"So, once more," I said conversationally as Cologne, Ukyo and I filed into our little shop, "what would you like to know?"

"Your rings, first; where did you get them?"

"Well, it's a funny story, that..." I started.

Nabiki- who had ducked in before I could shut the door- interrupted me; "What rings?"

Ukyo and I had been tempted to leave the two fighters, but Cologne, out of a pre-made arrangement (or so she had said) had woken Nabiki from her impromptu nap, before we had departed for our place at my request.

"The rings glowing with magic on their index fingers," Cologne said, glaring at the girl. "Why are you not tending to your fiancé?"

"I left him in the rubble. Hopefully he'll realize the cost of failure and strive to do better next time," Nabiki said icily. "Now, what rings?"

I waved my ring-adorned hand at her slowly, and for a moment, she stared at it intently, before her eyes widened in surprise, "impressive trick," she said, with obvious disdain.

"Don't be so sure to dismiss them," Cologne said, as she stared at the ring on Ukyo's hand for a moment more.

"We got them from a crackerjack box." I supplied; then winced as Cologne's staff impacted with my head again. I'd have to start anticipating that.

"I seriously doubt that. Care to try again?" Cologne asked.

"Why? What do we get out of this exchange?" Ukyo challenged, still somewhat worked up from the battle we'd just finished.

"How about your lives?" Cologne said, seriously.

"What!?" Ukyo and I yelled simultaneously.

"You two are both wearing items tainted by magic native to my homelands, and used suspiciously Amazonian techniques in your battle today... so it's not so big a leap to assume you're wearing stolen Amazon property, and using stolen Amazon techniques... both offenses punishable by death."

I scowled, "Well, when you put it like that..." Ukyo glanced at me, then at Nabiki, before shrugging. I nodded back, then turned to Cologne, "the rings were a gift from Lord Herb of the Musk Dynasty."

Cologne laughed at that, "child, the day the Musk Dynasty gives gifts to random Martial Artists is the day I'll renounce myself as an Amazon!"

I smirked at that, "Oh really?"

"Sonny, the three warring factions of Jusendo are exceedingly secular. Of the three, only we Amazons are willing to converse with outsiders such as you, and even then, we rarely do. I'm not so old as to be senile, so you're going to have to try much harder than that to come up with an excuse for your having those rings."

I shrugged, "It's true, old lady. I-" I sidestepped the swing of her staff as I continued, pointing to Nabiki, "think you should ask your associate here who helped Ukyo and I defeat her and Akane back before Ranma arrived."

Cologne turned to look at Nabiki with a frown, "Is this true, did they have help?"

Nabiki shrugged, "Some guy with pinkish hair who threw fireballs. Kyle here said he was a prince, but I didn't think too much of it."

Cologne wobbled on her staff for a moment, and I smirked, "Not only that, but Herb is the third leader of our new school of Martial Arts... Hey, Ukyo, didn't Herb say he met with Cologne here about a little problem he was having?"

Ukyo caught on, and smiled at Cologne, before responding, "oh, you mean the one that you helped him solve at no real cost?"

"Aside from his friendship, you mean?" I interjected, to which she nodded sagely.

"You... you have formed an alliance with the Musk Dynasty?" Cologne asked, obviously upset by this development.

"Sure. Herb was a pretty cool guy, once he got over the whole royalty thing." I supplied. Ukyo nodded, smirking as she watched the old lady brought down a peg or two.

"Child, if what you say is true... may I see your ring? I promise on my word as Amazon to return it to you, but your claim must be verified."

"What word as an Amazon? you renounced your Amazonian status a minute ago... or are you going senile after all?"

"That is not what I meant!" She said, suddenly glaring at me. A rumble of thunder in the distance punctuated her glare, and I wondered how she pulled that off.

"Tell that to the tape recorder we set up to trap Nabiki, here," Ukyo said, pointing at the middle Tendo before crossing her arms.

"But, I-" Cologne said, beginning to sweat.

I slipped the ring from my finger, "Cologne, Amazon or not, you may look at the ring, but only on your word that, for as long as you hold it, you're subservient to me and Ukyo alone."

Cologne reared back from where she had been reaching forward, as if the ring I was now holding out had turned into a live cobra, ready to strike. "Me? Subservient to a male?"

"For all of five seconds or however long it takes for you to examine it," I said, frowning.

