Wings of Paradise: clean version

by FaerieKnight197

The Neko-Ken training isn't quite what Genma thinks. How will this affect the life of his son? An AU of the story 1/2 A Wing And A Prayer. Warning, this is a dark tale at times and really bad things do happen to good people. Now edited to tone down content from possible MA rating. If more editing is required I'll get on that. Editing still being done to fix 'wall of text' problems.

Author Notes: This story deviates from canon by a large degree. In fact, it's in a sense a continuation from another story of mine called That Old Time Magic. As such, there will be OC interactions. The timeline will be different. Relationships with various persona will not be the same as in Canon. Thanks are given to Tirsis from Fanfiction dot Net for permission to use his world setting from Ranma ½ A Wing And A Prayer. For point of reference, I am going with the assumption that Kino Makoto's reincarnation in each time cycle is not 100% identical each time. Thus in the time cycle this story deals with, she is a natural red head.

Disclaimer: Ranma ½, Sailor Moon, and Ah! My Goddess do not belong to me. Other elements such as Jason Blair, Sam Bricklbuster, and their friends/allies do. I make no money off this story, it is written simply for amusement.

Ranma 1/2: Wings of Paradise

by

FaerieKnight197

Chapter 1

There are fates far worse then death, as Kino Makoto could attest. She hadn't always known this. Once she had been a normal girl. Well, at least as normal as a magically powered demon hunter could be. Then everything changed. A woman named Setsuna had approached her, asking Makoto to take over as guardian of time. And to her eternal regret Makoto had accepted. A choice that once made. She discovered could never be altered.

At first the greatest challenge was boredom. This she'd alleviated by toying with a chaos nexus. Finding new and interesting ways to screw with a gender changing martial artist had been a great diversion. Granted, a chaos nexus is hard to track. But she'd quickly learned ways around that blind spot. And it provided endless entertainment.

That had been her first time through the cycle. Before she'd realized the true horror of her position. Back then, she'd sparingly viewed the future. Makoto hadn't wanted to know too much about what was coming. Just the vital details, such as when she'd have to lend aid to the senshi. Back then, she hadn't realized that time was not linear, but cyclic.

The stress of her job had driven the guardian of time insane a few times in that first cycle. But it hadn't broken her spirit. It was only when she witnessed the end of everything that happened. Watching all of creation die had been hard. And Makoto had thought she too would pass away then. By that point she welcomed death. Her life had been long. Too long in fact.

Then the Lady Nox had approached her in the mists of time. It was during that visit that she'd learned the true extent of her job. That it wasn't one she could give up or pass on to someone else. The fact that Setsuna had passed on the job of Guardian of Time had been unusual. She'd been allowed to do so thanks to a quirk of fate. After living through the cycle of the universe hundreds of times, Meioh Setsuna had finally been forgiven for her role in destiny. And with that forgiveness, a curse which had bound Setsuna to her job had been broken.

But now it was Makoto who was trapped here in the endless loop. And for the eight hundredth time she was heading to her death. She could remember each and every time it had happened before. She knew how things would play out, and knew she could not change it. The beginning was today. The Queen would receive word of a mysterious hallway on Pluto. They would travel with Queen Serenity to investigate. This would start a chain of events leading to the destruction of the kingdom, and her own death. It was inevitable. While minor events changed each time through it, the major things didn't change.

Kami how Makoto wished something would change. She wanted out of this cycle of death, rebirth, and endless duty. Sixteen years of blissful ignorance wasn't enough. What she truly craved was the oblivion of death without rebirth. Let someone else watch the gates. I just want it to end, she thought. When the message arrived calling her to aid in an investigation, she didn't even bother to read it. Makoto already knew what it said.

When the senshi gathered Queen Serenity gazed at the first of them sadly. She didn't know why Sailor Jupiter was so depressed lately. Or why the other woman's eyes spoke of madness. Jupiter was always so reserved. Always holding back and reluctant to interact with others. Serenity knew something was troubling her friend though. Especially today. The sadness was greater then ever.

"I have received word of an unusual structure on Pluto. The initial team sent to investigate reported several dangerous magics. I want you all to be careful this time. Let's go." The queen told them.

Some time later they were approaching an alabaster structure. The doors to the structure were made of highly polished oak. The walls were made with a substance which even the mercury computer couldn't identify. There was no lock, and the doors swung open without noise. Everyone was quiet as they walked down the hallway. So it was a little surprising when Serenity heard Makoto muttering.

"Here I go again, I hope the kid doesn't pull on my skirt this time."

"What child? And when have you been here, Jupiter?" Serenity asked.

Without thinking the senshi of jupiter and guardian of time answered. "The child is a girl I have seen grow up many times already. And it is more when haven't I been here. The cycle always repeats."

This time it was Mercury who questioned her reclusive ally. "What cycle is this? And do you know what this hall is?"

"Of course I do, I built this hall after all. The hall is known as the 'hall of seasons'. Called such because of four paintings I hang here when they are finished each time through the cycle. As for the cycle, I am talking about the cycle of time."

It was only then that it struck the senshi of Jupiter. Things were happening different this time around. That fact gave her hope. Maybe she wouldn't have to repeat everything again. Maybe she could finally end it all.

"You speak like your the barbarian of time," Venus said.

"That's 'guardian of time'," Jupiter absently corrected. "While I'm breaking from the script, a warning. I'd stand to the left Rei, otherwise you'll get trampled, again."

Mars glanced back at Jupiter as she opened the gates. Her expression said she didn't believe the warning. A moment later a hyperactive child with green hair had knocked the off balance Rei over while running past. Five pairs of eyes stared at Jupiter in wonder. All of them trying to figure out how Makoto had known what would happen.

Twelve years had passed since 'rescuing' Setsuna from the mists of time. Tonight was the big night. The ball in honor of Princess Serena was the main attraction, although it wasn't what Makoto was looking forward to. She was anticipating the slaughter that would occur in an hour or two. The exact timing was always different of course. But tonight hopefully she would be allowed to die for good.

Just a few months previous Setsuna had been made the senshi of Pluto. That had surprised time's guardian. Usually Setsuna wasn't a true senshi, but merely linked with the time gate with an honorary uniform and title. This cycle had been full of surprises in fact. Something which was a pleasant change. This fact alone had made the burden a little easier to bear. And the knowledge that she would be free from it for a little while was relaxing too.

Until the attack, she decided to relax. The ball wasn't too bad. Even if Makoto had been through it too many times in the past. Then the screaming started. Royal guardsmen tried fighting off the invasion, but again were overwhelmed by superior numbers. The outers were off fighting the fleets, again. Pluto was standing next to the Queen, again. Soon Pluto would be sent to the gates, and she would die once more. Expected, routine even.

"Jupiter, go guard the time gate. You mustn't let it fall into evil hands." Serenity proclaimed. "We'll hold the demons off until the outers get here."

As Sailor Jupiter found herself transported to the time gates she blinked in shock. She was once again holding a key shaped staff with a gem in the top. A staff she hadn't expected to hold again until after her rebirth. What just happened? She focused the gate on the battle which had just began. A battle which Jupiter was suppose to be fighting in, not Pluto.

The battle was long and bloody, of course. The guardian of time watched as one by one the senshi fell. She watched as Prince Endymion died. Watched as Princess Serena impaled herself on Venus's sword. She watched as the queen desperately sealed away Beryl's forces and sent the senshi forward in time. And through it all she wondered what had gone wrong. She was suppose to have died in that battle. Then something hit her.

"This will be interesting, I have no idea what is going to happen between now and Jame's awakening. So, who's this generation's chaos nexus? I'm going to need something to keep boredom at bay."

XxXxX

There are places and times of great importance. There are moments which define the direction history will take. Such moments lead to world shaking events. What starts as a pebble quickly becomes a landslide. The assassination of an Austrian duke was one such moment. A woman in America refusing to move from her seat on a bus was another. Out of all the pivotal moments in time, only one of those watching for such events noticed a balding man filling a pit with starving cats.

"Is this man seriously trying to raise a demon, or is he just an idiot?"

The speaker stood six feet tall. His skin was almost bronze in color, and his hair was jet black. He wore a robe made from red silk with blue trimming. His name was Enki, and some would have called him a god. He preferred the term 'pan-dimensional meddler'. Being a god was too much trouble, and would prevent him from his favorite pastime. Currently he was staring at a glass orb, and watching as events played out in this dimension.

Enki had first started observing this man two days ago. That was when Enki had found one of his scrolls to be missing. That particular scroll had been confiscated after it's scribe had summoned the demon Katar. While it amused Enki at the time, having demonic cats running around the world was not a good thing. And now here was an idiot offering his son as a sacrifice. How the scroll had gone from Enki's personal library to the fat man's travel pack, he had no idea. It was something he'd have to look into. But first he had to somehow salvage the situation. He did not need another Atlantis due to reckless magic.

"Well, let's see what I can do. Hmm, too late to stop the ritual. How about altering the results? Yes, that should work. Still, I feel sorry for the boy."

Enki nodded at this. He waved his hand over the orb, causing a subtle shift in the patterns surrounding the cat filled pit. The changes were minor enough that the one who'd dug the pit probably wouldn't notice them. Another chant, and Enki ensured that area would be free of wind for a week. His brother would naturally be upset about this. But it was better then the alternative. Now all that was left was watching what happens next.

Not for the first time he wished that destroying the scroll was an option. He'd tried it of course, a number of times. But as Enki had come to accept, once a magic was created it could not be uncreated. Destroy the scroll, and someone else would accidentally pen it once more. The best he could do was keep the knowledge from Man. But that it seemed was going to be problematic too.

"This boy seems important. I wonder why? Maybe I should have someone keep an eye on him. Maybe that nice Kino girl, she could use a distraction. While at it, maybe she can look into how this oaf got the scroll to begin with."

Genma stared down at the pit in annoyance. When he'd found the training scroll it had seemed like an easy technique. Dig a pit, fill it with twenty to thirty starving cats, and throw in a child that is wrapped in fish. That was it. There was no way his son could fail to learn the neko-ken akuma . There was more on the scroll, but the rest was as unimportant as it was hard to understand. The need for those circles and symbols wasn't clear. They were probably useless decoration anyway. Still, he had formed the various sigils like the training scroll said to. He didn't have any chalk, so instead he used salt. After all, what difference would it make?

For almost a week he had been trying to teach Ranma this unstoppable technique. Nothing was working however. Not to mention the number of stray cats in the area was dropping fast. Each day Genma was having to replace at least half of the cats in the pit. Not only was the boy refusing to learn this technique, but his thrashing kept killing the felines. This time would be different though, he was sure of it. This time he had used thick wires to bind the boy. Either Ranma would learn the technique this time, or he would stay down there.

While waiting Genma leaned against a tree. He didn't know how long it would take. Or how to tell when Ranma finally figured out this technique. So the best thing to do was take a nap. Genma's eyes were just starting to close when he heard it. From within the pit had come a yowl that was louder then the rest. Then the distinctive sound of metal twine snapping in twain. The man stood and looked into the pit just in time to see his son bounding out.

The boy landed next to Genma. He was crouched on all four limbs, with his hands curled as if paws. This surprised his father. He'd not known quite what to expect. This wasn't it however. The angered hissing and arched back also came as a surprise. As a hand lashed out, Genma felt something cut deep into his right leg. Then the boy ran off, still on all four limbs.

XxXxX

A red haired woman wearing a yellow ball gown sat beneath the gnarled oak tree. Behind her and to the left was a small cabin. Her eyes slowly opened as a sound came from the bushes. The sight which greeted the woman was shocking, to say the least. Out of the bush had crawled a young boy with raven hair. The woman marveled at how easily the boy moved on hands and feet.

Is this the boy I was told about? She thought. I wonder who he is. The poor boy, he's cut to ribbons. The woman had gone by many names. Her original one had been long forgotten however. A name she favored was Kino Makoto. She couldn't remember if it was her name, or just an alias. It was one she liked though. There were others she favored as well, but this name was one that was used the most.

The pain causer was long gone. The pit was left behind as well. Now that the raw terror was gone, he could find some food. Ahead was the scent of Female. Motherly, ancient. Curious, he stalked through the bushes. Maybe the old one had food. He stopped in confusion, sniffing the air again. This was the Old One, but wasn't. No food could be smelled, but something equally good was in sight. A warm lap, the next best thing from food. Warm lap meant petting. And that was something to be desired.

Makoto blinked as the boy leaped across the clearing and into her lap. She'd not have thought such an act possible. When he circled and kneaded her legs an eyebrow rose. Then the boy curled into a ball while purring. Her hand started to stroke the boy's head. As Makoto did this she examined his injuries. He wore a shredded gi and boxers. She could see a multitude of lacerations across his arms and back. Just seeing the state this boy was in brought tears to her eyes. This too surprised her. Makoto had thought she'd cried her last tear a long time ago.

The warm lap was everything promised and more. Warm lap was doing more then just petting. Warm lap was washing him too. It stung a little, but warm lap didn't seem dangerous. Warm lap was also singing. And this he found very pleasing. This was something he could enjoy. Food could wait he decided. Maybe it was time for a nap. Nothing bad had happened after all.

When he finally fell asleep Makoto gently picked the boy up. Her cabin wasn't quite big enough for a family. But it would do for now. She'd needed a vacation. There was nothing that needed her attention going on for the next sixteen years. So a few years living in a cabin had seemed a good idea. Her heart ached still for lost friends. And her soul was in turmoil from the horrible things she'd done. And all in the name of the Forest Kingdom. Yes, the forest kingdom would be a golden age. But now she could understand why Pluto gave her the job each time through the cycle.

Learning about events in school just doesn't convey the true horror of them. I feel so tired these days. After tucking the boy into bed she looked at her wrists. The scars had been old before the universe's rebirth. Reminders of all the times she had tried to give up on life. Those scars were proof the easy way out was denied her. It was for this reason the cabin existed. Makoto needed time living a normal life. She needed it so badly it hurt. But before she could rejoin society, she first needed time to heal.

On the table Makoto found a letter. It hadn't been there before, which meant a Power likely had contacted her. Just great, I can't even get a month of peace can I? Who is it, and what do they want? The letter was addressed simply to 'the one who watches' As she read it, tears once again began to fall.

To the one who watches,

For too long you have stood as Guardian. It was not your task, but you accepted it. With your sacrifice the suffering of an innocent child ended. For that, I thank you. Sunlight has long been dear to my heart. To see her punished for all eternity because of one mistake was a shame. But you deserve happiness as well. I know your wish, but it is not to be.

Chronos himself demands a guardian. For a time Faerie stood watch. But in her arrogance the Queen broke one of the laws of magic. And in doing so, split the Realm. And so the gates chose a new guardian. In a fit of rage the Queen condemned the young guardian to eternal service. You who have taken the task also accepted the curse. And for this I am sorry.

I can however offer hope. The child you took in is your salvation. Watch over him, guide him, and your fate may yet be reversed. His father possesses a scroll of great importance and knows it not. Prevent the scroll from being used again. Do this, and you may yet have the freedom you deserve. No one should have to suffer like you have.

Signed,

Enki

P.S.: Your vacation is eight years too late, Nodoka.

The name at the end seemed familiar. Was it one she'd used in the past, or someone she knew? Hard to say really. But being told her vacation was being taken too late brought a smile. After all, what was the point of being 'guardian of time' if one couldn't rectify such a mistake? Once the boy was in good hands, she would go back and start that vacation. Maybe she'd use that name. Kino Nodoka sounded good. And it would allow access to the various accounts set up under the family name 'Kino'.

Fortunately one also had to know the account numbers, and answer several security questions to access said money. That had been a safety measure began during the first cycle. Staying at the gates all the time could drive one insane. Makoto knew that intimately. And to live in the mortal world, one needed money. Having relatives discover the accounts and emptying them was troublesome.

Initially she had tried linking the accounts to a specific name. But even that had failed on it's own. Given enough generations, it was inevitable that someone would share her name. A child or grand child named after her. A parent who just liked the name Makoto. And so the accounts each time got set up in the Kino name, but with additional precautions. Another name might have been better, but Kino was one she could remember for some reason.

center

Chapter 2

/center

Time passed as it is wont to do. For three weeks Makoto watched over the child. Most of the time she cared for her youthful guest it was in the form of a loved pet. That however was understandable. After all, the boy was acting very much like a kitten for most of the stay. It had only been within the last three days the boy had snapped out of whatever had happened after all.

The Boy was startled by rustling in the bushes. When a man in a dirty gi emerged, the Boy didn't recognize him. Something about the man was familiar, but the Boy didn't like him. Nor really trust him for that matter. The Boy's name was Ranma. A fact which had only come to him that day. Other then that, the past was lost to him. His entire world had began in the arms of the Nice Lady three days ago. The only other fact in his life known was that Ranma could fight. Each day he'd practiced kata for a martial arts style. How he knew them was a mystery to Ranma however.

The unknown man entered the cabin, and spoke to Nice Lady. A bit later he came out with a hand shaped mark on his cheek. "Come along, boy. We're leaving."

"Don't wanna. Wanna stay with nice lady," Ranma said to the man. The boy ran inside and looked for her everywhere. However the nice lady was gone.

XxXxX

Ranma looked up from the papers he was reading. For three years now he'd

been growing more and more suspicious of his father. The fact that Genma

was his father for a while had even been in doubt to the youth. The old

man's ideas of training were dangerous. Very dangerous in fact, and

usually rather stupid. They worked though, which was the only reason

Ranma would usually agree to them. But this, this was too far.

One of the papers was a contract of some sort. It said that if one

Saetome Ranma was not a 'man among men' after the training journey then

both he and Genma would commit seppuku. Ranma wasn't quite sure what

that was, but it probably wasn't good. Then there was a notebook called

'retirement plan'. In it Ranma found something most unusual. Lists of

families, dowry offers, and how much each family was worth. Some

entries, such as for Ranma's friend Ukyo had an additional notation. One

that indicated everything of value was already taken.

What does he know of honor? Ranma thought in disgust while still

reading the list. Hey, I remember that temple! Pops left me there for a

week. Then dragged me away in the middle of the night. So that's where

those technique scrolls came from. And here, a 'dowry' of one bowl of

rice, two pickles, and a fish? Not sure what a dowry is, but these other

ones list yen, scrolls or building usually. What's pops up to? Looks

like he's been selling me over and over.

XxXxX

Genma was at a loss. For three years now he'd been unable to work on his

retirement plans. Every time he would try, the boy would interfere. He

had no idea what had happened. Just that one day three years ago his son

had asked what a dowry was. Naturally, Genma had lied. But somehow the

boy had still learned the truth. Now every time he tried to sell Ranma,

the boy kept telling the others of all the other times such had

happened. Somehow, the boy even knew that several families had been

robbed blind after the dowry was accepted.

It was getting most frustrating. Not only that, but it was dangerous

too. Entering towns was flat out. Genma was now a wanted man. Bars

refused to accept tabs under his, or Ranma's name anymore. And local

police kept watch for him too. Which was why Genma had dragged the boy

to the coast.

"And why again should I swim to china?" Ranma asked.

"For training," Genma said.

"And how's it training anything except how to drown?"

"It's strength and endurance training, now come on Boy."

"Strength and endurance, ya right. This ain't cause yer afraid ta enter

Itoshima, is it?"

"Of course not, boy. It's training."

While Ranma didn't believe him, the 12 year old boy did admit it would

be good training. Assuming of course that they didn't drown. Or somehow

miss any and all land. There were so many things that could go wrong.

Still, the potential gains were also attractive. Not to mention he'd

heard his father muttering about legendary training grounds in china.

That more then anything interested Ranma. With a shrug he grabbed a

sturdy log and swam after his father. The log he figured would provide

something to rest on when he got tired.

XxXxX

Through the mists two figures were walking. The older of the two wore a

dingy white training gi and a white handkerchief on his head. The

younger one wore a well washed white training gi and had black hair. It

was currently tied in a pig tail to keep said hair out of his way. The

mists cleared, and they saw hundreds of springs. Each spring had a

bamboo pole sticking out of it.

"Well pops," the younger of the two said. "This doesn't look that bad.

Maybe ya finally had a good idea."

A tour guide approached the two travelers. Even as he began to speak the

elder traveler was leaping to the top of a bamboo pole. The young man

almost followed. Then paused to listen to the guide. Unlike his father,

the youth wanted to know exactly what was in store.

"Wait, you no go there, very dangerous!" The guide was yelling.

"What's so dangerous 'bout water?" The youth asked.

"Over one hundred springs, each with own tragic story of animal what

drown there." The guide told him.

"So?" The youth replied casually.

"Legend say any who fall in cursed spring take body of what last drown

there." The guide told him. "Very tragic."

"You coming, boy?" The older man called out.

This caused the boy to chuckle. He didn't really believe in magic or

curses. Still, it would be better to be safe. The added danger would

make training that much more difficult. And thus more worth while. It

was one of the few things he agreed with his father on. So thinking, the

youth jumped to the top of a pole.

"Prepare to get wet, old man. Saotome Ranma never loses."

For ten minutes they sparred mid-air. Then finally the boy got the upper

hand. A flying ax kick launched the boy onto another pole, while

sending his father down into a pool. Keeping an eye on the pool below,

the boy jumped several poles away from his current position. His jaw

dropped when out of the pool a panda wearing his father's gi emerged.

The boy's shock was such that he didn't hear what the guide was saying.

"That's it, I'm done with this. I ain't turning into no animal cause yer

an idiot, Pops."

With that proclamation the youth made her way to the edge of the cursed

springs. The entire time he was dodging punches and kicks from the

panda. With a flip, he landed on the ground below. The ground was muddy

however, and his foot slipped. With mounting horror the boy realized he

was falling into a spring himself.

As the boy surfaced the guide spoke. "Very bad, Sir. Fall in spring of

drown gi..." he paused as two leathery wings emerged from the water.

They were attached to a red headed girl. "That new."

As Ranma submerged in the water he almost panicked. His gi felt too

tight for a moment. Then a ripping, and the gi was no longer tight. Nor

was it held on by much either. His head broke the surface, and Ranma

gasped for air. An odd pull caused Ranma to lose his balance while

climbing out of the pool however. Falling on his face, a burst of

unexpected pain called further attention to the new parts.

Not entirely sure what had just happened, Ranma opened the gi. The sight

was naturally enough quite a shock. His well muscled chest was gone. In

it's wake was two fleshy mounds. This alone was a shock. Further down

was another one. Ranma's manhood was gone. There wasn't a gaping wound.

It was just gone, as if it had never existed. Fleshy mounds on chest,

manhood gone, the evidence was impossible to ignore.

Saotome Ranma realized that he had become a she. The how was obvious.

The why, less so. But there was one thing which Ranma did know. This

couldn't entirely be blamed on his father. After all, he had been

warned. It had been his, no make that her choice to ignore the warning

in the first place. She did have to wonder how the grass had been muddy

if it hadn't been raining, and he wasn't even close to where the stupid

panda had splashed down.

XxXxX

It had been a couple weeks since the incident at the training grounds.

In that time the boy turned girl had learned much about her new body.

Most of the gained knowledge had embarrassed her greatly. Things weren't

all bad though. The first week had been nice. A shriveled up old crone

had helped Ranma learn to fly, as well as taught several useful

techniques. Including learning how to store vast quantities of items

using an interesting martial arts technique. And then there was Shampoo.

Ranma gazed nervously at his wife. The challenge match had been tough.

She was very skilled, and it took everything Ranma had to win. He'd been

surprised when Shampoo had pulled him down for a kiss. But still the

youth had turned into the kiss. It had felt wonderful. An equal surprise

had been finding out that he'd managed to accidentally convert a vow to

kill into a marriage.

"Thanks for coming with me," Ranma told her. "Don't know how long I

could have handled being apart."

Genma's reaction to his son bringing along a wife had been priceless. Of

equal amusement to the couple was his reaction to stopping every few

hours to satisfy Ranma's needs. The aquatransexual had been spending

most of the time in his cursed form. After all, water seemed attracted

to the youth. And Ranma enjoyed the feeling of freedom gained.

They had discovered Ranma actually didn't need sleep in his cursed form.

Not if he was able to feed regularly. And Ranma did so enjoy feeding.

He'd made sure to never take too much. Especially after that first

night. His demonic appetites however seemed insatiable and very hard to

deny. Nor was regular food needed. This too was a reason for staying a

demoness. The food supplies Ranma carried were mostly for Shampoo. As

was the water.

The three of them gazed down at a coastal village. From here the plan

was to swim to Japan. Not that Ranma intended to swim. Or to make

Shampoo swim. But first, a little snack. He'd talked with his wife about

it. She needed to rest if they were going to make the trip safely. And

he needed to be ready too. At that moment it started to rain. A fact

which made Ranma very happy.

"I'll meet you at the docks at midnight." Ranma said with a smile. She

then sauntered into town.

This is wrong, but I might hurt Shampoo otherwise. She's been

understanding so far. I hope she wont hate me for what I'm about to do.

Already she could feel her hunger growing. It gnawed at her will

relentlessly. If ever she fully gave in, Ranma was afraid of the harm

she'd cause. But it was so tempting to give in. It would be so easy.

But the easy way was never Ranma's way. And yet this once the girl

decided to give in, for now. She strolled down the streets, looking for

likely prey. A few men whistled at her, but Ranma shuddered at the

thought. Finally her eyes latched onto a woman. The person was alone.

That was good. She was also very attractive. That was also good. Ranma

licked her lips and approached.

Turning on her sultry charm, Ranma smiled at her chosen meal. Internally

she warred with the idea of just using people for food. That was wrong.

Finally a truce was made. This woman wasn't food. She was a bed partner,

but not food. The fact Ranma would feed off her was irreverent.

"Would you take me home with you?" Ranma asked the woman.

Her eyes glowed faintly, although the neo-girl didn't know that. The

woman nodded with a smile, and took Ranma's hand. They walked several

blocks before stopping at a small house. The entire time Ranma couldn't

take her eyes off her host's rear. It swayed in a most enticing way. It

was with great joy that she led the woman through the house. Finding a

bedroom, Ranma smiled even more.

Two sets of cloths quickly found their way to the floor. Ranma's eyes

explored eagerly. The next few hours seemed to pass as a euphoric blur.

Her prey's cries of passion eventually starting to get softer, and still Ranma

drank deeply of herher sustaining meal. The natural elixir was too tempting.

Her prey's orgasmic spasms grew smaller, and still she drank. Then the flow

stopped all together.

NO! She thought in panic once the lust induced haze faded. Please

don't die please don't die... She checked the woman for a pulse, and

just barely found it. Breathing was shallow. Ranma vaguely remembered

seeing a clinic, and quickly dressed. Picking up the woman, she left the

building. The neo-girl took to the air to save time. During the panicked

flight Ranma licked her lips clean.

After landing on a nearby roof Ranma pulled her wings back inside. Next

she stepped off the roof and dropped to the ground. Her knees were bent

as feet struck. To further cushion the landing the martial artist

allowed herself to bounce forward. Thankfully the clinic was still open.

The door was kicked open, the glass shattering. Ranma ran inside and

laid her burden on the lobby's coffee table.

"I found her in an alley, I think she's hurt. Bad." Ranma said.

While she'd never been that good at lying, the fact she was clearly

concerned for the naked woman helped a lot. That, and attackers rarely

took their victims to hospitals personally. As the staff busied

themselves helping the drained woman Ranma slipped away.

The plan had originally been to feed off of several girls. That way no

one would be hurt, while Ranma could fully sate her hunger. The plan

however was now a bust. One victim, and that was all Ranma could call

that woman, had been enough to satisfy. Since this area was well known

in some circles for it's demon lore the youth knew they had to leave

right away. Fortunately it was close enough to the rendezvous time.

"Come Pops, time to go."

Ranma scooped her wife up in her arms and took to the air. Beneath them

Genma had grabbed a pair of oars and stolen a row boat. He began to

consider the folly of his many crimes. If he'd actually practiced the

honor he talked about, they could have traveled by plane or chartered a

boat. Instead Genma had to avoid leaving a trail. And especially avoid

customs.

It isn't right. The boy is suppose to be a tool, easy to manipulate.

What happened to the plan? Genma looked up into the sky as he pondered

how things had turned out. Ever since the neko-ken training Ranma had

been harder to control. That useless girl Ranma insisted on bringing

along was only the latest disobedience. While the boy hadn't truly

balked at even the most dangerous of training methods, he'd insisted on

knowing why he should preform them. Even had insisted on knowing the

dangers in advance. And Genma still wasn't sure how the boy had

discovered the retirement plan. Let alone what a dowry was.

XxXxX

In a place quite unlike anywhere on earth a woman sat. She was sitting

in a plush office char. Before the woman was a holographic computer

screen. The high tech object was very out of place, especially

considering the office was located within a medieval looking castle.

What the woman was reading however caused her eyes to twitch.

The woman reached for a phone and quickly dialed. Finally the call got

put through. "Why did you authorize the restructuring of that one?

What? Of course it wasn't me! I cut all ties to those traitors eons ago.

No, all my files say is a rebirth of some sort. After that everything is

sealed. That's odd. Who authorized that?"

As the woman hung up the phone she could feel a migraine coming on.

Having a bunch of rogue demons on midgard acting as a third faction was

bad enough. She didn't need a random unaligned demon running around.

Neither did her ex. A demon and god, both completely outside the

system. Wonderful. And just how did the norns manage to classify

something beyond Kami's ability to view? With a sigh she called out her

favorite underling.

"MARA! GET IN HERE!" When the mentioned demoness finally showed up Hild

sighed. "I have some new orders for you. I need you to work with the

Norn sisters. Note, not against them. There's a rogue demon on midgard

that both I and Kami-Sama need watched. Your orders are to just observe.

I don't want you interfering with what is going to happen."

"And the demon I'm suppose to watch?" Mara asked with a long suffering sigh.

"That's the problem, all the file will say is the name 'Ranma'."

center

Chapter 3

/center

Tendo Dojo

She's flying over the town. The wind blows, but she doesn't feel it.

Ahead is something important. It calls to her, and she is helpless to

resist. Now past the city limits. The urban jungle replaced by one of

wood. Still further, the calling draws her forward. Now a campfire. She

descends towards it.

A boy is speaking with a beautiful woman. What they are saying she

can't quite make out. Still, from their tones it is a negotiation of

some sort. Closer she moves, curious as to why she is here. The woman's

presence is nearly overwhelming. Just being near makes it hard to focus.

Here is her destination at last.

"I need more control," The boy is saying."Ya wanna live again, but it's

my life. And that can't be allowed to happen again."

She wonders about the boy's comments even as the woman speaks. "Then we

fight, and only one will survive."

"No," The boy says. "We work together. I want control, you want to

live. So let's share."

She doesn't understand what they are talking about. And when the two

before her begin to fight, her confusion grows. The boy is very skilled

in hand to hand combat. More so then anyone she'd seen before. The woman

is also a skilled fighter, but seems to prefer range. As she watches the

fight, she notices the woman's fighting style is starting to look like

the boy's. He's getting tired. She reaches out, trying to help the boy.

Now she is the boy. The fight is even once again. Almost a dance. The

woman catches a wrist, drawing him/her into an embrace. A kiss, she

doesn't want it to end...

In the district of Nerima there stands a building. It's not a fancy

building. It's design is more functional then anything. Stone walls

surround it. The main house connects to a decently sized dojo. Once the

dojo saw a lot of use. But the owner hadn't taught in many years. These

days it saw use only during one teenage girl's war against cinder

blocks. From the noises coming from the dojo, that war was going on

currently.

Inside the house a man sat beside a table. In his hands was a post card.

As he read it, the man began to cry fountains of tears. He turned the

post card around, but who he was showing it to was a mystery. Behind the

man, a young woman was working in the kitchen. The woman cheerfully

hummed as she chopped vegetables.

"Kasumi, Nabiki, Akane!" The man called out.

From the kitchen came the young woman. When the other two didn't

immediately show up, the man sighed. "Go fetch your sisters Kasumi"

The woman, Kasumi, gave her assent. The dojo proved to be empty. The

sounds of smashing cinder block had ended. Her sister it seemed was done

and now out for a jog. This left only one other person in the house to

speak with. With that thought in mind, she started for the stairs. Just

outside of Nabiki's room she paused. Oh my, I hope she isn't doing that

again. Knocking produced no results.

"Don't come in," A female voice called out from the room.

Nabiki was laying in her bed. Her school uniform was in dissaray. The

blouse had been unbuttoned, and her skirt was laying on the floor

nearby. For the last week it had been growing harder and harder to fight

her carnal urges. The dreams of a seductive redhead didn't help either.

Ever since that first dream of a fight between two strangers, a red head

had haunted Nabiki's sleep. The knocking was getting annoying. With a

frustrated growl Nabiki got out of bed.

Ranma

Elsewhere, two teenage girls and a panda were walking down the street.

Or rather, the panda and one girl were walking. The red headed girl was

carrying the other one, who had purple hair. The rain had come suddenly.

Not that it really surprised any of the three travelers anymore. In

another time, another place Ranma would have engaged in a running

battle. She would have been intent on returning to China. But here and

now, she was more concerned for Shampoo's well being. The demon seals

carried by Genma didn't help any.

As they approached the residence, Ranma gently woke the girl. The trip

across the ocean had been taxing, and Genma had refused to stop for

longer then a night. Between the long flight, and frequent rain things

had started to get desperate. Shampoo was too weak right now. She needed

at least several days to recover her strength. And Ranma didn't trust

herself yet not to lose control again. Shampoo, she could restrain

herself with. But others she wasn't sure about yet.

"We're there," Ranma whispered to her love.

The idiot panda rang the doorbell, then walked in as soon as the door

was open. Ranma led her wife in, laying her on a couch as soon as

possible. The temptation to sate her need rose, and the girl fought it

off. The gnawing emptiness was growing however. Hot water would help,

but first she needed to deal with the people living here. She followed

the panda deeper into the house.

"Is this your friend?" A brown haired girl asked. A man shook his head.

"So you invited a panda and two girls into the house?" The man shook his

head again.

"Sorry about this, I'm Saotome Ranma," she told them. "May I please have

some hot water?"

Where the stupid panda got his signs from it tried holding up, Ranma

didn't know. Didn't really care either. She just figured it would be

easier if she did the talking. The man threw himself at her though,

engulfing Ranma in a hug. Moments later the man let go, and started to

squeeze Ranma's chest.

"Please stop."

The man backed away with obvious confusion. "I thought Ranma was a boy?"

The brown haired girl reached forward and began to fondle one of Ranma's

breasts. Mmmm, more please, Ranma thought to herself.

The girl with the short brown hair spoke. "Does she look like a boy to

you, father?"

Abruptly the brown haired girl pulled back. She looked surprised. Her

hand being removed disappointed Ranma however. There were two other

girls in the room now. One with long brown hair, the other with long

black, almost blue hair. Maybe they'll help. It was an idle thought.

Nabiki

Mmmm, more please. The thought was clear as day. And it wasn't hers.

Shocked, Nabiki backed up. If she didn't know any better, this stranger

had enjoyed being groped. Maybe they'll help. Another thought not her

own. This time she blushed deeply. Nabiki had gotten a brief image of

herself and her sisters in bed with this red headed stranger. A

disturbing image indeed. Shaking her head, Nabiki tried to focus. Hot

water, right.

"How hot does it have to be?" She asked the red head.

"Above room temp, steaming maybe. But not boiling. Please, hurry." Ranma

answered. While waiting, she decided to broach the subject of the pact.

"Tendo-san, what was the agreement ya made with pops?"

Hearing the girl ask that question was a surprise. Nabiki hadn't

expected someone who'd been learning nothing but how to fight to ever

ask it. Her father's response was disappointing though. "To unite the

schools by joining the families."

Her surprise deepened when the stranger pulled a notebook out of her

pack. Taking it, Nabiki looked at the cover. Retirement plan? What is

this? She started flipping through the notebook, then handed it to her

father. The contents had been rather enlightening. Her father's reaction

seemed normal. His waterfall of tears was annoying, but sadly normal.

"Just thought ya should know." The strange girl said. "Donno if it's

another of the panda's scams. And I hate being sold. Now, bout that hot

water?"

Kasumi chose then to return with a kettle. And Nabiki's eyes went wide

as the girl poured water on her own head. The red head grew, hair

changing to black. She grew several inches taller. The stranger's chest

visibly shrank as her shoulders became broader. Facial features subtly

shifted. And then the middle Tendo sister knew no more.

That night Nabiki sat in her locked room, typing furiously on her computer.

The dreams are continuing, but things just got weird today. I was

surprised when the girl in my dreams walked in the front door. Turns out

she, is a he. Who'd have guessed, right? The boy's name is Ranma, and

apparently he's already married. That's not all either. Father says one

of us are suppose to be engaged to Ranma.

I'm not sure if that'll still be true tomorrow. After all, Mister

Saotome kept very good records of all the times he sold Ranma's hand in

marriage to others. I counted at least a dozen times so far. It appears

to be Genma's favorite scam. I just know that's going to come back to

haunt the boy. Maybe I'll deal with it for him, for a price of course.

Switching genders wasn't Ranma's biggest surprise either. Once everyone

had calmed down, he took my sisters and I into the dojo for a private

talk. That boy is down right strange. Not only does he turn into a girl

when hit by cold water, but a demoness. I'm not sure what type, he

didn't say. I'm hoping to find out though. Can't make money without

accurate information. And I can see a fortune coming out of this.

Akane didn't take the news very well. Not surprised by that. Kuno's

announcement had been good practice for her, but clearly it's doing more

harm then good. I'm starting to worry about her. One of these days,

she's going to go too far. She may have already done so. After the shock

of learning about the curse wore off, she broke the table on Ranma's head.

Down to business, betting pools on the morning fights have dropped off.

Will need a new source of income. Kuno's the only one buying pictures of

Akane anymore too. It seems he's threatened everyone into not buying

them. If this keeps up, I wont be able to afford the bribes. If supper

was any indication, grocery costs are going to skyrocket too. Ranma

probably will refuse to get a job. That panda, Genma, doesn't seem the

type to earn money either. So it's up to me to figure out how to pay the

higher upkeep.

I've thought about entering Akane into tournaments, but Father refuses

to allow that. Something about it being beneath a 'true martial artist'.

I expect plenty of people will want information on Ranma, so that's an

easy 300,000 yen today. More if Kuno wants info, he's always willing to

pay 10,000 yen for any bit of information. Idiot, he never once looked

into my standard price. Just accepts whatever I tell him. After today

though, I'll need something else.

Don't dare try to make money off Ranma. Risking a demon getting angry

is too dangerous. Only way I could possibly make any money is off...

Wait, there's a thought, I should look up Ranma's mother. As I recall,

she has a reward offered for information regarding her son. What was

that name? Ah, Saotome Nodoka. Let's see if I can find that number.

After saving her file, Nabiki shut off the computer. Her password would

keep people out of it. She stretched and got out of the chair. Turning

to her bed, Nabiki eyed the red head laying in her bed. Idly she

wondered why she'd insisted Ranma sleep here tonight. Shrugging, Nabiki

climbed into her bed to snuggle up with Ranma. Could get use to this.

Nodoka

Ten years, for ten long years she'd been looking. Saotome Nodoka hadn't

thought about it at the time. Then a week after that useless husband of

hers had left it hit her. Genma had taken her son, and wouldn't be

returning. It had been so long that the names had lost their

significance to her. And by the time Nodoka had remembered the

significance of one Saotome Ranma, it had been too late.

