DISCLAIMER: "Ranma 1/2" is the property of Rumiko Takahashi, Kitty Productions, and Viz Communications.

**********

UPON ETHEREAL WINGS By Michael "TheZorch" Haney

**********

[ ] = Telepathic communication. " " = Spoken communication.

**********

Chapter Three

Shampoo stretched luxuriously in her futon and sat up to look out her bedroom window at the clear blue sky outside. She felt better today than she ever had in years. Shampoo quickly got up, folded up the blankets, and then the futon mat so she could put them in the corner. That done, she rushed to the closet and pulled out an outfit to wear and her bath supplies. Today she had to do a lot of preparations, today was the six month anniversary of Big Brother Ranma and Big Sister Akane's wedding.

In the aftermath of her exile, at Ranma insistence, Shampoo lost all status among the Nyanchiczu. Thus, she was as an outsider female. To the council of elders she was dead, therefore Shampoo could never return to Joketsuzoku or face execution for failing to marry Saotome Ranma. Shampoo had no family in Japan, nowhere to call home. The only people she knew were Ranma and Akane, and she had just tried to tear them apart and force Ranma to love her. But, Ranma proved to be more compassionate than anyone ever expected and thus he saved her from her terrible fate. Akane and Ranma took Shampoo in at the Tendo dojo, despite the resistance from Akane's father Tendo Soun, but in time he accept the presence of the Chinese girl who tried to murder his youngest daughter.

After the wedding, which was a very simple ceremony attended by just the family, Shampoo, and Dr. Tofu, the new Saotome couple convince Saotome Genma and Nodoka to accept Shampoo into the family as a Saotome by formal adoption. This made Shampoo a part of the family and sister to Ranma. It was the happiest and saddest day of Shampoo's life. On one hand she was overjoyed at being a member of Ranma's family, but on the other hand she was envious of Tendo Akane who was able to share in his life in ways that Shampoo could not. The ex-Amazon grew to love Akane as a sister in time, and she started to refer to her as her "big sister". Happiness finally returned to Shampoo's life, she had a new reason to live and be happy for the first time in a very long time. She was worried though, certain individuals in Nerima were still oblivious to the fact that the two were married. Shampoo was not sure what Kuno, Kodachi, or Ukyo would do once they learned the truth.

Meanwhile, Akane's training under Lady Ambrosia continued in earnest.

* * *

"Concentrate on the water in the cup, imagine in your mind's eye the billions of molecules which make up the water." Lady Ambrosia said softly. She, Akane, and Ranma sat in the Tendo sitting room together. A single cup of ordinary cold tap water sat in front of Akane and at present she was looking at it intently.

"I can see it." Akane replied. "There's so many of them." The clear water to her perspective took on a completely different appearance. She could see billions of tiny clumps of matter floating around one another, colliding and rebounding off one another slowly.

"Good, now will them to move." Lady Ambrosia told her.

"They're already moving." Akane said without looking up at her sensai.

"Will them to move, faster." the Amazon said, rephrasing what she said before.

At first nothing happened. Then, bubbles began to form on the surface of the water, then more bubbles, and finally a few whiffs of steam. The tiny 'things' in Akane's perspective were moving about so fast she could hardly concentrate on them.

"Hey, Akane, you're finally boiling water without burning down the kitchen." Ranma teased her playfully.

Akane looked away form the cup for a second just long enough to shift her attention and refocus her mind on something else. Out in the yard a small pebble rose into the air and hung there for several seconds unnoticed by anyone in the house. Suddenly, it shot towards the open shogi doors and struck Ranma in the back of the head.

"OUCH!"

"Baka."

Ranma shot the ancient Amazon a scathing look as she covered her mouth trying to hold off a chuckle. "I suppose I was asking for that." he said.

Akane glanced from the now boiling water to smirk at her husband and said, "I'll make it up to you tonight."

"I'm counting on it." Ranma smirked back.

"You are such a pervert."

Ranma laughed. "HA! That coming from a girl who likes to do it with me in both forms, now who's the pervert?"

"Ah! Ah! Now is not the time for this romantic banter you two." Lady Ambrosia said clapping her hands. "This is serious training."

"Sorry sensai." Akane nodded towards the woman.

"Well, I think that's enough for this morning." the ancient Weaver said with a smile. "We'll pick this up later after lunch." With a wink towards Akane the old woman stood up and walked towards the kitchen.

Akane turned her attention towards Ranma who flinched away a little when he got a load of her expression. "That little comment you just made Ranma." she said. "You know I gotta punish you for it now, don't you."

"Y-Y-Yeah." Ranma nodded fearfully.

Akane got up quietly and walked over to one of the bookshelves in the room. She turned around quickly holding four long feathers in each hand between each of the fingers of her fists.

"NO NOT THAT!" Ranma cried.

"Mwahahahahaha!" Akane cackled. "Stand still and take your punishment!"

"YIKES!" Ranma cried out as Akane ran towards him. He leapt into the back yard and tripped over something. He looked down and saw that he had tripped over the hose for the yard sprinkler, but it was now hovering up off the ground.

"Hey, that's cheating!" Ranma yelled as he rolled with the fall and landed on his back.

"HA! Take this!" Akane cried when she finally reached him. "Kachuu Tenshin Amaguriken!"