She glared at me for a moment, before scowling and nodding once, "fine, give me that," she said, swiping the ring and hunching over to look at my. After a moment, she shakily held it out, looking away in apparent disgust. "It is as you say. Herb has personally sealed those rings with his blood. This changes things, Miss Tendo." Another rumble, this time closer, and I frowned as I realized it hadn't been quite like the thunder I was used to hearing. Had another barricade fallen?

"How so? They have a couple magic rings and a few tricks you didn't ex-"

"They're protected by a hostile nation that could threaten the borders of my homeland at any time!" Cologne hissed. Before she could continue however, the wall exploded.

"Great-Grandmother, how could you!?" a female voice shouted from within the dust cloud.

"My wall!" Ukyo shouted, to which I had to agree.

"Xian Pu?" Cologne asked, obviously as surprised as the rest of us.

"You is no longer Amazon! How is Shampoo to catch husband now?"

"What!?" Cologne asked, apparently shocked.

"Nabiki have recording device in shop. Hear whole conversation. Great Grandmother no longer Amazon!" The lavender-haired figure shouted, pointing at Cologne with a mixture of despair and disgust.

Cologne spun and pinned Nabiki in place with a glare that Ukyo and I both added to.

"Hey, it was precautionary. I told Shampoo to watch in case anything happened and we needed assistance," Nabiki offered, backing up while holding her hands up in a placating manner.

"Nabiki not get help from Shampoo; Shampoo only help husband if in trouble. Shampoo not even see fight since Great-Grandmother move fight away from cameras!" Shampoo said, petulantly.

I sighed, "Nabiki, Nabiki... You really know how to stir up a shitstorm, don't you?" I said, stepping forward.

"Stay back, Kyle. I've got bodyguards watching us whenever we're within 50 feet of each other!" She said, apparently thinking I had something more physical in mind.

"Yes, I'm sure your snipers can see just fine through the dust cloud your guest has managed to kick up. Give me your wallet," I said, holding my hand out.

"What? Again!?" She said, obviously upset.

"Yes... you seem to owe me for a wall," I replied wryly.

"Shampoo did that!"

Ukyo snorted. "Not without being warned by your spying equipment. Face it Tendo, this is entirely your fault."

I shot Ukyo a smile, as Nabiki grudgingly handed over her wallet (which I dutifully emptied) while Cologne and Shampoo spoke heatedly in Chinese. Finally, after Nabiki had tucked her lighter wallet back into the folds of her shirt (only she would buy a shoulder-holster for her wallet) Cologne turned to look at us with barely-restrained anger.

"Kyle, Ukyo, because of this confrontation, I may have just lost leadership of the Joketsuzoku Amazon Tribe, a position that's been in my family for over a thousand years. Shampoo here no longer acknowledges me as an Elder, and has already sent word back to the Council on what has transpired. There's a good chance that she, as my family, will be exiled if the Council holds me to my word."

"Wow. That sucks," I said, pointedly. Her glare went from anger to rage at that.

"If I lose my position, I will do everything in my power to see you two destitute and broken."

"Now that’s something I can get behind," Nabiki said, smirking.

"Miss Tendo," the Matriarch said, rounding on the girl and letting loose with her battle aura, which glowed an unhealthy red, "Because of you, this confrontation took place. If my banishment comes to pass, you and your family's resources, as well as yourself and your family, will be at my disposal to deal with these two. If you so much as think about resisting, I will dispose of you. Permanently."

Nabiki scowled, "Why won't you kill them?" She asked, pointing at Ukyo and me.

"Those two are under Herb's protection. As long as he lives, my people can ill afford the wrath brought down upon them if I were to act so rashly."

"But they're not your people anymore," Nabiki stated, a rather dumb move. Cologne blurred, and there was a wet CRACK, before Nabiki screamed and clutched an obviously broken arm. Considering it was the same arm that had been shot earlier, even I couldn't suppress a sympathetic wince.

"They will always be my people, fool. Over a hundred years of nurturing is impossible to let go of, no matter the cause." With that, the old lady hopped out of the store, Shampoo having disappeared earlier, after their brief conversation.

"You sure do have a way with people, Nabiki," Ukyo said, eyeballing the girl's broken arm with a frown.