She didn't know where the two would be going. All she knew was the

journey typically lasted ten years. She knew her son was probably going

to be tortured in ways even she was horrified to consider. But she

couldn't track them. At first it had been because of her arrangement

Then she'd discovered the gates refused to lock onto his location. For

ten years her son had been in the hands of a dangerous moron, and there

was nothing she could do. Hell, why did I even agree to that stupid

'man among men' contract? What a way to waste a good vacation. What did

I even see in that idiot?

If one's been alive for billions of years, they learn many things. And

one of the things Nodoka had decided to learn in this life time was

swordsmanship. Sure, others were more skilled then her. But no one could

dispute her dedication. And so it was this day that Saotme Nodoka was

practicing in her dojo when the phone rang.

"Saotome residence, can I help you? You do? He is? HE DID WHAT? Where

are you, I'll be over this afternoon."

After hanging up the phone, Nodoka scowled. Guardian of freaking time,

and I didn't see this coming a century away? He dared sell my son for

RICE? Of course he did, it's Genma. Stupid panda. I'm guessing my son's

a girl now too. That panda will pay. No one hurts my baby. No one.

center-/center

centerbChapter 4/b/center

center-/center

Nabiki was not really a morning person. In truth, she wasn't a person at all until late morning, or six cups of strong coffee. Whichever came first. So it was entirely unsurprising that the sensations didn't immediately wake her. It wasn't until her body went through a spasm that the youthful mercenary woke up. In it's wake she felt tired. An arm was wrapped around her waist. Another was between her legs. Strange hands were fondling her body in ways most pleasurable.

She could feel it building up again. Again? Yes, her body felt like this had been happening for a while. The damp sheets also attested to it. The sun wasn't even up, it was entirely too early for things to be happening. Who was playing with her body? Twin mounds could be felt pressing against her back. There was a girl in her bed. Oh right, Ranma. She'd insisted Ranma sleep in her room last night. Insisted on letting Ranma have the bed at that. Why?

It was hard to think. All Nabiki could focus on was the intense feeling surging through her. It felt good, too good. She'd been wanting this for a week. Hopefully it would never end. No, this was wrong. A part of her tried to resist the sensations. It wasn't something she'd agreed to, even though it felt incredible. That small part in time gave up.

By the time the sun had risen Nabiki was more exhausted then she could ever remember. Just moving was a chore. iIf I don't get up now, not sure if I'll be able to./i Pulling away from the lover's embrace was the hardest thing Nabiki had ever done. There had been an unnatural strength in those limbs. Combined with her bone weary exhaustion, she'd almost been unable to get out of bed. Unsteadily, she pulled on a robe. iIf that happens every night, I don't know what I'll do./i

She was still staggering as Nabiki entered the dining room. With a grateful sigh she accepted a large mug of the bitter black brew she favored. iNot that I need to wake up. Huh, I feel a little better already. Maybe another mug or two would be a good./i After polishing off six mugs of coffee she headed up to bath.

"You look better," Nabiki commented upon entering the bathroom.

Ranma blinked at her unexpected company. "Yeah, it's odd. I feel like I was feeding for hours."

"Can't have, I know for a fact you didn't let me sleep. You didn't have time to eat."

"I didn't... did I? It wasn't a dream then. Sorry bout that. I'm glad your all right though."

"Come on," Nabiki said. "I'll help scrub your back."

iMay as well get use to his presence. After last night, I'll have to accept the engagement. I can't believe that happened. Hope no one heard me./i So thinking, Nabiki started to scrub the other girl's back. Soon they were both clean. Nabiki pulled Ranma into the furo, and grinned when the neo-girl encountered hot water. iThis wont be so bad after all. I like what I see./i Ranma's full body blush, and obvious arousal simply made her grin wider. iToo bad there's no time for any fun./i

ibcenterElsewhere/center/b/i

In another part of Nerima a young man awoke. Upon standing, he held out his arms. One of his glorious station need not bother dressing them self after all. That was what servants were for. And a house as noble as the Kunos had many servants. He allowed the peasants to cloth him in his customary noble attire. He knew not why they were invisible. Clearly only the most skilled were employed by his household.

He knelt before the painting of his beloved. Truly the artist was a master. He could see not the brush strokes. It was so very life-like. Almost he could see her graceful movements. He knew not what master the broker Nabiki had contracted. All he had was a single name. This man, this Kodak could not be found. If his men could only find the master artist then he, the Blue Thunder, Kuno Takawaki would gladly pay triple her offer to secure the man's services. But master Kodak's place of residence continued to elude.

"No matter the cost, I, the blue thunder of Furiken shall find thee, noble Kodak. The wretched peasant called Nabiki shall relinquish her hold on thee. Then with thy masterful brush strokes shall I prove to the fierce Akane her love doth be returned in full." Many things could be said about the youth. That he retained sanity was not usually among them.

ibcenterTendo Dojo/center/b/i

As her alarm went off, Akane groaned. She'd barely gotten any sleep the previous night. And the reason was simple. That freak of nature had been doing perverted things to her sister for most of it. At first the noises from her sister's room hadn't been noticeable. By midnight however Akane had found sleep impossible. Between the loud moans and occasional screams it had been driving her crazy.

Her only consolation was that Nabiki looked worse then she did. Obviously the freak had forced himself upon her sister. It was the only thing that made any sense. That freak had to have done something to her sister. This conclusion was only reinforced when next she saw Nabiki. Somehow her sister was looking two hundred percent better just after drinking coffee. Did no one else see what was going on? Did no one realize the evil staying in the house? Clearly it was up to her to save Nabiki. No one else even was trying.

So distracted was she, that Akane didn't notice the occupied sign on the bathroom door. I'll bath now. Too tired for a run. Her pajamas joined the pile already in the basket. Without paying attention, Akane opened the sliding door to the bathing area. Then she froze. There, in front of her was that abomination! That monster was forcing it's self on her sister! Without thinking she pulled the sink out of the wall. Striding forward, Akane brought it down with all her might on Ranma's head.

"GET AWAY FROM MY SISTER, MONSTER!"

She grabbed Nabiki's arm and started to drag her sister away from that creature. It could drown for all she cared. In fact, she hoped that would happen. Then the family would be safe. This act of defiant protection felt good. It felt like she did something important. Then Nabiki's hand struck Akane in the cheek. The impact was surprisingly hard. Hard enough to send Akane into the wall.

"If you ever attack my fiance again you will regret it."

Akane blinked, dazed from being struck. "But last night that freak

forced it's self on,"

"No," Nabiki interjected. "I invited Ranma into my room. It was my choice."

"The freak barged in and took adva,"

"No," Nabiki interrupted. "I walked in on Ranma. I offered to help my

fiance wash up."

"That freak's a monster," Akane said with full conviction.

"Oh really? Ranma's done nothing so far that I haven't wanted to do as well. You however have twice attacked him without reason. Destroying first the table, and now the bathroom sink. You do know you're paying for both right?" Despite her casual smirk, Nabiki was clearly angry.

centerbiXxXxX/center/b/i

Ranma had been apprehensive about Nabiki entering the furo with her. Having someone else wash her back however had felt really good. So good in fact that the neo-girl hadn't noticed Nabiki removing her bracers. With the magic bracers removed, Ranma's wings immediately sprang into existence. Having someone wash her wings had been simply amazing. That hadn't happened in a while. Not since that first night with Shampoo. Gotta check on her later.

As they entered the furo it's self, Ranma felt embarrassed. The girl however didn't seem to mind. The embarrassment grew when Nabiki reached around his waste to grab at his manhood. It felt funny. He didn't know what to think of the sensation. It was good to be a guy again though. So that alone made it tolerable.

"GET AWAY FROM MY SISTER, MONSTER!"

Something heavy struck Ranma in the head. Hard. He felt dizzy. Knowing that being dizy and in water was Bad, he staggered to his feet, then fell over the side of the furo. Eyes slid closed, and the outside world ceased to exist.

iRanma came to in a lavish bedroom. The four poster bed had silk curtains, and red silk sheets. It was shaped like a heart. Laying on the bed was a woman who he couldn't help but recognize. She was older, but otherwise he could see that figure every time he looked in a mirror while in his cursed form. The woman patted the bed and motioned him to join her./i

i"What gives?" Ranma asked her. "We agreed that if I won our spar you'd let me control my urges. She could have died last night."/i

i"I did, didn't I?" The woman said with a smile. "But you didn't win on your own. Did you? You needed help last time, and that wasn't part of our deal. Remember the rest of it?"/i

iRanma frowned at this. He didn't like where it was going. "Yes, yes I do. You said that if I lost I would be your servant, unable to challenge you again for six months."/i

iThe woman's smile became almost predatory. This caused Ranma to swallow, hard. The direction her words had gone did indeed sit ill with him. It had been a better deal then what she'd originally wanted. She'd wanted a fight to the death for who had control. Instead he'd managed to talk her into contests of skill every six months for who had control. Now however it sounded like she was going to use the fact someone else interfered to entrap him./i

i"I didn't ask anyone to help. So if you're gonna hold it against me, then disregard the previous spar. Fight me now to determine who has control."/i

iThe demonic woman didn't move from the bed. In the pit of his stomach Ranma knew what her answer was going to be. He dreaded it in fact. Whoever or whatever had helped him a week ago hadn't done him any favors. He knew that now. At first he'd thought this woman would abide by his win. But that had been a foolish idea. She was a demon, and demons loved to trick mortals./i

i"No," she said with a tone of finality. "Come here, now. You belong to me until you can defeat me in a challenge fairly."/i

iIt wasn't right, but it was fair. Ranma supposed the accusation of him cheating was valid. Which if correct, meant he'd forfeited the challenge. At her command he disrobed, joining her in the bed. This was going to be a long six months. Hopefully she would live up to her end of the bargain when it was time./i

i"Be thankful I gave you a week," She taunted. And then the demon woman claimed her prize./i

Unnoticed by the two girls, Ranma's eyes opened. Without drawing their attention, he poured some cold water on his head. With this act a familiar change overtook his body. Now a demoness once more, she put on her mystic armbands while retaining her wings. The wings unfurled, casting a shadow over both Nabiki and Akane.

"That rather hurt. Now then, I suppose it's time for a little snack. And you two will do nicely. Follow me."

Her eyes had a soft golden glow as Ranma spoke. Not expecting it, both Akane and Nabiki looked into her eyes. Moments later they fell in behind Ranma. The three entered the middle Tendo sister's room. As the door closed a female laugh could be heard. The sounds coming from the room brought smiles to both Genma and Soun as they passed.

An hour later it was an extremely satisfied Ranma who emerged from the room. Leaning against her was a tired, but smiling Nabiki. They made their way down to the dining room, and Nabiki slumped into a chair. iIt's like Ranma's a different person from last night,/i Nabiki thought to herself. When Kasumi brought out breakfast, the neo-girl declined, citing that she'd already eaten. This caused Nabiki to blush furiously.

"Oh my, where is Akane?" Kasumi asked.

"I believe she was feeling tired," Ranma said with a smirk. "I guess breaking the sink wore her out."

centerbiElsewhere/center/b/i

Takawaki strode confidently towards the palace. These hours meeting with his advisers were tiresome. He did not see why they required his presence so often. Did they not see he, the Blue Thunder had more important duties? Before the meetings however he had to supervise the auxiliaries. They did not understand his proclamation, it seemed. So he would once more supervise their futile attempts to win the fierce Akane. Such a flower could be plucked not by common soldiers, but by a noble prince such as he. Arriving at the palace, he took his customary station to await his one true love.

centerbiTendo Dojo/center/b/i

"Why are you still a girl?" Genma demanded. "Go change, and get ready for school."

Ranma cocked her head to the side in thought. "Sure, why not go to this 'school'. I could use some more information about this century. Where is it located?"

Thinking quickly, Nabiki spoke up. "I'll show you the way." iShe tastes familiar. I'll have to thank her for butting into the challenge last week. Nabiki blinked as the thought entered her mind. It was just like the previous night. "You don't have a school uniform yet so... Never mind."

The nightgown that Ranma had been wearing had disappeared. In it's place was a tight fitting copy of Nabiki's school uniform. When she thought about it, Nabiki wasn't sure when Ranma had put on the night gown either. It wasn't one of hers, and they had left the night cloths in the bathroom. Yet another mystery. One of many surrounding Ranma it seemed.

The two started to walk to the school. After about six blocks Nabiki looked up. "Why are you walking on the fence?"

"The panda taught Ranma to do so for balance training. It's actually a good idea. Speaking of which..." Ranma turned around and threw a ball of fire down the street. It impacted with a panda racing down the fence holding a tea kettle. The still burning panda held up a sign which read

i/"Ouch"/i

"What," Nabiki asked, "Do you mean he taught Ranma? Aren't you Ranma?"

"No I am, or was anyway, Amnara Nightbane. Me and Ranma have an... agreement. And thanks to you, my pet, he serves me for the next six months. At least. Don't worry, I might let him play now and then."

Nabiki choked upon hearing the proclamation."P-pet?"

"Yes, pet. You so willingly gave yourself to me, and I've learned the hard way not to trust humans too much. That little mark I gave you means you belong to me, body and soul. Hmm, I'll have to bond to my other pets too I suppose. We're almost there, so a few ground rules. You may not tell anyone about me. Not friends, not family, and especially not someone trying to buy the information. To everyone else, I am 'Saotome Ranma'. Oh, do try to relax. I'll only have to punish you if you misbehave. Behave, and life can be very very good."

centerbiXxXxX/center/b/i

On a nearby rooftop three women and a child stood watching the couple below. One of the women had a dark tan, and platinum blond hair groaned. "Please Skuld, please tell me you didn't pick her to be the new goddess of the paranatural. Please tell me it isn't THE Tendo Nabiki."

The child, for all appearances twelve years old looked sheepish. "Sorry! She wasn't suppose to be a goddess, I swear! All I was trying to do was give her the needed gifts. It's not my fault, Bell interrupted me while editing her file."

The blond demoness scowled, already she was getting a serious headache. "Don't tell me, you let Skuld handle the paperwork on this..."

Belldandy sighed, even her serenity being tested. "Would someone explain who had the bright idea to have Ranma be the vessel? You both know it's impossible to predict what will happen around him. He wasn't suppose to make a deal with her yet. Let alone that deal. What went wrong?"

Mara groaned and started banging her head against a chimney. "Why me?"

centerbiXxXxX/center/b/i

The noble Takawaki looked on the field of battle in confusion. His love had not shown. But she always came. The merchant Nabiki had shown up, as was her usual wont. A stranger with fiery red hair had also come. But not the fierce Akane. The common soldiers had already filed off to their garrisons. But soft, who was this newcomer to his palace?

"Hold fair lady, what business doth bring thee to Furinkan? Thy beauty doth proclaim thy nobility. I, Kuno Takawaki, the Blue Thunder of Furinkan and captain of the royal guard do greet thee."

Ranma blinked, staring at the kendoist standing before her. Turning to Nabiki, she had to ask. "Who is this delicious looking morsel?"

Nabiki frowned at the phrasing. "This idiot? Just Kuno Takawaki, resident delusional moron. Thinks he's some noble samurai in the feudal era, or something like that."

"Ah, then not worth my time. Insanity isn't worth dealing with. I prefer sane, although unstable can be interesting. True insanity though? Such a bore."

Ranma continued walking, ignoring Kuno and his posturing. With a shrug Nabiki decided to follow. The other girl's complete dismissal continued what Akane's absence had begun. Boken still held aloft in what surely was a dramatic pose, he stood there in stunned silence. The noble lady, nay goddess for surely only a goddess could possess such sublime beauty, had ignored him. He, the great Blue Thunder had been ignored. It made no sense, surely the heavens would weep should such a tragedy take place.

As it began to rain Kuno spoke. "Very well my pig tailed goddess, I shall accept thy challenge. And if mine noble blade doth falter, I shall consent to date thee."

As she opened the school's front door Ranma said with much disdain "Who would ever want to date you?"

Suddenly pain erupted in Ranma's right shoulder. She could feel the collar bone break from the force of impact. With her left hand she grabbed hold of the boken, ripping it out of Kuno's grip. Eyes glowed a dark red Just before punching Kuno in the stomach she spoke.

"You really shouldn't have done that."

With the delusional kendoist laid low, the succubus calling herself Ranma collapsed in pain. Her eyes rolled back into her head. While Saotome Ranma was an incredibly skilled fighter, Amnara was rusty. Her reflexes had not been built up yet in this body. The difference between an astral fight, and physical one was vast.

The mark on Nabiki's chest burned. Turning, she saw the girl who claimed ownership over her laying on the ground, clearly hurt. iHope she suffers,/i Nabiki thought. iSis might have been in the wrong, but no one treats me like a pet./i After taking two steps however the mercenary girl fell to her knees. Her face was a grimace of pain. Each step away from Ranma brought more pain.

"All right! I get the picture."

She was still wincing as Nabiki lifted Ranma. She carried the unconscious demoness to the nurse's office. iWhat did she do to me?/i A good feeling washed over Nabiki as she set down her 'owner'. A concept that didn't sit well with her. iThat hurt! Will it happen every time I try abandoning or disobeying her? And if that other feeling keeps happening, I don't know how long I can hold out. That's it, I'm heading to class. I'm AAAAGH! Ok, maybe I'll just stay here till I get permission to leave her side./i

centerbiRanma's Mindscape/center/b/i

He laid on the heart shaped bed, exhausted. Ranma had lost track of how long he'd been here. In part that was because time had no real meaning. Minutes could feel like hours, or seconds. He felt it had easily been a couple years. But Ranma wasn't really sure about that. His hand went to his neck. The leather band there kept defying all his attempts to remove it.

That woman, Amnara, had told him it was proof that she owned him. At first Ranma hadn't believed her. The clasp had looked simple enough. After she'd placed the band around his neck the youth had tried to undo it. No amount of force had worked then. And now it still resisted everything he tried. The worst part was that once it was around Ranma's neck, he had discovered it impossible to disobey a direct order.

No, not quite impossible. Impractical was a better word. Amnara had told him to strip once the collar was on him. And when he refused pain had flooded his body. Each time he refused the pain increased in intensity. After Genma's teaching pain was a familiar companion. But not like that. It had felt like every nerve was on fire.

Obey her, and a wave of low intensity pleasure washed over him. Disobey, and pain. It was a very simple conditioning. One which Ranma understood all too well. And it was very effective. After that third time he'd been reluctant to try resisting again. Ranma was beginning to wonder if he would still have the will to challenge her in six months time. Assuming Amnara even honored the deal. Assuming it hadn't already been six months.

"At least she ain't mean."

After his mistress had left this time, Ranma had decided to explore this prison. At first he'd thought it was just the bed in an endless void. Instead there was a palace. The dining hall seemed to always have food ready for him. The baths were quite lavish. The most puzzling area however was a hall of statues. Some of the statues were darkened. Beneath one such statue was a plate which read 'husband'. Several statues of children, all darkened.

A statue labeled 'Father' glowed with a menacing red light. Still others had a light pink glow which radiated both warmth and hate. The only statue with a pure white glow was of Nabiki. Ranma knew not what it meant. The statue was nude, and he could see what looked like a tattoo engraved between the statue's breasts. Touching the engraving, he staggered. He felt fear, resigned acceptance, and... love? Ranma studied the engraving, memorizing it's details. This was important. He knew it.

Since she was still leaving him alone, Ranma decided to train. If, when he could challenge Amnara again he wanted to be ready. One of the empty rooms would be ideal for his use. The first kata started out slow. It was a warmup and stretching kata. From there he pushed harder and harder. How long he was lost in the graceful movements Ranma didn't know. Eventually he grew tired again though.

In the bathing chamber the boy soaked for a while. In this place cold water did nothing to him. One of the few benefits of being trapped here. Finally sore muscles had stopped complaining. That was as good a sign as any that he was done bathing. iWish I had some cloths. But nooo, she had to burn my only outfit. Least I can do is fix my hair./i

Ranma moved over to a large mirror. The string binding his pigtail was pulled out. Using one of the brushes he worked the knots and tangles out of his long hair. As Ranma worked on this goal he noticed the symbol on his collar. It was identical to the one on Nabiki's glowing statue. i"With this I mark you as my pet. Loyal pets have a very pleasant life. Disobedient ones however, well you don't want to disobey me." /i

"So that's what it means. She'll pay for doing that to Nabs!"

"Who will pay, for what?" A sultry voice said from behind Ranma.

He didn't want to look, but already knew who it would be. Eyes shifted, and the pit of his stomach churned. He'd been right. Amnara was back. And she did not look happy. The scowl on her face was almost painful to see. Ranma's anger flared, and almost he denounced her. Remembered pain stopped him. iVery effective conditioning./i

"Whoever angered you, m-mistress."

He almost choked on that last word. But Amnara had ordered that he refer to her as 'mistress'. In the seeming eternity he'd been trapped here, the conditioning of his collar had already become strong. In his own thoughts he had begun referring to her not by name, but as his mistress. Not all the time, but it had begun. iWhat does she want this time?/i

"Teach me your art. All of it." Amnara said, almost as if she could read minds.

"All of it, m-mistress?" Ranma asked, again choking on the title.

"I didn't stutter, all of it. Every move, every technique. You will teach me. I'll not be helpless again."

Ranma started to worry at this statement. He was going to be forced to disobey, and knew it was going to hurt a lot. "I, er, can't teach everything. Even if I could, I wont train anyone in the neko-ken."

Amnara scowled. That was a term she'd not heard in ages. It had been whispered of before by her father. Something so horrible, even her own people had been disgusted. This boy had been subjected to that horror, and survived. It was most impressive. How it was he survived with his soul intact was a complete mystery. She wouldn't punish him for refusing. This time at least.

"That is fine." No, it wasn't fine. Not by a long shot. "Now, tell me who subjected you to that ritual? Who was trying to raise a demon using you as sacrifice. Even Father disapproved of it's only recorded use."

There was no pain. He'd said no, and there was no pain. This minor miracle almost overshadowed everything else. Almost, however a few incongruities in her story managed to come to his attention. It didn't sound like she was referring to that idiotic panda as 'father'. Things were not adding up here. He'd assumed Amnara was just the 'sexual predator' instincts given form by his meditation that night. But what if he was wrong about that? What if this wasn't a curse, but a possession? He would fight that with all his might.

"No," He said with more conviction then Ranma felt.

"No?" Amnara asked, an eyebrow raising.

"I refuse to teach ya anything. Torture me if you want, but I'll not help a monster ta become stronger. Ya ain't part o me. If ya were, ya'd already know everything I do."

iIf this is all in my mind, I have control over my body./i He thought to himself. iAnd that means.../i With a look of intense concentration, Ranma was suddenly clothed in his usual red Chinese shirt and black kung-fu pants. Intense pain wracked his body. Amnara had flat out ordered him to remain unclothed as long as he served her.

center-/center

centerbiChapter 5/center/b/i

center-/center

Since the dawn of man the idea has existed. The concept of some force guiding each and every person's actions. Call it fate, destiny, karma, anything you like. The simple fact was that it wasn't exactly a shapeless force. Some cultures came close to the truth. The Greeks called them The Fates, spinners of the tapestry of life. In Iceland they had been called the Norns, and were viewed as evil witches. Cultures who had a glimmer of the truth said they were thee old ladies. And in a sense, they were old beyond mortal ken.

The three were in truth goddesses. Past, present, and future were their domains. Goddess of fate, weavers of destiny. It was their job to make sure important events happened the correct way. They couldn't dictate everything. No, that would have made everything easier. In some ways however, they wielded more power then Kami-Sama. Or at least, they did once. They would again too, but not for a few more years.

The problem was Skuld, goddess of the future and amateur inventor. Immortality, as both Kami-Sama and Hild had discovered, was a curse for most. Without occasionally allowing themselves to be reborn, the gods and demons tended to lose their sanity. It was for this reason that Skuld was currently twelve years old. This current rebirth had left her unable to foresee tampering with the three sister's long range plans. Tampering which only now was coming to light as they read files so heavily encrypted only they had access.

"Urd, were you drunk on that day? I thought we agreed the neko-ken was out of the question. I remember it being your job to ensure that fool never got the manual."

The goddess Urd thought about the question. Usually she would have been upset. This time however she was worried. The three sisters had access to records from previous times through Creation. It had shocked Skuld to learn of two beings who survived each cycle. The first was a being known as Nox. Nether goddess nor demon, the few things Skuld knew about this Nox scared her.

The second was a human, of all things. A human fated to die and be reborn again and again without change. Fated to keep watch over one of Skuld's greatest mistakes for all eternity. Currently the file on one Kino Makoto was in a window of Skuld's Yggdrasil interface. And it was an extremely long file. Far longer then any other file in the records. One of the latest updates however was alarming.

"Sisters, you do realize that the Kino woman is Ranma's mother this time around, right?"

Urd visibly blanched. When last she'd encountered the time addled guardian of the gates it had been the eighth century, England. It had been rather frightening. While Urd clearly was more powerful, the ageless guardian of time had proved that her skill was a huge equalizer. Having an unbroken eternity to master both her powers, and martial skills had made Kino extremely dangerous.

For centuries afterwords Urd had nightmares of the fight. It was the whole reason she'd decided to be reborn forty years ago. And now that lunatic was somehow Ranma's mother? "How's that possible? She should have been stuck at the gates about that time."

Belldandy shook her head sadly. "She was. Tea anyone?"

"Yes, sister. I'd love some." Skuld said. "Says here she found Ranma right after the cat pit while on vacation. Is she even allowed vacations? Back on topic, he was part of the neko-ken ritual. How is Ranma still alive, and why didn't the demon come? It's not like this is the same as previous versions. This one doesn't create a berserker. It actually summons the demon."

Belldandy sipped her tea as she reviewed another file. "Oh dear, this wasn't suppose to happen."

"What else is new?" Urd asked, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "the 'guild' wasn't suppose to go rogue. Then Nightbane's little rebellion was suppose to work, not get ruthlessly crushed. She wasn't suppose to be killed by amazons either, let alone curse the tribe. Making sure she got reincarnated was hard enough. The Nabiki girl was only suppose to be given psionics. When during any of this has anything gone according to plan? But tell me, what went wrong this time?"

Belldandy gave one of her rare frowns before answering. "We copied a soul. I think. Oh my, Ranma got bonded to Nightbane."

Skuld blinked. "But, that's impossible. Ranma is Nightbane. Isn't he? Her soul was removed from that pool before reincarnating it."

"Not according to this update. He challenged her for dominance last week, and forfeited." Belldandy shook her head in wonder. "We should have Mara intervene before things get out of control. Again."

Skuld looked at her sisters, wide eyed. "I still wanna know how it was decided he should end up as her reincarnation to begin with. Anyone else would have worked fine, but no. It had to be mister difficult to track nexus of raw chaos himself. The man's been known to kill demi-gods and demons with his bare hands in previous cycles. Multiple times. And that's as a human. I get headaches reading the files for cycles where he ascended to godhood or became a demon. I've reincarnated eight times since then, and I still have nightmares about the time Hild made that boy her heir after he fought us. (1)"

centerbiXxXxX/center/b/i

The school nurse's office had few beds to begin with. With two students already injured and unconscious Miss Hibiki(2) was concerned. The Tendo girl had just collapsed, twitching in pain after being sent to class as well. That was three beds now occupied. And it didn't look like any of them were going anywhere.

"Get lost," A woman said from behind Hibiki.

"I think not. If I do, I may very well lose this job.(3)" The nurse said in complete seriousness. As the woman turned around, her expression darkened. "I'll have to ask you to leave. Demons aren't allowed to pester my patients.(4)"

Mara blinked in surprise. She'd not expected a human to know what she is. This woman's answer to being told 'get lost' was equally a surprise. Eyes narrowed as Mara examined this nurse. Then they flew wide open. "Hibiki Mina? What are you doing here, I thought you were staying at the Infernal? Wait, don't care. I have a job to do. I'll catch up with you later."

To Mara's demonic sight the mark of bonding was clearly visible through Nabiki's blouse. This was a power only succubi had. The ability to mark someone's immortal soul as the succubus's property. The bond she knew made it nearly impossible for the one marked to go against their owner. It would never work on one tied into the System. But that was the problem. This girl wasn't even suppose to be a goddess. The system had not been connected to her yet. Safeguards that should have existed, didn't. If Mara hadn't been shown the heavily redacted file, she'd have never known the truth about Tendo Nabiki: goddess of paranatural third class, second category, limited license.

centerbiXxXxX/center/b/i

Hild sat in her office reading the latest reports. The current situation on Midgard was a unmitigated disaster. And yet, she could see a silver lining. iAn unprotected goddess bound in servitude to a demon. If I play this right, both could be mine. Let's see the file for this Saotome. Restricted access? What's so special about... Oh shit! That's a Destiny protocol seal! Even I'm not allowed full access to files beyond this cycle. Access... granted? Dear kami, this kid does/i that iroutinely? Walking chaos nexus? Hmm, see file 'godslayer initiative'.../i

An hour later Hild's secretary found her staring blankly at her computer, all mental faculties shut down.

centerbiRanma's Mindscape/center/b/i

Amnara Nightbane was not happy. And because she wsn't happy, she made damn sure Ranma wasn't. Through the link she'd forced upon him the demoness flooded her formerly willing pet with raw pain. Enough pain to break the will of a lesser mortal. She felt confidant it would work. While Amnara respected Ranma, she couldn't afford him fighting against her.

Her surprise thus was immense when Ranma managed to stand. Sure, standing was clearly the extent of what this boy could do. His body was trembling, his balance unsteady at best. Amnara could tell it took everything he had just to do that much. The fact remained however that Saotome Ranma was standing when he should be twitching on the ground in pain. He was standing in defiance, when his will should have shattered.

iCould I have misjudged him? Did he win because of outside help, or was the help unneeded? I have to put a stop to this, now./i Her nails lengthened, becoming like razor blades. Since the normal punishment wasn't enough, something more was required. Newly formed talons flashed through the air towards Ranma's chest. iHow did he catch my wrist?/i

"I have... been... thrown from... cliffs. Packs... of... wolves... have... mauled... me. Frenzied... sharks... scare... me... not. The... pit... couldn't... break... me."

She watched as Ranma's features shifted. His ears moved up towards the top of his head. They changed shape, becoming triangular and covered with black fur. Ranma's face became slightly feline in cast, whiskers growing from his cheeks. His nose flattened and became cat-like. pupils became ovals From Ranma's ass emerged a black tail.

centerbiXxXxX/center/b/i

It hurt. It hurt more then anything he'd ever experienced in his life. Not just physical pain, that he could deal with. No, this time it hurt deeper then that. A pain which could scar a person's very being. It could break a man, no matter how strong that man was. He refused to break. He refused to become nothing more then a toy to this creature. If this was a battle of wills, Ranma knew one thing. When it comes to all out battle he never lost. Not when it mattered most.

With supreme effort he forced himself first onto one knee, then upright. It was getting worse. His mind was threatening to crack from the experience. Not just his mind either, the very soul of Saotome Ranma was in pain. It was that self same pain that Ranma found his deliverance in. He'd felt soul rending pain once before. It had hurt so badly his mind had locked the experience away as best it could. Now in his moment of greatest need that barrier shattered.

iIt hurts. The scary cats keep scratching and biting him. A new one appears, larger then the rest. It growls menacingly at him. The others are hungry and scared. He could almost forgive them. This one however doesn't go for the fish. It's claws rake across his stomach, leaving no visible injury. He feels something else tear open however. Another swipe, and he screams. This cat, this demon is going to kill him./i

iThen he's not alone any longer. There are dozens with him, fighting for him. Caring for him. Joining him. The demon has torn him in ways that wont heal. They take the place of what was lost. Alone, he was weak. Together they are mighty./i

With speed which surprised Ranma he caught her wrist before being struck. It was hard to speak through the mind numbing pain. "I have... been... thrown from... cliffs. Packs... of... wolves... have... mauled... me. Frenzied... sharks... scare... me... not. The... pit... couldn't... break... me." His voice strengthened. "Alone, you may defeat me. But I am not alone. We fought off the neko akuma. We will not break."

centerbiXxXxX/center/b/i

This boy, this human could barely stand. Yet as impossible as it sounded, he'd stopped her attack. The change in appearance too was a distressing. She had vastly underestimated him. Still, his strength must be faltering. Yes, there it was. The trembling was back. She could feel his grip loosen as the hand twitched. She could see him wince as the punishment increased.

Amnara pulled free her hand. At the same time her other hand came slashing in. The boy managed to block her attack, but not the followup. Talons tore into his chest, shredding the shirt. Ranma hissed at her, ears laying down flat and tail twitching. The drawing of blood seemed to finally do the trick. He fell to the ground, body twitching uncontrollably. She allowed the punishment to continue for three minutes. Only then did she let up.

"Kiss me, now."

He'd felt the stick. From his slow movements the after affects were still lingering. Amnara could see the hate in his eyes. Didn't matter so long as he obeyed. And he did follow this order. Time for the carrot. As a reward, she used her link to flood him with pleasure the likes he'd probably never experienced. The swishing tail and purring were testament to how effective of a carrot it was.

The kiss, now that was the important thing. She could only do this with one bonded to her. A taste of the soul. She had to know more of this boy Amnara found herself a part of. The first real surprise of the kiss was that Amnara could feel herself feeding. An impossibility if the boy was an aspect of her. He tasted feline and human in equal measure. A strong confidence, almost arrogance. Skill and power. She tasted honor. The delectable texture of selfless nobility as well. He tasted of... herself?

iHave I made a mistake? No, I mustn't doubt. They will come for me eventually. I need to live, and I need his skills. Already I was betrayed by friends. Humans can't be trusted. So he'll teach me, or he'll suffer again. But is what I do right?/i

"No, it isn't."

It came from behind Amnara. She dropped Ranma and spun. "Ah, my other pet. I see you want more practice with me."

On the floor Ranma moaned loudly. It was doubtful he would try acting out of line again. This other human however. Nabiki's presence here was a bit surprising. She'd not displayed such a talent after the challenge. Perhaps she'd been practicing in secret. iI'll have to put a stop to that,/i Amnara thought. iI need to know any tricks she might try pulling on me./i

"Not really, I'm here for Ranma. Why would I be here for a bitch like

you?" PAIN! "Sorry! I'm sorry!"

centerbiXxXxX/center/b/i

A blue light had engulfed Nabiki as she laid on the bed. In it's wake she found sudden knowledge. Knowledge of how to repeat the events of her dream a week ago. After centering herself, Nabiki tried to push her consciousness out. Slowly she rose from her body. Looking down, the teenage information broker noted her nudity. She didn't see that damnable mark on her astral chest though. Instead she now felt something around her neck. When she tried, the band of leather wouldn't come off.

No matter, she had a fiance to try saving. She dove into the mind of her fiance. What she expected to see was an empty field. Instead there was a heart shaped bed in a large room. Gravity it seemed also worked here, unlike after leaving her body. Everything felt real, even though she knew it wasn't. iIf I get hurt here, what happens to my body?/i

Nabiki spotted a door, and cautiously slipped through it. Up ahead she heard voices. Then a brief cry of pain. She crept forward to find out what was happening. She watched as Ranma tried, and failed to stand up to the demon woman. The collar on Ranma's neck gave her a bad feeling. And then Ranma obediently kissed the creature. i"But is what I do right?"/i

She told off the bitch, then doubled over in abject pain. "Sorry! I'm sorry!"

iHow do you fight someone who can cripple you at the first sign of resistance?/i It was a sobering thought. It looked like they were right and truly screwed. "Why, why are you doing this to us?"

bAuthor Note/b

*1. Reference to Hell is a Martial Artist, among other fan fictions

involving Ranma and O!MG

*2. The Hibiki direction sense in some circles is near legendary. Passed from generation to generation, sometimes even those married into or adopted by the clan develop it. Miss Hibiki became a widower after her husband got lost looking for their bedroom. The next time she heard news, he'd been spotted floating just outside the international space station. To date no one has figured out how exactly he got there, or how his body survived explosive decompression unharmed. An autopsy had shown the man had died of asphyxiation.

*3. In order to retain her job as school nurse, the surviving Hibiki matron has taken to sleeping in her office and ordering takeout. Naturally, she hasn't seen her son in eight years. Since she herself got hopelessly lost walking to the bathroom, her son doesn't have the slightest clue where she is.

*4. Ryoga isn't the only Hibiki to have seen hell during his wanderings. Likely he wont be the last either.

Chapter 6

/center

It had been bound to happen someday. No matter how good in the Art you

are, eventually someone would prove better. Ranma had always been proud

of his skills. He's the best, or so he claimed. Still, he knew in time

someone else would be better then him. He just didn't expect it to

happen so soon. Saotome Ranma had found someone he couldn't beat.

Couldn't even fight to begin with.

Maybe he could have at the challenge. Or before that damnable collar had

been put around his neck. But not now. He realized it finally. The only

way he could fight her now was if Amnara allowed him to. He'd thought to

fight her off, force her out. But it had taken everything just to remain

standing. Even the neko-ken hadn't been enough.

Now here he was, laying on the floor and twitching. But not in agony

this time. It felt too good. And it wasn't letting up. Ranma could feel

the last of his resistance crumbling. Saotome Ranma, best martial artist

of his generation, the man who never lost when it mattered, had lost not

just a fight but his freedom. I can't fight her, I lost. I can't believe I lost.

Is that Nabs? Not her too, was afraid of that.

"Why, why are you doing this to us?" Nabiki asked. Normally it would

have been a demand. For once however caution had won out. Instead of

demanding information or trying to con it out of someone, Nabiki decided

to try a safer method. She decided to plead for it. That way, she hoped,

it wouldn't sound like a challenge.

"Because humans can't be trusted. The only way to deal with them is to

force them to behave."

That sort of bitterness is learned. Nabiki thought to herself. Ranma

on the other hand had other thoughts. If that's who I think...

"Were... ya... the... protector of... an amazon... tribe?" Ranma managed to gasp.

It took a lot of willpower to keep his voice neutral, maybe with a hint

of fear. He wanted to fight back, not act like a slave. The worst part

of it was that he did fear her a bit. Nothing scared him, except those

furry devils. Yet of this demonic woman it was different. He was

starting to fear her.

"I... was. Once. Until they killed me. I saved their worthless village,

and they killed me for it."

This confirmed his suspicions. "They... injured you... trapped... you

beneath... a... net... water. Right? "

"How," Amnara started before getting interrupted. It was enough to cause her to stop focusing on rewarding her pet.

"They were scared. They reacted to that fear. And afterwords they felt

shamed by their actions. It's been fifteen hundred years, and they are

still trying to atone." Most of them anyway. Emboldened by the lack of

reprisals, he continued."What happened ta the noble protector to turn ya

into a heartless monster? Or was it always an act? Was the rebellion an

act? If you aren't just a monster, accept my challenge. Fight me as an

equal instead of using outside interference. Fight me with your skill,

not this collar. Stay out of this Nabs, it's between me and her. Last

time someone else tried to help, forfeiting the challenge."

Here it comes, this is gonna hurt. No way she'll accept. Just punish me

again for daring to talk back. To Ranma's surprise, the expected pain

didn't come. Nabiki raised an eyebrow at Amnara's reaction. The demoness

was standing still, shaking with rage. But the lack of screams from

herself or Ranma indicated something had possibly gotten through. Nabiki

also noted that Ranma's allusions to events were not denied.

