Can It Get Any Worse?: Chapter 14

Cologne's eyes narrowed as she examined the blue crystalline egg that
Saffron had produced.  Though not a sorceress herself, Cologne could
feel the magical energy bound into the egg, layers upon layers of
intricately woven force.  The entire crystal was energy, energy given
form and purpose, but energy nonetheless.  What that purpose was
remained a mystery."How is this object supposed to aide us in the
coming war?" It would have to be something similar to the hand of the
Goddess coming down to smite their foes, otherwise their superior
skill and power would be totally overrun by sheer numbers and the
amount of machinery that the Chinese and other world governments could
throw at them.

Saffron's voice was respectful as he addressed the ancient Amazon.  He
may be an immortal demi-kami, but that little old lady could very
likely hold her own against him."It is a simple tool from the long
dead Silver Millenium.  One was placed on each inhabited world and
through a series of spells that I am unfamiliar with, negated all
artificial electricity and suppressed all chemical reactions explosive
enough to power a projectile.  These crystals kept the ruling family
and its allies in power for more than a millenium, suppressing any
development of technology that may have eventually challenged their
power."

Herb, the young Dragon Prince of the Musk Dynasty, said,"This single
crystal, it will render all modern technology useless?" The situation
was almost too good to be true.  When the only thing that can possibly
win you the war shows up right when you need it most, something isn't
right.

Cologne understood just how 'not right' things could quickly become.
"Saffron, if I may be frank, why would you seek an alliance with my
people and the Musk?"

Saffron chuckled."I understand my peoples' strengths and weaknesses
better than anyone.  We have greater numbers than either of your
peoples combined, a greater range of mobility due to our wings, and a
higher ratio of magic weilders.  Even with my power, great as it may
be, combined with the nullifying effects of the crystal, there would
be very little chance of a succesful military campaign within China,
muchless the entire world.  Your Musk, Herb, are all possessed of
extraordinary abilities, some of which allow them to fight foes with
much greater skill than themselves and still emerge victorious.  Your
power, too, is nothing to be frowned upon.  The Dragon blood runs
strong within your veins." Saffron turned to look at the
Matriarch."The skills, powers, and magical weapons of your tribe may
be the greatest advantage of all, though, honored elder.  Your fellow
Amazon leaders are each near the equal of Herb, and you may be my
eqaul, if for a short time.  Together we shall be unstoppable."

Cologne saw the logic in the abbreviated explanation, but asked the
relevant question."And who shall lead this new Jusendo Alliance?"

"I shall, of course," Saffron answered.

****

We'd reached the point in our research that for a significant amount
of recorded history, no hard copies existed.  A metal bin filled with
tiny ceramic disks, discovered by Minako as we searched for the
missing documents, had turned out to be some kind of back-up database
and Ami's computer was running around the clock to decode the
information.  This break in activity allowed the senshi and I, with
Telerin tagging along, though not really wishing to, to explore our
temporary home in more detail.

Maps found in the Archive had helped tremendously in locating our
general location on this Earth.  The river that cuts through the giant
field of grass, that's the amazon river.  Yep, the one and only, the
river that was 'supposed' to flow through the rain forests of South
America.  That was all gone, though, thanks to a mutated strain of
bole weevil introduced to the continent by ecological terrorists.
What they were hoping to accomplish besides destroying all kinds of
potential cancer cures and eliminating a very large oxygen factory, I
don't know.

"Earth, your's, not mine, is similar to that of my Earth's past?"
Telerin asked late one evening.  He was really starting to integrate
into our little group, so much so that I had observed him playing with
some of the pokemon, the idea of which would have sent the man off
screaming like a frightened child.  He'd also participated in a few of
the sporadic martial arts lessons I was forcing on the senshi.

"Yeah," I confirmed."I can't really be too sure about some stuff,
mostly because the time differences are still to great, but the
geography and general culture appear to be an almost exact match.  The
differences were most likely small and insignificant.  That's why it's
hard to believe that a planet that was practically covered with humans
and all the things we like to have around us, cars, building, etc.,
would go down the hole like this one." Weeks of looking for some tiny
remnant of civilization had turned up completely zilch.  I would have
been happy to find an old rusty spoon.

