Title: 1/2 Blessing, 1/2 Curse - Season 2 - 1?
Author: 3D Master
Feedback: 3d.masterchello.nl
Website: http/members.chello.nl/-jg.temolder1/
Rating: 17+WVES
Keywords: X-Over Ranma ½ / Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Action, Humor, Drama, AU.
Summary: Xander is in Nerima, and in Sunnydale Buffy and Willow remain.
Disclaimer: Buffy the Vampire Slayer and its characters do not belong to me, but to Joss Whedon and Mutant Enemy Productions. Ranma ½ belongs to Rumiko Takahashi.
----Part 1: Hi Nerima! Bye Nerima!----
Nerima
"Dang. I can't have inherited Ryoga's sense of direction," Xander muttered annoyed as he looked around, a garden wall to his left. He was wearing tight jeans and a white shirt, his jacket laying over his shoulder and large backpack. Central Tokyo had been confusing as hell, now in the Nerima district things should be easier . . . that is if everything didn't look alike and his reading of Japanese wasn't still somewhat lacking, and unlike Central Tokyo Nerima - not the tourist trap Central Tokyo was - did not have an alphabet translation on its signs.
He looked around for a bit, and then at his map. He turned the map around, and studied it confused. The map itself was English, thank god for that at least. He sighed in annoyance. He was pretty certain of the route he had taken, including all of the wrong ways, so he should be close by now . . . finally. A guy on a bicycle came around a corner, and decision made, Xander went to the edge of the pavement. "Excuse me! Can I ask you something?" Xander asked in Japanese - his spoke was much better than his written, although he still had a heavy accent.
The guy slowed down and stopped, getting off the saddle. "Certainly," the man spoke politely.
"I'm looking for the Tendo Dojo?" Xander asked the man.
"You're standing next to it," the man said, pointing at the wall. Xander looked surprised to his left, and the man finished, "The dojo entrance is around the corner behind you, the entrance to the house is around the corner in front of you."
"Thank you very much," Xander said, and gave the man a light bow, who returned the gesture. Then Xander turned to the two-and-a-half-meter-tall wall and jumped over it.
The man looked surprised, then grunted annoyed. As he cycled onward he muttered, "Damn, martial artists, no respect."
On the other side, Xander landed smoothly on the grass. Just in front of him was a pond, to the left a path, and a tree on the left of that one. Another tree was too the right of the pond. Behind the pond was a traditional Japanese house; sliding doors with white paper in front of it. The dirt path lead up to it, and crossed with another one that ran around the building, left and around to the dojo, right and around to the entrance of the house. The walls were yellowish, and the house had a slanted red-tiled roof.
Deciding not to waste time, Xander called out, "Ranma? Genma? You guys here?"
Instantly one of the sliding doors opened, and there was indeed Genma, built like a bear, in his white gi, and a protective cloth cap on his head. It was made of a clothe and tied in four corners to make it into a cap, the nots sticking out and visible. "XANDER! You are here!" Genma yelled enthused. Opposite Genma sat a lanky man in a brownish gi, which flowed down past his waist; a dark loose pants underneath it. The mans' hair was long past his shoulders and combed back. A thick mustache completed his rather good looks. He was studying the new arrival calmly.
"GENMA! THE FATHER I NEVER HAD!" Xander yelled happily, put his backpack down, and started running forward.
The man did the same and yelled, "The son I never had."
"POPS!" There was a red and green streak, and a moment later Genma was launched off of his feet, to land in the pond with a big splash. Xander had slowed down and looked surprised at the event. Ranma, red buttoned up shirt, green pants, Japanese shoes, black hair and a single braided pig-tail running from the back of his head to just below his shoulder blades stood there with a scowl and his hands folded across his chest. "What am I? Chopped chicken?" Ranma said with some anger, as behind the man in the house arrived two girls. One with short brown hair, and another in a flowing dress with a brown ponytail tied with a red ribbon. Her hands and head were politely downward.
As behind Ranma arrived a short-statured, but powerful-looking beauty with short black hair and wide surprised eyes, Xander told his friend, "Ranma, I'm certain your father meant a second son, a brother for you he never had." Ranma grumbled.
The pond water broke with a splash, and a panda rose from it. "Growf," it said, and held up a sign, on which was written: 'What Xander said.'
"Genma!" Xander called, and as the panda got out of the water, Xander rushed over and enveloped the panda in a hug, who returned it happily. Xander didn't care that he got wet on the wet fur at all. A moment later the panda shook himself and a spray of water was splashed around.
"Growf," Genma said, and held up a new sign, 'What a surprise! What are you doing here, Xander?'
"Huh? I'm spending my vacation here of course," Xander answered, and then broke in a grin, "You had me going there Genma."
"It would be nice to ask on beforehand," the short-haired brunette said coolly, adding, "we could negotiate compensation then."
"What are you talking about?" Xander asked confused and with a little annoyance, "I asked Ranma and he said it was fine for me to come over."
Everyone turned toward Ranma who calmly nodded his head and said, "Yes, been looking forward to it too. Only male friend I've got." Then he became aware of the looks remaining on him, and he thought about it, bringing one hand up to his chin, "I did ask, right? Everyone knows he's coming for weeks now?"
"Ranma-idiot!" the short-haired raven girl screamed and kicked out, right in Ranma's knee.
"OW!" Ranma yelled out, jumping up and down, "Akane! Stop that!" The girl smashed him powerfully over the head, while he held up his hands in a pitiful defense. "OW! I just forgot a little thing!"
Akane kicked him int he other leg, and yelled, "Idiot! I'll show you forget!" She grabbed him by the collar and smoothly threw him over her shoulder, over Xander, over Genma, and landed with a splash in the water.
Xander looked at the whole spectacle with wide eyes, while the rest looked bored. Girl-Ranma, now having red hair, rose from the water in annoyance, still feeling his aching body. "Wow, Ranma," Xander said with wonder, "you weren't exaggerating when you called her a intolerant, aggressive witch who needs anger-management therapy."
"WHAT?" The exclaim from the girl was the only warning Xander had to realize he made a big mistake. A moment later the girl's fist smashed into his chin and he was launched into the air, to land with a splash into the pound.
"Come on, Akane," the short-haired brunette remarked dryly, "you have to admit that's a pretty accurate description."
"NABIKI!" Akane gave a screech.
A moment late Lexa rose from the water, and felt her chin. "Ow, she's stronger than Buffy was before I started training her," Lexa said in a groaning way, her ample breasts now somewhat visible through the white, wet, clinging shirt.
Ranma chuckled and said, "Hey, with any luck, with you around, I'll suffer only half of the usual abuse."
"Ranma, you idiot!" Akane screamed again, and then growled. "OOOH!" she grunted and with her fist clenched alongside her body, stomped into the house past the second man and the two girls.
The two girls got out of the water and tried futilely to dry off for a moment. "Xander, let me introduce you to the others living here," Ranma said with a smile, happy his friend was here.
"Lexa," Lexa corrected with a smile as the two walked over to the remaining Tendos. Ranma looked at him. "When I'm a girl, I go by Lexa," Xander clarified with a grin.
"Why?" Ranma asked as the Panda joined up behind the two, managing to smile somehow.
"Because Xander isn't a girl's name?" Xander asked in a 'duh' manner.
"Sensible, unlike stupid over here," Nabiki commented coolly.
"It does seem prudent," the man said, agreeing with his daughter.
"You don't have a name for your girl-persona?" Xander asked slightly confused.
"Lexa, let me introduce to you, Tendo Soun, head of the Tendo family, and owner of the Tendo Dojo of 'Anything Goes' Martial Arts," Ranma said formerly. "Soun-san, this is Xander 'Lexa' Harris."
Lexa took a slight bow, and said, "An honor to meet you, Soun-san. I'm in your debt for letting me spend my vacation here. I shall repay the favor if you ever come to my humble home in Sunnydale."
"A pleasure to meet you, Lexa-san, my home is your home for the duration of your stay," Soun said with his own slight bow, while Nabiki rolled her eyes.
