On a cold day in Nerima, Japan, sometime in the early '90s, the overcast sky projected a pallor onto the Saotome and Tendo families who had gathered at the Tendo dojo. Everyone was dressed in funeral attire after bearing witness to the passing of a great man: Happosai, founder of the Anything-Goes School of Martial Arts, was dead.

Naturally, the mood was festive, bright, and wild. Even Kasumi Tendo, usually so composed and reserved, was helping herself to a glass of wine. The younger Tendo sisters, Nabiki and Akane, were excitedly listing the ways they could relax now that the menace was gone. Nabiki was happy she could stop locking her drawers and cabinets, Akane could empty the loose floorboards under her bed.

Akane's fiancé, the dark-haired, ebullient Ranma Saotome was quietly thankful that he could finally bring some of the clothes he'd stashed around town inside and reminded himself to ask if he could borrow some of his fiancée's closet space. He'd put together quite the wardrobe for his red-haired alter ego and was eager to consolidate.

The sound of racuous laughter disrupted his thoughts and he frowned at his and Akane's fathers, Genma Saotome and Soun Tendo. They were getting steadily drunk on cheap beer — having already polished off the good shochu — while sharing their worst memories of Happosai and the abuses they suffered under his tutelage, mostly to each other and with decreasing coherence.

Ranma's mother, Nodoka, hadn't interacted with the odious pervert much, and she listened to everyone's stories with a pained look on her face. Whenever someone would mention how often Ranma took advantage of the deceased's primary weakness — by turning into a girl and enticing him with her body — she looked at him with a mix of concern, pity, admiration, and judgement.

A loud knock rang out from the household's front gate and Ranma eagerly sprang to his feet to answer it, giving him an excuse to stretch his legs and spare himself more of Genma's skull-pounding guffaws. Introspection had occupied him in for the past few weeks. Sometimes it seemed like the past two years of his life had been one catastrophe after another. It was nice that the past eighteen days were so…low-key. No megalomaniacal demigods, no violent challengers, no pompous fools uttering self-righteous declarations of superiority, and most importantly no suitors, fiancés, or fiancées, save the one he actually wanted.

Not that he had successfully told her that while both of them were wholly conscious at the same time.

Of course, fate could intervene at any moment and disrupt his transient peace. Like, for instance, as soon as he opened the gate and saw who had come calling.

One was a stranger, a young man with glasses and a half-hearted attempt to grow a moustache in a courier's uniform pushing a dolly full of secured boxes carrying a misshapen package and clipboard. His name tag read Tsuyoshi Serizawa.

Tsuyoshi was was sweating. Not because of the weight of his packages or the humidity, but because of the other visitors. The second was a wizened old woman with long, white hair balancing on the top of a staff. She's even older than the old creep, Ranma thought to himself. When's she going to kick the bucket and stop bothering me?

Cologne. At almost (or was it over?) three centures of age, the elder of the Joketsuzoku warrior women had been a recurring part of Ranma's life. Whether she was antagonizing him or teaching him a powerful new martial art technique, it was always to further her own agenda of marrying him to her great-granddaughter.

Shampoo, said great-granddaughter, stood beside her. Ranma — as a girl — had defeated Shampoo the first time they met and she'd pursued him from China to Japan. Despite his martial victory she was a skilled combatant. Just because she wasn't wearing a breastplate and brandishing weapons didn't mean she wasn't a threat.

Finally there was Ryoga Hibiki, Ranma's second-oldest friend and rival. Right now he didn't want to see the boy or his black-and-yellow checkered bandana or his overstuffed traveling pack or his combat umbrellas. Like Cologne and Shampoo though, he wasn't projecting violent intent. He certainly didn't seem happy to see Ranma either but he kept his mouth shut.

"What do you want?" Ranma barked belligerently.

The three martial artists looked at the courier expectantly. Sweating, Tsuyoshi held out a clipboard. "Uh…I'm supposed to be delivering these to Saotome Genma and Tendo Soun, per the posthumous instructions of their, uh…'former master', Happosai," he was a nervous wreck. "Are either of them available to sign this?" he pleaded.

"Daaaaaad!" Ranma bellowed. "Package for you!" he called over his shoulder before turning his gaze to the other visitors. "And you?"

Cologne spoke first. "I understand there has been a death in the family. How sad, my condolences," she said with the barest hint of sarcasm.

"Yeah we're all broken up in there," Ranma deadpanned as a drunk cheer rang out from the dojo. "We're clearly in mourning, so unless you have any business—"

"Your school's founder stole many priceless, culturally significant artifacts from the Joketsuzoku!" she snapped. "I am here to recover any ill-gotten gains that he may have left to his disciples." She gestured at Tsuyoshi, who started shaking.

"I-I-I c-c-c-an't deliver these t-t-t-to anyone else," he stammered. In a flash, Cologne dropped off her staff, reversed it in her hands, and swatted the courier with the club-like handle. She must have been holding back: Tsuyoshi yelped but didn't drop anything.

