Disclaimer here- I make no claims to owning Tekken 3 or any of the characters mentioned. I make no money from this and have no money so suing me will only get you legal fees. I'll be using other series and I don't own any of those characters either.

Author's notes- Those familiar with the story behind the game Tekken 3 and the various endings should be aware this story takes place after Heiheichi's ending where he throws the transforming Jin's body from his helicopter. As a short explanation Heiheichi wins the third Iron Fist Tournament. After defeating Ogre he takes off with his grandson Jin's body in his helicopter when Jin starts to transform into his devil self (a legacy left by his father) Heiheichi tosses his body from the helicopter in flight. In this story I'm making Jin a demon instead of a devil.

Demon Lover
By Nyghthawk

A demon fell from the sky. He crashed into the hard earth. He lay unconscious and broken in a self made crater. He was helpless and alone in the middle of nowhere.

Hours later the roar of a motorcycle could be heard. Or felt as the powerful engine sped down the empty dirt road. The demon in the crater was only vaguely aware of the approaching person or persons.

Hwoarang wasn't sure what had drawn him out here. It had been some kind of nameless pull that had drawn him out to this middle of nowhere. A nameless pull that brought him to the broken body of his rival.

There was no mistaking the being in the crater for Jin Kazama. He might have funky tattoos on his forehead and black feathered wings but there was no question in Hwoarang's mind that this was the same wholesome little rich boy. The same little rich boy who had fought him to a draw on his own turf and recently defeated him in the Iron Fist Tournament.

Hwoarang had often pictured standing before Jin's broken body, but usually in his dreams he was the one to do the breaking. He wasn't sure how Jin had gotten out here or what the hell had happened to him but the whole situation was beginning to feel surreal.

Jin had been haunting his thoughts night and day since their draw months earlier. At first he was sure he hated the rich young man who seemed to mock him and his skill. Yet countless sleepless nights said otherwise. Dreams of hot sweaty bodies, sometimes fighting, and sometimes doing other things. He'd wake up sweating, hard, muscles tense, and unfortunately alone.

Whatever Hwoarang felt for Jin it wasn't hate but beyond that he wasn't very clear on how he felt. He knew what his body wanted, and wanted badly but his heart was a whole different arena. He felt things for Jin but he wasn't ready to deal with them yet.

Now he found himself out in the middle of nowhere looking down at the broken body of Jin. A dark angel that had fallen from Heaven or Hell. It was just too weird to be real.

In a daze Hwoarang dragged Jin out of the crater and somehow managed to get him on his motorcycle. With Jin somewhat secured Hwoarang roared off for civilization. He stopped at the first cheap motel he could find and got a room. Then he dragged Jin inside and started working on his wounds.

Three weeks went by as Hwoarang took care of a comatose Jin. Luckily the most difficult thing he had to do was straighten out some broken bones. Other than that he took care of some cuts and really deep bruises. He gave him daily sponge baths that he enjoyed more than he should have. He also made sure Jin took in some food and cleaned up when Jin relieved himself.

He went out daily for supplies and just to be outside. Otherwise a lot of his time was spent just staring at the tattoos on Jin's forehead. They puzzled him and mesmerized him. He also couldn't help himself from caressing the soft black feathers of Jin's wings. He spent hours touching the velvety soft feathers.

When Jin finally awoke it was quite a shock for Hwoarang. This wasn't the young man he knew. This was a being seeped in power and controlled by rage. Yet somehow Hwoarang could sense that Jin was still in the demon somewhere, but he was lost and the demon was in control.

The demon looked at him with heated eyes, but luckily it wasn't hate. What he saw was a passion that he was helpless before. The demon pulled Hwoarang into his arms. Hwoarang was stuck between the urge to flee and the urge to submit completely. Given a choice, who knows what would have happened, but he wasn't given a choice.

A burning kiss sealed his fate. An inhuman strength held him prisoner before a demonic passion. His clothes disappeared in screams of agony as they were ripped from his body. The scraps fell to the ground somewhere not that Hwoarang noticed. His naked body was held tightly to Jin's naked body. Black silk engulfed him as Jin's wings wrapped around him.

His body was claimed by inhumanly strong hands. They marked him with their strength and left bruises, but never truly hurt him. Claw like nails raked his body leaving scratches and lightly drawing blood. Always to be slowly licked away by a hot teasing tongue. Following the tormenting tongue were love bites, some small and some big. A few were deep and would leave scars, they were not meant to be painful but marks of ownership. Hwoarang was being claimed in the most primal of ways.

In his dreams he'd always been the one on top. The one in control. Now he was helpless before the power and the passion of the demon. He honestly couldn't put two coherent words together, much less complain about the situation. He was too deeply engulfed in what he was feeling. Pleasure and small hints of pain mixed together in an ever growing fire of passion. A build up of ultimate orgasmic joy.

A peak was reached and surpassed and an inner fire burned ever higher. When Hwoarang felt himself being entered, his heart seemed to stop and beat a million times faster. After the tip made its way in, the demon buried its full length inside him. By accident or design the burning pain of penetration was overrun by a wave of muscle clenching pleasure as some nameless thing inside Hwoarang was touched. Hwoarang felt his eyes cross and his teeth clench when THAT spot was hit. First once, then twice, then endlessly in an ever increasing tempo.

Hwoarang was on his knees with his face buried in the sheets. His hands clenched in fists holding the sheets of the bed like a lifeline. Behind him fingers dug deeply into his hips as the demon pounded into him over and over again.

The pleasure was reaching a point that that it was almost a pain. All he could hear was the slap of sweaty muscled flesh and his own mewing cries. Higher and higher the pleasure built. Hwoarang was beyond mindless, he was a giant tense muscle looking for release. All his senses closed down until all he was aware of was a pulsing haze.

Then he felt it. A warmth like lava that set off a chain reaction inside. A clenching wave of pleasure and his own release. Powerful beyond words. He came with something between a shout, a moan, and almost a growl. The release left him limp and tingling. He was in a warm happy place that led to a blissful sleep.

Hwoarang awoke alone and clutching a long black feather in his hand. He was sore but energetic at the same time. He was also ravenously hungry. A good shower helped with the soreness but taking off on his motorcycle was less than pleasant. He found a place to eat and wolfed down an amazing amount of food.

He didn't bother returning to the motel. He knew Jin was gone and trying to find him would be pointless. Someday they would meet again. It was just something Hwoarang knew just like he'd known where to find Jin. Like he knew he now belonged to Jin. It was a strange thing to admit or acknowledge, but it was true. He might sleep with a million other men or women, but he'd forever belong to Jin.

With a snort of laughter Hwoarang gunned his motorcycle and sped off.

Hwoarang returned to Hong Kong and his friends. He returned home to his gang who were his family. They didn't care that he'd lost the tournament they were just happy he was back. It started when he tied with the rich kid and then Master Baek's death. He had been driven by a fury that had scared his friends. Now their cocky leader was back with his annoying smirk.

He was different now. They couldn't really describe what it was. The best they could do was to say Hwoarang had matured. Not a lot but enough that it was impossible not to notice. It also made him stand out among his friends. Before he'd been the leader by default now he was leader by choice. As leader he decided on a plan of action.

It was simple really. He wanted to rebuild Master Baek's dojo. It had been a home to him and a lot of other kids. His gang had no complaints so they went back to their old pattern of using Hwoarang as their ringer. This worked but a lot of other gangs were wise to this scam. In general they weren't pulling in enough money to make it worth while. Hwoarang realized this early on and worked to come up with a better solution.

A solution occurred to Hwoarang and he was surprised he hadn't thought of it before. He's set up his own tournament but streetfighter ranked to draw in more people. The dojo itself was burned down but there were still the outside practice grounds that could be used. Fighters would be charged entrance fees a small percentage goes to the dojo and the rest goes to the winner. They could charge admission fees to spectators. A percentage of all bets would go to the dojo. Also some food stands could be charged a flat rate to sell to spectators. Sounds simple but it would definitely take work.

The tournament was hectic and things didn't go perfectly but it was a success. It was enough of a success that as soon as it was over Hwoarang was planning for another one. As it was the tournament became a bi-monthly event and every week there were one on one fights. The burned remains of the dojo were cleared away and they had enough money to start rebuilding with more money coming in every week. It was a slow process since they were doing the construction themselves but they were actually doing a good job. Also a fair number of Master Baek former students would come around and help out with the rebuilding.

A few months had gone by since Hwoarang's return. The tournaments were running smoothly and the dojo was coming along. The fighters coming through were becoming more and more skilled as word spread of the local tournament. Hwoarang won the first two tournaments but not the third and fourth.