"This is Nabiki," Ranma said casually, while looking suspiciously at the usually devious brunette.
"A pleasure," Lexa said taking another slight bow. The brunette regarded the gesture with a dry look, not even bothering to remove the arms from her chest, let alone bother stop leaning back against the frame.
The girl's right eyebrow rose as she regarded Lexa straightening up, and she asked, "Which one of you is the smartest? You or Ranma?"
"Huh?" Lexa answered brilliantly confused.
"As I thought," Nabiki smiled, nodded, then turned and walked into the house, thinking, -This guy is going to be easier to clean out than Ranma.-
Lexa shook herself from her confusion and before Ranma could say anything, she turned to the last girl, and said, "Then you must be Kasumi, the nicest girl and best cook in the world according to Ranma's letters. I'm Lexa - Xander."
"Oh, uh," Kasumi blurted out, blushing and looking down with humility. "I try," she said and then quickly she said, "Food is cooking." She turned around and walked away embarrassedly just as quickly as she arrived.
"Ah, well, introductions are over, come in," Tendo spoke with a smile.
"Growf," Genma grumbled and nodded his Panda head twice.
"Let me get my backpack first," Lexa said, and quickly dashed back to get her giant luggage backpack.
When she returned girl-Ranma told her, looking at the see-through shirt, "You're lucky the old pervert is out, probably on one of his underwear raids."
"Underwear raids?" Lexa asked confused.
"You'll find out soon enough," Ranma said, and led Lexa inside to find him/her a place to sleep.
-----
Sunnydale
Buffy and Willow and came out of the hospital. They were silent, walking forward almost like they were zombies. "I'm bored," Buffy commented finally, snapping both of them out of their trance.
"Yeah, me too," Willow replied, then shook her head to shake her drowsiness, "Giles is great as a researcher and at telling us how to kill evil things, but in a hospital room - not the best of company."
"Poor Jenny," Buffy said in sympathy, then looked over at Willow, "She's with him much longer than our little visits."
"Yeah . . ." Willow said, the two of them turning right onto the pavement, "perhaps the testosterone she induces makes him more Ripperish."
"Huh?"
"Girlfriend make Giles go caveman?" Willow clarified with a wry smile, started to suspect more often than not Buffy just said 'huh' for the heck of every word longer than two syllables, even when she perfectly understood it. It was kinda cute, and probably why she did it.
"Oh, right," Buffy answered, nodding. "Sometimes Giles could do with being a little less Watchery, and a little more Rippery, not much, just a smidgeon."
Willow turned her head and regarded Buffy for a short while as they walked along, "Undoubtedly the next evil thing we have to defeat is a magically made full on Ripper Giles."
"Ack!" Buffy exclaimed in horror. "I need fun, something to kick start my brain now before I jinx us all to kingdom come. Ah, there I go again!"
Willow laughed, and Buffy enjoyed the sound. The witch then told her, "Well, we're free. We already did our training, so we can go anywhere we want to."
"Bronze," both of them said the same time, nodding at each other.
-----
The music blasted through the small hall. On a Monday incredibly, but then, it /was/ vacation. Disco lights flashed, and in the middle were Buffy and Willow dancing to their hearts' content. Willow was in tight, dark-brown leather pants, that hugged her figure perfectly. Her tummy was bare and a short-sleeved green top was above it; her red hair contrasting nicely with the dark green. Buffy in contrast was in a short, pleaded skirt, and a white blouse. The two swung back and forth, and regularly rode up against each other, letting their breasts move up the other's torso. Not too surprisingly, there was a whole horde of guys dancing around them, salivating at the two girls having fun.
Buffy looked over her right shoulder, her head only barely moved, the rest was done by her eyes. A seductive smile and seductive look in the corner of her eyes, had the guy of her attention practically cream his pants. She smirked and let Willow pull her closer, the redhead's hands on the small of her back, slowly going down to her barely-covered ass. "God, it's fun toying around with hormonal guys' attractions," Buffy whispered loudly in Willow's air, the place of her head making it look on one side that she was kissing Willow.
The witch in training grinned, and returned the whisper, "Yeah, all the heartache of every girl after Xander is worth being taught this."
They broke apart again, and pulled a few boys to themselves, dancing with them around them. Girls around the Bronze who were left in the dust were looking pissed. A few with arms folded across their chest, knowing that two teases would soon quit, and it was time for some payback on their dates.
A little later the band took a break, and there were disappointed sounds. Willow grabbed Buffy by her right hand and pulled her off the dance floor to their table, looking back at the blonde and smiling naughtily. Buffy laughed, when she heard the even more disappointed sounds from the boys. Soon they sat down at their table, Willow raising her legs and laying them out on another stool, covering it, and making it impossible for anyone to join them.
Sitting down, Buffy admired the leather pants. "You look so good in leather, Will, I'm almost jealous. I didn't know you could afford them," Buffy said with a wistful smile.
Willow's face broke in a wide smile, and said, "Yeah, filling in as librarian for a hospitalized Giles has its perks." To emphasize the item bought with the perks, Willow gently slapped her right thigh, making a light smacking sound, and then ran her hand a little down along he leather hugging her shapely leg. Willow looked back at Buffy and said, "I'm certain you'd look amazing in leather too, Buffy."
Buffy smiled, and looked down at her own naked legs, only partially covered by socks, heels, and a skirt. "You might be right," Buffy said with a light smile. They broke out in a little laughter. When Willow was sure all their dance partners had retreated to their own spots, she pulled her legs from the stool and turned to face Buffy. She placed her arms on the round table and leaned on them, looking Buffy who took the same position, both leaning forward for some more intimacy. "Can you imagine us doing this last year, talking like this?" Buffy asked the redhead.
Willow laughed, and shook her head. "No, the best we'd manage is me pining over Xander not noticing you, and you pining over either Slayer troubles, vampire-Slayer-relationship troubles, or both."
Buffy chuckled, and answered, "Yeah . . . well, unless it's you pining over Xander sitting right next to you pining over me."
"Probably doing what we were just doing," Willow agreed with a grin.
"Nah, I wouldn't do that to you guys," Buffy said with a grin, and then pouted, "Well, unless I was trying to make Angel jealous. I remember when Lexa just got here, I was looking around hoping for Angel to come in, so I could pull some random guy on the dance floor . . . and then Lexa and you stole the show. God, was I jealous. Seriously, I knew if Angel would come in at that moment, I didn't have to bother trying to make him jealous, his eyes would be glued to Lexa, whether I'd be joining you two on the dance floor or not."
Willow snickered, "Lexa is and was smoking that night - the day she changed my entire world view."
Their good mood went down at the memories, especially Buffy over Angel, shivering again as for a moment she remembered his clammy corpse body against hers. She smiled suddenly, determined not to get in a funk on this great night. She jumped off her stool, and said, "I'll get some drinks, dancing is dehydrating business." And off Buffy went, leaving a wide-eyed Willow.
A little while later Buffy returned, placing their drinks in front of them. She sat down and looked up, and became very much aware of Willow looking at her with an odd, triumphant smile. Buffy looked behind her, then back at Willow, and asked with a confused pout, "What?"
"I knew it," Willow said with a grin, "you're faking it."
"Huh?" Buffy added, totally confused now.
"Dehydrating business," Willow repeated Buffy's earlier words, "if you can say that correctly, 'testosterone' shouldn't be any trouble. You fake you huhs, and your confused looks."
"Not all of them," Buffy said indignantly.
Willow grinning widely, "Why?"
Buffy smiled and looked down, shaking her head. "I was really confused, no fakes at first. It was Giles' long foreign words that got to me most. Anyway, I noticed Xander perking up; I figured he liked the pout I give when I get confused. You obviously loved that you were smarter than I am, so I thought if it perks you both up, and all it takes is me being confused, why not fake it?" Willow looked with an astonished but happy smiling look at Buffy. Then Buffy leant even more forward, mysteriously, and beckoned Willow over. "Shh," Buffy said secretively, reeling Willow in, who was obviously all ears now. "But most of all, it annoys Giles, and it's fun annoying Giles. You can just see him think: 'Bloody American teenagers!'"