"I'm not asking you for anything! I want all proper procedures to be followed so that no one will question the integrity of the Joketsuzoku or the legitimacy of our claims. Son-in-law!" she swung her staff around and pointed it at Ranma. "Get your father out here so we can hasten this ordeal. I'm certain you want us gone."

Ranma rolled his eyes but certainly didn't disagree. "Daaaaad! Or Mr. Tendo! Delivery!" he squawked. "Whatever. I'm not inviting any of you inside right now after what you pulled at the…last time you were here." He didn't want to broach the topic of the wedding with them, and he knew that Akane certainly didn't want anything to do with Shampoo or her great-grandmother right now.

"Nonsense, son!" Soun Tendo's booming voice practically knocked Ranma off his feet. He wiggled a pinky in his ear to get the ringing to stop. "This is a happy occasion! The more the merrier! I'm Soun Tendo, welcome to my home!"

The courier slapped a pad into Mr. Tendos' hands, eager to hand over his delivery and get the heck out of there. "Ranma, would you and your friend here mind moving these inside?" he asked as Tsuyoshi sprinted away with his now empty dolly.

"I'd like a chance to look through those boxes as soon as possible, Mr. Tendo." Cologne's demanded in a much more polite voice than she'd been speaking to Ranma.

"As I was explaining to my son-in…to the young Mr. Saotome, your late master is known to have stolen a number of our culture's treasures and artifacts. I humbly request that you permit me inspect what remains of his estate and reclaim what is rightfully ours."

That was a surprise. The ghoul never passed up the chance to remind the Tendos of her claim on Ranma, viewing Shampoo's vow to marry him as the only legitimate one. He was caught between relief that she preferred Soun's cooperation and wouldn't be pushing it right now and the sting that he mattered less than some dusty relics.

With a scoff he turned to let the adults finish their discussion. By the time he reached the garden he realized someone had followed him. He spun and saw Shampoo and Ryoga. "Some reason you're following me?" He asked with venom.

Shampoo at least didn't try to force herself on him like she usually did. If anything she seemed preoccupied. "Grandmother wanted me to keep an eye on you, airen, in case you tried to cheat us out of what we came for."

He didn't even bother to dignify that with a response, but bristled at the implication. Where did she get off? Why would he care?

Actually, that was almost a good question. Why should he care? Now Ranma was more intrigued than he was frustrated. He had to see what those artifacts were.

Ryoga in the meantime muttered something under his breath. That's when Ranma realized that he didn't look upset or angry like usual: he looked embarrassed.

"What was that?" Ranma asked, legitimately curious.

"I said I need help figuring something out. Something that's been bothering me for a while. I wanted to talk to Akane about it," he trailed off. The boy looked tired, but Ranma wasn't excited that his rival wanted anything to do with his fiancée.

"First off, neither one of us wants to see either of ya'll after what you pulled. Second, I don't know why you think she'll be able to help."

"Who won't be able to help?" came a familiar voice behind him, and he winced knowing who it was.

"H-h-h-hi Akane!" Ryoga sputtered, whatever was eating him clearly not powerful enough to strengthen his nerves against the appearance of his crush.

Shampoo bowed, surprising Ranma and Akane. "We are sorry for your loss, Miss Akane," she offered politely.

Despite her irritation, Akane laughed. "Shampoo it was Happosai, I know the pest bothered you too. Our mourning period has been one long private party." The emphasis on private conveyed more than the rest of the sentence.

The purple-haired warrior woman loosened up immediately and gave them a smug grin. "Yes, and hopefully soon we will set right the crimes he committed against the Joketsuzoku. But he was your dojo's master, I had to be polite."

Sparks flew between the two practicioners of Anything Goes Martial Arts as Shampoo implied that their association with that pathetic excuse of a man tainted them, sullied their honor somehow.

"Watch your mouth!" "Our school is nothing like him!" They shouted, leading into an argument between the three. Ryoga shook his head, frustrated. He heard a voice from inside the house call his name before he could get involved.

"Hmm?" Quizzically he looked at the empty living room. A moment passed and he was about to walk away when he heard it again.

"Hello?" he asked, stepping into the house and turning down the corridor.

From the kitchen he heard Mr. Tendo and the old ghoul talking. Ranma had told him that everyone else was in the dojo, so maybe one of them was talking about him? Without even making the decision his feet began taking him there.

Pushing through the noren, he saw that both boxes had been opened and their contents spread across the kitchen counters and floors. It was like being in the back room of a museum, where they keep all the exhibits that aren't on display. So many things the monster had collected, found, and likely stolen over his many years.

One item in particular arrested Ryoga's attention. He didn't even hear Soun question him as he approached it.