It was during the eighth tournament that Hwoarang found himself in the final bout against a guy a year younger than himself. Hwoarang had his doubts about winning this tournament. He'd seen the young man defeat his other opponents with ease. His style looked a little like kenpo but blurred smoothly into a lot of other styles as well. Seeing him jump around was surreal, it was like gravity didn't exist for him.

The match started with the young man in a seemingly relaxed pose. One Hwoarang knew to be deceptive. He tried to take the young man out hard and fast but it like trying to hit smoke. He'd barely even move but all the kicks and punches would miss him, sometimes by bare millimeters.

The young man looked like he was about to go into an offensive position when his eye bulged and his jaw dropped. Hwoarang took the opening and drilled the young man with a charged up ax kick. The kick hit him in the head and buried the young man's face in the dirt.

Unfortunately the young man just shook his head with no sign of damage and continued to stare at Hwoarang. Hwoarang found the stare uncomfortable. The young man wasn't even looking at him it was more like he was looking inside him. It was unnerving as hell not to mention the young man just brushed off one of his strongest attacks.

The young man then shook his head like he was coming out of a daze. There was a determined look on his face. Before Hwoarang knew what was happening there was a blur and his body locked up paralyzed.

In short order the young man was declared the winner of the tournament and he very carefully carried off the Hwoarang statue. When he reached a suitably private spot which happened to be one of the newly rebuilt sections of the dojo he set Hwoarang down.

"I'll undo the pressure points in a second but there is something you really should know and I don't want you to hurt yourself when I tell you. There's no easy way to tell you this but . . . you're pregnant."

You're pregnant.

Those two words echoed in Hwoarang's mind over and over again. The two words were followed by a NO NO NO NO NO NO NONONOONONONONOONONONONONO NONONOOO. Also stray thoughts of what kinds of drugs the young man was on and various ways of hurting or getting away from the kook. A very small part of him answered Yes to the two words. Logic was screaming loudly that it was impossible. Emotions were having a brawl.

"I know you think I'm crazy. Heck I can't believe it, but I know what I see. You have two ki's. One of them is your own but the other is not. Your child is pure energy but its growing and becoming more distinct. I don't know how this happened but you've got to believe me." Said the young man. Then he touched a few spots and Hwoarang could move again.

"Who are you?" demanded Hwoarang sounding a bit hysterical.

"My name is Ranma. I know it's crazy, but I can prove what I say."

Hwoarang looked like a horse ready to bolt but he stayed and replied, "How?"

"You have some ki skills and that kick you used proves it. Do you know how to center yourself?" Ranma asked quietly.

"A little bit."

"Okay. Calm yourself and concentrate on your heartbeat. Make your breathing slow and even. Feel the energy that is your soul. When you have found yourself, go deeper and find the other ki that resides in your body. It is powerful even as young as it is," said Ranma.

Hwoarang did as told. It took him awhile to center himself but once done it got easier to do what he was told. Finding his own ki was wondrous. When he went deeper it was hard for him to sense what Ranma had seen. A powerful developing ki that was growing inside him. At that moment of realization he knew who was the father. He had no idea how Jin had done it but he was pregnant with Jin's child.

Ranma had been following Hwoarang's center and saw when his ki consciously touched the child inside. Ranma saw the realization on his face. He caught Hwoarang when he fainted. Truthfully he'd been expecting it.

A few days later saw Hwoarang suffering from what is commonly known as morning sickness. For reasons of his own Ranma decided to stick around and help Hwoarang. He proved to be a great help with the rebuilding of the dojo. He was an old hand at construction. When asked, he mentioned something about repairing a lot of holes.

It seems awareness of his condition caused Hwoarang to start suffering from the usual ailments of pregnant women. Of course the only one who knew he was pregnant was Ranma, to others he was just acting extremely weird. The increased hunger wasn't so bad and neither were the odd food cravings. The morning sickness stopped after a month. The scary things were the mood swings. Hwoarang's friends found it very disturbing when Hwoarang would suddenly burst into tears or get kick your ass angry for no apparent reason. The way Ranma hovered around him was also strange, but they figured Hwoarang's private life was his own business.

Ranma and Hwoarang did have a relationship, but it had nothing to do with sex. Hwoarang needed someone to help him through his pregnancy. Ranma needed someone to help and a place to call home. Both of them had their secrets. The most obvious was Hwoarang's pregnancy and Ranma's curse. Both remained secret between the two of them.

The problem of giving birth was solved by Ranma. He explained the merits of instant nannichuan. He'd been examining the forming child and this was the only solution he could come up with. Hwoarang wasn't crazy about turning into a woman even for a little bit. He also wasn't thrilled about the prospects of going through labor. He definitely didn't want natural childbirth. He wanted lots and lots of drugs.

Since he'd become aware of his child he started checking on her constantly. He knew it was a girl from the first moment he felt her inside him. He was aware of her and she was aware of him. There are no words that can describe the mother daughter bond it just is what it is. He often rubbed his flat stomach which felt wrong to him since he was quite aware of what he was carrying under his heart. He felt somewhat cheated that he couldn't feel his child move or kick.

Ranma mentioned a few times that the child had started feeding off his own ki. He'd scan the child with his own ki and the little girl would reach out to these feelers and would pull at them as if they were straws. Ranma wasn't sure how this would effect the baby but he was sure it wouldn't hurt her.

As the child developed she started sending out her own feelers which would touch and taste the world and people around her. Her reach only extending to about five feet around Hwoarang but it shocked the Hell out of Ranma the first time she did it. The child had gained a taste for him and latched onto him like a little mosquito. She never took much but it always made Ranma start a little when she latched onto his ki. Most people didn't even notice and the few that did usually just ignored it.

The day of truth finally came. The warning sign for women is contractions and when their water breaks. For Hwoarang he knew it was time when his little girl started to pulse inside him. He looked like a strobe light for those who can see ki. Even those who aren't very ki aware could sense the pulsing energy coming from Hwoarang.

Ranma was on the move right away. He'd finalized plans for this weeks ago. He got Hwoarang on his motorcycle and gunned off to the nearest hospital. He made sure to strap Hwoarang to his back just in case. Before entering the hospital he pulled Hwoarang into an alley and mixed the instant nannichuan with a bottle of water he'd been carrying around. He also put Hwoarang into a loose maternity gown. Then he poured the water over Hwoarang.

As hoped, Hwoarang-chan showed her pregnant state. Hwoarang didn't feel like cheering since instead of pulsing he was now having contractions. Ranma swept the temporary girl into his arms and headed inside the hospital. He got Hwoarang-chan into one of the delivery rooms and at chestnut speed took care of all the needed forms. The pencil was actually smoking when he finished.

Hwoarang-chan demanded drugs and she was given them. Mainly because the mother-to-be's eyes had glowed a demonic red when she made this demand. They gave her enough drugs that she found the ceiling above endlessly fascinating. She still felt the contractions but they were distant and not important compared to the interesting ceiling.

Ranma was at her side looking over the female Hwoarang. He'd been curious how Hwoarang would look female. Herb looks like a more feminine version of his male self. With himself he was petite with the blazing red hair which was still a mystery to him. Hwoarang on the other hand still had red hair but it reached his waist now and his eyes remained brown. He'd lost about four inches of height and was willowy if you discounted she was currently pregnant.

Eventually even the drugs weren't enough to hold off the pain of contractions and Hwoarang-chan was in hard labor. Hwoarang-chan tried her best to crush Ranma's hand and was cursing non-stop. Most of the curses were for Jin and they were followed by inventive threats of violence towards his person. Ranma and anyone else in the room weren't spared their own fair share of threats and curses. They flinched a little here and there but ignored Hwoarang-chan's words for the most part.

Hwoarang-chan was visually glowing with ki when a new life entered the outside world. She was all red and squalling and she was beautiful. She already had thick fuzzy black hair like her father. Ranma was a little shocked to see his own blue eyes staring back at him from the small face. If Ranma had looked closely he would have noticed the eyes were slightly slitted like a cat's. The doctors mentioned the eyes could change color within a few days but Ranma was pretty sure they wouldn't.

Hwoarang-chan was exhausted and went to sleep with her baby in her arms. Before she went to sleep she named her daughter.

Akio Kazama.

He left the sleeping form of his mate. Satisfied for the moment. A dominant predator having staked his claim on his prime mate. He was done with his mate for now and his senses took in his environment. Nostrils flared and he smelled the musk of his current mating and the annoying scent of humans and their artificial things.

He left the human dwelling and flew out into the dark sky. The freedom of the heavens was ruined by the stench of pollution. His mate was a ningen, but that was a different matter. The ningenkai felt alien to him and irritated his senses.

