Hello readers, I'm back once again. Right now, I'm listening to the intro of the Thundercats cartoon and it's gotten me in a mood. Dunno what mood, but a mood non-the-less. I won't bother with reviewers in this chapter, cause not many said useful things or asked questions. Well, they did say useful things, but not enough of them to write a lot about it. Anyway, let's jump to the votes, shall we?

Nabiki: 19
Kasumi: 17
Pluto/Setsuna: 12 ( This is SOOOO not gonna happen!!)
Rogue (X-Men Evolution): 6
Akane (IF she SERIOUSLY changes): 4 -- Mercury/Ami: 4 -- Saturn/Hotaru: 4
Lina Inverse: 3
Belldandy: 2 -- Nina (Breath of Fire 2): 2
Mara: 1
Blue (Breath of Fire): 1
Katt: 1
Any of the Tenchi girls: 1
Tsunami: 1
Tokimi: 1
Ukyo: 1
Shampoo: 1
Sailor Moon/Usagi: 1
Grown up Chibi Moon/Usa: 1
Gina Diggers: 1
Ceres Victoria: 1
Integra Helsing: 1
Sasami: 1

Looks like Nabiki is still on top. YAAY!! Sorry, it's just that I've been reading some Ranma/Nabiki fics lately and I like them. Ok, I said it in the previous chapter and I'll say it again. THERE WILL BE NO RANMA/SETSUNA COUPLE IN THIS STORY!!!!!!!!!! I don't know why you people keep voting for her, but I suppose you have your reasons. Anyway, I don't have anything against Setsuna, but there simply won't be a relationship with her in this story.

Let's get started with the story itself shall we?

Avatar of Chaos

Chapter 4

Ranma found himself in the Shadow Realm again. After parting with Ryoga, he had gone inside the Tendo home and had avoided being detected by anyone. Then he'd asked Xion to transport him back to the Shadow Realm since it gave him privacy. Well, more so than the Tendo home, since he didn't know yet what really lurked in the Realm.

"Well, that's one problem that's hopefully solved." He commented.

"Maybe, maybe not." Answered Xion. "But there is something we need to talk about first."

"And I'm not gonna like it, am I?" Ranma asked. The tone Xion had used suggested something like that.

"I don't know how you will take the news, but I hope it won't destroy what trust you have in me." Xion looked at Ranma, who was looking sad, as if expecting that something would be done to him and that he would be powerless to stop it.

"Before you think I'm about to take something from you or something like it, hear me out first. You see, as a God, I have to follow some basic rules. That means that I can't just do as I please and interfere in the human world whenever I feel like it. And basically, that is what I did when I removed your friend's curse. Now, that doesn't mean that I'm gonna replace his curse, but it does mean that in the future, I won't be able to help like that." He explained.

"Oh."

"I can still interfere if your life is in danger, since you are under my protection. But even then, I can only help to a certain point. Meaning that I can help you directly, but that I can't solve your problems for you."

"I see." Ranma said. Well, it wasn't as bad as he had expected. "Ok, I can live with that."

Xion breathed a sigh of relief. He had hoped that Ranma wouldn't see this as an abandonment, and he was relieved that he didn't. It would have been hampering if his own avatar didn't trust him anymore.

"While you're here, what would you like to do?" He asked.

"Practice a bit I guess. See if I can use my enhanced Ki just like the old one. I've tried briefly before, but I couldn't get it to respond."

Xion didn't say anything, only focused his senses on the still forming life-energy of his avatar. He then compared it with the remaining bits of the original Ki and saw that they were indeed different enough to make sure Ranma would have to relearn the use of his Ki.

"It seems that the difference between your newly forming Ki and the pure Ki is great enough to cause you problems in using it. I'm sorry to say that you'll have to learn how to use it all over again. But since you already have experience with Ki manipulation, I don't think it'll take you very long to master it again."

"Completely relearn it? Damn, that sucks."

"Indeed. But here you have all the time you'll need to learn again."

"I know, that's why I came here in the first place."

"Good. And while you re-teach yourself, you can also begin with controlling the magic part of your Ki."

"Huh?" This stopped Ranma dead in his tracks. Magic? In his Ki?

"Well, yes. You know your new Ki is a fusion between your original Ki and pure Chaos energy?"

Ranma nodded.

"Well, the Chaos energies are magical in nature, so this will be true for your new Ki as well. All parts of the two energies are fused together, so it stands to reason that the magical part of the Chaos energies would be included in the fusion."

Ranma just nodded dumbly. He couldn't quite grasp the fact that he now possessed magic just yet. He shook his head and decided to deal with that later. He started to practice using his Ki again.

Ranma woke up the following morning. He hadn't slept very well. His efforts to utilize his new Ki like he could his old hadn't succeeded. He could feel the new power that was forming in his body; he had no problems with that. But to control it... There lay a whole different problem. It didn't react to manipulation as his normal Ki had done. He couldn't figure out why. Also, he hadn't been able to stay in the Realm for very long since Xion was needed somewhere else. And since he had yet to learn how to enter end exit the Realm on his own, he had been forced to leave when Xion had to go.