Telerin turned a little defensive thanks to my last comment."Chicago
may not be terribly civilized to you, Ranma, but it's all we have and
when you come right down to the point, the last home of humans on this
entire planet.  Our way has helped us to survive for millenia and
we'll continue to do so."

I waved my hands around, trying to head of any argument."Look, Chicago
is nice, sorta, but the Chicago I know on my Earth would completely
overwhelm you.  The thing that upsets me, though, is that the Archives
have plans and instructions for the building and operating of most
advanced technology.  If you and your fellow Chicagotians(big shrug,
good enough) had just tried, the whole place could have been a
paradise when compared to its current state."

The older man seemed to slump, withdrawing within himself."I know.  I
too have seen the knowledge you speak of, and I know what we are
missing out on, but what can I do about it?"

I shrugged and let that conversation lapse into silence.  No sense in
making the guy any more depressed than he already was.  The ground
beneath my feet shook slightly and I looked over to where Slammer was
trying to teach Minoko's Geodude, a poor pokemon named Darling, how to
create small earthquakes.  My Golem noticed my attention and waved one
of his massive stone arms in my direction.  I returned the gesture and
went looking for something to do.

Something found me, in the form of Ami and Rei.  They were both
breating hard and their faces were flushed with excitement and
exertion."Ranma," Rei called, waving her arms to get my attention.

I jogged over to the girls, giving them time to catch their breath.
"Trouble?" I asked.  I'm gonna have to get one of those wrist radios
whenever we get home, or the senshi were going to run themselves
ragged getting in touch with me.

Ami shook her head and began,"The Chancy we left at the camp with my
computer and the disks, it signalled that my computer has found a
match to the parameters I set it to scan for." She smiled at me, in
triumph mostly, but the gleam in her eye told me there was more to it
than that.  She's mentioned introducing me to her mother a few times
in the last week.  I think that was somehow involved.

"I just know that Grandfather is worried sick about me," Rei said."The
others are out gathering their pokemon together now." Her hand went to
her belt where a lonesome pokeball hung.  Usagi has three eggs
produced by her horde.  Hopefully the princess will give those first
few to Rei.  The girl was just a little 'too' attached to her rat.

"Couldn't Chancy be in trouble and calling for help?" I asked,
unwilling to get everyone's hopes up for nothing.

Ami shook her head."No, she didn't look worried on the communicator
and she was waving my computer around and pointing at the indicator
light," clarified the Senshi of Mercury.  Even the pokemon get
communicators.  It's not fair.  Eh, probably can't get tv signals
anyway.

"If we fly in spurts, allowing the pokemon to rest for short periods
of time, we should be able to get back in a couple of days," I said.
I was much more eager to get back and get the information needed to
get us home than I let myself show.  I suppose Ami could feel the
restrained excitement, but their was no holping that, now.  Without
the power of magic coursing through my body like I had become
accustommed to over the years, a part of my being felt withered,
nearly dead.  This world was getting to me.

****

Usagi flung her arms around the rotund little Chancy, picking it up
and twirling it though the air."Thank you so much, Cinderella!" she
exclaimed happily.  Every one of her pokemon had crappy names like
that.  They didn't mind, though, so I never said anything about it.

"Do you recognize this?" Ami asked Telerin, pointing to the floating
3D image generated by her computer.  The device was round and made of
a series of metal disks, each lessening size as they neared the
pointed top.  It slowly turned on an invisible axis, giving full view
of the symbols carved in its shining surface.

Telerin nodded, a look of forboding coming across his face."It's
embedded in the Altar of the Wings, in the main temple.  That temple
is guarded constantly, day and night, ever since an attempted break-in
over a centruy ago."

I shrugged that little inconvenience aside."Well, what are we waiting
for?  Let's go turn the dial, or whatever it is we have to do, and get
our asses home," I suggested.

"It's not as simple as that, Ranma," Ami objected."The key sequence,
due to the immense number of possible combinations, is going to take
my computer days, if not weeks to decipher." I knew she regretted the
words, that didn't make me any happier.

"We've waited this long, a few days won't matter."

