing that swords wouldn't be any use against the huge avian. Even the most advanced fighter jets had trouble taking down the small avians, let alone the larger variety. But there was more to the Amazons than met the eye. The Amazon in the golden armor was shouting out instructions. Soon, a group of a dozen or so Amazons wearing simple golden robes over their regular armor surrounded her in a circle about ten meters in diameter, while the other Amazons pressed forward to leave the gold-clad warriors room to do whatever they were going to do. The corporal saw the redheaded Amazon with the ridiculously large spatula come up and talk to the Amazon with the fancy golden armor. After a brief exchange, the redhead returned to slicing and dicing Buyierfei with the other Amazons. He looked up and found the avian in his binoculars. It was getting close. Too close. Suddenly, a black fireball emerged from the avian and shot towards the fighters. "Look out on the right!!" His warning was unneeded. The Amazons fighting in the area the fireball hit had seen it coming and gotten out of the way. He heard some shouts from the gold-clad Amazons and looked back just in time to see several small red fireballs flash from the outstretched arms of four of the Amazons. The fireballs formed a wide arc as they flew at the avian. Before they hit, the Avian spun out of the way and then turned towards the group. "Oh crap, you just made it angry," the corporal muttered. The black fireball that emerged from the avian's mouth made a beeline towards the gold-clad warriors seemed to confirm the corporal's statement. Remarkably, the Amazons didn't move. "Move it!!" the corporal yelled and waved his arms. The Amazons still didn't move. Just before the black chi ball hit the small group, they all rushed towards the Amazon wearing the golden armor in a spiral pattern. When they reached the center of the spiral, all of the Amazons raised their arms over their heads and cried out, "Hiryu Shoten Ha!!" The black fireball hit the gold-clad figures, engulfing them in a huge black explosion. "Shit..." the corporal muttered. Then something remarkable happened. The explosion seemed to twist and turn. Sand blew all round the area as the energy of the explosion was funneled upwards. "How..." the corporal gasped as he saw the gold-clad Amazons reappear under the funnel. The gold fabric of their robes was up over their heads and showed little signs of the explosion that had just engulfed the women. "How..." "Kuroi Shoten Hensou!!" As the cry rang out over the battlefield the spinning vortex of black energy started to spin faster before it shot off in the direction of the avian. As if guided by a hidden wire--which in a sense it was since it was retracing the black fireball's path--it homed in on the avian. The avian tried to veer away to avoid the returning energy of it's own blast, but like a missile that homes in on a jet's heat trail, the vortex of energy had the avian's number. As the energy struck the creature's thick hide, it ripped one of its wings off and shredded the flesh on the underside of its body. As the wounded avian emerged from the explosion's cloud, black blood poured out of gaping holes in its body as it spiraled downwards. The Amazons shouted for joy. The corporal started to as well, then he noticed where the avian was headed. "Look out!! If it hits near us, we'll be vaporized!" he shouted. The Amazons had already noticed that the avian's downward spiral was taking it uncomfortably close the their location. "Ichimokusan, Sanma!!" the white haired Amazon shouted as the Amazons around her sent dozens of small red chi balls flashing into the sky in an attempt to alter the avian's trajectory. The small redhead that had chewed out the corporal earlier heard the cry and looked up. Grinning from ear to ear, she did a back flip to remove herself from the front line, such as it was. She held her arms out in front of her and a small fireball formed between her hands. The corporal swore and looked at his men. "She'll never be able to deflect it with those small fireballs.... evacuate the area!!" One of his soldiers pointed behind the corporal. "Um... look." The corporal looked around and stumbled backwards in surprise at seeing a stream of fireballs three times the size of basketballs soar into the sky from the redhead's outstretched arms. With startling accuracy, they impacted against the avian's already mangled skin. One after the other, the