It was a polished, white, stone disk a half meter in diameter and about ten centimeters thick. Filigree made of a purer gold than he'd ever seen bordered the edge, swooping patterns that resembled words or characters in some sort of foreign script. The center of the disk was an engraving: a circle with a cross coming off the bottom and a half-circle on the top surrounded by patterns similar to the filigree.

He'd seen the symbol every night in his dreams for the past two weeks. Somehow he knew this relic was exactly what he'd come to the Tendo household to find. Something had guided him here, and it was connected to this. He'd stepped out of his home this morning, trusting his feet to guide him. Fate wanted him to be here, at this moment.

Cologne rapped the back of his ankle with her staff, snapping him out of his reverie. "Pay attention! What are you looking at?" the wizened martial artist demanded.

"What? Oh, that, do you know what that is?" Cologne followed the line of his point and inspected the disk. He was shaking in anticipation. Something had been clawing at him for days, desperate to find…something. This was related somehow, it would give him the answers he sought.

The crone shook her head. "I don't know. It's not Joketsuzoku, I don't even think it's Chinese. Now leave, we are having a discussion."

Ryoga couldn't leave, not without investigating further. If Cologne didn't need it, he'd just ask to hold on to it while he was visiting. He didn't have to take it with him. Reaching out for it, he asked "Would it be all right if I—" As soon as his fingers touched the filigree border he yelped in surprise as the relic stole a burst of his ki in a yellow arc.

Stolen light swooped through the designs and engravings as the onlookers stepped back. Ryoga felt drained but now his guard was up. Whatever compulsion had been driving him was suppressed by the sense of pain and betrayal building up. Had he been tricked somehow? Misled by otherworldly forces?

Gold twisted and flowed from the border of the disk and began shaping itself. Eight long, spindly limbs spun into existence, growing like roots towards the center. A ball of light appeared only to be swallowed by a globe of metal at the intersection of each leg as a spider-like shape emerged from the cacophony of metal and light.

Once the head and abdomen formed, the light subsided and eight eyes, glittering like bismuth, opened on the head. The creature looked about, twisting its body and pivoting its head, before focusing on Ryoga.

In a deep, sibilant voice it spoke. "Inheritor. Shall we depart? I sense that we have already been here far longer than originally estimated."

Nobody spoke. After a moment of shocked silence, the spider sighed and shook its head. "We do not need to return now, but please state the purpose of activating me if that is not the case."

Hadrak Rapella did not appreciate being summoned in this world. It had been here for nearly 20 years, lying dormant. Something was wrong with the air, with the threads of fate. They spun and twisted in the metaphysical breeze wildly and it was difficult to read them.

Worse, the realm felt barren to a lesser god like Rapella. Pattern Spiders depended on a steady stream of essence to stay alive, and there wasn't even enough here to draw from the environment and keep it functioning. It needed to conserve its strength if it could make the jump —

There wasn't enough. There wasn't enough essence! This world's ambient essence production was so slight that the pattern spider had even less after dormancy than before. The essence it had stolen from Ryoga was only enough to awaken and materialize it. In a panic, it scanned the environment. The building itself was, despite its impressive structual design for a mortal dwelling, almost useless. But the Maidens had seen fit to ensure that it would be surrounded by essence-rich artifacts.

Well, not essence-rich, not compared to the products of true smith-gods, but good enough. "My apologies, Inheritor. We've been here too long. I need to commence the rite of return immediately. We shall commandeer these trinkets, absorb their essence, and use that to call home."

Within an instant it fired off gossamer strands from its spinnerette, snagging the closest half of the artifacts. Before it could begin to harvest the occult energies within them, however, Cologne leapt at it with her staff, striking one of its legs and shattering it in a single blow.

Hadrak coiled its remaining seven legs against its body in a defensive gesture and regarded the old master. It did not have the time, energy, or patience to deal with hostile locals. It kept six of its eyes locked on her while two scanned the environment for points of egress.

"You will commandeer nothing, creature." Cologne slowly paced around it. "If you wait, you can discuss borrowing whatever I do not take. But not before I—"

"Apologies, but I am on a deadline." Hadrak interrupted before launching itself backward through the window above the sink. Behind it dragged the line of artifacts it had ensnared like a sky banner.

"Wait!" Ryoga shouted before leaping after it. He had come all this way for answers and he would not be deterred, not now. A crash of thunder didn't even warrant hesitation as he readied his umbrella to defend against the inclement deluge. If he lost sight of the gold spider he knew he'd never find it again, so he just had to keep his eyes on the trail of artifacts it pulled.

Cologne shrieked as the black and yellow lost boy darted away. "Granddaughter! Son-in-law!"

Her purple-haired great-granddaughter dashed in. Before she could ask what had happened her elder ordered "Get those artifacts back, now!" and she leapt through the hole that had once been a window after Ryoga.

Ranma casually sauntered in, still riled up by the argument he'd been having with Shampoo. "What do you want you buzzard? I'm not gonna chase anybody down for you—"

"Retrieve the artifacts and I will declare granddaughter's kiss null and void!" It was a bargain. A steep bargain. Ranma knew she would do everything she could not to honor it. But he needed to simplify things, needed to simplify his life.