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! STOP! HAHAHAHAHA! I CAN'T TAKE IT! I'M TICKLISH THERE! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

"Geeze, I liked it better when she was just hitting him." Nabiki slurred tiredly as she came down the steps and into the sitting room.

Lady Ambrosia smiled at them from the kitchen. She was happy to see the couple getting along so well. It was a very different contrast from what she heard about them before Ranma faced Prince Herb. Nothing much changed in the lives of the two teenagers after the weeding other than the fact that Ranma and Akane shared the same bedroom now, Shampoo slept in Ranma's old room and was now officially his sister, and Ranma's father and mother slept in the dojo. The untamed chaos that seemed to surround Ranma's life seemed to have ebbed, but only for a fleeting moment. As she poured the rice into the electric rice cooker Lady Ambrosia felt a presence outside. She reached out with her highly tuned senses. She knew her apprentice would not be sensitive enough yet to detect the presence. Whoever it was they were making themselves very hard to locate, but Lady Ambrosia zeroed in on him easily despite his efforts to mask his aura. She regarded this stranger who spied upon the Tendo home, and more accurately the loving couple who were now kissing each other fervently on the ground. He was a curious thing, short and squat, dressed in the garb of the ninja but his face was not covered. In her mind's eye Lady Ambrosia received an impression of another person, the one whom this ninja answered to. He stood tall and proud donning the garb of the samurai of old and brandishing a wooden practice bokken. She felt pride, arrogance, and the complete lack of the ability to comprehend reality oozing from him. Of course, she knew who this person was, if you lived in the Tendo dojo long enough you would soon come to know almost all of Ranma's enemies. She knew the little ninja from Akane's description of him; Sasuke. So, Lady Ambrosia did nothing to stop the little man from leaving the Tendo home after observing Akane and Ranma. It was time her pupil had a test of her new abilities, and a good confrontation with Kuno Tatawaki was in order. She smiled to herself for her ingenuity. Today was going to be very interesting.

***

To the outside world it looked like nothing changed between Akane and Ranma. Students on their way to school saw Ranma walking the fence with Akane down on the sidewalk beside him with Nabiki bringing up the rear. Nobody had seen the pair take off their weeding bands and hide them in special secret pockets that Kasumi had sewn into their clothes. The two did not like having to hide the truth, they wanted to be together, to hand hands as walked down the street, but it was too dangerous right now. The issue of Shampoo was no longer an issue anymore, but there was still Kuno, Kodachi, and Ukyo to contend with. The first two, Ranma knew, would be the worst to deal with, but in his heart Ranma dreaded the day Ukyo found out the truth. He did not love her in the way she wanted him to, he loved her like as a friend and nothing more. She had a legitimate claim to him because of his baka father, but with the marriage that was a moot point right now. Ukyo, however, did not know this. Neither Ranma nor Akane could bring themselves to believe Ukyo would ever do anything drastic if she learned the truth, but the Kuno siblings were another matter altogether.

"It cannot be!" Kuno roared as he grabbed a frightened Sasuke by the front of his ninjitsu outfit. Other students in the front grounds of Furinken High School gave them just a cursory glance. Little bursts of rage from Kuno like this were common place at school. The deranged wannabe samurai would learn some news about Ranma or Akane and have a short temper tantrum. Today was not going to be different.

"I swear it on my honor, master!" Sasuke replied in a frightened voice. "I saw the Lady Akane and the foul Saotome kissing this morning at the Tendo dojo."

Kuno flung the little man to the ground, to Sasuke's relief, and raised his fist in rage. "Saotome." Kuno hissed through clenched teeth. "So the evil grip of your dark magic over Akane's heart has grown stronger. This I will not allow to continue any longer." He took a gallant pose hold his bokken aloft. "I shall rain down the punishment of heaven upon thee Saotome Ranma!" he cried and blue lightning flashed in the background behind him.

***

Ranma looked up at the sky and at the dark clouds gathering on the horizon and sighed. "Aw man, its gonna rain today." he said. "And I forgot the umbrellas."

Akane shielded her eyes with her hand and looked up at the sky. "That's funny, the news this morning didn't say anything about rain." she said.

"Let's just get to school before it starts pouring and we can worry about it after we get inside." Nabiki said.

"You're right, Nabiki." Akane said.

***

Back at the Tendo dojo Lady Ambrosia and Kasumi were doing the morning dishes. She dried them after Kasumi washed them and put them up in the cupboards. She took a teacup off the rack that Kasumi had just watched and began to dry it. Suddenly, a powerful sensation ran through her body. Lady Ambrosia gasped and dropped the cup and drying rag as she fell down to one knee. Kasumi whirled around at the noise and rushed to the older woman's side.

"Lady Ambrosia, are you alright?" Kasumi asked her with concern.

"No, no it's too soon." Lady Ambrosia said as she gasped for air.

"What's wrong, what is too soon?" Kasumi asked, now gravely concerned. "Father, Mrs. Saotome, I need your help-"

The older woman stood up and put her hand on Kasumi's shoulder. "I'm fine Kasumi dear." she said but still looked flushed.

"What happened?" Kasumi asked her.

Lady Ambrosia looked out the window at the darkening sky and said, "Something I hadn't been expecting. I had intended to test my apprentice this day, but not quite like this."

