^And I will keep to the letter of my promise. As I had stood in his office they would not be harmed...and they _will_ serve his..and my purpose...in some..other way.^ His eyes grew briefly distant, sending out a command to all of the demons that were in acceptable range to respond to his order concerning the humans in the Sebec Building. A simple command, it was one which he knew they would carry out swiftly, eagerly. The command echoed only once, evoking in its followers a single, solitary word.

^Kill.^

*****

With Renee leading the way confidently though the main glass doors leading to the main lobby, The group made their way forward into the interior of the Sebec building. Laura and the others took in the first floor of Sebec with a sense of awe, with good reason. Design-wise, the first floor of the Sebec building was breathtaking. White marble columns lined the long hall, reaching high into the ceiling of the first floor, which was embossed with the Sebec logo. A red carpet with gold-colored string as its trim paved the space in between the two rows of columns, giving the hall a beautiful contrast in colors. Though the hall was silent except for the sound of their footsteps echoing in the vast room, it was very easy to see that on a regular day, this hall would be bustling with energy and life, with groups of black-suited men and women making their way into and out of the building.

They approached the black-oak lacquered desk, around which a few more black-suited men and the receptionist sat. Hearing the group approaching, the receptionist spoke, slowly looking up. She seemed to be an woman in her thirties, with brownish-blonde hair. However depite the chas that was probably raging outside, she seemed to have a calm and serene look on her face. "I'm sorry, but no one is allowed in beyond this point until we can isolate the- oh! It's you, Miss Renee. I'd glad to see you're all right..."

Renee grinned. "C'mon Lyn, it'd take more than that to put me down, right?"

Lyn laughed. "Yes, you're probably right about that. Well, anyway, I assume you are here for a good reason, so go ahead to the elevators. We've only got two of them working, though - we've had to give power to something else. You can take them up - they should go express to the usual floor."

Renee smiled. "Thanks again, Lyn. See you later..." She inclined her head toward the receptionist and then turned sharply tot he right, walking at a brisk pace. the others followed.

*I still don't understand this whole "Miss Renee" business* Laura thought, *and I don't like it one bit. What's her tie to this place..?* She moved last behind the rest, lost in her thoughts.

*****

The man the group had talked to outside the building squinted, trying to see through the fog. Though it was unlikely that anyone would have survived the kind of carnage that appeared to exist throughout the city, it was indeed likely that they would attempt to take refuge in the Sebec building. And though he may have compassion for some of these people, duty had always proceeded his feelings. He had been ordered to kill anyone who came in sight, and he would do so.

One of his companions stretched and yawned, his sunglasses briefly slipping down the bridge of his nose. He pushed them back up with his finger. "Are we going to get a rest soon? I'm beat."

"In a little bit," replied the man. "I'm sure Mr. Sebec will send word down soon."

"I sure hope so. I need some sleep - this has been pretty fucked up these last few hours."

The man nodded. "I know. We've heard some pretty sick rumors about from the other workers. But," he shrugged, "you just have to take it. I'm just hoping that whatever it is that they're doing in there is gonna fix this mess."

"Shit, man, nothing is gonna fix this. It'd cost Sebec millions to get all this damage repaired. And I'm pretty scared shitless about all this stuff about demons running around.." said a third man, lighting up a cigarette.

"Not to worry. I heard it was just a natural disturbance - something with the big lighting storm last night which caused all this damage. It'll pass." said the first man reassuredly. He turned to look back into the fog, trying to penetrate it with his eyes. It was impossible to do, of course, but it did kill some time.

He heard the revolving door behind him spinning around, signaling someone's exit. Without turning around he smiled. "Done with your business inside already, Miss Renee? I'd stay around...at least until this fog's past....it's dangerous out here..."

The last thing he heard was a chittering of many teeth...

*****

"I've always liked these elevators," Renee said as they waited for the elevator to come down from its long climb from the top floor. "They go up pretty fast and when a building is as tall as this one, it can build quite a bit of speed. I've always liked it that way."

"I suppose I'm making a big understatement when I'm saying that you've been here before, right?" said Bradster in response, as he squinted to read the numbers at the top of the elevator door. he shook his head and rubbed his eyes a little.