Instinct was driving him to a crack between dimensions. It was small and no large demon could ever pass through. Or it would be better to say no demon of great power could ever pass through. At most a medium A class could pass through this crack. To normal humans this crack is completely invisible, but a very small number of humans could actually see the crack much less use it to get to the Makai (Demon World).

Jin entered the crack and didn't look back.

The Makai is the world of demons. They exist in many forms from plants, to animals, to the horrors of legend. Some more powerful than others, and some more intelligent than others, but all are dangerous. The Makai is a world of constant danger, especially for human and even for the demons that live there. It's a demon eat demon world and everyone is looking out for their own interests and needs first.

Jin flew over the dangerous wilderness. His senses took in the feel of his natural environment. This world felt right to him, but it wasn't exactly welcoming. He was in a realm of predators and soon he'd have to establish his place in the food chain.

He flew around for hours not really knowing what he was looking for. His search ended at a rocky cliff overlooking a dense forest, a small river, and a couple of hidden waterfalls. The area reeked of various demons. It was beautiful in a dark and dangerous sort of way. He now claimed it as his home.

As simple as it sounds Jin had decided what he wanted. He decided he liked this place and it was now his. A few other assorted demons might contest this, but that was their problem. In fact Jin was looking forward to it. Exercise was always fun and ripping apart something that screamed was oddly enjoyable.

The first challenger never really had a chance. He was an ogre named Ugger. The only warning he got was when the sun was blocked by a swooping demon. He had no real chance to fight back as his throat was ripped out. The claws then ripped into his body and tore his heart out.

Jin was covered in ogre blood and a bit disappointed that the ogre hadn't put up a better fight. Not even thinking twice, Jin proceeded to eat the bloody heart. It wasn't too tasty, but it was food and at least the blood had a nice tangy flavor even if it was green.

+

Uggers remains were found, but not really remarked upon. This eventually changed when more demon remains were found in the same area. The obvious answer was a powerful demon had claimed the area. It was also apparent the unknown demon wasn't very civilized. Usually when using dead bodies to mark a territory; their bodies are staked out, hung from trees, or spitted on pikes. Also demons usually made themselves known so demons avoid their territory, but so far no one had see this demon and lived to tell about it.

The majority of demons didn't want to find out who had claimed Vulture's Cliff and the forest it overlooked. Yet there were a number of demons who wanted to prove themselves and they entered the forest to face the demon. Either they were never seen again or their remains were found. The most horrifying rumor about the unknown demon was that he was eating those who entered his forest. For lack of a better name, they started calling him the Vulture since he had claimed Vulture's Cliff.

For three years Jin hunted and patrolled his territory and ate the intruders. It was a simple life and he was content with it. During the first year he'd felt an odd sort of distress, but had ignored it. Jin was an animal of prey and ignored things that were not of immediate importance. He killed those who invaded his territory, ate when he was hungry, slept when he was tired, and hunted when he was bored. Yet during all this time, deep below the surface of the animal, a human intelligence watched and waited for a chance to regain control.

Finally after three years a demon with real power came to confront Vulture. His name was Chard and he was a fire demon. He was five feet of height with dark gray hair. He was a fairly powerful A class demon, but not yet a Quest class demon. Jin on the other hand only ranked as a high B class. Jin had been defeating all the demons so far because they never saw him coming until it was too late. He was the sort to kill from the first blow. His opponents never usually got a chance to fight back before they were dead.

This time Jin didn't get first strike. Chard was an experienced fighter making his way up the ranks of power. He was able to sense Jin's attacked in time to dodge.

"So you're the infamous Vulture." Said Chard.

The only reply he received was a growl. Chard looked over the demon he was facing and came to some fast conclusions. The first was that he was facing an animalistic demon. The second was the name the unseen demon had been given was nicely ironic. A black winged demon who had been dubbed Vulture. Although he was a hunter and not a scavenger. The third was that despite being only a B class, Vulture was still dangerous. He did however wonder what kind of demon Vulture was.

Jin was completely naked except for a layer of dirt and dried blood. His claw like nails were black from dirt and use. The red jewel in his forehead almost seemed like a jagan, but it wasn't a third eye as far as Chard could tell. The inky black wings were hung and well cared for. Although he was covered in a layer of dirt, it was obvious he washed from time to time. The well defined muscles spoke of a high level of strength. He crouched on all fours, wings spread, with all his muscles tense to spring at any moment. The growling coming from him was also a clear sign of hostility.

A little movement on Chard's part and Jin sprang at him once again. He sprang right into a fireball courtesy of Chard's fire demon nature. As it was, it was only a small introduction to Chard's powers.

A dozen clashes later Jin was still crouching, but he was aching from several nasty burns. Being an animal in mind when fighting didn't seem to be working so he tried to flee, but Chard wasn't going to let him go. So far Jin had avoided serious injury, but Chard hadn't gotten serious yet.

The fight continued and Jin was nursing several more serious burns and a broken wing. This meant two things. The first was that he was earthbound, which handicapped his mobility. The second was he was losing and probably going to die. When a wild animal is backed into a corner they'll usually resort to desperate measures.

Well Jin was backed into said corner and desperation made him choose a means for survival. So the animal who had been in complete control for three years, finally relinquished control to its human side. For the first time in three years human Jin was in control of his body. It wasn't the human body he was used to, but it was still his body.

The change that occurred was a visual one. Chard watched as the jewel in Vulture's forehead changed from red to blue. The predatory eyes gained intelligence that judged him for his weaknesses and strengths. Vulture went from an animal's crouch to a fighting stance. Vulture's power level had also increased by a large margin. He was now somewhere in the A class rating.

Chard didn't like the change in his opponent. It was going to be a true fight now, but the power increase put the winner of the fight in question. It was time to stop playing around and kill Vulture.

This proved harder said than done. While Jin was a bit hampered by his wounds he was a viciously skilled fighter. When punches connected they hit with the force of sledgehammers and burned on contact. His kicks were equally as strong, but they didn't burn.

Jin dodged the fireballs and other fire attacks. As he fought, he felt a tingling that was familiar yet different. With every punch he threw he felt the tingling getting stronger. Soon he felt like his whole body was buzzing with energy. Acting on instinct, Jin used his power uppercut with amazing results.

Usually he gathers up his ki to give his uppercut more power, but this time he was gathering a different kind of energy. With his crouching spin, he used it to build up power and momentum, and he barely moved under an attack Chard called Inferno Touch. Then the uppercut connected and a huge discharge of black lightning made the fire demon's head explode like a melon.

Jin had won the fight, but the energy discharge had drained him. He was tired and wounded. He managed to limp to the closest lair he could find. Over the last three years he'd found several lairs, which he'd used randomly. The closest one was a burrow under a giant dead tree. He dragged himself inside and slumped into a healing sleep.

He awoke days or hours later sore and tender from healing burns. Besides the burns there were a number of bruises. The worst was the broken wing. It was starting to heal the wrong way, but luckily it wasn't too far along. With a little strength and the clenching of his teeth, Jin rebroke the bones and set them. It wasn't a pleasant feeling, the pain causing him to throw up, but he got them set.

Despite having just thrown up, Jin was hungry, so he scavenged for food. He was close to a small pond, which provided both food and water. Being a demon had increased his speed and strength dramatically, so it wasn't difficult for him to catch fish with his hands and to avoid their sharp teeth.

He didn't even consider cooking them. He just tore the meat from the fish and occasionally spit out a bone or three. His actions were automatic and without thought. Rip, chew, and spit out bones. Eventually it occurred to Jin what he was doing. He was acting like the animal he'd been for three long years.

The realization smacked him in the face. The demon would always be inside him and he'd have to live with it, but that didn't mean he had to be an animal. He could find a middle ground with his demon instincts and his human mind.

He spent the next two years retraining himself to act in a civilized manner. Relearning to talk in actual words took him over a month. Though his mind remembered the words, his body did not. Wearing clothes was a strange sensation. Even before becoming a demon he hadn't been overly body shy, but he knew it was civilized to wear clothes. Finally he just went for the Tartan loincloth look.

Another important thing to Jin was remembering the family fighting styles he knew. Considering the world he was in, his fighting ability was very important. Also this new ability with black lightning was something he was looking forward to exploring. Fighting wasn't just a defense to him; it was something he enjoyed at a very primal level. It was a passion he couldn't use words to describe.

There was one point he didn't change about himself. He still killed whoever invaded his territory. They were demons and decent sources of food. Also the simple fact was he was still extremely territorial. He did explore more around the edges of his territory to see what else was around. As a human he'd been raised in a forest so as a demon he was most comfortable in a forest.

It was almost six years since he'd first entered the Make that Jin finally left his claimed territory. Something inside him was screaming a distress call. Something was very wrong and he was not going to ignore it. As he examined the feeling he realized he wasn't feeling one distress call but two. One was coming from the Makai and the other was coming from the Ningenkai.

