I'm going to terrorize Ranma when I get back, Ryoga thought bitterly, dodging a hail of knives. I know this is his fault, somehow. Ryoga used his tentacles as springs to bounce over the meaty hand of his adversary, landing on his white chef's hat and forcing it down over his eyes. From there he jumped and grabbed onto a hanging rack, using five arms to run along it and the rest to pelt the chef with pots and pans as he headed for the door. How he'd ended up on tonight's menu he'd never know. Ryoga skidded into the dining area of the formal restaurant with the chef hot on his trail and scanned the crowd for an escape. No one would ever accuse Ryoga of having a quick wit. But when it came down to a flight or fight situation, he had an excellent tactical mind. Spying a waiter's trolley, he dove through underneath, leaving the crouched and running chef to plough into it, sending food and drink flying. Ryoga ducked under a low-hanging tablecloth and hid. Now, while everyone is looking at him, I've got to get to a better hiding place, Ryoga thought. Peeking out from under the tablecloth, Ryoga looked for another hiding place. Spotting his chance, he fairly flew over the floor, careful not to run into anyone as darted from table to table. In this way he was able to make it to the other side of the restaurant, although he wasn't able to find the door. Where? Where? Where? he thought frantically. Ah! There! That's the lowest tablecloth yet! He lost no time scooting beneath it. Mindful of his tentacles hanging out, he grabbed a leg and climbed to the top, just below the surface of the table. Yui was having a wonderful time tonight. Her date was wonderful, charming, handsome, and had already asked her for a second date. If he continued to play his cards right, he just might get invited up to her place afterward. They'd both gotten a giggle out of the absurd sight of the chef running out of the kitchen and crashing into a cart of food. Her date was finally calming down, as was the rest of the rrestaurant, when she spoke. "I wonder what he thought he was doing?" she asked, wiping her eyes. "Maybe he realized he'd messed an order up and wanted to stop it?" he replied with a smile. Yui took a drink of water and started to reply when the strangest look crossed her face. "Yui? Is there something the matter?" Moving mechanicly, she slid back from the table and looked down. A large bulge the size of a basketball was on her lap. Slowly, she reached down and pulled up her skirt, heedless of the decency. She stared at the eldritch tentacle monster in her lap in horror. Ryoga stared back. "Gllick!" "EEEEKKKK!" With a frantic shriek she ripped him from herself and flung him across the table, smack into the face of another diner. Ryoga's instincts kicked in and he latched on, wrapping his tentacles behind the poor man's head and holding on tightly. Although his veiw was now upside down and his attention was skightly diverted by the approaching yells, he still had the most remarkable veiw. Across the table, the woman was momentarily nonplussed. The strage creature had landed in such a way that it looked almost like a natural extension of her boyfriend's face. Even the eyes were in the right place. In fact, they appeared to be staring down the front of her low-cut dress… *POW* Ryoga's tentacles flared out in a circle around his head, which was smashed in where it was smashed in from the force of her punch. Her boyfriend was knocked cold. Ryoga slid to the table, stunned, but moved quickly to avoid the large knife that stuck where he had been lying. He looked up to see the chef pulling back the knife for another try. Once again, Ryoga found himself running. This time it was across the tables, trying to cause as much havoc as possible to delay his pursuer. Startled screams echoed in his wake. Akari Unryu had been having a bad week. First, she'd botched a minor summoning and the resulting storm of mystical energies had cost her a perfectly good follower. Other witches and warlocks were still laughing at her. Then her loyal familiar, Katsunishiki, had been killed by a crazy local demon hunter. That had been even worse. And finally, that snooty little bitch Miyo had claimed that was a sign that her power was weakening and had tried to make a move. It was enough to drive anyone nuts, even one who had looked upon things from beyond and survived. So Akari had decided to treat herself to a nice dinner at a fancy restaurant. Why she'd chosen this place she didn't know, but when she saw the mass of tentacles that practicly radiated eldritch