****

Cologne reported the development back to the Council as soon as
possible.  They weren't happy about the demands, but they saw that to
decline the offer would be foolish.  Saffron would be in charge of the
war to come, and he and his people would hold Asia and Europe at its
completion.  Herb had been furious and nearly to the point of throwing
a royal temper tantrum, good sense won the day, though, and he finally
agreed to take North America.  The Amazon Nation would have plenty of
resources and room to expand in South America and Africa.  Jusendo,
though, would retain its original borders and the areas controlled by
each people would stay intact.

Cologne and the other Elders didn't expect reace to last long between
the three factions once the war was over, but that situation would
have to be attended to at a later date.  A much later date.  They were
looking at several decades of genocide as it was, therewas no need to
plan for more.

Leaving the Council Chamber that night, Cologne passed the training
field where the first group of warriors that would soon be departing
practiced.  Her great-granddaughter stood far apart from the others,
the mystic sword created by Ranma held before her.  Cologne stopped to
watch her heir.

Shampoo's face tightened and a mask of concentration slipped across
it.  Then, in a blur, the girl's arm whipped out, passing the sword
through the air several times, all the while alternating its blade
from hot to cold.  In a handful of moments a gale force wind erupted
in front of the Amazon, followed almost immediately by a cyclone that
grew from a pencil thin mass of swirling air, to a three foot wide
conflaguration.  With deft movements, Shampoo directed the cyclone,
forcing it to slowly lower itself until the deadly attack was
paralledl with the ground.

Sweat soaked and panting, Shampoo halted the continuous amaguriken
speed sword strokes, causing the cyclone to rapidly dissipate.
Whistles and cheers greeted the young warrior, courtest of her
fellows.  With a smile, Cologne departed.  She knew that her great-
granddaughter could just as easily have created a tornado a hundred
times that size.

At her doorstep, a thought struck her.  If they could find Ranma and
enlist his aide, his weapons alone could end the coming conflict years
sooner.  His repore(spelling is wrong, I know, but I don't feel like
using the spellchecker) with demons, abominable as the creatures were,
could also prove extremely valuable.

Maybe she should send Shampoo on a separate mission.  She and Ranma
had been close during his stay in the village and the relationship, as
one sided as it had been, was a close enough link, that the girl could
successfully scry him.

****

Demon came flying into the camp, well as close as something his size
can manage, early the second morning after we had returned at
Darling's request.  The giant pokemon had finally ceased growing, at
least noticeably, and had even learned to drain the life and energy
from the surrounding grassland, sharply reducing his daily food
intake.

Today, however, he had something large and furry clasped in his
enormous fist.  As he lumbered to me, I caught sight of a yellow
furred head, a head belong to a species of feline demon that I had
once had a run in with.  Demon dropped the groaning demon at my feet
and said,"No anmaal." He gently nudged it with his foot, the claws
thankfully sheathed."Likez prrrsun." With a shrug of massive
shoulders, he hunched down and waited for my examination.

I guess he wanted me to tell him whether he could eat the thing.  I
looked up at him and said,"Sorry, buddy, but these aren't food." He
looked regretful and was about to go hunt, mostly for fun, when I
asked,"Did you see any more like this?"

Demon nodded."Thhot wrayy," he said, pointing south, toward the
forest.  I'll be damned, demons, here.  Telerin'd told me that there
hadn't been a demon sighting in over a millenium.  I jumped up, barely
reaching Demon's shoulde,r and scratched him behind his ear.  His purr
made the ground tremble.

"You did good, Demon.  Let's wake this guy up and see what he has to
say for himself." I retrieved a bucket of water from the river and
poured it on the demon.  We didn't hae anything that could properly
bind a creature of its physical strength, not that Demon nor I would
have any trouble with this pathetic creature.

Cats don't like getting wet, and this one wasn't an exception.  It
came awake with a YOWL, which promptly became a scream of bestial fear
when the first sight it saw was Demon, sitting cross-legged with his
chin resting in the palms of his hands.  I reached over and grabbed
the demon's shoulder, careful not to badly startle it and possibly
lose my arm.

"Don't worry, he won't hurt you," I told the demon.  It turned around
and was hit full force by my demonic prescence.  Most demons of this
species would have positively delighted in torturing me for days, but
this one just grinned and extended its furry hand.  He probably
thought I was a shapeshifter in human form.