Jin followed the nearest call. It needed him more and was within his means to reach. So Jin opened his wings and flew off into the unknown of the Makai. His only guide a faint feeling of distress.

A feeling of immense danger had the two fathers almost flying from the party they'd been attending. Hwoarang had his motorcycle at full throttle all the way home. Ranma had only sensed something like this once, years ago. The result had been someone's death. Ranma prayed he was wrong this time.

The bike hadn't even stopped before the two parents were rushing inside their home. They were aided by the fact their front door was missing, which was a very bad sign. Furniture was broken and thrown all over the place. There was the scent of recently used ki attacks, which kind of smells like ozone but not quite.

More importantly was the smell of blood. It wasn't overwhelming and blood wasn't painting the walls, but someone had been bleeding. It didn't take them long to find out who.

Sakura Kino. A rising figure in the Streetfighter circuit and most recent a boarder who'd been acting as babysitter for the night. She lay dead on the floor. Her neck was torn beyond repair and she had bruises that told of the fight she'd put up and lost.

Sadly Sakura was quickly forgetten as the two parents went to find their daughter. Not to insult Sakura, but she was dead and beyond their help. They searched every inch of the house, but they already knew that Akio was gone. Both of them had a bond with her and right now they couldn't sense her. For the first time since before she was born they could not sense their daughter.

Hwoarang was beyond frantic. He was panicking and running around helplessly searching for his missing child. Ranma was also frantic, but he was using his soul of ice to keep somewhat calm. A result of this was the room had noticeably chill.

Ranma started to read the room for ki and physical traces. Sakura was no push over, so whomever she'd fought was even stronger than her. The attacker's presence shouldn't be too hard to pick up. Ranma had come a long way in the Art over the years and tracking by ki was one of many skills he'd gained.

There were more than a few ki signatures. Ranma weeded out his own signature and Hwoarang's. A few others were not strong enough to be noticeable and a few he knew were not who he was looking for. Sakura's leftover ki traces were very strong, which proved how strong the attacks she used had been. Akio's ki signature almost broke his control because he could taste the distress in the leftover ki.

Finally Ranma found the ki he wanted. It was an alien signature that Ranma did not recognize. It was alien in more than one way. It actually took Ranma a few minutes to identify what kind of ki signature it was.

It wasn't a ki signature, but a youki signature. A demon. Ranma hadn't had any real trouble with demons since he left Nerima. A few run ins, but no fights. Akio's own ki signature had youki, but it was passive. Either way Ranma had never come across youki this powerful. There were a few other youki signatures, but they weren't important.

Ranma followed the trail out of the house and into the city. It led him to a dingy alley. It was a place even the alley cats shunned. The trail of youki ended here. It stopped dead. There were also other youki traces, but most of them were old and weak.

The trail stopped dead where several other youki trails began, so Ranma assumed there was a gateway or portal of some kind. The problem was that either he couldn't sense it or it had been closed. Ranma could sense the disruption in the local chi lines so he was pretty sure the gateway was closed. Either way he didn't know how to open it if it was even possible.

Ranma returned home to find Hwoarang crying and holding Akio's favorite stuffed animal. It was a simple teddy bear with a pink ribbon. Well the ribbon used to be red, but time had changed it to more of a faded pink color. The bear was beaten up and had been restuffed numerous times, but Akio had refused to part with it. She had named it Pocky after her favorite treat.

"We'll get her back. I promise you but right now we have to find her. This is not the time to break down. Go call your friends to deal with poor Sakura. We're going to be leaving as soon as I figure out who can help us," said Ranma to Hwoarang.

Hwoarang didn't say anything. He stood up, put down the teddy as if it was fragile crystal, and headed into the kitchen to use the phone. Tears tracked down his face and his hands were fisted into white knuckles.

With Hwoarang occupied for the moment, it was up to Ranma to decide their next course of action. His experience with demons was limited. He didn't know a lot about them beyond rumors and some old legends. He needed to find someone who knew more about demons and where they could be found.

The first person that came to mind was the Old Ghoul. Cologne was three hundred years olds and very wise. Unfortunately they had not parted on good terms. An understatement since Cologne threatened to kill him on sight or something less pleasant if they ever met again. Ranma was willing to risk it for Akio but Cologne was back in Nyuchezu, a very isolated part of China which would take way too long to reach. So Cologne was not a workable option, but more of a last resort if other sources didn't work.

The next person that came to mind was the source of Ranma's personal knowledge of demons. The old freak Happosai. Like Cologne, Happosai was old and wise but wasn't very reliable at the best of times. He was also in an area that Ranma absolutely did not want to return to. A lot of people in Nerima wanted Ranma dead and he didn't have the time to waste in dealing with them. None of that really mattered, since there was no guarantee that Happosai was still in Nerima. The old freak moved around too much. Like Cologne, Happosai was moved to the backup list of possiblities.

No one else really came to mind. There was Gosinkugi, but Ranma threw him out as soon as he thought of him. Gos wasn't a bad guy, but he wasn't competent enough to be at all reliable. He also might have moved out of Nerima. The priest from the Oni incident was also discarded, since that guy wasn't trustworthy at all. Ranma couldn't think of any other priests that might help. He didn't know a lot of priests and most Shinto priests would not be equipped to handle the demons in question. Especially that loony guy in Tomobiki named Cherry or the old man from the Hino Shrine with that sharp tongued grandaughter.

Ranma was seriously contemplating a trip to Nyuchezu when one other person came to mind. Miya the psychic girl. Ranma didn't know her personally, which was all the better as far as he was concerned. Her family was supposedly famous for their dealings with the occult. Akane had been able to save Happosai with her help. The only thing Ranma really remembered about the girl were her eyes. Brilliant green eyes that seemed to look beyond you, to see things that most people were blind to. Ranma had usually avoided her because her aura had always felt alien to his senses.

Miya was the perfect choice. Her family owned an old house in the district and even if she wasn't living there anymore, it was very likely someone of her family was. After all Nerima was a lodestone for all kinds of unusual things, what family of witches and fortune tellers could resist?

He'd still have to return to Nerima, but hopefully he could get in and out without being noticed. It had been six years, but Ranma had no doubts as to his welcome. Though he'd changed many ways over the last six years, he was sure he'd be recognized if anyone saw him. Worse case senario was if he got spotted by a Tendo. Not that it mattered if it would help him get Akio back.

With the decision made, Ranma started throwing some things into a small pack. Things like money, ID, keys, Pocky(the teddy bear), and a few other of Akio's posessions. Who knows what Miya might need to locate Akio? Ranma was packing some spare clothes for Hwoarang and himself when Hwoarang found him.

"They're on their way,"said Hwoarang. They meaning Hwoarang's gang the Blood Talon. Though nowadays, they were less of a gang and more of a clan. They looked after and cared for each other in a rough tumble way. They had grown up on the streets of Hong Kong together with Hwoarang, and also been students of the late Master Baek. Now they helped run the regular tournaments and some of the classes.

The high level Streetfighters knew of the big monthy tournaments and the weekly bouts. People like Ken Masters, Ryu, Guile, Chun Li, Kim Kaphwan, and many others were known to come by to participate in the tournaments. It was what had brought Sakura to Hong Kong on her trail of Ryu the Shotokon master. It had become a regular practice to take in wandering fighters for a few days or weeks. In exchange for room and board they either paid or did chores as payment. Also people who stayed were given training in exchange for sharing their own techniques. Since the dojo and house had been rebuilt the regular tournaments had been quite profitable.

"As soon as they arrive we're leaving for the airport," said Ranma.

Hwaorang demanded, "Why the airport? Do you know who took Akio?"

"It's not a who, but a what. I don't know why, but a very powerful demon took her. The trail ended in an alley, so I'm assuming there was a portal used. I don't know a lot about demons, but I know someone who can help. Unfortunately she lives in Nerima so we have to take a flight to Tokyo." Ranma remained calm despite Hwoarang's frantic gaze and his almost choking grip on Ranma's shirt.

When Ranma mentioned a demon Hwoarang's face had gone pale. In his mind he saw glowing eyes and large feathered wings.

"J-Jin?" Hwaorang fearfully asked.

"I don't think so. I've never met him so I can't be sure, but I'm pretty sure its not him. If it was the residual youki traces would be some similiar to Akio's. I'm not going to lie to you or comfort you with hopeful thoughts. Whatever took her was damn powerful and evil. It killed Sakura, but it obviously wanted Akio for something. I'm positive Akio is still alive, but I don't know for how long. She's in danger and we don't have time for you to fall apart, so pull yourself together and breakdown later. If I have to I'll leave you behind, but I'm not going to let you slow me down when every second counts. Do you understand?" Ranma said in a voice so cold his breath was frosted.