"Shut up, shutup SHUTUP!" The Tendo raged. Glaring at Ukyo and me for a moment, she turned to walk out the door. "You two should have never come here."

Thinking back over all the pain we'd probably directly caused her, as well as indirectly caused her, I sighed, turning to look at Ukyo while I compared the bitter young woman standing in the opening to the store with the somewhat-carefree teenager I'd read about in manga years ago.

"For what it's worth... I'm sorry it had to be this way," I said finally, as she disappeared outside.

When we were fairly sure everyone was gone who would have cared about what we might have had to say, Ukyo and I quickly went about looking for Nabiki's hidden microphones and cameras. After a few minutes, we discovered a bug under a booth, and a rather well-hidden camera outside, looking through the window where part of the sign kept the glare to a minimum.

"So," I said after we'd destroyed both, "you didn't say much during that whole... thing."

Ukyo shrugged. "You seemed to have it under control, for the most part. I didn't want to mess up your stride."

"... I suppose," I said, uncertainly... Ukyo sounded almost preoccupied. "Something on your mind?"

"Aside from the fact that we have a new enemy?" She deadpanned.

"Well... yeah..."

"No, not really. I'm just wondering if anything good will come of this."

"Hmm... probably not. How's our insurance policy look?" I asked, suddenly.

"What! Why?" Ukyo asked, looking at me worriedly.

"I'm thinking we should probably go on a training trip... Maybe bring Ryouga along, too..." I replied, thinking about possible locations to go to.

"You're worried Nabiki might burn the place down or something?"

"Or something. We're covered for fire, yeah, but what if Ranma blows it up, or Cologne karate-chops it down or something?"

"'Karate-chop?'" she repeated, looking somewhat annoyed that I'd use a term like that.

"You know what I mean," I responded, glancing out the hole in the wall and wondering how long it would take to repair.

"Well, Herb said we could visit him at his Citadel. You think we could go there?"

I thought about that for a moment. Of all the places to train, it would probably be the most rewarding. And we had been invited, which was definitely better than, say, living off the land in some untamed forest somewhere.

"Yeah, I'd say that's probably our best choice... maybe he'll have some new moves for us," I added with a grin. While Ukyo, Ryouga and I weren't totally proficient with everything we knew, there was room in our training schedules to add a little more.

"I hope so, I get the feeling those Amazon moves of yours aren't going to be effective much longer."

That was true, Ranma would be learning things like the Amiguriken and Hiryuu Shoten Ha soon enough if Cologne meant what she said by using the Tendo's resources. I winced then, as I considered some of their other resources.

"Akane," Ukyo said; her thoughts obviously on the same track as mine.

"The one with an anger management problem?" Ryouga asked, walking in the door and staring curiously at the hole in the wall. "Redecorating?" He queried after a moment.

I sighed, and waved my hand at the world outside the hole, "the Amazons are here. We've got... well... a bit of a problem, now."

Ukyo and I filled him in on the problem, and our plans for a training trip, and he nodded as we finished up, "I'll come along. I'd like to meet Herb, and training sounds like a good idea, if what you said about these Amazons is true."

"More than likely, it'll be worse, since there's not really anything holding Cologne back, except maybe the knowledge that if she goes too far, they might send more Amazons here to shut her up," I said, glancing at the sky outside.

"Wouldn't that be a good thing? We could show a couple moves, and use them to get her out of here," Ukyo supplied, hopefully.

"Yeah, I'd be willing to go through some of their weird training methods if it would get rid of an enemy for us," Ryouga added.

I winced, "problem is, they'd probably go after anyone who knows the techniques, too... and anyone who knows the training."

"Aren't we safe from Cologne's direct wrath because of our association with Herb?" Ryouga asked, looking confused.

There was a moment of silence as we considered it, before Ukyo groaned, glancing at me with tired eyes, "she can't attack us because she got herself into this position. But if the Amazons are as territorial and anal about their stuff as you say, then we'll have broken their laws..."

"... which are probably agreed upon with the Musk," I concluded. It was a good idea, but it was too big a risk to take.

"Still, you could ask Herb about it when we go visit him," Ryouga added. Ukyo and I nodded.

"So what about Akane?" He asked, after a moment of silence.

"Hmm? Oh, we don't know what, but we're afraid the old lady might be teaching her something."