fireballs blasted chunks out of the wounded creature. The redhead was sweating profusely with the exertion of forming the stream of fireballs. She cursed, then dropped to one knee and hoped her blasts were enough. It was enough. The avian lost its battle to remain in one piece and fell to the blackened sand in dozens of large chunks of flesh. Well in front of the line of Amazons, the falling pieces exploded and vaporized large patches of sand, including dozens of ground Buyierfei unfortunate enough to be in the path of the falling pieces of burning flesh. A cheer went up again. -A- -M- -D- The corporal lay back against the tire of a dirty army truck and welcomed his first break in twenty hours. he corrected himself, He looked up to see a buxom, blue-haired woman standing over him. "...them." "Since she doesn't speak Arabic, the Matriarch wanted me to thank you for your assistance on the battlefield today," the blue-haired woman said. "Huh... well... you girls did a lot more than we did," the corporal remarked awkwardly. She shook her head. "Yes, but for men, you did remarkably well." The corporal chuckled. "Thanks. What's your name?" "Footfungus." The corporal frowned. "I'm Corporal Jafat." He looked over at the white haired woman dressing in the golden armor. "Is that your leader?" "Yes, that is the Matriarch." "Tell her that my men and I are grateful to her and offer our help when we go back into battle." "I will." The Amazon appraised the corporal for a moment. "Next time, you should wear your armor." Corporal Jafat looked his cloth-covered chest and then at Footfungus' armored bosom. "We found out the hard way that our body armor doesn't do much against Buyierfei tentacles and hampers our movements so much that it's better to do without. It's made to deflect bullets, not tentacles after all." "Against the Blackness, you need something solid." Footfungus tapped her solid steel breastplate. The corporal nodded. "Yes, it's most impressive." Footfungus' eyes narrowed. "Your armor, I mean!" Footfungus nodded. "I understand. You'd best see about getting your warriors some armor. Even if you are a man, it'd be a shame to see you get a tentacle through your chest." Corporal Jafat nodded. "What was that golden cloth some of your warriors were wearing?" "That is a special material made out of various natural fibers interwoven with strands collected from the spot where the Middle East monolith was." "I'd love to get me some of that." "So would we. There was only a little collected when we escaped from the monolith in ninety-nine." A shout from her leader made Footfungus look away briefly and then look back at the corporal. "I have to go now and prepare for our next battle." "Okay, thanks for all your help." Corporal Jafat smiled as the Amazon walked away. He glanced over at the hospital tent, which was still busy despite the number of casualties dropping significantly after the Amazons joined the battle. That night instead of resting from the day's battle, the corporal and some of his men drove across the desert to an old museum and stole... 'borrowed' all sorts of medieval relics, including finely crafted armor. -A- -M- -D- May 9, 2009 - Nerima, Tokyo (Black Wars Day 10) "Leader, the reinforcements have arrived from Joketsuzoku." Akane looked away from the family room's muted television and saw Nipplering. "At last... we could use a few extra hands around here." Ukyo was kneeling across the table from Akane and looked as weary as Akane did. "How many came?" "Two hundred." "Two..." Akane gasped. "...hundred," Ukyo finished Nipplering nodded. "Yes, apparently a hundred of them are in exchange for Sanma's presence in the Middle East." Ukyo glanced at the television, which was showing telescopic images of the battlefield. She had been trying to catch another glimpse of her husband ever since she first saw her troublesome redhead two days earlier. She flinched when she felt a tap on her shoulder. "Huh?" Nipplering held out a letter to Ukyo. "They brought this letter for you." Ukyo's trembling hand took the letter and read the name on it. "It's from Sanma." She looked around awkwardly, before standing up and walking out. "Um... excuse me..." she said absently as she opened the letter on her way out of the room. After Ukyo left the room, Nipplering looked back Akane. "Do you wish to inspect the new troops, Leader?" Akane shook her head. "No... just have them..." She paused if something occurred to her. "Send a dozen