"Yes," said Hwoarang. Ranma saw the determination in his eyes and knew he'd done the right thing. The words had been harsh and cruel, but neccessary. They didn't have the luxury of time. They had a lot of distance to cover before they even started to follow Akio's trail. Hwoarang had to keep it together until Akio was safe, then he could fall apart and cry all he wanted. The same went for himself. He'd love to spend time crying and raging, but knew wasted time could and would be fatal for Akio.

***********************

In the Makai the demon once known as Jin Kazama or Vulture to the local demons, was torn from his meditation by wordless cries for help and waves of terror. He'd been aware of feelings of distress, but they'd seemed very far away. These new cries were a lot closer or a lot clearer or so they seemed. It was like they'd been muffled and suddenly he could hear them clearly.

Jin didn't know who or what was calling to him. He just knew he couldn't ignore their cries, nor did he want to. The direction of the cries was rather vague and still a great distance away.

Jin jumped from Vulture's Lookout and spread his large black wings. He left the territory he'd claimed for almost six years and never looked back.

Their flight touched down on time at Tokyo International Airport. Ranma and Hwaorang made their way off the plane quickly. Ranma used an advanced version of the Umi-sen-ken so they wouldn't be delayed by customs. They had no baggage beyond the backpack Ranma carried so they headed directly out of the Airport.

The train station was nearby so they were quickly on their way to Nerima. If people found it unusual that two people were riding on top of the train instead of inside they chose not to comment about it. The law of Tokyo seemed to be if you don't believe it you didn't see it.

They switched trains three times, but they finally arrived in the Nerima district. The relative peace of the train ride and flight had given the two time to think. Both were worried about Akio, but there were other thoughts racing through their minds.

Hwaorang's mind revolved around him feeling tired of being seemingly helpless. It was an emotion he hated and it was not going away. It started back with his first fight against Jin Kazama and then the murder of Master Baek who'd been the only father he'd ever known. The whole Iron Fist Tournament was a lure for that bastard Toshin(Ogre) set by Heihechi. Jin turning into a demon and then getting him pregnant. A new best friend who introduced him to magical curses and introduced himself by telling him he was pregnant. Getting temporarily turned into a girl so he could give birth.

Hwaorang really hated being helpless, but he didn't know what to do in this situation. The only leads he had were the ones Ranma had come up with. He trusted Ranma with his life and the life of their daughter, but he hated not being able to help. There was a lot he didn't know about Ranma's past, but he knew a lot of it wasn't good. Especially if the temperature around Ranma was any indicator.

Ranma's thoughts were more along the lines of strategies for war. He was under no illusions of what returning to Nerima could mean. Hwaorang was safe as long as he stayed out of the way which wasn't likely. The absolute worse thing that could happen is if they ran into Nodaka, Genma, or Akane. They wanted him dead and he wanted something similar. Yet with Akio's life on the line he didn't have the time to play bloodfeud. Of course those three weren't the only people who wanted him dead, but they were the worst of the bunch. Equally bad would be running into the Kunos or the rest of the Tendos. If they were lucky they could get in and out without being seen. Ranma didn't have a lot of faith in luck so he was prepping for all out war.

As soon as they reached Nerima Ranma took to the rooftops with Hwaorang close behind. The two sped across Nerima in an almost straight line towards Miya's house. Luckily the Kuno estate and the Tendo home were on the other side of Nerima. They would be passing a bit close to Furinkan High School, but Ranma wasn't really worried about Principal Kuno or Miss Hinako.

As they got close to Furinkan, Ranma heard the thunder of enraged girls on a rampage. A few seconds later he found himself face to face with Happosai carrying his bundle of silky darlings. When Happosai saw Ranma he dropped out of his `taunt the girls' mode.

Shock didn't even begin to describe Happosai's state of mind. He hadn't been around for Ranma's ejection from Nerima, but from what he had pieced together he was sure the boy would never return. He'd tried to track down the boy a few times, but it was like he'd fell off the face of the Earth. That he'd returned at all was not a good sign.

Happosai examined Ranma. The boy had changed both inside and out. The usual Chinese clothes were gone and the pig-tail was now one giant braid. He still had an acrobat's build, but he'd grown taller and filled out. His muscles were tightly packed and well defined. His face had lost the softness of youth and innocence. His features were lost between feminine and masculine. He wore blue jeans that had seen a lot of use but weren't ripped yet. On his feet were heavy black leather steel toed boots which showed a lot of wear. On top he wore a simple black T-shirt and a black leather jacket. His left ear was pierced twice, with one sapphire stud and a small silver hoop. On his hands were black leather fingerless gloves. All in all it was somewhere between a biker and street punk look while still remaining respectable. The young man with Ranma was dressed almost the same. The only differences were the blue T-shirt and the cowboy boots with spurs.

Ranma was a walking cold front, which meant he was using the Soul of Ice technique. The technique is used for the Hiryu Shoten HA, but it had other uses as well. The most obvious use for it besides an attack was to distance yourself from your emotions to keep a clear and calm mind. Given Ranma's chill factor and the bonfire of ki raging around the red head things were looking bad. Both young men were in control, but the red head was holding on by threads and Happosai absolutely did not want to be around when Ranma cut loose. He knew what had happened to Saffron and that was almost eight years ago. Ranma had grown a lot in power and skill since then. He might have the advantage of experience, but that would only keep him alive in a confrontation if he was lucky. Especially with Ranma in his current state.

"Hello Ranma."

"Hello Happosai."

The polite greeting made Happosai's stomach knot with dread.

"Who's your friend?"

Ranma's voice was so cold his breath was frosted. "This is Hwaorang."

Happosai shivered and knew he'd said something wrong. He didn't want to make any other blunders with Ranma like this so he got to the point. "What do you need Ranma?"

Ranma wasted no time and explained about Akio and all he'd learned about her kidnapping. He also explained they'd come to see Miya. Hwaorang stayed out of the conversation because he didn't really have anything to add. He remembered a few comments about the perverted old master of martial arts, but Ranma had never been big on talking about his past.

Happosai went over what he'd been told, but he already knew what he was going to say. "I'm no expert on demons. I know a few simple summoning spells for some minor demons but that's about it. However I do know someone who can help you. Her name is Master Genkai. She runs a temple in another district. She specializes in the use of reiki. She can help you track down this demon and get to the Makai if you have to."

"We're still checking with Miya, but thanks for the information," said Ranma to Happosai.

"A good choice. She'll probably be able to come up with some sort of tracking spell." Answered Happosai.

As Ranma and Hwaorang turned to leave Happosai spoke out again. "I don't know a lot about what happened seven years ago, but I know that I don't approve of what they did. I just wanted you to know that not everyone in Nerima hates you and wants you dead," said Happosai.

"It's not my death you should be concerned about. Someone else has already paid that price." Without another word he continued toward Miya's house with Hwaorang following. Hwaorang filed those words away for another time. It was obvious his friend was hurting inside, but they didn't have time to deal with this now. Later on when Akio was safe he'd start digging answers out of Ranma.

Happosai stared after Ranma and those last words echoed in his head. Someone had died, but who? Happosai hadn't been informed of any death. Something wasn't right and he planned on finding out what. He was going to have a little "talk" with Soun and Genma. The words weighed so heavily on his mind that he actually left his bag behind on the roof.

Just as they entered the yard of her house Miya rushed out and practically dragged them inside the house. She had obviously been expecting them. Miya had grown into a beautiful woman with long rich chestnut hair, a nicely curvy figure, and her clear emerald eyes with thick smoky lashes. Those eyes currently had bags under them and seemed haunted. She was a bit shaky and seemed like she needed a caffeine fix badly.

Despite her apparent fatigue she got down to business right away. "I know what happened. Your child is quite strong and her distress echoes across the planes. A powerful evil holds your child and its feeding off her strength. The same evil has been blocking my search spells. I'll need some hair and something she favors," Miya said in a professional tone.

Ranma pulled out Akio's hair brush and Pocky the teddy bear. He quickly handed them over to Miya.

Miya took the items and started mixing a potion of some sort. The hair was dropped into some herbs and mixed up. A few moments later after a few other things had been added the mixture burst into green flames. The flames quickly died and became blue smoke. Miya dusted Pocky with some kind of powder and the blue smoke formed a shape. The teddy began to glow and the smoke became the shape of Akio crying with her knees hugged to her chest.

The smoke form suddenly exploded violently. Causing great alarm in the two parents and a slight coughing fit for all three.

When the smoke cleared and everyone stopped coughing, Hwaorang grabbed Miya. "What happened to my daughter?!" he demanded and his eyes flared a bit with ki.