Willow blinked at Buffy continuing to grin at her, looking a little surprised. Then she burst out in laughter. Buffy chuckled happily along with her laughing friend, noticing how the redhead's long, flowing hair shook from side to side. "You're a bad, Buffy, bad," Willow said at last. They just sat in friendly silence for a bit, and then Willow said, "So, you wanna dance, or should we torment one specific guy?"
-----
Nerima
In the end they had decided that Xander would sleep in the room with Ranma and his father. They slept on a mattress and there was enough room for another one. Also there was enough shelf space for Xander to put his things, since Genma and Ranma, having traveled around all their lives didn't own much. So Xander unpacked his large backpack, and eventually came across some girl outfits, as well as panties and bras. Ranma who was standing next to him waiting, looked shocked.
"You've got bras and panties?" he exclaimed in shocked horror. "And skirts?"
Xander looked at him while putting his stuff away, and said, "I'm a girl half the time, of course I've got them."
"AARGH! You can't be serious, men don't wear that," Ranma exclaimed in horror.
"When I wear it, I'm not a man, I'm a woman," Xander said, grinning, having gone through something similar with Ryoga he was already aware what the problem was; Japanese sense of male honor.
"But, but . . . that's not real, that's a curse!" Ranma said in horror.
"Ranma, you got to stop thinking like that," Xander said sagely, "Do you know how many men and women out there would give to be able to be the other gender for a even short while? We can choose to be either whenever we want to!"
Ranma looked at him in shock, "That's just wrong. I'm a man, not a girl . . . it's just wrong!"
"Plus, in your case that's important, the less you have against being either state, the less the curse will mess with you," Xander said with a wide grin. "The more you have against one of your forms, the more the curse will actively try to get you in that form. Water will come from places it normally couldn't just to get change you."
Ranma's jaw dropped, as he tried to wrap his mind around it. There was no way he'd just enjoy being a girl, it seems that to beat the curse he had to embrace the very reason why he hated it. "That's . . . that's evil!"
"It's a curse, what did you expect?" Xander said with a smirk, filing away the last of his clothes. "You know, the best way to get you familiar with your feminine side; you fingered yourself yet."
"Ah? You're a pervert!" Ranma exclaimed instantly at the thought.
"Oh, please, it's my body, I get to do with it as I please," Xander told him smirk, audibly slamming the drawer of the small cabinet with drawers shut.
"That's just, that's just wrong! There's no way in hell . . ." Ranma paused as he saw Xander roll his eyes. "Okay, for giving me that picture you get your ass kicked. Let's go, Harris, we got some sparring to do, and see if you improved any."
-----
Xander and Ranma stood across from each other in the wooden dojo, Xander smiling lightly, Ranma smirking. In the entrance stood the Tendo family and Ranma's father.
Nabiki took the fight in, and turned to her family, "Anyone wants to bet Ranma loses?" They all turned to regard her. "Didn't think so, damn," she said, and leaned casually against the door frame.
"Prepare to get your ass kicked, Xander," Ranma said and then attacked rapidly. His open hand palm struck at Xander's chin, and Xander took a step back and deflected the blow with his right. A left got the same treatment, and Xander jumped up. Ranma followed, and his hands turned to a blur, saying, "Chestnuts roasting on an open fire!"
"Chestnuts roasting on an open fire!" echoed from Xander, his own hands turning into a blur parrying and blocking each of Ranma's. The last of the exchange had Xander's hands landing on the surprised Ranma's chest.
Xander landed smoothly, as did Ranma, the latter being thrown back, but somersault backward in the air to land. There was a surprised silence for a moment, and then Genma jumped in the air triumphantly, one fist raised, yelling, "That's my sons!"
"You never wrote your Amazon taught you that," Ranma said measuredly, taking in Xander, realizing this wasn't going to be as easy as he had thought. He was still going to win, he knew, having seen several flaws in Xander's technique, and he had allowed Xander to hit him by his surprise Xander knew the Chestnuts, not because Xander was better.
"Hey, gotta keep some secrets," Xander answered with a shrug.
A moment later they were fighting again. Xander deflected one of Ranma's punches, then ducked to avoid a roundhouse kick. He made a swipe for Ranma's standing leg at the same time, but one leg was enough for Ranma to jump back, somersault and land. A moment later he was in Xander's face again, throwing a punch. When Xander went to deflect it, Ranma grabbed Xander's arm, and slammed his remaining one in Xander's gut. He followed it up with a open-handed upper cut, and then twisted around, tossing Xander over his shoulder.
Xander slammed with a grunt on the hard wooden floor, but immediately kicked his right leg up and back, slamming it into Ranma's face who hadn't had time to back away because of Xander's quick reaction. As Ranma staggered back, Xander flipped back to his feet. He turned around right away, lifting his left leg in a swiping high kick. Ranma ducked underneath it, and took a step back, getting closer to the exit door leading to outside.
Xander decided to attack and made a rapid combination of punches, all of which Ranma avoided or blocked. Ranma looked deeply into Xander's eyes for a moment, giving Xander an opportunity. Xander kicked out rapidly, and caught Ranma square in his stomach, launching him backward, against the door which swung open, and then outside till he manage to land in the grass. Xander quickly followed Ranma out and jumped down the small decline of the foundation upon which the house and dojo was built. When Xander was out, the Tendos followed the two out to see.
Xander stood in the grass and saw the heavily breathing Ranma, feeling his tender stomach. Xander attacked again, rapidly, and Ranma was on the defensive. After a few seconds of this Xander backed off, looking at his friend. It seemed as if Ranma couldn't keep up with his speed and power. That couldn't be? Could it? Could training with a Slayer and Lotion and Ryoga as apposed to just alone with no equal have progressed him so much? Xander quickly squashed that thought; thinking like that would lead to an utter total humiliating defeat. Ranma had to be up to something, but what?
Xander grimaced, and attacked once more, harder this time, much harder. Continuing to fight was his only option; he had to look out for whatever Ranma had to be planning, and hope the extra speed and power he was pumping into the fight would keep Ranma from executing it. Multiple punches and kicks followed, and all Ranma did was block and back away, and he looked to be straining. A few even got through. And yet, there was nothing unusual, no sight of anything out of the ordinary. Except perhaps . . .?
Xander was right, but too late. There was one thing out of the ordinary: Ranma was backing away in perfect ever shrinking concentric circles. Now reaching the middle, he threw his fist up in an uppercut to mid-air, and shouted, "HIRYU SHOTEN HA!"
Instantly there was high-pitched roar, and a dragon made of pure energy, a head and a long tail, burst forth from the ground, high up into the air, it's snake-like body twisting rapidly around. At the same time a roaring powerful tornado burst forth from its body around the circles Ranma had moved. "WAH!" Xander screamed as he was picked up, and twirled around it like little leaf in a gale wind. Ranma himself was picked up as well, but smoothly navigated the currents. Not long after Xander was launched from the tornado with great force, screaming all the way. With a powerful smack he crashed into the garden tree, his stomach bashing into branches. The same thing happened to his head. "Argh, uuuh . . ." he groaned out, as the tornado lost power and dissipated. Ranma landed smoothly on the floor, grinning up at a totally dazed Xander. Xander groaned and reached for his head to steady it: big mistake. His body was no longer balanced and tipped off the branch. "Oh, shit!" Xander exclaimed as he fell down. His back slammed on a branch, making him groan in pain, then he tipped over, and fell further, crashing painfully on the ground.
"Aargh!" he exclaimed and stayed put for several seconds as Ranma walked over.
"You alright aren't you?" Xander's Japanese friend asked with a big smirk.
"What - argh - happened?" Xander asked, groaning all the way. Slowly he forced himself to his feet, being pulled along by Ranma, and groaning at the pains in his body.
"That was the Flying Dragon Wind," Ranma said with a big grin, "I used the hotness of your attacks, while I lowered the temperature of my chi to icy temperatures. Mixing them together in circles and using them both I can summon a dragon and form a tornado."