Wordlessly he dove through the window as well. Ryoga was slow but a good tracker, somehow, and Ranma knew he'd be able to hunt down the crone's missing artifacts or whatever, leading Ranma right to them.

Akane was right behind him. He bit back the urge to tell her to go back, or not get involved in "his" fight, or some other prideful, macho bullshit. There's no one he'd rather be with in this moment. Plus if Shampoo was also chasing after these things he'd need someone to keep the warrior woman busy.

She wanted this as badly as Ranma. In her perspective, Shampoo was the first. The first of Ranma's "rival" fiancées. She'd shown up and started immediately throwing herself at Ranma, oftentimes literally, in the hopes of enticing him to marry her. Ranma had refused each time. At this point, two years later, Akane didn't doubt that he wasn't interested in Shampoo like that. But it'd be nice when their relationship was no longer mandated by cultural custom.

Hadrak was busy trying to determine a safe place to actually perform the ritual that would take it home. It was a custom-designed spell that was supposed to be performed by the pattern spider and their Sidereal partner, over the course of two and two-thirds hours, in view of the stars, and required a significant investment of power from both participants.

Just my luck that I'll be performing it alone, surrounded by hostiles, with no source of environmental essence — don't have time to find a location with meaningful geomantic symmetry to make up for that, and I'm injured on top of everything else. Normally it would have let the broken limb regenerate but without a way to recover essence it was actively suppressing the normally autonomic process.

It skittered across the rooftops, making stories-high leaps to orient itself and find somewhere it could fortify a position and begin the ritual. With an approving click it noticed the yellow-clad youth in hot pursuit and allowed him to get close. "Inheritor! I hope you will be joining me, your participation will make the ritual much more likely to succeed!"

Stolen story; please report.

Ryoga could tell that it was referring to him, but he was otherwise confused. Matching Hadrak's strides, he launched into his questions. "Look, I just need answers! What are you? Who are you? I had a dream about a lady with that symbol on her forehead, what was that all about?"

Were the situation less dire, Hadrak would have been glad to answer Ryoga's questions — one of its purposes was to assist the Maidens of Fate's chosen after all — but a purple streak flashed between the two of them as Shampoo came down with an ululating cry in an attempt to kick the golden spider out of the sky.

"Inheritor, if you neutralize our pursuer…s," it noted the two other youths in white and black bounding after them as well. "All of your questions will be answered!"

Ryoga swore as he saw Ranma and Akane approaching, briefly hoping they'd help him contain Shampoo.

Unfortunately for him, once Ranma got into shouting range he made his intentions known. "Hand over the crap, Ryoga!" He came in with a diving kick. The lost boy hefted his umbrella and deflected his rival's foot at the last second, growling a response as lightning filled the sky.

"I didn't steal it, jackass!" he shouted back. He felt two stray drops of rain before instinctively raising the umbrella. Not only would transforming into a defenseless piglet render him incapable of stopping Ranma's assault, Akane would see that he'd been her pet P-chan for almost two years. He'd moved on from pursuing the youngest Tendo daughter after meeting Akari Unryu but he didn't want to face the shame of what he'd done yet.

Ranma felt her body shift as the rain picked up. Vermillion spread through her hair as her body shrank, but she grinned. Ryoga had to keep that umbrella up to keep fighting, and Shampoo wouldn't be able to…to…why isn't she changing?

The Chinese girl normally changed into a house cat when she got wet, but she was bounding through the rain with abandon. Ryoga noticed Ranma staring and realized what had happened as well. The two stopped fighting each other and immediately set after her.

Akane noticed how swiftly Ranma tore off after Shampoo and it softened her heart. He'd verbally protested the Chinese girl's advances but never took action to actually prevent them. This felt like the first time he'd actually done anything to break off one of his engagements. She wasn't going to take that for granted.

"Shampoo!" she cried while hefting a bench and flinging it at the girl.

"What do you—ACK!" Shampoo twisted to dodge the bench, which brought her down to the ground right in front of the Tendo heir. Akane turned her sprint into a knee strike which Shampoo managed to catch before it slammed into her stomach. Using the momentum she sprang up into the air to deliver a spinning axe kick to Akane's head.

The black-haired girl had clearly been training her speed since the last time the two fought, or was used to sparring with the equally-acrobatic Ranma, and blocked the kick between her forearms. She gripped Shampoo's ankle and pulled, pivoting into a judo throw to transfer her downward momentum straight into the ground.

Shampoo yelped as her body slammed into the pavement but managed to twist out of Akane's grasp and roll forward. "I see the brute girl has been learning," she hissed. "But this is not your business! Stay out of Joketsuzoku affairs!"