Ranma was going to remove Hwaorang from Miya, but she waved him off.

"She is alright. Or at least as alright as anyone can be while being in the grasp of a powerful demon," explained Miya in a hoarse voice. She was breathing heavy and seemed drained.

"What happened?" asked Ranma.

"The demon detected the spell and disrupted it. The spell backlashed on me."

"Oh," said Hwaorang quietly and he released Miya. She almost fell over, but he caught her and helped her into a nearby chair.

"I didn't get much, but I can tell you a few things. Your daughter is in the Makai although I don't know where exactly. The demon holding her is growing in strength, which is very dangerous for you and your daughter. This demon is S class and growing stronger every day." said Miya.

"How do we get to the Makai?" asked Hwaorang.

"We ran into Happosai and he mentioned a Master Genkai," said Ranma.

"Genkai? I'm glad you mentioned her, she's the perfect person to help you. She can get you to the Makai and act as a guide. She's actually knows some of the geography of the Makai and who controls what territory. Even if she won't go with you she'll at least find you a guide," said Miya.

"Then I guess we'd better head for Genkai's temple," said Ranma.

"Here take this." Miya hands back Pocky and the brush to Ranma who puts the items back into the pack. Then she hands Ranma a wrapped package.

"What is it?" asked Ranma looking at the package in his hands.

"A few assorted items that may prove useful in your quest. There's a note inside explaining how to use them. There are a few healing items inside in case the need arises. I don't need to be psychic to know you'll need bandages before you get your daughter back. On your way to Genkai's swing by a pharmacy and buy a first aid kit and some extra bandages. You'll need them." Said Miya seriously.

"Thank you Miya-san," said Ranma. The two young men bowed to Miya then took off for the nearest train.

"You're welcome and good luck," said Miya as she watched the two disappear over the rooftops. She muttered a prayer and headed inside for some much needed rest.

Two hours later saw Ranma and Hwaorang ascending the stairs of Genkai's temple. As suggested, a first aid kit had been added to the pack Ranma carried along with a few other items Ranma had known to be useful in the past.

The temple was a bit of a surprise. Ranma had been to several major battle fields that felt the same as this temple. Places where a lot of blood has been spilled that reek of violence and death. Yet this temple didn't only reek of death, but power. It was like death had empowered this place. Ranma wasn't sure if this was a good sign or a bad one.

As they reached the top of the stairs an old but strong voice spoke, "Welcome to my temple. I've been expecting you. I am Genkai."

Ranma and Hwaorang soon found themselves in front of a short old woman with pinkish hair. For some reason Ranma found the sight of Genkai reassuring. Hwaorang on the other hand felt his hopes going down the drain at the sight of the frail old woman. Had Hwaorang ever met Cologne he'd have some serious doubts about how "frail" Genkai was.

"My name is Ranma and this is Hwaorang. You said you were expecting us?" asked Ranma.

"The old pervert called me and told me you were coming. He told me a few things, but I want to hear this from you to make sure. I also called in some people for this who need to hear your story as well," said Genkai as she led them inside the temple.

Inside were six people who looked to be in their late teens. They had been talking and eating snacks before the door opened. Ranma and Hwaorang automatically sized up the people in the room. The young man with the slicked back black hair was a fighter of some skill, but had no formal martial arts training. The hugely tall red head seemed to be a fighter as well and seemed to have learned some form of swordfighting. The brown haired girl wasn't a fighter and was dating the first boy. The small greenish-blue haired girl wasn't human, but she wasn't a danger. The other red head who looked like a girl had some martial arts training, probably kung fu. The little guy with the spiky black hair wasn't human either and he was definitely dangerous.

"Ranma. Hwaorang. I'd like you to meet Yusuke, Keiko, Kuwabara, Yukina, Hiei, and Kurama." Genkai pointed to each one as she said their names.

Quick greetings were exchanged and soon Ranma and Hwaorang were seated with the others. Hwaorang was wedged between Ranma and Genkai while Ranma had Kurama on his other side. Being so close to Kurama raised Ranma threat potential for the pretty red head.

Once again Ranma went through Akio's kidnapping and what happened with Miya. He stopped a few times to answer questions, but tried to get the explanation done as soon as possible.

"I'm so sorry about your daughter," said Keiko.

"Do you know who took her?" asked Hwaorang.

"The Makai's huge and things are crazy right now. I haven't heard any rumors about a kidnapping. What about you Hiei?" asked Yusuke.

Hiei just shook his head in the negative.

"I guess we'll just have to beat a lead out of someone," said Kuwabara with a shrug.

"If someone is rising in power Mukuro probably knows. She's got spies everywhere but I don't know if she'll help," said Hiei. The others couldn't argue with this. Hiei might be Mukuro's chosen heir for the moment, but the chances of her helping out were fifty-fifty.

"So when do we leave?" asked Ranma.

"We don't," said Yusuke abruptly.

"What?!" roared Hwaorang and Ranma at the same time. A suddenly drop in room temperature was ignored by Yusuke, but puzzled over by the others. Genkai was aware of the source of cold and was interested in seeing what was going to happen.

"We're going, but you two are staying here," said Yusuke firmly.

This time Yusuke could not ignore the drop in room temperature. The hot tea everyone had been drinking was now iced tea. The others no longer had any problems locating the source of the cold. Yukina found the cold quite pleasant while the others were shivering.

"Over my dead body." Ranma said in a literally frosted voice.

Yusuke shook off the chill and stared into Ranma's eyes, "It will be your dead body. You're talking about an S class demon, who if this Miya person is right, is growing stronger. You have no idea of what the power involved is, do you? If you want to get killed on your own I won't stop you, but I'm sure as hell not going to help you get killed! A normal human stands no chance against an S class demon."

"Who ever said I was normal?" Ranma said in a mockingly bitter voice.

"Let me guess you have ESP or play with crystals or talk to ghosts? Maybe you've even fought a demon before? That won't save you against an S class," said Yusuke.

"I've killed a god and destroyed a mountain among other things. I was only seventeen at the time, but does that count for anything?" Ranma said with no emotion whatsoever.

Everyone just stared at him as they didn't know what to say.

"Who?" asked a curious Genkai.

"Saffron."

Genkai's eyes had bulged. "The Phoenix King?"

Ranma nodded. "He was reborn afterward but phoenixes do that."

The talk of rebirth and phoenixes brought back memories of Puu's transformation and Yusuke's second death. This time it wasn't the cold that made them shiver.

"I heard something about it. I have some friends in the Joketsuzoku. You're quite infamous in China."

"Infamous is the right word."

Yusuke shook off the old memory and continued, "I don't know what you two are talking about and I don't care. You may be enough to face an S class, but that's not the only problem. There's a large scale war going on in the Makai. Raizen is dead and as his heir and child of his bloodline I'm a major target. If we were just going to find the S class and take him down I wouldn't be worried about taking you. I'm talking about a full scale war. Besides myself, Hiei is also a big target as Mukuro's heir and Kurama is the favored heir apparent for Yomi. Kuwabara has four years experience in the Makai and he knows how dangerous the current situation is. There are more than one S class in the Makai and a fair number of them including a lot of weaker demons will be gunning for us." Yusuke said.

"I don't care if it's WW3 and raining nuclear warheads. I would face the devil himself in Hell to get my baby back." Hwaorang said angrily.

"It's more along the lines of facing the devil and all the minions of Hell," said Yusuke. There was a snort from Hiei and Kurama, and slight snickers from the others. It wasn't really funny, but close enough to the truth.

Hwaorang didn't find this funny, but Ranma stopped him from getting violent. "In a nutshell you don't think we're strong enough to survive in the Makai?" Ranma said.

"Yes."

"Prove it."

Yusuke hadn't been expecting this particular response. "Huh?"

"It's simple. You don't think we're strong enough. I just challenged you to prove it."

Yusuke was a bit slow to realize where this was leading, but the others saw what was coming. "How?"

"I'm tired of wasting time. You fight me. If you win we stay here. If I win we head for the Makai with no more delays. Do you accept?"

"Fine let's get this over with," said Yusuke.

Yusuke led Ranma outside with the others following.

"I have a bad feeling about this," said Kuwabara.

"What kind of feeling?" asked Keiko.

"I'm not sure, but there's something odd about him." Kuwabara motioned to Ranma.

Kurama didn't say anything, but he couldn't help being worried. Unlike the others, he did have some formal martial arts training. He'd never seen anyone move like Ranma, he seemed inhumanly graceful. All his steps were soundless and his feet barely seemed to touch the ground. He'd been sitting right next to Ranma when he made the room temperature drop. As far as he could tell Ranma wasn't even doing it on purpose and wasn't expending energy to do it. When a koorime drops the temperature the power and effort involved is usually visible. Yusuke was an S class, but Ranma's abilities were impossible to measure at this point.