Ryouga shuddered at that, and I couldn't really blame him. While Akane wasn't the most horrible person in the original manga, here she was rather psychotic, and I worried about what kind of damage she could cause people who didn't have any training to whatever Cologne taught her.

Turning around and heading into the back, I called over my shoulder, "We'll have to keep an eye on them. See who Cologne teaches what to, so we're not surprised... plan accordingly."

"Kasumi?" I heard Ryouga say, as I considered changing into something less dusty. Touching a couple shallow cuts, and wiping some of the dust from my hair, I realized I'd probably be better off taking a shower, first.

"Kasumi's not exactly the Harriet I was thin... oh." I said, spotting the eldest Tendo in the opening, looking somewhat worriedly at the hole in the wall.

"Is everything alright?" she asked, after walking around the hole, and in through the door.

"We're fine," Ukyo said, to which I nodded. "Yourself?" The chef asked back.

"Oh, I'm okay. Father sent me out to do some shopping, and since I was in the area, I thought I'd stop by... I'm not intruding am I?" She started to move towards the door after saying that, and Ryouga moved to intercept her.

"Kasumi, you could never intrude; you're always welcome here," he said, and I wondered again why he got ownership of the restaurant while she was here. Again, though, I realized he was only saying what Ukyo and I were thinking, so it's not like we would (or could) complain.

"Ryouga's right. Whenever you get a chance, come on by," Ukyo added, making her way to the grill.

"Lets see, last time it was an Ice Water and a double-beef and green pepper Okonomiyaki, right?" Ryouga asked, surprising Kasumi.

"I... yes, but I couldn't possible take more from you all."

"It's freely offered," I said dismissively as I got her a drink. I was impressed, it'd been a few weeks, and Ryouga remembered her order perfectly. Then again, the whole encounter had been somewhat memorable, as well as infuriating.

"I... well... if you say so," she said, fidgeting with the hem of her dress nervously. Setting the glass down before her, I smiled, and nodded, "we don't just say so, we insist!"

Catching myself before I started humming "Be our Guest" from Beauty and the Beast, I got her glass of water, and waited to deliver the Okonomiyaki Ukyo was preparing after wiping the dust and debris off the grill.

Sitting down at the counter, I spoke loud enough for both Ukyo and Ryouga (and Kasumi) to hear. "We've got quite a few plans on our plate; a trip to the Musk Citadel, a plan to put an end to this hellspawn problem, and the possibility of coming under attack at anytime by the local mob."

"Oh my, that sounds awfully busy," Kasumi stated. The three of us nodded, before she perked up. "Would... would my healing come in handy for any of that?" Halfway through speaking, she'd started to collapse in on herself, as if afraid for speaking out.

Ryouga, sitting across from her, took her hands in his and spoke softly to her. "I think that's a wonderful idea. We'd be honored to have your help."

"So long as it won't get you into trouble," I amended, to which Ryouga nodded.

"Actually, Kasumi, we were wondering if you could maybe show us how to do that healing thing. That way you wouldn't have to risk yourself every time you snuck over here to help," Ukyo said from the grill, a moment before she handed me a steaming plate of food for the Tendo.

Taking the plate and putting it in front of her, I smiled at her look of surprise, before sitting back in the stool while Ukyo cleaned the grill.

"I don't know what my family would do if they knew those techniques had been shared. They're family secrets..." Kasumi stated softly.

"We understand," I replied, nodding. "We have a friend who might be able to figure out a way to do it himself, and teach us, we just wanted to... err... run it by you."

Kasumi glanced at me, then at Ukyo. "You mean that prince both Akane and Nabiki were complaining about a few months ago?"

"Indeed," I said, grinning.

"So we go see him before we tackle the demons," Ukyo stated.

"I think that makes the most sense. Ryouga? Sound good to you?"

"I guess so. You two are the masters. I'm just the student."

"We're rather... unorthodox. And I'm not quite conceited enough to go around making decisions for others..." I said. Then I frowned. "At least, not usually."

Ukyo smirked at my apparent hesitation. "We have to maintain flexibility. Our biggest opponent is fairly versatile, so we have to be just as quick to adapt."

"If..." Kasumi started, before looking at the floor, and continuing in a voice barely above a whisper. "If you do fight with my family, I... please don't... don't do it to hurt them."

I heard Ukyo sigh, and I couldn't help but feel the pressure the eldest Tendo's request put on us, as well.