"Yes, I've got ties here, so I've been here quite a lot." Renee replied.

"So you're saying you've got someone you know who works here?" said Rex.

"Yeah, but then again, a lot of people work here, you know," said Renee a little evasively. Laura gave her a strange look which seemed to be not noticed by the former high school soccer player.

"I wonder what's happened to all those people, then.." said Rex as he looked around. "It's kind of creepy not seeing them around.."

An uncomfortable silence followed Rex's remark as the group as a whole remembered their mission - to find and stop the man who had started this horror, Guido. Each seemed to steel themselves as they prepared for an enemy who they all thought would not let go of what he had so rashly acheived so easily.

"The elevator is here," said Lori in that same quiet voice as the doors opened to admit the group. Walski held the door as everyone filed into the large elevator. Renee pushed the button for the top executive floor and the doors closed. The elevator began its slow ascent upwards.

"This thing is pretty large," commented Walski. The elevator itself was the size of a small room and resembled a fancier version of a freight elevator, with the walls being decorated witht he Sebec logo.

"Yes, they have to be if so many people work here," replied Renee. "Usually these are so packed you can't even breathe a deep breath without bothering the people next to you." She laughed a little, trying to make the mood a little lighter.

"So how do you know so much about this place?" said Laura, a slight note of suspicion in her voice.

Renee blinked, but replied anyway. "Well, you're right about me knowing someone who works here. I've been here plenty of times because we would go home together."

"Who?"

"Well, my dad and me, of course." said Renee. "He holds a..high...position here at the Sebec building, but he never tells me what he's doing. Sometimes he's out of his office for hours on end doing God-knows what. He's very busy."

"So it that why you wanted to make a stop here in the building?"

"Well, yeah. I had planned on stopping here anyway, and getting you guys with me was a bonus, considegin all that junk that was happening out there. I could have died out there if it wasn't for you all, so I'm thankful for that. I just want to make sure Dad's safe."

Laura nodded. She felt a little bad about suspecting Renee of any kind of wrongdoing and trickery, and she had thought it was good she didn't say anything about it, though she had the urge to insult her for some reason or another. Laura shook her head and watched the numbers flash by on the top of the elevator door to get her mind of of things and relax herself. 21...22...23..24..

Laura blinked as the elevator suddenly stopped at floor 25. "Didn't Lyn say this elevator was supposed to go all the way to our floor without stopping?"

"Yes," said Renee, "But usually in emergencies the express elevators can be stopped for evacuation purposes, since the rest are usually shut down. There was an incident around two or three years ago and I was here, and we had to use the express elevators to evacuate. There's probably gonna be a bunch of people wanting to transfer floors or something."

The doors opened, revealing...

Nothing.

"You were saying?" Bradster said, looking out into the empty hall.

"That's strange." said Renee as the doors closed again.

Laura sighed a sigh of relief. Considering the way we all look, I'm not sure if having other people in here with us would be a good idea. After all, she thought, we were going up to stop some madman who controls demons, has killed innocents, and dabbled in things he shouldn't have delved into. It's only natural that we look grim..or nevous. Or both.

She surveyed the group with her eyes as the elevator continued its slow climb upwards. She began counting the numbers again as they incrreased above the elevator door, getting a little more anxious with every passing minute...

26...27...28...

Walski had unconsciously pulled that bokken out of wherever it came from and was running his thumb over it nervously, testing the edge. He also semed to be deep in thought, as if listening to someone in his head.

34...35...36...

Bradster was squinting yet again as he tried to read the numbers to see how far they had traveled up - however Laura could tell he was only doing so out of a way to keep his mind occupied with something other than what they were about to do. His flexing and unflexing of his bandaged arm seeemed to emphasize that.

41...42...43...

Rex was observing the Sebec symbols on the wall, and he had an expression on his face as if wondering how he had been thrust into this role, and if he was fit to carry it out. One of the most outspoken and wordy of the group, the closeness and urgency of their mission had silenced even him.

47...48...49...

Lori had her eyes closed, her brow furrowed as if trying to concentrate on something - what it was was beyond the scope of Laura's imagination. Laura wondered what was going through the mind of the quiet, reserved girl. She was usually unfrazzled by things, Laura thought.