perversion, she knew she'd been guided by the gods. She waited to see if it would change course, knowing it wouldn't. As it passed by, her hand flashed out at incredible speed, snatching Ryoga out of his path so quickly that his pursuers thought he had disappeared. Ryoga was surprised when he was suddenly stuffed under a tablecloth and held in a firm, gentle grip. He was even more surprised when the girl spoke. "Keep quiet," she hissed, her face very close to the table. "And quit squirming. I'll help you get out of here." Though confused, Ryoga quickly did as told. Akari sat back and pondered. How was she going to get the both of them out of there unnoticed? "Excuse me, Miss?" "Ahh!" she yelled, startled. "Don't DO that!" Underneath the table, Ryoga rubbed one tentacle across a bump on his head and silently agreed. I hope it has the sense to stay hidden, Akari thought, reluctantly letting go and bringing her hands above the table. Turning, she saw a waiter standing next to her. "Sorry, Miss, but did you see an octopus run through here?" "Octopus?" she asked, smiling at the misnomer. "Ah, yes, I did, but I didn't see where he went." The waiter frowned dubiously. "I see. Mind if I look under your table?" Uh, oh, she thought. "Eh, heh, no, not at all. I certainly don't mind if you look under my table," she said loudly, hoping the creature would understand. The waiter gave her a strange look. "Umm, why are you talking so loud?" "Oh, am I?" she asked, feigning an innocent expression. "It's just that you're going to look under my TABLE!" she said even more loudly, her voice rising to a sudden shriek at the end. "By all means," she continued at a lower level, pausing and taking a sip of water." "Go ahead and look. I'm sure you won't find anything." The waiter knelt down beside her and lifted the tablecloth. A shapely pair of spread legs were the only things that he noticed. Mentally shaking himself, he carefully searched the underside of the table. Puzzeled, he looked around himself. He could have sworn that it was here. The hem of Akari's black dress caught his eye. Maybe… Nah, he thought. Still, it couldn't hurt to check… *SMACK* "Don't even think about it." Okay, maybe it could hurt, he ammended ruefully. "Terribly sorry, Miss. It won't happen again," he hastily apologized, standing up and backing away. Akari leveled a cold glare at him. "See that it doesn't, and bring my bill." She studied his butt as he hurried away. Sorry there cutie, normally I wouldn't have minded, she thought ruefully. Well, that does solve one problem. After settling her bill and leaving a generous tip as an apology, she stood to leave. And immediately ran into a problem. Ryoga squirmed uncomfortably as Akari nearly crushed him between her thighs. Akari bent double, clutching her middle in a desperate attempt to stop the tickling, looking to everyone else like she had a sudden case of stomach cramps. Gasping a quick curse and an order to be still, she hastily waddled to the bathroom, drawing stares and the occasional snicker from other patrons. Inside the bathroom, she quickly found an unoccupied stall and eased inside, locking the door behind her. Then she hiked her dress up to just below her breasts, exposing smooth, lightly tanned skin, Ryoga, and of course, the _underwear_. Depending on one's frame of mind, the basketball sized demon with tentacles sticking out everywhere might have caught your eye first, but anyone with even the slightest interest in females would have noticed the _underwear_ first. It Akari hadn't of been wearing any, that would have been one thing. Ryoga might simply have passed out with a nosebleed in that case. If they had been regular panties, or even lacy thongs, he would have been horribly embarrassed and forced to look away, lest he pass out from blood loss. But these, these trancended lace. They were black, of course, made of some sort of composite fabric that had silk's shimmery, buttery texture, cotton's thicker, stiffer properties, and some hard to identify ability to make the skin beneath seem backlit by an expert erotic photographer. The _underwear_ promised dark nights, cool breezes, naughty secrets, and sensuous rituals banned by most countries and all mainstream religions. And all that was just in one soft crease of material that was just barely clingy enough to outline one tentacle tip hooked into the side. Tanned skin, translucent black cloth, and one greenish/grey tentacle all made for pretty good contrasts in relation to one another, especially to Ryoga three inches away. They also trancended standard