"Kasumi, we can't promise what we do won't hurt... but we'll try to use some restraint. We like to think of ourselves as the good guys, here, and we try to stay on the right side of neutrality." Ukyo's response got a nod out of Ryouga and I, and Kasumi seemed to accept it at face value.

Of course, this meant I couldn't gather Ukyo and Ryouga up again and march over there to knock out some teeth, but considering the way the Tendos were beginning to stack the deck, I'd have to start thinking ahead for the next meeting.

After finishing her meal, and talking quietly with Ryouga about the weather and Nerima in general, Kasumi departed for home, and Ryouga wandered off, apparently with quite a bit on his mind.

There was a subdued atmosphere in the restaurant that evening, and the next day, we did our best to serve customers while a local construction company repaired the hole in the wall. The noise kept our customer load down, but we were still popular enough to break even.

"So, what all will we need for this trip?" Ukyo asked, that night, as we prepared to close down for the night.

I set the chair in my hand back down, before shrugging. "Some camping supplies, a couple changes of clothes, and I suppose a gift for Herb... why?"

"Just... planning, I suppose. Should we call ahead? Or wait for him to call to set a time?"

I smiled. "He never really said to ask when he invited us; isn't that an open invitation?"

Ukyo rolled her eyes and glanced at the phone. "Would be nice if we could reach him. Tomorrow, I'll leave school early and grab everything we'll need."

Looking around the dining room, I winced. "I'll go over our insurance... If they do anything..." I sighed. "I Don't know how many insurance companies there are in the area, but I doubt we'll be able to maintain coverage if we're constantly having to rebuild or replace stolen goods."

Ukyo shook her head. "It's kind of crazy, what we have to put up with... but we are making a killing here. Are there any other surprises I should know about?"

I rolled my eyes as I started flipping more chairs up. "I think I lost count. From Taro and Rouge to Ryu and Nodoka, there's plenty of people unaccounted for... and god only knows if they're anything like I recall. And I'm fairly certain I've forgotten some of the minor ones."

"Well, if you can't list them all, who are the big ones?"

Pausing again, I frowned in thought. "From what we know? The Amazons are the biggest threat, currently. If they exist, and are antagonistic, the Phoenix People of Jusendo are probably the biggest threat. We could probably ask Herb about it, since they're from the same area."

As I started mopping, I shot her a quick smile, "Don't worry too much about it. Considering how different things are, Taro is probably cursed like Ryouga was, and Saffron is a staunch isolationist and socialist."

Ukyo frowned at me as she put the grill-cleaning supplies away. "Somehow, that just doesn't instill confidence."

A couple days later Herb called again, and we quickly agreed in a visit to his citadel the beginning of next month. Being only a week and a half away, there was little left to do to prepare, and Ryouga, with his pack, had been ready since arriving.

Ryouga was repeating our proposed traveling plans while checking his pack. "So... we're taking a chartered boat to Hong Kong," which was still under British rule, I remembered with a smirk, "then a tour bus to the Qinghai Province, and from there, we'll what? Walk?"

I shrugged, looking at the map of China he'd just purchased and realizing that the province was very big. "Herb said he'd have people on the lookout for us. I'm sure if we ask around, we'll be given a ride."

"And if we aren't?" Ukyo asked, frowning.

Picking up the diving weights sitting beside my backpack, I smirked. "Then I intend to work on my strength and endurance."

Ukyo nodded her approval, but Ryouga scoffed. "Diving weights?"

I frowned at his obvious derision. "What's wrong with using diving weights?" I asked, feeling defensive. They were the best I could find in short notice for a low price.

"Nothing... if you want bruises on your feet and open blisters around your ankles," he replied, flippantly. Before I could rebuke his claim, he dug something out of his bag and tossed it at me. Correction: them; a pair of open-air shoes that hit the floor with a heavy thud.

Picking them up with a grunt of surprise at their weight, I looked at the shoes he was wearing with new found appreciation. "No wonder you have laces halfway up your legs," I said, wondering where you would go to buy such ridiculously heavy shoes.

Ryouga grinned. "I may not have had much formal training, but I picked up on the most effective methods. Before we go, I'll get Ukyo a pair. When we arrive in China, I suppose I'll get to be the teacher, and show you two how to avoid losing these in the mud, or wearing yourselves out too quickly."

