A Long Journey

When Ranma stepped out of the portal he first noticed the deep silence. As he looked around, his initial impression was only strengthened by what he saw. He was in a forest, the trees surrounding him dwarfing almost all others in his experience except those of Ryugenzawa. There was a distinct difference between this place and the home of the Orochi. His present location seemed to ooze menace. The light that reached the ground was a dim ghostly thing. The plant life might have been green, black or grey. With the light available, the difference was not discernable. And then there was what had struck him first, the silence. He expected to see corpses littering the ground, for only a place of death could have a quiet so deafening. Ranma made his breathing shallower, the noise it made seeming to cry out for all to hear. He was about to expand his battle aura to enhance his senses when he heard his first sound.

"Greetings, human. Spooky, isn't it?" a voice echoed in his mind, while a audible growling sound accompanied it. Ranma leaped forward thirty feet, while twisting in mid-air to face the direction of the growling.

Behind him was Ammit, the beast god. He seemed much cheerier than he had been. He didn't look any different but the tone of the mental voice communicated as much. On either side of him were a dozen demons Ranma recognized as Fenry, the huge demon wolves exuding a dark aura.

Ranma grunted in greeting, not trusting his voice. It was probably just as well, insults seemed to accidentally pour out when confronting people he didn't like. Considering he needed the lizard freak to get home that would qualify as unwise.

"This forest has the interesting property of absorbing sounds," Ammit demonstrated by walking forward. No sound disturbed the dead silence. "By now Lord Mephisto has received word that his home is under attack, as soon as my scouts report he has left Rhada's castle and prison, we will head towards it. With good fortune all we will encounter will be Deevil Serpents."

"And if we're not?" Ranma asked, finding his voice again.

"Then you follow my directions and we still finish this mission. I have planned this for quite some time. It is unlikely that Mephisto, Lord of Deception and Lies, will ever fall for a similar ruse again. Rhada will be rescued today," a gruff chuckle erupted from the beast. "This is just a nice turn of phrase, of course, Dyval has no day. They appreciate perpetual dusk in this corner of the Deevil realm," letting out another growl, enjoying his own wit.

When Ammit noticed the Fenry giving hostile, and somewhat hungry looks at the human he chuckled again. "Be patient, we need the human to complete our plan to rescue your mistress. Besides I think you'd find his meat surprisingly tough to chew."

He was just turning back to the martial artist when another Fenry leaped into view. The creature stared at Ammit while giving a series of low growls. It then ran back in the direction it had come, equally silent. "Mephisto has left, hopefully he didn't add any surprises. Follow me."

At this Ammit took off in an awkward, lumbering gait, which may have been amusing in a creature less massive. The Fenry seemed hard pressed to keep up with the pace the dark god set. Ranma himself had a difficult time. His speed was incredible over short distances, but constantly pushing his body to break the conventional laws of physics was draining on his chi resources. It was hard to tell, but he guessed they were travelling at close to sixty miles per hour.

After about twenty minutes of this pace they reached the edge of the forest. Ranma almost let loose with a chi barrage as they were surrounded by over a hundred pairs of glowing eyes. Ammit ignored the horde of Fenry that met them, allowing them to fall into flanking positions on either side of Ammit and Ranma.

As they left the perimeter of the dead forest, sound slowly trickled back into existence and the pad of hundreds of feet could be heard rustling in the black grass. Ranma would have found this reassuring, but he was preoccupied with the fortress looming ahead of them. The castle walls were of black obsidian and the gates, which were presently closed, were likewise of some manner of dark stone.

Approaching the gate, a stirring and screeching could be heard as demon called to demon, warning of impending invasion. Soon fire and lightning strafed the hoard of onrushing Fenry as the unseen defenders called upon magics they either personally wielded or were built into the walls.

That was when Ranma noticed something resembling liquid flame falling from above, he looked up in the air and noticed the Dire Harpies. Large demonic harpy creatures were flying high overhead and spitting at the forces beneath them. The Fenry struck by this lava-like substance shook their heads or bodies in irritation, apparently immune to the heat. Considering each monster was about eighteen feet from head to claw, Ranma knew that they were unnatural simply by the fact that their wings enabled them to fly.