"Whatever is the matter Kasumi dear?" Nodoka asked as she ran into the kitchen.

"It is alright Mrs. Saotome, I am fine." Lady Ambrosia said waving to the woman. "Kasumi is a sweet child, she just got a little over concerned for this old woman. How clumsy of me to drop this teacup." She bent down and picked up the piece of the broken cup. Her eyes closed in concentration for a moment and before their eyes the cup began to form back together. "There, good as new." she said and put it up in the cupboard.

***

"Why did I feel a cold shiver just now?, Akane asked herself out loud as they reached the gates of Furinken High. It was the most eerie feeling Akane had ever felt, like a sense of foreboding or dread. She looked at the darkening sky and could not help feel a chill run through her body all the way to her bones despite the fact that it was quite warm out.

"You alright Akane?" Ranma asked her.

"Something's wrong." she said.

"SAOTOME YOU FIEND!"

The turned to regard the rampaging Kendoist. It was almost a daily ritual for them to go through Kuno's jealous rages. Ranma was about to deliver one of his usually verbal quips at the wannabe samurai which usually ended up pissing Kuno off, but he did not get the chance this time. Ranma leapt backwards in a somersault to avoid getting hit by the boy's rapid bokken strikes.

"RELEASE AKANE FROM YOUR FOUL SPELL OR DIE!" Kuno roared.

"What are you talking about?" Ranma asked him as he easily avoided the bokken strikes. Kuno lunged putting all of his strength and speed into the move, but his bokken succeeded only in slicing through thin air where Ranma had been standing a split second before.

"My loyal retainer Sasuke witnessed the whole vile affair himself!" Kuno hissed in rage. "How dare you place your lips upon the fair Akane!"

Akane's eyes bulged. "Sasuke saw us this morning?" she breathed in surprise. She looked over at her sister who shrugged her shoulders.

Oh great, now how do I handle this?, Ranma asked himself. They had been putting on an act that he and Akane did not like one another, but was become increasingly difficult for them. The two did not want to hide that they were truly in love, but fools like Kuno made it unfortunately necessary. The pigtailed boy glanced over at Akane who nodded her head once at him, then he turned his attention back to the enraged Kendoist.

"I ain't got no idea what you're talking about Kuno." Ranma replied angrily.

"You deny that you had your lips on Akane!" Kuno screamed with defiant rage. That yell, Akane suddenly noticed with a feeling of dread, was starting to attract a large crowd of students. She could hear them murmuring all sorts of things about what they just heard. Akane sigh, not because of the rumors that would be flying around campus now, but because it was probably going to cost a pretty penny to get Nabiki to work on damage control.

"Why would I wanna kiss that violent tomboy!?" Ranma yelled back at him. Those words had come so easily to him in the past, but now he had to force them out. They hurt Akane so much, but that was in the past and she knew they were empty words now. This was a game they had to play to keep the Kunos and anyone who would be a major problem from discovering the truth.

"How dare you speak of Akane like that!" Kuno slipped into a fighting stance and brought his bokken up into a ready position. "I shall smite you and free the fair Akane of your lecherousness!" With that said the wannabe samurai launched his attack. This time it was not the fast and precise moved he displayed while under the influence of the Comb of Suggestion. Kuno was in his usual form, pitiful as it was, and Ranma easily flowed around the sword blows as easily as water flowed around the rocks in a stream. Like in many of their fights, Ranma up ground to Kuno as the enraged boy chased him around the school yard. Eventually, Kuno ripped a huge gouge out of the wall surround the school yard and sliced a tree completely in half with little effort. A sound of thunder warned Ranma that rain was imminent and he did not want to be stuck in female form around this arrogant nut case. It was bad enough that he hated and wanted to kill the boy Saotome Ranma, but it was worse when he wanted to glomp his beloved "pigtailed girl".

Ranma changed the flow of the battle in an instant, switching from being on the defensive to being on the offensive. With one mighty leap, Ranma was flying over the heads of the gathered students. While airborne he had just enough time to see Nabiki and her girls working the crowd and taking bets. As he came down Kuno took a swing as him with his sword, if Ranma had been an ordinary man the swing would have cut him in half, but Ranma was not an ordinary man. Changing his center of gravity, Ranma shift around as he fell turning his body just enough to avoid the deadly bokken swing. He alighted to the ground just inches away from Kuno. The Kendoist barely has two seconds to react, but that was all Ranma needed. Using Amaguriken speed, Ranma hit two shiatsu points in succession; the first one was a temporary version of Happosai's moxibustion strength sapping technique, and the second was an instant sleep spot. The Kendoist who had been fighting Ranma with all his worth suddenly collapsed like a sack of potatoes.

"Gotta remember to thank the doc for showing me those pressure points." Ranma said to himself out loud as he looked down at his fallen rival.