“If you're going to have us walk through the mud, you might want to show us how not to lose ourselves,” Ukyo said, wryly.

“Alright, so, trip in a week and a half, hellspawn.. this weekend? Shouldn't we prepare more?” Ryouga asked.

“What's to prepare? We go in, we kill them, we find the source, and we stop it,” I replied.

“Well, sounds easy enough. You know how this portal is supposed to be closed?” Ukyo asked.

“No. Why would I?” Ukyo and Ryouga just stared at me. “What?”

“Okay, maybe I'm missing something here, but you don't really think this portal thing is going to be like some floating door we can slam shut, turn the lock on, and call it finished, do you?” Ukyo asked with a scowl.

“I thought you knew from.. whatever... that other world!” Ryouga said, after burying his face in the palm of his hand.

“Nooo.... Look, it was Kuno and Goz. Those two combined still lacked more than half a brain. This universe is different, but those two are, like, universal constants.” I justified.

“Why does that not instill me with confidence?” Ryouga mumbled.

“Don't worry Ryouga, you're not the only one.” Ukyo shot back, still glaring at me.

I shrugged. “Alright, I suppose we could wait.. but I was thinking; maybe if we clear up this hellspawn problem, the JSDF will keep an eye out on the place while they start clearing out the zone and preparing it for rebuilding.”

“Oh... wow, that does kind of make sense,” Ukyo said, nodding.

“Aside from the whole lack of a plan to close the portal part,” Ryouga groused.

“Details details. Why don't you make yourself useful and ask a few priests and other wise, spiritual elderly-types what they'd suggest we do,” I ordered. Ryouga looked at me, then glanced out the window. “I suppose.. what are you going to do?”

“Me? I'm going to talk to the JSDF and see if I can bargain for a grenade or twenty.”

“What?!” they both shouted/asked.

“Well, come on. It's a magical portal to an alternate realm of horrors and torment. Portals don't seem to do explosions that well. And not like the other side has anything we're anxious to keep pristine and puncture-free.”

The two of them stared at me, and I sighed. “You two realize that I would, if I thought it had a snowballs chance in hell of working, ask for a small nuke instead, right?” They both drew back at that, and I shrugged. “Don't act so shocked. I'm a firm believed in solving your own problems. At the same time, I also believe the old adage about problems and properly applied explosives.”

Muttering under his breath, Ryouga walked out the door, and I looked at Ukyo, waiting for her to say something. Finally, she shook her head, as if coming out of a daze, and shrugged. “You know, I should probably be used to you by now, but every time I think I am, you just go and surprise me a little more.”

I blinked at that. “... If I said I were sorry, would there be any chance that you'd believe me?”

“Not hardly,” she replied with a smile. “Help me get the tarp to cover that hole, then we've got some training to do.”

The rest of the week passed quickly, work and training (and paranoia) occupying most of our waking hours. At least all the stress, both physical and mental, made sleep come easily. So it was a rather well rested-trio of fighters standing by one of the JSDF blockades on a dreary Saturday morning. Low-hanging clouds and ominous rumbles of thunder echoing off the building walls around us sounded like distant artillery, and with the sky threatening to open up on us at any moment, I couldn't help but wonder what other problems we'd be facing before the day was through.

“So you're saying you intend to go in there and stop this thing,” the Captain at the blockade said after we'd told him our intentions.

At our nodding, he just shook his head sadly. “Look, the guys here know you all. You've helped a good half-dozen or so times when this barricade alone fell, and the other barricades all report similar stories. But if you go in there... you're not coming back out.”

“You don't really think you can stop us from entering, though... or do you have orders to?” I asked, looking at the high concrete wall that helped keep hellspawn in. I might be able to jump it if I started from the building across the street, but It would be a lot easier to walk in.

“I can't be help responsible for anyone who enters the zone, and I've been told repeatedly to do everything I can to keep people out. But if you really want in, I can't stop you... what's that?”

Behind me, I heard the sound of a Helicopter. Actually, it sounded like a couple, and it was getting closer.

“What the hell?” the Captain asked, pushing me aside to step behind me. Turning around, I looked around for whatever had unnerved the man, but only managed to spot it when I looked up. Overhead, high above, but dropping rapidly, was a tank; a large main battle tank, being lowered into the hellspawn infested zone by a giant helicopter sporting three sets of rotors.

