Disclaimer: Ranma's not mine. I wish it was, but then again, who doesn't?

Clouds covered the darkened sky, casting shadows everywhere. It was a little past sun down and the streets were deserted except for four people. These four people walked towards the outskirts of town before stopping.

"It's past sun down, so where are they?" A male voice grumbled.

"Shampoo no like waiting, so they better show up soon." A woman replied, frustrated.

"I'm hungry…" Another man complained.

Whack "Shut up, Pop." Yet another gentleman said. A loud rumbling stopped the group from saying anything more, other than "Finally!"

A giant creature that resembled a wolf arouse from the ground. It snarled at the four and lunged at them. One of the men with his hair pulled back into a pigtail intersected the attack and stopped it with the shinning blade of a katana. Using the demon's momentary distraction to their advantage, the longhaired man and the woman attacked, leaving the fat man to stand there, doing nothing. The demon let out a strangled cry and sent the pigtailed one flying. He shouted, turned in midair, bounced off of a light post, used his father as a springboard, and descended upon the wolf-like beast, piercing it between the eyes. The girl cheered and the other man drew a hidden blade from within his sleeves to help attack the monster. After a moments struggle, the beast let out a defeated roar and collapsed to the ground, dead. Before their eyes, the beast began to fade until nothing was left.

"Alright, now let's get some food!" The fat man shouted.

"Why should we feed you?" The pigtailed martial artist inquired.

"Yeah." The other man agreed. "It's not like you did anything to help."

The fat man whimpered. They smirked and walked off.

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Back in the middle of the town, a young woman was surprised to hear the bell on the door of her restaurant ringing, signaling the arrival of customers. "Sorry," She called from the kitchen, "but we're closed. 'Coulda sworn I locked that door."

"Hey, Ucchan." A man's voice interrupted her.

"Ranchan!" She exclaimed, a broad smile breaking across her face. "You guys are done already? I was expecting it to take at least another half hour."

"We got a weak one today." The long, black haired man replied.

"Oh. So then, what'll it be? I'm guessing you're hungry." They nodded and sat in front of the grill.

"How 'bout a couple o' specials?" Ranma Saotome asked.

"Sure. Don't worry," She said, looking at Mousse, "we're fresh outa duck."

The rest laughed and ordered their meals, talking happily amongst themselves. After they finished their food, they followed Ukyo out the door and waited while she locked up. "C'ya tomorrow, guys." She said. Shampoo and Mousse left in one direction whilst Ranma, Genma and Ukyo went the other. Soon, they arrived at the Saotome home. The house was rather old and not in the best shape, but hey, it wasn't falling apart…yet. They entered the house and Ranma called to his mother.

"Welcome home, Ranma, Genma, Ukyo." She said, kindly.

"Hey, Mom. Uh… the house is still under repair so…" Ranma started.

"I understand, dear. Make yourself at home." Nodoka cut him off.

Ranma and Ukyo's house had been the unfortunate grounds for a five-way fight between Ukyo, Ranma, Genma, Mousse, and Shampoo. In other words, it was a pile of rubble at the moment. Ranma had moved in with Ukyo a few months back after a particularly bad fight with his father and Ukyo had been more than happy to share her house with the handsome martial artist.

"Oh." Ukyo said suddenly, bringing her hands to her mouth.

"What's up, Ucchan?"

"We forgot to tell the others about that boy. You know, the one we met today. He turns into a pig or something."

"Oh, yeah. We'd better tell them soon. Who knows, maybe he'd even like to help us. Once we get to know him and think he's trustworthy, of course." Ranma said.

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The next morning found Ranma pulling into the familiar driveway of Akane Tendo and Ryoga Hibiki's house (and before you ask, they're only roommates, not lovers or anything like that. Well, actually, Ryoga has a crush on Akane like in the anime, but yeah…). He rang the doorbell and was surprised to see a familiar shorthaired brunette answer the door. Behind her, Akane ran down a staircase to get to the door. "Thanks so much for being on time." She said, dragging Ryoga behind her.

"Ranma?" The brunette asked.

"You know him?" Akane asked the girl.

"Nabiki?" Ranma asked, not believing his eyes. "What're you doing here and how much is it gonna cost me to find out?"

Nabiki laughed. "This one'll be free of charge. I'm here visiting my sister."

"Your sis-? You're related to Akane?" He asked, surprised.

"We have the same last name, don't we?" Nabiki mocked.

"Okay… How do you guys know each other?" Akane asked.

"Nabiki worked with us for a while." Ranma answered.

"She did?" Ryoga asked. "Nabiki worked for a taxi company? What the hell?"

"No." Nabiki said. "I worked with them. Not with the cab company."

"Okay, who's 'them'?" Akane inquired.

"The other people with Jusenkyo curses." Ranma replied and without further explanation, changed the subject to the taxi sitting in the driveway. Realizing that they were late, Akane and Ryoga hurried into the car. Nabiki decided to come along as well, saying she had something to discuss with her dear friend, Ranma. After that statement, Ranma started sweating and buried his wallet farther into his pocket.

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After leaving the two teenagers at school, Nabiki leaned forward, making Ranma sweat even more.

"So…" Ranma started, desperate to distract Nabiki's mind. "How's Dr. Tofu. We haven't seen him in a while."

"No, you haven't. I hear your opponents keep getting weaker as of late." Nabiki drawled.

"Yeah, well, we hope it's cause they're dieing off, and not 'cause they're trying to catch us off guard with a really strong demon." They pulled into the company lot and exited the car. "I'm guessing you wanna see the rest of them." Nabiki nodded.

They walked into the building and the desk clerks quivered in fear from Nabiki's prowess. "Man, am I glad you're on our side and not against us." Ranma muttered, seeing Nabiki's power.

"Aiya!" Shampoo exclaimed, seeing the well-known brunette. Mousse's eyes widened and he smiled at her.

"Hello." Nabiki grinned. "So… how're thing's going?"

"Well enough." Mousse said.

"What I wanna know," Ranma began, leveling Nabiki with a glare, "is why you never informed us about your sister's friend?"

"What you talking about, Ranma?" Shampoo asked.

"Oh, you mean Ryoga?" Nabiki asked casually.

"Yes, Ryoga. He has a Jusenkyo curse and you never even mentioned him!"

"Jusenkyo curse? Who is he?" Mousse inquired.

"Ryoga Hibiki. Turns into a pig."

"Does he have the same power?"

"No. He doesn't know anything about you guys."

"He better not." Ranma glared.

"You don't trust me?" Nabiki asked threateningly.

"Give me one reason why I should."

"I haven't exposed you, have I?"

"That's out of fear, not kindness."

"Fear? You think I would be scared of the king?"

"Of course. You know what he would do to you if word got out."

"You-"

"SHUT UP!" Mousse roared.

Shampoo sighed. "What it matter? If he no have deal with the king, then he no matter."

"Yeah." Mousse agreed. "We could easily beat him."

Ranma growled, but backed off. Nabiki smirked at him.

"Why don't we go see him this afternoon?" Shampoo suggested. Nabiki lost the smirk.

"Fine." She responded. "He and Akane are coming over to the family house today."

"Great." Ranma grinned. "We can go see the Doc then, too." The others nodded and went back to their own business until the evening.

How do you like it so far? Review with your comments, please.