***

"That was pretty close today." Akane said. She leaned against their usual tree at lunchtime out in the school grounds. The sky was still dark with gray clouds, but there had been no sign of rain at all the entire day. The couple had not wanted to spend lunch indoors at the off-chance someone would overhear their conversation. The one both of them were worried about the most was Kuonji Ukyo. The okonomiyaki chef, the couple noticed, was starting to get suspicious. It began when she discovered that the Nekohauten was closed down and the Amazons were gone. By accident Ukyo had learned that Shampoo was living at the Tendo dojo, but was unaware of the situation going on there. Her curiosity was peaked however, and keeping the secret of their marriage from Ukyo was going to get harder as time went by. Ranma and Akane saw no way out of it. One day soon they were going to have to tell her the truth, and Ranma was dreading that day for as soon as she finds out word will spread and every rival he has for Akane's hand will wage World War III on his head.

"Tell me about it." Ranma said. "But I'm really getting tired of having to hide that we're married. I'm not ashamed that we're together, I'm happy actually."

"Yeah, but we gotta keep it quiet or the Kunos will make our lives impossible." Akane said before taking a bite from her bento box. It was one of Shampoo's culinary creations this time, but neither of them were complaining. Shampoo was an excellent cook.

Ranma sighed, "Nothing worthwhile is ever easy, or so I've heard."

Akane smiled at him, "Since when did you become so philosophical?"

"Hey, I have been paying attention in class you know." he said.

Akane put her finger up to her lips and whispered, "Ukyo!"

"Ranma honey, Akane, hi!' the okonomiyaki chef called to them as she walked up. The girl, dressed in a boy's school uniform, knelled down and immediately began to assemble her portable grill.

"Hope you guys don't mind while I make some lunch." she said.

"We don't mind, Ucchan." Ranma said. Ukyo tried reading his tone but found no hidden meaning in it. She was getting nervous, ever since she found out that Shampoo was living with the Tendo family the chef knew something strange was happening. For one thing, Shampoo acted differently around Ranma than she usually did. Ukyo could not put her finger on it though, she needed more information before she could come to a conclusion, but the picture that was being painted so far was not in her opinion a pretty one.

"Go right ahead, me and Ranma just ate." Akane said.

Ukyo just smiled, "Oh, you and I both know Ranma honey can eat more than that, sugar."

"That's true, Ranma is a bottomless pit." Akane said.

"Hey." Ranma said with a hurt expression. Akane suppressed her smile when Ranma squeezed her hand in a way that Ukyo could not see. It was at that moment Akane decided to put some of her new powers to the test. Ukyo put lit the propane burners on her grill and was about to put the cooking surface down when Akane focused her thoughts. She manipulated the molecules of air around the grill, held them in place, and created an invisible membrane. The result, the flames had no more oxygen supply and winked out.

"What the-" Ukyo said as she watched the fire wink out.

"Problem?" Akane asked her. Ranma looked at her with a funny expression and Akane winked.

"That's funny, that never happened before." Ukyo said as she lit the flame again. This time Akane focused again, but drew the molecules in this time. She concentrated the oxygen molecules around the flame. The result, the small, controlled flames from the burners blow torched five feet into the air.

"YAH!" Ukyo shouted in surprise and leapt back to keep her hair from becoming a lit torch.

"How did that happen?" Ranma asked as his old friend shut off the gas and disconnected the propane bottle.

"Sorry, Ranma honey, looks like I gotta take my grill in to be fixed." Ukyo said apologetically. "I've never seen it do this before." She disassembled the grill within seconds, waved to her friends, and headed back into the school with a sulking expression.

"Bad Akane, bad." Ranma said playfully.

"Who me, did I do that?" Akane asked him with a very fake expression of innocence on her face.

Ranma laughed, "Hey, if you can do that to Ukyo I can just imagine what you can do to the old freak."

"Speaking of him, I haven't seen Happosai around lately." Akane said.

Ranma folded his arms behind his head and leaned against the tree. "I like it that way." he said. "I'd be happy if I never saw him again."

A peel of thunder from the sky startled the two. Ranma decided at that moment digressions was the better part of valor and the two made for the school. As they reached the doors the first rain drops fell. Ranma sighed with relief, at least it decided to rain after he got into the school and not before. He turned to Akane, about to ask her if she wanted to go someplace private to talk until lunch period was over, but the expression on her face made the hair on the back of his neck rise up on end.

"Akane?"

"Ranma, something is wrong." she said looking out into the rain. "I just had this feeling like someone was walking over my grave."

"I don't feeling anything." Ranma said.

"Something is out there." Akane said still looking out into the rain. "Something not human." The look on Akane's face filled Ranma with dread. He understood the nature of Akane's special training, and Lady Ambrosia made it clear that Akane was going to become extra sensitive to the supernatural.

"Do ya wanna go home?" he asked her. "You look white as a sheet, Akane."

Akane reached out for his hand and squeezed it. "I'm scared." she said. "It's close, I can feel it, and it knows I'm here."

"What is it?" Ranma asked her.

Akane shook her head, "I don't know, but I don't think its friendly."

"Ok, that's it, we're going home." Ranma decided and lead Akane out into the rain. Immediately he felt the change, and soon anyone who had been noticing would have seen Akane and a redheaded girl running away from the school hand in hand. Indeed someone did notice the two from her classroom window, and she found it unusual that a couple who claimed not to be a couple would run off together holding hands. She had been watching the pair for some time from the sidelines, watching Ranma's fights, watching Akane's reaction to Ranma's other iinazuke and the girl from the ramen restaurant, and how the two acted around each other when they thought nobody else was watching. But, someone was watching, and taking notes.