Xander looked at Ranma dumbfounded for several moments, while the Tendos and Genma came closer, Genma grinning proudly. "You /have/ to teach me!" Xander then exclaimed. "Ow!" he said, his sudden outburst making him ache once more.
"And what's in it for me?" Ranma asked folding his hands across his chest. He grinned, showing that he didn't really mean it.
Xander looked down and back. He leant and around the corner was the pond, surrounded by stones. "This," Xander said and walked over, Ranma following. When Xander reached a stone, he stabbed downward at it. His finger smoothly penetrated, and then the stone exploded. Xander smiled back at Ranma, and said, "You teach me that tornado, I teach you the Breaking Point technique."
Ranma looked with wide eyes at the event, the others arriving at the site. The Tendos and Genma recognized it easily, but before anyone of them could answer, Ranma realized, "YOU TAUGHT RYOGA THE CHESTNUTS TECHNIQUE!"
"In exchange for the Breaking Point, yep," Xander said nodding his head.
"You little bastard! Couldn't you have warned me!" Ranma called out angrily.
Xander grinned at Ranma, "What is it, Ranma? Don't tell me all Ryoga needed to defeat you was that little technique."
"Of course not," Ranma answered immediately, folding his arms across his chest, looking angrily at the absurd notion.
Akane decided to point out, "Of course, Ranma-idiot did get beaten up good before he finally defeated Ryoga."
"That was a lucrative day," Nabiki said with a smile, nodding at the memory.
Xander frowned at that for a moment, and then dismissed it with a shake of his hand, and asked Ranma, "So, we have a deal?"
"We have a deal," Ranma answered, smiling in anticipation. He then took a step forward as if to shake Xander's hand, and then with a quick motion tossed him into the pond. Ranma rubbed his hand back and forth, almost slapping, and grinned. Lexa rose from the water and looked up at Ranma with annoyance. "For not warning me," Ranma said.
"Making me wet?" Lexa asked, and shrugged her shoulders, stepping out. Casually she shook herself trying to get most of the water off. While the others looked rather surprised he had no qualms about being a girl, not a shred of anger.
-----
Xander blocked the punches and kicks that Ranma was throwing at him. He was going backward in circles. He was trying to feel and take a hold of Ranma's hot attacking chi. At the middle, he threw an uppercut, saying, "Hiryu Shoten Ha!"
Nothing happened. "We'll try again," Ranma said with a grin, "Your circles aren't round enough, and your chi has to remain cold. It kept going up to hot."
Off to the side Akane was angrily training herself: smashing to pieces several wooden boards at once. Then she got a new stack, and went again. She looked up for a moment at Ranma and Xander going at it heavily, and then haughtily return to smashing her boards. After two more smashes she grabbed her towel, wrapped it around her neck, and went to the exit. She reached it, turned to regard Xander and Ranma one last time, and muttered annoyed, "Men."
"Yes, and some mighty fine specimens indeed," Nabiki's cool voice sounded.
Akane jerked in surprise, turning her head to see Nabiki arrive, regarding her with a measured look. "Hm," Akane offered.
"Come now, Akane, even you have to see that physically they are very well endowed," Nabiki said with a cool smirk, letting her eyes glide over the two sweaty, training guys without shame. "If only they had the bank checks to match their physique, eh?"
"Nabiki, you . . . ugh," Akane grunted, and then moved passed her sister. Nabiki grinned, and continued to ogle Xander and Ranma for a bit longer.
Once again Xander failed to perform the Hiryu Shoten Ha.
-----
Night
In the cover of darkness, the barely four foot man snuck into room from outside. "Hmm," the old geezer whispered to himself, "let's see if Ranma is a girl tonight." He tiptoed over, and blinked when even in the darkness he could clearly count three heads attached to three forms. "Three?" he asked himself softly, and took a closer look. Dark hair, darker than Ranma's girl-form lay on a pillow, and he peered. She moved. Yes! It was a girl! As she turned a bit her face became more visible: luscious lips, lovely bone structure, magnificent nose - he wondered what her eyes looked like. Not as important, salivated he looked down, and manage to make out two lumps even in the darkness and the bed covers. His hands came forward, and he stopped himself. It was a Herculean effort, but a thought had struck his mind.
"Let's see if she has any underwear around first," he muttered and looked around. It didn't take him long to find the cabinet and try the drawers. One drawer: pants, shirts. Another drawer: male underwear. And another: female clothes. That left only one drawer: with a face full of anticipation the little man pulled out the drawer, which made creak and then looked inside over the edge. "Sweet jackpot!" he exclaimed with a croak at the sight of panties and bras. He quickly placed his hand over his mouth, and looked back to see if he had woken anyone. Then his maniacal grin returned and he grabbed some of the panties and stuffed them in the bag he had slung over one of his shoulders. "Ooh, sweet," he said softly.
"-Who the hell are you, and what the hell are you doing?-"
The old guy froze at the cold demand, and turned around. The new girl was sitting up, a pair of just about perfect sized and shaped breasts now above the covers. "Hey!" she suddenly exclaimed as a short stare had allowed her to identify some of the contents sticking out of the bag, and the panties in the old guy's hands. "Those are my bras and panties!"
The exclaim woke the two other occupants up, sitting up similarly, at the same time the old man launched forward. "SWEEEEET!" he screamed happily, latching onto Lexa's breast.
"WHAT THE? Aah, get off me!" Lexa raged.
Ranma next to her was now fully awake, "HAPPOSAI! YOU PERVERTED GEEZER, CAN'T YOU EVER LEARN?"
Ranma reached over rapidly, and Happosai jumped back with a happy laugh to avoid Ranma's grab, saying, "Too slow, Ranma!" Instead Ranma grabbed Lexa's left breast - he swallowed, usually this was where he got his ass kicked multiple ways.
"Don't you start too, Ranma!" Lexa exclaimed and pushed his hand away. Lexa was up instantly, and as she - clad only in a g-string - charged after the old geezer who was now out the door, she screamed, "You don't have to worry about Ranma, you piece of perverted shit! Give me back my underwear!"
The lights came on in the house, as the commotion woke up the rest as well. Laughing heartily Happosai ran around a corner toward the dining room and kitchen, Lexa yelling profanities right behind him. Behind her Ranma and Genma completed the train. In the light it was now easily to see that the old guy was wearing a purple gi, and a purple handkerchief tied around his head to obscure his identity. "Give it back, you dirty pipsqueak!" Lexa yelled.
"Finders keepers!" Happosai called back happily, reaching the stairs. Up above stood Soun - Akane and Kasumi somewhat sleepily behind him.
Nabiki rubbing her eyes just came out of her room, and muttered, "What's all the commotion?"
"STEALING IS NOT FINDING!" Lexa screamed, and Happosai stopped running. "CHESTNUTS ROASTING ON AN OPEN FIRE!" Lexa yelled, jumping forward with the devastating move.
Happosai almost casually retrieved a pipe from the insides of his gi-jacket with his free hand, and proceeded to smoothly block each hit and attempted grab for the underwear with the pipe. "Too slow," he said with a grin at Lexa's astonished look. A moment later the tobacco section of the pipe slammed into Lexa's stomach, making her double over. With a flick the pipe slammed in her chin and she was launched backward off her feet, moaning in pain.
"Ah, master!" Soun called in horror, as Lexa slammed into Ranma and Genma sending all three down.
"Oh, my," Kasumi said with mortification.
As Akane was growing angry at the old man, Nabiki yawned, and turned around. "Oh, it's just the old guy again, I'm going back to bed," she said, walking back into her room. "They should invest in better locks," she muttered, before closing and locking her door.
Happosai in the meantime was happily jumping up and down and turning to leave the house, saying, "Sweet panties, all mine."
"AARGH!" Lexa screamed in rage, jumping up from her downed position. "That's it you perverted old geezer, you are going down!"
Lexa charged Happosai who quickly ran out the door. "What Xander said, you bastard!" Ranma exclaimed quickly following the two, "You'll have to face both of us now!" Soun and his two daughters quickly came down the stairs, joining below with Genma and followed after the first three.