"That'sss one hell of a pet you got there," it commented.  He swept an
appreciative glance over Demon now that he knew the larger than life
pokemon wouldn't attack him.

"It's more of a mentor/child relationship," I shrugged."Anyway, what
in Hell are you doing on this piece of shit world?" Demons are by
their nature innately magic, so even being on a magically deviant
world like this one would be painful and over time, debilitating.

It growled."My brothersss and I were trapped here nearly a full moon
ago.  And you?" I could see a few patches of fur that had begun to
become discolored and others where the fur was thinning and would soon
fall out completely.  Staying here was hitting this guy harder than I
would have expected.

"My friends and I were transported to another plane.  In attempting to
reach our home, we have become trapped here.  We may have found a way
to unlock the spell that keeps our magic bound and will soon be
travelling home.  You and your brothers are welcome to replenish your
energy if we succeed," I told him.  The girls probably wouldn't like it,
especially since these weren't the kinds of demons that minded their
own business and worked nine to five jobs.  Speaking of the girls."My
friends are all human, and female, by the way.  Don't get any ideas,
though," I warned."Blood magic won't work here any better than any other
kind, and if one of them were harmed, well that would be bad for your
entire race."

It bowed, not even attempting to dispute my demands.  It's not hard to
see why the demons that come to this Earth always try to attack
Chicago.  Eventually they must feel the forces centered around the
floating city and attempt to seize it, for their very survival.  Oh
boy, Telerin wasn't going to like this.  Maybe I could pass the demons
off as pokemon...

****

The girls hadn't got back from their dip in the river by the time that
the demon, whom I now know to be named Hersh, and I, via Demon,
departed for the cave that Hersh's fellow demons were living in.

"So, who's the Demon Lord on your plane?" I asked. FYI, that's always
a good question to break the ice with the denizens of Hell.

"Xochial," Hersh answered."He isn't going to be happy that we have
been gone so long." Xochial is one of the first demons to ever teach
me any magic and he is the original owner of the athame I now use.  I
hadn't seen him in a few years.

"How is Xochial doing?" I asked.  Demon Lords can travel between
dimensions pretty easily thanks to the thin barriers between realities
that exist within Hell.  Every dimension has a single Demon Lord as its
main bad guy.  He, she, or it, is more powerful on this plane and all
demons native to it obey that demon without question.  Most Demon
Lords stay on their own plane where they're nearly(and I mean that the
universe almost has to be destroyed to take them out) immortal, but
Xochial and the Dark Prince(nope, don't know his name, but it's
probably something stupid like Escobar) are friends and drop by to
exchange pleasantries every so often.

Hersh looked at me funny and asked,"You know my Lord?"

"Yeah, he practically raised me for a couple years.  Taught me all
kinds of neat stuff." I flicked my wrist and my athame appeared in my
hand."He gave me this when I turned thirteen." The vorpal blade was
almost as indestructable as Xochial himself, and when the proper
magical energy existed, I could summon at will nearly any demon from
his realm of my choosing.

Hersh's eyes widened as he took in the sight of my simple athame.  In
a single movement full of feline grace, he prostrated himself across
Demon's arm and reverently asked,"Oh, he who is like a son to my Lord
and Master, please allow Hersh to serve you?"

Wow.  To say the least.  I reached down and pulled the demon to his
feet."None of that, man." It's nice to know that Xochial cares so much
for me, a mere human."We're all friends here, right?"

Hersh nodded his head violently enough to make his semi-stiff cat ears
flop around wildly."Yes, yes of course."

"Well then, since you see it my way, let's find your brothers and see
if we can't get you home.  I owe Xochial a lot and this may help to
even things out a little."

****

Author's Notes: Nothing has really happened that was too important to
Ranma and the gang in the last few chapters, but they go home next
chapter, with an army of pokemon and cat demons at their back.  Won't
that be fun?  I know that the war being planned by the inhabitants of
Jusendo seems a bit hard to pull of, but consider, the world will be
in chaos.  No technology of any kind more advanced than pre-gun powder
Europe in a world almost completely dependent on the modern
conveniences.  The Amazons, Musk(who for the purposes of this story
number in the thousands and not three), and Phoenix Peoples just have
to come through and slaughter the tattered ruins of civilization and
maybe the occassional group of organized people that manages to pull
itself together.

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