He noticed that this was the second time he'd woken up without either his father or Akane waking him up. He quickly made his way downstairs to eat breakfast. To his surprise, it was still quite early. Only Mr. Tendo, Kasumi and Nabiki were up already. Soun was reading the newspaper, Nabiki was looking like hell as she always did right after she woke up, not that he'd ever tell her that, and Kasumi was eating breakfast. He seated himself and got his plate from Kasumi. Nodding his thanks, he quickly started eating. It didn't happen very often that he didn't have to worry about his father trying to steal his food.

Nabiki may have looked like hell, and she knew it, but she wasn't unaware to things. Even this early in the morning her observation of things was up and running. And right now she noticed that this was the second time in a row that Ranma had come down of his own accord. And he was early too...

Soon, everybody sat at breakfast and ate. After breakfast, those who had to go to school prepared themselves and, when they were ready, they left. The walk itself was a quiet one. When arriving in the school, on time for once, Kuno had decided that he had to correct his lapse in attacking Ranma the day before.

"Ranma Saotome!! Release the pigtailed girl and Akane Tendo from thy evil spells or feel the wrath of the heavens!!" He announced.

'Hmm, I thought my chaos aura wouldn't be up again until the fusion was complete... Oh, well...' He thought. "What is it this time, Kuno?"

"So thou refuses to release the fair maidens from thine wicked ways? Then have at thee!!" And with this, Kuno attacked. Or tried to anyway. Ranma may have lost the ability to call forth his Ki for a while, but he hadn't lost any of his martial art skills. Ranma simply sidestepped the first and only thrust of the bokken and retaliated with a roundhouse kick to the head. Which of course sent the True Blunder sailing through the air straight into a tree. Had anyone been standing close enough to hear and understand the mumblings Kuno made as he slid off the tree, they would have heard something in the order of, "That didn't hurt..."

Ranma sighed. It seemed that his vacation had been cut short. Not really unexpected, but not very pleasant none the less. Still shaking his head at the unfairness of it all he headed to class. Classes were boring like always and Ranma dozed through most of it.

'Damn Kuno. Ruining my two day vacation. Jeez, when will he get it through his thick skull that his pigtailed girl doesn't really exist? Sigh, if only there was a way that I could convince him of that. Damn the stupid wannabe samurai and his dense skull. Damn my curse too... Wait a minute... That's it! I've got it! This has got to work!'

And he planned out the little idea he had had just now. He really hoped that it would work, 'cause it was a last ditch effort. If it didn't work, then he'd give up on trying to get Kuno to see the truth. All he needed now was some cold water and some hot water and he'd be set.

Morning recess. Ranma was waiting for the inevitable. Sure enough, there he came.

"Saotome! Prepare to feel the wrath of the heavens for thine crimes against the pigtailed girl and Akane Tendo! Have at thee!" But before Kuno could even begin his assault, Ranma's words stopped him.

"Kuno, walk with me, will you? I've got something to show and tell you." And with that he turned around and walked to some trees that would give them some relative privacy. Kuno was dumbfounded at this change of scenario, but decided to humor the dark sorcerer. After all, he probably wanted to offer his apologies for all the terrible deeds he had commuted against his two beautiful flowers. And if he wanted to trap him, then he'd know true punishment from the heavens. So he followed Ranma.

Quite some people had seen the exchange between the two. No one had any idea of what was about to happen, but were very curious none the less and followed them at a distance. Among them was Nabiki. She didn't know what was about to happen either and was quite curious as well. She did have a feeling that whatever was about to happen would change a lot. So she followed.

When Kuno got to where Ranma was waiting, Ranma addressed him.

"Kuno, before I begin, I want your word of honor that you'll listen to what I'm gonna tell you. That means no interruptions and no attacking. I need your word on this matter."

Whatever brain cells Kuno had, they allowed him to understand that this was going to be more serious than he at first had thought.

"On the honor of the house of Kuno, I shall give thy my word that I shall listen to what thee has to say."

"Good enough. You always accuse me of hiding the pigtailed girl by magical means and saying that I hold both her and Akane in some kind of spell. I'm gonna tell you the true relationship between me and the pigtailed girl." Kuno bristled at the word relationship, but kept quiet. For now...

"The one you refer to as the pigtailed girl, was named Ranko Saotome and she was my twin sister." This obviously shocked Kuno. Whatever he had been expecting, this had not been it. Also those gathered, at a reasonable distance of course, gained looks of disbelief. After all, most people knew about Ranma's curse, so what was he saying?