"Hey! Two against one isn't fair!" Happosai exclaimed outside in the garden.
"Especially if you're holding a bag of underwear with one hand, huh!" Ranma exclaimed as the two teens simply barreled at the much smaller old man. Happosai hesitated between protecting himself and his treasure of women's underwear, which became his undoing. Lexa slammed into him, sending him flying back, while Ranma grabbed the bag and pulled it away.
"Give me that, Ranma, I want my underwear back," Lexa said pissed off, grabbing the bag and pulling it to her.
She pulled out her underwear, as Happosai slowly got up, whimpering. He felt his ass, which is what he landed up, gave a wail, and then his demeanor changed. "THAT'S IT!" the old guy screeched angrily, face twisted in rage, and a moment later among dangerous lightning flashes a giant Happosai of pure chi energy toward above him and the house. "NOBODY MESSES WITH MY UNDERWEAR COLLECTION! FOR THIS YOU WILL PAY!"
"It's /not/your/ underwear, you perverted bastard! It's /my/ underwear!" Lexa yelled back angrily, going through the bag to see if there was more of her.
"You will feel the wrath of my most dangerous, and deadly attack for this: the Happosai Fireburst!" Happosai exclaimed angrily, his battle aura shrinking back down, while an unholy gleam glimmered in his eyes.
"Oh, no, master, please don't!" Soun Tendo exclaimed in horror. Akane took a step back, swallowing.
Genma sank to his knees, calling, "Not that. Oh, of horrors, don't!" Even Ranma took a an involuntary step back at the implication.
"Oh, my, this isn't good, is it?" Kasumi said gently, brining her hand up to her chin to signify her apprehension.
Lexa though, just put her underwear on the ground, went into a fighting stance, and yelled, "Bring it on, old man, show me what you've got so I can kick your ass properly!"
"Oh, no, don't say that!" Genma said cowering.
"You little insolent brat!" Happosai exclaimed, and pulled from his gi-jacket a round ball, with now a sizzling fuse.
Lexa looked confused for a moment, and she said, "That's not an attack. That's a bomb!" Happosai giggled evilly, and then tossed the bomb. "A bomb!" Lexa exclaimed and dove to the side, as did Ranma, the Tendos and Genma ducked and put their arms protectively in front of them. The bomb exploded where they had been, sending the underwear flying everywhere. Enough of the explosion sent both Lexa and Ranma tumbling, the shockwave hurting them.
"Oh, no! My precious!" Happosai said in horror, watching both singed, destroyed and intact underwear floating through the air everywhere.
Lexa got back up, as did Ranma. "Son of a . . . that old geezer," Ranma said to himself, in no mood to become a target for more bombs.
Lexa was only more pissed off, yelling, "You little, perverted chickenshit. You threw a fucking bomb at us! A bomb!"
Happosai turned to Lexa, and his face twitched, "You made me hurt my precious! Feel my wrath!" More bombs were tossed toward Lexa, who jumped back afraid. One explosion followed another as Lexa jumped aside and was tossed about.
"Stop, you nutcase!" she called out genuinely afraid, and rightfully so. "You're crazy!"
After a few more bombs, Happosai stopped, and with an maniacal grin, he asked, "So, you're going to apologize to me now? I demand an apology!" She was in front of the door again with the cowering Tendos, and a weary Ranma close by her, Happosai now more to the right of his former position.
"Oh, master, oh, master!" Soun Tendo and Genma groveled going toward the perverted old man. "Please stop, before you bombs hit the house!"
Lexa still looked a little afraid at the old man, ready to light another. The she hardened, rising up slowly and dangerously, she said in a low growl, "That's it. Two can play this game!" Lexa then bolted into the house, blowing past an astonished Akane and Kasumi.
Happosai blinked, as everyone looked at the door where Lexa had disappeared from sight in dumbfoundment. "Two can play this game? What does he mean, Saotome?" Soun asked Genma, who shrugged. Happosai took two steps forward, surprised at the reaction, and Ranma stayed put with wide eyes.
From inside came Lexa's voice, yelling, "Mr. Tendo, I pay you back for the ingredients!"
"Ingredients?" Ranma asked.
"She went toward the washing room, I don't know what she wants there," Kasumi observed helpfully.
"Washing room?" Genma muttered.
Ranma then remembered one of Xander's letters; his eyes widened and he muttered, "He can't be serious. . ." Happosai's eyes went wide, coming toward a similar realization, obviously having some knowledge of explosives. Slowly he started to tiptoe toward the wall, knowing when not to stick around.
"-Oh, Happosai!-"
Happosai froze and turned around, and saw the naked Lexa - barring her g-string and straps of a backpack - stand there with a grin as evil as his own. For a moment he thought about charging the vision of beauty and molest her again, but then he became aware of the small bag landing with a crunching sound on her outstretched hand. She had tossed it in the air earlier, and had been invisible - apart from the sizzling, burning fuse which landed smoothly straight up without her even looking at it - because it was dark - a part of a garbage bag. Everyone else looked with shock at Lexa, and before they could say anything, she called out, "I call it the Xander Starburst Special! EAT THIS!"
She tossed her bag, and Happosai jumped up and back in fear, easily flying over the surrounding wall - which was incidentally what the bag crashed into. There was a mighty explosion, and the wall was sprung apart, forming a three meter wide wall at the base, and a five meter one at the top; the remaining wall edges now diagonal, a few chunks falling down.
"My wall," Soun muttered close to crying.
"Why you!" Happosai exclaimed, and tossed one of his own bombs down, a bigger one this time. With a roar of anger Lexa jumped forward, and batted the bomb off to the left. It landed at the base of the tree near the pond, and exploded, sending wood of the trees base flying everywhere. A moment later it noisily toppled over.
"My tree!" Soun now cried out, while the rest just looked on in shock . . .
Except Lexa and Happosai. "GET BACK HERE, OLD MAN!" Lexa yelled, tossing the next bomb. Happosai jumped high again, and a following explosion later the neighbors' wooden fence was all but shredded, a much, much bigger destruction than the stone wall.
"You, brat!" Happosai called back, and another bomb was tossed. Lexa avoided it, and it flew onward, exploding in the Tendos' house, sending part of the roof flying, and collapsing one section of the wall.
"My house!" Soun now wailed out. Akane and Kasumi quickly walked outside, since the destruction was close by and they didn't want to get buried in case their part came tumbling down next.
Ranma, Genma, and the Tendos were in silent shock, except Kasumi, who said nicely, "Oh, my." Behind them more explosions sounded and they walked to the hole in the wall, except Soun, who came crawling in defeat.
There they were: Happosai and Lexa jumping high and other reactions to avoid bombs, while they tossed them back and forth. The neighborhood, a suburb with lovely houses, and mostly small gardens surrounded almost exclusively by wooden fences was being laid to waste by explosions. Lights were flicked on in most houses by people coming to see what was going on. Fences were blown apart, the middle part of a tree was completely destroyed before the top came tumbling down. All this amidst yells of, "OLD BASTARD!" "BRAD!" "HOLD STILL, PERVERTED GEEZER!" "YOU DO THAT, FRIGID BITCH!" "I'M NAKED, AND YOU CALL ME FRIGID, DECREPIT STALKER!"
Eventually Happosai stood on the house at the far end of the small street the two had moved along bringing destruction everywhere, while Lexa was standing down in the garden. Apart from smudges neither were harmed. "What's the matter old man, out of bombs?" Lexa called up, chuckling evilly while reaching back in her backpack. Her chuckles and her grin faded.
"I see I'm not the only one," Happosai said with a grin.
Just as the battle was about to continue, the sounds of police sirens drew Lexa away from the old man. She turned around to see a police car screeching to a halt a little bit away. "SWEET!" Happosai exclaimed, having jumped down and now attacked to Lexa's breasts once again.
"AAAH!" The scream was all Lexa had time for before the small, old pervert was back up at the roof and jumped to the next one, making his getaway laughing all the way. Lexa made a fist, and hissed mad as hell, "That little . . ."
"FREEZE!"