"You, you're right. I have changed. Your offer for a second challenge

was valid. It is still within my right to deny it. We already made a

deal, and by it's terms you lost. Maybe not all humans are untrustworthy."

Amnara turned and faced Nabiki then. "As for you, your interference

dishonors yourself, as well as my first pet. For that, you will be

punished. You will stay here until I return."

"Like hell I will," Nabiki snapped.

"Yes, you will little godling. I own you. And you will do as I say. Or

do you really think you can fight your mistress within her own mind?

I'll see you two later." With that Amnara vanished.

As one the two prisoners commented, "Godling?"

XxXxX

Amnara awoke in an unfamiliar room. Laying on beds near her were that

insufferable idiot who had attacked her, and Nabiki. Her shoulder felt

horrible. It was broken, she knew that much. Nearby was a lovely blond,

and a woman with dark brown hair. Those two seemed to be talking. Their

conversation was hard to follow. Something about a nephl-something and

getting lost.

I need to heal. And then some time to think. Hmm, that violent girl

from this morning should still be there. She still owes me for that

attack too. Maybe a little shampoo as well. Wait, why would washing my

hair help me heal? The demoness cleared her throat loudly.

"I require assistance. I need to get myself and my... friend back home.

Would one of you two ladies care to help?"

The two women turned towards her. The blond one smiled. "Of course, I'd

be happy to help. But not for free. In return, you will owe me a favor."

I know that smile. She's up to something, Amnara thought. Better be

careful with her. Still, I'm in no shape to carry someone. What is the

deal with those face markings? They feel important, but what do they

mean? With the blond woman's help Amnara propped Nabiki between them.

The blond also somehow managed to get a firm grip on Amnara's wrist.

Moments later a peculiar feeling wrapped around Amnara as smoke swirled

through the area.

The smoke cleared, and Amnara scowled. This wasn't the Tendo dojo. While

she had no idea where they were, the succubus knew she'd been tricked.

And for that, someone was going to pay.

XxXxX

A cage, no matter how gilded, is still a cage. Nabiki paced the

bedroom once again. That demon woman had been right. Coming here

uninvited had been a big mistake. Of the chambers in this mental

mansion, she had access to very few. Servant's quarters, she mused.

The kind that are never left by the servant. Everything we need to stay

healthy and fit to 'serve' a master. How long have I been stuck here?

Ranma says he's been in these quarters for three years, but it'd only

been a few hours since the furo.

Ranma was changing before her eyes. The self assured yet shy young man

she'd first met had lost much of that confidence. Each day she watched

him run through kata after kata. But something was missing. There was

none of the joy from that first morning in it. It was hard to tell what

he was going through. Nabiki couldn't read minds, at least not

consistently. Not at all here either, it seemed. And Ranma refused to

talk about it.

Over the past 'weeks', how long she wasn't actually sure, the changes

seemed to have gotten worse. And from what she had learned, something

had to be done about it. In six months time Ranma would fight her again.

And this time she doubted he'd be ready. Not at this rate. Nabiki could

see the depression deepening.

But then, who was she to try helping Ranma. She herself was suffering

degraded confidence too. For the first week Nabiki had barely eaten. All

she'd done was rock in the bedroom and cry. Even now despair was looming

at the edge of her thoughts. Ever since Mother had passed away Nabiki

had been in control. Her entire existence had revolved around making

sure the family was taken care of. Others could react, she couldn't.

Nabiki had to be the one in control the reigns. And now that control had

been stripped from her. She didn't even have the ability to return to

her body on her own. Someone else had to allow her.

That helplessness was tearing her apart. Every day being trapped here

hammered home again that her choices were no longer her own. That

demon made her decisions for her. Tendo Nabiki wasn't a fighter. She

wasn't use to feeling pain. Several times it had been demonstrated that

the moment she was pushed by Amnara, Nabiki's resistance crumbled.

She couldn't fight her mistress. She was truly the demoness's property.

Ranma tried fighting her too. And failed. Maybe we aren't so different

after all. Just two people who've lost their freedom. She wont even

consider a rematch. And what can either of us do about it? Nothing,

that's what. I'm nothing more then a snack to her, and Ranma isn't much

better. I should talk to him tonight. Maybe I can get him out of this

funk. As well as get him to share the bed. I'm getting lonely.

XxXxX

It seemed like ten years had passed before Amnara returned to them. In

that time Nabiki and Ranma's friendship had deepened. And the crushing

despair they both had suffered had worked it's way out. Ranma at times

seemed like a broken shell of his former self, but no longer

contemplated the unthinkable. When the demoness finally arrived, Amnara

found not the two willful children, but a pair of loyal, if reluctant

servants.

There was no challenge of her will. No snide comments. Just a quiet

depression. At first the change in their behavior was satisfying. Amnara

happily sampled their bodies for several days. After the first week

however the demoness began to feel disturbed by her pets. They acted

like humans under her father's rule. Ranma had lost the fire which she

so enjoyed.

Amnara sat in her personal quarters and looked in the mirror. The face

that stared back had an almost cruel cast. The betrayal had left her

bitter. But the person Amnara found herself becoming horrified her.

Kami, what have I done? Can I fix this? I don't want to be like Father.

Somehow, I have to undo what I've done. But how? Lost in thought, she

laid down in her own bed, leaving her two pets to their own devices in

the slave's quarters. Tomorrow I'll allow the girl return to her body.

I'll have to give her instructions first though. I need time alone to

fix what I broke.

Author Notes:

Since it's not really obvious, I'll explain about the mindscape

'prison'. Subjective time there runs at a different rate then in the

'real' world. For every hour in the real world, one year subjectively

passes for those in the mindscape. No aging occurs however. It is purely

subjective.

center

Chapter 7

/center

In the statue filled hall a young man worked his way through the most

basic kata he knew. The movements felt off, but he didn't really care.

After all, what was the point in staying the best if it didn't matter?

At least, that was what he thought. Ranma had lost track of how long

it'd been. He was fairly sure six months had come and gone though. More

then that, and he'd not been offered a chance to win freedom. Glumly he

accepted once again he'd screwed up. Should never have challenged all

those years ago. Now I don't even have Nabs. What's the point in going

on? Even death would be better then this.

Morosely he stopped the halfhearted practice. He shuffled into the

bathing room and approached the mirror. Maybe with me gone, Nabs will

be free. It's my body after all. Ranma's fist lashed out, shattering

the mirror. He bent down and picked up one of the glass shards. With

jagged edge in hand, he slipped into the pool. With makeshift blade in

hand Ranma prepared to end it all.

"Put down the glass shard NOW!"

The shard in question had been about to slice into an artery. The call

caused Ranma to freeze. Then he plunged his makeshift dagger into soft

flesh. Release at last, it didn't even hurt as much as he'd feared.

Except the end didn't come. Instead Ranma found himself lifted from the

pool. Soft arms wrapped around him. A passionate kiss which he returned

without intending to. Ranma could feel an energy flow into him. His

wrist tingled where it had been cut.

"You would give up after only one day?" Amnara asked with concern. "What

happened to the noble warrior who fell in the spring? Where is the man

who sought to protect others?"

One... day? He thought in confusion. The idea was having trouble

sifting through the miasma of his melancholy.

Earlier

The smoke dispersed, revealing three figures. One of them was clearly

hurt, while another was unconscious. The injured girl looked around, and

scowled. "You lied, this isn't the Tendo residence."

Mara laughed. "But I didn't say I would take you there. I said I would

take you 'home' in exchange for a favor. And so I have. This is my

apartment. Feel free to put her on the couch. Then I'll get you to the

hospital for treatment. That shoulder looks painful. You really should

be more careful how you word things in the future."

An hour later Amnara found herself sitting in a waiting room. Everywhere

around her she saw people with red markings on their face. There had

been a few with wings, or horns. Where am I anyway? I don't think it's

Guild. She felt nervous. There were too many unknowns. Least of all who

it was that wanted to speak with her.

Finally she was sent into the office. Behind a desk sat a very

attractive woman with long silver-white hair. Her face held more of the

red markings, the significance still unknown. The woman continued

reading papers for a couple minutes. When she finally looked up the

platinum blond looked bored.

"There you are, Saotome. I have some business to discuss with you."

She doesn't know, Amnara thought. "Who are you, and what is this

'business'?"

The woman almost scowled. It had been quite some time since anyone had

been that rude. "My name is Hild. And my business concerns your status."

Hild closed the file she'd been currently reading, again. If I can get

her, that'll be quite the coup. An actual Hero in my service. I like

that idea. After thinking about what all she'd read, Hild realized she

had no idea how to win the saotome boy's trust. Maybe an offer of

protection?

"What do you mean, 'my status'?"

"Just that," Hild said. "As you are now, you are vulnerable. I can fix

that, and all I ask is that you work for me."

Eyes narrowed as Amnara examined the woman across from her.

With all the arrogence of her pet she demanded "And why would

I do that? I am the best there is. No one can beat me."

Present- Mindscape day thirty-two

How do I fix someone who's been broken? It was a worry which had been

plaguing Amnara for a while now. In her youth she'd learned how to

destroy the will of humans. She'd learned how to turn them into obedient

playthings. A practice which in time she'd grown to dislike. The one

thing she'd not learned was how to undo the damage.

I don't even really know about him. What does he like? What does he

dislike? Does he have any dreams? I wish I knew how to get him to open

up. Amnara sighed as she left her room. She'd been trying for a

subjective month to undo the harm already inflicted. And still she was

no closer. This would be easier if I could access his memories. Wait,

there's an idea. The girl might be able to help. But first maybe I

should try that.

As she entered the 'servant' quarters Amnara paused. There pacing down

the hall was a panther. Or at least, that's what she assumed it to be.

Since to her knowledge there were only two in this place, the presence

of a feline was confusing. Briefly she wondered if this was related to

the last time Ranma had stood up to her. Then dismissed it. His features

had returned to normal within a subjective hour.

The animal entered the bathing chamber, and Amnara followed. It began to

clean it's self. The movements seemed a bit off though. It took a moment

to understand why. That's not a true panther, is it? But if not, then

what is it? And where is the boy? She approached the large cat

carefully. Her hand was held out tentatively.

The not-quite feline spun quickly, it's tail thrashing back and forth in

agitation. In it's eyes Amnara saw fear and despair. Somehow this

panther she'd never seen before was afraid of her. How did that happen?

And just where is the boy? This is when he usually baths.

"Here kitty, I wont bite."

The panther shivered before slowly approaching. It sniffed her hand,

then jumped back. Almost as if it expected to be hurt for approaching.

With no retaliation coming, the cat approached once more. Again it

sniffed her hand before jumping back. Why's it so skittish? The third

time it approached the panther stayed longer. Before jumping back it

pushed against Amnara's hand with it's muzzle.

As it returned a fourth time the panther cautiously batted at her hand.

It was only then that Amnara noticed the front paws were shaped like a

human hand. Since it didn't leave this time, she tried to scratch the

panther behind it's ears. This gesture appeared to be accepted. It's

head pushed against her hand, and Amnara could hear purring. There was

still fear in it's eyes, but also a tentative acceptance.

XxXxX

He sits on the floor and grooms himself. Where he is and how he got

there seem unimportant. What is important is the feeling of filth in his

fur. What happened? Doesn't matter. The taste is somewhat like tuna

like. And he does like tuna. For some reason though this taste repulses

him. Briefly he wonders why he doesn't like this taste.

A noise comes from behind. He scents a predator. One which he can't

identify by scent alone. Although the aroma is both alluring and

terrifying at the same time. Slowly he turns around. There, that is what

he smells. It scares him, but he doesn't know why. He knows seeing it

means pain. But not how it delivers the pain. The creature holds out

it's hand to him. It says something, although the words mean nothing to

him.

Slowly he approaches. His tail is between his legs, he should run away.

Nothing has happened yet, so he sniffs the hand. Fearfully he backs

away. Surely this creature will hurt him now. But still nothing happens.

He wishes Warm Lap was here. Warm Lap is always nice. He's not seen Warm

Lap in a long time though.

The creature smells of tuna and blood. But not a good tuna. It smells

of bad tuna that makes you sick if you eat it. It hasn't hurt him yet

though. With caution he tries approaching again. A little bolder now, he

tries to be petted. Sudden motion startles him, and he flees once more.

He doesn't trust this creature. The bad-tuna smelling creature will hurt

him somehow. He's sure of it. But maybe he should keep it off guard. He

can't find Warm Lap anywhere, and this creature may have done something

to Warm Lap. For now he decides to act friendly.

Earlier

Hild had to suppress a laugh. "You are just a child trying to play in

the big leagues. And it'll get you killed. Work for me however, and I

can protect you from the backlash of your actions."

"Hmm," Amnara said. "I think not. I'll make my own decisions. And that

includes not bowing down to you."

The platinum blond narrowed her eyes. "I see. But I must insist you at

least register with Nidhogg."

The name meant nothing to her. This woman meant nothing to her. The fact

she was in this crazy place, instead of where she'd wanted to go was

annoying. And now some woman was trying to force Amnara to work for her.

If she didn't know any better, she'd think the universe was out to get

her, again.

"And what is a nidhogg?"

"It's nothing much," Hild replied offhandedly. "Just a central database

of all active demons. It keeps track of who they are, any favors owed,

and any contracts made."

"Try that again, without the lies. I've already had one person, a flunky

of yours I assume, trick me. I wont fall for another one. I'm guessing

there's some catch, and that's why your so determined for me to

'register'. On second thought, no. Just send me and my pet back to the

Tendo residence. I'll think about your suggestion, but that's it."

Present- Mindscape day 80

She called out, and the panther sauntered over to her. It had taken some

time, but finally the creature had warmed up to Amnara. And still there

was no sign of the boy. The cat was still afraid of her. And that was

dismaying. It still wasn't accepting food from her hand.

"Do you know where the boy is?" Amnara asked the feline.

She'd been getting an increasing worry about this. More and more she had

been suspecting this cat was that boy. How it could happen she wasn't

entirely sure though. She knew the boy had been subjected to that

ritual, but assumed it had failed since he was still alive. And yet,

he'd briefly displayed feline features once.

As Amnara petted the creature she spoke. "Would you like a special treat?"

XxXxX

Bad Tuna is back. He is scared of Bad Tuna. She's been nice to him so

far, but he keeps expecting to be hurt. He tries to think of when Bad

Tuna had hurt him, but can't. It must have been when he was asleep. But

why would Bad Tuna do that? He doesn't know. That not knowing bothers him.

She is petting him, and talking. He doesn't understand her words

though. The tone implies a question. The petting feels nice, but he

wishes this was Warm Lap. He rolls onto his back so Bad Tuna can rub his

belly. That too feels good, so he begins to purr.

XxXxX

Amnara casually stroked the cat's belly. As she did so an odd pattern

caught her eye. The fur in one spot was a lighter gray color. She

narrowed her eyes, and recognized the symbol the lighter fur formed. Her

eyes narrowed dangerously. I did not claim any panthers. Still, the

evidence was there in front of her. And shouldn't it be a collar in

here? More then a little confused, she decided to sample this unusual one.

With soft murmuring the demonic woman bent down. She cupped the head of

her feline companion, and planted a kiss on it's lips. Experimentally

she tried to flood the feline with pleasure via the link they apparently

had. A passionate groan told her the feline was ready. While one hand

went to fondle the panther's member, she began to drink deeply of it's

energy. Amnara expected to receive a taste of the panther's essence to

compare to Ranma's. Instead she got much much more.

I'm six years old, and papa asks if I want to learn the neko-ken. He

describes it as a technique that will make me invincible. I don't know

why he's tying my arms and legs together. Or why he is wrapping me with

fish sausage. Now I'm falling into a pit. The yowls alarm me. Then the

pain starts...

I've just turned six, and Father says he brought me a present. It's a

human boy, all wrapped up for me. I'm so happy, Father got me a friend.

But why is the boy crying? He looks hurt. My new friend is... scared of

me? I don't understand it. Father strikes me when I try untying my new

friend. He says I shouldn't be nice to food.

I wake up, and it's still dark. Pops is shaking me, motioning for

silence. He thrusts my pack at me. Oh man, we're running away again.

What did the idiot do this time? I like this shrine. The keeper is

friendly, and has been teaching me to meditate. I bet he stole the

shrines scrolls. I'll check, and return them tomorrow night.

Father sent me to work in a brothel today. I don't mind much. It's

better then fighting, and I get to have my fill. Sometimes I wonder if

what we do is right. But I don't have a choice. Father's word is law.

Even if I wanted to go against him, he's too strong. So I guess I'll

accept this posting. Maybe it wont be so bad after all. I'm tired of the

bloodshed. Just because I can fight, doesn't mean I want to.

Amnara broke the kiss and fell backwards. "What just happened?"

The feline rolled over and curled up on her lap. The loud purring felt

really good. And the demoness was surprised at how heavy this cat was.

But even with that, something felt off. Do I have something around my

neck? Amnara thought. Her hand moved to check, and her jaw dropped.

Where did that come from?

Present: Mara's apartment

She awoke, but didn't feel exactly rested. She was in an unfamiliar

place. One that smelled faintly of sulfur. Beside her was the demoness

who had taken over Ranma. The shoulder looked a lot better though. The

place looked cramped. But that was mostly due to the discarded bottles

everywhere. They were in a bedroom, but who's?

Being careful not to wake the other girl, Nabiki got out of the bed.

Since she saw a computer of some sort, she went over to it. Hmm,

already on. And connected to a secured network? What sort of idiot

doesn't log out when done? How is it I can even read this? I don't

recognize the language. System's name is Nidhogg? I wonder if that's

significant. Hey, there's a file here on me.

Goddess? What the hell? Status: linked, see file 'Ranma'? Okay, now

this is getting weird. How do these people know THIS much about me?

Let's see, file 'Ranma'... Destiny clearance only? What is destiny

clearance? Hmm, 'norn eyes only'... I don't like this. Okay, then what

does it say about me? If these people know this much, maybe I can get an

idea of how to get out of this situation.

Not much apparently. Anything I don't already know seems to redirect to

that sealed file. What about Amnara? Huh, file not found? Anyway, I'd

better start looking into what exactly this Nidhogg organization is. I

really don't want Her mad at me again. I gotta find a way out of this

mess. Damn it Akane, think before attacking!

Present: Ranma's Mindscape day 730

Amnara watched the boy flow through his kata. It seemed more forceful

then it once had been. The hesitation was gone. She still wondered how

he'd developed wings like hers. The question had been filed under the

same header as 'why do I have cat ears and a cat tail'. Questions to

which she had no answer, and dreaded trying to find one.

The woman stepped forward, throwing a light and fast punch towards

Ranma. That it was blocked was expected. From there she joined the

dance-like movements. Getting him to train me was the best idea I ever

had. Who knew that would restore his confidence? Granted, he still wont

go against an order, but that's actually a good thing. I don't want to

hurt him again.

"I promise, when the six months are up, you will get a rematch. And I

will let you out at least once a week before then."

center

Chapter 8

/center

A girl with short black hair laid in the bed. It wasn't really by choice

though. When she woke up, the girl had found herself spread eagle style,

with her arms and legs tied to the bed's four corners. Worst of all,

there wasn't enough slack to use her prodigious strength to free

herself. She couldn't even call out for help. She could feel cloth in

her mouth which she couldn't remove.

The girl's name was Tendo Akane. The last thing she could clearly

remember was defending her sister from an inhuman monster that her

father allowed into the house. After that things got rather fuzzy. She

could vaguely remember doing something that had felt really good. Akane

wasn't sure what that had been. The fact she was naked, not to mention

that her breasts and vagina were sore however worried her.

This wasn't her room. Who's was it? Not Kasumi's either. That left her

other sister. It also meant that no one was likely to find her. Nabiki

had a lock installed on her door, and no one else had the key. How long

had she been here? Her stomach was complaining, that much Akane knew.

She'd missed breakfast for sure. Spying a clock informed the girl she'd

also missed lunch. Maybe supper too. No, definitely missed supper. It

was nine in the evening.

Smoke started to fill the room. Which caused Akane to panic. She

couldn't move, if there was a fire surely she'd die. The smoke however

seemed to gather in one spot. Then it vanished. In it's wake stood

Nabiki, that monster, and some blond woman. Pervert, Akane thought

upon seeing how the blond was dressed.

That creature seemed to be unconscious. A fact which pleased her to no

end. Hopefully what ever had happened had hurt. Her sister though looked

exhausted. Had that monster done something new to Nabiki? Unknown, but

she wouldn't doubt it. Now if only she was free, then she'd make sure

that thing could never hurt her family again.

"Thanks Mara," Nabiki said to the blond. "I can take it from here."

Nabiki shook her head upon seeing the state of her sister. It was her

own fault. This whole mess had begun when Akane had attacked Ranma for

no reason. It was hard for Nabiki to feel sympathy for the cause of her

own suffering. So instead the girl decided to get some sleep. But first,

take care of her, shudder, mistress.

Once Amnara was laid on the bed next to Akane, Nabiki herself crawled

into bed. She did so on the opposite side as the demoness. She found

herself draping an arm and leg over her sister's body. It didn't matter.

Nabiki was too tired to care. Not that the struggles of her sister did

much to dislodge Nabiki. Soon she too had fallen asleep.

XxXxX

As the first rays of dawn spread over Tokyo thee girls awoke. The Tendo

sisters and their house guest shifted in the bed. Amnara smiled,

realizing where they were. Mmmm, they look scrumptious. I could get use

to waking up to this. Her hand moved down between Akane's legs. Fingers

began to ply centuries worth of skill, quickly arousing a muffled moan.

"I was lenient this time. Next time you attack me, I may not be so

nice." The demoness whispered in Akane's ear. "I can be a very good

friend, or your worst nightmare. Your choice. I'm going to untie you,

but remember that I can put you right back if you try anything."

Akane for her part mutely nodded, eyes wide and face flushed. Waking up

in this way was there was nothing she could do about it. Akane couldn't

move, and she felt weak with hunger. Her body arched as the demonic girl

continued to play with her. Her tears were flowing like twin rivers.

"Thanks for breakfast," Amnara said before finally untying the girl. "I

may be a demon, but I am not a monster. Pray you never actually

encounter one. With your incomplete training, you wouldn't even last

five seconds against one. Even if you were fully trained, it's doubtful

you could stand up to a real monster."

With that she left the room, a nightie appearing on her just before

opening the door. She didn't hear Nabiki muttering "Could have fooled

me" under her breath. Still, she felt that the girl had insulted her

better. Shouldn't cripple her like I did the boy, but she really needs

to learn her lesson. So thinking, she let Nabiki suffer from a constant

ache.

Amnara stepped into the bathroom, not really caring if anyone else was

in there. If there was a man, she'd just throw him out. The thought of

letting one touch her sent chills down Amnara's spine. If a girl, well

then that was another story all together. Since when do I hate the

touch of a man other then Ranma?!

Fortunately, or maybe unfortunately, there was no one else there. So

when the demonic teen began to wash herself there was no one to

interrupt. Almost she hoped that the girl, Akane, would barge in again.

But that didn't happen. With a shrug Amnara slipped into the steaming

furo. "What the hell?"

Back in the bedroom, Nabiki was wincing. Moving hurt, but not enough to

stop her. Staying still hurt too. What did I do to anger her this

time? The middle Tendo was still draped across her sister. A position

which felt comfortable, yet wrong at the same time. Nabiki rolled over,

letting her sister get up.

"Sorry bout this. It's a really bad idea to anger her though, sis. Trust

me, I know. It's almost like she became a completely different person

after your unwarranted attack."

Hesitantly Akane pulled the cloth out of her mouth, only to find it was

her own panties. Urk. After that she laid there for a couple minutes.

Moving hurt in ways she'd never thought possible. She'd have thought

spending an entire day recovering would have been enough. It wasn't. But

then again, she hadn't exactly had a day to recover. That creature had

left her with something shoved in that most intimate of places.

Something which had kept vibrating for hours, denying Akane rest.

"Sis... why didn't you stop it?" Akane asked finally.

"I'm not sure," Nabiki answered. "At first, going along seemed like the

most natural thing. It didn't even occur to me to stop. After that I...

Aaaaah!"

Suddenly the dull ache that had suffused her body since Amnara had left

the room had stopped. With the ache gone, a great relief flooded the

girl. The visible sagging caused Akane to blink. She was too sore and

fatigued to do much, but the black haired girl did pull her sister into

a comforting hug. The room's door then opened.

Through the door walked a male Ranma. He had a towel wrapped around his

waist since he'd not found any cloths in the bathroom other then the

bracers. His hair was for once not tied in a pigtail. Instead it hung

loosely around the back of his neck. And on his well muscled chest was a

black marking which resembled a flame. Nabiki instantly recognized it.

The biggest surprise however was a pair of black bat wings sticking out

of his back.

He walked across the room and bent over. As his lips met Nabiki's he

wrapped his arms around her. She could feel a shy passion which had been

lacking since Akane's attack. And he didn't quite move like Amnara had.

Did that mean...

"Yeah, it's me. Not sure how, but I'm gonna enjoy it while it lasts."

Finally he noticed Akane laying naked on the bed. "Er, what's she doing

here?"

To his credit, Ranma didn't blush. Nor did he develop a nose bleed. It

was likely due to how long he'd been around an unclothed woman. And if

he was honest with himself, it even having a towel wrapped around

himself felt a little alien. Evidence such as the calendar Nabiki had on

her desk indicated it had only been the one day since he'd been trapped

within his own mind. And yet for him it had been over two decades.

Two decades of not being allowed any cloths other then a collar he

couldn't remove. He didn't clearly remember parts of the time. Two

decades of being around naked girls almost constantly. His modesty had

been a quick casualty. What little he'd had left after the first decade

had been stripped from him long ago from his perspective.

So when Akane developed a full body blush he didn't even react as one

would expect. There was no nose bleed, no blush, no outward sign of any

reaction. No outward sign that is until he removed the towel. The youth

on the bed's eyes went wide upon seeing that Ranma did in fact have an

erection. The sheer size alone made her swallow hard.

"Relax, will ya? I wont touch you unless ya want me to, Akane. Hey Nabs,

mind helping me out here? Please?"

XxXxX

"Nabs already told me what happened yesterday morning at school, And

that the same mob will be there today." Ranma said as they walked. He

along the fence, and Akane on the sidewalk. "What she didn't say was why

you get attacked every day. Care to explain?"

Akane glared at him. She didn't like, or trust this monster. The fact he

left the wings showing made her trust him even less. The fact he

couldn't hide them had escaped her notice, even though Akane had been in

the same room when he cursed about it. No, he was flaunting that he was

a monster. Akane was sure of it.

Finally she relented. "It's cause of that idiot Kuno. He made an

announcement that anyone who wanted to date me first had to beat me in a

fight."

Ranma thought about that for a moment. "Did you approve of this? Does he

even have the power to make such a claim?"

This caused the tomboy to stop in her tracks. "I never thought of that.

No, I didn't approve. And the only right he has is the fact he attacked

anyone trying to ask someone else out."

"Well 'Kane, you ain't in any shape to fight. Wanna end this farce today?"

He knew a little about Kuno. He'd heard Amnara ranting about the

delusional kendoist to know he didn't like the person. He knew this Kuno

person had attacked someone from behind without warning. He knew Kuno

had used lethal force, and carried a weapon. And that Kuno was possibly

insane. Beyond that, he knew little else. But if he honestly thought he

was honorable, he'd likely honor the conditions of his own dishonorable

proclamation.

"I can end it, but ya ain't gonna like how. Stopping the mass attack is

easy. Beat them to a pulp quickly, and then use reason. Stopping the

lunatic with the stick is another matter. Only way he'll maybe let up is

if his own conditions are met."

He kept the wings draped around his shoulders like a cape. It might

lessen the chances of someone realizing what they actually were. Ranma

glanced over at the still trembling Akane. What was going through her

head? He could guess actually. He knew she thought Ranma was an inhuman

monster, as well as a pervert. She probably thought he would take

advantage of her.

"F-f-fine," was all the girl said.

"You do realize you'll owe me for this. If you want me to go through

with this, you will owe me a favor of my choosing at the time of my

choosing."

Neither of them noticed a teenage girl with bright blue hair following

along behind.

center

Chapter 9

/center

Yesterday

Nodoka sighed as she unlocked her front door. The girl, Nabiki hadn't

shown up. A fact which was disappointing. However she had met someone

who appeared to know her son. A foreign girl named Shampoo, of all

things. That was probably not the proper pronunciation, but it was the

best she got from the girl.

That something had been draining the poor girl was obvious to Nodoka.

But there didn't feel like any malice was behind it. There was a dark energy

behind the draining, true. But no evil. But all of that had been

forgotten the instant Shampoo mentioned she was the lover of a Saotome

Ranma. In it's wake was just one thought; Grandbabies!

That Saotome Nodoka was obsessed with grandchildren was known to almost

everyone who met her. It had began when she first learned that she was

pregnant. And over the years the obsession had taken on an almost manic

level of control. What was not known was why the Saotome matriarch was

so obsessed.

The answer was both simple and incredibly complex. The guardian of time

was tired of life. She'd been alive for so long, even she couldn't

remember how old she was. Nodoka had memories which refused to fade.

Memories of so many billions of years that her mind had snapped

countless times from the strain.

Going on vacation had helped her regain some sanity once more. And yet,

she wanted it to end. And she could finally see the light at the end of

the tunnel. If she had a female heir, then the mantle could be passed

on. And if that happened, then Nodoka would finally be allowed the

blissful peace of death. The letter she'd gotten years ago had hinted at

this. And she wanted it to end.

Having a son had been a huge disappointment. It was only after

remembering details of one Saotome Ranma's life in other cycles that her

hope had been rekindled. But that hope would be in vain if there weren't

plenty of grandchildren as well. That way the mantle wouldn't be forced

on one person exclusively for all time.

And here was her son's wife. And another engagement to boot. When

Shampoo woke up again she saw her hostess dancing giddily around the

living room. The woman was waving two flags around and singing about

grandbabies. The manic glee caused Shampoo to develop a large drop of

sweat on the back of her head.

XxXxX

In a remote part of China there is a place obscured in legend. Once it

was a training site. But it had long fallen into disuse. The location

consisted of over a hundred pools of water. From each pool a bamboo pole

rose into the air. The tranquility of the area on this day was broken by

a terrible noise and great wind.

The noise and wind was generated by a helicopter that was landing near

the ancient training ground. Once the aircraft had landed the rotors

stopped. A man of slightly above average height fell out. Initially he

had tried to calmly step out of the helicopter. That plan however

failed. Instead his foot snagged one something unseen. This sent the man

sprawling.

"God damn it!" He shouted.

The man stood about five foot seven. He was broad of shoulders, yet

there was no fat visible. He had rugged good looks and was clean shaven.

He wore a light green tee shirt and blue jeans. His eyes were obscured

by rayband sunglasses, and on his feat were sneakers of an indeterminate

brand. Although what drew the attention of all witnesses was his blue

hair. That, and his clear difficulty with walking three steps.

The man's name was Sam Bricklebuster. A name which he truly hated.

Changing it however was out of the question. After I get done

investigating here, I'll have to get to the safehouse Cree set up in

Japan. Tomorrow will have to be soon enough to start investigations

there. Wish Dream Chyld had given us more info. Demons and magic areas,

I hate going in blind.

He reached into his shirt, and withdrew an amulet shaped like a

warhammer. Souvenir from when he'd been thrust into another dimension by

a nordic god. Not that it was his first experience with the divine. It

was however an annoying one. Six years he'd been stuck in that other

dimension fighting in the name of some god. And when he finally got

home, Sam had found he'd returned five years before he had left.

That paradox made his head spin some days. So here he was, out in the

wilds of China investigating a demon sighting while the 'him' from this

time frame was back home dealing with a massive cluster fuck of a murder

investigation. One which Sam was glad 'he' didn't have to go through again.

A Chinese man, obviously a local guide approached as Sam neared the

pools. "You no go near. Very dangerous." The man said in broken english.

"How dangerous?" He asked the guide using heavily accented chinese. It

wasn't his first language. Nor was he fluent in it. But he knew enough to

understand, and be understood. Usually.

"Very bad fall in spring. Many tragic story." The guide told him.

"Please, use mandarin. I no speak well. I understand fine."

He turned to face the guide, only for his clumsiness to strike once

more. With a splash the young man fell into one of the pools.

Electricity crackled in the pool as a hidden communicator shorted out.

It was extremely fortunate that the pool only went up to his chest when

standing. Sam didn't know how to swim after all.

"God fucking damn it!" Sam screamed while climbing out of the pool.

Something was wrong. Scratch that, several things were wrong. Center of

balance (ha, that was a joke) was off. His chest felt weighted down. The

tee shirt felt too tight. The jeans felt too loose in the hips. And his

voice sounded off. One other thing was wrong, but that Sam didn't mind.

For some reason he wasn't constantly losing his balance.

"Honored customer fall in spring of drowned girl. Very tragic story of

girl who drown fifteen hundred year ago."

"Get to the point, asshole." Sam snarled angrily. "Better yet, just tell

me about the motherfucking demon that appeared in this shithole last

month. I don't have all fucking day."

Not that his anger was towards the guide. Rather it was towards his own

freakishly bad agility. That alone had ruined his life for many years.

Still ruined his life. Wait, fell in 'spring of drowned girl'. Two

mounds on chest. Center of balance is different. I can actually walk

normally without falling. SHIT! Shape shifting magic. The others ain't

gonna believe this.

An hour later Sam left the guide's hut. He'd been unable to learn much.

Just that the demon had fallen into the same pool he had as a human, and

emerged a demon. Sam had also learned the nature of his own change. As

well as how to reverse it. Once back at the chopper he climbed in. Doing

so involved falling eight different times.

He powered up the chopper and set the coordinates for the next

destination. He grabbed the radio. "This is Wandering Ice to Space Lady,

please pick up."

The receiver crackled, then a woman's voice came over the speaker. "Kind

of busy, what can you report?"

Sam nodded. Probably still digging up info on Amy. "Just left the

first sighting. Subject D is probably a transfigured human. Heading to

Tokyo now. Picked up a beneficial complication. For now changing code

name to 'Ice Lady'. I'll explain tonight after I arrive. Is the

environmental system set up properly?"

"Already set up. Can't wait for the explanation to THAT code name." The

woman said with a chuckle.

"Gotta go Moth, take care. Radar has a strange blip. Might be more then

one demon involved."

Present

A blue haired girl stepped out of the shadows after Ranma and Akane. In

her hand was a grainy photo from a security camera. It showed a woman

with bat wings sleeping next to someone else. The girl wasn't suppose to

have that picture. The fact she did spoke volumes about her. As did the

fact she apparently had a helicopter.

She didn't remember owning it. Didn't know how to fly one either. But

this machine it seemed could pilot it's self. Who am I? The teenage

girl thought. The Warrior said I could only find out after ending the

life of this imposter. But just who am I? So many questions. But if I

kill the winged woman, they will be answered. And this boy may be a

connection to her.

The two teens in question were fast approaching the school. Without

warning Ranma rolled to the side in time to avoid a flying kick. The

attacker proved to be a young (and cute) girl with blue hair. She was

trained, that much he could tell. And trained well. No where near as

much as he was though. The attacking girl didn't say a single word though.

Ranma ducked and tried to sweep her legs with a kick. The mystery

girl lifted a foot to avoid the sweep. She retaliated with a palm strike

to his ribs. Ranma blocked, knocking her arm off course. He threw a

strait punch. She deflected the punch with her left arm while launching

a snap kick at the same time.

The kick had been unexpected No one Ranma had ever faced before could

defend while attacking at the exact same time. Her heal struck Ranma in

the temple, causing him to tumble to the side. He came up and shook his

head. Time to get serious. His hands blurred as Ranma jumped back into

the fight. Dozens of punches flew at breakneck speed.

His hands hurt. A lot. The girl who'd attacked him had just stood there,

blinking in confusion, but otherwise unharmed. Akane's eyes had gone

wide too. This hostile girl had become an ice sculpture with sculpted

blue ice for hair. Then her hand shot forward, fingers formed into a

claw. Ranma was barely able to avoid the blow. It still managed to clip

his shoulder, and the boy heard bone cracking.

"Kill any who stand in your way. The red haired imposter must be slain.

Only then will you be free of her influence."

"Geez, what's with the ice lady?" Ranma asked through gritted teeth.

Ice lady... code name Ice Lady... The girl felt pained. Something was

trying to break through, and it hurt. Without thinking she thrust a hand

out. This caused Ranma to be encased in a thin layer of ice. Already it

was starting to melt. Which in turn triggered a change. The black haired

boy shrank. His chest expanded. His hair turned red. And then He was a she.

The newly minted girl blinked, looking around. She then spied the ice

girl. An elemental? Here? No, not an elemental. Then what? Her energy

feels strange. "Well girl, what is going on?"

center

Chapter 10

/center

"Well girl, what is going on?" The now female Ranma demanded.

Akane's jaw dropped. Remembering what Nabiki had said earlier, she

wondered for the first time if her temper had done something extremely

bad. It wasn't a comfortable thought. Self criticism was not something

she did. Nor did Akane really accept outside criticism. But she'd just

seen the change. And witnessed a startling change in personality. The

monster didn't seem to remember what had happened not ten seconds ago.

"... a girl attacked you, then turned into ice?" Akane said questioningly.

Things like that just didn't happen. At least, not in Japan. And she

wasn't sure if the 'news' from America was faked. As far as she knew, it

probably was. High powered martial artists and magic curses, fine. But

giant robots, aliens, and costumed crime fighters was a bit much. And

yet, this strange girl had turned into ice, causing her cloths to freeze

and shatter.

The pseudo-elemental charged at the demonic looking woman. A palm strike

was launched, which Amnara just barely managed to block. Blocking proved

to be a big mistake as it still hurt. Where contact had been made Amnara

found ice encased her arm. In retaliation Amnara tossed a ball of fire

at the ice woman while backing up. Only to watch in stunned silence as

this ice creature ignored the flame. An event which seemed impossible.

"Go get your sister, NOW!" Amnara ordered of Akane.

She then launched an offensive of her own. A flurry of punches and kicks

rained down upon the mystery girl. And from what Amnara had seen of this

person's raw speed, they only landed because the girl didn't try

avoiding them. Which suited Amnara just fine. She felt sluggish to begin

with. The balance of this body was off, and she didn't have the

instinctive muscle memory to fight at her peak. This still wasn't her

body. Not yet.

"Well? Get going, if this girl wakes up before my pet gets here things

will get ugly. And get me some hot water while your at it."

This might be my chance to get rid of that thing. Akane thought. Being

ordered around by the monster made her skin crawl. She almost hit the

demon for daring to command her. But Akane stopped before the impulse

could really be started. This woman actually scared her now. Somehow

this demon had forced Akane into doing things against her will. Then

left her tied to a bed for an entire day afterwords. Her anger hit a

peak, and Akane punched the demon girl in the stomach with all her strength.

"Why should I?" Akane demanded as she began walking away.

Something warned Akane to turn around. It was just in time to see a fist

approaching her face. From what the youngest Tendo had seen, Ranma was

less skilled as a girl. Yet she'd easily managed to bypass Akane's

defense. And that was while still holding the blue haired girl, now once

more human looking.