"Actually, it is my business," Akane smirked. "Your grandmother said that if Ranma got the artifacts back she'd undo your engagement to him!" That got her. Shampoo's eyes went wide with shock.

"Airen!" she pleaded to Ranma as the two landed next to her. "Say it isn't true!"

The red-head shook her head. She wasn't playing around right now. "Nope, it's true. I don't want to marry you, Shampoo, so I'm gonna get those relics or whatever."

"Why aren't you changing!?" Ryoga demanded, desperation in his eyes.

In her shocked state, Shampoo almost explained about the water-proof soap she'd applied this morning. She knew it'd rain and grandmother was serious about the artifacts, so she wanted to guarantee she would be combat-capable all day. But Ryoga's desperation gave her leverage. "Help Shampoo retrieve the artifacts and she will tell you the secret!"

With a feint she kicked at Ranma, who started to block. Interrupting the strike Shampoo instead leapt onto Ryoga's umbrella and resumed her pursuit of Hadrak, still dragging the trail of relics behind it. Ryoga hesistated for a second before sweeping his leg behind Ranma, knocking her on her ass as he followed the purple-haired girl. "Sorry Saotome, but you know this is bigger than us!"

"Get back here you pig-headed asshole!" Ranma swore as she rolled back to her feet. In less than a second she was springing through the air again but the others had a significant lead.

Akane slammed her palm into her face out of frustration. She'd been improving but keeping up with those three at length tested her endurance. Fortunately help came in the form of an unlikely ally. "Akane? What's happening?"

Spinning, Akane saw a girl with long, brunette hair tied into a ponytail: Uyko Kuonji. She was on a delivery bike from her okonomiyaki shop and equipped with her signature giant spatula. For a moment, Akane was going to treat her as a new threat: she was another of Ranma's would-be suitors. But Akane could work with that.

"Ukyo! Cologne said that if Ranma can get these stolen artifacts back she'll cancel his and Shampoo's engagement!" That got her. The okonomiyaki chef gritted her teeth and nodded. "Get on," she gestured to the bike.

Akane liked Ukyo. If she had teamed up with Shampoo, the other girl would probably try to kill her if the opportunity presented itself, but she knew that Ukyo would help her take care of the immediate problem and worry about eliminating her second rival later. She hopped up behind the brunette and the two took off.

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Hadrak remembered running from all sorts of powerful entities over the past few centuries. Its home was deep within the Bureau of Fate, and its day job, along with many other Pattern Spiders, was to tend to the Loom of Fate, assist the other employees, and oversee any specific assignments. Rapella dealt with finding lost things, which meant that on occasion it got to do what many of its kin did not and leave the Bureau. It took its job of finding lost things very seriously, considered itself a consummate professional. There was a certain nostalgia to leaping across buildings in a tightly-packed city, the likes of which it had only ever seen in heaven.

And it remembered how much it hated running, jumping, dodging, being in a desperate struggle just to survive. Even worse, it was, in this sad world, a lost thing. It refused to let itself die in some backwater realm of existence at the hands of what were certainly children. Strangely powerful children, given they were capable of feats it had only seen achieved by gods, demons, and the Exalted, but children nonetheless!

Finally it spotted an estate large, fortified, and empty enough that it could find a quiet corner and perform the ritual in peace. It spent a sliver of its remaining energy and rocketed forward. It needed to be fast enough to get into one of the buildings without any of its pursuers seeing which one, but slow enough that its ward knew where to start looking.

It was willing to leave Ryoga in this world to save itself, but it knew that would render the entire ordeal pointless. Worse than pointless: there would be a Sidereal Exaltation lost in another world, ironically the one that had originally found its way here in the first place. If Hadrak couldn't bring it back, the secret of how to get here would be forgotten until some other mad fool managed to follow the exact same steps she had. Worst of all…

Hadrak would probably have to do all of this again. It shuddered at the thought as it leapt over the gates that proudly displayed KUNO ANCESTRAL ESTATE in bold.

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"Aiiii-yaaaaaa!" Shampoo shouted in frustration as she landed on the immaculately kept garden. She knew the thing had landed here, she even saw divots in the ground where some of the artifacts had bounced, but there were no signs of where it went after that. She wished her great-grandmother had given her more direction: she had no idea what this thing was or why it had stolen the relics.

Diving in the closest building, she reminded herself that it didn't matter. Ranma, her lawful fiancé according to the ancient laws of the Joketsuzoku, was once again attempting to weasel out of his obligations. She took a moment to persuade herself that even if he did find the artifacts and return them before her, Cologne would find a means or technicality to let the engagement stand.

That wouldn't be necessary though if Shampoo retrieved them instead. Steeling herself, she began creeping through the enormous Japanese home. It was time to hunt.

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Ryoga landed and immediately ran for the nearest cover. In his haste he'd chosen a building labeled "shed" but was in reality a dojo even larger than the one at the Tendo house. Other than the mud he tracked in it was immaculately clean. All of the equipment — mostly gardening tools, gymnastics equipment, spare bokken, mats, tennis balls, racquets, and a riding lawn mower — was neatly organized and arranged around the walls. He blinked as he took it all in.