51...52...53...

Finally, she came to Renee. Though Laura thought of her as loud, a little brash, and other things, she did have to admire the steely look she had on her face as she continued to stare forward at the doors. Now she knew Renee had a good motive for being here other than what they were doing, and it seemed that strengthened Renee's already strong resolve.

Laura stopped to think upon her own resolve, and the nature of their mission. Were they really near the end of their short, but incredibly dangerous and difficult journey? Not a couple of days ago she was an ordinary college student. Now...things were different. Laura wondered, despite her awareness of her own power acquired from some manifestation of Ranma, whether or not everyone would have agreed to this if circumstances were different. Would six other individuals have been equally as good or even better than us? she thought to herself. Could I have done things better with these powers? Perhaps prevented others from being killed? Laura shook the questions from her mind with a physical shaking of her head. It doesn't matter, she thought again, sighing outwardly. We have to go through with this - there's nothing else to do.

The elevator stopped at 55, snapping her out of her own thoughts. The others seemed to get pushed back into the reality of the moment by the sudden stop of the elevator.

"These delays wear on my warrior's spirit," said Walski. He blinked, seeming to realize what he had just said, but then continued. "I hope it isn't another "empty" stop Because if it is-"

Walski never finished as the doors opened and a young man stumbled in, breathing hard. Blood ran down one side of his head as he bent over, wheezing from shortness of breath. Reaching out quickly to the "close" button, he pressed it, closing the doors shut behind him.

"Hey...you all right?" said Walski, reaching out a hand to touch the man.

The man jerked back from Walski's hand, a look of terror on his face. "Keep away! You're one of _them_, aren't you?"

"What?" Don't be silly," said Walski. "Now let us look at that wound and...."

"No! Stop!" Said the man, backing away from Walski. "They're killing them all..." he said, obviously on the point of hysterics.

"Who? Who are they killing?"

"The...those demon things! I thought they didn't exist but...they're killing all the workers and everyone in sight! I might be next...they...they ripped out my friend's throat..the claws..the claws.." the man gibbered on, his eyes wild.

Lori gasped. Bradster just shook his head, as did Rex. Renee blinked, then put a hand over her mouth.

"Oh no.." she said. "If the demons are killing their own workers here at Sebec then...my dad! We've got to get up to that floor and fast! Why isn't this thing moving?!" She pressed the button on her side of the elevator angrily.

"That's what I was about to say," observed Bradster. "We're not moving up.."

"You see?" the man said, backing up even further from the group. "It's all your fault..you're conspiring with them to have everyone killed...I know it..you lure them here and then-ack!" The man's speech was cut off suddenly as he clutched at his throat. Shocked, the group watched as the man desperately tried to breathe. The man croaked out a few noises, the skin on his neck seeming to constrict as if being pulled in by some force. Blood began to flow from the man's hand as he continued to violently struggle, but then, with a sickening crunch, the man went limp, his neck broken.Three claw marks suddenly appeared to slash across his throat, cutting it open. As the blood leaked out, it flowed over onto just in front of the man's body, where it seemed to run over an unseen shape. Seconds later, the now-familiar mini-demon materialized in front of the corpse, its hands still slicing the throat of the man open. Two of its companions appeared on either side. Fangs dripping, they turned to face the group, teeth chittering.

"Crap! How the hell did _those_ get in here?" said Walski, immediately placing himself in a kendoist's stance.

"Don't ask me..!" said Bradster, taking a fighter's stance as well. "Just get rid of them..!"

"Must have been when those doors opened on that empty floor!" shouted Rex as he placed his umbrella in his right hand, his Persona flaring up. "Something was very fishy about that and I knew it..."

"Not important right now." said Renee, a steely look in her eyes. "Let's just finish them..." She jumped forward, the blue column of light surrounding her already, the mallet of Akane in her hand..

Laura pulled her back. "Stop it, all of you! If we fight here, we'll damage the elevator and we won't be able to go up any farther..!" The demons, as if understanding the handicap of the group in close quarters, began to step forward, their claws beginning to secrete acid, burning small holes in the elevator floor.

To Persona Ranma, Chapter 6, pt. 3
Back to the Ranma 1/2 Library Fanfic Archive