Thirty seconds later, a battered Akane found herself in front of the

school, held aloft by one hand by a female Ranma. The wings were hidden

once more. Akane found herself being pulled into a passionate kiss that

curled her toes. Afterwords Akane felt a little better. As if she'd

managed to get ten hours of sleep. Then the demoness whispered in her ear.

"Because if you do, I wont feel inclined to leave you writhing in pain

for the next week. Thank me later for stopping the daily fights." Then

loud enough for those in the school yard to hear, she spoke. "By the

terms of the challenge you accepted, you now belong to me."

"W-what challenge? I never accepted any challenge!" Akane sputtered.

"As I was told yesterday, one Kuno Takawaki proclaimed that any who

wished to date you had to defeat you in combat. This lead to half the

males in the school to attack you every day, while said Kuno used them

to try wearing you down before attacking. Is this correct?"

"Yesss." Akane said reluctantly.

"And did you at any point try stopping the daily fights through anything

other then participating in them?" Amnara asked.

"They attacked me, what else am I suppose to do? Of course I fight back!"

Amnara's smile became almost feral. "Exactly my point. You accepted the

challenge, and it's terms. Terms which would make you property of

whomever defeats you in combat. If you didn't approve of them, you would

have done something, anything other then participate. You would have

informed the authorities, entered through a different gate then they

were waiting at, denounced the challenge or even just refused to fight.

Instead you agreed to the terms of the challenge the moment you struck

your first blow. All of the terms. And now you are mine."

The words sent a chill down her spine. Oh shit, Akane thought. But I

never accepted any challenge... Did I? Kuno just made his announcement,

and everyone started attacking when I came to school. It wasn't a

challenge! But even to herself, it sounded hollow. I... should have

told the police. The school never stops him. But saying I'm hers now?

What's it mean?

"Now, be a good girl and fetch your sister. And the hot water."

Akane started to refuse. Then her entire body began to hurt more then

the beating had caused. She'd barely been able to walk to begin with.

But the brief increase from a dull ache to fiery agony upon her refusal

convinced Akane to stagger at her best current run to find Nabiki.

"And if any of you boys even think of touching what's mine, I will hurt

you so bad you require the best healer in the land to even hope to walk

again."

XxXxX

Nabiki looked at her wrist for the twelfth time that morning. On it was

a rather plain looking copper bracelet. That in it's self wasn't what

had her concerned. No, it was why she had the bracelet that did that.

And the reason had to do with that odd computer she'd been looking

through yesterday. Somehow it had known she was browsing the files, and

not the Mara woman.

To make matters worse, when she'd tried opening one file it had denied

her access. The message window had said "To access this file goddess

Nabiki requires permission from owner." After receiving that message,

the only thing she had been allowed to do was access her own file, and

that of Ranma.

Even then she was only allowed to access Ranma's file to update records

on his/her allegiance. That too had been denied her. Before even that

much could be done, Nabiki had been forced to dive back into the

demoness's mindscape and ask what allegiance was desired. How the

computer had known this was done, Nabiki had no clue. And that worried her.

So now she was officially (she supposed) owned by an independent

succubus that was tied into the Nidhogg system. Whatever that meant. She

also had an armband which apparently acted as a remote interface, usable

only by permission from her 'owner'.

The holographic screen and keyboard wouldn't even appear if she didn't

get permission first. And even when she had permission, it only lasted

for a half hour from when she logged in, until she got the information

desired by Amnara, or one session. Whichever was shorter. That much

she'd been able to learn before her access was cut off entirely from

Mara's computer. I guess being told to find out about Nidhogg counted

as having permission to log in. At least long enough to do the few

things I managed.

The noise from outside, or rather lack of it, drew Nabiki's attention to

the school yard. By now Akane should be wading through the hentai horde.

The crowd was dispersing though. Kuno was still out there. And he seemed

to have fixated on Nabiki's (owner) fiance for the moment. It was

definitely Ranma at the house. And he told me his plan to help Akane.

But I don't think that's Ranma down there.

"What's Shampoo doing here?"

"It's not Shampoo," Came from behind Nabiki. "Hurry up, before that

thing decides I'm taking too long."

Turning, she found her younger sister standing in the class doorway

looking disheveled. Several newly forming bruises could be seen on her

arms and legs. And she looked, was that fear or anger? Someone had

worked Akane over, brutally. But those looked like fist sized marks, not

what Kuno would have done. Ranma she knew would never hurt a girl unless

forced to. That much she'd gathered from his spouting about the marital

artists code and the time she'd spent alone with him 'yesterday'.

I can't believe it's only been one day. "Why? What happened?"

Akane swallowed hard. "Some freak girl attacked, and now the monster is

demanding your presence."

Nabiki grabbed her pack, and started for the door. That was definitely

Amnara. "Well then, what are you waiting for? We can't keep Am... Ranma

waiting."

An eyebrow was raised when Akane dumped out her bento and filled it with

hot water. "You do realize I started carrying a thermos, don't you? You

were at breakfast when I put it in my bag."

They rushed outside in time to see Takawaki making a new proclamation.

"Verily shall I smite the foul enchantress before me. And when the

battle be done the fierce Akane shall reward my bravery!"

"No," Amnara replied. "You wont. I refuse your challenge on the grounds

that you are not mentally fit to issue it. I am not an enchantress,

neither am I 'foul'. In truth, while I am a demon, I have stood against

those who intend turning humanity into slaves. While you, a human, have

grievously wronged an innocent, attacked me without provocation, and now

threaten my life with no just cause.

"I have fairly won possession of the girl by right of the challenge you

made, and which she foolishly accepted. Your initial challenge was not

valid until she accepted the terms. But since Akane did, by your own

words and her actions, the first person to defeat her would posses the

girl. That person is me. If you attack, it is not honorable. Nor is it

legal. And you will suffer the full weight of your crime.

"Almost all who last attacked me and mine are no longer living. Try to

follow through with your threat, and you will wish I allowed you to join

them. Ah, good. Nabiki, I want you to find who this girl is, and why she

attacked me."

Tatawaki did not know the people referenced had died of old age and

battles unrelated to the demonic woman before him. He didn't know he was

facing an actual demon. To be fair, he didn't really know what century

he was in either. As far as he was concerned, Kuno Tatawaki was a noble

born samurai of the fourteenth century. Not the son of an insane

principle who's family had once become rich thanks to hard work instead

of birthright.

To be equally fair, the delusional kendoist had also never been denied

before. Nor had he been faced with the consequences of his actions. So

when this woman proclaimed herself to be a demon, he found every belief

to be vindicated. With a flash of lightning, unusual since there were no

clouds, Tatawaki began his charge. As the first thrust of his bokkin was

made he called out.

"I STRIKE! STRIKE STRIKE! STRIKE! STRIKE! "

With each repeat of the word 'strike' the kendo enthusiast thrust his

weapon forward. The initial blow was off and nearly struck Akane. The

air pressure from the strike did however impact the youngest Tendo in

the middle of her back. She screamed in pain and the bento box in

Akane's hands went flying. A hush fell over the school yard. The sound

of bones breaking reverberated in the morning air.

The bento opened mid-air. It's contents spilling forth and soaking both

Amnara and the blue haired mystery girl. Within a split second Amnara's

form shifted. Wings erupted from her back, great leathery affairs. Her

chest flattened, and she increased in height. Red hair darkened,

becoming black. Stance too altered. What was a definitely feminine

posture became much more masculine.

The newly restored boy narrowed his eyes. He didn't know what was going

on. But there was someone attacking him with a bokkin. He began to weave

through the comparatively slow thrusts. Even as he dodged, Ranma was

taking in the situation. The youngest Tendo sister was on the ground.

From the way she was laying, he guessed her back was broken. She was

facing away from the attacker, likely struck from behind.

The girl who had attacked him before was on the ground too, but groans

indicated she was waking up. Not good. He didn't know what had laid out

the stranger, but he'd been unable to. Nabiki was at the blue haired

girl's side doing something. And the aggressive teenage boy attacking

him kept spouting nonsense and threats. Wait, that wasn't a girl at all.

Saotome Ranma growled.

center

Chapter 11

/center

Everything was set for a battle of epic proportions. The love of his life

was watching. His sword was gleaming in the morning light. The foul

demon which dared attack his beloved had revealed it's true shape. Yes,

the stage was perfect for a most glorious victory. There were just a

few minor and inconsequential facts which he didn't grasp.

The boy failed to realize he wasn't holding an actual sword, but a wooden

practice weapon. The twin facts that Tendo Akane didn't love him but in

fact hated him, and that she had been badly hurt by his own actions

failed to pierce the fog of his madness. That the teenage boy before him

was most likely not a demon also didn't register. Neither did the fact

that this boy moved with the grace of a master, as opposed to the red

headed demoness who had been clearly a rank amateur.

In short, one Kuno Tatawaki failed to piece together vital clues which

indicated he was in serious trouble. The first thing which managed to

get through the Kuno boy's mental instability was that his sword had

been casually ripped from his hand. The 'demon' then proceeded to turn

his bokkin into fire kindling.

The demonic looking youth was named Saotome Ranma, and he was pissed.

The boy's muscles screamed in protest as his form blurred. Moving faster

then he'd ever managed to in the past had it's price. But it was a price

Ranma was more then willing to pay. This bastard had attacked him for no

reason. And oddly enough, he could hear Amnara talking to him.

"This human attacked the young Tendo. I don't know how badly she's

hurt, but I heard bone break."

Hearing this just caused Ranma to become angrier. A glowing red aura

formed around the youth. Something which Kuno had only seen a few times

before, and always surrounding Akane. Because Kuno didn't really

understand about chi, he naturally failed to grasp the significance.

Five minutes later, he still didn't grasp the meaning. What Kuno did

understand though was that ninety percent of his body hurt. He also

understood that his cloths were much worse for wear now. A fact hammered

home as they were falling apart.

"I fight on!" The madman proclaimed before falling over.

"Is there a doctor nearby?" Ranma asked.

He knelt down to check Akane's injuries. And they didn't look good. Just

by touch he could tell the back had been damaged at least, maybe

broken. Ranma also saw signs of other internal injuries. While he

enjoyed combat, Ranma detested those who willingly inflicted crippling

injuries. Let alone those who would kill. Especially if those injuries

had been inflicted on bystanders.

It was a point of pride that the pig tailed boy always used enough force

to put down his foes, and no more. Even that bastard he'd just fought

was left intact. No broken bones at all. No ruptured organs. At most the

jerk would have a concussion and massive bruising. Unneeded brutality

was dishonorable after all.

He glanced over at Nabiki, but she was still crouched over the blue

haired stranger. Doing what, Ranma had no idea. So he turned his eyes to

the boys still loitering and watching events. Upon his attention, they

fled. Damn it, she can't be moved right now, but no one's calling a

doctor. What can I do?

"I can save her," Amnara told him.

How?

"It is similar to how I claimed the other girl. If fed off of to the

point of death, then infused with some of my own life force before she

dies, the girl will become like me. A succubus."

Not an option, Ranma thought for her benefit. But it did give him an

idea. How exactly do you 'feed'? And how do you use that to heal?

XxXxX

Sweat ran down Nabiki's forehead from her exertions. She didn't know how

long this was taking. The girl's sense of time had been a fast price of

this labor. A labor that the mercenary didn't relish. Normally anyone

who attacked family was punished in the most creative of ways. But not

this time. It galled Nabiki that she was blindly following orders.

But then again, it was better then suffering. Being a servant left a bad

taste in Nabiki's mouth. It was possible she loved Ranma. Or at least

could love him. But the other who shared his body scared her. And with

outside sources also indicating that Nabiki had no choice but to obey,

that made things even worse.

Which was why Nabiki was currently trying to delve into the mind of a

blue haired girl. One who had recently attacked first Ranma, and then

the demon which Ranma sometimes became. Not because Nabiki wanted to,

but because the demoness had ordered her to. A task which was not going

very well. The girl had an incredibly strong barrier around her mind.

Which was odd. Nabiki got the sense that this girl's mind wasn't strong

enough to form the barrier on it's own. It wasn't a weak mind exactly.

But not strong either. All she could get from this stranger was a sense

of resentment. Deep seated resentment at that. As well as a kind heart.

A lack of respect for rules, yet a strong sense of justice.

The barrier by contrast had a feeling of malevolence. Unable to pierce

it, Nabiki instead began to examine it. Without understanding how, she

determined the mental barrier was chemically created. Which meant it

seemed the barrier was beyond her abilities to deal with. If I could

access that network again, maybe I could figure this out.

Nabiki ended her probing attempt. With that done, she finally took

notice of her surroundings. There was Ranma, kneeling by her sister. And

he looked very concerned. That made her worried too. Pulling out a cell

phone, Nabiki quickly dialed the number of a local practitioner. While

technically doctor Tofu was a chiropractor, he was skilled enough in

medicine that he'd been the family doctor for years.

The phone rang three times before it was answered. "Something happened,

I'm not sure what. My sister is hurt in front of Furiken High though."

XxXxX

The Saotome matron had just finished her morning workout when the phone

rang. It was almost eleven at the time. Caller ID indicated it was the

Tendo girl who had called earlier claiming information. The previous day

had been most enlightening. The blue haired girl, Shampoo or something,

had told Nodoka everything she knew of the ten year training journey.

The more she had learned, the more the woman had become angry. And then

to learn that her precious son had become a demon because of her

husband. It was enough to make her blood boil. So it was that when

Nodoka answered the phone, she was not in the mood for any bullshit. It

was time to push for the truth.

"Where is my son," She demanded. "You promised I would meet him yesterday."

The woman listened for a moment, then scowled. It was tempting to take

the most direct way to the clinic mentioned. It was very tempting. But

Nodoka was not alone. Nor was it time to reveal herself to the world at

large. That would come later, assuming things hadn't changed too much.

Again. Idly she remembered a quote once read eons ago regarding

butterflies and hurricanes.

"Come child, we need to travel a ways. My son needs aid."

XxXxX

She is a proud warrior, sent on a noble quest by the Goddess. And once

the Heretic is slain (!) her goddess will proudly welcome her back. The

glory and honor of the tribe (?) was everything. She would gladly

fulfill this holy quest. And yet, something kept troubling the dreams of

this warrior. Something felt wrong.

XxXxX

Where am I? Ranma thought. The last thing he remembered was trying

something new. Akane had been badly hurt, and he attempted to use his

own energy to mend her back. There had been a tugging sensation when

he'd started. Then an inky darkness. Slowly the aroma of fish wafted to

his nose. Then yellow eyes started to appear all around.

He wanted to scream. He needed to scream. But no sound would come. Inch

by inch he felt daemonic claws tearing into his tender flesh. And the

noise, that horrifying noise. With each new cut he heard it. Meow, meow,

meow, if he could, Ranma would have ran away. But he was bound hand and

foot.

To his amazement, and further horror, the boy found he wasn't alone.

Muffled cries could be heard. There were others bound in this nightmare

place. Wait, nightmare? I can feel it. This isn't real, although it

is dangerous. The abject terror had lessened somewhat. Still raw fear

coursed through the pig tailed youth. He chilled his emotions as best he

could, the training in the soul of ice technique helping. Still, it

wasn't enough.

XxXxX

Ropes bound her wrists and ankles securely. The smell of fish was strong

in the air. In the darkness she could hear what sounded like a hundred

cats mewling pitifully. The girl wanted to comfort them. But she

couldn't move. The first real sensation was a light scratch. Then

another one. Dozens more light scratches could be felt.

At first it barely hurt. A tiny flair then nothing. There was tugging,

but that wasn't really alarming. Not yet anyway. The scratches were

starting to add up though. Minutes, hours, she didn't know how long it

had been going on. Everything came into sharp focus though when she felt

something dig into her leg. Then another tearing sensation, this time

coupled with intense pain and a meaty rip.

It was repeated on her arm. Soft fur and teeth met her stomach too. The

pain was starting to anger the girl. A fiery red glow erupted around

her, bathing the surroundings in it's eerie light. Finally the girl

could see what was going on. Hundreds of felines were swarming over her.

Any cuteness was gone however.

She could see them clawing her. Biting her. Tearing out chunks of skin

and muscle. Five were perched on her stomach, their muzzles buried in

her blood soaked abdomen. Now she began to truly panic. The youth

flailed around as best she could. Several of her tormentors were

flattened and didn't get back up. But the ropes held strong. And for

every cat she smashed, two more took it's place.

"YAAAAA!" The scream was primal. It contained her fear. It held her

rising gorge. It housed the sheer horror at being eaten alive.

XxXxX

She looked around the unnatural darkness and smirked. What was about to

happen was easy to tell. Sure it was probably going to hurt. And it

would hurt a lot. But she'd seen worse. Hell, she'd been through worse.

The real question was this: What had happened to cause this? That was

the interesting conundrum.

XxXxX

In the offices of Doctor Ono Tofu something outside the realms of

medical science was taking place. He currently had three patients. The

first was a foreigner teenager with blue hair. she was covered in

bruises. Her gender had previously been male, but that changed when

he washed her. The alarming thing however was a pendent she wore

shaped like a nordic warhammer. It was glowing brightly, clearly a

magic talisman. But the doctor couldn't remove it.

The next patient was a boy who's hair was done up in a pig tail. This

boy had large bat wings sprouted from his back, and was unconscious for

no apparent reason. The boy's chi pathways were in a mess. To the

doctor, it was a surprise this boy was even healthy. Yet he also had an

impressive reserve of chi. His finely tuned senses detected something

unusual though. A thread of chi spun between this boy and the Tendo

sister who had called him.

There was another thread of chi too. This one was like a river flowing

from the boy to Tendo Akane. Based on the rate of transfer, he guessed

that this boy would run out within an hour. What would happen then was

anybody's guess. This brought to mind the third patient. Akane's back

had been broken. In his medical opinion she would probably never walk again.

At least, that was what he would normally think. The chi stream was

pooling around her back. That was... interesting. The alarming aspect

came from what else was happening to Akane. Jagged tears were forming

all over her body, then healing almost immediately. It looked almost

like she was being mauled and eaten by a multitude of small animals. But

nothing was attacking her.

It was into this situation two new visitors arrived. One of them he

recognized immediately. Saotome Nodoka had known Tofu for years. He

didn't recognize the girl with his friend. The doctor noted his friend

was still carrying the Saotome honor blade everywhere she went. A habit

he'd been trying to break her of.

"Where is my son?" Nodoka demanded.

"He's..." Tofu began, only to be interrupted by a yowl.

He'd just used a pressure point to block Ranma's chi when it happened.

The youth had rolled over and dropped to the floor on hands and feet. He

was yowling as if a cat. Then the boy jumped back onto the bed and

looked at Akane. After a moment neko-Ranma switched focus to the

stranger on the third bed. After approaching the incapacitated youth he

hissed angrily. To Tofu's relief Akane stopped suffering from random

cuts and bite marks.

"R-ranma?" The elder Saotome asked hesitantly.

center

Chapter 12

/center

There was an old laundry mat in Dubuque, Iowa. It once had been a common

place for locals to wash their laundry. Over the years it had fallen

into disuse though. These days the coin op machines were long gone. The

building had been bought out by a man named Jason Blair two years past.

While the old picture windows still had Main Street Laundry stenciled on

them, the door had a new sign. Now it read 'Blair Investigations'.

It was a humble building. The plaster was old, and the wood trim faded.

The main office of Blair Investigations was on the second floor. The

first floor contained a recently installed kitchen and bathroom. The

front windows had been boarded up as well. A lone man typically sat

guard in the front area of the ground floor. A secretary desk was in the

back area, along with the kitchen.

Today however the secretary had been sent home already. In the main

second floor office sat a rumpled man wearing a suit. His legs were

propped up on his desk, and a fedora was pulled down over his eyes. He

wasn't asleep though. There was a manilla envelope on his chest which

had been opened. He casually reached into a phone holster at his waist

and withdrew a small black cell phone.

"Hey there, can I talk to Sal?" He said after dialing an unlisted number.

"Not a chance, less ya know yer order." Came the voice on the other end.

"Peperoni and sushi with marmalade glaze," the man replied.

"Good hearing from ya Jason. Whatcha need this time?"

"Not much, maybe. Is Bessie fixed?"

"Yeah, just finished last night. I souped up the turbines and added

some stabilizers. Boosted the pressure tolerance too. Sonar's still a

tad unreliable though, so no deeper then ten fathoms. Even got that

recycler ya wanted installed."

"Good, prep her for use. I'll be down in thirty."

'Bessie' as he called it was a heavily modified 1994 geo metro. Armed,

armored, capable of supporting a surveillance operation, and fully

submersible. It was capable of acting like a car, boat, or sub. It also

had the sonar profile of a dolphin. The car was a favorite of his. Which

meant Sal had rebuilt it, repaired it, and refined it countless times

over the last three years. The car would be perfect for going into an

unknown situation.

Jason Blair read over the information once again. This whole setup

stank. Going into an unknown and potentially dangerous situation without

any backup was not to his liking. Normally this was the sort of job he

ignored. This time he couldn't. Bills were starting to come in, and he

needed this money. And this one would pay very well. Five grand a week

plus expenses, not bad.

That too raised alarm bells though. He wasn't that well known. He

shouldn't be pulling in that kind of paycheck, yet. That meant danger

pay, and possibly payoff. The danger appeared to be rather high too. The

area he was suppose to investigate was hard to get information about.

What he could learn was that there were several high powered martial

artists in the area, maybe. Just how skilled was impossible to say.

Another folder was also on his desk. That one he'd also ignored before.

It wasn't his usual type of job. He didn't work for honest to god super

heroes very often. Let alone world renowned mercenaries. So when one

Alex Rivers walked into his office he'd been curious. Learning the famed

Freedom Society had a new member who'd vanished en rout to investigate

demon sightings in Japan caused Jason to raise an eyebrow. It was a job

he wouldn't take. But he was going to be in the area, so may as well.

Besides, money was money. He dialed the contact number Rivers had given him.

"Job's accepted, payment will be seventy dollars a day, plus expenses."

Twelve hours later an impeccably dressed blond wearing a Armani suit and

Gucci loafers stepped off a privately chartered jet liner. His passport

said his name was Joseph Maller. He had no carry on luggage, everything

had been shipped ahead separately. No one saw Joseph leave the Tokyo

airport. By the time anyone noticed the discrepancy Joseph Maller had

vanished as if he never existed.

Two weeks later

A light blue geo metro pulled up in front of the Tendo dojo. Out of it

stepped a tall man, five foot seven easily. His short blond hair clashed

with steel gray eyes. The man had obviously not shaved in a few days,

and his dress shirt strained against his beer belly. The man noted

several holes in the stone outer wall, and snapped some pictures of them.

Finally he walked through the gate. At the front door he rang a bell. He

waited patiently until the door was open. A motherly looking young woman

in a pink house dress had answered. This must be Kasumi, he thought.

If my information is correct, she's likely kept drugged for compliance.

No one is that oblivious naturally.

"Greetings ma'am. Name's Alex Fritzroy, I'm here on behalf of Maosai

Insurance. Is there a Tendo Akane around? I have a few questions for her

regarding several recent injuries suffered by students at her school."

"Oh my," Kasumi said. "Did something happen?"

Hmm, no visible sign of narcotics. Still may be drugged though. "That

Ma'am is what I'm here to find out. Say, are those cookies I smell? My

wife loves to bake too. Maybe I could get your recipe?"

He was well aware that the youngest Tendo wasn't home. Neither was the

middle sister. He'd been careful about that. Two weeks spent undercover

as a substitute teacher at the local high school had brought to his

attention a child pornography ring. Rather then busting it wide open

right now, he wanted to find the higher ups. Alex's phone beeped, and he

looked at it. Damn, multiple bugs. I'll have to be careful.

"I don't know," the faux housewife commented. "Akane isn't here right

now, would you like some tea?"

"No thank you. Say, mind if I look around? My company has been paying a

lot of insurance claims for your home lately, and I'd like to examine

it's structural integrity."

He didn't wait for an answer. The first thing Alex did was wander into

the dojo. Trained eyes spotted several hidden cameras. A quick glance at

his phone indicated there was a wireless network in the building,

heavily encrypted too. This was shaping up to be a fun case. After

noting the publicly broadcast SSID he mentally grinned. That would make

things easier.

After dutifully taking pictures of recent damage and recently repaired

damage the insurance agent left the dojo. His tour of the complex was

most enlightening. Clear signs of damage in multiple rooms, including

the bathroom. He noted evidence that the bathroom sink had been ripped

free of the wall multiple times. As well as several crude patches on the

ceiling and floor. Of more interest was the video cameras hidden in the

bathing area.

Since he'd not seen a single computer so far, the network wasn't for

family. Wireless cameras though made perfect sense. Easy to conceal, and

off the electrical grid. Still, the setup smacked of an amateur. At

first he'd assumed this Nabiki was merely the frontman of the operation.

Now it was starting to look like she was at least the regional head. And

it was extremely careless to use her own family for this racket. Who the

other eight girls being used were, Alex still hadn't figured out.

The overweight man returned downstairs and slumped into a chair. His

breathing was ragged. "I really need ta start working out. Those stairs

are a killer. Anyway, when Tendo Akane returns could you have her give

me a call?"

Alex handed the Tendo matron a business card. Several minutes later he

left. After climbing into his car the insurance agent drove off. He

stopped in front of a raman shop called the Cat Cafe. Before entering he

pulled out a laptop and typed up a few notes. This place is new, opened

up just within the last week. Let's see what I can find out.

He climbed out of the car and walked into the cafe. It took years of

training to not react when he saw the waitresses. The man slid into an

empty booth and openly leered at the two lovely girls. That was an

appropriate response, they were wearing very revealing outfits. To the

others in the cafe he looked nervous. The man swallowed hard.

"I, uhm... beef raman please?"

"Who are you?" Came an aged voice in heavily accented Japanese.

He looked around, then noticed the diminutive troll of an old woman. The

staff she was perched on was easily twice her own height. The very perch

indicated great skill. He respected that. Still, staying in character

was important. As such Alex let his eyes go wide in apparent shock and

horror. His mouth opened, and he screamed.

"A MUMMY!"

He almost didn't see the staff swing towards his head. It took all his

skill to move his head back enough so the impact was a light tap. Alex

still acted dazed though. The other patrons hastily finished their meals

and left. Once the place was otherwise empty Alex dropped his act. His

smile was now genuine.

"Elder, it has been ages since we last met. What are you doing here? And

who are these two lovely ladies?"

He noted that the shades had already been closed and the door locked.

That was good. If the elder trusted these two, he could as well. Alex

dabbed a napkin in some cold water and began to rub it against his face.

Within minutes he had pulled off several strips from various places on

his face. The loose jowls were gone. His nose had changed shape as a

prosthetic was removed. Finally he removed the blond hair, which proved

to be a wig covering a skin colored skull cap. Beneath that skull cap

was short black hair.

"Well, I'm still waiting. Who are these two? And what are you doing

outside of your village? It had better not be another blood hunt.

Dealing with the fallout of your last one eight years ago is quite enough."

The amazon elder stared incredulously as this portly man pealed off

parts of his face and washed off his stubble. She had known something

about this man was off. But Cologne had no idea how he'd changed his

appearance so drastically. Let alone changed height. And without using

chi or magic. It made no sense. Realization of who this man was struck

her hard. So hard that Cologne fell off her staff.

"No Case-san, not a blood hunt. Son-in-law asked for my aid with an

outsider."

XxXxX

In an unremarkable abandoned warehouse several men wearing black suits

were milling about. One of them approached an office with a file folder.

He slipped into the room and placed his folder on the desk. The man's

supervisor looked up and nodded. Reading the information of the folder

was no where near as enlightening as desired.

For Eyes Only

Code Name: Justin Case

Alias: too many to count

Appearance: unknown

Specialty: electronic surveillance and countermeasures

Known Affiliation: freelance

Profile:

Little is known about Justin Case, not even his real name. It is

suspected the man operates out of a base somewhere in the United States,

but this has yet to be confirmed. He is a highly skilled electronic

warfare expert. The man sells his skills to the highest bidder, but

appears to prefer contracts in law enforcement and counter-terrorism.

Rumored former employers include the CIA, MI-6, the United Nations,

and others. He prefers to work as part of a team, acting as support.

Justin Case has been documented as being a marksmen with hand guns,

and is known to carry a revolver. His code name stems from a tendency

to insist on over preparing for any mission.

The man continued reading, his face growing more and more disturbed.

"This is the man brought in to investigate?"

The person who brought the folder nodded. "We believe so."

"Well then, why isn't he dead yet?"

"Sir," the underling commented after swallowing dryly, "We can't find

him. Maybe if we know what this man looked like. But without a picture,

he's invisible."

The leader scowled. "What of the gaijin from the airport?"

"Sir, he vanished. He entered a bathroom and never emerged. No gaijin

left the airport."

center

Chapter 13

/center

Evening found an insurance agent returning to the Cat Cafe. His day had

been most productive. Several home owner policies had been sold at high

premium rates that specifically covered damage from martial artists. In

addition he'd managed to sell dozens of health insurance policies. But

to the insurance agent, this was all of secondary importance.

Each and every family he'd visited had suspected ties to the child

pornography ring. As such he'd managed to plant listening devices in

each major room of the homes. As well as wire tapping the phones. Since

his suspects also used cell phones, he had carried a small device to

determine the signal frequency for said phones. All in all, a most

useful day.

The only home he'd not managed to bug was the Tendo residence. But that

he could handle. After all, that home was already heavily bugged. Plus

he had a way to access the network already in place. The only real snag

so far was the amazons. And they were something he could deal with. The

elder he trusted not to betray him. If only because if she did the man

had information which would be released to the world about the murders

her village habitually engaged in around the globe.

It was the grand daughter, Shampoo, which concerned him. Her, and that

mystery girl also working at the cafe. He'd not mentioned why he was in

town, only that it was for business reasons. A spare room above the cafe

was being rented out. Just one of a dozen safe houses he'd set up in

Tokyo. Each one under a different name. Time to write up my preliminary

report, then set up an op center.

Hmm, the building across from the target is up for sale. And cheep too.

That'll make a good op center. As well as maybe a future office for my

agency. Just wish I had some backup for this in case things get nasty.

Wait, maybe I do. I seem to recall working with a Mr Rivers in the past.

Not to mention this type of job seem right up his alley.

With those thoughts in mind, the man encrypted the report and emailed it

to one of the blind drop accounts set up for this mission. The email

account he used for this task in it's self was also newly created for

the mission. Next he opened up an account held under the name Isis

Tomorrow. Ten minutes later that message also had been sent.

The final message sent, the man powered down his laptop, an area 51 m15x

notebook. With a bit of concentration, the laptop then shrank in size to

a tenth of it's normal volume. The now miniaturized notebook was slipped

into a cigar case which already contained a miniaturized power cord.

This he put in his breast pocket. There were times when the man felt his

gift was extremely useful.

The man was about to leave when his shoulder blades began to itch. This

caused him to frown. For the past week a pair of odd bumps had been

growing on his back. When he'd seen a doctor about it, fearing cancer,

he'd learned it was growths of a sort. But not that type. It seemed

plans were going to change. Instead of leaving as intended, the man

removed his jacket and shirt.

XxXxX

In another part of town a teenage girl was reading a slip of paper.

Tendo Nabiki had found it with a stash of money. The money she'd

expected. Every week she found an envelope containing ten thousand yen

in the trash can behind the school. She knew it was payment for the

rolls of film she regularly left in her school locker. Of course video

got her more then photos did.

Who payed for them, the teenager had no idea. Nor was Nabiki really all

that eager to learn. It had started a week after she'd initially began

selling pictures of her sister to Kuno Tatawaki. One day she'd found a

note in her locker outlining a business offer. Leave a roll of film

containing nude pictures of her sisters and any video she could get of

her sisters bathing in her school locker on Sunday night, and she would

find money to keep her family afloat.

It left a bad taste in Nabiki's mouth to sell her sister's like that.

But they needed the money. Especially with the Saotome family as house

guests. What didn't get used for the family she put into a collage fund.

The money drops had even increased in size since Ranma had shown up too.

Of course it had taken a bit of fast talking to convince Amnara to go

along with it. Who would have thought a succubus would be hesitant to

sell themselves?

XxXxX

The Cat Cafe had just closed when they heard it. A bone chilling scream

echoed throughout the building. Moments later another agonized wail

pierced the night air. Then another filled the evening. Those who lived

and worked at the small cafe ran to investigate. One among them was just

a little faster. The youth the two amazons were taking care of burst

through the guest room's door, and froze.

The guest's face tickled her mind. Forgotten memories that hazily hinted

at identity. The man had been introduced to her as Alex Fritzroy,

although the Elder referred to him as Case-San. Both names struck the

youth as wrong. What she saw in the guest room also tickled her

shattered memories. I've seen this before. Where have I seen it? When?

The pendent she wore began to glow softly. This caused the elder Cologne

to pause. The last time that had happened the youth's memories were

wiped out. The only benefit from that event was that any mind altering

effects also were removed. The unfortunate part was that while this girl

was free of the brain washing, her identity was a complete mystery.

This strange girl spoke Japanese well for a westerner. Her mandarin was

also passable. The only real clues were the hammer shaped magic pendent

and apparent ability to become living ice. Privately the elder wished

she'd been able to examine that pendent. But no, the girl refused to

part with it. And trying to take it without permission had failed dismally.

"Blair? Is that you?" The mysterious girl asked in flawless English.

"G-god... it hurts..." Jason Blair groaned.

His screams had subsided for the most part. His back was covered in

blood, as was the bed he'd been sitting on. The source of said blood was

a pair of raw wounds where bat-like wings had erupted from his back.

Even now the rips were healing as if they'd never existed. The man's

back felt heavier. And something kept moving behind him. What the blue

haired westerner said then sank in.

"Who is Blair? I never met anyone by that name." He replied in the same

language.

The girl scowled hearing that. "Don't play games with me Jason. What the

hell are you doing here? Japan's a bit out of the way for you isn't it?

Don't tell me you're trailing a cheating wife all the way out here. And

what's up with the makeup?"

Eyes narrowed, Jason examined the girl. He'd never seen her before

today, yet this girl somehow knew him. That was... alarming. Instantly

he went on high alert. Having his name bandied about while on the job

was not good. This room wasn't bugged, but he knew enough to not trust

that completely. Before anyone could react he'd drawn his pistol, a colt

.45 revolver, and pointed it at the stranger.

"All right girl, who are you? Who do you work for? Start talking, or I

start shooting."

The girl blinked at this. ""What the hell, man? It's me, Sam! What the

fuck doya think your doing pointing that thing at me?"

At this point Blair's weird-shit-o-meter was starting to ping. Strangers

claiming to know him, not the first time. That was usually a really bad

sign. There was a person with blue hair named Sam who Blair knew. This

girl was clearly not him though. And yet, very few people were as foul

mouthed as that man. It was impossible. Of course stranger things had

happened.

"Try again kid, the only person named 'Sam' I know is a man. Not to

mention several years older then you."

That tune changed rapidly. The youth had a cup of tea in hand,

presumably it had been just poured minutes ago. Most had sloshed out,

yet the cup still retained some liquid. Liquid which the girl dumped on

her head. Okaaaay, what just happened? Blair thought as the stranger

grew taller and flat chested. Facial features shifted subtly as age increased.

That is NOT possible! He's never shown THAT ability!

"Things are still fuzzy beyond three fucking weeks ago. But I remember

you Jason. Something about damn car thieves and a cheating wife you were

following. Think ya tried billing me for some fucking thing or another."

Blair grimaced as he remembered the events. "You still owe me a thousand

dollars. Because of your recklessness I had to replace the engine block

of my station wagon, as well as several hundred dollars worth of

equipment. Not to mention you destroyed all evidence I'd collected, thus

ruining my chance to get payed by that client. By the way, mind

explaining how you're here when according to the evening news you

captured an Asian terrorist in Iowa just an hour ago?"

Cologne blinked a few times. Case-San knows our guest? And the guest is

cursed like Son-in-law? The woman looked at her great granddaughter.

That girl is impossible to predict. Especially now. Wait, why do I

sense a huge power coming this way? Hmm, not one I recognize either.

Out of habit the amazon elder hit the girl turned adult man in the head

with her staff.

"Control your language, child. Company is coming, get grand-daughter and

prepare the cafe."

"I ain't a kid, ya old bat." The man referred to as 'Sam' said grumpily.

This caused him to be hit in the head yet again. This time the impact

caused Sam to lose his balance and fall. Naturally the impact caused him

to spout even more profanity. Any who'd known the man would not have

been surprised. The elder however was growing livid. And Jason Blair was

merely becoming annoyed.

"Do you mind Mr Bricklebuster?" The investigator said as he holstered

his pistol. "Compared to her, my grandfather is a kid. I'd pay attention

to what she says. I'm still wanting to know how you're here when

according to the news you should be in America still. And do you know

anything of an 'ice lady'?"

"No clue," Sam said after a moment. When he fell again upon trying to

stand up, he growled. "Damn it, I hate this shit."

XxXxX

Ranma frowned in thought as he walked. There were many things which

worried him. Many of which were problems caused by his old man. Not all

by any stretch of the imagination. But enough that the pig tailed youth

was already sick of it. And now with some businessman showing up those

problems were getting worse. Stupid panda! A bowl of rice, two pickles,

and a fish? Gah!

He was hoping that the elder had an idea. Then there was the chance to

spend time with his wife. In the last few weeks Ranma hadn't had near as

much time with Shampoo as he'd like. The reasons were many and varied.

The biggest one was Akane. She'd still not woken up. According to Tofu

her back was mending, but if she'd walk again was still unknown.

What had happened was unusual, even for him. After that fateful day

however Ranma had felt a tension fade which he'd not realized was there.

It was almost as if he no longer had to face some horror alone. What

that horror was, Ranma didn't quite know. The relief was great though.

Since that day he'd found new urges arising, much to Ranma's dismay.

Take now for instance. He felt the strong desire to curl up in the sun

and take a nap for the majority of the day. Then there was the growing

craving for tuna. Most of the time those urges could be ignored. But not

always. Sometimes they were too strong. Such as a week ago. That had

been mortifying, to say the least.

Where did Kasumi find that piglet anyway? And why did it attack Amnara?

And why can't I remember anything after entering the pet store? He'd

woken up that day with a headache, cloths torn into tiny pieces, and

flakes of some plant covering his body. From the amount of 'catnip',

whatever that was, Kasumi had been forced to buy, it was clear Ranma had

done something. What exactly that was, no one was telling him. Nor would

anyone tell him why Ranma would occasionally wake up with a toy mouse in

his mouth.

Up ahead was the cafe that old bat had set up. While Ranma could

understand that the dojo was getting crowded, he still didn't like being

separated from his wife. So with things stable at the dojo, and no news

yet on Akane's status, he'd decided to spend the day with her.

Unfortunately Ranma had only recently returned to being himself again.

He didn't know what the other had been doing, but he woke up in Nabiki's

arms

Which was odd, to say the least. While Ranma had been covered in sweat,

there was no hot water anywhere near him. So how did the change occur?

It was a very good question with no clear answer. Come to think of it,

I haven't seen Her when sleeping in a while either. Wonder why? After

deciding to figure it out later, the young martial artist made a final

approach to his destination.