Shaking off his umbrella he investigated all the corners and blind spots in the room, trying to find some evidence that the spider had come this way. As he searched his mind wandered and he thought about what had brought him here today.

The dreams had begun the same night he'd tried to get the Nanniichuan water at Ranma and Akane's wedding. Remembering the event made him blush from shame but his thoughts continued. A woman, tall, oak-like skin wrapped in yellow and silver robes, with long, silver hair. Her eyes, yellow like a wolf's, peered down at him as she smiled. That symbol appeared on her forehead — unbeknownst to Ryoga the symbol of Mercury — and she beckoned him follow her into an impossible maze. Light and shadow coiled around each other, forming alien shapes. "Find me…" she whispered.

And then he would wake up. Once would have been forgettable, twice the result of the manga and tokusatsu he'd been reading and watching with Akari, but once it had happened five nights in a row he started to get suspicious. Then it happened twelve more days and by today he'd had enough. Akari had tried to help but ultimately the only help she could offer was to suggest to go see the Tendos: weird stuff happened around them, maybe somebody would have answers?

Ryoga didn't expect to actually make it to the Tendo house the same day he'd set out. He expected it to take a few days, maybe even a week since he was so distracted. Instead he made it there in a number of hours.

He'd hoped that his newfound sense of direction wouldn't abandon him now, but he was looking for such a small creature in such a big, confusing space that he'd probably never find it. A part of him worried that he wouldn't find his way out of the "shed".

Sensing a sudden surge of violent intention, he reflexively raised his umbrella to block a hail of black roses lancing toward him like daggers. His attacker was Kodachi Kuno, and he recognized the tall woman with long, black hair, athletic body, intense stare. She was, of course, wearing a navy leotard with a gold wireframe lotus design that wrapped around her hips, wielding a ribbon in one hand and a hoop in the other. From what Ryoga remembered, both would probably have hidden blades.

"It seems the help was right, we do have an intruder," she murmured ominously. "I'll not let a common thief abscond with even the least token in our family's panoply." With particular venom as she emphasized the word "common", she raised the hoop and adopted a battle stance.

Ryoga growled in frustration. He didn't have time for this, but he didn't know if he could talk her down. "I chased a thief onto your property. It stole a bunch of artifacts from my grandmother and I've been pursuing it."

"Hah! A likely story, thief!" Springing forward, leg outstretched, whirling the ribbon around her as a means to keep Ryoga at a distance.

He had no intention of closing the distance anyway, but even in a space as large as the dojo-shed there weren't a lot of places he could go with the razor-sharp ribbon flying around as it was. Internally apologizing to Ranma, he realized that redirection was the best choice in this situation.

"Ranma Saotome was right behind me!" he shouted as he dove to avoid the ribbon's arc. The mention of her obsession's name had the intended effect though and her eyes went wide.

"My love is here? Did you steal from him as well?" A blood-red glint in her eyes made Ryoga question whether it was a wise choice, but there was one lesson he had learned from Ranma: commit to the bit.

"It stole from both of us! My grandmother, Ranma's family, probably some other people, too." He prayed that she would listen. She'd stopped swinging the ribbon but kept her eyes on him, ribbon coiled in her hands like a ready whip.

Her lips quivered as she weighed her options and processed what he was saying. The tension was thick enough to cut with the razors that lined her hoop. Ryoga's relief was equally tangible as she broke off her challenge and ran for the door. "Ranma dear! I will help you recover your purloined treasures!"

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I hope the Kunos aren't home, Ranma prayed to every kami she knew as she leapt over their gate. It's a Sunday, it didn't start raining until just a minute ago, it's midday, they're rich…surely they wouldn't want to stay in their enormous mansion all by themselves, right? Right?

Instead of her feet touching down in the grass, however, a pair of strong arms suddenly grasped her out of the air and scooped her into a bridal carry. The arms belonged to none other than the first rival she'd made at Furinkan High School almost two years ago: Tatewaki Kuno. She hadn't seen him in several months since he graduated and was really hoping that would continue to be the case, but now…

"Uggghhh godsdammit!" she roared in frustration. "Kuno put me the hell down right now, I'm busy and chasing somebody!" she thrashed but the older boy — or man now, at this point — mistook her movements as panicked squirming because of the fall.

"My pigtailed girl! You've come for me after all this time! I feared I'd only have the time to see you during alumni visits to the school or at one of my father's ill-planned schemes, only for you to have fallen into my arms? Providence surely smiles upon m—" his exclamation was cut short as Ranma managed to slide out from his arms, swing around one like a gymnastics bar, and slam both feet into the side of his head.