nosebleeds. Ryoga, having gotten an eyefull, slid nerveless to to tiles. Akari looked down bemusedly. While that wasn't exactly the reaction she'd been expecting, it certainly gave her ego a boost. Let's see Miyo be so sexy she knocks out an H-demon, she thought. Deciding to act pregnant, she pulled Ryoga up and positioned him around her stomach, solving the problem of getting him to stay by tying a few of his tentacles into knots behind her back. Getting the dress back down over him proved to be a bigger problem, but she preservered, flattening him with one hand and tugging with the other, groaning and grunting from the strain. The change in shape shortened the skirt considerably, and if she didn't watch it she'd flash her panties, but she considered her mission a success. She walked out of the bathroom and restaurant as fast as she could and not draw anymore attention to herself. She really didn't want to try to explain her sudden gravid state to a curious diner. Maybe this week isn't so bad after all, she thought. Nothing to do but get this baby home and call the acolytes. Let's see Miyo claim my power is getting weak now! Not just anyone can bring home a young great one, although I'd better figure out an explaination of how I found it. **************** See minor demon. Picture the legs, big black treelike columns of muscle. Imagine the torso, a glistening wedge of flesh studded with multiple tentacles at each shoulder and the groin. Now look at the head, large jaw, sharp white teeth, long red tounge lashing in anticipation. The piggish eyes set below a prominent brow seem to be all pupil, they stare out with a dim intelligence. The rest of the head appears to be covered with small bony lumps. This is a minor demon. Got all that? Good. Now, see minor demon invade a girls' school. Watch it rip the very fabric of space from its starting point to a hidden place in the school, stepping through in a neat bypass to the ring of wards placed around the school grounds. It appears in a broom closet with a slight ripple of reality. Now it conceals itself, bending in ways no human could comprehend, flowing up through airducts as it searches for a place to hide for a while. The scent of magic hostile to it and its kind is heavy in the air, a constant reminder of the consequences of screwing up. These humans have fought demons before. It waits, one hour, two, a day, a week. There was a bustle of activity when it first arrived, a sharp tang of magic and of hunting presences. Most of the humans left, leaving only the hunters of its kind, but eventually even they thinned out, and the rest of the humans started to return. A less patient demon might have struck then. In fact, others had. Less patient demons had also died for their troubles. Not this one, having been carefully instructed on the best way to infiltrate such a place. No, it waits for nearly a week, holding its power in, almost in a state of hibernation, until the hunters have gone and the humans have forgotten it. Now, now is the time, it thinks. Slowly, cautiously, it moves, hunting for its prey, preferrably a lone girl, although it would settle for a couple. AH! it thinks, flowing through small spaces in the ceiling. Through one crack it can see a young girl, around 15 or 16 years old, in a pink dress. She is very cute and innocent, although a bit flatchested, and sets the demon's tentacles atwitching just looking at her. Cautiously, it extends its senses through the wall, examining the room. Not versed in the ways of the human world, most of what it finds baffles it. But that's not important. What is important is that the cute girl is alone, not registering any more than the usual background magic, and the room is small enough that it can block the door and grab her at the same time. It's perfect. The foolish girl won't even know what hits her. See minor demon strike. Its powerful body and ability to warp itself around space make going through the tiny crack as easy as going through a double doorway. Three tentacles enlongate to nearly 15 feet, wrapping around the girl's neck and choking off her startled scream, lifting her off the ground even as one probing tip starts to force itself past her lips. Not wasting time on preliminaries, several more tentacles rip her clothes from her, tossing them to the side as others dive in. Only to halt, as something is clearly not right here. What it had assumed to be underdeveloped breasts have turned out to be pectoral muscles. The tentacles around her throat relaxed, allowing her to breathe and spit the tentacle out. One