“Never seen a carrier like that before,” I said, frowning.

“The CH-99?” the Captain asked. I shrugged, and he just shook his head. “It's American... and that's an Abrams tank... looks like the Yanks are trying their hand at resolving the issue.”

I couldn't help but wince at the 'yanks.' “Yeah... I wonder if the crew is already inside?”

“Hmph. I told my Commander a few times to send in a Type 90, but no... looks like you might want to postpone your trip, kids... at least until we see how this changes things.

There was a muffled whump as the Helicopter dropped the tank the final foot to the ground and it took off into the sky, moments before a Humvee flying the American flag rounded a corner and approached the barricade.

“And here's the crew,” the captain mumbled.

After telling us to sit tight, the captain left to go chat with the occupants of the Humvee, and I turned to Ukyo and Ryouga, who were still looking at the wall the tank had disappeared behind earlier with some degree of anger. “So... want to wait it out and see how this evolves?”

“Not particularly. I have a bad feeling there is more to this than just an attempt to close the portal,” Ukyo replied.

“Your explosion idea has some merit, according to a couple of the elders I spoke to, but most agreed that it would take a spell or mystical forces to close whatever portal we'd find in there,” Ryouga offered.

“So... you don't think they're going to have much luck?” I asked, finally.

“They might. But if they don't they'll be ill-equipped to deal with it... and I get the feeling they're not quite as capable as we are of applying mystical forces to the portal.

I couldn't help it; “... Um... not to be a spoil-sport, but exactly what mystical forces are we bringing to the table, exactly? Or do you practice magic in your spare time, and just forgot to tell us?”

Ryouga scowled at me, then pointed. “You two can project your Ki, can't you? I'd call that pretty mystical. Life energy has a habit of destabilizing magical energy, and vice versa. That's what some old woman told me at a shrine downtown, and everyone I asked after that agreed.”

“So.. we're going to go... blast it?” I deadpanned.

Ryouga nodded. “Wasn't that the plan?”

“Well... Grenades, Ki... in the end, I get to prove a point with explosions, right?” I asked rhetorically. As they rolled their eyes, I grinned and shrugged. “Allrighty, I suppose we should find a roof we can hop to to clear that fence.”

“Awww, don't tell me you kinds are still planning on going in there!” The Captain groaned, coming back from the Humvee, which was now entering the zone.

“Well, we hate to say it, but those guys are probably ill-equipped to deal with the actual portal,” Ryouga said.

“Tell me about it. Half of them are scientists. USAMRIID, CDC, and FBI, with a couple chaperones. They're here to assess the subhuman threat and apply a solution if one is visible. That tank they dropped in is to protect them as they gather samples.” There was an exceedingly thick layer of disgust in his voice as he said that, and I sighed.

“Let me guess; closing the portal isn't a priority.”

“Yeah... Though I might have told them to head to the Kuno Estate when they asked where the best concentration of hostile subhumans within the zone,” he added with a smile.

I nodded. “It's likely they'd be thickest there. Tell you what, you've had enough traffic through this barricade for one day...”

“You kids are going home?” He asked, eyes wide in surprise.

“Not hardly, we'll circle around to the other side of the zone and head in from there. By then, that tank should have drawn most of the hellspawn away, leaving us a clearer path to our target.” I explained.

The Captain winced. “Effective, if somewhat cold. I warned them, though... they have to know what they're going in to... I Suppose there's no real chance I can dissuade you all... I suppose the best I can do is wish you the best of luck... and pray you don't get eaten.”

I frowned. “We could have done without that, but thanks. We'll be back when the problem is solved.”

The Captain just nodded as he made his way back to the command tent. About halfway there, the rain started.

I turned to Ukyo and Ryouga, who were both under Ryouga's impressively large bamboo umbrella. “So, lets head to the other side of town and finish this.” They both nodded their agreement, before we turned and headed south along the wall surrounding our destination.

AN: Well, Another chapter. Next up, we solve the hellspawn problem. Or do we? Guess you'll have to wait and see!

Oh, and the Americans are not The Initiative or anything like that. As I was planning that part, and writing it out today, I realized it might seem like I was heading there... if not now, than in the future. So I wanted to state, here and now, that this isn't some future BtVS x-over.