He crashed to the mud while she landed spritely on her toes, but she did offer a hand. "Look dude, it's a coincidence: I'm chasing a thief. It's carrying a bunch of dusty old relics and if I can get them back for the person it stole them from then, uh…one of my unwanted suitors will withdraw their claim on me."

Her gambit had the intended effect and Kuno's eyes practically sparkled as he politely accepted her help. "Then you have Tatewaki Kuno's sword, pigtailed girl!" he declared, thrusting his bokken skyward for emphasis. "We will find this thief and restore justice to your house!" Fantasies of her fawning over him in thanks for rescuing her from a foul, boorish, too-old man's clutches, visions of their inevitable Shinto-style wedding once all of the so-called competition had been dealt with, her looking up at him in her shiromuku as they closed in for a kiss…

"Perfidy, brother! She is in league with the thief and seeks to trick you into helping her!" cried Kodachi, emerging from the gardening shed.

"Oh come on!" Ranma pleaded to no one.

"I caught her confederate red-handed before he told me that my beloved Ranma was right behind him, only to find her here instead! See reason and do not fall for the vixen's deception!" Ranma yelped as she dodged a razor-sharp hoop Kodachi had thrown. It spun at an angle and its trajectory started bringing it back around, forcing Ranma to monitor it while the older gymnast came after her with a ribbon.

Tatewaki would not hear anyone besmirch Ranma's honor — or at least her girl form's honor — not even his sister. He struck the hoop before it could get much farther, knocking it over the estate's walls with his bokken like a baseball bat. With perfect clarity, he saw that he could best help his beloved by keeping Kodachi at bay while she sought out the blackguard who held the keys to one of the chains that bound her heart.

"Go, beloved! My sister's jealousy won't let her see reason! Find your thief while I hold her here!" With a kiai he dashed at his sister, bokken held high, and the siblings began to duel.

Unbeknownst to him, Ranma had dashed into the largest building before he even said a word.

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Hadrak hummed softly to itself as it worked. Each of the artifacts it had stolen were aligned in a geometric and geomantic perfect circle and it was creating a fate-web of connections between them with its spinnerette. At the end of the day it was a spider: there was no task that sparked greater joy than simply spinning a web.

Not that this web was simple, of course. Each strand needed to be charged with a particular amount of essence which Hadrak would have to provide: drawing power from the artifacts couldn't happen until the ritual was underway. Once the infrastructure for the sorcerous working was complete it would have precious little to keep itself active. It could only hope that nobody would find its hiding place until that was complete.

Its particular expertise was in finding lost things, not hidden things, but it managed to discover a hidden passageway in the main building which led to a sizeable subterranean training arena. Small enough to avoid the traps the owners had set up the spider began its work in the dark, unlit room. It didn't need to see, so intuitive it was to the pattern spider.

A different door than the one it had used to enter the room opened. It couldn't afford to stop so it kept working in the hopes that it was…

"Ah, Inheritor! You have impeccable timing," it jovially called to Ryoga while it worked. "And it looks like you lost your entourage. Most fortuitous." Even when Ryoga slammed his foot next to one of the artifacts and glared down at the busy creature it refused to change its behavior. "I believe you had questions? I will do my best to answer them while I work, but please monitor the environment in the event of an intruder."

Ugh, it's so polite, Ryoga thought. "I need those artifacts back. I suffer from a curse and I can only cure it if I get those back." He channeled determination through his words even though he felt doubt creeping into his mind.

"Oh I'm afraid I can't do that now, Inheritor. I hope you understand: there isn't enough power in this world to maintain me, and now that I've begun spinning this web I won't have enough to attempt the ritual again if it is interrupted. Then we'll both be stuck here, me until I starve, you without ever getting a proper debriefing on what's happening to you." It said matter-of-factly, despite the fact that it was talking about starving to death.

Ryoga needed a cure, but he also wanted answers. The last thing he wanted was to be stuck with this strange dream every night and not be able to understand it. "Okay. Answer my questions and I'll decide what to do about you. But don't stall, I'll be able to tell." His hands shook with ancitipation.

"Naturally. What is your first question?" Its even, composed voice obscured the fear and anxiety it was feeling. It prayed to every single Incarna that its answers would be satisfactory. It also hoped that the clear ancitipation the child was experiencing would make him drag out his questions and do all the stalling for it.

And indeed, Ryoga began excitedly overexplaining. "Okay! Yes, yes okay. W-well it started a few weeks ago…"

Suddenly Hadrak wished Ryoga would go back to threatening to smash it. But it just kept working and waiting for the boy to actually come to a point.

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"…and even though I normally take days to figure out how to get from one place to the other, I managed to find my way to the Tendos in just a couple of hours." Ryoga explained practically every action he'd made over the past two and a half weeks without ever letting Hadrak actually answer a question, and the pattern spider was ready to abort the ritual and die.

It realized Ryoga had finally stopped talking and wasn't willing to hide its irritation anymore. "Oh are you done? Mars's breath, I'm sorry things haven't been easy for you. I've been trapped in this damnable realm for twenty years!"