Still don't know what to make of that woman claiming to be mom. She's

almost as bad as pops. Always carrying around that sword and going on

about 'grandbabies'. Seriously, what is up with that? And why is her

aura so strange? It reads as if the woman is older then Elder. But that

can't be right. She looks too young. Been meaning to ask Elder about

these wings anyway.

Since he had a spare key, the cursed martial artist simply entered the

cafe. The delectable aroma of cooking food wafted to his nose, and he

almost smiled. The worries plaguing Ranma prevented that heartfelt

gesture though. Hmm, Elder's still upstairs. Shampoo and the ice girl

are in the kitchen, so who's that other I sense? They're aura is very

focused, but otherwise nothing special. I wonder who it is? The cafe

should be closed by now after all.

XxXxX

It took him almost fifteen minutes to navigate down to the kitchen.

Another three to make it to the sink and change into a girl. All in all

Sam was not happy. He, or rather she now, still didn't really know who

she was. Other then a name, there was nothing but a haze. A fact which

Sam found rather annoying. After all, it now appeared someone watching

international news knew more about him then Sam did.

As such she didn't pay as much attention as Sam probably should have

while preparing some raman. If she had been, Sam might have noticed

she'd turned on the wrong burner. A tiny detail which Shampoo could also

have pointed out if she hadn't been talking to someone in the dining

area. Someone named Ramone or something, Sam wasn't entirely sure. Until

today she'd not thought it important enough to pay attention.

"So, you have a curse too?" Sam heard from the dining area as she

carried the bowls out.

center

Chapter 14

/center

Ranma entered Nabiki's room with a sigh. The day had been a long one

already, and all he wanted to do was get some sleep. Just sleep in fact.

He didn't feel like dealing with ancient spirits, curses, magic, or

anything else. Just sleeping would be fine. Before he could lay down

though he spotted an opened envelope on Nabiki's desk.

Normally he wouldn't have considered looking at the envelope's contents.

The encounter at the cat cafe however had changed that slightly.

Discovering a man who also had bat wings came as a shock. Learning the

blue haired girl was actually an extremely clumsy guy had been alarming.

But what really had shocked Ranma was another discovery. The mystery man

was investigating organized crime, and had asked for help getting

information within the Tendo residence.

Why the Tendo residence? That Ranma didn't really know. But he'd

reluctantly agreed. After all, it wasn't like there was anything truly

wrong being done there. Right? His fiance was out for some reason

anyway. So reasoning, Ranma slid the paper out and began to read. The

message was short, and the writer didn't identify them self. It read:

Events are transpiring which require a change in our business

arrangement. Deliver the Chinese girl, red head, and house wife to the

Rising Sun warehouse in three days time. You will be handsomely rewarded

for the sale of these individuals.

Reading this caused him to scowl. All thoughts of sleep had fled, at

least for the moment.

XxXxX

The nearest hospital with an ICU was not actually in Nerima. Rather, it

was in the Azabu-Juuban district. It was here that Tendo Akane had been

taken after Kuno Tatawaki's assault. Medical experts were still trying

to determine exactly what was wrong with her. Initial X-Rays at the Tofu

clinic clearly showed the spinal column snapped in two, with the likely

result being at least paralysis of the lower body.

The lacerations were harder to figure out. Video footage of them

appearing, vanishing, then appearing again had been examined. One

thought was that the video had been faked. An idea that quickly got

disproved by testing the video for evidence of post processing. Then

there was the fact that the child's back was actually putting it's self

back together. Including evidence of spinal damage being repaired. A

medical impossibility.

No one had been sure when the girl would wake up. Let alone if she would

wake up. Evidence had been documented however, and medical records were

kept in triplicate. Interestingly enough, non-traditional medicine was

also being kept track of. This being the main operating area for the

Sailor Senshi, the idea of magic had long since become accepted. It was

hard not to accept when demons were regularly attacking the ward, and

being repelled by teenage girls with artillery style magic.

So it was that Ono Tofu's assessments on chi manipulation were accepted

as court evidence quality documents. Reports of how Akane had gotten so

injured were also believed. Especially after a practical demonstration

of how dangerous the air pressure creation by high end martial artists

could be. The fact a police investigator was on hand looking into the

case only made things more serious.

The investigator was named Toji Santo. The man had only recently been

put on the case. He also seemed to be from a different city since local

officers didn't recognize him. The badge number was legitimate, and

background checks had shown Tojo to be an officer from

Shimotsuke. Just why he'd been called in to investigate this case was

anybody's guess. Although the best assessment was that only an outsider

might treat anything involving the Kuno estate without fear of reprisal.

Currently Officer Tojo was in the ICU ward examining the injuries

sustained by one Tendo Akane with interest. His reading of the medical

chart was interrupted by a feline like meow. Looking up, the man raised

an eyebrow. Well Jason, you don't see that every day. Although that

might change soon. What a stroke of luck that the Kuno family had

recently come under official investigation.

While I'm at it, I might want to look into these 'senshi' that are

running around. Shouldn't be too hard for a detective of my skill.

Officer Tojo left the room and approached the nurse's station. "Excuse

me, but the Tendo girl is awake. However from the way she was clawing

the bed, I suspect some tranquilizers might be needed."

As the nurse ran off to check the patient, Tojo left the building. A

quick call to the local precinct caught him up on the other parts of

this case. Twenty minutes later Officer Tojo had entered the apartment

he was renting while in Tokyo. The man who emerged forty minutes later

bore no resemblance to the policeman.

The person who emerged was a plain looking man of about thirty. He had

short brown hair, and wore tan slacks. For a shirt he had on a button up

blue tee shirt. Most noticeably, the man had a pair of bat like wings

emerging from his back. He took to the skies, slowly circling the ward.

It felt good to experience the wind in his face. Not to mention the

practice was much needed to build up flying stamina.

It came as a bit of a surprise when a bolt of fire flew past him. The

winged man looked down, and blinked. There on a roof stood five girls

wearing the most indecent sailor costumes he'd seen outside a strip

club. The outfits seemed to be color coded too. What they announced was

so preposterous the man couldn't help but chuckle.

"The air is for breathing, not tormenting innocents." Their apparent

leader said. "I am the pretty sailor suited soldier of love and justice,

Sailor Moon!"

Then the rest chimed in.

"Sailor Mars!"

"Sailor Mercury!"

"Sailor Venus!"

"Sailor Pluto!"

Then as one they shouted out while preforming the most hilarious poses

"And in the name of the moon we will punish you!"

The man was still chuckling as he landed in front of them. He made no

move to attack. Nor did he start draining anyone's energy or anything

else that might have been considered a threat. All the man did was pull

a key chain out of his pocket. On the key chain was a few obvious

charms. Namely a pair of key chain charm handcuffs, a charm revolver,

and a charm binoculars.

"Now," the man began, "before you start 'punishing' me maybe you can

explain something. What is so wrong about me flying? Granted, I haven't

seen many meta-humans here in Japan. But since when did it become a

crime in Japan to have wings? Especially one punishable by a group of

vigilante school girls? After all, I like to know what to tell the

police when I get wrongly assaulted by local talent."

He looked at the girls. They stared back at him while blinking slowly.

"I also have to wonder about something. I noticed a pattern with most of

you're code names. But why is she called 'sailor pluto' when that

obviously breaks the 'inner planets of the solar system' theme? Wouldn't

'sailor earth' or 'sailor jupiter' have made more sense?"

The girls just continued to stand there blinking. He shook his head and

walked closer. When none of the girls reacted, he lightly tapped 'Sailor

Moon' on the forehead. When she tipped over and fell the man shook his

head again. I guess I must have broke them? Well, I did want to look

into these girls I guess. Since none of them appeared to be even

remotely aware of their surroundings, he slipped a tracing bug into the

hair of one blond who had the stupidest meat ball and pig tails hairdo

he'd ever seen.

Twenty minutes later the man was sitting calmly in front of them, typing

away on a laptop computer. As the five girls finally became aware of

their surroundings they noticed him. Several seemingly minor facts

occurred to them. One; although they had been incapable of defending

themselves, the man had not pressed the advantage. Any of their normal

foes would have quickly dispatched an unconscious senshi.

Two; he had not fled. This too seemed unusual for a monster. Especially

one from the dark kingdom. Neither killing them while helpless, nor

fleeing. At the very least, they had expected to get taken captive if

defeated. But no, this monster had just sat in front of them using a

computer. Which conveniently enough brought up the third thing.

Namely the fact he was using a computer. Something none of the girls

could remember happening with any yoma in the past. Not to mention he

was a male. The only males they had seen related to the dark kingdom had

no wings. One of them, Sailor Mercury the man thought, blinked a few

times as a visor descended over her eyes.

"Moon, maybe we should hear him out." Mercury said after a moment.

"Yes, that might be a good idea." The man said. "But not here. This is

too public of a location. You girls find someplace safe where we can

talk, and I'll join you in an hour. Or maybe an associate of mine will.

Who can say?"

XxXxX

A light blue geo metro sat parked across from the Hikawa shrine. The

windows were clear, or at least appeared to be so. In reality they were

anything but from the outside. While an observer would have seen a

portly Caucasian taking a nap in the driver's seat, the man was actually

sitting strait up. He held a pair of binoculars to his eyes and observed

the people in the shrine.

His vantage point was specifically chosen for this reason. On his lap

was a laptop. It's screen showed information on the five girls. While he

was disappointed at how easy tracking them had been, there had been a

surprise. The one with the blue tinted hair had pulled out an odd

looking laptop. Moments later they had discovered his tracker.

"Must be a sensor array of some sort. Let's see if I can tap into it.

Anything I can get on these kids might be useful before going in. Hmm,

an obvious outside connection, but not a normal wi-fi band. Let's see

here scan for unknown signals and trace the data stream... Hmm, tight

beam heading towards a local arcade slash ice cream shop. A second data

stream heading towards, what the? The moon? Right then, time to go in."

He powered down his laptop. It quickly shrank in size to that of a pack

of cards. This the man slid into a protective case shaped like an Ace

playing cards box, complete with logo. Once the computer was safely in

his breast pocket the man got out of his car. Casually he approached the

shrine. Mentally the man was preparing what he would say.

The door to the shrine was open, although the five girls had vanished

inside. Clearly they had seen him approaching. After noting their hair

colors matched those sailor senshi girls, the man mentally smiled. There

was an old man sweeping the stairs though. The old man looked up from

his broom and smiled. The portly man bowed politely and spoke.

"Greetings, name's Alex Fritzroy of Maosai Insurance. Would there be

a... " He pulled out a slip of paper and looked at it. "Ah, right! I'm

told a Rei Hino lives here? Got some questions for her regarding an

incident a few days ago at her school."

Before the elderly man could respond, Alex was at it again. "Oh, wow!

Who does the landscaping? It's lovely! Maybe I could get some tips? And

that cooking smells divine! I've just got to get the recipes being used.

The kids'll love it I tell you. Care to see them? Of course you do, right?"

He pulled out a wallet and started to show some pictures. "Here's my

wife Margrete, great woman isn't she? Best cook I've ever seen. Makes a

banana cream pie that's to die for. Why I still remember the day we

first met. Wanna hear about it? Of course you do, don't you."

The priest finally managed to interrupt the torrent of words at that

point. "My grand-daughter should be in the dining room with her friends."

"What? Oh, right. Maybe later then. Business before pleasure as they

say. They do still say that don't they? I'm sure they do. It's like

'batten down the hatches'. Some things just never go out of style.

What's Rei like? Maybe I'll bring Billy next time. He's still in a funk

after the breakup."

"Dining room," The priest said again before pushing Alex inside. "He's

as bad as Usagi-chan."

Several minutes later Alex entered the dining room. The girls had

stopped talking the second he'd opened the door. But not before he'd

heard a comment about someone called 'James' and if 'she' should be

called. The five girls stared at Alex as he walked around the room

holding what looked to be a cell phone. Finally he nodded.

"If you kids can secure the room from directional microphones, we can

get to business."

center

Chapter 15

/center

The girls just sat there and blinked. It would have been comical, if he

wasn't so serious. "Right, the boss said you kids have some very

effective counter-surveillance tool or tools. So break them out already.

I don't have all day. And I'm not going to discuss sensitive matters

until this place is secured. Man, I hate dealing with rookies."

One of the girls, who had dark blue hair, seemed to recover the fastest.

"Who are you?"

"That's information you're not cleared for, Miss Mizuno. Yes, I do know

who you all are." He smiled at the girls casually. "And while we're at

it, my boss wants the tracker you girls disabled back."

The blond with an unusual hair style spoke next. "What makes you think

anyone is listening in?"

Alex chuckled at the question. "Simple, I found and disabled in this

room eight listening devices, two video transmitters, and spotted at

least two observers on the street. Judging by the model of video

transmitter, I'm guessing local government. If it was organized crime,

you girls would likely be dead already.

"If it was one of many fundamentalist terrorist organizations, you kids

would have likely been kidnapped and brainwashed. At least. There is

always the chance it's some up and coming new megalomaniac. But again,

they would either try brain washing you, or killing you up front. Then

there's the possibility of extraterrestrial or extra-dimensional

invaders. But they wouldn't be using earth technology."

He noticed that one of them had finally done something. Another device

was pulled out by Alex, and he nodded. Finally some privacy to speak

with them. Good. "Now then, on to business. As I said, you don't have

clearance to know who I am. I will say that I work with the man you met

earlier today. And I'm sure you probably have questions for me."

The one dressed like a local shrine maiden, Rei Hino he thought, growled

angrily. "Who are you?"

"You aren't cleared for that information. I can tell you that I'm not

with the local government, or anyone else in this nation. I work for a

private contractor and am on assignment. My experience with the

supernatural is limited at best. You girls however seem to specialize in

dealing with it. As such, I am here on behalf of my boss to offer you

girls a job."

Almost as one the five girls asked "What kind of job?" One of the blonds

however seemed to think asking "What kiwi of job" was a good idea.

How much should I tell them? I suppose for now I'll keep things on a

'need to know' basis. And if it works out, maybe arrange for their

training. "Nothing morally questionable, that I can assure you. If you

accept, my boss will be hiring you on as agents in training. Unless

given orders, you're time will still be you're own. Similarly, you're

extra-curricular activities will only be in conflict if you're identity

becomes public knowledge."

The girls huddled to converse, so Alex sat back and relaxed. Privately

the man decided to check with his contacts. Knowing who was watching the

girls would be a good thing. He already had an idea of why. It was

likely their powers. Since there were so few meta-humans in Japan, of

course there would be interest in any that showed up. Especially when

they make a habit of fighting demons.

Alex reached into his right pants pocket, and pulled out a cigar case.

This he opened and removed a orange envelope. While the envelope was

very small, he treated it like the contents were important. When he

looked over, the girls were still talking. I wonder what is taking them

so long. Granted, I can't give them much information just yet. But still

I'd have thought they would make a decision by now. Or at least ask for

more information.

XxXxX

She could feel a headache coming on. And not just any old headache

either. This one was promising to be an industrial strength 'eat the

entire bottle of Excedrin' time-quake induced headache. The exact cause

was unknown. Oh sure, she could always check the time gate. But that

always felt like a bad decision. An extremely long time ago she'd vowed

to only look ahead if the situation was desperate. And in all the

trillions of years she could remember, that vow had only been broken

five times.

Nodoka's companions noticed her discomfort though. Her husband winced,

fully expecting the grimace to be followed by the family honor sword

being swung. When the expected blow didn't arrive, he looked on in

confusion. Even now he was having trouble figuring out where his wife

had gotten the honor blade. I could swear I sold that off before we

even met. Didn't I? Nodoka's other companion winced as well.

"Maybe we should talk in private Auntie?" The middle Tendo sister asked.

Nodoka nodded at the suggestion. "Yes, we should. I'd love to hear more

about my manly son."

XxXxX

Fifteen Hours Ago

"Mind explaining this?" Ranma asked while holding a piece of paper.

"Cause it sounds like you were planning on selling me, Shampoo, and

you're sister into slavery."

She could hear the betrayal in his voice. And Nabiki couldn't blame him

for it. After all, everything did point towards that conclusion. It was

wrong, but the evidence suggested it. She herself would have believed

the evidence if an outsider. The youth was unsure how to respond. After

all, she didn't even know who had been buying the videos and pictures.

"I... can't. That was in a drop location for a buyer of mine. I don't

know who it is, but I'd never do what the buyer wants this time." He

doesn't believe me! I don't understand, why doesn't he believe me?

"So, this 'buyer' wouldn't by chance be the one telling you to film us

bathing? A fact which you never mentioned to anyone in the house." Ranma

asked her. "Do you realize how much you've hurt people?"

She was about to deny the accusation. After all, Ranma himself hadn't

been aware of her business arrangements. That had been Amnara. But when

Nabiki opened her mouth, she found that the lie wouldn't come. No matter

how hard she tried, the words just refused to come out. Almost as if

something was physically stopping her from doing this one tiny thing.

"How did you know about the cameras?"

"Easy," Ranma said. "The panels in the south wall for the bathing area

have one that is slightly off color. It also makes a different sound

when something strikes it, Clever use of one way glass though. I hadn't

thought it could be made to look like wood. Most people probably

wouldn't have noticed. I also smelled the sealant used to make the

section water tight. It smells different then the grout in the rest of

the furo."

"I..."

"Nabs, I'm not gonna lie. You're in serious trouble here. Don't drag

everyone down with you."

Ranma rolled over onto the bed after that announcement. Soon he had

fallen asleep. His lover looked at the pig tailed boy and scowled. Why

couldn't I lie to him?

Ranma's Mindscape

He opened his eyes to an entirely too familiar place. A place he

absolutely hated. It represented a loss Ranma couldn't deny. The

repercussions of that loss still were affecting him. Although they were

getting pretty strange lately. Especially with the wings he'd

spontaneously sprouted recently. Any more weirdness and Ranma wasn't

sure he could cope with it. Becoming a demoness half the time had been

bad enough. Being made into a pet of said demon form's spirit had been

worse. But now this, it was too much.

"Speak of the devil. What do you want, mistress?" He asked with a sigh.

She was standing there in one of the most revealing outfits Ranma had

seen her wear. Of course, when he saw Amnara usually she wasn't wearing

anything. Come to think of it, he'd only seen her wearing that outfit

once before. And that was a time he didn't like to think about. After

all, Ranma Saotome never loses. And yet that day he'd lost, and lost badly.

"Something happened, and you're rematch has to be moved up. After

tonight only one of us will still exist, I think. We're merging somehow.

So fight me Ranma, fight for you're right to exist in the morning."

"Fine by me," Ranma told her. Before Amnara could attack he held up a

hand. "Wait a sec. Before we begin, you said we're merging. How and why?

And what exactly are the terms of this duel?"

"You're learning. No outside interference. This duel is between just

the two of us. Any skills or abilities are fair game. But only if they

come from you're self. I am limited the same way."

"And the victory conditions?" Ranma pressed her.

"Until one either cannot, or will not continue to fight."

*OMAKE!*

"How did you know about the cameras?" The middle Tendo sister asked.

"Easy," Ranma said. "The panels in the south wall for the bathing area

have one that is slightly off color. It also makes a different sound

when something strikes it, Clever use of one way glass though. I hadn't

thought it could be made to look like wood. Most people probably

wouldn't have noticed. I also smelled the sealant used to make the

section water tight. It smells different then the grout in the rest of

the furo."

"I..."

"Nabs, I'm not gonna lie. I'm very disappointed in you. The camera angle

was all wrong. And just filming baths? Come on, that's tame. I'd have

filmed something more exciting, such as our three ways with Shampoo." He

told her.

"…."

As he pulled out a can of whipped cream Nabiki shuddered. It got worse

when he also fetched a package of strawberries and a riding crop. And

just where did those chains on the bed come from? She didn't see Ranma

move. Yet the next thing Nabiki was aware of a breeze caressed her bare

skin. When did he strip me? And how did he do it?

"Now Nabs, it's time for your punishment. Maybe next time you'll get

things right."

center

Chapter 16

/center

Two people calmly walked into a spacious room. For all appearances they

were about the same age. The male had raven black hair that was tied in

a pigtail. Other then a collar he wore nothing. His companion was

several inches shorter. Her flaming red hair too was tied in a pigtail.

Unlike him, she wore a tight leather shoulder-less leotard with plunging

neckline. How it was she didn't fall out of the garment was anybody's

guess.

They walked into the center of the room, then separated. The boy bowed

respectfully. Well, mostly respectfully. He did glare at the girl across

from him. Privately, he was worried about this. Could he beat her? He

wasn't sure. No, that wasn't quite true. He didn't think he could. And

that doubt was costing him. The fact they both had similar wings hinted

what Amnara had told him was true though. Unfortunately for Ranma

Saotome, he'd no practice with flying as a male. Not that the room was

large enough to accommodate such a mid-air duel.

An observer might have wondered what signaled them to begin. Without

any warning Amnara threw a ball of fire towards Ranma. But he was no

longer there. Her eyes searched, only to find him just as a foot

impacted the demoness's face. This sent her flying back into a wall.

Amnara recovered quickly, and threw another flaming sphere. Her eyes

widened as this one too failed to make contact. Before she could react

they were once more engaging in hand to hand combat.

How does he do it? Amnara thought as he once again evaded her tail.

Then pain shot through her butt as he grabbed the appendage and threw

her. She struck the wall head first and growled. As Amnara stood she

considered throwing another fireball. Then decided against it. That

tactic had yet to actually work. He was too good at dodging them from

this distance. Instead she tried a frontal assault. With a flurry of

punches she attempted to overwhelm his guard.

Not that it did much good. For every blow she got through, Ranma landed

an equal number on her. Then he did something which Amnara didn't

expect. He went for an open palm strike to her stomach. Only to have

flames explode against her belly just as his hand struck. Ranma himself

didn't remain unscathed though. His hand and arm looked like they had

suffered from minor burns. They didn't even slow the boy down. In fact

Amnara watched as they started to heal.

This was going to take a while.

XxXxX

Present

"Have you ever made a mistake so big it could hurt everyone you know?"

Nabiki asked.

She was currently in a private booth at one of the more expensive

restaurants. Across from Nabiki sat one Saotome Nodoka. The elder woman

was quite possibly insane in Nabiki's estimation. She had an unhealthy

obsession with both honor and grand children. An obsession which now was

putting the woman's son in danger. But that wasn't why Nabiki thought

the Saotome woman might be insane. It was her eyes. Those eyes spoke of

madness barely contained.

"What do you mean?" The Saotome matriarch asked, her eyes glinting

dangerously.

"Just that," Nabiki said cautiously. "Hypothetically how would you deal

with fallout if say, you had made business arrangements with dangerous

people? And those people wanted to change the deal on you?"

Nodoka's eyes narrowed still further. "What did you do?"

There was danger in that question. And with that katana ever present, it

was more then just metaphorical. In fact, Nabiki could feel power the

likes of which she'd not felt before. Ancient beyond belief power. If

she hurt my son I'll make her pay for a thousand years. No, ten

thousand. The thought hit Nabiki, and the anger behind it shook her to

the core. Even if there was doubt the unspoken threat could be carried

out it was still there.

Nabiki was about to answer when her companion stalked away angrily.

Without knowing what this was about, she decided to follow Ranma's

mother. Only to find a dead end with nobody in sight. With a shrug

Nabiki left the alley. She couldn't help but shiver. Something was about

to happen. Something that normally isn't suppose to. Then again, maybe

not telling her isn't so bad. That woman can be scary.

XxXxX

Saotome Nodoka appeared in a mist filled void. Before her was an ornate

gate, along with a leather bound sofa that faced the gate. She lifted

the silk wrapped bundle and began to remove it's coverings. Instead of

the katana everyone assumed, the bundle was revealed to be a staff in

the shape of a key.. An observer might have wondered how anyone could

mistake a five foot long staff for a sword. Which would have been a

mighty good question. The silk bundle had been smaller then the staff

was now.

"Of all the times for my vacation to be interrupted!" Nodoka snarled.

"This had better not be a false alarm, again."

She sat on the couch and leveled the key staff towards the gate. This

caused the door it's self to shift into an energy vortex. With a bit of

concentration the vortex settled down. Soon images started to form. As

Nodoka stared into the gates of time, she frowned deeply. There were no

changes that she could immediately see. And yet, the forest kingdom she

strove to eventually have formed was gone. No longer was there even the

slightest possibility of it.

But why? What had changed this time? No clues could be seen. Whatever

the cause, it refused to show in the time gate. This alarmed Nodoka

since nothing should be outside of it's view. No event could escape her

gaze, or so she'd long thought. And yet another instance kept poking at

her thoughts. Her son too couldn't be seen in the time gates. And

because of that, the entire Nerima ward was exempt from her study.

Mostly because of how much her son's life affected the ward, she surmised.

It should be noted that Nodoka had a flaw. Not a big one, but it was

there. The flaw was similar to the one her predecessor once had. Namely

that she rarely looked at events outside of Japan beyond the big

picture. For the most part she was convinced the truly major events

happened in Japan, not the rest of the world. So it could be excused

that an insurance salesman meeting with the senshi slipped her notice.

After all, why would she doubt the man was an insurance agent? The

entire time he'd been in Japan he'd spent it selling insurance or being

a tourist.

"Mind getting off me?" A voice said from beneath her.

The voice proved to come from a man of obvious western decent. The man

had dark hair, and a nose which looked almost like a hawk's beak. His

looks were rugged, but not exactly pleasing to the eye. His cloths

looked odd, to say the least. Green silk tights encased his legs, while

a silk sleeveless shirt covered his chest. He had on gloves which were

the same shade of green. The garments looked well worn, and patched many

times. The tattered remains of a forest green cape hung from his shoulders.

All this Nodoka took in as she jumped to her feet and spun around. The

only articles of clothing the man wore that weren't green were the matte

black utility belt and dark brown combat boots. I can't believe I

didn't notice him, Nodoka thought. How did he get here? I received no

warnings. The gate hasn't been breached in over a thousand years. I'd

know if it had.

"Who are you?" She asked the man, still too stunned by his presence to

register that he shouldn't be here at all.

"Good question," he told her. "I think I'm Jake Grooberman, but that

sounds a bit off. Still and all, it's the only name I remember. Are you

from around here? If so, just where is 'here'? It's clearly not a part

of the Lonestar territory. Or anywhere else I've seen."

"That isn't the issue," Nodoka said as she leveled her staff at him.

"What is an issue however, is how you got here. You are trespassing in

my domain."

The man, Jake, blinked. "Your domain? What are you, a god?"

He snorted at the idea. Almost as if he'd actually met a few gods.

Something which was very unlikely. In her insanely long life Nodoka had

never once to her knowledge actually met a god. For this man to have met

one was something she considered extremely unlikely. But he wasn't

answering her question. That was not a good sign. It meant he was likely

hostile.

To her surprise the man rolled out of the way when she brought the

staff across in a horizontal slash. The truly surprising part of this was that

he rolled strait up into the air. The man settled onto the ground in a

combat stance she didn't recognize. Not too hard considering Nodoka had

never really studied the more exotic styles. In all honesty, she

couldn't have told anyone if it was a legitimate martial arts stance or not.

"Sorry Jake, no clues where we are anywhere." Came a feminine voice from

the distance.

"More intruders?" Nodoka snarled as she transformed into her senshi form.

The newcomer was a tall blond wearing a faded blue tee and light blue

jeans. Over this she had a brown trench coat. The woman had odd looking

suit of chest armor on. It looked like it had been cobbled together from

various spare parts. At the woman's waist was a holstered pistol which

she drew. Slung across her back the woman had a two handed sword with

wires and tubes along part of it's hilt and shaft. She had an odd

looking pair of goggles on as well.

"I suggest you back down Miss. I don't care how powerful you think you

are. Try to hurt my husband, and you will pay. You're just another

demigod on a power trip to me."

Just another? Nodoka thought even as she tried once more to separate

this man's head from his shoulders. The man spun in place, one hand

knocking the staff to the side harmlessly. His spin continued causing a

heal to impact Nodoka's temple. The rotation didn't stop however. The

other foot connected with her chin. Then a spinning backhand struck the

senshi of Jupiter just under her left armpit.

Not that it really hurt too much. The transformation did more then

enhance her strength and offer a set of artillery style magic attacks.

The public wasn't aware of it yet, or the other senshi for that matter,

but the transformation also offered powerful protection from harm. Magic

attacks had their impact lessened. Physical blows from non-supernatural

sources may as well be feathers. While the blows hurt, they did no

lasting harm.

Nor was she concerned about the gun wielded by the female invader. Not

yet at least. It was clearly a toy. And if not a toy, then it fired

solid slug projectiles. It couldn't do anything to a senshi. Or so she

thought. The two invaders moved as if they were intimately familiar with

combined battlefield tactics He spun out of Nodoka's reach just as the

woman fired her pistol. That was when all preconceived notions were

shattered.

No projectile emerged from the gun. At least none that were visible.

That didn't stop something from tearing through Nodoka's thigh. A bolt

of lightning was launched at the invading woman, only for it to splash

against a barrier of some sort. The man held out his arms and three

serrated blades emerged from the back of each of his hands. The blades

appeared to be sharpened and a faint hum could be heard.

"Stand down miss. I have no wish to harm you. But I will defend myself.

And if pressed, your blood will spill." Jake demanded again.

XxXxX

In the Tendo Dojo everything was quiet. Of the entire household, only

two were currently present. And one of them was still sleeping. A shadow

attempted to stealthily enter one of the rooms. The attempt failed

horribly as the door squeaked. In concern the figure stopped and watched

the sleeping boy. Then she moved again. In her hands was a naginata

which she had spent half the night sharpening in the past. This farce

ends today. That monster wont touch anyone again.

That what she was about to do is murder Akane didn't even consider. All

that mattered was the rage she'd steadily felt grow ever since that day

several weeks ago. Her sister's happiness didn't matter. Family honor

didn't matter. Nothing did except slaying the monster that dared

humiliate Akane. This freak had not only humiliated her, but had done

something else as well.

Akane had come to in the koi pond with the fish in her mouth not ten

minutes ago. She'd been dressed in a shredded hospital gown, and nothing

else. The first priority had been to eat. For some reason she had been

ravenous. Then a quick trip into the dojo to retrieve the weapon

currently in hand. Along the way the hospital gown had fallen off at

some point. Not that the youth had noticed it's absence.

She lifted the pole arm and held it at the ready. With a demented giggle

she started to bring the blade down, aiming for his neck. Mere inches

from decapitation, his hands shot forth and trapped the naginata's edge.

One hand let go of the weapon. In that hand a small orb of hellfire

formed. This Ranma pressed into the naginata. As the blade melted the

shaft caught fire.

"Never try that again," the pig tailed martial artist said in an eerily

calm voice.

Ranma's Mindscape

The fight had been going on for what felt like an eternity. Nether were

willing to back down. To lose was to cease to exist after all. Long ago

they had exhausted all mana and ki. The two were practically dead on

their feet. And yet they fought on with a grim determination. All around

them the palace structure was fading. Now even the walls of the room

were gone.

Soon there would be nothing left, and yet they still fought.

Instinctively they each knew that victory had to come before the last of

this room vanished. As the final two square feet of floor joined the

void Ranma and Amnara launched one final attack. Each put everything

they had into one last strait punch...

center

Chapter 17

/center

Time Gates

"Stand down miss. I have no wish to harm you. But I will defend myself.

And if pressed, your blood will spill." Jake demanded again.

Him revealing weapons was all the confirmation Sailor Jupiter needed

that these two meant no good. After all, the woman had already fired

upon her. What had been fired, she had no idea. Just that they were

aggressive. Of course, the fact that she had initiated hostilities

instead of them was ignored. Her staff held at the ready, she started to

charge forth to slay this intruding man. What was intended to be an

unstoppable downward swing was begun.

Instead of a satisfying crunch, the staff clanged against the claws. A

high frequency whine could be heard coming from them. Rather then just

blocking the lethal assault, the man instead rotated his arm in a

simi-circle. The head of her staff struck the ground, and she saw a

brown blur racing towards Jupiter's chin. Hastily she leaned backwards,

only to wince in pain from her leg.

With a soft pfth sound something struck Jupiter in her left foot. A

glance in the woman's direction showed her still pointing the absurd

pistol at her. But now the woman was also drawing what looked to be a

wire bound sawed off shotgun. No matter, a human made shotgun couldn't

hurt her. Yet somehow her pistol did. The stray thought nagged

Jupiter. The ancient senshi's eyes widened as the shotgun fired a two

foot diameter ball of fire into the air.

"My husband asked you to stand down. Please do so. Until recently we

were fighting against a massive demonic invasion of my brother's home

dimension. Compared to that, you don't even register on the threat

radar." The woman smiled coldly.

"Continue attacking us, and I may stop holding back. This is the last

time I'll warn you. My next shot wont hit someplace that regenerates

nearly as easily as the calf muscles." The woman stated calmly as she

lowered the shotgun to point at Sailor Jupiter.

Just who are these invaders? She thought frantically. Nothing was

working out the way it was suppose to. With matching holes in her legs,

standing was proving very difficult. And with the key-staff being yanked

out of her hands fighting back was growing progressively hard. They had

to be here for nefarious reasons. Likely reasons related to the

vanishing of the forest kingdom from the timeline.

And yet, they weren't acting like any villainous groups that had invaded

in the past. Previous attempts had involved people storming the place

and shooting wildly. Or immediate assaults which sometimes incapacitated

Jupiter. On such occasions she'd even been held captive for a time,

until the other senshi could be contacted to rescue her. These two

however lacked the numbers most invasions had. The fact they kept trying

to talk her down was also unusual.

"Supreme Thunder," Jupiter whispered. With this a small tuning fork

popped up in her tiara.

This was struck by a bolt of lightning, which Jupiter channeled into her

hands and towards the male invader. Better to take out this one first.

The intention had been for whatever those blades were attached to

getting hit by the magical electric surge. What instead happened was a

light blue barrier shimmering into view around the man briefly as the

bolt struck. Otherwise he seemed unharmed.

"Right then, let's dance. Sue, I'd rather leave her alive. This might

all be a misunderstanding after all. Besides which, we need answers.

Chief among them being why this woman is attacking us."

"Sure thing Jake," She responded even as a trigger was depressed.

Once again a ball of fire flew towards Sailor Jupiter. She saw it, but

dodging wasn't exactly an option. Instead she had been forced on the

defense. The man had launched himself at her, spinning like a dervish.

Her punches were weaved around in circular fashion only to have those

claws of his come entirely too close to her skin. After the first

spinning slash had drawn blood and left three tears in her uniform,

Jupiter knew not to let them connect.

The fireball struck her in the side and detonated. While the blast had

caught her male opponent in it too, Jupiter was stunned to note he was

barely singed. Her side however felt like it had just been cooked in an

oven. Quickly it was becoming obvious how big a difference martial arts

practice vs martial arts combat experience made. For all her trillions

of years, she'd never really used her martial arts skills in battle.

This man however had to be a tiny fraction of her age, barely in his

thirties at most. Yet he was overwhelming Jupiter. While she preformed

in a textbook fashion, he abandoned flair in favor of brutal efficiency.

There was still a lot of flash and style in his movements. But each and

every twist had purpose. While she had to block or attack, he would

parry her hasty blows while countering with a viscous snap kick to an

injury.

And those damnable claws of his! Rapidly Jupiter found herself covered

in lacerations, burns, and bullet holes. Her senshi armor was in

tatters. Fortunately it would be repaired while not in use. Her own

injuries would also mend fairly quickly. In fact they were already

trying. The problem was that these two were overwhelming her senshi

regeneration. The more damage she took, the less the magic protected

her. Finally a roundhouse caught Jupiter in the chin, almost shattering

her jaw. The guardian of time slumped to the ground after that.

XxXxX

When next Nodoka was aware of her surroundings she realized her entire

body hurt. She was securely tied up and leaning against the couch. The

invaders couldn't be seen anywhere. But that didn't exactly mean

anything to her. She'd lost, again. And this time she'd lost badly. Nor

would anyone be coming to rescue her. The senshi had no idea this post

existed yet. Nor did they have access to the time gates, yet.

So no help was coming. Not that she thought the others could stop these

two anyway. They fought like demon lords and moved like lightning. Very

much unlike that idiot Beryl's minions. This was very much a mystery.

Nodoka heard the sound of something heavy walking towards her, and

painfully turned her head to look. There was that man, this time wearing

what looked to be some sort of armor.

A very menacing looking suit of armor at that. In his hand was a helmet

which resembled a grinning skull. The armor it's self had black spikes

on the shoulders. It's styling made the armor look vaguely like a cross

between a gaijin post-apocalypse movie bandit and a roman gladiator.

There were several blackened scorch marks on the armor. It had clearly

seen much use, and an equal amount of repairs.

"So, ready to talk like a civilized person yet?" The man asked her.

She spat at his feet and said "You'll get nothing from me."

"Now that's a pity," Said the other woman from somewhere behind Nodoka.

"There's really only three things we want to know. First of all, why did

you attack us? Second, where are we? And finally, how do we leave?"

Could it really be that simple? Nodoka thought. Could they really

just be lost? No, that can't be it. But what if it is? They could have

easily killed me. Yet they didn't. Wait, that letter... It promised a

chance at freedom. Could this be it? Could I actually be able to quit at

last? If so I have to take it. I'm so tired of it all. If not her, then

my son. I can't wait any longer.

"I attacked because it's my duty to protect the time gate. Your

villainous plot will never succeed!"

The man, Jake it seemed, frowned. "Time gate? Nope, never heard of it.

How bout you Sue?"

The strange woman's voice could be heard from behind again. "I'm not

sure. I vaguely recall hearing the term though. Hey, that's odd. This

old gateway is some sort of machine. Gimme a sec to scan it. Maybe

that'll give a clue as to where we are. Hmm, very advanced design. Power

source isn't one I recognize. Purpose... Well that's interesting. Wait,

now I remember where I heard the term."

"Where was that?" The man asked while Nodoka winced.

"It was from a cartoon I watched as a kid. Sailor Moon I think it was.

As I recall it was a rather silly take on magical champions. Late in the

series a character called Sailor Pluto I think was introduced. She was

suppose to guard something called the 'time gates'."

Tendo Dojo

He had incinerated the naginata with hellfire. And done it while male.

That was not suppose to be possible. This was suppose to be her chance

to end the monster. Instead Akane found herself staring into eyes filled

with disappointment and anger. And was that a hint of regret? No, it

couldn't be. Monsters don't feel regret. Monsters just destroyed. As

such there was nothing wrong with slaying this one. Nothing at all.

Yet her brilliant plan was backfiring. Well, okay. It wasn't a brilliant

plan. In truth it had barely been a plan at all. More of a spur of the

moment decision. Sort of like all her decisions and judgments. Little

thought actually went into them. It was why she always jumped to weird

conclusions about people. Why she had so much trouble cooking edible

food. And why she never bothered taste testing her own cooking.

But naturally none of that occurred to Akane in the few seconds since

her weapon was turned to ash and melted steel. The marking on her

stomach flared with raw pain. Standing became impossible. As was

anything more involved then laying on the ground whimpering. Even though

no one but Ranma could see it, Akane felt mortified at her situation. To

be helpless before this monster, again. It made bile rise in her throat.

"I told you from the start you wouldn't like the method of getting rid

of your daily attackers. Although I didn't picture it going the way

things did. Don't want or need a pet. I'd rather be your friend. But if

this is how you want things, so be it. Besides, I'm hungry."