Ikari Masuka took out her special notebook and wrote this little tidbit of information down with the rest of what she had been gathering about Furinken High's most popular couple. She noticed she was about to fill this one up with her latest observations, and she had ten more like it hidden away for safe keeping. One of her subordinate walked up to her and handed her a clipboard. She was a pretty girl with dark brown hair done up in two ponytails that hung down to the middle of her back. Masuka, compared to the girl, was a ravishing beauty with long lustrous black hair, jade green eyes, and a very ample chest. She knew she was beautiful and used her good looks to get what she wanted. Masuka was accustomed to getting what she wanted when she wanted it and if that meant putting out on occasion, so be it. It was a wonder the girl did not have a reputation, but most guys who played beneath the sheets with her were too afraid of her afterward to say anything. Life would have been perfect here for Masuka in such a target rich environment like Furinken High, but she was not the only shark in the water.

"How bad does it look, Takari?" Masuka asked the girl.

"Nabiki beat us to the punch again this morning." the girl said sadly as she handed the clipboard to Masuka. "We managed to make about ten thousand, but we estimate Nabiki must have pulled about forty thousand."

Masuka groaned and said, "Damn."

"She's really got a big advantage over us, being Tendo Akane's sister and all." the girl said. Masuka had arrived at Furinken as a transfer student from Juuban, and it was rumored that the student from her old school held a huge party to celebrate her leaving. She was like Nabiki, she loved money, and was willing to do just about anything to get it. Masuka was a bit different from Nabiki in some ways, unlike the middle Tendo sister she was willing to sleep with someone to get her way. Usually, Masuka used sex as blackmail. She's find a cute, rich boy who had a girlfriend who was also really cute, she'd seduce him into a one night stand while her cohorts videotaped the whole erotic affair, then turn around the fleece the guy for nearly everything he had in payment to stay quiet about it. In this respect, Masuka was worse than Nabiki, but the one thing she lacked that Nabiki had was cunning. Nabiki stayed one step ahead of her competition in nearly everything at Furinken but the blackmail department. Masuka's motives were power and money, Nabiki's motives were the same thing but she also did what she did for her family and put most of the money she made towards keeping the bills paid and food on the table. Nabiki was simply the more nobler of the two evils.

"And, it don't help that we don't have anything on her either." Masuka sighed. "We could have used what we knew about Ranma's curse, but now everybody in the school knows except that harebrained rich kid who thinks he's a samurai."

"What about the 'Project'?" Takari asked her, whispering the word "Project".

"I think we have enough info to go ahead with it." Masuka said quietly. "Get that hacker sister of yours on this for me, I need it in five days." She wrote a short note on a piece of paper and discreetly passed it over to Takari. The girl looked at and blanched.

"Boss, we could get 'real' hard time if we're caught doing this." she said.

"Please, you and I both know your sister could hack into that system in her sleep and be out before anybody noticed anyone broke in." Masuka said shaking her head.

"But, this is the government." Takari said pointing at the paper.

"I need that information, without it the 'Project' is dead in the water and Nabiki will continue to walk all over us." Masuka looked at her angrily.

Takari folded up the paper and tucked it into her purse. "Ok, what if she gets the info and we don't get caught?" Takari asked. "It could still backfire on us, Nabiki is as a threat is one thing, but I really don't wanna piss off that Saotome."

"Don't worry, if what I suspect is going on is what really is going on he won't dare do a thing to us." Masuka said with a wicked smirk. "But this time next week we'll have Nabiki working for us, and Ranma will be our bread winner." She gave a short maniacal laugh drawing worried and frightened looks from her other classmates. When Masuka laughed about something, it usually meant somebody was going to get hurt.

***

The streets of Nerima were deserted as the rain full. Shoppers went indoors to get out of the rain, children looked out their windows in dismay that their play had to interrupted by Mother Nature. The only two who were running about on the street was a girl in a Furinken High School uniform and a beautiful redhead girl wearing Chinese clothes. The couple ran hand in hand, with every step Akane's new awareness of the universe around her was screaming out to her. The messages she was getting were not good. Even Ranma, who had felt nothing at first, was now starting to sense something. Her danger sense was picking up something at the edge of her perception that was not kosher. The last time this happened was when she faced off against Herb, but this time around it did not feel like the sex changing prince of the Musk. This was something alien, something unnatural, something evil beyond description.

"This is nuts!" Ranma yelled over the sound of the rain. "I can feel it but I can't tell where its at!"

"Its close!" Akane said while looking around in fright.

"What is it?" Ranma asked her.

Akane shook her head, "I don't know."

They were only two blocks from the dojo when something made the hairs on the back of Ranma's head stand up on end. Whatever it was, "it" was in front of them. She looked down the sidewalk and could just see the front gates to the Tendo dojo, but not far ahead of them she noticed a small figure. It was a little girl dressed in a frilly white dress with her long blond hair tied back with a white bow. She stood there barefoot on the sidewalk with the raining pouring down around her. Ranma did a double take, why was a little girl making her danger sense go crazy? She looked to be no more than ten or twelve years of age.

Ranma looked at Akane to read her reaction. The youngest Tendo sister was transfixed with fear. Ranma could feel from her grasp of Akane's hand that the girl was shivering. The evil she felt coming off of that little girl was almost a physical force washing up against her like fierce waves from a hurricane.