Hiei was curious about this strange ningen. The way he moved screamed contained power. The little cold flash from earlier was surprising. He didn't think humans were capable of doing something like that. Whatever he'd used to make it cold wasn't youki or reiki. He was really tempted to pull off the ward on his jagen. He almost wished the ningen had challenged him. Strangely he was looking forward to seeing what this ningen could do.

Despite the seriousness of the situation Genkai was feeling almost gleeful. It had been a long time since she'd seen a real martial arts master fight. Despite all his power Yusuke was mainly a street brawler. He knew kicks and punches, but he lack the power and grace of a martial artist. If things worked out Yusuke might get the chance to learn martial arts. Besides she'd always wanted to see the result of a challenge between one of her students and one of Happosai's.

The two stood facing each other and Genkai took the role of referee. "This fight ends by knockout, submission, or death. Anything goes."

"Begin!"

Yusuke had been in a lot of fights and had learned to read his opponent to certain degrees. Usually it was the simple comparison of power levels, how much Reiki or Youki his opponent had. With Ranma's boast, if you could call what he'd said earlier a boast, Yusuke expected a bonfire of Reiki. From personal experience he knew how much power was required for destroying a mountain. Although he had no idea how much power was required to kill a phoenix. Puu had turned into a phoenix, but Yusuke was pretty sure it wasn't the same thing.

Still no matter how Yusuke looked at Ranma he didn't see a really impressive amount of Reiki. He had moved beyond needing to see a flaring aura to gage Reiki levels. Ranma was well below the amount of Reiki that even Kuwabara had. Although the Reiki Ranma did have was way beyond the normal human amount. That alone was a sign of many brushes with death.

Genkai had mentioned that Ranma was a martial artist. Yusuke had been a fan of martial arts since he was little. He had a fair eye for recognizing different styles, but was limited to the five or so styles he'd seen. Usually the indicator was the opening stance. The only problem was that Ranma wasn't in a stance. He just stood there with his hands behind his back. Yusuke wasn't sure if Ranma was insulting him or not.

If Yusuke had been more familiar with Ranma he'd have recognized Ranma's preferred stance against unknown opponents. It was a deception stance and annoying as hell to those who didn't recognize it. Since most people didn't recognize Ranma's pose as a stance they were usually in for a bad shock.

Yusuke didn't want to have a drag down fight with Ranma. He understood the whole distraught parent position, but he wasn't going to drag anyone to their deaths if he could help it. He planned to get this fight over quickly then head off and find the child. With this in mind he quickly charged Ranma with a straight punch towards his face, careful to hold back enough so he didn't rip his head from his shoulders.

Ranma chose the last second to lean out of the way of the punch. He didn't let it end there, and as soon as Yusuke's fist passed by he used the momentum to toss Yusuke into a basic Judo throw.

Yusuke was caught completely off guard. He missed Ranma by millimeters and suddenly the world spun and he hit the ground on his back. A little winded since he hadn't expected the throw, Yusuke was quickly back on his feet.

"I don't have time to play games. Either fight me for real or don't bother to fight. You were holding back both your speed and strength. Don't bother or next time I'll do more than throw you." Ranma said.

"It's your funeral." Yusuke said with a cocky shrug. This fight was gaining a bit more interest, but he still planned to end it quickly. Ranma was in way over his head.

******************

A small smile, almost a grin, broke out on Genkai's face at Ranma's words. This did not go unnoticed by the others.

Kurama was frowning as he stared at Ranma. "Genkai wants this fight to happen. I've seen a lot of martial art styles, but none are this fluid. That throw was pure Judo, but the stance he just took is Tae Kwon Do. He's way too fluid to be a streetfighter so what's his style?" asked Kurama frustrated.
"Anything Goes."

Kurama turned startled eyes to Hwaorang as he hadn't expected an answer.

"What?"

"Ranma practices Anything Goes Martial Arts. He's a Grandmaster of his school or would be if he ever bothered to take the tests. He's also master level in over a dozen other styles. The basis of the Anything Goes school is to constantly adapt to your opponents. Basically his style is bits and pieces of hundreds of styles all meshed together into a seamless whole," explained Hwaorang.

"You've got to be kidding." Kurama said.

"You know I said exactly the same thing when he explained it to me for the first time. I'm mainly a Tae Kwon Do practicer or at least I was. I've come a long way since then. To give you an idea of how good he is, one of his specialties is mid air combat." said Hwaorang.

Keiko who had remained quiet up till now expressed her feelings. "That's insane!"

Hwaorang nodded. "Maybe, but he started learning martial arts before he could walk. There's a lot I don't know about his past, but what I do know and the hints he's given don't make it sound good. I will tell you this he wasn't kidding when he said he killed a god and I'm not surprised he could destroy a mountain. I've never seen him cut loose and I don't want to."

"You're serious?" asked Kurama.

Hwaorang nodded again. Keiko shivered. She did not want to lose her husband. Yusuke was usually in one danger or another, especially since Raizen died. He was an S class demon and Ranma wasn't out to kill him, but she still didn't like seeing him hurt.

Kuwabara was close enough to hear everything that was being said, but he remained silent. Back when Ranma had mentioned killing a god he'd gotten flashes of a battle. Images of a younger Ranma and a man with feathered wings and lots of fire. What disturbed him the most was the look in young Ranma's eyes. There had been death in those eyes.

The vision disturbed Kuwabara greatly. He usually only got feelings about things. His sister Shizuru sometimes got visions, but then she was a stronger psychic than he was. She never liked to talk about her visions and even now she sometimes goes pale and locks herself in her room with a whole carton of cigarettes. She once confided that it was her visions that caused her to become a chain smoker. Till now he hadn't understood why.

Hiei had also heard everything said, but never took his eyes from Ranma. He watched and waited for the strange ningen to take the gloves off and reveal his power. He was tempted to take the ward off his jagen, but decided to remain patient. Soon enough the ningen would reveal his power. He'd have to.

*****************

This time when Yusuke came at Ranma it was ten times faster than before. To his surprise he was met with a barrage of lightning fast kicks followed by a powerful roundhouse that sent him flying into a tree that almost snapped on impact.

For Yusuke the fight took on new interest. He hadn't really expected Ranma to be much of a fight, even after getting thrown. This time Yusuke had gotten a taste of what Ranma was capable of. There had been some real power behind the hit he'd just taken. A grin spread across Yusuke's face. This was going to be a real fight and Yusuke loved a good challenge.

Yusuke attacked once again with an Amerguriken like technique against Ranma. He was a bit surprised when all his punches were blocked and a little impressed as Ranma returned punches while still managing to block his punches.

A few exchanges later Yusuke ups the ante.

"Rei Gun!"

To everyone's surprise Ranma just stood there and took the blast. It was Yusuke's first blast so it was the weakest, but it was still very powerful. (Yusuke's blasts get progressively strong after each blast. He is limited to how many blasts he can do in a day. Currently his limit is twenty-five blasts within one day.)

The dust cleared and Ranma stood in a small crater. There wasn't a mark on him, and his clothes weren't even signed much less ripped.

From the sidelines Hwaorang yelled, "You'll have to do better than that. Ryu's Super Hadoken is way more impressive than that!"

Yusuke didn't bother answering, with a wild smile on his face he charged Ranma once again. Several exchanges later he'd gotten a few hits in, but nothing of note. He was also pretty sure Ranma had yet to go on the offensive. Yusuke did find it strange how intent Ranma was on dodging him. Being confident of himself, Yusuke assumed Ranma was dodging because he couldn't find an opening. This belief caused Yusuke to press his attack harder.

******************

Hwaorang watched the spiral form and a smirk broke out on his face. Kuwabara couldn't escape the feeling something bad was about to happen. Both Hiei and Kurama could sense something building, but they weren't sure what it was.

"Ooo! Look at the pretty spiral!" Yukina said cheerfully.

Everyone but Hwaorang and Genkai looked at Yukina and back at the fight. They quickly realized she was right but they weren't sure what the spiral meant. If the smile on Hwaorang's face was any indicator it wouldn't be good for Yusuke.

"Hiryu Shoten HA!"

A tornado was formed and Yusuke was sucked up inside. Yusuke flared his Reiki in hopes of disrupting the tornado. Unfortunately instead of disrupting it, Yusuke only made the tornado stronger.

Ranma jumped up and was lifted up to Yusuke by the winds of the tornado. Yusuke was stuck in the heart of the tornado and Ranma was soon facing him. They started to fight inside the whirlwind with kicks and punch flying back and forth rapidly. Not once did the winds waver or show signs of dispersing.