or so to keep watch on Nabiki's family and use the rest as you see fit to defend the Compound." "Yes, Leader." Nipplering turned to leave, but crashed to a man who appeared behind her. "Where the heck am I now?" Akane looked behind Nipplering. "Hi, Ryoga." Ryoga smiled nervously. "Oh... hi, Akane... urk" "How did you get within the fence, male?" Nipplering lifted Ryoga by his shirt and pressed the blade of her sword to his neck. "I'm not sure." Nipplering sighed. "How can I defend against the Blackness if even this little lost man can keep sneaking in somehow." "Sorry..." Ryoga mumbled. "If it's any consolation, I don't know how I got in." Nipplering lowered her hostage. "Come with me, you must be tested with the rod." Ryoga gulped loudly, not knowing what Nipplering meant. Akane smiled. "Don't worry, Ryoga, it's just a precaution." -A- -M- -D- In the upstairs room she shared with her kids, Ukyo crouched on the floor and wept into her hands. The crumpled letter was at her feet. "Sanma... you'd better not get killed out there." "Mama?" Ukyo looked up and saw little Seto stumble up to her. "Mommy's okay, honey." Seto patted Ukyo's tear stained cheeks. "Mommy look sad." Ukyo tried to smiled for her son, but couldn't. "I know... don't worry baby." She leaned forward and kissed Seto's forehead. "Where Daddy?" Ukyo cringed. "He's... saving the world." Even as she said it, Ukyo couldn't help but smile at the absurdity of that statement. Little did she know how many times she would say it in the years to follow. -A- -M- -D- After dinner that night, Ryoga, Ranma, and Ranko had a three-way. Three-way fight that is. Since one on one fights weren't really challenging enough for them anymore, Ryoga squared off against Ranma and Ranko in the dojo. Ranma jumped at Ryoga, feet first. "So, why aren't you with your family?" Ryoga ducked Ranma lunge, and tried to peg Ranma's side as he passed. "I was... they're safe." Ranko smiled as she kicked Ryoga in the back and sprung upwards. "You got lost going to the outhouse, didn't you?" Ryoga jumped away from Ranko to avoid her downward attack, managing to punch Ranma in the side as he passed. "No, we've got indoor plumbing!! I... I... was trying to go to the barn to feed the pigs and... well..." Ranma smiled and threw a series of rapid punches at Ryoga, all of which missed. "Figures," he said as he landed a punch to Ryoga's jaw. Ryoga shook off the hit as if it was a mosquito bite. "So why aren't you fighting in Africa?" Ranma frowned, almost not noticing a vicious kick from Ryoga. "It's complicated." Ranko kicked Ranma in the small of his back instead. "Akane's pregnant and..." Ranma spun sideways and managed to peg Ranko with his fist and Ryoga with the tip of his foot. "...and Daiji's been affected by the Buyierfei somehow and..." Ranko rebounded off Ranma's back and slammed her elbow into Ryoga's chin. "...and Akane thinks the Buyierfei will attack here." Ryoga grunted at the impact of Ranko's elbow, then lashed out with a series of kicks and punches at both of his attackers. "I guess that makes sense." He deflected a punch from Ranko and a kick from Ranma. "But I can see you want to go." Ranma and Ranko exchanged a glance and then nodded their agreement at Ryoga. "Thought s..... oooffffff..." Ryoga wheezed as Ranko's knee met his stomach and Ranma's elbow met his back. "Of course, we want to go! But..." Ranma insisted as he tried to kick Ryoga, but missed. Ranko finished the statement and the kick, which connected with Ryoga's butt. "But our family comes first and the Buyierfei aren't going to leave us alone for long." "If..." Ryoga tried to punch Ranma, but went wide and pegged Ranko's chest instead. "...I bring my family here, we could..." He pulled back to strike again, but found himself with a handful of shirt. Ranko looked down at her naked chest. "You jerk!" She kicked Ryoga in the stomach and then ended up on her back when Ryoga followed up with a series of rapid punches. "Wow... you used to gush blood when you saw a woman's chest." Ryoga smirked. "You ain't got anything on my sweet Akari." Ranma laughed. "Yeah, Akane's more interesting to look at too." Ranko snarled. "You're just jealous of my ample bosom!!" she yelled as she launched herself at Ranma. Kicking him with a savage kick that sent him flying backwards, she rebounded from him and landed her fist in Ryoga's stomach. Several fast chestnut punches later, Ryoga staggered to one knee. Ranma slid off the