[Akane, remember what I have taught you.]

She heard in her mind the sound of Lady Ambrosia's voice which quickly put Akane at ease, and like she had been instructed Akane performed the quick meditation technique to help her find her focus.

[That's it, you can do this my dear.] she heard Lady Ambrosia say. [I will be here, do not worry. Ranma must NOT attack her, he will die if he does.]

"Akane?" Ranma came around and looked at her trying to shake her out of her trance.

"Ranma, you can't interfere, you gotta stay back no matter what happens." Akane said looking into Ranma's beautiful blue eyes.

"Don't interfere in what?" Ranma asked a bit annoyed that Akane would ask him not to get involved in something that concerned her. Ranma's protectiveness over Akane was in full force.

"Please, Lady Ambrosia said you can't get involved." Akane said and stepped around Ranma. The redhead turned to ask her a question about what meant by that when she noticed the little girl was no longer way down the street but only a few paces away from them. A chill ran down Ranma's back when her eyes met the little girl's. They were not human eyes, they looked human, but they had an intense inhuman coldness to them that filled her with loathing.

"So, you are the one I felt." the little girl said in perfect Nihongo with a distinctively British accent. "I'm a bit disappointed." Her tone was emotionless.

"Who are you?" Akane asked her.

"I am a messenger." the little girl replied. "I've come, Tendo Akane, to tell you something." She knows Akane's name?, Ranma gasped silently.

"What message would that be?" Akane asked her.

The little girl did not smile or make any sign of emotion in her face. Only those cold emotionless eyes seemed to cut into Akane's soul. "The message I bring, Tendo Akane, " the girl said, "Is that it is time for you to be reunited with your mother."

Akane gasped, "M-M-My mother?"

"Yes, your mother." the girl said. "You do want to see her?"

"Yes, I do." Akane replied excitedly.

"Then go to her." the girl said then swung her hand in the air in front of her. An invisible force suddenly struck Akane and Ranma with incredible power. The couple flew high into the air. As they tumbled Ranma grabbed a screaming Akane and positioned herself so she would take the blunt of the impact when they landed. Ranma groaned when they finally slammed into the side of a house buckling the wooden joists.

"Ugh, what the hell hit us?" Ranma asked.

"You're both still alive." came the voice of the little girl. Ranma looked up and saw she was right there in front of them. "I underestimated your resilience."

"What the hell are you!?" Ranma roared as she lunged at the little girl. Ranma was mad, this was not a child, this was some kind of thing in the guise of a child and she was going to pound it into dust. Ranma's fist never hit its mark, the little girl pointed her finger at the redhead then swept her hand towards the street. Ranma cried as she was torn away from Akane and thrown into the house across the street with enough force to send her smashing through the wall.

"Now, your mother is waiting." the little girl said to Akane.

"GO TO HELL!" Akane screamed and reached out with her new powers as she had been trained. She threw her hands forward as if performing Ranma's chi technique, but instead a stream of superheated molecules erupted from between her palms and struck the thing that looked like a little girl. The plasma that was composed of air molecules had been superheated in an instant by Akane's Weaver abilities. The temperature of the gel-like, superheated substance was the same as the surface of the sun, but Akane did not feel any heat at all. The thing that looked like a child, however, was not so lucky. Her supple white flesh instantly turned black then evaporated in the intensity of the heat. An inhuman scream came form her small mouth as she fell back onto the ground.

Across the street Ranma pulled herself out of the ruined house and watched the tail end of Akane's devastating attack. She heard the inhuman scream and cried out to Akane triumphantly. Her glee suddenly turned to dread as the body of the little girl writhed and began to morph before her eyes into a new form. Akane took that moment to make a run for it, and she met Ranma in the middle of the street. Where the little girl has been laying on the ground there was now a thing out of their worst nightmares. It stood almost as tall as Pantyhose Taro in his curse form, but was nearly ten times uglier. The thing reminded Ranma of the tentacle rape demons from the manga Nabiki liked to read. Its skin, if it could be called that, was black and shined as if it was slick with some oozing substance. The body was like that of a man, but in place of arms and legs were bundles of black tentacles. The head was elongated into a snout lined with vicious teeth, those same emotionless eyes, and a pair of wicked horns that appeared to be made of clear crystal. The entire vision was like a maniac's nightmare come to life.

"What the hell is that thing!?" Ranma cried.

"Now, I am angry." the thing said in a voice that was inhuman, guttural and filled with undisguised malice. "I was going to make your deaths painless, but now I've changed my mind."

[Akane, don't loose your focus!] Lady Ambrosia warned her in her mind. [Remember what you are, this is the reason why I've been training you.]

[What is it?] Akane asked her.

[That is for another time.] the Amazon replied. [This foe is beyond Ranma's skill, but he will insist on attacking it to protect you. You must not allow that, or it will kill him as easily as one will kills a fly.] Akane's heart leapt into her throat, but she knew what she had to do. Altering the flow of time was something Lady Ambrosia had only begin to teach her, and Akane did so as she turned around and touched Ranma's sleep spot on her neck. To Ranma, her wife moved with unimaginable speed, then the dumbing bliss of sleep flood her perception.