His leer told Akane exactly what he meant. And yet she still couldn't

move. Helplessly she watched as he lifted her body onto the bed. Not

again...

Hikawa Shrine

In the shrine five teenage girls sat in a half circle. In front of them

was a portly man of about thirty. He looked from girl to girl and

mentally winced. Especially when he took in the two blonds. This had

train wreck written all over it. But it was his only real option at the

moment. The others had the makings of decent agents. Maybe not

outstanding, but at least useful in the field. The blonds however, it

was horrifying to think he actually was considering this.

"For the last time, no trench coats and dark sunglasses. And definitely

no fedoras. It's important for people to not suspect you. Go on the

job dressed like that, and I can guarantee you'll not only be found out

but probably killed too."

Setsuna sighed in exasperation. "What exactly is this assignment anyway?"

"That," the man said with a smile, "is easy enough. Currently the agency

has accepted a job to investigate organized crime in the Nerima ward.

During the investigation events came up which requires a more

specialized skill set. You're assignment is to convince one of the

residents at the Tendo dojo, a youth named Ranma Saotome, to train you

in martial arts."

At this point he handed them a polaroid picture of both a red headed

teenage girl, and a raven aired teenage boy. Both had their hair tied

back in a pig tail. "Yes, that is the same person in both pictures. I

have it on good authority that there are demons in the ward, at least

one that I know of and possibly others. One or more may be connected to

the investigation I am on. But this is very important. You are not to

engage any demons in the ward unless they initiate hostilities against

civilians.

"While on assignment the five of you will be staying either with a

'friend of the family' or an old acquaintance of mine. I'll arrange for

school records to be transferred to a local school as well so you can

stay close to the assignment. If your cover is blown, make sure you

aren't followed and head to a warehouse called 'Flower Empire' in the

Nerima ward. Any questions?"

The two blonds seemed entranced with the picture of Ranma's male form.

The shrine maiden had a glazed look. Alex could swear he saw hearts in

her eyes as well. The teen with green hair appeared to be pouting about

something. The only one who seemed to be paying attention was the girl

with light blue hair, Ami Mizuno according to his files. That was good.

The fact she had a question, and what it was, also boded well.

"What about the monsters attacking this ward?" Ami asked curiously.

"Don't worry about that. I have a report to make for another client. In

that report I intend to relay the current troubles with

extra-dimensional invaders to a group who can deal with it much more

efficiently then you have been. It's kind of what this group does. And

they've been doing it since long before I was born. The way I figure it,

the invasion situation will probably be wrapped up within a week. At

most. Any other questions?"

Once again it was the Mizuno girl who had a question while the others

were still off in their own little worlds. "Why all the secrecy? And

more importantly, why us?"

"The secrecy is because lives are on the line in this work. There's more

going on then your assignment. And very dangerous people are involved.

People who have no problems with killing teenage girls, or doing worse

to them. As for why you, the five of you are arguably the only experts

on fighting demons in this city. Possibly the entire nation. As such

if the worst case scenario occurs I need you on hand."

Finally one of the others seemed to be paying attention. The Meiou girl

was the next one to speak. "And what is the 'worst case scenario?"

"There's at least one demon of unknown intentions in the area. So far to

my knowledge it has yet to attack anyone. Defend it's self yes, but not

attack. This demon may or may not have connections to the target of an

investigation. Either way, if it becomes hostile I want backup capable

of handling the situation. If things work out favorably, training and

permanent employment may be an option. Oh, and before I forget, Mizuno

Ami is field leader so defer to her judgment on this case."

"What?" All five girls exclaimed. Then they began babbling about how one

of the blonds was their leader.

"No, Miss Mizuno is field leader for this. I am not putting a flighty

airhead in charge of a sensitive mission. Hell, I'm having second

thoughts about having her go with everyone to begin with."

Alex blinked as he looked at the mentioned Usagi. She was wearing a

brown trench coat and brown fedora. On her breast was a white pin which

read 'I'm a spy'. She had on dark sunglasses which appeared to have an

obvious camera in the bridge. When did she put THAT on? Let alone where

did she get that ridiculous get up? He pointed at the Tsukino girl with

a sigh.

"And that is why she isn't field leader. Oh for heaven's sake, not you

too Miss Aino. And just where did you get any of that?"

center

Chapter 18

/center

Time Gates

They don't know where they are, but know about the time gates and

Setsuna? Nodoka thought. "Who are you?"

"I'm Jake Grooberman, I think," the man said. "And this lovely lady is

my wife Susan Wellington. I guess you could say we're wandering heroes.

Her specialty is supernatural evils, while I am merely a general warrior."

"Oh please, Jake. Give it a rest. I lost count of how many times you're

infiltration skills let us uncover doomsday cults and rescue people from

bandit camps. You are no 'mere' warrior." Susan snorted.

"And why are the two of you here?" Nodoka asked a s she rubbed her wrists.

The two had finally untied her after extracting a vow to not resume

hostilities. Not that she was eager to pick that up yet. Her body still

hurt, and there were a dozen deep gashes across her arms and legs still.

Not to mention several bullet holes. Nodoka currently looked like a

mummy with all the bandages wrapped around her body.

"No clue," Jake told her honestly. "We were fighting a demon invasion

when a rift opened beneath our feet. Then here we are, where ever here

is. We've spent the last three days trying to figure that out alone. Let

alone how to get out of here. Where ever here is. That crazy gate wont

open, and there's no other exits."

"Demon invasion... Where?" Nodoka asked in a panic.

"Calgary, Canada actually. But probably not in this dimension. Assuming

your hiding spot here is connected to a main dimension. Although if that

earth gets conquered, it could be bad for the multi-verse." Susan told

her. "Say, how do we get out?"

Wandering heroes, can hold the keystaff... "Say, I don't suppose you

two would be interested in protecting the time stream. Would you?"

The two looked at each other for a moment, then as one said "Nope."

Jake elaborated with "Not interested in doing that. There's too many

evils out there to stop. Being tied down to one pocket dimension would

hamper doing so."

His wife also added in "Not to mention the various demons, ghouls,

spirits, and vampires out there. Someone has to protect humanity from

things that go bump in the night."

XxXxX

Nerima Streets

To:

From:

Subject: Ice Lady

In regards to inquiries on the missing ice sculptor, she has been located.

Odds of her returning to work are currently slim due to occupational

injuries.

Currently in good hands with friends in Tokyo. Payment for work

not due till sculptor is well and returned to work.

Warning, there is a major infestation of vermin in Tokyo that local

exterminators can't deal with. Recommend dispatching team of

experts to deal with infestation before it crosses boundaries better

left uncrossed. Can contact at previously discussed number for details.

Ask for prearranged speaker.

Respectfully

Justin Case

He hit the send button after reviewing what had been typed for the sixth

time. With that done the man known as Alex powered down his laptop. It

shrank in size till he could fit it into a cigar case. Then it was

slipped into his shirt pocket. I really hope this doesn't backfire on

me. I don't exactly have any backup on this one. Alex finally stepped

out of his car. Two of the girls would be coming tomorrow, the Mizuno

girl and the Meiou girl. He'd already called his old acquaintance to

inform her of the situation. Emphasis on 'old'.

Once he was inside the house being rented the man of mystery locked the

door. With all the shades closed, he felt it fairly secure visually. A

quick sweep for bugs proved no one had initiated surveillance on him.

The first thing he did after securing the area was check the day's phone

transcripts. Next he returned his laptop to normal size and connected to

the Tendo girl's network.

Hacking the network had been child's play. Clearly the Tendo mastermind

didn't think anyone could, or would, bother. That gave him full access

to her already in place cameras. Stupid amateur, she doesn't even think

to check for bugs. Wait, where is she going? Crap, did she make me? How?

I've covered my tracks every time I access the network.

Quickly he erased his electronic footprints and disconnected from the

Tendo network. Just to be safe he started up the game City of Heroes and

logged in. Just as the game finished loading the doorbell rang.

XxXxX

As she walked home, Tendo Nabiki's mind raced. What do I do? I don't

want to follow those instructions, but what will happen if I don't? I

made a huge mistake... Huh, somoene's watching me? But who? Coming from

that building. No hostility, but plenty of caution. He, he's been

hacking my network for almost a month? I'd better contact Amnara first.

"Amnara, someone is spying on us. Is it okay for me to confront them?"

From her room Nabiki felt the presence of her lover and (grr) owner. But

something felt off. The reply came shortly. "First of all, I'm not

Amnara. Well, not exactly anyway. Second of all, yes you may. Tell him

Ranma says hello."

"What are you... Nevermind," Nabiki sent with a blush.

She had just gotten a rather detailed image of what Ranma was currently

doing. While Nabiki didn't know where he got the whipped cream, she

didn't really want to know either. Nor did she want to know where the

rather large jars of honey and fudge syrup came from. There were some

pieces of knowledge that had far too high of a cost for even her. And

this was one of them. Not that Nabiki would ever admit to anyone else

there was knowledge she didn't want.

So instead she turned from the front door and left the grounds. A short

walk later brought the teen to the neighboring house. Briefly she

considered forcing her way in. This plan quickly got abandoned. It just

wasn't her style after all. As did six other plans she'd came up with on

the short walk. Instead she settled on direct but non-violent

confrontation. And yet again she wished there was time to practice these

new abilities she had. Her telepathy was still mostly uncontrolled. It

cut in and out with little warning, sometimes giving snatches of

information she didn't want. Sometimes she could control it however. And

her telekinesis was spotty at best.

After ringing the doorbell Nabiki started tapping her foot. When someone

opened the door finally, it was a short haired blond. He had clearly not

shaved for a day or two, and was overweight. He was wearing a light blue

dress shirt which strained against his belly. The man's slacks were

pressed and looked very nice on his frame. All things considered, he was

the epitome of a middle aged salary man. The kind of person Nabiki would

have disregarded in an instant.

"May I help you?" He asked with impeccable Japanese.

"You can start with who you are, and why you're spying on me."

The main raised an eyebrow at her demands. "Name's Fritzroy, but what

makes you think I'm spying on you?"

There was mirth in his eyes. And something told her this man was lying.

Yet her telepathy had decided this was a great time to cut out, again.

Which meant she had no inkling of why he was amused. He doesn't deny

it, Nabiki thought with a sudden shock. I was sure he'd deny

everything. As she pondered how to reply, she heard two girls chatting

as they approached. When Nabiki tried to scan their minds, again her

telepathy wasn't cooperating.

"Ami-Chan! Set-Chan!" Alex shouted joyfully.

The man known as Alex Fritzroy saw the newcomers, and completely ignored

Nabiki. Instead he brushed past her and engulfed the two new girls in a

bear hug. In a surprising display of strength for one of his girth Alex

lifted the two into the air and spun around while still hugging them.

Raw joy could be seen in his face. While an inability to breath was

rapidly becoming evident in the two girls he'd hugged.

"Need... air..." one of them gasped.

"Oops, sorry," He said as he released Ami and Setsuna. "And how's my two

favorite nieces doing? Marge has been asking bout you, you know. 'Alex',

she says, 'When are we going to visit the Amy and Setsuna?' So of course

I had to accept this transfer. But look at you two! Look how much you've

grown!"

"What," the green haired teen started only to be interrupted.

"Ah, but I forget myself It's been too long, you must not remember your

uncle Alex. I was just talking to this adorable kid that showed up.

Think she's a neighbor. So, how long can you stay?"

With his back to Nabiki, Alex mouthed the words 'play along for now'.

Moments later the two part time champions of justice got a knowing

smile. They lept into his arms with their own overexcited hugs. The

impact caused Alex to lose his balance and fall on his rump. This is

the person spying on me? Nabiki thought with amusement. No, not

possible. Someone like that couldn't possibly be who I sensed. Still,

what was it Ranma wanted me to tell him? Oh, right.

"Ahem, Ranma says 'hi'."

"Ranma you say?" Alex asked as he picked himself up. "Can't say I know

any, wait isn't that the boy I interviewed last week about a damage

claim on the Tendo Dojo's outer wall? Ah, then you must be Tendo Nabiki.

Been wanting to speak with you. Name's Alex Fritzroy, here's my card."

He handed Nabiki a business card which proclaimed him to work for Maosai

Insurance. "We've been getting a lot of damage claims in the area, so I

was sent to investigate why. Haven't set up an office yet, so may as

well invite you in. Care for some milk and cookies? Not as good as

Marge's of course, but chips ahoy are okay in a pinch."

This person can't be the one. No one who spies on others would be this

outgoing, or casual. To be perfectly fair, Nabiki's knowledge of

espionage was rather flawed. It came almost entirely from the American

'Bond' movies. As well as a rather one dimensional action adventure that

pretended to be a spy movie about an adrenalin junkie. So it could be

excused that she didn't think anyone as friendly and casually outgoing

as Alex could be something other then what they appeared.

Once he'd set out milk and chips ahoy cookies for everyone, he joined

them at the western style dining room table. "Now then, what can you

tell me about last week? Specifically the events leading up to a hole in

the wall of the building, a hole in the kitchen roof, and a large hole

in the outer wall of the property?"

Almost without thinking Nabiki held out a hand and said "Five thousand

yen for the information."

This caused Alex to chuckle, while his two 'nieces' stared at her in

shock. "Dear child, that isn't the way things work. My boss has paid a

lot of money on insurance claims for the Tendo Dojo in the last few

months, and I'm partly here to find out why. It's within my power to

cancel your family's policy. Or raise the premiums. Now me, I'm sure

it's nothing serious and raising the premiums would be enough. But the

boss is seriously considering canceling all policies in this ward."

"But my family doesn't have an insurance policy with your company,"

Nabiki tried.

This caused him to chuckle again and fetch a folder from a filing

Cabinet. The contents of the folder he showed to Nabiki. Which caused

her to blanch. So that's where money for repairs has been coming from.

The papers were a copy of home owner's insurance with the Maosai

company, signed by her father and Kasumi. The date of the policy's

signing placed it near the time Ranma had first shown up. That's also

about the time we got that new teacher. What's his name? Eric Small I

think. I'm still not sure why we have a gaijin teaching gym class.

"Say, your family teaches martial arts right? I think it'd be a great

idea for my nieces to start learning. I've heard it can be dangerous

around here after all. And they will be staying with me for a while."

Nabiki's eyes went wide as she continued flipping through the papers.

There in the middle, a place most would never spot due to not reading

the paperwork all the way, was a set of photographs of her selling

pictures to the Kuno family and other students. Rather well done

photographs too, which clearly showed the illegal nature of said pictures.

"W-who are you?" She asked him as she quickly closed the folder.

"As I said, names Alex. Is something wrong?"

Instead of answering, Nabiki dropped the folder and fled the building.

It was hours later that she noticed the slip of paper in her pocket. The

message on it was rather simple. *Wild Horse endorses you. Underneath

the bridge, midnight. Come alone. Just In Case.*

center

Chapter 19

/center

Streets of Nerima

The sky was dark as a lone teenage girl approached the bridge. Almost

unnaturally so. It was a new moon, yet there were also no stars visible.

A perfect night for an ambush. A night to make people disappear on. Even

the street lights were out in the area. If anything were to happen, the

youth realized no one would see. It was why she had her cell phone

dialed and one of her lackeys on the other end. It was also why she had

a recorder with her. Even so, when a baritone voice emerged from the

inky blackness she almost jumped.

"Turn off the phone and recorder, Nabiki Tendo."

She looked around, but the speaker couldn't be seen. Some of the shadows

seemed darker then others, but that could just be a trick of the eyes.

Over there they appeared to move, but that was impossible. Out of the

night came a mechanical click. It sounded horribly loud. The sound was

instantly recognizable as a gun's hammer being cocked. I'm going to

die, she thought in rising panic.

"I said turn off the phone and recorder. You were told to come alone,

not have witnesses listening in."

Still she didn't move to do as instructed. There was a soft popping

sound, then her cell phone exploded. The kinetic force tore a few holes

in her blouse and left a couple cuts in her side. Not sure if he'd treat

her tape recorder the same way, Nabiki quickly made a show of turning it

off and removing the batteries. At the unknown person's insistence she

then threw it into the water. She still didn't know who this was, or

what they wanted with her. She was about to demand information when the

unknown person spoke again.

"You are in a lot of trouble, Nabiki Tendo. You have ruined lives and

stolen innocence. But one you have wronged asks for leniency. Why should

it be granted?"

The teenage girl blanched for the third time that day. Ranma had also

said she was in serious trouble. Exactly why, she wasn't entirely sure.

But the note from her buyer had a really good clue. If only I could get

that to work reliably. She tried once more to read the surface thoughts

of whoever was near. Or at least pinpoint where they were. Her brow

furrowed in concentration. At first nothing seemed to happen. Then

slowly the Tendo sister started to hear something decidedly male in her

mind.

I still haven't tracked down her contact with the yakuza. Or how she is

contacted. Whatever the method, it's not electronic. That's for sure.

The others in the cell don't know either. I'm almost convinced the Tendo

girl is the only one in this cell that has direct connections. I'll have

to step up surveillance til I can find the dead drop being used. My

employer is getting impatient with the investigation. Stupid

bureaucrats, they don't know anything about field work. This isn't like

the movies.

Her eyes widened as the mental babble abruptly ended. Yakuza? I've been

working for... He was right, this is serious. "I didn't know it was the

yakuza. I just thought it was a wealthy patron. And the family needed

the money. I can show you where the drop points are."

Unseen, the other person raised an eyebrow. He'd not mentioned either

the yakuza or needing to know her drop points. Plus his evidence had

suggested she didn't know either. Until now. Now if only I knew how

that demon fits into everything. The man thought. His surprise was

great when the girl before him reacted as if she'd heard his thoughts.

With a shrug he concluded it was possible. With that risk known, he

started to mentally recite the American pledge of allegiance, backwards.

After each refrain he began it again.

"Ugh, stop that! You're giving me a headache," Nabiki groaned as the

eighth refrain started.

Tendo Dojo-next morning

The door to the bedroom slowly opened. From it's darkened interior

emerged a well built yet athletic young man. His hair was a rich black,

and he wore silk black kung fu pants of Chinese styling. On his forearms

were matching bracers that looked to be made of either leather or metal.

It was hard to tell. The bracers were black with silver engravings of

wings on them. He silently closed the door behind himself and started

towards the bathroom.

Why did I do that? He wondered as he washed up. Honey, chocolate, and

whipped cream was liberally smeared across most of his body. And it was

starting to feel sticky. Haven't felt this full in a while though.

Sorry Akane, I didn't mean to do that to you. He dumped a bucket of

cold water on his head, and shivered. With the first touch of the

chilled liquid his body began a metamorphosis. Seconds later a busty red

head who was several inches shorter was sitting on the stool. As if she

hadn't noticed the change, she climbed into the furo to soak in it's hot

water.

The teenage girl equally either didn't notice, or care when the water

reversed the previous change. When the youth finally emerged from the

furo he quickly toweled off and dressed. An outside observer might have

wondered where he'd gotten the outfit. After all, the only thing he'd

had on previously were the bracers and pants. But now he was dressed in

a clean silk outfit of his customary scarlet and black colors. He looked

over his image in the mirror, and shook his head. An instant later a

black trench coat with red trim also appeared on his body.

"Much better."

Abruptly he removed the twine that bound his hair into a pigtail. For

almost ten minutes he painfully combed the tangles out of his unruly

mess. Finally he gathered it up into the twine again. This time instead

of the normal style, he tied it off in a pony tail. After critically

eying the new hairdo he nodded. After leaving the bathroom at last he

poked his head back into Nabiki's room.

"Hey, get cleaned up and dressed. We're heading over to see Shampoo."

Outside the building three women and one child were standing on a nearby

roof. They stared at their quarry with mixed awe and fear. Finally one

of them, a buxom woman with dark skin and silver hair dropped down to

the street before. Fine, I'll confront him if the others wont. This has

to end now. Well, after a drink. So thinking she stopped in the kitchen

and grabbed a bottle of sake.

China

"The girl should have returned by now with that impostor's head. Where

is she?"

The speaker was rather short, barely four feet tall when standing

strait. She was older then dirt, or so others who saw her assumed. But

most importantly, the elderly woman was pissed. She'd sent a powerful

individual out to kill the outsider who'd dared steal her power. Yet the

one sent had failed to return. And worst of all, there was no indication

of why.

"Time to start my backup plans."

Time Gates

The other two were off exploring again. Which gave Nodoka time to check

the gates once again. She'd been claiming for the last day she couldn't

get them out. Not without a sacrifice from them. It wasn't true, but the

two strangers didn't have to know that. The keystaff was lifted, and

used to unlock the gate's viewing function. What she saw therein gave

cause for pause. Or rather what she didn't see. While the future for a

forest kingdom had already vanished, now Nodoka found herself unable to

see anything in the gates.

In truth, the time gate didn't even open when she used the key. Almost

as if she was no longer it's master. When she tried to transform into

her senshi form, Nodoka got another shock. The magic that allowed her to

change was gone. Oh sure, she still felt the link. Yet it was too weak

to access her senshi form. Nodoka's strength and stamina felt

undiminished. Yet her powers were gone. All of them. And that was

something she'd never before experienced.

"I wonder, can I even send them away now?"

In another area of her timeless home, a man and a woman were pausing

their walk. Before them was an ancient oak tree that had long since

died. Near it was a grave stone with fresh flowers laying before it. The

stone's inscription especially drew their attention. In loving memory,

I'll always miss you Set-Chan. They gazed upon the tombstone for a

while. Finally the woman spoke.

"I wonder who it was."

"Who knows Sue," the man told her. "I'm more curious where the tree came

from. After all, it's the first thing other then that gateway and couch

we've seen in this place. First bit of nature too. Then there's the odd

chi flow."

"What do you mean?" Susan asked him curiously.

Her husband sighed tiredly as he examined the area. "This tree is long

dead, yet it is filled with chi as if it's alive. Plus, other then me

you and that women back at the gate it's the only source of chi. There's

something in the land, but I'm not sure what. It feels off for some

reason. Then there's another puzzle, why is there only this one tree?

With it's obvious age there should be a great forest. But there aren't

even any stumps indicating trees were cut down."

He gestured to the area around them. To both their surprise in his hand

the odd staff wielded by that woman appeared in his grip. Eric froze

when it materialized. His entire body shook for almost five minutes.

Finally it ended. As he collapsed to the ground Susan ran to his side.

She bent down and checked her husband's pulse. It was steady, but he

looked a little pale. Figuring the staff had something to do with his

state, she moved to pick it up. At Susan's touch however the staff

crackled with power, singing her hand.

"What the?" She exclaimed while jerking her hand back.

/center

Chapter 20

/center

At the Time Gate

His body felt like it was on fire. But that was the easy part. His mind

felt as if it had been set aflame then tossed into a jet engine. The man

would have screamed, but his every muscle was locked in place. The pain

was overwhelming. Never before had he experienced such agony. Wait, no

there was another time. He knew there was, but the memory escaped him.

Was it when he'd been tortured by those slavers? No, that wasn't it.

What about the brutal interrogation when his cover in the IRA got

discovered? Wait, when did that happen?

No, that wasn't it either. Was it when the line broke on his first oil

rig? No, not then. That had hurt but not like this. My name is Eric.

The stray thought came to him suddenly. And with it he remembered more

about the oil rig. He remembered why he had been on it. He wasn't an oil

rig worker, although he'd done the job for a while. Even was known among

them as Jake Grooberman. A man who worked hard and played harder.

No, Grooberman wasn't his name. It was just a name he sometimes used.

Eric Mason, that was his name. But who exactly is Eric Mason? That he

didn't know. But the painful flood of memories threatened to tell him

everything far too quickly. With a lot of effort he finally managed to

suppress the tide to a bearable level. Not that it helped too much. He

still had a massive headache. And his body still hurt like hell. Wait,

that was when he'd felt like this!

As the pain finally died down Eric leaned against the key shaped staff

in his hand. His coarse black hair was slicked down with sweat. He

finally knew who he had been. Six years ago he'd been a secret agent.

Maybe not the best one, but skilled none the less. But he'd wanted to

serve his adopted country more. So when he heard about a top secret

project to make a superior agent, Eric had jumped at the chance.

That had been either a mistake, or the best decision of his life. Eric

still wasn't sure. He wasn't what anyone would consider good looking. He

had scars covering his entire body. His face looked like five miles of

bad road. Reminders of torture and training. Signs of his failures and

his successes. No one could live the life Eric had and not be changed

forever. It just wasn't possible.

He'd been a deep cover infiltration expert. Then later a costumed crime

fighter. And finally a wandering champion of the helpless in a war torn

world. He'd faced demons and monsters, both mortal and non. He'd seen

and done many reprehensible things all in the name of safeguarding

humanity. But in his mind, the most important thing he'd done was find

love. He'd met a woman who not only shared his need to protect mankind

from things threatening it's annihilation, but she shared his feelings.

He didn't know how his wife's weapons worked. Or why no one else could

use them. He didn't know why she could withstand blows that shattered

mountains. All he knew was that they were partners in both protecting

people, and in life. They had stared death in the face more then once,

both figuratively and literally. He'd walked into hell for her. And by

her side Eric had fought a war they both knew they would probably die in.

With his memories Eric also got something else. In a sense the staff

downloaded vital information about it's self and the gate into his mind.

He also got something else. A faceless woman appeared in his field of

vision. She wore a flowing green gown made entirely of leaves. On her

brow was a silver crown, and she carried a green scepter that looked

like a rose. This woman radiated power the likes of which Eric had

rarely felt. As well as a primal goodness.

"I apologize Sir Knight for forcing this duty upon you. By this time I

am long gone. In times past my people acted as a guardian for the time

stream without knowing it. Then with a single mistake our guardianship

was stripped. The gates of eternity chose a new guardian, and in my

sadness and anger I cursed her. In my pride I presumed to pass judgment

for all eternity.

"There must always be a guardian, and for my sins my people may no

longer serve this capacity. And so I ask you to accept this burden. Free

one long wronged by me from her torment. With you, the gate of eternity

once more picks it's guardian. And thus my curse ends instead of

transferring. This is a task few would want. And fewer can handle.

"If you accept this duty, you may be bound by it for thousands of years

before a new guardian comes along. Or longer. It may be you are called

upon to survive creation. This duty may be declined Sir Knight. But I

beg of you to consider it. Right a wrong that should never have been

made. Please."

"Oh hell," Eric said. "That woman just had to say that didn't she? Well

Sue, looks like we got a new job to do. But first we'd better go talk to

that hot head."

Tendo Dojo

"You aren't a phoenix or dragon. So what are you?"

The voice came from behind Urd. As the dusky skinned goddess slowly

turned around Urd wondered who had spoken. As well as how they managed

to sneak up behind her. The voice was definitely male. That much she

knew. Then her eyes landed upon the speaker. His broad chest was very

pleasing to the eyes. Definitely a grade A hunk by anybody's book. And

those piercing blue eyes were enough to make one's heart melt.

His state of dress was almost enough to keep the teen's identity a

secret for a bit longer. Almost, but not quite. After all, Ranma Saotome

did not wear trench coats. The ponytail was also new. While it wasn't

obvious, Urd got the impression of a predator when looking at him. With

a loud gulp she swallowed. This was the confrontation she'd desired. And

yet it wasn't what she wanted anymore.

"Well, I'm waiting. Your chi doesn't feel like Mara's, so you can't be a

demon. Well, maybe part demon. It's almost like her's." Ranma pressed.

"Y-you need to p-pick a side," She finally stammered out.

Ranma chuckled at her announcement for a moment. "I did, sort of. My

own. Consider me a neutral party.

"But," Urd began, "demons are all evil!"

Ranma's chuckle became a full blown belly laugh. It was a laugh that

sent chills of the self claimed goddess of love's spine. It also

attracted the attention of someone else. The middle Tendo sister had

emerged from her room and staggered down the stairs. She looked back and

forth between her lover and the strange woman. Who's this? Thought Nabiki.

"Ah, Nabs. Glad to see you're up. I need you to get information on

something called 'the guild'. It should be in the database, I think. And

did you enjoy last night?"

Nabiki herself almost yelled at him for ordering her around. The twinkle

in his eyes though showed her no malice was meant. She was also kind of

curious about this guild he asked about. For example, how did Ranma know

of it? Also, how did he know she had the terminal? After all, that had

been Amnara who had been there, not Ranma. So how was it Ranma knew

about those events?

"Demons are evil," Urd stated again. This time she didn't sound entirely

sure about her comment though.

"Nope, not all are. Right Nabs?" Ranma said while still laughing.

"Unless of course I'm evil. Am I evil Nabs? I know 'Kane might claim I

am. But then she did attack me without reason, multiple times. Including

trying to kill me with a naginata while I slept. So anything I make her

do, such as supplying me food, is justified. Besides which she is mine

by right of an idiotic challenge she accepted before I even met her."

"I don't know, what about that other?" Nabiki asked.

"Don't worry about her Nabs. She's gone, so is Saotome. Guess ya could

say I'm both and neither. 'Sides, she wasn't evil. Just bitter due ta

betrayal by those she saved."

Suddenly Ranma froze. Slowly he looked towards the front entrance. There

were several girls approaching the house. He could practically smell

their, well he wasn't sure quite what it was. Not innocence, although

now he knew what that smelled like. No, that wasn't it. Magic laced the

aroma, that much he was sure of. But the other scent was too pure to

identify. It was one he'd not encountered before.

He could practically taste the metaphorical blood on the newcomers

hands. And they were virgins. He'd thought there weren't that many in a

given area beyond the age of puberty. While the platinum blond smelled

of barely contained lust, the newcomers merely had the soft aroma of

innocent desire. It was a heady aroma which created a powerful desire to

sample these newcomers. For a moment he had a predatory expression. Then

it passed.

"Five of them," was all he said.

The parents were gone, probably at a bar somewhere drinking them selves

blind. Kasumi was out too, probably shopping. Motion at the stairs

indicated the third sister was finally up and about. Ranma glared at the

youngest sister and silently motioned for her to answer the door.

Seconds after that there was a knocking at the front door. When the

youth didn't move he reminded Akane just who controlled her fate by

flooding her link with pain.

"Go answer the door, or continue to suffer."

The elder goddess scowled at how he treated the youth. "How dare you

treat a mortal like that!"

Ranma merely shrugged. "Get this strait; I don't hate her. I dislike her

sure, but not hate her. When I first came to this place she attacked me

for no reason. If it I was anyone else, Akane would have killed me right

there. As it was she almost broke my neck, and left several fractures in

my skull. If Amnara hadn't decided to screw her and my love, I'd

probably have not lasted the night.

"Even so, I harbored her no ill will. Neither did Amnara for that

matter. We offered to help Akane end daily attacks by half the school,

and she accepted. But we never got a chance to explain the plan. I was

attacked by someone trying to kill me. Then instead of going to get help

that was needed, Akane attacked Amnara with intent to kill. Even then

Amnara didn't kill the girl. Instead she followed through with our plan,

and made sure Akane would get the help that was needed.

"When her back was broken, I took it upon myself to try helping her

recover. I had no idea what exactly would happen, but I had to try

anyway. Yesterday Akane finally came out of her coma. And do you know

what her first action was when she got home? She tried to cut my head

off. If I'd not woken when I did, she'd have killed me. I do not

accept betrayal. And three times now she's made attempts on my life.

She's lucky I let her live."

center

Chapter 21

/center

Tendo Dojo

"See that table? Akane broke the old one on my head the same day I

arrived. Why did she do it? Because I was a boy. And not just that

either. Also because of a curse I picked up in china. Something I had no

control over. I was trying to go check on my wife, and Akane tried to

kill me. The next morning she once again tried to kill me, this time

with the bathroom sink. So don't you dare tell me how to treat her."

Urd stepped back at the obvious hostility. She didn't notice the five

girls being led into the dining room by Akane. Or the other Tendo girl

using a terminal similar to Skuld's to look up information. The only

male in the room did look up though. He smiled warmly at the guests, all

hints of desire hidden. It was something he'd been worried about. Let's

find out who they are first, and why they are here. Better not be more

people that panda sold me to.

"Hello, how may I help you?"

One of the girls had blue-black hair. She seemed rather nerdy and

withdrawn. But her body language indicated she was leading them. The

girl looked up from an odd looking hand-held device and looked between

everyone else. Finally she closed the device and pocketed it. Huh,

Ranma thought. Could swear it's bigger then that pocket.

"Is this the home of a Saotome Ranma?" The blue-black haired girl asked.

"No," Ranma said. "Not anymore. But why are you looking for him?"

"We heard he's the best martial artist in the area," the girl said.

Ranma snorted. "So you all decided to challenge me? It'll have to wait

till after school gets out. 'Sides, didncha read the sign? Challengers

use the rear gate."

The emerald haired teen sighed. "We aren't here to challenge. We want to

learn from you."

This caused Ranma to fall over laughing. Eventually he managed to calm

down enough to speak. Standing was another matter however. The spasms

kept destroying every attempt to get his feet under him. It was

fortunate that he was laughing so hard. It helped to distract from his

desire to take the five right then and there. Can't go around acting

like that. I wont be like Father. Never again will I do anything like that.

"That's, ha, rich, ha ha ha ha ha, mages wanting to, bwahahahaha,

fight!" Ranma barely managed to get out. "Mages, ha ha ha ha, never

fight unarmed."

The five girls looked between each other with alarm. Almost at the same

time they all wondered why he thought they were mages. Well, all but

Usagi. She was wondering if she could beat the high score on the latest

Sailor V game. Minako on the other hand was thinking about how cute this

boy was. Every time he tried settling down, something would set him off

again. Finally after almost ten minutes Ranma was able to stop laughing.

Now he took a better look at the five girls. The two blonds he dismissed

as idiots. The trench coats and fedoras were impractical for fighting.

And why did they have sunglasses with cameras in them? The 'I'm a spy'

pins were just idiocy overkill. The cerulean haired girl appeared like

she'd be more interested in a book then martial arts. The one with long

black hair had some training, but not much for combat. He pegged her as

a shrine maiden. That left the final girl. She had nothing for or

against her. Other then being a mage of some sort that was.

"Hey Nabs, don't you have school soon?" The reminder caused both

students of the local high school to race out the door. "Now that

they're gone, come clean. I know you five channel powerful magic. So why

do you want me to train you?"

"But we don't..." The green haired one started.

Ranma chuckled. "Oh please, I can practically smell the magic radiating

off you. Now that I think about it, it doesn't quite smell like arcana.

It's too orderly. Like something is forcing the raw magic into a

predefined pattern instead of shaping it on the fly. Hmm, you don't

actually know how to use magic do you? You just use it in predefined

ways. That seems wasteful. Mind you, I didn't say I wont train you. I

just want to know the real reason."

Time Gates

I've outlived the universe multiple times, why can't I figure this out?

The woman was laying on a couch. Her fiery hair dulled with impossible

age and sun exposure. Her name was Nodoka Saotome, or at least her

family name was Saotome. It had been so very long that the woman

couldn't remember her real name. Nodoka was just the latest in a long

string of false names. In truth, she had forgotten more then just her name.

At times the ageless woman doubted her own vague memories of childhood.

Who were her parents? When was she born? It was nearly impossible to

tell. The only clues were an ancient diary which she'd kept for the

longest time. Thirty books and twenty data crystals encompassed it. Even

her diary didn't solve these mysteries. Unable to trust her memory and

unable to find the information in her own chronicles, Nodoka wasn't sure

who exactly she was.

For so very long her whole identity was that of Sailor Jupiter, guardian

of the time gate. So much so that she'd let her social skills nearly

entirely deteriorate. All she'd needed were formal social skills. After

all, almost the only time she'd left the gates was for battle or

government functions during the silver millennium. The last eighteen

years had helped recover those social skills. And yet she was still

rather formal in her bearing usually.

None of which was helping the woman at the moment. Her powers were gone.

She was trapped here, again. And this time there was no light at the end

of the tunnel. What about her immortality, was that stripped too? The

only way to know was to continue living. And yet a fear was there. What

if she'd live forever anyway? What if this non-dimension wouldn't let

her age? That if anything was a more horrific thought then anything else.

After an eternity in this place, she hated it. If she could, the woman

would happily leave and never come back. Yet such a choice hadn't been

hers since the time she'd first accepted this task. An acceptance Nodoka

regretted with every fiber of her being. It was why she'd offered that

man her job. It was why she wanted grandchildren so badly. Yet fate

seemed to hate her for some reason. And she had no idea why.

Or rather, the fates feared her. Not that Nodoka realized who those

three women were. She thought those women had merely been magic users.

Then there was the time a woman named Mara had tried claiming to be a

demon, and offered to make a deal with her. Of course the woman had

looked nothing like a demon. So Nodoka had ignored her. In fact, the

closest thing to a god Nodoka could think of ever meeting was a woman

named Nox. And Nox had insisted she wasn't one.

"... that's a good idea?" Came a female voice from behind the couch.

Nodoka didn't catch the first part of the question. And it was most

assuredly a question. That it was that gun toting woman from earlier

sent chills down her spine. What's a good idea? I knew they were a

threat. I just knew it! The response sent another shiver down Nodoka's

spine though. That man was talking, and it sounded like he suddenly knew

a lot about the time gates.

"Not really Sue, but I have to. That idiot royally screwed up the time

stream with her constant meddling. And I've been asked to fix things.

Not to mention mind the shop for a while."

'That idiot'? Nodoka thought as she began to grow angry once again.

She almost didn't catch the woman's reply. "I still don't know why it

has to be you."

"I think it's because I'm smart enough to not meddle. If I understand

things right, this Kino person has been recklessly shaping history

towards a specific goal for a very long time. And that's caused all

sorts of problems. I also got the impression she's been using the chrono

artifact as a toy. Playing with the lives of innocents for her own

amusement. If I didn't know better, I'd say she thinks she's a god or

something."

The woman, 'Sue', snorted. "My mother's a goddess. And even she wouldn't

dream of trying to control time like that. Toy with mortals, maybe. But

even then I doubt it."

Enough was enough. Nodoka jumped off the couch and spun around. Her

hands were balled into fists as she glared at the two intruders. The

glare rapidly became a wide eyed look of shock. There in the man's hand

was the keystaff. But how he got it, Nodoka had no clue. With a snarl

she lunged over the furniture at the man. He casually twisted out of the

way. By the time she landed face first Eric was several feet from where

he had just been standing.

"I knew this would happen," He sighed.

The staff vanished as he dropped into a ready stance. When his wife

started to draw her weapons he waved her off. He then held up one hand

as if warding her off. His relaxed combat stance didn't go away. But

Eric made no move to attack. When Nodoka charged he calmly grabbed her

wrist. A spin and release, and she was once more laying on her face. It

was starting to make her even madder. Then he spoke.

"Before we dance once more, mind answering a few questions? First of

all, I can't help but wonder what is so important you risk destabilizing

everything to bring about time and again. And then there's the question

of what made you think you need to meddle with time to begin with.

Something even the gods are reluctant to do at best. Even temporal mages

don't monkey with causality the way you have been. And they're some of

the most evil bastards I've ever met."

center

Chapter 22

/center

Tendo Dojo

The girls resisted revealing their other calling at first. However a

chirping from Ami's computer attracted her attention. After she looked

at it the others quickly huddled around the device. Ranma looked on in

curiosity, still waiting for his answer. He noticed the hardening of

their expressions, and guessed something bad might happen soon. Just

what it was, he didn't know. But the very fact these girls stank of

highly ordered elemental magic didn't bode well.