concrete wall he crashed into. For once, the wall was undamaged. "Ha! Didn't even crack the concrete with that little kick!" Ryoga rubbed his stomach. "Okay, you win, Ranko. You've got a great rack." Ranko puffed out her chest, not seeing Ranma and Ryoga snicker behind her. -A- -M- -D- At dinner that night, the Tendo family room was teeming with people. In addition to the usual Tendo house residents, Ukyo and her six kids were there along with Dr. Tofu and his three kids, plus Ryoga. "I'm a little worried about how hard Kasumi is pushing herself at the hospital," Dr. Tofu remarked as he helped one of his twin daughters eat some rice. "Mommy fixes people!" little Morisaki said then gobbled down the rice her father held out for her. Morisaki's twin sister looked up from the bowl of soup she was contemplating if it was icky soup or yummy soup. "Mommy fixed my boo-boo last night!" Shiruko showed off her bandaged elbow. Dr. Tofu smiled at his girls. "That's right, girls, Mommy fixes people." He looked at Akane. "I just hope she doesn't have to keep it up much longer." Akane nodded. "Me too." "Seto, don't poke your sister with that chopstick," Ukyo said without looking in his direction. Little Seto paused before poking Ituski. "Why?" "Because it's not the right thing to do and you know she'll slap you back." Seto withdrew the chopstick. "Oh... yeah." Akane chuckled. "I see you're getting the hang of parenting." Ukyo smiled. "The secret is knowing the worst thing they are likely to do and assuming they are doing it at any opportunity." The adults all laughed, leaving the kids look around and wonder what was so funny. Despite what was happening around the world, the extended family had a brief moment to forget their troubles and be a normal family sharing a happy meal together. They should have turned off the television instead of just muting it. "Monolith," Ukyo hissed when she caught a glimpse of the screen. Everyone turned to see a shaky image of what was unmistakably a monolith standing in the middle of a large city of domed buildings, some with multicolored spires reaching for the sky. A caption identified the city in question. Moscow. "Oh no..." Akane muttered, her smile turning to a horrified grimace. Ranma, Ranko, and Ryoga exchanged silent looks that told the others they couldn't sit back and wait any longer. -A- -M- -D- That night, they met in the dark dojo. "I really think we have to go to Moscow," Ranma whispered. "With the other Amazons tied up in Africa, there's no one to blow that thing before it can go critical like the ones in Florida or Africa." "Yeah," Ranko agreed. "I'm not sure..." Ryoga hesitated. "The news report said that the Russians are evacuating the area and are confident they can resolve the issue themselves." Ranma shook his head. "The most powerful thing the Russians have is nuclear weapons." Ranko guffawed. "Like that'll do any good. You need real power to break a monolith's heart," she insisted smugly, snapping her fingers and forming a small chi ball. Ranma nodded his agreement. "Well..." Ryoga hesitated, the light from Ranko's chi ball flickering across his worried face. "Come on, man, back us up," Ranma asked. "Your wife will be very angry." "Who ca... err..." Ranko trailed off when he realized that wasn't Ryoga talking. "I mean, Akane is a great woman and I'm sure she'd let us go if we explained it to her." Ranma frowned. "What? She's dead set against us leaving." Ranko glared at Ranma. Akane stepped into the light caused by Ranko's chi ball. "You better believe I'm against you leaving your family to go fight thousands of kilometers away." "Ouch!" Ranko swore as she lost concentration and dropped the chi ball onto her lap. Covert planning session cancelled on account of the wife waking up. -A- -M- -D- May 10, 2009 - Nerima, Japan (Black Wars Day 11) Akane was not happy. Not that there was anything particular to be happy about with what was happening around the world, but she was particularly not happy at the moment. In particular, she was not happy with her two husbands. And they knew it. Ranma and Ranko ate silently at breakfast, glancing between each other and Akane. The kids and the other adults had all eaten already, having found that meals in shifts worked better in their very crowded house. "How could you?" Akane asked as she passed some more rice to them. Ranma and Ranko bowed their heads. "Of all the irresponsible things to think of doing..." Akane said, biting the head