"Forgive me." Akane said as she eased Ranma to the ground.

"I'm the one you want!" Akane yelled at the monster as she ran away from Ranma's sleeping form. "Come and get me if you dare!"

The thing roared shattering every glass window on the street and with a speed that was not to be believed it lunged at Akane. The young Weaver in training fought hard to keep her focus on her fledgling powers, again she influenced the flow of time around herself. The monster's whipping tentacles came at her, but with time altered she was able to evade them easily. Adjusting the pull of gravity around herself, Akane gained the ability to leap high into the air like her almost superhuman husband. This dodging of attacks went on for several minutes until Akane managed to get some distance away from the thing and also managed to draw it away from both Ranma and her home.

"You are good." the thing said. "But how long can you keep it up."

Akane struggled with ideas on how to kill this thing quickly and get back to Ranma. She thought back to her earlier attack with the plasma, but decided to make a few changes to it. The one thing that Lady Ambrosia drilled into her every day was that the power of a Weaver was limited only by their imagination and their endurance. Focusing on using the Gift to manipulate the Etherium took a great deal out of a person. Akane was only getting warmed up, but she was new to the Weavercraft. The monster found Akane standing at the edge of a small wooded park. With human glee the thing lunged at her, but suddenly found itself encapsulated in some sort of force bubble.

"Long enough to kick your ass!" Akane replied. The air trapped inside of the bubble shift temperature from seventy eight degrees to three thousand degrees within one second. The tentacled monster screamed in an agonized high pitched cry as it was engulfed within a mass of blue gel-like plasma that burned at the temperature of the sun's surface. When the thing inside stopped moving and making noises Akane let go, the bubble vanished, and the air instantly return to its previous temperature. What fell to the ground was a smoldering black mass of filth that smelled like something from a landfill.

"That was easy." Akane sighed and wiped the sweat from her brow.

She started towards where she left Ranma when movement caught her attention. She turned towards the thing she thought was dead, but to her horror it was moving. A horribly burned and maimed version of the monster rose up from the ground and slowly crawled towards her using what was left of its tentacles.

"OH MY KAMI-SAMA!" Akane screamed in terror.

[To kill it you must take its head Akane, you must take its head or it will not die!] the Amazon Weaver's voice cried out in her mind.

How the hell am I supposed to do that?, Akane asked herself as the thing slowly closed on her. The thing was almost on top of her but she was frozen in spot by fright. Akane tried to gain her focus and struggled around the fear that paralyzed her. The monster stopped its forward crawl and struggled to lift itself up and bring its head to bare against her. As if by instinct, Akane felt the Gift within her awaken, she cried out as the thing bore down on her and swung her hand out towards the thing. Extending from her hand was a thin line of air molecules. This mono molecular whip, the width of just one molecule, cut into the charred flesh of the monster without any effort. In an instant the whip cut through the monster's neck, and for a moment the thing just stopped there motionless. Suddenly, a bright burst of green light erupted from the cut line on the monster's neck, and then the entire thing itself exploded it in a burst of green light. Akane screamed as she was thrown into the air by the shockwave. Before passing out she could see the explosion tear through several homes down at ground level like a small nuclear blast.

"AKANE!"

Ranma pushed against the force of the blast and launched herself into the air with all the strength she could muster. Her mind was still clouded a bit from being sent into a sleep by a shiatsu technique, but her body was used to such attacks and recovered much sooner than she should have. Ranma intercepted Akane as the girl was falling and alighted with her in her arms on the grass of the park. The redhead turned around towards where the monster had been and now saw only a smoldering crater about the size of a large house.

"She'll be fine, she's just exhausted from overdoing her powers." Ranma looked up to see the smiling face of Lady Ambrosia looking down at Akane.

"You could have helped her!" Ranma yelled at her as she held Akane close to her protectively. "And what was all that about me not getting involved!?"

"That 'thing' would have torn you apart before you even had a chance to lay a fist on it, Ranma." the Amazon Weaver explained. "Akane was the only one best equipped to deal with it. And besides, I was with her the entire time, if I thought she was in any real danger I would have stepped in."

"Ok, then answer this," Ranma said angrily, "What the fucking hell was that monster?"

Lady Ambrosia knelt down and touch Ranma's shoulder. "There were some things I have been keeping from the two of you, but now it is necessary that you know the truth." she said. "They are coming much sooner than I had expected."

"What's coming!?" Ranma demanded.

"They have been here before, they bring death with them where ever they go, they fear no one, and they have no respect for life." she said with an expression that set the hairs on the back of Ranma's head on end. "They are the bringers of doom spoken of in our ancient texts, they are an enemy the likes of which you have never faced before Saotome Ranma. They are the Darkness, and they are coming."

***

Akane's eyes fluttered open and the first thing she saw was the ceiling of her and Ranma's bedroom. Memories of her battle came flooding back and she sat up quickly looking around in alarm. The sight of Ranma, in male form, sleeping in her desk chair next to the bed filled her heart with warmth. He was leaning over onto the bed, his head laying next to her. She reached out and softly ran her fingers through his hair.

"Ranma?" she said softly, hoping he would wake up.

"Let him sleep child, he's had a very trying day." Akane looked to her bedroom door at the smiling Amazon Weaver as she came in carrying a tray.