tentacle pulls the 'Hello Kitty' panties down her legs so that it could check. It closes its eyes in disgust as its worst fear comes true. Yep, there was a penis. Tsubasa smirked at it as confidently as was possible when being held off the floor by a thing straight out of a girl's nightmare. "Not what you were expecting, hmm?" he snickered. It quickly unwrapped its tentacles, dropping him to the floor and backing away in revulsion. A magically empowered ofuda smacked it in the back of the head and dropped it writhing in pain to the floor. "OH HO HO HO HO HO!" a new voice broke in, cackling in triumph. The demon writhed in even more pain from the horrendous laugh. "So, the foul creature thinks it can invade the St. Hebereke school for girls and get away with it? Not while I, Kodachi Kuno, the Black Rose, patrol its halls!" Kodachi stepped through the now shattered door in time to see Tsubasa pull his panties up. "You know, I'd thought from the black rose bit that you would be throwing roses at the thing or something," Tsubasa commented, grabbing his dress and searching through it. Pulling a few strips of paper out, he strode over to the prone demon and gave it a viscious kick in the side. It started flooding the area with magical energy. Outside, students were beginning to gather, gawking at the now immobile demon. "I can't see why," Kodachi replied. "That would be silly. The world is full of silly people, that's why it takes serious people like me to keep them safe from this filth." "Ah, a serious person. I see." Tsubasa kicked it again, this time in the metaphorical nads. It whistled in pain and the power stopped flowing from it briefly, only to start up again. "You seem to be a fairly serious person yourself," Kodachi said, examining the ofuda. "The ofuda seems to be crisping." "Hmm," Tsubasa replied, stepping on one tentacle tip and grinding it into the tile. "Why do you persist in this petty torture?" she asked, bemused. "Surely you cannot have the same hate of these things as one of my own gender can." Tsubasa looked up at her coldly. "Why? I'll tell you why. Just LOOK at my dress! It's ruined! This rotten pile of crap tore my favorite dress to shreds!" She kicked it again, just as the ofuda burst into flames. Instantly recovering, the demon's tentacles reached out and grabbed Tsubasa's feet, turning him upside down in a flash. Four more tentacles stiffened, preparing to drive through his chest. Nearly as fast, Kodachi whipped out a ribbon and snapped it twice, cutting off the threat and freeing Tsubasa, who tumbled to the floor. Turning with a roar, it pounded toward her, jaw agape. In the hall girls scattered, screaming. Only a few stayed to watch. One narrowed her eyes, quickly predicting the outcome. Sidestepping its rush neatly, Kodachi threw several clubs to bounce off of its head as she jumbed back. It didn't so much turn as warp itself back in the other direction, one powerful leg lashing out and striking her in the stomach as it started regrowing tentacles. Unfortunately for it, although powerful, it was no match for two demon hunters. Tsubasa spoke so quickly it came out in a blur of strange sylables, the ofudas in his hands igniting with magic as he darted in an slapped them to the demon's skin. Kodachi ignored the breif pain in her side and spoke words of her own, charging an engraved razor-edged disk and hurling it through the center of the demon's torso. See minor demon die. **************** Akari spoke rapidly into her phone, telling her pathetic little assistant who to gather up for tonight's ceremony. The entire congregation must be there to welcome their newest addition properly. Due to the need for secrecy, none of the members of the cult would admit to being there, and all would arrive in disguise by secret paths. Gosunkugi would tell them all when to be there. Hanging up the phone, Akari walked back through her house on the outskirts of Tokyo. To the casual observer, it looked much like a small farm. A carefully tended herb garden was close to the house, and chicken coops and a small barn dominated the other end. The only thing that really spoiled the small farm look was the large pool, sun deck, and jaccuzi. Being the head of your own cult had its perks. The house was large and homey looking, just the place to relax after a hard night's summoning. The wards, runes, and assorted magical paraphernalia hardly stood out at all. Akari stopped and cautiously looked in one of the rooms. It had been lavishly decorated, rich wall hangings depicted men and women being tortured while small