off a grilled fish. Ranma and Ranko bowed their heads further. "To even think of leaving your family..." Akane said, passing some bread to Ranma. Ranma and Ranko bowed their heads even further. "Now, Akane," Kasumi said softly from the doorway. The three of them turned and looked at the very weary doctor. "Ranma and Ranko are just concerned about how the war is progressing." Akane flinched. "I know, but..." "Maybe they could help more there than here." "Maybe, but..." "Daiji is going to be alright." "But..." "So is your new baby." Akane put her hand to her stomach. She opened her mouth to speak, but shut it again. "That's better," Kasumi said as she knelt down at the table. "Is there any food left? I haven't eaten since yesterday morning." Akane gasped. "Were you at the hospital all night?" She decided not to add the 'again', but it still seemed to be part of her question. Kasumi nodded. "We all have to help in our own way." Akane sighed and handed a bowl of rice to Kasumi and then looked at her husbands. Ranma and Ranko didn't have to be asked again. "We're sorry," Ranma apologized for the umpteenth time since the night before. "Yeah..." Ranko muttered. "So what's the latest news?" Kasumi asked, glancing at the blank television screen. "Who cares..." Akane snapped. "I turned off the set. Just more endless news of death and destruction." "I think it'd be safer to know what's going on." Akane handed the remote to Kasumi. "Okay, but I'm sick of hearing how many people have died." She stood up and started to walk out of the room as Kasumi turned on the television. "We're here in Moscow's Red Square in front of what is being called the Fifth Monolith, since experts agree that there must have been a fourth in Africa," the Japanese translator spoke over the English words of the reporter on the screen. Behind him and his wrinkled suit, a black monolith towered over the ruins of Lenin's tomb and the midmorning sun washed across the roof of the Kremlin in the background. "The Russian army has evacuated the area, but we managed to sneak past their cordon to bring you this exclusive report from the front line." Akane froze in her tracks, but didn't turn around to look at the screen. "We have heard rumors that the Army saw some movement from the Monolith before dawn today, but we have not seen any sign of any Buyierfei." Ranma slapped his head. "What an idiot... the Buyierfei are invisible." "We're going to try and get closer." "He's going to die," Akane said softly, but the others heard her. They didn't comment on it though, mostly since they agreed with her assessment of the situation. "As you can see, Lenin's tomb was demolished when the monolith appeared out of nowhere." The camera panned to show the ruined tomb and then focused on the black, non-reflective surface of the monolith. "From here, we can... oooof..." The reporter gasped. "Hey, you shouldn't be here!!" The camera focused on the figure the reporter had bumped into. "You shouldn't either," a familiar voice said softly. Akane's eyes went wide and she turned to look at the television. "That voice..." She gasped when she saw Sanma on the screen. "How did Sanma get to Moscow?" "Crap, she beat us there too." Akane glared at her male husband. Ranko leaned forward and put a hand to the screen. "He looks tired," she said as she traced the face on the blurry television image. "She must be exhausted from fighting in..." Ranma went silent when the figure turned its head towards the camera. The camera image started to shake as the nightmarish split face with black eyes starred into the cameraman's soul. The jagged scar that ran down the figure's face seemed to pulsate with each step the figure took towards the camera. "And here I thought all the cattle had fled the area." A hand reached out for the cameraman. The movement caused his cloak's hood to fall down and reveal his shoulder length black hair. The reporter had two options: Run for it or jump the figure to save his cameraman. When the image on the screen dropped downwards suddenly, the reporter could be seen running away in the slanted image. In front of the reporter's fleeing image, two black clad legs could be seen. Soon, the cameraman's legs appeared, followed by his left arm, stomach, half of his chest, and finally his crushed skull. Red blood rained down on the in front of millions of viewers worldwide. "Ah, that was tasty," a seemingly refreshed voice said. The legs turned towards the fleeing