Lexa grumbled and turned around to regard the police officers who were pointing their guns at her across their opened doors. "Oh, uh, high their officers, you probably to know why I helped cause all this destruction huh?" Lexa said with a big disarming grin, and now took the time to /really/ see the destruction. Blackened craters everywhere, destroyed fences, several destroyed, garden, kids' playing appliances, a few destroyed roofs, and two, not counting the Tendos', destroyed fronts of houses, along with several fires. "Yikes," Lexa muttered. She took a small step back, and said, "You so the guy, assaulting my breasts right? Well, he assaulted me before, stole my underwear too, given the size of his bag, you have to know about a pervert stealing underwear all around Tokyo, right?"
"Uh, yes, well, but . . ." the dumbfounded cop on the driver side said, feeling horrible about pulling guns on such a sweet, super hot, and all but naked girl. All but naked, his brain frying up, think! The other cop couldn't even get anything out of his mouth, he just stared disbelieving at naked girl, and the destruction around her - which was really only a tiny fraction of the total destruction right behind him.
"You see! When I went after him, he started tossing bombs at me, so I had to defend myself, and put some bombs of myself together, all self-defense you see? What's a poor, defenseless, naked girl with no more underwear to do when attacked by a pervert, hmm? You don't think I can be faulted for this then, can you?" Lexa asked sweetly, playing the poor, defenseless girl-part to the hilt.
"Ah, well I suppose n- . . ." the cop stated.
"In that case, I might as well leave. Thank you, officers!" Lexa said, giving them a good-bye wave. Then she jumped up on the house roof, jumped to the next roof, then another and was out of sight.
"Impossible," the second cop finally managed to say, looking up after her.
"I still don't believe this," the other muttered still in shock.
The other with all the effort he could muster manage to turn his head to his partner, and said, "I guess now we know why we rookies were sent here, huh?"
The other cop looked around him, remembering the two figures jumping impossibly high around and tossing bombs at each other. Bombs! Thus causing all the devastation. The place was in ruins, and some people were coming out of their houses, still too disbelieving to cry or be angry; most of them had barely noticed what it was that had happened. The cop nodded and muttered, "How are we going to explain this? We write this up, the department shrink is going to send us to a mental institution."
After a few moments of silence the other asked, "Gas explosions?" The turned to look at him, as if to ask, 'Lie?' The other one added, "Means insurance also covers their damage, no need to make all these people suffer even more under that perverted freak."
"Good idea," the officers said and quickly got back in the car. He pulled his radio, and said, "Uh, dispatch, get firefighters to the Nerima district; we've had multiple gas explosions . . ."
Back at the Tendos house, several people stood in the hole, looking around. "I don't believe it," Akane muttered, taking in the devastation.
"Damn," Ranma muttered and then grinned evilly, "I like it, I only wish one of those bombs had hit that old bastard. He almost got some of his own medicine."
"Oh, my," Kasumi gave her usual, gentle statement of shock.
"SAOTOME! This is all your fault!" Soun exclaimed turning to Ranma's father and pointed accusingly at him.
"My fault? How is this my fault, Tendo!" Genma returned instantly.
"Because you trained the boy, if you hadn't, he wouldn't have been here!" Tendo replied instantly.
"And what about the master, hm?" Genma questioned his old friend once again.
"I accuse him, he'd beat me up before blowing me up!" Soun offered right away. Ranma and Akane groaned at that and rolled their eyes.
Genma squared his shoulders, and said, "Well, why don't you just blame the boy!"
Soun stopped short of his arguments for a moment, looked up to consider and then said, "That could work, friend-Genma."
Akane and Ranma rolled their eyes again, and the first said, "In case you haven't paid attention, /dad/, the 'boy' might very well decide to blow you up just as easily as Happosai can."
Soun's eyes widened again as he realized his daughter was right, and then he pointed at Genma, saying, "I knew it! This is all your fault, Saotome!"
Ranma and Akane lifted their hands to the sky in despair, and Ranma said, "Bunch of cowards." Then the two of them stalked back toward the partially destroyed house. Kasumi joined them a moment later rather flustered, leaving Genma and Soun to argue.
Up in the second floor, Nabiki was leaning on her window sill, her window open. She looked over the devastation, thinking of the two throwing bombs at each other. "Wow. If I had known this, I could have made a pile . . . I could have made piles. Oh, well, you win some, you don't win some," she said, shrugging her shoulders. She went back inside, sliding the window shut, locking it, and then casually put the camera on her night stand. With a smirk she said, "That should fetch a pretty penny anyway though." Then she casually went back to bed.
-----
Lexa returned several minutes later, looking at the strewn about underwear, and quickly finding his own was all but destroyed. "Damn it, I'm going to have to buy new ones," she muttered to herself. "That god damned, old geezer."
-----
Sunnydale
"I'll get it, mom!" Buffy called, and hurried over to the door. Willow remained patiently on the couch in the living room. She opened the door, and said, "Oh, hi, Cordelia. Hi, Oz."
"Hello, Buffy," Cordelia said, and Oz gave a grunt.
She stepped back, and the two of them took the unsaid invitation. "Hey, guys," Willow greeted from her position on the couch.
"Hello, Willow," Cordelia greeted and Oz gave a nod that Willow correctly interpreted as a greeting.
"What's up?" Buffy asked as she entered the living room behind them.
"My mom is determined to drag me on her business trip for two days. Something about it being good for my education," Cordelia explained casually, "and you know what tonight is."
Willow nodded and answered, "Last day of Oz's three day cycle; day after full moon."
"Exactly," Cordelia said, nodding and glad Willow was up to date, "that means that since I'm not there to keep OzWolf in his place - sorry, Oz . . ."
"No problem," Oz answered calmly.
". . . he's going to be all grrr, and I need someone to Ozsit for me," Cordelia went onward and turned to Buffy. "Since you're the big bad Slayer around here Buffy, I was thinking of you."
"Oh . . . sure," Buffy answered the cheerleader captain.
"Good, now for the very same reasons I've managed to convince my mother that it would be good to get a trial run at living alone, which means I've annexed the Chase Estate garden house," Cordelia explained, and pulled out a key and a keycard. She was about to continue, but then asked, "You know the address, right?"
"Of course, the huge building, who doesn't know where that is?" Buffy asked somewhat annoyed.
Cordelia looked at Buffy suspiciously and then handed out the key and the keycard. She explained, "The keycard is for the gate, the key for the garden house. I've set up a cage for Oz, and he has a key and keycard too, so he'll be there on time. There's drinks, chips, tv, DVD-player so you can rent DVDs if you want too - if the rental rents them finally that is - there's a VCR if it doesn't, and dad's playstation with some games. You can make yourself at home. Oz's steak is in the refrigerator, eating something calms him down."
"DVD?" Buffy asked with a confused pout.
"Basically CD for movies, Buffy," Willow explained quickly.
"Why don't they just use CDs for movies?" Buffy asked trying to figure it out.
"Because they're not big enough," Cordelia answered with a little annoyance.
"Oh, so they're really big then?" Buffy asked, holding her hands apart.
Cordelia sighed a long suffering sigh, and said, "No, they're just as big as CDs, just a little thicker, what I meant was, that it has more storage capacity!"
"Well, /excuse/ me for not being Miss Technology," Buffy replied, making Cordelia grumble with annoyance. Then she asked her, "Can I bring Willow?"
"Of course you can bring Willow!" Cordelia exclaimed, raising her hands in the air with frustration. "I'm starting to wonder if I shouldn't have asked someone else," she added in an almost hiss.
"She'll do fine, Cor," Oz said, calming Cordelia down some.
Buffy turned to Willow and asked, "Wanna come along, Willow?"
"Sure. A nice night of chick flicks as Xander calls it sounds like fun," Willow answered with a smile.
"Great, we'll be there," Buffy told the cheerleader and her werewolf.
"Good, then I can get out of this place," Cordelia answered and beckoned for Oz, who got up out of the couch and quickly followed Cordelia. Buffy went over and held the door open for them. They left.