He searched newly acquired memories for what might be going on. What

Ranma found though brought a slight scowl to his face. There were vague

memories of bedtime horror stories. Ancient tales of women warriors who

killed his kind for fun and sport told by his mother. No, not my

mother. I don't remember my mother. This is getting rather confusing.

Just who am I? Still Ranma found himself slipping into a relaxed but

ready non-stance with his hands in his pockets.

Am I Ranma, or Amnara? Can't tell anymore. Maybe I'm both? But that

doesn't feel right. The five teenage girls separated a little and

almost as one reached for various pens and broaches. There was a flash

of multicolored light. In it's wake the five girls were wearing sailor

style fuku with rather short skirts. Since the twirling transformations

had momentarily left the five unclothed, Ranma had a saucy grin. He

licked his lips hungrily at them, but still made no aggressive movements.

"I thought you were here for training? If you five planned on offering

yourselves to me, you really could have just said so. No need for the

strip tease."

Homes are for," Usagi began.

She didn't have a chance to finish her impromptu speech though. The

human shaped demon before her had vanished. When he reappeared it was

standing a half inch away. He dropped into a crouch as one foot swung

around perpendicular to the floor. His shin struck Usagi's, causing her

to spill backwards and land on her cute rear. She then found a foot mere

centimeters away from her throat. It had all happened within the space

of a couple seconds.

"Consider what you are about to say very carefully, girl." Ranma said in

an even tone. "You came into this home asking for me to train you. And I

still might. But if you girls even think of attacking, I have no problem

defending myself."

The blue haired one spoke next. "Release her, demon."

Ranma chuckled softly, but didn't move. "Yes, I suppose I am a demon

now. Oops, my mistake. Is that a problem? And why should I release

someone who was about to attack me? I'm not some animal for you to hunt

for sport. Nor am I the scared little girl that first heard the legends

of you hunting my kind."

He allowed his wings to emerge and unfurled them. Which seemed to be a

bit of a mistake. The leathery black appendages blocked his view of some

girls. So when the one with green hair and a black trimmed fuku moved

Ranma failed to see it. He felt a fist impact the small of his back. The

sharp blow sent him flying through the kitchen and out into the yard. A

splash indicated that Ranma had landed in the koi pond.

Five teenage defenders of 'love and justice' boiled out of the building.

They expected the demon to emerge from the pond. Instead a cute red head

broke the surface. She too had leathery wings. This new girl was also

wearing the same cloths Ranma had been. They immediately recognized this

girl from pictures shown to them previously. The demoness the sailor

senshi had been warned about winced in pain. Then her cloths vanished.

What replaced them was a black leather corset with matching black

fishnet stockings. On her arms midnight black gloves reached up to her

elbows. Ranma didn't bother checking her attire. Instead she glared at

the five magic imbued girls. No longer did the neo-demoness appear

amused. Rather, she looked rather cross. The senshi could almost swear

they saw fire in her eyes. Ranma cracked her knuckles and glared.

"You shouldn't have done that. Guess I need to teach you girls a lesson

in why you should play nice."

With a cry of "Burning Mandala" Sailor Mars launched a spiral of fire at

the angered sucubus. To Mars's surprise, the only thing her attack did

was scorch the corset. Sailor Venus tried to follow up with one of her

crescent beam kicks. The target refused to stand there and be hit

though. Instead Ranma weaved around it At speeds the senshi were unused

to dealing with Minako found herself under attack. Several palm strikes

impacted Venus's diaphragm, causing the air in her lungs to be

explosively expelled. Then the red haired demoness's arms blurred.

The others watched in mute shock as Sailor Venus's body shuddered as if

being struck multiple times. Then their friend collapsed. In the wake of

the humanoid tsunami Sailor Venus was not only unconscious, but hog tied

with her fuku's ribbons. Sailor Mars began to back up, eyes wide.

Reaching out, the shrine maiden turned soldier retrieved a ward against

evil. The ward flew with unerring accuracy, striking Ranma in the forehead.

The slip of paper didn't work as advertised though. Ranma pulled it off,

and read the inscription. With a dark chuckle she incinerated the ward.

She blurred once more, and Rei found herself being pummeled by punches

and kicks at incredible speed. Rei felt her fuku being torn apart, then

something wrapping around her wrists and neck. Then a sharp blow to the

femor, generating a resounding CRACK. After that Sailor Mars could no

longer stand.

"Dead scream," came a soft whisper from behind Ranma. As a shimmering

sphere of energy flew towards their foe the remaining senshi saw it

impact something unseen. Seconds later Sailor Pluto found herself laying

on the ground with one of her gloves shoved in the senshi of the

underworld's mouth. Her arms were bound together with one of her fuku's

ribbons, and her legs were bound together at the ankles with another

strip of cloth.

Sailor Moon's face had turned white. In the space of twenty seconds most

of her friends had been defeated. And not only that, but they had been

humiliated too. Moon reached for her tiara, spinning as she did so for

no apparent reason. Her spin then went out of control. Unable to stop,

Moon found herself getting dizy. Then the teen felt her arms being

pulled. A tug on her hair followed. Afterwords it hurt too much to try

moving her wrists. Every time Moon pulled her head started to ache.

Sailor Mercury had just begun scanning for weaknesses when the others

fell. As the pissed demoness stalked towards her Mercury blanched.

Slowly the teen raised her hands and dropped to her knees. A hand

vanished due to it's speed, and Mercury fell to the ground. As darkness

overtook her Ami feared none of them would survive this. And then she

knew nothing more. Her last thought was oh shit!

XxXxX

Akane entered the dojo as soon as she got home. The day had been

stressful for her. The only good point being that Kuno had stopped

attacking her it seemed. As had the horde he'd led. On the other hand

many of the girls at school were snickering behind Akane's back.

Throughout the day Akane had heard rumors saying she was a lesbian,

among other things. One rumor had it that she'd spent the past few

months chained to a wall in a dungeon pleasuring her 'mistress'.

After the school day, the only thing Akane wanted was a good workout to

relieve stress. Something seemed off though. It took a few minutes to

register what that was. Five faceless girls were suspended from the

dojo's ceiling by sturdy chains and manacles. The five girls were about

her age, at least if one went by size they were. While their feet

touched the ground, it was clear they were at least partly supported by

the bound wrists.

What's more, the five were naked. At their feet were the remains of fuku

of various color schemes. The five also were covered in red welts. The

other occupant of the dojo sent chills down Akane's spine. It was that

/creature/, and /it/ was brandishing a whip. Closer inspection showed

that all five girls had ball gags in their mouths.

A loud crack filled the air, followed a split second later by the sound

of leather striking flesh. The exact cause Akane didn't care to

discover. She was too busy fleeing the dojo. In the dining area she

spotted her father and their unwelcome (in Akane's opinion) house guest

playing shogi. Even here she could hear the sounds of leather striking

skin, and the occasional muffled cry. The two older men winced now and

then, but otherwise did their best to ignore the sounds.

XxXxX

In another part of town Nabiki casually approached the cat cafe. Two

blocks away she noticed that something was wrong, seriously wrong. The

entire front of the cafe was smashed. She could see several people

laying on the ground bleeding. Of Xain Pu or her great grandmother there

was no sign at first. Then Nabiki noticed a broken staff. Near it she

found a battered Kuh Lon. And laying atop the amazonian elder was a note

written in mandarin.

center

Chapter 23:

/center

Tendo Dojo

Hours had passed since she got home. The sounds from the dojo had

finally stopped, and that inhuman monster had emerged. And with him were

five teenage girls of various heights and hair colors. They wore simple

threadbare robes, and if her eyes were correct, little else. The robes

even lacked a belt to secure them closed. The robes seemed to be color

coded. One was orange, another black. Still another was blue, or red, or

a lighter shade of blue. Almost that of ice.

The five girls seemed to be in a state of shock as they approached the

dinner table. With a menacing glare Ranma sent the only two adults

fleeing, presumably to get drunk. Akane joined them, but it was clearly

not her desire to. Instead it was because of a fierce glare she received

from the only male now in the building. He sat down too, his steely gaze

roaming from one to another. The five robed girls flinched under the

attention. The fact they were sitting before a male dressed the way they

had first encountered him only a slight relief.

"So, let me get this strait. You five are eighteen." They nodded with

nuclear blushes. "You are 'champions of love and justice'." Again they

nodded. "And you are too stupid to realize when you are attacking an

innocent?"

This last statement was met with more nods. Until they realized what was

being agreed to. At this point large drops of sweat formed on the back

of five teenage heads. He thought briefly of smacking at least one of

them, probably the one they looked to as leader. Then he decided against

doing so. They were in enough discomfort right now. There was little

point in adding to it. So instead he leaned back in the chair and stared

hard at them.

"Did it ever occur to you that if I was 'evil', then this entire ward

would be enslaved or dead? No? Let me guess, you just automatically

assume 'demon' equals 'evil'. Guess what, I'm not. Officially, I don't

serve heaven or hell. I am my own faction. And all I want is to be left

alone. That, and maybe see my 'dear' father hung by his entrails for his

crimes. But trying that'll probably just get me killed. Again."

The girls were about to protest when he held a hand up and continued.

"Until recently, I was human. In china I picked up a curse. And a series

of events have led to this current state. But then, I'm also a succubus

who died fifteen hundred years ago. She was murdered by friends for the

crime of being a demon, after she saved the entire village. To say

nothing of the fact she'd been hiding from a monster more terrible then

you can imagine, her own father. Now I guess my father.

"And now I distinctly remember being told bedtime horror stories about

you 'senshi'. Stories about how you ruthlessly hunt my kind for sport.

Then you show up here asking to be trained, only to try attacking me for

the crime of existing. Yet now you claim to be 'champions of justice'.

Fat chance of that. All I see are spoiled children playing at being

adults. Still, I'll train you. Someone has to beat some sense into you

kids. First lesson is simple. Do. Not. Make. Silly. Speeches!"

With that he slammed his palms on the table. The blond haired girl with

twin tendrils of hair rising from meatball shaped buns jumped. The

others winced. While they privately agreed, the speeches were almost a

trademark. The one with light blue hair, Ami he thought, was taking

notes. Exactly where she got the notepad or pencil from Ranma had no

clue. They just seemed to appear in her hand. I'll have to study how

she does that. It could be useful. All I can do is conjure and

transfigure cloths.

The one named Setsuna started to get indigent again. A sight which was

somewhat humorous considering she couldn't sit still comfortably. "Who

are you to make demands of us?"

He smiled, and it wasn't a pleasant one. "Your new sensei, Ranma

Nightbane. That's who. Preforming silly speeches and stupid dances will

get ya killed. Especially that twirling number you preformed. And no

student of mine will be helpless for that long inna fight. Gotta wonder

though, why didn't yer cloths reappear when you reverted? And what was

up with those micro mini's? I wear more in battle then you girls do."

Cat Cafe

The inside of the cafe was in shambles. That much she'd already known.

Finding the elder laying face down in a pool of her own blood had

alarmed Nabiki. Kuh Lon wasn't the only casualty either. A half dozen

people had been eating when whatever happened had occurred. Then there

was the cute girl that had attacked Ranma a few months ago. She was

still alive, but the goddess didn't know how or why. Movement from

behind caused Nabiki to spin around.

From some of the wreckage a portly man emerged. His rumpled business

suit was torn in several places. And she could see a few small round

holes in the jacket. From the amount of blood soaking his shirt, his

survival was amazing. He should have died from any number of bullet

wounds. The man moved like he was unhurt though. A fact which was

somewhat confusing. At least it was until he unbuttoned his shirt and

pealed off his stomach.

To her horror the man was ripping off flesh like it was nothing. A

velcro like sound filled the air as he tore at his side. When the

stomach finally hit the ground Nabiki realized it was a disguised

ballistics vest. The man seemed to curse a moment. Still in her shock

the youthful goddess didn't quite recognize him. He recognized her

though. He shrugged and glared at the entrance to the cafe. I hate

losing a cover like this. It'll take months to establish a new one.

"You know, there's better ways to get rid of someone then ordering a mob

hit." He said conversationally as he pulled out a .45 revolver. "And now

it's time for some answers. I don't have time to be nice about it

either. So you start telling me everything you know about your handler.

And if I don't like what I'm hearing, I start removing fingers. And when

you run out of those, I'll begin with the toes. After that, I guess I

get to be creative."

"No need for threats," Nabiki told the man. "Whoever did this took Xian

Pu, and I want her back. I might be many things, and few are nice.

However I'd never want someone dead or kidnapped."

Without much thought she called up the holographic keyboard. On the

image that appeared above it Nabiki saw a warning that she wasn't

authorized for access to classified files. Stupid being owned, groused

the teenage goddess. There was also a message calling for her to meet

with someone important, alone. The meeting was scheduled for two hours,

and was in some place called Asgard. How one got there was anyone's

guess of course.

"Seems I can't get any information right now since I don't have

permission. So why don't you help me gather any survivors so we can get

them to Doctor Tofu's clinic."

Time Gates

She didn't understand it. This man kept flowing around everything she

tried. Punches were met with circular blocks that seamlessly

transitioned into kicks to the head. Throws were countered and met with

palm strikes to the sternum. Nodoka managed to back up and get some

breathing room. It didn't help much though. The man jumped into the air,

rotating along a horizontal axis while mid-air. She figured this was her

best chance to attack. After all, you can't defend yourself while mid-air.

He put lie to that notion when the man pushed off against her foot.

Instead of connecting solidly, the kick just added force to his

rotation. Nodoka barely got an arm up to block as the man's left foot

almost connected with her temple. A punch, and he kicked her fist to

avoid being struck. The man flipped through the air still further, and

Nodoka again barely managed to deflect a palm strike. How does he do

that? She thought in panic.

When the man landed he slipped into a different fighting stance. "You

know, taido is my preferred style but not my only one. And taido can't

take advantage of my natural agility. It relies on pure training.

Considering you're barely holding your own against taido, I doubt you

will fair well against a more general kung fu."

Her smile was confidant. She'd been practicing kung fu for so long time

didn't have an accurate measure. Switching to that style was just giving

her the advantage, or so Nodoka thought. She lead off with a strait

punch, only to find his guard unbreached. He followed up with a side

kick, which she tried to knock to the side. Tried being the operative

word of course. It came in at such speed that the former guardian of

time barely saw it.

What followed was a series of punches, kicks, and blocks which were awe

inspiring to witness. The woman observing the duel leaned back on the

couch and snacked on some popcorn she'd found. It wasn't often her

husband got to truly display his skills. Oh, she knew he was holding

back. But then if he'd been serious either the claws or sword would have

been brought out. He also would have been hovering, instead of staying

within the realms of what gravity allowed.

It was still a brutal experience. Instead of flash and style, there was

economy of movement and precision. The two styles were like night and

day. And the man was clearly a master of both. Even Nodoka was coming to

realize that for all her trillions of years of practice, the man out

classed her by several orders of magnitude. It was like she was a

student using a highly polished basic kata against a grandmaster. And

the longer things went on, she realized that was exactly what was going on.

Eventually things wound down. While not even winded, Nodoka found

herself too sore to continue. Bruise upon bruise covered her body. Some

of them from early on and already a dark purple. She still didn't know

who these people were. Or exactly where they came from. What they wanted

was also still a mystery. It had to be more then just 'find a way out'.

Why else would he steal the keystaff? Her thoughts though kept going

round in circles. And the dull ache across her body didn't help keep focus.

"Who are you? Where are you from? Why are you doing this?"

"Name's Eric Von Mason, news to me, I tell you. Originally I come from a

time-line where you never got offered guardianship. That time-line's

screwed up too due to it's guardian monkeying with cause and effect as

well. But it can eventually begin to stabilize on it's own. Unlike this

time-line That's cause you've been stressing the fabric of time for too

long. Instead of ten thousand years, you've been doing it for the

lifespan of multiple universes. Do you have any freaking clue what it's

going to take to fix this mess?"

Tendo Dojo

He watched as the five transformed once again. This time there was a

complete lack of ribbons of light wrapping around their bodies. Light

tried, but nothing formed in it's wake. The notable exception was the

fancy bows on the chest, this time with a ribbon wrapping around the

midsection to hold them on. Another exception was the tiaras that

formed. Beyond that his students still were unclothed. The robes he'd

conjured laid on the floor by the wall.

"Well that's interesting. Guess this means you girls need clothing to

create clothing. Not as useful as I thought." Ranma then leered at them.

"Still good to know. And look, you all come gift wrapped for me."

He could tell the state of undress left them embarrassed and nervous.

All the better for the training he intended. He began by showing them a

beginner kata, once. As the girls struggled to preform it he moved

between them. When they preformed poorly he corrected them. When a move

was preformed well, he rewarded them in his own sensual way. All in all,

the girls were rapidly turning beat red.

He also noticed they had trouble focusing on the kata. Which he supposed

was perfectly understandable. They hadn't built up the ability to resist

embarrassment yet. A hand deftly reached between the legs of Ami,

finding their target and caressing gently for a brief moment. Then he

was gone. In his wake the genius found herself barely able to think, yet

again. Let alone focus on her assigned task.

Finally he let them revert the transformation and don the robes. Now

back to being human, the five girls collapsed to the ground with moans

and gasps. Three hours of rigorous training and periodic but brief bliss

had taken their toll. The boy grinned at them. Still, a bit of teasing

was too easy to resist.

"Doing good for the first lesson. I think you may be ready for vibrators

already."

"V-vibrators?" Minako gasped.

"Yes, it's obvious you can handle occasional distractions. So I'm going

to have to have something constant to improve your concentration."

The look of absolute horror was priceless. Unable to contain himself any

more, Ranma burst into laughter. The horror only grew as he continued

laughing. It was clear they were still not convinced this demon wasn't

evil. A faint whiff of brimstone filled the air as a scroll appeared in

the young demon's hands. When he opened it, the young man scowled. He

was no longer laughing. In fact his expression was quite serious.

"Guess what, you kids got lucky. I've just been called to a meeting, and

you five are going as bodyguards."

XxXxX

On a nearby roof three goddesses stood watching the Tendo dojo. After

one of them had tried confronting their target, the three had decided to

sit back and watch. It was a lot safer to do that then try interfering.

When a bolt of lightning struck the tile roof they blanched. In it's

wake was a series of symbols which they quickly read. The message it's

self left chills in them. The youngest finally spoke.

"Why do we have to meet with Hild? And why there of all places?"

XxXxX

He could tell the girls were confused. They were still garbed only in

the robes that had been conjured. And Ranma didn't feel like making them

anything else. They hadn't earned it after all. Nor had they earned a

belt to tie the robes shut. He was still upset with them after all. And

the warning that if they tried transforming while wearing their robes

they would vanish was headed. Might not have been true, but the girls

didn't know that. Nor did he intend to tell them.

So Ranma lead them into his fiance's bedroom. The alarmed looks almost

made him laugh, almost. Instead he looked at them with a serious

expression. It was the first time he'd tried this trick. And something

could easily go wrong. While the neo-demon intellectually knew what to

do, that was a whole other thing then actually doing it. So he wanted to

be perfectly clear to the students.

"Okay girls, everyone take hold of some place on my body. Then when I

give the word, jump towards the bed. What ever you do, do not let go.

I'm not sure what will happen if you do since I've never used this means

of transportation before."

/Didn't even know about it until I read that scroll. Good thing it has

instructions too. Okay, first step is to picture where I'm going. The

apartment of that woman should work. Next step, focus my power on the

medium to create a portal to my destination. Think I got that down, here

goes nothing. /At that Ranma signaled for them to jump towards the bed.

Five alarmed squeals echoed in his ears as they flowed through the

blanket covered mattress and emerged somewhere else.

"What happened?"

"Where are we?"

"This place is bad."

"Any cute guys here?"

"Can we get some ice cream?"

He sighed as they started to drone on about banal drivel. "Listen very

carefully. This is what you could probably call 'hell'. We're here

because I'm suppose to meet some important people, including a woman who

would love to be my boss. So stay on your best behavior. Oh, hi Mara!

Didn't mean to wake you."

The afore mentioned demoness blinked at the people in her bedroom. Most

clearly were toys for the unknown incubus. Something was off though. She

actually recognized this incubus, which shouldn't be possible After all,

there hadn't been any of those for a very long time. And he knew her,

somehow. That too shouldn't have happened. She'd never seen him before,

had she? The confusion only grew as he poured some of the remaining sake

from a bottle onto his head.

"Amnara?" Mara asked hesitantly.

"Nope, not anymore. Call me Ranma. And I'm sure you've probably heard

the legends about my students. Don't worry, I'm trying to break their

bad habit of attacking innocent demons. Sorry for this intrusion, but it

was the only bed I knew of here."

Mara eyed the civilian form senshi and blinked. /Students huh?/ She

thought with interest. /I wonder how much they've learned so far?/ Mara

took in the state of dress, or rather undress the girls had and believed

she'd figured out what sort of students they must be. Further, she made

a few other assumptions about them. It was a perfectly natural thing to

do after all. Making wild assumptions without any evidence was quite

common if one lived even temporarily in Nerima.

"I don't suppose I could borrow a couple students while you're here,

could I? I'm sure they already know many ways to please a woman."

The expressions of the five senshi were an interesting study in

embarrassment and confusion. Ami had turned beet read and was trying to

make herself as small as possible. To her left stood the shrine maiden

Rei Hino, who had also turned red. This however was more due to rage. A

barely visible fiery aura had surrounded the shaking teen. Setsuna had

gone pasty white at the insinuation and fainted, blood dribbling out her

nose.

Minako too had passed out. In her case it wasn't a small dribble of

blood though. For her it was a full blown geyser which had propelled the

blond backwards two feet. The fifth and final girl was blinking though.

She looked from Mara to her friends, confusion obvious. When she finally

spoke it was all Ranma could do not to laugh.

"Uh, what do peas have to do with anything?"

It could almost be forgiven that Usagi would have misheard things. After

all, she had found a stash of what she thought were candies. There were

also several manga which looked interesting but were just out of her

reach. One had the title of Jane Bond, but beyond that it was covered

too much to see. The candies were making her feel funny too. Her body

was getting warm for no apparent reason.

"Mara, what did she just eat?" Ranma asked in concern as she used some

warm water to change back.

The demoness blanched as she noted the bag. "What did you say your

student's name is?"

"Usagi Tsukino, and I think you misunderstand the training I'm giving them."

Mara could feel the blood drain out of her face. "Tsukino, as in 'reborn

avatar of light' Tsukino? As in 'purity index of 9.3' Tsukino?"

Now Ranma was really getting worried. He moved across the room in an

instant and grabbed the bag from Usagi's hands. Looking at it, he

sighed. Candied demonic magic? Why would anyone... "Just great, what's

likely to happen? Cause I have a schedule to keep."

"I don't know," Mara told him honestly. "This hasn't happened before.

Well, not since that Hibiki boy passed through. We're still trying to

figure out how he got into the private baths. And I'd love to know how

he escaped my room."

"Focus woman, I need to know what will happen. After all, the two forms

of magic can't mix."

Mara snickered. "Not quite true, there's Urd."

Ranma snorted at that. "You mean her? Still, what will happen? Wait,

never mind. Tell me later, I still have a meeting. Come along girls,

it's time to go."

center

Chapter 24

/center

The walk through Nephilheim was a long one. This Ranma expected. What

he'd not expected was for it to actually rain in hell. Even if it was

just for a few seconds, it still rained. Much to the newly minted

succubi's displeasure, that meant that she would have to alter her

attire, again. The trench coat, silk shirt, and kung fu pants shifted

into a midnight gown with a plunging neckline. Her slippers then shifted

into high heels which matched the dress.

"When we get there, feel free to use that thing of yours to scan

everyone. But if you even think of attacking I'll have to punish you

again. And the next time I wont be so gentle. I'm not sure who all will

be there, but the Daimakaicho is likely one of them. Damn, I wish

Nab-chan had returned."

It was a term none of the girls were familiar with. And each dealt with

this unfamiliarity in their own way. The only one who seemed eager to

learn however was once again Ami. She had pulled that device out of no

where again and was looking something up on it. Since the teen still

looked puzzled, it was apparent she'd found no information. Then without

warning one of the blonds ran into a store they were passing.

The Hino girl followed after in concern. What she saw however was both

confusing and alarming. There were dozens of beings in the store, and

not all of them looked human. And then there was Usagi. She had grabbed

a shopping cart and was racing up and down isles filling it with what

appeared to be various sweets. What was more alarming was that once the

cart was full, Usagi happily pushed it out of the store without paying.

While she didn't know what currency was used here, Rei felt she had to

do something.

"Don't worry about it," Her new sensei said from behind.

"But," Rei started to say.

"No, read the sign," Ranma pointed out.

The sign was small, and it was doubtful that Usagi had even bothered to

notice it. That wasn't what confused Rei though. That was what the sign

said; All recharge candies are on sale! No karmic payment for one

year! Rei blinked upon reading it. Karmic payment? I don't get it,

she thought. Then she had another thought. Meatball head didn't even

read this, she just stole them. She still didn't understand what was

going on, so Rei stalked into the store and approached the register.

"I'm sorry about my friend. How much does she owe for what she took?"

The store clerk looked up and smiled at her. "Don't worry about it.

Those goods are on sale today. She'll pay in a year, not before then."

"But she stole them," Rei pointed out.

The clerk didn't lose his smile. "Exactly, so her karmic charge will be

a negative balance. But they are on sale, so no payment is needed for

one year. I hope she enjoys them."

Another customer grabbed a box of some unknown item and walked off. The

store clerk noted it, then rang the 'purchase' up. The items Usagi had

stolen Rei noted had merely been noted down on a sheet of paper with who

took them and a date. This confused her to no end. With no answers being

forthcoming the shrine maiden left the shop. Once outside she noticed

the man she'd watched steal a box run into her martial arts instructor

head first, apparently in a hurry.

The man reached out and groped Ranma, which Rei was shocked at. What

shocked her even more was that the demoness materialized a large mallet

and sent the man flying with one swing. Ranma could be heard muttering

something along the lines of "The nerve of him, asking me out even as he

tries stealing my chi." This event made Rei worry. If the two

occurrences were related, then her friend could be in serious trouble.

"Sensei, what does that store's sign mean by 'karmic payment'?"

Ranma paused in thought. She knew Mara had explained it, but had to

think about what the answer had been. "Oh, right. Stores in Nephilheim

use a karmic credit system. You can either pay with good or bad karma,

depending on how you acquire what you want. Last time I was here, I made

sure to keep a positive balance by offering what ever funds or services

I had available to trade. I've had enough bad karma to last two

lifetimes already so didn't want more. Why?"

Did Usagi just put herself in debt to a demon? Aloud Rei asked "Why'd

you steal all those, Meatball Head?"

Usagi blinked at this. "There weren't any price tags, so why not?"

Usagi then realized what she'd just said and covered her mouth in shock.

And yet it didn't occur to her to return the candies. Instead she was

putting them in a subspace pocket similar to how Ami stored the mercury

computer. A talent that had never been shown before. Even the stolen

shopping cart was put in that extra-dimensional storage. This caused

large sweat drops to form on the heads of her friends. Ami was busy

typing on her computer, trying to figure out just where everything had gone.

"That can't be right," she groused.

"What can't be?" The other ditzy blond asked.

"This says Usagi's using the same kind of magic as she did when making

these robes."

Setsuna finally chimed in. "Isn't someone going to make her return those?"

To which Ranma replied "Why bother? They'll be paid for when the time

comes. I'm more concerned about what they will do to her in the long run."

XxXxX

As the door opened Ranma and his companions all took stock of who was

there. The room it's self appeared to be a board room with an oval

shaped table. The chairs were comfortable looking desk chairs. Eight

people were already seated. Hild Ranma immediately recognized. So too

did she recognize the silver haired woman from earlier. No one else

really struck her as familiar. No one until the final person had been

espied.

"Mom? What are you doing here? And who is everyone?"

The Daimakaicho smiled, and it wasn't exactly a friendly one. It seemed

more strained then anything. "You already know me. The man across from

me is Odin, but you may call him Kami-Sama. To his left are the three

norn sisters Belldandy, Urd, and Skuld. The other three I'm not sure of."

A black haired man in a rather ridiculous looking green outfit (see

profile avatar) stood and bowed. "My name is Eric Von Mason, and this is

my lovely wife Susan. The second woman with me is the former guardian of

the gates of eternity. And that is why I called this meeting."

This announcement got raised eyebrows from all the various deities and

demons in the room. The presence of the sailor senshi also raised a few

questions among the goddesses. Urd had described what she'd seen happen.

As a result the norns had assumed that the senshi would either leave, be

thrown out, or continue trying to kill Ranma. So having them show up

wearing color coded and unsecured silk robes was a bit of a surprise.

"All right then. I am Ranma Nightbane, and these five baka are my

students. Introduce your selves girls."

"Ami Mizuno."

"Rei Hino."

"Minako Aino."

"Setsuna Meiou."

"Who cares if I'm Usagi Tsukino, Sailor Moon, or Popeye the Sailor Scout?"

This last comment elicited some stares. Usagi was never rude on purpose.

By accident sure, but not intentionally. Nor had she ever mocked herself

before. It seemed the comment had also shocked the one who made it too.

Her hands had flown to her mouth and eyes widened in panic. Her hands

then started waving back and forth in panic. It was almost cute in a

way. Not that Ranma was going to say so. It was hard enough to stay

focused with what such sudden movements were doing.

"I'm so sorry! I don't know what happened, sorry!"

"Sit down, student."

Once Usagi was once again sitting the meeting was able to get back on

track. The one eyed man was looking at the Tsukino girl strangely, and

Nodoka was glaring at Ranma. Other then that everything seemed fairly

normal. The silence still didn't end however. The man in green started

to hand out folders to everyone. Folders which to Ranma's surprise he

was able to read the contents. The fact his 'bodyguards' also got

folders was alarming. Had she been lied to? Impossible to tell yet.

"Right then, time to get started. As I had mentioned, this woman is no

longer the guardian of time. In her place I was offered the position.

And the first thing I discovered is she had been abusing the post. She's

done so for so long and to such an extent that within the next five

thousand years this dimension is likely to start unraveling at the seams

due to damaged causality. This can be averted, but not easily.

"To do so, I need permission from Kami-Sama, the Daimakaicho, and all

three goddesses of time. I also have need of seven causality anchors

from the mortal world. After reviewing the lives of everyone on earth at

present, you six are the best suited for that role. Each of you

represent one of seven basic foundations of reality. But it'd be unfair

to just thrust this upon anyone. So, are there any questions?"

The first question seemed to come from the most unlikely of sources,

Usagi. "Why do you need anchors?"

The one who answered was also the youngest. Or so it appeared. "To help

stabilize things."

Eric nodded at this. "Yes, that's essentially correct. I'm not entirely

sure how it'll work, but to fix causality I need to initiate a recursive

loop in the mortal plane. But doing so without the proper anchors in

place would likely do more damage then it fixes."

Hild looked up from reading her briefing with a twinkle in her eyes. "I

approve this plan, it sounds fun."

Odin shook his head. "I too must approve it. Daughters?"

The red head shuddered abruptly. "What will happen to us 'anchors', and

just how long is this loop?"

It was Urd who spoke next. "Good question, this hasn't been done before.

But you should remain as you are through each reset. And the loop will

last as long as it needs to. Or everything could be set to default each

time, you included."

It didn't take long for the norn sisters to also approve. And with that

approval Ranma found herself and students back in Nabiki's bedroom. Her

girls looked exhausted, with the notable exception of Usagi. That girl

had seemed more energetic after eating a half bag of those candies at

Mara's. So when the blond ran throughout the house turning on every

single light it wasn't a big surprise. Unusual, but not a surprise.

While the lights were being turned on for an unknown reason, Ranma had

begun to strip the rest of her students. Eying the bed, she decided it

was too small. As was the room in general. Which was easy enough to fix.

It was a similar spell to the one used to create and alter cloths, just

not one she was a master of. With the bed now increased to a queen size,

and the room larger to match, she began to get the senshi tucked in.

Their innocent purity sure is enticing, but no. I can't take them like

that. Well, I could... but I wont. Not unless they want me to. With

that decision she dispelled the dress and heels. Moments later a young

demoness had slid into bed with the other girls. Just before sleep

finally claimed her, a warm body pressed it's self against Ranma with a

soft giggle. Without opening her eyes, the young succubus wrapped an arm

around the newcomer. Sleep came shortly afterward.

XxXxX

They're so dead, Nabiki thought as she finally dragged herself into

the house. The day had been rather long, and entirely too eventful.

Between the random chaos that had surrounded her at school and the six

hour interrogation by that winged man she was exhausted. As for food,

she'd been lucky to get a single bite out of her lunch bento before it

had exploded. Why that happened she had no clue. Supper hadn't even come up.

Considering how much effort making something would be, she didn't feel

like eating either. For a few days meals had been a 'do it your self'

affair. Where has Kasumi been lately anyway? I haven't seen her

since... since... I.. got... Oh crap! She was no longer exhausted. At

least not physically anyway. As the teenager ran to her bedroom she went

over what was known. And it wasn't much either. Nor was it good.

"Wake up, lover!" She screamed at the pile of flesh on her bed.

When did my bed get so big? And who are they? They weren't moving, and

she needed one to move. A quick trip into the bathroom got her a bucket

filled with water. Two trays of ice cubes were added to the water and

allowed to sit for a minute. With a mischievous glint in her eyes the

former mercenary dumped the bucket of ice water on the sleeping girls.

The resultant squeals weren't quite as enjoyable as she'd hoped though.

It might have had something to do with the glare her lover was giving.

"What was that for Nabs?" the red head snapped. "I'm tired, hungry, and

had a really long day. So this had better be goomph."

The last part had been ruined due to a foot finding it's way into her

mouth. If it wasn't for the ice cold water and knees, elbows, and other

things poking various soft spots Ranma might not have been in a foul

mood. Equally, if she'd not been hungry her mood might have been better.

More sleep could have made her willing to listen calmly. But those

weren't the case. The red haired girl was glaring at her fiance angrily.

The glare didn't lessen when Nabiki shared her news.

"Cologne's dead and Shampoo's been kidnapped, probably Akane too."

center

Chapter 25

/center

The first thing to come to mind upon waking was how thirsty she was. The

teen's mouth felt extremely dry and cottony. Hunger pains also were

becoming a problem. Not a serious one, yet. But problem none the less.

This lead into two other aspects of her current condition. First of all,

the teen found herself bound hand and foot with sturdy chains. Second of

all, ninety percent of her body was sore. The splitting headache didn't

help any either.

Thinking it's self was hard. Not only was there the headache, but a

thick mental fog shrouded the teen's mind. The fog kept her from really

thinking about the fact she was bound. That was merely an interesting

little note from initial examination. Besides, there were all sorts of

swirling colors that were more worthy of attention. And if the cool air

against her bare skin mattered, the teenage girl didn't notice or care.

The familiar weight of long hair was also missing. This too was merely

noted but not considered. One of the color swirls had asked her a

question, and that was more important then missing hair. Or at least the

question would have been important if she could understand it. Loud

noises kept sounding too. She felt they should be recognizable, but why

or what they were was hard to tell.

XxXxX

There is something to be said about practicing the martial arts for

nearly three hundred years. While innate strength, speed, and durability

had gone down over time chi manipulation had more then compensated for

it. Although it had been frequently claimed she had lived to her

advanced age entirely due to martial arts, it wasn't exactly true. The

woman known as Cologne had found a method of achieving immortality. It

wasn't a perfect method, but it worked well enough.

The fact she'd discovered a means to live forever had been just one

among many achievements. All of which had stoked pride in her tribe. A

tribe which had stood unconquered for three thousand years. This alone

had convinced her of the tribe's superiority. If they had remained

unbowed for so long, the laws of the tribe must by definition be

superior to those of the outside world. Their fighting skills made them

superior to all others.

Two centuries ago the tribe had come under attack from people with

unknown weapons. They had been long, sort of like a spear or staff. Yet

they belched flame and thunder. Even these weapons had been ineffective.

Warriors trained in the breaking point had been able to ignore the

weapons unless at extremely close range. Even then damage caused had

been minimal. Cologne had taken note of these 'guns' the outside world

possessed in great numbers, and disregarded them as harmless.

Now as her spirit floated above a shattered body the elder reflected on

how big a mistake that had been. It wasn't the only mistake made either.

Tribal law took precedence over any other nation's laws. And yet this

proved not to be the case. Even a possible ally threatened the safety of

her village if they pursued certain laws. No one feared her tribe. In

actuality no one even knew they existed. Let alone cared.

"I've been a fool," the elder muttered as she smashed her staff into a

table.

XxXxX

"So, what's the plan?"

The speaker was a woman, possibly American. She had curly blond hair

which flowed down to her shoulders. She was wearing a brown duster over

denim jeans and some sort of torso armor. What type was hard to say.

Whatever it was, there were tubes and wires covering the chest piece. At

her waist was a belt containing a holstered pistol of unusual design.

Over her shoulder was slung a large black duffel bag.

When a gnarled wooden staff lifted into the air and smashed a table the

woman pulled a pair of goggles out of her duffel bag and put them on.

After a moment the woman blinked. I didn't know gnomes could be ghosts.

Or is it just a small troll? No, too skinny to be a troll. Better be

careful, this could be hostile. The woman backed out of the cafe and

turned towards her husband. With a few quick hand signs she informed him

of the possible trouble.

"You two stay here, I've got some work to do."

She drew the pistol and aimed it into the air. After making sure nothing

was in her line of fire, the woman pulled the trigger twelve times. A

few more seconds of focusing on the pistol, and she felt ready. The

armor started to hum softly. From the duffel bag she retrieved a sawed

off shotgun also covered in electrical wires. So armed, the woman

stepped back into the cafe. The shotgun was leveled at the spirit

unerringly. She held off firing just yet though.

"I'd suggest you stop destroying the place, now. Otherwise I'll be

forced to prove just how easily ghosts can die."

The spirit didn't seem to understand though. So she tried again in

french. When that too wasn't understood she tried Egyptian. Finally she

attempted in a language still being studied. This time the spirit seemed

to get the message. Before the message had been gotten across two more

tables had been smashed in apparent frustration. That the spirit was

talking Susan had no doubt. However telepathy was not one of the woman's

gifts.

Of the mentioned two people, staying put was not in the cards. Of them

one was a crimson haired woman of middle years. She wore a formal kimono

and had a katana wrapped in silk at her side. The other was a man of

western decent, probably. He was wearing a green sleeveless vest. The

vest was paired with matching tights and elbow length gloves. He wore

forest green buccaneer boots. His face was mostly concealed by a solid

colored luchador mask which matched the rest of his outfit.

The man in green blinked. "Hon, why are you playing with a chi

projection? Nevermind, I see it."

He quickly moved to the body laying on the ground. Examining the ancient

female form, he noted the many bullet holes. Amazing there's still life

in her, he thought in awe. But not for long if I don't hurry. He

placed both hands on the body's stomach and concentrated. They flooded

with warmth as chi was channeled into and through them. He could feel

the most life threatening of injuries slowly sealing themselves. But it

wouldn't be enough, the man knew it intimately.

With the unknown person stabilized at least, he turned towards the chi

entity. Since there had been little in the body, he assumed the spirit

was that woman. "Whoever you are, it's safe to re-enter your body now.

And where is the phone?"