Ranma had been nimbly avoiding the missiles, conserving his strength, rather than counterattacking, when he saw several of the harpies come within leaping range. He was about to leap on one of the creatures when he was surprised to see one of the Fenry fling itself thirty feet straight up and latch onto the bird hybrid. While its weight seemed insufficient to drag it down it did cause enough drag that another Fenry was able to leap up and attach itself with its teeth. This seemed to be adequate, as the harpy fell to the earth amid a snarling pack of wolf demons. Ranma, seeing his original target incapacitated chose to leap up to a second harpy unwise enough to fly within range. He grabbed onto one of the bird talons and flipped himself up towards the torso. Letting loose a quick C.h.e.s.tnut Fist, he was about to follow up with a chi blast when he noticed the creature was unconscious. Shaking his head in disgust he used the deevil's body to cushion his impact, as the now immobile creature plummeted to the ground.

Standing up from his opponent's body, he glanced around seeing most of the remaining harpies retreating to higher altitudes. Ranma didn't care, this reduced their combat effectiveness to almost zero, considering everyone, including himself, seemed immune to the lava attacks.

Looking at the gate he saw that the charge had momentarily stalled as Ammit and the Fenry clawed at the massive stone barrier. Ranma sighed, you would think they would have at least been prepared with explosives or something.

"Out of the way! I'll take care of the gate!" he commanded running over to the clump of his allies. Not bothering to wait for them, he struck the stone wall with the Breaking Point. After the massive explosion he looked up to find he was only halfway through. Grumbling in disgust he kicked one of the unconscious Fenry, who had been too slow to leave the blast radius, out of the way and again applied the Breaking Point. He was standing there in triumph, when he noticed that on the other side were arrayed several dozen rather attractive snakes. It wouldn't have been a concern except that these were twenty feet long and three feet in diameter.

With his battle senses on full alert, he could feel magical energies gather around, he was in the process of leaping away when a blinding blast of sand was blown at him at hurricane velocities. Thrown back several yards by this unexpected attack, he was about to roll with the blow and then leap forward with a counter when he encountered the effects of a second spell. Attempting to land on his feet he suddenly found himself waist deep in quicksand. Where a moment ago lay packed earth, now the ground in front of the castle was enchanted mire.

Struggling to free himself of the sludge, Ranma was unable to avoid attacks by the harpies flying above. Shouting in pain he was bombarded by the molten saliva of the foes circling above. Despite doing no damage the agony was enough to keep him from focussing his chi for a counterattack.

He was about to try to gain solid land again when he found himself lifted by an unseen force and roughly deposited on firmer ground. Ammit's voice rang in his head, "Stop playing in the mud. You have proved your worth by gaining us entry, but if you fall for every petty spell cast your way it will not be worth the effort to rescue you."

Ranma ignored the voice's snide remarks and quickly leaped into battle with the serpent creatures, finding that without their spells they fared only slightly better than the Dire Harpies. Ranma had taken down his fifth Serpent when he again heard Ammit's 'voice', "Leave those Serpents to the Fenry. The Dire Harpies seem to be getting more reinforcements outside. This may mean Leviathan is in the area. Let us find Rhada before she can interfere."

"You're too late Ammit. I'm here already. I may not be a big bad Dark God like you, but I think I can occupy you until Mephisto and his other minions arrive," a sensuous voice gave a throaty chuckle. At the other end of the courtyard stood a beautiful blond woman carrying a large hammer with a twenty foot long handle in one hand and a ten foot long short sword in the other. These proportions only seem odd until it is realized the woman stood over twenty-eight feet tall. A shining sphere of energy revolved around her head, giving her almost a halo effect. "I've taken the liberty of summoning a Sphere of Destruction just for your benefit," with a barely discernable nod of her head the glowing sphere flew toward Ammit. She watched in glee as Ammit began to twist in an attempt to avoid the flying object. When Ammit was unsuccessful at dodging one of the passes, it seemed as if his entire body lit up from within, and shook as if electricity flowed through it. Ammit rearing in pain threw himself away from the sphere and towards Leviathan only to be balked when the sphere once more swung back around in front of him.

Ranma had been watching all this with interest. He held no fondness for Ammit and it was rather entertaining to see him leap and wriggle around. It was also evident to his practiced eye that Ammit was in no real danger. The sphere, although it looked really painful, was actually doing less damage than his chi blasts had done to Ammit earlier. Ranma know from bitter experience how ineffective they were. The dangerous element involving the sphere was that each time it hit Ammit the god seemed stunned for a few moments. From watching the beast god writhe around it was obvious he hadn't learned the art of simultaneously attacking while dodging. Too bad really, Ranma mused. Looking at the Deevil Lord he shook his head in wonder.

"I go all the way to Hell...or wherever...and I can't get away from violent tomboys," Ranma loudly marveled.