Buffy turned around and saw Willow smiling. She raised her eyebrows at her. "You were faking it from big onward," Willow accused, repeating the size-gesture of Buffy with her hands.
Buffy smiled, and said, "Did you see her face? Almost as good as Giles." Willow giggled.
"So, uhm . . . what's the Chase address?" Buffy asked Willow a little embarrassed. Willow looked dumbfounded, and after peering, and realizing Buffy wasn't faking it this time, she went back to laughing.
-----
That night, along wit two rented video tapes, several bags of M&Ms and chocolate bars along just to be certain, the two girls were standing in Cordelia's little pad. They looked around in wonder. It had two stories, a stairs on the right leading to the second floor. They started just beyond the glass doors that lead to the pool. There was a book case at the far side, a table, a couch, and a bit entertainment center in the middle. To the left a bit beyond the small table was higher dinner table. Directly beyond it, close to the left corner was a door, that Buffy and Willow would later find to lead to the kitchen. Under the stairs was another door, which lead to the washing room. Against the left wall was a large cupboard, through the small glass windows in its doors, glasses and other table necessities were visible. The Next to the entertainment center set up, stood a small stand, in which, they later would find, the games and CDs were stored. Half-way the left wall was a corner, making the left side beyond it a little wider. The steel cage, some two meters high, was in that corner. "Jesus," Buffy said, looking around.
"Yeah, I think it's bigger than my parents' house, and this is just a garden house," Willow said with equal wide eyes.
"Ah, you're already here."
"DA!" both girls exclaimed, and jumped around with the shock. They regarded the just arrived Oz, who raised two eyebrows and formed a tiny smile, which was his equivalent of a belly laugh. "You scared us!" Buffy said the obvious.
"Sorry," he said, with just a hint of a smile. He walked over to the cage as the girls started settling in on the couch, Willow inspecting the entertainment set. He went inside, and slammed the door shut, making it fall in lock. "Ah," Oz said, drawing the girls' attention.
"Right," Buffy said and came over, testing the key of the cage for a moment, and then pulled it out. She took a few steps back, and Willow joined.
"Actually, in order to keep me from tearing apart my clothes and being without them in the morning, I take my clothes off before the transformation," Oz explained what he really had drawn their attention for.
"Sure, go right ahead," Willow said cheerily, and stayed put as Buffy turned around. The Slayer quickly grabbed the redhead's arm and pulled her around. "Oh, right, sorry."
A little while later Oz voice was replaced with angry growling. Willow and Buffy turned back around and the wolf lunged forward, crashing deliberately against the steel cage, rattling it, and growling at the girls. "I'll go get his steak, because he can use some calming down," Buffy muttered taking in the angry wolf.
"Yeah, hey, Ozzie," Willow said, waving happily at the wolf, who slammed against the cage again for it. Willow yanked back, and said, "Yikes."
"Which do you think is the kitchen?" Buffy asked her friend.
"Try 'em all, I'll set up the movies," Willow said happily.
-----
With OzWolf happy now that his belly was full of meat, Buffy and Willow could watch their movies in peace. The two were huddled together on the couch, sniffling, and crying. On the screen an old woman reached a railing and dropped a ring over it, falling into the water and sinking.
"Oh, god!" Buffy whimpered, as the credits started to play. "Titanic is /so/ sad!"
"Uhuh," Willow agreed, wiping away tears. They looked at each other and hugged. "Oh, I needed that," Willow added, feeling relieved after all the crying the movie had installed.
Buffy nodded. "Good thing we hired a comedy for the second one, I don't think I could handle another one of those," Buffy whimpered, enjoying the hug with her best friend.
"Yeah," Willow agreed. A bell rang, and the two looked up. "Pizza is here," Willow said with a smile. "We timed it perfectly."
"Great; I'll rewind, you get the food," Buffy smiled broadly, reaching over to the remote.
Willow smiled and got up, running toward the door. "You just don't want to pay," Willow accused the Slayer.
Willow went out the door and to the main gate. There she got the pizza and returned. Buffy was just reaching down to get the tape. Willow put the pizza on the table and opened it up. "Hmm, smells good," Willow said with a smile.
"I know," Buffy answered and put in the following movie. "I wish Xander was here. I remember us three going to the theater to watch it, that was just before the master. We had fun then didn't we?"
"Yeah, us three together guarantees loads of fun," Willow answered, remembering their little trip to the theater.
"Now we're stuck here, and he's off having fun in Japan . . . Shouldn't he have taken us along? Three friends on vacation?" Buffy asked her friend with a thoughtful look.
"Yeah, exactly! 'Cause friends go on vacation all the time? Why couldn't we come along?" Willow agreed, getting caught up in the emotion.
"Because we're /girl/ friends, and /girl/ friends can't understand boys, so they couldn't /possibly/ have as much fun together as two boys," Buffy mocked a pre-teen boy.
"Exactly! We could /so/ have a lot of fun there, especially with his friend around. Nice even four, who knows, you might like him, he you, and then we could have double dated!" Willow reflected the mounting emotion and argument back to Buffy smoothly.
"We should prepare a punishment for him not taking us along," Buffy said quickly, the unholy fire of a slighted woman in her eyes.
"Exactly! Not talk to him for a week, or something, or date other guys when he gets back, or something even worse," Willow returned, nodding her head vigorously.
They looked each other in the eyes for a few moments, then deflated. Buffy closed her eyes, and shaking her head she complained, "God, are we pathetic or what?"
"Definitely, just push 'play' quickly," Willow replied, feeling really down now, then remembered the pizza and perked up a bit.
-----
Deep in the night
"Yeah, take that, bitch, you're going down now!" Buffy exclaimed, pushing the buttons on the controller furiously. On the screen one three dimensional male fighter was fighting a female fighter, who was at the moment on the receiving end of some severe punishment. "There ya go! There ya go! Now it's grim reaper ti- . . .!" There was a snick, and the male fighter was no longer fighting. The female fighter rapidly took over with a devastating combo. "Ah, oh, noo!" Buffy exclaimed looking down . . . at a broken in half control.
"Die, Buffy! Getting your butt kicked now, huh! See, nerd trained finger dexterity is better than Slayer fingers any day! Woo- . . . oh!" Willow said, trailing off as looking triumphantly at Buffy, and noticed the broken controller. Buffy was pouting helplessly. "Okay, no more action games for the super-strength enhanced girl," Willow said nervously.
"Cordelia is going to hate me, isn't she?" Buffy asked with eyes angled down sadly.
"Well, no . . . I don't think so . . . I mean, I didn't feel like she cared much for the Playstation. It sounded like it just came with the garden house," Willow soothed her best friend.
"I'm so stupid," Buffy muttered and got up, walking toward the machine, obviously determined to put the controller back and the machine out.
"No, you're not, it was an accident that has nothing to do with how big your brain is," Willow said and put her controller on the table.
"Yeah, well," Buffy muttered putting it away. When she was done she saw Willow sitting there rather lifelessly and then she yawned widely. "You can go to sleep, you know? Slayer here, don't need as much sleep, I can stay awake easily. And OzWolf doesn't seem to be any trouble; again Slayer, and the tranquilizer gun is more than enough."
Willow looked up drowsily, and then shook her head, "No, just get me a few cups of very strong, black coffee and I'm good to go for a few more hours."
"Okay, if you're sure," Buffy said, and Willow nodded. The Slayer then went to the kitchen and went to make the coffee.
"Don't worry, Buffy! You can't screw up, now you /have/ to make the coffee much too strong!" Willow called after her friend with a tired smile.
"Ha! Ha!" Buffy called back. A short time later sounds of the coffee maker came from the kitchen, and Buffy returned to the living room. She sat down in a chair diagonally opposite from Willow on the couch, and smiled completely fresh at Buffy.
"Sometimes I really envy you," Willow said, shaking her head at her own expense.
"Huh?" Buffy said and then inspected herself. Her eyes widened when she figured it out a moment later, and said, "Oh, the Slayer lack of needing sleep. Yeah, it has its perks."