statues of assorted magical beasts dominated the shelves. In the center was a large bed covered in red velvet. In the center of the bed lay a silk pillow, and on that pillow lay Ryoga, fast asleep. Carefully shutting the door behind her, Akari left to prepare. She'd breifly considered finding some cute maiden to sacrifice, or maybe she'd just sacrifice her virginity to the young demon. One couldn't afford to waste potential followers, after all. Sadly, she'd had to nix the idea. Gosunkugi was the only virgin left in the cult, and she doubted it would feel honored to have him for the night. Finding the appropriate virgins in the wild was very difficult, and in the cult it was nigh impossible. Of course, what do you expect from a group that has a Tuesday night social and orgy? With the virgin idea out, she reluctantly admitted to herself that one of the more attractive members of the cult would be needed to perform. And, as the sexiest and highest ranking member, that duty fell to her. Rank may hath its priviliges, but it also hath its duties. Akari grinned. Tonight was going to be FUN! She'd best prepare. **************** Ryoga stretched luxuriously on his silken bed, tentacles curling breifly as they unexpectedly stroked velvet. He felt as warm and comfortable as he'd ever felt, almost like sleeping beside Akane but without finding his tentacles braided in the morning. Wonderful scents reached his senses, those of honey, sweet oils, strange herbs and feminine musk. And for some reason, chocolate? He opened both eyes. A girl about his own age stared back at him, eyes wide. She held what looked kind of like a broad palm leaf, but on closer inspection was revealed to be plastic, and was gently fanning Ryoga with it. Oddly, she didn't have a shirt on and her breasts were completely covered in a dark syrup. Well, that explains the chocolate, he thought, blinking a few times and stirring around to face her better. "Slurrgn?" he asked, then smacked himself with one tentacle. She can't understand me, he reminded himself. Maguro was nervous. It wasn't just that the 'guest' was some sort of perverted demon thing, oh no. She'd joined up with this crazy cult specificly because she liked that kind of thing. It wasn't just that alien wrongness dripped off of it, making her skin crawl and hair stand on end. She'd pretty well got used to that. No, Maguro was nervous because everyone else had been scared to be the one to wake it, and as the second newest inductee, that job had fell to her. Even she had been forced to admit that Gosunkugi wasn't cut out for the job. "Umm, your… Umm?" Oh, no, she thought. How do I address this thing? "Your, your yourness?" she tried again. "We have a welcoming ceremony planned," she continued, warming into the speech she'd prepared. "I was instructed to help you prepare, and provide for your every need." Here she gulped audibly. "Up to and including my body and my life," she finally finished, dry mouthed. Ryoga's eyes widened. Where am I? he wondered. This can't be happening. It's all a dream. He begain to grow more confident. After all, he thought, it's a dream. I can't be hurt in my own dream, can I? I can do anything I want, and no one can stop me! He giggled slightly, a weird slurping sound that froze Maguro in her tracks. Imperiously, he waved one tentacle. "Have the fool known as Ranma Saotome brought to me, that I might have my revenge!" Only, it didn't quite come out quite like that. "What?" Maguro asked. Oops, forgot again, he thought. I wish I could talk to them while I'm cursed. Maguro walked back across the room and got a small wash bowl and a bottle of oil and carried them back to the bed. "Please lay back while I bathe you," she prompted. Ryoga complied, laying back and allowing her to gently wash and oil his skin. He wriggled in delight as the soothing oil ran along his skin, softening the dry areas. This had to be the best dream he'd ever had. Genma gives Ranma advice about women. Ramble, ramble, train at dojo, can't stop thinking about master's daughter, master isn't happy with the idea, train, master hits Genma in the nuts repeatedly, halting relationship progress, Genma trains and trains and toughens up until he is able to withstand, nails the girl, the master shows his pride at his student's accomplishment by breaking Genma's leg in three places and kicking him out. Genma honors his once master by using similar techniqes on Ranma. Ranma can't figure out what the point of the story was, leaving him confused and uncertain what he really asked, which was of course the point.