Perhaps that was a bit much, since now Ryoga was growling. "But yes! Answers!" Hadrak offered contritely. "The woman in your dreams was Liri su'Nalli, the previous host of your Exaltation. Before she died, given the strange rules of this realm, she made sure to make a prophecy that would guide you to me so that I could return us home." It intentionally didn't explain what it was talking about or provide any context to its words. It hoped Ryoga would take the bait and ask what an Exaltation was, or where "home" was, or what it meant by "strange rules of this realm."

While he was still processing, however, the ceiling suddenly buckled and dropped a torrent of water. Ryoga shouted and leapt away from the surprise wave as it rushed over Hadrak. It kept working as it surveyed the damage and noted with professional pride that its webbing had held and kept any of the artifacts from being moved from their positions. It didn't understand why the Inheritor was repelled by water but it provided a convenient obstacle.

Shampoo, Ranma, Tatewaki, and Kodachi were tangled in a web of punches, kicks, ribbons, and swords as their brawl continued despite the floor giving out beneath them. Ranma was the first to notice Ryoga and Hadrak, and she knew how to get him back on her side.

"Ryoga! Shampoo's just using water-proof soap! She didn't cure any—HRRK!" she was cutoff by Kodachi's forearm and bicep wrapping around her neck and squeezing as the girl Kuno used her against her brother like a human shield. Shampoo took the opportunity to dive at Hadrak but Ryoga intercepted her with rage in his eyes and an umbrella in his hands.

"No! I still need answers!" he roared as he swung in wide arcs to keep the purple haired girl away from the circle.

Kodachi cackled as her brother refused to approach while she held ranma in her grasp, but a spatula thrown like a shuriken grazed her cheek and she dropped the red-head in pained surprise. Ukyo flung a storm of spatulas in advance of her dive into the hole, followed closely by Akane.

Hadrak almost gave up in that moment, recognizing that it couldn't possibly gather enough power to initiate the ritual with all the combatants in the room. Until it felt a warm tickle in the air. With revelatory shock, it realized that the combined battle auras of the seven martial artists locked in combat were producing essence, and in far greater amounts than the paltry energy locked in the meager relics it had taken.

Time to improvise. It expanded the barrier of the circle by leaping to the walls of the underground room and began sprinting, leaving an essence-charged strand of fate-web in its wake. Hope surged through it as it drank deeply of the power exuded by the fighters about to be ensnared. Apologies children, you weren't meant to follow us but I am going home today. Despite its supernatural speed, it maintained its precision as it placed strands according to exacting geomantic protocols.

The circuit was completed in a manner of seconds and it connected the ends with a smug flourish. Skittering back to the original circle that Ryoga was protecting against Shampoo and Ranma alike, it allowed its missing leg to finally regenerate so that it could work the necessary motions into the casting.

While powerful, using seven active combatants as the source of the initial flash of essence was inherently volatile and it needed to perform the correct movements perfectly. It flipped onto its back and began spinning a length of fate-web to act as the collection point.

It sighed in anticipation as it put the final strand in place. All it needed now was a spark of its own essence to guide the reality-breaking wave of power…home.

Everyone heard the snap of reality buckling as Hadrak pierced the thin walls of existence. It was like they were inside of a water balloon being popped from the inside, and the surge of essence they'd generated took the path of least resistance and flowed into the abyss. Transient weightlessness was replaced by an existential flood of sensation as they plummeted through infinity.

They had no idea how much time passed, so dwarfed they were by the yawning maw of nonexistence. In reality the process took less than a fraction of a second: any more and their minds would have been crushed by the weight of the universe.

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Peace. Stillness. The comforting boundaries of existence settled around everyone's prone forms. Akane was the first to call out into the darkness. "H-hello? Is anyone else here?"

Panic set in as she realized she couldn't even hear herself, but a hand on her shoulder squeezed enough that she could feel it. Each blink let a little more light in and she realized that she wasn't trapped in a claustrophobic void but instead looking at a night sky with an alien starfield. A breeze blew through her hair as she sat up and looked around.

Ranma was crouched next to her, her big, blue eyes scanning Akane for injury and relieved to see none. She opened her mouth but Akane still couldn't hear anything but the rush of her heartbeat.

The others were slowly getting to their feet as well, stretching and blinking out the lingering senselessness that came with beholding all of reality.

They were in some sort of arena or altar, a raised platform of flat stone surrounded by eight pillars, each carved in a language she couldn't read. Unlit torches were placed between the pillars. In the distance she saw a volcano and realized they were on an island. Moonlight glinted off the waves of some alien ocean.

The first sound she heard was Hadrak's desperate laughter. It was…well dancing was the only appropriate word for it. It held four of its legs skyward and waved them as it skittered about on the four still touching the ground.

"Hahahahahahaha! Finally! Can you feel it? Can you taste it? I'm finally hoooooome!"