The third person to enter the cafe blinked a few times. What did that

thief do? The crone was clearly dead, but now she's breathing!

XxXxX

Usagi hadn't thought it possible to achieve a deeper blush then that

which had been nearly permanently affecting her lately. That she'd been

proven wrong however was just par for course. That she was now being

allowed to wear something besides a robe was something at least. What

she was wearing though was the source of her current nuclear blush.

This is clothing? Was all she could think. That the others shared her

thoughts wouldn't have surprised the blond.

Just walking in the unseemly outfit was somewhat uncomfortable. Usagi

fingered the soft velvet choker that was around her neck. It had a thin

metal chain which extended down between partly exposed breasts. The

chain was attached to the tight corset wrapped around the young adult's

waist. Just the feel of metal on bare skin made her feel odd and tingly.

Beneath this was a leather piece covering the blond's bottom. The less

she thought about the bottom's attachments and where they were

inserted the better.

It had taken nearly an hour to get comfortable in the 'outfit' to move.

An hour more to be able to ignore what the attachments were doing with

each step. The elbow length leather gloves and knee length leather boots

were the most familiar part of the ensemble. The way the boot's heels

made her walk didn't help much with the discomfort. Sensei hadn't been

satisfied with just the outfits though.

No, that would have been bad enough. The demon had gone further then

that even. She'd actually branded not just Usagi, but her four friends

on the right breast with some sort of mark. And that had hurt. Where

the demon had gotten a red hot branding iron, let alone one of that

size, was anybody's guess. Having the mysterious new employer see them

like this was the worst part though.

Mister Blair had taken one look, and chewed them out for disobeying

orders. He'd then spoken with the demon in private about something. When

he'd returned the winged man had seemed quietly amused. He'd then handed

the demonic instructor five silver rings. They seemed to be kind of top

heavy for some reason. Having one of those rings placed in a nipple had

also hurt, a lot.

"All right girls, since you can't follow simple instructions to not

attack a demon on sight this next assignment will teach you how to follow

orders. These rings will allow me to listen to and record everything

happening around you. I also have wireless micro-cameras embedded in the

collars. Congratulations, you get to go undercover as slave girls. A job

even people as clueless as you are can handle. Try to come back alive."

"WHAT?" Came the cries of five indignant eighteen year old girls.

This was Ranma's cue to step in. He was male once again, and wearing a

suit in his customary colors. That the suit would have in fit better

five hundred years ago didn't seem to bother the martial artist. On his

left hand was an ornate ring baring the same insignia branded onto the

senshi. His smile was not a pleasant one. He glared at the students for

a couple minutes, making them feel even more uncomfortable.

Then he spoke. "My wife is kidnapped by slavers. I'm getting her back.

And you five are going with me as backup. What part of that isn't

understood? Case-San desires evidence, so I am going in quietly. For now

at least. Until I say otherwise, you girls will call me Master. Is that

perfectly clear?"

Setsuna was the first to recover. "But you burned us!"

Ranma smirked cruelly and slapped the jade topped beauty. "No, I branded

you with my mark. This will show everyone there that you belong to me.

Besides, the brand will heal without scarring when you transform next.

And what part of 'you will call me Master' wasn't understood, girl?"

What he didn't tell them was that the brands would only heal for mortal

eyes. He had potential enemies who would think nothing of breaking them.

And this would hopefully offer some protection. Especially since they

sucked so badly in combat. They didn't need to know that just yet

however. Maybe I'll keep them after all. Maybe not, I'll think about it

though. Who am I kidding, of course I'll keep them. At least until the

first 'reset' that man mentioned that is.

"Huh, wonder what's happening to me. Didn't use to like slavery this

much. Then again the last people I trusted without safeguards murdered

me cause I saved their lives." He mused aloud.

"M-master?" Usagi finally hesitantly asked with clear reluctance with

the term.

"Yes, slave?" Ranma replied coolly, already getting into the role of

their owner as outlined by Case-San.

"May I have some of my candy now?" She'd not been allowed to eat any

since before meeting Hild.

Memories of a previous life told him exactly how to deal with such a

request. While no one saw where the riding crop came from, they saw what

it was used for. A blond with twin pony tails found it striking her in

the chest hard enough to sting and leave a red mark. The others winced

in sympathy. But Ranma wasn't quite finished with her. He turned to the

winged gaijin with the smirk returning.

"Think I'll need those gags after all. Not gonna ask why you happened to

have such outfits either."

XxXxX

Half an hour later a hansom devil of a man emerged from a stretch limo

in front of a fancy hotel. Five figures in gray hooded cloaks exited

shortly after him. They entered the hotel and passed through a pair of

double doors. Once through the second set of doors the man removed from

his companions the cloaks. His companions proved to be very nubile young

women, each wearing ball gags. Each also was branded with an insignia.

"And you are?" A guard asked of the man.

"Nightbane, and these are my... servants."

"And what is your business tonight Mister Nightbane?" The guard asked as

he rested one hand on the butt of a pistol.

Ranma scowled. "My business is my own. Now, are you going to let me

through or shall I discipline you?"

The guard examined the brand on the five slave girls with interest. He'd

not seen one of a winged tiger wreathed in flames before. He noted that

the man wore a signet ring bearing the same crest. That raised an

eyebrow. This is the most detailed attempt at sneaking in yet. The

guard smirked as he radioed in for confirmation. His eyes widened five

minutes later. It's real? But how can it be... He thought as he

continued to listen to panicked voices on the other end of the line.

"My apologies for the delay Sir. The house of Nightbane hasn't been

heard from in a very long time. I hadn't recognized your crest."

XxXxX

In a nearby nondescript geo metro Jason Blair frowned. Already the

infiltration was giving him information. What type of information he

didn't know yet. But he would. While still following the feeds from his

bugs the spy for hire began another investigation. This time into the

'crest' one Ranma 'Nightbane' Saotome claimed as his own.

XxXxX

As he mingled Ranma found himself growing increasingly alarmed. It was

subtle, but he could see signs of the Guild. A group of rogue demons

lead by his former father. His 'pets' were currently being restrained by

leashes he'd been given for that purpose. In fact, he recognized several

people at the gathering. Since they were flaunting their nature Ranma

decided to do so too. He allowed his wings to show.

Spotting Akane and Kasumi being man handled caused the youth's blood to

boil. And yet causing trouble right now would be a really bad thing to

do. Instead he tugged on the leashes and lead his girls towards the two

Tendo sisters. Quite loudly he cleared his throat. When people looked

they saw an angry demon holding the reigns of five beautiful slave

girls. Girls that had clearly been punished recently for misbehaving.

The welts from a riding crop were still visible on bare skin.

"Anyone mind explaining why my property is in the hands of someone

else without my permission?" He demanded while gesturing towards the two

sisters. Out of the corner of his eye he noticed Xain Pu with glazed

eyes. As he pointed her out Ranma added "Not to mention why my mate is

being treated like one of the slaves?"

After the announcement you could have heard a pin drop. Eyes turned to

focus on the raven haired demon in red and black.

XxXxX

She was in hell. To be honest with herself, Ami knew this wasn't hell.

She'd been there earlier though. This was much much worse. The woman

still couldn't talk due to a rubber ball secured in her mouth. She had

been paraded around like a piece of meat by her new martial arts

instructor. She'd been forced to dress in the most degrading outfit

imaginable. But even with all that it had gotten much worse.

If one more of these creatures touched her Ami felt like she would lose

it. She thought of them as creatures for no human could possibly do this

to her. After Sensei had accused these people of stealing property the

man had been lead into a private office. Ami and her friends however had

not gone with. Instead Ranma had callously given them to be used as

party favors while he was busy.

She'd seen and heard people buying and selling human girls like they

were a sack of potatoes. Hopefully that alone would help shut this place

down. She'd do it herself, except that speech was impossible. Nor could

Ami use her hands anymore. She'd initially slapped the first man to

touch her. After that they had chained her wrists to her waist. Of all

the humiliations she'd expected this night, this was not one of them.

Nearby she could see Minako being roughly fondled by some fiend or

another. The tears of horror in her friend's eyes matched the feeling

that Ami herself felt. Where did we go wrong? Why is this happening?

She thought as her body betrayed her once again. For once she was glad

for the gag. It did prevent her from screaming after all, or at least

muffle the sound.

Her current partner had finished it seemed. As Ami laid against him she

felt hands grab her waist from behind. Not again, she thought as yet

again a complete stranger started to have his way with her.

XxXxX

If it wasn't for how tired she felt, Usagi might have been having fun.

At first she'd experienced a thrill at how naughty just standing dressed

as she was felt. She'd known what was happening around her was wrong,

and it disgusted her. And yet displaying her body as she did had been

exciting. She never did anything bad, and it felt good to break from

that for some unknown reason. It was something that had started earlier

that day. Exactly when was hard to pin down though.

As her current lover finished up Usagi decided that it was no longer

fun. In fact she hated what was happening. If she could, she'd gladly

start fighting back. The problem with that idea was just how exhausted

she was. That, and the inability to actually do much currently. With her

hands tied up there wasn't much hope of transforming. And that was

assuming she could even speak. No, this was something that was currently

unable to be stopped. Much to her growing horror.

XxXxX

"Who are you?"

The question was posed by an intimidating giant of a man. He was easily

nine feet tall, and had broad shoulders. His expensive suit was just

barely able to contain the girth of his muscle bound chest. The pointed

goatee on his chin and ram's horns on his forehead only furthered his

sinister appearance. That his skin was a deep crimson only hammered home

that this man was not human.

His guest merely snorted. "Hello Father, it has been a while. What

happened to your plans for dominating humans?"

The angered demon was not amused in the least. "I give you one more

chance, who are you to impersonate a 'nightbane'? Speak willingly, or

I'll tear the truth out."

Ranma snorted once again. "Oh right, you don't recognize me like this do

you? Get me some cold water and you'll see exactly who I am, Father. And

before you even think of demanding it, no I am not here to become your

obedient servant again. The daughter you tried to kill is dead and gone."

Said 'father' was not amused in the least. And his state of

non-amusement only deepened when someone threw ice cold water at the man

claiming to be Nightbane. He'd not seen his rebellious daughter in

nearly sixteen hundred years. In fact he'd heard that she'd died fifteen

hundred years ago. And yet now here she was. He didn't claim it

impossible. Improbable however was a whole nother kettle of fish.

"Amnara," he began.

Only he was interrupted by the teenage demoness. "No, she's dead. I am

not her, nor am I who I once was Father. My name is Ranma Nightbane.

Give back what is mine and leave me alone, and maybe we can remain

sociable at least. Try forcing me to return and I will see you ruined.

What ever happened to your dreams of ruling humans with an iron fist

anyway?"

XxXxX

In an unmarked car a man was cursing. The girls hadn't been ready for

something like this. Hell, he'd never order someone into this kind of

situation. It hadn't been expected at all. All they were suppose to do

was follow Ranma so he could gather information, and maybe act as backup

if required. That Ranma could be so cruel as to just hand them over was

shocking. He realized he'd have to apologize to them when everything was

finished. As well as give them a rather sizable bonus.

Maybe counseling too.

"Damn him, what's that boy thinking?"

XxXxX

The chi entity hadn't moved back into it's body yet, so Eric ignored it

for now. Instead he called for an ambulance. Whoever the old woman was,

she'd lost a lot of blood before he could seal the wounds. Groans

alerted him to another person still living. When he investigated, he

found a teenage girl made entirely of ice. Movements indicated this

figure was somehow alive. And large holes in the ice told him she too

had been shot multiple times. From the fact the holes go strait through

with consistent size, I'd say armor piercing rounds.

"Hey Sue, what do you know of ice elementals?" He turned to the red

haired woman and scowled. "Listen, you'd better get home. We'll be a

while here. Something major happened, and I'm feeling a lot of negative

chi in the area."

The trench coated woman looked over and sighed. "Enough to know that's

not one. For one thing that's an amulet dedicated to Thor, a nordic god

of thunder. Looks authentic too. And if I'm reading the runes on it

correct, it is suppose to ward against magical compulsion specifically

and the supernatural in general. If she was an elemental, and if the

amulet actually does what it says she'd be unable to wear it. At least,

that's what the legends say. That's the most intact amulet of Thor I've

come across. If I didn't know better I'd almost think it really denotes

her as one of Thor's champions. But of course that's silly, the gods are

just myth and legend. They were never real."

Eric Von Mason shook his head at her words. She travels between

dimensions, meets a half-brother, and discovers her mother is the avatar

of a goddess. And yet my wife still sometimes thinks the gods aren't real? He

looked at the woman of ice again, this time using his chi senses.

Satisfied she wasn't in immediate danger, he placed his hands on her

stomach. Well, here goes nothing. With that he started to channel

healing chi into the living sculpture.

This time there was much more effect. She wasn't anywhere near as close

to dying as the old woman had been. And yet it was harder at the same

time. Something was resisting him. The resistance caused him to require

ten times as much chi to mend the girl's broken body as it should have.

Sweat began to bead on his forehead as seconds turned to minutes. He

absently noted the sirens of medical personal approaching. Noted it, but

didn't stop.

""Oh Jake, you didn't have to push yourself so hard." The woman said

with a sigh when her husband collapsed.

center

Chapter 26

/center

"I told you already Father, I am not returning." Ranma declared in a

calm voice. "I will not help you now, or in the future. Neither will I

actively fight you unless you come after me and mine first. Leave me

alone, and I will leave you alone. All I came here for was to get back

my mate and my property. Property which your men it seems stole. Or have

the laws you laid forth lost all meaning?"

Across from her still sat the horned man she called father. And it was

still slightly creeping the girl out to call anyone but Genma that. But

if anything she felt more of a family connection to this inhuman monster

then she ever had to the fat panda. It was perhaps ironic that in her

entire life Amnara had never learned the name of her father. By

extension, Ranma didn't know his name either. There was something

bothering her though.

That something was her name. It was hard to pin down. But there was

something about her name that was odd. I'm neither Ranma Saotome or

Amnara Nightbane. So what's bothering me bout... my... Huh? Why didn't

she notice that before. Wouldn't it be funny if Father's name happened

to be 'a genma'. Not that it's likely. Even my luck isn't that odd. Of

course she didn't realize that her father's name in that life had been

in fact Amnega Emotoas. Nor did she remember that 'nightbane' was the

name Amnara had adopted to try getting out from under her father's thumb.

Amnega sputtered at the claim he was ignoring his own laws. An insect

from China had dared to order him to capture hostages. He'd refused of

course, until learning that it would harm students of an old thorn in

his side. But nothing had hinted who said hostages would draw out. Even

though his daughter had betrayed him centuries ago, Amnega had hoped she

would see the light. It was why he had not stricken her from the family yet.

And now here she was claiming he had violated the laws. And he knew the

child was right. For the last seven hundred years those laws had been

all that protected the guild. Or at least what had remained of it. The

old world had become too dangerous. Too many places of power had become

harmful to enter. So he'd taken his followers and traveled east long

ago. There they had found a paradise. Or so he'd thought.

There at the time had already been a flourishing local demonic

population lead by a giant wolf. Then later the wolf's son had taken

over. And much to Amnega's displeasure both had been stronger then he.

Tales of a jewel that could increase his power had proven true. And yet

a half-demon and a human had not only thwarted all attempts to claim the

jewel, but decimated half his followers. All because he had tried taking

that which belonged to another demon. Because he had tried harming that

demon's bonded mate.

"You shouldn't have gone rogue, you know."

The statement broke the demon lord from his musings. With an eyebrow

raised he asked "And what do you mean by that?"

"Just what I said," Ranma retorted. "If I wanted I could rip your head

off hear and now, and Hild-San would probably thank me. She'd probably

also try getting me to work for her again too."

"What do you want?" Amnega asked finally.

"To be left alone, I've told you this before Father. Now I am going to

retrieve my mate and pets. Stop me at your own peril."

XxXxX

Ranma stared at the eight girls in mute horror. That the Tendos had been

subjected to that was bad enough. His mate going through it was even

worse. But it hadn't been until she went to retrieve everyone that Ranma

had fully realized what would be done to the senshi. Or the fact that

they had been made helpless. Well, more helpless then they would have

been anyway. And that was the true horror of the evening.

She noted marks that would clearly become bruises later on their arms

and chest. None of the five girls were able to walk strait. But the most

damning thing was their eyes. Those panicked and pained eyes. Eyes that

spoke of fading hope. She'd seen that before. She knew what it could

mean for a person. In fact, Ranma had last seen that expression on her

own face not too long ago. Suddenly the plan didn't seem as good as it

once had.

The one who seemed least traumatized was also the most innocent. A

dichotomy that was confusing. All the teenage blond did was slowly snack

on her candy. The very fact she wasn't inhaling it spoke volumes about

Usagi's state of mind. So now the aquatransexual demon found herself

doing something never done before in this life. It was done with no

outside pressure. It was done without ulterior motive. She just felt the

need to do so.

"I... I'm sorry," Ranma apologized. "I... I didn't know. T-they should

have had you dance at most. Ancient laws were suppose to prohibit them

from actually touching the property of another without express

permission. That was the whole point of the brands, to protect you."

The rest of the trip back to the Tendo home was spent in silence.

Ranma's head was hung low in shame the entire time. For the first time

in almost a decade tears flowed without restraint. The raw emotion was

almost a physical presence to those near her. Tired, sore, and

emotionally numb, Usagi moved next to the grieving woman. How she could

even feel anything for this monster, the teen wasn't sure.

With each bite of her oh so delicious candy the events of the last three

hours had seemed less horrifying. They still bothered her, yet the young

woman was able to look at them in another light. There had been too many

demons. Frequently her and her friends were just barely able to stop one

lone demon. Or they had been able to in the past. But these ones were

different. They felt far more dangerous then the ones normally dealt

with. Even that 'dark general' hadn't felt as malevolent as those in

that room.

Even if they could have transformed, deep down Usagi wasn't sure if

things would have happened much differently. At least this way they

survived in body, if not in spirit. But maybe there was something she

could do for her friends? They all had been tainted by a darkness

unguessed at in her life. Say the words and call my name. Usagi

blinked as the voice spoke clearly in her mind. Say the words and call

my name. Call upon my favor oh tainted light.

Unsure what would happen, Usagi decided on a whim to follow the unknown

advise. "Shadows rise and illumination fade as hopes flame passes, unto

darkness I call in light's name." She didn't know where the words were

coming from. They felt right though. A power was starting to swell

within the teen. "Lady of Twilight I pledge to thee, ease the sorrows of

those in need. Twilight's Mending!"

Something flowed through her body then. It was familiar, yet different

then what occurred as Sailor Moon. Tendrils of black smoke emerged from

Usagi's hands and wrapped around her four friends. Developing bruises

started to fade from marred skin. Then the tendrils of smoke began to

enter the girls via any available opening. It flowed into their noses

and mouths. It seeped through the discomforting bottoms they wore and

didn't emerge.

The four abused senshi were lifted into the air by unknown power. As

they settled back down onto the limo's seats Usagi felt their aura had

changed. Before her friends had felt tainted. But that was no longer

true. The 'taint', whatever it was still existed. But it didn't seem

foreign to her friends anymore. Nor did she feel tainted any longer. No

longer did Usagi feel like an undimmed light shining in the darkness

either. Instead it felt like the magic that suffused her very core was

cast in shadow.

Ranma looked up from her grief as events unknown transpired. Using

demonic senses she examined the raw auras of the five senshi. While

before they had been tainted, now they were not. Yet the purity that

initially had seemed so delicious was gone. Now they felt closer to that

platinum blond woman with the blue facial markings. Yet more in balance

even then Urd.

XxXxX

In another place that wasn't a place a lone woman was chained to a rock.

She wore nothing save that which she entered the world in. On her face

were three red sigil in the shape of a crescent moon, one on her

forehead and the others just beneath each eye. As hellish buzzards

slowly dined on the woman's still living intestines she chuckled. In a

dry and tortured voice she spoke.

"To think that one as pure as her has dedicated herself to me. Well

granddaughter, who's laughing now. I will enjoy watching as the moon's

light is eclipsed once more. The house of Serenity is mine again, as I

always knew it would be."

XxXxX

Jason Blair groaned as he finished typing up his after action report. It

was suppose to be a simple job. Investigate local organized crime and

shut it down by any means required. Japan was known for not having a

population of meta-humans. Oh sure, there were the occasional devil

hunters and aliens. But they were few and far between. In general the

nation was a nice quiet place with nice normal work conditions. High

level martial artists, super spies, and cyborgs were much easier to deal

with then meta-humans.

Especially since many tended to work for one agency or another. This

made them predictable. And predictability in his line of work was a good

thing. So why did this job go to hell? He mused. Probably about the

same reason a demon entered the picture. I can't believe I trusted one

to keep the girls out of trouble. He printed out the report and created

copies of the surveillance feeds. With these placed in a briefcase and

shrunk down to size he started the geo metro and left. Once no one

was around to see it, the car's hull changed to a light red color and

the license plate flipped over to a new one.

XxXxX

An hour after dawn a young woman with brown hair entered the JDF lobby.

She was carrying a black brief case and looked around with a wide eyed

innocence. At first no one noticed her. After a few minutes the woman

approached the front desk. She was bouncing on her toes excitedly.

Finally the woman sitting behind the desk looked up. Seeing the

energetic girl brought a smile.

"May I help you, Miss?" The receptionist asked.

"Man ask help," The teen said in broken Japanese. "Say bring case fast

captain."

Rolling her eyes, the receptionist sighed. "Who asked you?"

The hyper teen didn't seem to notice the annoyed tone. "man no say. Man

say stay just in case."

The receptionist sighed once again before picking up the phone receiver.

Pressing one button, she spoke. "Sir, there is a gaijin girl here with

something for you. No I don't Sir. She didn't say either, just that

whoever gave it to her said to 'stay just in case'. You do? Fine Sir,

I'll send her in."

Ten minutes later the teen was sitting in the office of Captain Yoshia

Tsaida. The man in question had graying hair. Or what little hair

remained was graying. He was an overweight man, long past his better

days. Decades of working behind a desk had clearly taken their toll.

Currently he was wearing a rumpled navy uniform and pinching his nose.

When Tsaida had hired the mysterious Justin Case he'd been expecting

professional work. Not a hyperactive teenage girl off the street acting

as a courier.

For all he knew though, this girl could actually be Justin Case. However

that was somewhat doubtful. Case had been an international legend among

those in the know for over a decade. This girl looked to have been four

when the mysterious Case had first appeared on the scene. Not to mention

there was no way this text messaging girl could be the ghost spy. She'd

given him a hand written note first. A note which stated that payment

was due and listing the additional costs.

When the child hung up her phone and immediately settled down alarms

began to sound in Tsaida's mind. She walked over and closed all blinds

on windows. The teenage girl then pulled out some sort of hand held

device and ran it throughout the room. Whatever it said must have been

to her liking because the girl sat back down and opened the briefcase.

From it she removed three flash drives and a stack of papers.

"Captain Yoshia, it's been a pleasure working for you. Here is my final

report, as well as the audio, video and other evidence I managed to

collect during this assignment. I can safely say there is no longer any

yakuza activity in the target ward. However I strongly recommend against

trying to move against the one behind recent pushes into Nerima. Quite

frankly, I doubt you have the manpower or firepower to shut this person

down directly. I neither have the connections, or inclination to go

against a clan of displaced demons. And quite frankly, you aren't paying

me enough to try either."

The captain blinked a few times, not even reading the report yet. "And

you are?"

The teenage girl retained a neutral expression as she answered, "You may

call me Justin Case. I trust you know how to contact me if you have

another job? And please, don't insult my intelligence by sending that

rookie to try following me again. It didn't work at the airport. It

didn't work last night during the six police raids against the Guild's

slave trade operations. And it wont work this time either. Did you

really think I would go in with the police in any of those assaults?"

Captain Yoshia once again found himself blinking in surprise. He'd been

up half the night trying to figure out just what was going on. He'd been

woken up around midnight by a frantic aid. Something about multiple

assaults on previously unsuspected strongholds. Local police had claimed

the JDF had ordered the raids. But no one in the JDF knew who ordered

them or when. Why had also been up in the air.

"That was you last night?"

"Of course Captain. You did want me to shut this down by any means

necessary. I trust all the victims are being cared for properly. And

with that, good day." So saying, she closed the now empty briefcase and

skipped out of the office.

In the wake of the teenage girl's departure Captain Yoshida Tsaida once

more pinched the bridge of his nose. "I need a vacation."

By the time his analysts finished going over the gathered evidence the

entire department shared his sentiment.

center

Chapter 27:

/center

Ranma

I've never done this in this life. If I'd tried before then pops would

have beaten me for being a 'weak' girl. Stupid panda. Still, I remember

writing in a journal in a previous one. It's been five months since that

day. And with each passing hour I grow more concerned for my students.

They've changed in ways that are alarming. And I can't help but think

it's my fault. I pushed them too far too quickly. I treated them like

pets, no more like toys./

It wasn't fair of me to drag them into that lair like I did. They had

been stripped of even the pretense of self defense. Then unthinking and

uncaring I cast them to the wolves. It shames me to think I could do

that to such pure innocence. I stole something which can't be replaced.

And the worst part is, I can't help but suspect I'd have done it over

and over again. What sort of monster am I?

I've always prided myself on my control. Immediately after being cursed

I'd felt that control slip little by little. But it was possible to put

that off as just doing what I needed to for survival. Then I'd lost a

duel against what I thought was my baser instincts. After that I had

complete control again, unless she demanded something. Then I had to do

whatever ordered. The lack of control was because another had the

reigns, not because I couldn't control myself.

So what's my excuse now? There is none, and I know it. Sometimes I have

a will of iron. Then others I find myself doing things without thought

of consequences. Things which I know are a bad idea. But at those

moments all that matters is desire and pleasure. My desire and my

pleasure. That people get hurt when it happens bothers me. Yet it's only

after the fact that anything matters but me. I'm worried, what's happening?

XxXxX

Usagi

A blond walking along the top of fences had quickly become a common

sight in Nerima. To those where she'd lived before however it would have

been a sign of the Apocalypse. Usagi Tsunko had been known for years for

her legendary clumsiness when not running at insane speeds. On the other

hand, she'd not had the clumsiness literally beaten out of her over the

course of two months before coming to this crazy ward.

And crazy was putting it mildly. The school was run by a nut with a palm

tree on his head. That man had returned recently, much to the student

body's disgust. Then there was that insane kendoist. He kept attacking

her in the belief that once she lost she'd be grateful and date him. She

still was mad at him for using that stick to actually cut off one of her

pony tails at the base. Approaching the school showed that the

delusional youth was waiting, again.

In her haste to get to class on time though Usagi didn't even notice

him. If he spoke she didn't hear it. A gust of wind barely impacted her

senses. Or the fact she'd just trampled the Kuno son. Other students had

already moved to the side. The trampling of Tatawaki Kuno had become

almost a daily ritual. One which no one else really wanted to partake

in. Cries of "I'm late!" Echoed through the halls as the blond teen

raced to her homeroom.

Upon reaching her class Usagi skidded to a stop. Or at least she tried

to. The momentum was so great however she crashed into the blackboard.

As the teen picked herself up the first warning bell rang. And thus

began yet another long and boring day. By the time lunch came around she

was sure anything would be more fun then this. In a fit of apathy the

teen muttered something under her breath.

XxXxX

Ami

/I can't be believe she did that, Ami thought with some annoyance. The

first hint something had happened was when certain garments had

vanished. Of course she'd only noticed that her bra was missing. It had

happened just as English class started. And from the startled

expressions throughout the room it was affecting everyone. Exactly what

had happened wasn't immediately obvious. A soft beep from the clam shell

shaped notebook alerted the genius.

Without even bothering to get permission, Ami gathered her things and

left for the bathroom. It was there that she discovered her panties had

been replaced with a pair of heart print white boxers. After pulling

down the offending garment she removed one of the two inserts of the

harness Sensei Ranma had them continue to wear. I should mind this more

then I do. After relieving her bladder the teenage genius pushed the

insert back into place and twisted it into the locked position.

"Kami that feels good," Ami muttered.

The mercury computer was still beeping. Opening the device up, she

started checking the logs. The most recent one indicated demonic magic

had been used in a sizable area. The epicenter proved to be her

classroom. And the timing, that couldn't be coincidence. The fact there

had been traces of lunar energy laced among the demonic magic had also

been a puzzle. At least it was initially. After comparing the traces to

other readings on file only one conclusion could be made.

"Usagi, what are you doing?"

It wasn't the first time her friend had done something mean spirited.

Usually it happened due to boredom. Sometimes it was just a whim. That

such events were usually not really that harmful was a relief. Yet it

was still troubling. It was as troubling as the casual acceptance of

degrading training methods used by her sensei. Methods that before

that night had been embarrassing and horrifying. Which brought to mind

why Rei and Setsuna weren't at school.

"Lucky girls, wish it'd been me instead." After a moment she blinked. "I

can not believe I just said that."

XxXxX

Minako

Things had been quiet lately. Not that she was complaining about that.

Between training under Sensei Ranma, school, and the often unexplained

tasks set upon her by their mysterious employer life was anything but

dull. That there were no monster attacks occurring was a nice change of

pace. Exactly what had happened to end the monster attacks was still a

mystery. There had been vague reports of a ninja attacking demons months

ago. Then nothing, no monsters, no ninja (if that was real), and no word

on what happened.

Of course, hearing that one Mamoru Chiba had been arrested for assault

and theft had been sobering. Equally sobering had been the discovery

that Chiba had been 'Tuxedo Mask'. The arresting officer had been said

to be from the United States, on temporarily loan because of special

circumstances. Minako had even gotten to meet the mystery officer. He'd

been visiting that blue haired girl in the hospital when Ranma had gone

to see her and the old lady

That girl too had been a surprise. Within two weeks she'd been out of

the hospital bed and working to get 'back in shape'. Not that Minako

could tell the girl wasn't in shape. Never before had a human proven to

be /that/ agile before. To get reflexes back up to par, the mystery girl

had used a baseball launcher set to fire rapidly for dodging and

blocking practice. And then there were the martial arts kata practiced.

That too appeared inhuman.

And yet her sensei said that he knew several humans capable of such

feats. Maybe not with as much grace, but the raw feats of strength and

speed he said were normal for high end martial arts. Watching a sparring

match between Sensei Ranma and that amazon girl had just furthered the

awe factor. Those two weren't the only ones in her life now that seemed

unreal either. As much as it pained the blond to admit it, she was

constantly being out classed.

First there was that odd gaijin woman. According to Ami the woman wasn't

even remotely human. And yet she'd proven to be on the side of angels

multiple times. Then there was the woman's husband. Minako didn't see

what the woman saw in that man. He was ugly as hell after all. And

something about him just didn't seem right. He too would occasionally

spar with Ranma, and also displayed what seemed an unnatural level of

skill. Seeing the skill and dedication displayed by the group of people

around her, Minako felt inadequate.

It was enough to make her wish for simpler days. She missed being the

ditzy blond superhero. Not that the youth had realized how ditzy she

acted before. That day five months ago had forced her to grow up. The

world was far crueler then ever suspected. That day a lesson had been

hammered home quite brutally; carefree innocence wont protect you

forever. The after effects of that lesson had changed Minako on several

levels she'd not expected.

Her reflections ended as the youth approached the offices of Blair

investigations: Tokyo. The latest assignment had to be reported in, as

well as a paycheck to be picked up. The reincarnated senshi of love

groaned as she slid behind a desk. Using a type writer was cumbersome,

but that was all her boss would spring for. The fact all five of the

girls had to share the same machine was also annoying at times. /Time to

type up my report./

Initial assessments of the Tora job were highly inaccurate. The

original interview as you are aware indicated that Mister Tora was

concerned his wife was cheating on him and wanted proof. Towards this

end I was assigned to tail her for a week. This should have been a

standard job with little actual risk. The lunar talisman known as a

'disguise pen' was employed to maintain discretion do to my obvious hair

color.

The subject's daily habits are nothing to write home about. At nine AM

each day she leaves for a half hour walk. Upon returning home Ms Tora

showers and eats a quick second breakfast. On Mondays, Wednesdays, and

Fridays she then goes to work at the Bear and Nair Boutique.

Conversations with co-workers confirm she does work those days every

week until seven in the evening. Lunch and supper breaks are taken at a

small cafe two blocks from her workplace, and she dines alone.

Tuesday was spent at home cleaning the mansion. The staff has that day

of the week off, and the lady of the house takes over for them. It is

Thursday that is the most interesting. At one PM Ms Tora took a

nondescript tan volkswagen beetle out of the garage. She drove to a

local bar called 'the laughing trout', little more then a low class dive

by appearances. Once inside the bar she took a corner seat in the back.

It was at this point the lights went out. There was a faint sound of

scraping and the barely heard whine of a motor. When the lights came

back on the booth was empty. None of the other patrons seemed to notice

her disappearance. Over the course of six hours I watched the bar.

During that time no one left. At seven PM the lights in the laughing

trout went off once more. When they came on again Ms Tora was back in

the booth. Once again while the lights were off there was a scraping

sound and the whine of a motor.

While no evidence of cheating has been found at this time, I am

convinced the subject is involved with something. My current skills are

not equal to the task of furthering the investigation. Recommendation is

to assign someone with more experience with infiltration. Possibly a

full support team may be warranted.

Enclosed is audio, video, and photographic evidence gathered during

the surveillance.

With a sigh Minako pulled the sheet of paper from her machine. It was the twentieth draft of her report. After sliding the paper into a manilla envelope she added the digital camera memory chip used. Once a cassette tape and digital recorder memory chip was added the envelope was sealed and labeled. With the package dropped off in her boss's in box Minako finally got a chance to check her next assignment.

"Not that, anything but that!" She groaned upon reading the memo.

XxXxX

Nabiki

"Well, what do we have here?" Nabiki Tendo said with an amused smirk.

She'd just gotten home from school. While that in it's self wasn't unusual, what she'd found was. Something told her to check the dojo. And sure enough there was her younger sister and two of those girls hanging suspended from the ceiling. All three were covered in welts, but never in a spot that would be visible while wearing the school uniform. Her fiance entering the dojo wasn't even noticed until he spoke.

"Oh, they just needed time to reflect. Those two," Ranma pointed at Reiand Akane, "still refuse to reign in their tempers. While she needs reminder of why to retain focus no matter what distractions there are. I figured spending the day like this would help motivate them to improve."

"Or," Nabiki drawled, "it may encourage them to keep screwing up. I overheard one of the girls muttering at school about wishing it was her being punished."

"Huh," her fiance grunted in surprise. "Hadn't thought of that. Anyway I'm off to work. You can let them down in an hour. Toodles."

As the recent center of her existence left Nabiki found herself scowling. No matter how much time passed she still hated what had happened. Sure he was good looking. Okay so he as an absolute hunk. And it was possible she loved him. And yet she had no idea where she stood with Ranma. Did he view her as a lover? Or was she more of a pet? It was hard to tell. He treated her better then Akane, but that didn't take much.

Akane was treated like an unwanted slave most of the time. He trained her sister, but was ruthless about it. Even the slightest misstep was punished harshly. To be fair her sister had also tried to kill the demonic man multiple times, including the morning after his arrival. And she continued making attempts on his life. That they all failed spectacularly just showed how ruthless her fiance was with Akane. She moved to remove her sister's ball gag, but left the youngest Tendo tied up still.

"Well sis, why do you hate him so much?"

XxXxX

Ranma

Three blocks from the Bear and Nair Boutique Ranma shifted into his

female form via a decorative fountain. Along with the change in physical

features the newly minted female expended a bit of demonic magic to

change her cloths into the work uniform. Sure it was wasteful, but Ranma

had been very well fed lately. And there was a very good chance today's

shift would bring more food to her. While it wasn't exactly advertised,

the corset shop also served as a companionship provider.

That was one reason she enjoyed working there. Another was that she

could wear favored outfits and not look out of place. The rest of the

trip went by in a blur. Upon clocking in Ranma found herself being

directed to changing room 2b. Already? Wonder who it is? If I didn't

know better I'd swear this place has a lot of magic suffusing it. The

special changing rooms don't seem to take any actual space, yet are

huge. Well stocked too.

2b, haven't used that one much. Isn't that the one for ess and emm?

She opened the hidden door in changing room two and nodded. I was

right. So will I be the whipper or whipee today? Upon spotting her

client Ranma immediately knew what her role would be. And while she

wasn't too into being a submissive, the bonus pay would be good

compensation. With the false wall once more closed the demoness removed

her work cloths and placed them on a nearby table.

"Greetings, I am Nightbane. I understand you requested me specifically.

And how would the lovely lady prefer to be addressed?"

Her client didn't answer. Instead the dominatrix clad woman gestured

towards an x shaped cross with sturdy leather cuffs on each arm. With a

shrug Ranma allowed the other woman to secure her on the cross. An

eyebrow was raised when a gag was placed in her mouth and strapped in

place. Not too unusual so far, but the silence was starting to get

unnerving. What the hell? Where did she get a European executioner's

sword?

The sword looked very sharp. Not to mention there was absolutely nothing

regarding bladed weapons in her contract with the boutique. Ranma

started trying to pull free, only to find the cuffs held her quite

secure. So a bit of hellish magic was used. Again no dice. All that

happened was that the cuffs lit up with electric blue runes of some

sort. Now she began to worry. None of the equipment should have been

warded against magic of any sort. Her employer didn't even know that

Ranma was a demoness.

"Finally my Shampoo will be free. With your death her heart will finally

be free to love me, Saotome!" The sword holding woman announced.

It can't be, he's still in china! Ranma thought in panic. The world

seemed to move in slow motion. Seconds stretched into an eternity as

cold steel was plunged into the young demoness's heart. It ignited in

blue flames which hurt like hell. They licked exposed flesh and melted

the muscle beneath. The woman pulled a thermos out of no where and

dumped it's contents on her head.

The last thing Ranma saw before death finally claimed her was the

grinning form of Mousse wearing a dominatrix outfit meant for a well

endowed woman.

XxXxX

He'd done it. He'd defeated his rival for Shampoo's love. The exile had

been right about how easy it would be. And in the end the monster's body

was consumed by holy power. There were only two minor problems. The

first was that he'd not expected this outfit to be so painful to wear

now. Nor would it come off no matter how hard he tried. Okay, there were

three problems then. The third was that the world was not behaving the

way it should. He could see just fine now. And yet the room was starting

to unravel.

Mousse left the room, figuring it had been formed by the demon Saotome.

Only to discover it wasn't just the room. Everything was unraveling. The

store, the buildings across the street, even the few cars driving

through Nerima. People too were starting to fall apart as if made of

yarn. He saw his beloved running towards the store he stood in front of.

And in horror Mousse watched her vanish before his eyes.

"I think I may have made a mistake." It was the last thing he was able

to say as the world came undone.

The end

and

the beginning

Author Notes:

Yeah, I know the ending may seem a bit sudden and a letdown. Nothing

really got resolved after all. I'd been intending to wrap things up with

a death of a major character for a while now. Originally I planned on it

being a battle where the Senshi lose. But I realized it was about time

for Mousse to make a reappearance. And with him I also realized how the

time loops would begin. I did consider continuing this with the time

loops. Then realized that with Ranma's death and the time loops

beginning this story is ended. Don't worry though, the story of Ranma

Nightbane is not over. It continues in a tale called Wings of Recursion.