Willow forced herself to sit up straight, shaking her sleep from her. Hands folded in front of her, arms leaning on her legs, she asked deeply interested, "Does that mean it has not so good stuff too?"
"Yeah, a few," Buffy answered, wanting to evade the question for a moment, but then answered with a grateful smile, "the nights lying fully awake at night staring at the ceiling. Not bad for me during the day as with normal people, but the nights itself are boring and annoying."
"Oh . . . I guess with your mother knowing about you, you might as well go watch tv or something. You don't /have/ to lie in bed doing nothing," Willow suggested helpfully.
Buffy shook her head, and said, "Would wake mom."
"Read a book," Willow returned smoothly, rather awake now, interested in her friend's welfare.
"That . . . wouldn't help with the other thing," Buffy said, looking away a bit, embarrassed, or perhaps even ashamed, Willow recognized.
"What other thing?" Willow asked lightly, looking at Buffy intently.
"Sometimes, not always, at night, I have this urge to go out and find something to kill," Buffy confessed, and looked at Willow with apprehension.
"Really?" Willow answered excited, eyes shining. "I always thought you were just like me, but just with more strength, speed, stamina, healing, aggression, and less need for sleep - but you actually get the urge to what . . . hunt? You're a predator?" Buffy looked down. "Hey, that's not a bad thing or anything, Buffy."
"It's not?" Buffy asked a little surprised.
"Of course not . . . well, it's demons that you have the urge to kill right? N-not humans, like me, or anything, right?" Willow asked her a little uncertain.
"Just demons," Buffy quickly reassured.
"Great! I suppose I should have realized; Slayers kill demons, Slayers need to hunt demons. Have you ever . . . well, went out and fulfill your urge?" Willow asked excitedly, looking at Buffy who seemed a little uncomfortable, but quickly relaxing.
"No, why?" Buffy said, frowning.
Willow sighed, almost feeling like rolling her eyes, and explained, "Never thought that by doing a little late night kill, you could go back to bed and easily fall asleep for the rest of the night?"
"Oh, yeah, I suppose," Buffy said, and not forgetting Willow's sigh she answered, "Hey, we already established you're a genius, Willow. Cut us average brains some slack okay?" The coffee maker made a distinctive sound. "Coffee's ready, be right back with a cup," Buffy said and quickly got up to get the coffee.
-----
"He ran. He ran as hard as he could. The thugs were right on his heels, and . . ." Buffy trailed off. They had decided to read the books they had brought, and to keep each other awake, and make this a more fun girl friend experience, they would be reading one chapter to each other, and then switch. Now though there was a slight rumbling, which quickly formed into a full fledged snore that interrupted the Slayer's reading. She looked to her right, and saw the sleeping Willow, head lolled light forward. Then she turned half around, trying to find a better position than the sitting one. She soon found it, by snuggling against a lightly surprised and lightly amused Buffy - using her side as a mattress and her shoulder as a pillow.
Buffy hesitated, debating with herself whether she should get from underneath her friend, lay her out along the long side of the couch, or perhaps try to see if she could carry her without waking to a bed. In the end she smiled, and decided against both. She put the book on the table, careful not to wake Willow or let her drop. "Sleep tight, Will," Buffy said with a smile, and placed a light kiss on the top of her friend's head, then sat herself to more squarely watch Oz. The wolf looked up from his position in the cage, looking deep into Buffy's eyes. Buffy stared back, her own fierceness in her eyes. The wolf then lowered his head again, and looked more gently at the two figures, and Buffy felt oddly as if she had made some kind of connection with the wild beast.
-----
It had begun to lighten quite a bit ago. Now though, the moon finally disappeared behind the horizon, while the first raise of the sun peaked above it, and fell through the glass doors leading to the pool. It was still early, Buffy guessed no later then six in the morning. The wolf stirred, then growled, and then the sounds of bones restructuring themselves started coming from him. Buffy smiled. She checked Willow for a moment, still sound asleep, and no longer snoring. Then she turned to regard OzWolf turning back into Oz. As the fur started retreating and skin became visible, Buffy's eyes widened. Quickly she moved her left hand up and put it in front of her eyes. After a few moments she dared to peak to see how far Oz was along, and then quickly closed her fingers again as she noticed he was about finished.
"Ugh, oh," came from Oz, and then he slowly pushed himself off the ground. He shook his head to clear it, and then frowned. He soon remembered, and looked around. He smiled when he found his guards. Willow asleep against Buffy, and Buffy with a hand in front of her eyes so she couldn't see him naked.
"Could you get dressed quickly, Oz?" Buffy asked softly.
"Sure," he all but whispered back, and went to do exactly that. When he was finished he murmured, "Finished."
Buffy removed her hand and regarded the male teenager. She smiled, and fished the cage key from the pocket of her jeans. "Catch," she whispered, and tossed the key in a precise arc. He caught it, and then unlocked his cage.
Oz now took a better look around, seeing the pizza box, and multiple pieces of wrappers strewn about. "Had fun?" he whispered.
Buffy nodded with a smile. "Could you take over Willow watch? I'm beat and I'd like to find a bed and get a little sleep," Buffy whispered softly.
"Sure, hold on, be right back," Oz told her, and then sped softly up the stairs, and went into on one of the rooms there. He returned soon after with a pillow and a blanket. Buffy smiled, and together they very gently lowered Willow down. The redhead murmured a little, not liking that her comfortable position was leaving. A moment later she found the pillow waiting for her, and settled down. Oz then gently moved her legs on the couch while Buffy stretched get the kinks out of her body. Buffy watched as Oz finished putting the blanked over Willow.
Buffy nodded, and whispered, "Three hours should be enough for me to be fresh for the day. Either of you can wake me then, okay?"
Oz nodded, and gestured for her to get going. Not long after Buffy drifted off to sleep in one of the beds upstairs.
-----
Cordelia's lips pressed against Buffy's, her velvet tongue dancing with her own. Then unknown girl's lips and tongue. Jenny's; more girls. She was back again! Then! When her love spell made everyone in Sunnydale except Xander mad with love for her! The horror of it, the violation, the fear! But no . . . those weren't here, no, she was kissing the girls back with all of her passion. What? Gentle sensual tongues against her. Soft bodies and arms pressed against her, caressing, fondling, oh nice. Wait? How can that be? She only felt herself grow aroused and kissing all those girls back again.
Willow . . . Willow's tongue. How did she know it was Willow's tongue? She still had her eyes closed with the enjoyment of it all, and why was she enjoying kissing girls again? Oh right, spell, more so, Willow! She knew! Willow had kissed her twice now, right? Wait? Where were all the other girls. Opening her eyes revealed herself to be in a costume shop. Willow was in front of her, just finishing a quick sensual kiss of tongue against tongue on what the redhead had perceived as a dare. She remembered again, yes. She had almost forgotten, had wanted to forget . . .
Buffy's eyes flew open, and saw a ceiling . . . an unfamiliar ceiling. Buffy frowned, looked around, and then remembered. Cordelia's garden house, Ozsitting, she had gone to bed. It had only been a dream . . . Buffy sighed and made herself comfortable, wondering why in blazes she would have such a weird dream - it made no sense . . . oh, please this couldn't be a Slayer dream! She couldn't handle another Sunnydale-wide mad love-on for her - just girls this time it seemed. She shook her head. Nah, it was too weird, and unprophetic to be a Slayer dream. Yeah, time to go back to sleep.
To Be Continued . . .
Author's notes:
For now, it will just be Half Blessing, Half Curse Season 2. I can't seem to find an appropriate new title, which would have the above as the subtitle. As you noticed, the parts have titles now, because as I wrote the outline for the Nerima parts, some somewhat funny Ranma-like titles popped in my head, and figured it was fun. Don't know if they remain once Xander returns to Sunnydale though; we will see. I think there was lots to laugh about; for all those who haven't seen or read Ranma, a few classic jokes from the series should be utterly fresh and plenty of loves: for those who do know it, it should have brought smiles on beforehand, and the follow up twists should be plenty hilarious and surprising. Anyway, as usual: FEEDBACK! Positive, negative! Preferably critical feedback with more than two words!