"He isn't the only one." Akane replied.

"I am proud of you." the old woman said with a smile. "Never before has a Weaver in training accomplished what you have this day."

"Sensei, what was that thing?" Akane asked her.

Lady Ambrosia unfolded the legs on the bottom of the tray and sat it in front of her apprentice. Akane's mouth watered when the smell of Kasumi's wonderful cooking assaulted her nostrils. For some reason she could not understand she was ravenous with hunger and immediately tore into the meal.

"There are some things I have been keeping from the two of you." the old Weaver admitted. "At the time I thought it best that you did not know, but even I did not anticipate that this would happen so soon."

"Was that thing the reason why you're training me?" Akane asked her after taking a long swig of tea.

"That creature is but one of millions that will soon be arriving here." Lady Ambrosia said.

"M-M-Millions?" Akane almost dropped her tea cup when she heard that.

"They are the reason why I am training you." the old Weaver admitted. "They have been here before many times, but in each instance the Weavers were there to stop them. Recently our numbers have been decreasing, we Weavers live longer than most, but we are not immortal, and fewer and fewer children from each generation are being born with the gift. Among my people there are perhaps only five Weavers and three currently in training."

"What are those things?" Akane asked her.

"Their true name is unknown to us, when the Elo'Quin came to teach us the way of the Weaver they called them the Darkness." Lady Ambrosia said. "They come from another reality, they have caused the total destruction of countless civilizations in a countless number of alternate universes. A Darkling, which is what you killed today, is invulnerable to all forms of mundane attack. Only an attack performed while manipulating the Etherium can harm them. That is why Ranma would have been doomed if he attacked it."

Akane looked down at Ranma's sleeping face and softly caressed his skin. "What do they want?" she asked.

"They are vampires." Akane looked up at her in surprise. "Not vampires in the sense that you know. They do not feed upon the blood of the living, and they are not undead. They seek out and feed upon the life essence of living beings. When the Darkness strikes, they have been known to literally drain the very life force from an entire world killing every living thing on the planet form the largest beast to the smallest microbial life form."

"I hit with everything I had, but it still lived." Akane said. "Why is it that cutting off their head is the only way?"

"Darklings are resilient monsters, they can survive literally anything." Lady Ambrosia said. "But cutting off their head disrupts the flow of energy through their bodies and causes a kind of energy loop back effect that builds up energy. Eventually, this enormous mass of energy seeks release, and thus you get the explosion you witnessed when the thing died."

Akane looked at her, "They don't all die like that do they?"

The old Weaver nodded, "I have killed many myself, and they all die like that. The oldest of them known as Ancients die in massive blasts that could destroy many city blocks."

"You fought them before?" Akane asked her.

"Yes, the last time they were here me and my sister Weavers fought them." Lady Ambrosia nodded. "That more than five thousand years ago."

Akane gasped, "How old are you really, sensei?"

"I once went by another name long ago." the old woman admitted. "When my Weaver abilities began to awaken I was among the first to meet the Elo'Quin who came. They taught me and many others among my people the way of the Weaving. After that, I knew that we had to stay together so I aided in establishing the civilization that would come to be know as the Amazons. We would be keepers of the knowledge of Weaving and be the guardians of human kind when the Darkness came."

"What was your name then?" Akane asked her curiously.

Lady Ambrosia looked her in the eye and said, "Shampoo."

Akane's mouth feel open in absolute shock, she looked this old woman over again and tried to imagine her at a much younger age. It was obvious that she had once been incredibly beautiful in her younger years, and still held much of her beauty in the twilight of her days. Slowly, an image began to form in Akane's mind. The vision of Shampoo's face superimposed over Lady Ambrosia, and the two were too much alike to be coincidence.

"H-H-H-How?" Akane asked in a weak voice.

"For now Big Sister, it is not necessary for you to know the how, or the way." the ancient version of Shampoo said. "Know that I am who I say I am, and that it is necessary that you not discuss this with anyone, especially Ranma. You must promise me to keep this a secret."

Akane nodded, "Alright, but Shampoo-"

The elderly Shampoo put her finger to Akane's lips and said, "No more questions today. Be at ease and rest, for we have little time left until the Darkness comes. Our training will intensify starting tomorrow after school. Are you willing to continue?"

Akane nodded. "Good, now eat." Lady Ambrosia/Shampoo told her. She stood up and left the room. Before closing the door she looked back at the youngest Tendo girl who was looking at her with a haunted expression. "Too many revelations in one day, child?" she asked her. "Prepare yourself, Tendo Akane, for this is nothing compared to what is coming."

**********

Coming up in Chapter Four

Akane has had her first encounter with a Darkling and it has become clear that the arrival of a full-scale invasion force is imminent. Lady Ambrosia steps up Akane's training, but a new complication arises to cause trouble. Ranma has the fight of his life on his hands when Kuno and Ryoga join forces with a gang Akane's admirers from Furinken High after someone spreads the news that he and Akane are really married. And what about Ukyo and Kodachi, what will their reacts be? Stay tuned.

Moko Takabisha Bakusai Tenketsu Nyanchiczu Kachuu Tenshin Amaguriken Umisenken Yamasenken Joketsuzoku Hiryu Shoten Ha Xi Fang Gao