"Tomboy! How dare you can me names. Ammit, it appears I'll have to teach your little pet human his place. Too bad it's going to be a smear beneath my feet," the outraged Deevil Lord shouted.

"Well of course you're a Tomboy. I mean really, shouldn't you be home tending little deevils or something?" Ranma taunted, getting into the spirit of the game. It almost felt like home. She even had a hammer.

The giantess was fast and strong, even somewhat skilled, but she was no martial artist. Ranma easily avoided the hammer and the sword. As the Hammer she wielded arced through the air the weapon started screeching in a tormented wail that sent fearful shivers down his spine. Bracing himself against the hideous noise he continued with his campaign. He couldn't bring himself to attack her, even if she was a Deevil, but his insults apparently hurt more than any mere physical damage.

"I mean here we are, you're big...er...bigger, than an ox. And you're like strong, like and ox. But you really shouldn't be fighting. Your t.h.i.g.hs are too thick. You can't even kick," he said glibly as her mountainous foot flew overhead. "Unlike an ox. You talk like a hick."

Leviathan was more furious than she had ever been in her entire existence. Here was a mere puny mortal mocking her beauty, and grace. Every blow she sent in his direction he seemed to avoid with ease, laughing at her while he did so. The ground about them looked like a war zone, ten foot wide craters littered the ground where her hammer had missed him. He had even started commenting on her fighting skills, correcting her posture and giving little tips and pointers.

She was going to kill him. Then trap his soul and torture it for the rest of eternity. No, no, that was too good, this maggot had to suffer more than any other of her victims had suffered throughout the ages. If she hadn't expended all of her energy on the sphere she would show this little insect of a human not to trifle with Leviathan.

She was so incensed by this hated mortal, that she failed to notice that her sphere had stopped attacking Ammit, indeed, lacking any direction from her it had started to wander away searing its way through random stone walls of the fortress. If she had been paying any attention whatsoever, she would have noticed the telltale red glow around the beast god as he summoned the same godly Hellfire that had defeated Ranma earlier. She wasn't. It came as a complete surprise when a firey crimson beam slammed into her back, after she had embedded her hammer into the ground for the fiftieth time. Crying out in shock she realized her mistake just in time to turn around and take another blast in the face.

Ranma stood by again and winced in sympathy. He knew exactly how hard those blasts hit. He had to admit though, she certainly took them better than he had. She looked hurt, but far from out. He had only been able to take four or five of those things, it looked like she'd be able to handle far more. These greater supernatural creatures just had way too much stamina. He smiled to himself, it just wasn't natural.

The two entities continued to trade blows. Ammit appeared to be stronger, and the Hellfire he threw was certainly doing more damage even than the huge hammer Leviathan wielded. It was also obvious that each entity was incredibly durable. This battle could last for hours. Ranma somehow doubted they had hours.

"Human, I will keep Leviathan occupied. She is overmatched, but all she needs to do is delay us until Mephisto arrived. Behind you on the ground you will see a small black file with runes inscribed on the sides. Take it and follow the Fenrys waiting for you in the corridor. He will lead you to Rhada. Go now. I do not know how much time we have," Ammit's mental command resounded like a bell through Ranma's mind.

Looking around and finding both the file and the demon wolf he followed it down the corridor with nary a backward glance. Until he developed a much more powerful attack, he'd leave Deevil Lords and Gods to themselves. But only until then. Ranma Saotome never gave up.

The remaining journey was almost anticlimactic. The corridors were teeming with Serpents, but Ranma and the Fenry had the element of surprise, as the battle was supposed to be taking place elsewhere. Some of the Serpents even congealed from smoke or mist, forming with little warning. Despite this, they still seemed more surprised than Ranma, and he soon learned to sense these gaseous threats before they even started to materialize. Without the time to cast the irritating spells they knew, the Serpents fell quickly to Ranma's physical assaults. The shocked, almost dazed look in the poor demon wolf's eyes gave witness to the fact that this was one Fenry who would never underestimate the power a 'mere' human could wield again.

After a ridiculous number of winding corridors, they finally reached one that spiraled downward. Knowing that dungeons are always deep under ground, Ranma was almost expecting it when one final door opened in to a large dimly lit room. Smoky, guttering torches sent uncertain illumination throughout the room. Unlike the rest of the fortress, which appeared exquisitely constructed, with barely a seam visible, within the chamber the designer seemed to have purposely made the walls from mismatched pieces of stonework. The air was humid and trickles of moisture could be seen on the walls. Each feature seemed designed to bring to mind another unpleasant facet of the prison.