"Yusuke must be pretty strong." remarked Hwaorang as he watched the on going fight.

"He is." said Keiko.

"What do you mean by must?" asked Kurama.

"Well judging by the size of that tornado he has to be. He's the one powering the Hiryu Shoten Ha. That it hasn't dispersed yet says a lot for his strength." explained Hwaorang.

"He's right. Yusuke is being drained to maintain the attack. The more he fights it the stronger the tornado gets." said Hiei. The ward was off now and Hiei watched he battle through three eyes. When Hwaorang saw him he blinked a few times, shrugged, then turned back to watch the fight.

"The Hiryu Shoten Ha is an ancient Chinese Amazon technique. It can be quite powerful and few have ever mastered it. If what I heard is correct, it was this move that killed Saffron in the end." said Genkai.

"Saffron is that god he talked about?" asked Keiko.

Genkai nodded.

Keiko turned horrified eyes to the ongoing fight. "He's going to kill Yusuke!"

Hwaorang instantly moved to placate the distressed girl. "Relax. Ranma has more control than that. He's made a whole school of techniques from the Hiryu Shoten Ha. He calls it the Rising Dragon Style. He knows what he's doing and he isn't out to kill Yusuke. Only defeat him."

Keiko was a little reassured but still worried for her husband.

"Tell me about this Rising Dragon Style." said Genkai with interest.

"Well you're seeing some of it right now. I mentioned before that one of his specialties is mid air combat, well this is a step further. He rides the winds of the tornado with ease while striking his prone opponent. Yusuke is stuck in the center while Ranma can move around as he likes. He can also form ice while doing this. He can make ice shards in the tornado or even encase his opponent in ice." explained Hwaorang with pride.

Once again Kuwabara was hit by a vision. This time he saw a small sequence. He watched the feathered man get encased in ice then he saw Ranma shatter the frozen body with winds shaped like a dragon. The look on the young face was cold and the blue-gray eyes seemed dead. Then the scene jumped a little and Kuwabara saw a huge bird of flame rise from the ashes and scream at the sky.

Kuwabara was really starting to understand his sister's aversion to having visions and why she didn't talk about them. It was disturbing and left you feeling shaken and blind. It was like for a few brief seconds you could really see only to have your eyes forced closed once more. He didn't like the feeling.

************

Yusuke recognized the kind of fight he was in. Trading blows with Ranma wasn't going to get him anywhere. Also the simple fact that unless he could escape the tornado he was going to lose. He could feel the drain, although it wasn't too serious.

Yet.

Yusuke came up with a strategy and quickly put it into action. He lined up Ranma and fired a triple burst of Rei Gun point blank into Ranma. The drain of the tornado upped the power of his blasts. In fact the power output was so strong it actually disrupted the tornado. The recoil of the blast sent Yusuke flying out of the tornado. The actual blast blew Ranma from the tornado. Yusuke plowed over a few trees and finally stopped. Ranma wasn't as lucky.

The first blast was what propelled Ranma out of the tornado. As the trees slowed him down the second more powerful blast reached him and propelled further into the trees. Eventually the third and most powerful blast reached him and a huge explosion resulted.

When the blast cleared Ranma was in a huge crater almost a mile from where the fight started. A straight line of destroyed trees led directly to the crater Ranma currently occupied.

Ranma pulled himself from the crater, but unlike the last time it was quite obvious he'd taken a hit. His shirt was in shreds and there was a large angry burn mark on his muscled chest. He jeans had long rips in them and his long braid had lost its tie and was unraveling. Strangely enough the leather jacket survived with no visible rips or tears.

Ranma brushed himself off a little then walked back to the starting point where Yusuke was waiting for him. What surprised most of the observers was the bright blue aura pulsing around Ranma. With Ranma's long hair coming loose, his chest bare, and the bright battle aura surrounding him Ranma was a powerful figure to behold.

"Not bad, but nowhere near enough to win this fight," said Ranma. He removed his leather jacket and tossed it to Hwaorang. Then he tore off the remains of his shirt, leaving him naked above the waist. The burn mark stood out on his tanned skin.

"Well I'll just have to try a bit harder," was Yusuke's cocky response. His clothes were ripped in several places, but as a whole not as bad off as Ranma's clothes.

"Rei Gun!"

"Moko Takabisha!" The two huge energy blasts clashed and fought against each other. In the end neither was stronger than the other, so they canceled each other out. Ranma and Yusuke moved on to new attacks.

Ranma jumped high into the air and released a new attack.

"Sonic Barrage!"

About two years back Ranma met up with an A class Streetfighter named Guile. During that time he learned a ki move Guile called Sonic Boom. It was kind of a reverse of the Vacuum Blades he father had created. On the bright side the Sonic Booms were less lethal. The Sonic Barrage was basically throwing dozens of Sonic Booms all at once. Ranma also has an attack called the Vacuum Barrage but its much more deadly.

Seeing the incoming ki blasts Yusuke decided to meet fire with fire.

"Shotgun!"

Most of the Sonic Booms were canceled out by Yusuke's blasts , but a number of them made it through and hit Yusuke. Still even after taking a dozen hits Yusuke suffered no serious damage. Likewise a few of the Shotgun blasts passed through to head for Ranma. Ranma literally slapped the blasts away as if they were pesky insects while still in the air.

Ranma landed lightly on the ground and waited for the dust to settle.

**************

"That isn't Reiki," stated Hiei. There was a frown on his face and three eyes stared at Ranma intently.

"What kind of aura is that?" asked Kuwabara. He'd seen both Reiki and Youki auras, but the aura Ranma radiated felt different.

"That's a battle aura," said Hwaorang. Unsaid but implied was the impression of, are you stupid, everyone knows what a battle aura is.

With the exception of Hwaorang most of the other saw Ranma's aura like a candle flame. The smaller aura of Reiki being massively dwarfed by a more powerful aura of energy.

"What kind of energy is he using?" asked Kurama of Hwaorang.

"It's ki of course. Hiryu Shoten Ha he used before was chi." explained Hwaorang.

Before they could ask more questions Genkai clarified for them. "Ki is life energy as opposed to Reiki which is death energy. Chi on the other hand is natural energy coming from the elements around you. Both are powerful, but ki requires more discipline to harness."

"Oh."

Everyone turned back to the fight.

***********

"This is taking too long. Normally I wouldn't mind a drag out, knock down fight, but I don't have the time to waste. I'll have to finish this fight now." Ranma said.

"Are you giving up?" asked Yusuke.

"No, you're going to lose," said Ranma.

"Earth Erupt!"

Ranma's fist hit the dirt and the ground exploded as if it had been full of landmines. Everything was obscured in the explosion. Only Genkai and Hiei caught sight of Ranma rushing into the heart of the blast.

It took a few minutes for the explosion to settle. Hwaorang and the others had to watch out for falling rocks and they choked a bit on the dust cloud as the dirt settled. When they could finally see the battlefield, they saw Yusuke down with Ranma standing over him.

This was a bit puzzling. The blast was nowhere near enough to take out Yusuke. His clothes were shredded and he had some bruises, but all of them had seen Yusuke suffering from much worse. So the question was what had taken Yusuke down. Ranma had obviously done it but how?

"Pressure points?" asked Genkai.

"You have a good eye. I used the Earth Erupt as a distraction. Then while he was blinded I hit his sleep points." Ranma said.

Genkai nodded, "Good strategy. Not to criticize but why didn't you do this at the beginning of the fight?" she asked.

"He didn't believe we were strong enough to survive in the Makai. If I knocked him out right away he'd still believe that. After seeing some of my strength and skill he should be a bit more confident about our abilities. That and I won't have to listen to him try to change our minds about going. He lost fair and square," explained Ranma.

The others remained silent after this explanation, but they didn't miss what had been implied. Ranma could have won the match at any time.

Twenty minutes later both Ranma and Yusuke were being healed by Yukina. Ranma put on a new shirt, but kept his ripped jeans on. He also retrieved his jacket from Hwaorang and put it back on. Yusuke was dressed in a new set of clothes. He complained a bit about losing, but didn't try to discourage Ranma and Hwaorang from coming along.

When everyone was ready to go they said goodbye to Genkai, Yukina, and Keiko. Kuwabara opened a rift to the Makai, and without looking back they stepped through the portal.

"Good luck," said Genkai and she turned back to her temple with Yukina and Keiko following.

Editor's Note: Finished, finished! Now I get to prod on next part.
^_^ Enjoy and here's a list of fandoms used:

Ranma 1/2
Tekken 3
Yuu Yuu Hakusho
Street Fighter (though just a mention...)

~ShadowCat & Nyghthawk