reporter. "Why do the cattle always bother running?" he asked rhetorically as he looked at the fleeing reporter. A black chi ball flashed out from his female hand and hit the reporter right in the small of his back, blowing a hole through his spine. As the reporter crumpled to the ground, the television shut off. Kasumi put the remote down. "Maybe you were right in not wanting to watch the news anymore." Ranma and Ranko exchanged a pained look and then looked at Akane. Akane was trembling. "Go," she snapped. "Go to Moscow and kill that monster once and for all." She put her hand to her stomach. ...the fight for survival had begun. *********************************************************************** >From the personal journal of James Davidson July 4, 2058 I took a deep breath after Akane finished telling us about her memories of the start of the Black Wars. "That's not how a lot of people pictured you spending the early days of the Black Wars." Akane smiled slightly. "I know." She held her chest and struck a noble pose. "The brave martial artists drop everything and valiantly rush to the world's defense." She smirked. "I particularly like that unauthorized movie that showed us rushing into battle showing more cleavage than was humanly possible." She sighed. "Even Ranma was portrayed shirtless with his long hair flapping in the wind behind him." My mother nodded. "Yes, I remember that one. I thought it captured him perfectly." I gaped at my mother for a few seconds before clearing my throat. "I guess people like their heroes to act without any hesitation." Akane nodded and put her hand on her flat stomach. "At the time, I was so worried about Daiji and my baby, that I completely lost track of the big picture." "Well, I guess it's understandable that you'd assume that the Buyierfei would attack you given the circumstances." Akane nodded. "Yeah, but..." An explosion was heard from the north. I jumped to my feet and looked around with what I assumed was a look of utter panic on my face. Akane calmly called into the air. "Control, report." "The Buyierfei just attacked the North Gate of the Task Force's Compound," was Control's reply. "I have civilians at my house, please deal with the attackers quickly." "Understood, Matriarch." My sister was looking around nervously and holding my mother's hands. "See, I told you this was a bad idea." I scanned the area, looking for invisible attackers. Naturally, I didn't see anything. Then a thought struck me. "Call Hanaki!" The Compound's system put through a call to my wife, who appeared in front of us from the neck up. "Yes, Honey?" "Are you alright?" "Yes, I'm fine. Why do you ask?" I gulped. "I just had this weird premonition about how Tendo women go into labor at the-" Another explosion was heard, seemingly closer than the first one. "-worst times." Hanaki giggled. "I'm fine. I was just soaking in the hot springs with Jaki when the alarm went off. Jaki took off so fast at the thought of some action that she forgot to get dressed at first." I relaxed somewhat. When Akane sent a large chi ball flying past my shoulder, I grew worried again. I looked around and saw the chi ball explode into hundreds of tiny grape-sized balls and spread out across the gardens that surrounded her house. Akane smiled. "See, nothing out there yet." I relaxed, realizing that her chi ball was meant to locate invisible Buyierfei. Then my mind processed the 'yet' part of her statement and I started to worry again. ...the fight still continues. [End - Chapter 9] Coming soon: Chapter 10 - The Black Wars "Death" ======================================================================= The real author's (Jim Lazar) notes/ramblings: "Kuroi Shoten Hensou" roughly translates to "black death ascension return to sender". "Ichimokusan" is Japanese for "go as fast as one can go" Sorry about the gore and all, but I feel it's needed to emphasize the true horror of the events that are unfolding. I'd like to thank my pre-readers Michael A. Chase, David Johnston, Thomas C. Kinnen, Aaron E. Nowack, Tanya Acojedo, and Micki Hibiki for helping me find and fix problems with this story. Thank you all. Of course in the end, any mistakes and botched characters are my fault. Revision 0.0 - Rough draft began (October 1, 2000) Revision 0.1 - Rough draft finished (November 8, 2000) Revision 0.3 - Pre-reader draft (March 7, 2001) Revision 1.0 - Final version (April 14, 2001) Revision 1.1 - First RAAC posting (April 26, 2001)