"Be wary, my minion, I yet have guards," a melodious voice warned from the darkened corner of room.

The Fenry sniffed the air and then stiffened growling. The growling was sudden cut off. Looking toward his demonic companion Ranma first noted it seemed unnaturally stiff. With a start he recognized the effects as transformation magic, similar to that used on Jess. Warned he focused his senses and felt the chi of two other demons in the room. With this to orient upon, he saw what appeared to be two sets of serpent's eyes hanging eleven feet up in the air. A subtle tingling sensation from his bracers informed him they were working to stave off transformative magic. Ranma didn't remember the book saying anything about floating eyes and petrification, but inwardly he shrugged. Live and learn.

Leaping towards the first pair, he sent a powerful kick directed at the eyes. He was shocked when his foot struck something prem.a.t.u.r.ely. Something dimly sensed swept towards him and he instinctively flung himself away. Realization instantly dawned on him. He wasn't fighting two sets of floating eyes, he was fighting two unknown opponents, probably about twelve feet tall, who only had their eyes visible. Listening carefully he heard a soft slithering sound and low hissing noises. His guess confirmed, he closed his eyes. They would only deceive him, his ears and chi senses would best lead him through this battle.

Now prepared, Ranma again leaped toward the presences he felt, avoiding the flailing objects that were probably limbs. He moved tentatively, not used to fighting invisible foes. Striking several times he threw his two opponents up against the wall. Due to his intense concentration, his blows were not the devastating chi enhanced strikes he had uses in his earlier fights, so he was not surprised when he sensed his foes struggling to get up. He was surprised at how little his attacks had hurt them. His chi senses felt very little dimming of the enemy's aura.

Increasing the intensity of his attacks, he focused more energy in to his blows. This of course meant he had a difficult time tracking the deevil pair with his chi senses. Gritting his teeth he poured more power into faster C.h.e.s.tnut strikes. Ranma winced in pain as the return strikes of his enemies caused sudden, bloody rents to appear in his clothes. With a final burst of effort, a combination of strong blows sent his unseen assailants reeling into the wall. He sensed that they were now seriously injured, perhaps even temporarily stunned. He himself was fairly well torn up as well.

That didn't really concern him. What really worried him was the powerful, evil presence he felt rapidly approaching.

"Shit! I think Mephisto is here!" he shouted.

"Quickly! If you can, please free me," the voice from earlier pleaded.

Nodding Ranma replied, "One moment." Raising his hands he opened his eyes and summoned the chi for a dual blast that knocked both of his opponents into the walled, firmly embedding them there. Unconsciousness evidently ended whatever method of invisibility his foes had used to evade his sight. Standing half-in the walls were two hideous cloaked humanoids with snakes for hair. At the moment the serpents had ceased their hissing and lay limply around their head. Nodding to himself he muttered, "Gorgons. I thought so. Though the book didn't mention they could turn invisible."

Obstacles removed, he turned to face the voice that had spoken earlier. Against the wall, mostly hidden in shadows was an incredibly gorgeous twelve foot tall woman, long silver hair dr.a.p.ed her head and shoulders in shining glory. She was shackled to the rear wall, sitting on what looked to be an uncomfortable crude stone bench. Only Ranma's constant exposure to women and his familiarity with his own female form prevented gouts of blood from spewing from his nose.

"R...Rhada?" Ranma stuttered.

"Yes! Now free me if you can, quickly. If Mephisto comes our attempt will be for naught, we must leave before he arrives. Who sent you?"

Bringing out the black file he approached the large, beautiful woman and started applying it to the single oversized shackle on her right wrist. As he touched the manacle with the file, sparks crackled and spat, singeing him.

"Ammit sent me. He's doing it for Abdul-Ra. Hold on, I think it's working," Ranma said as he noticed the file cutting through the enchanted manacle like a hot knife through butter. Unfortunately the deeper the file bit the more numerous and hotter the sparks given off by the interaction of the magics. As he approached the finish, vicious streams of sparks caused burns to appear on his hands. Ignoring the pain, Ranma continued.

"I suggest you get ready to leave. I was told you could teleport us out of here once you were free. Well...there...you...go!" Ranma said through a triumphant hiss of pain, having removed the last bits of the restraint.

At that moment the door melted to slag and a very large, very furious, and obviously very powerful Deevil Lord stood in the archway. The creature was just building up a huge amount of energy, preparing for a devastating offensive when the human, the prisoner, and a very realistic statue of a Fenry faded from the room.

They say the resulting roar of outrage could be heard even in the silence of the Dire Woods.