"Before I was brought to Nerima, my sister, my father and myself were on a training trip to make both my sister and me the greatest martial artists ever known. But on several occasions my father angered people by leaving debts. One such person he angered was a sorcerer. When my father angered the sorcerer, the sorcerer cursed my sister and me as punishment. We were cursed to share the same body for the rest of our lives. But the sorcerer had pity on my sister and so whenever I come in contact with cold water, my body transforms to that of my sister. And when she comes into contact with hot water, she transforms back to my body. But sometime before we arrived in Nerima, my sister's spirit died, leaving me in control over both our bodies. And as such, I won't allow anyone to defile or harm my sister's body, even if she is no longer among us." Ranma finished his tale.

People assembled all around were stupefied. Where and how did Ranma of all people come up with such a story?!? And what was more, it seemed that Kuno actually believed it. As it was, Kuno stood there looking... well, he looked something all right. Even Nabiki looked somewhat surprised. That had been a good tale he'd come up with, even she had to admit that... But the question was, would Kuno really believe it?

To prove his story, Ranma took out the bottle with cold water and doused himself enough to trigger the transformation to his female side. The sight of Kuno's eyes growing to the size of dinner plates was somewhat comical, but Ranma succeeded in keeping his amusement to himself, if barely.

"You see, Kuno, what I just told you is no fairytale. We really were cursed and now I am the only one remaining." And with that, he poured some of the hot water from the thermos he had taken with him over his head, transforming back to his male aspect.

Kuno's worldview was shattered. The pigtailed girl and the vile sorcerer Saotome were the same person! This could not be; this had to be some kind of trick. But he had seen the evidence with his own eyes, had he not? Did that mean that Saotome was not a sorcerer as he had suspected? And what of Akane Tendo?

"But what of the fair Akane Tendo?" He asked, voice slightly shaking.

"After being cursed by a sorcerer myself, do you truly believe that I would use such magic on another person? No, I do not hold Akane in a spell of any sort. The engagement between us was all the idea of our parents. We never agreed with it. Even now, after all this time, we can't even be civil towards the other." Ranma replied. 'But that will all change very soon...'

Kuno looked like he was in deep thought. That had to hurt... Suddenly, he straightened and looked Ranma straight in the eye.

"Ranma Saotome, I apologise for accusing you of using the Dark Arts. I did not know the true and tragic story behind the pigt... your sister. I shall not bother you with it again." And with that, he turned and walked away.

'Well, whaddaya know, he does know how to speak normally.' Ranma mused. Then, 'He bought it!! Yes!! Free of that moron! Unbelievable that he actually bought it. I guess wonders truly do happen...' And Ranma started to walk away. The mass that had gathered parted like the Red Sea had before Moses. After Ranma had left the group, it began to disperse.

Unfortunately, the Law of Murphy was about to rear its ugly head. You see, before recess one of the classes had chemistry. You know, combining elements to watch what reactions would take place. Now, when it was time to clean up, some students had been a bid hasty and one in particular had left the gas crane open. So as a result, gas had been filling the room.

Down below, Nabiki was thinking about Ranma and his rather sudden change in attitude. She didn't really look where she was going and suddenly she stumbled on something. She snapped out of her reverie and set her hands just in time to prevent her smacking facedown on the ground. Luck would have it that she stumbled right below the chemlab.

At that very moment, the chemistry teacher opened the chemlab and switched on the lights. Since the room was filled with gas and the teacher wasn't paying much attention when he opened the door, thus missing the faint gas smell, the spark from the light switch was all that was needed to detonate the gas present in the room.

BWWWAAAMMM!!!

The explosion shook the entire building on its very foundations. The walls on all four sides of the room were blown outwards. The roof was likewise blown upwards. The teacher was blown backwards against the opposite wall of the hall. He didn't survive the devastating impact against the wall. The outer wall of the lab was blown outwards and fell towards the ground where Nabiki had stumbled mere moments ago. The size of the wall and the fact that Nabiki was still down made her survival chances practically zero.

Nabiki's POV moments before the explosion.

'Ugh, real smooth, tripping like that.'

BWWWAAAMMM!!!

Nabiki's head snapped up to the source to the sound. She saw the windows of the room directly before her, three stories up, blow outwards, followed by angry flames. Then she saw the wall follow the example of the windows as it too was blown outwards and began falling. Directly to her position.

Time seemed to slow down. People screaming could be heard as if someone was playing a tape, but at a much slower rate than normal. Pieces of debris could be seen flying in all directions as if moving through some kind of thick substance.

'I'm gonna DIE!!!' Was all Nabiki could scream in her mind.

Ranma's POV when Nabiki tripped.

Ranma was looking at Nabiki when she stumbled. Shaking his head he began to walk to her to help her up, seeing as she wasn't that far away.

BWWWAAAMMM!!!

Ranma's head snapped up at the same time as that of the others students. He saw the explosion and the wall coming down. The moment he'd seen the wall coming loose, his mind had kicked into overdrive. While Ranma wasn't genius material when it came to thinking, in times of need or battle his mind seemed to skip several levels of thinking speed and started working like lighting. The moment he'd seen the wall loosening and falling, he'd taken stock of Nabiki's position, the size of the falling wall, the fact that Nabiki was still down, and his own distance from Nabiki.

'I'm not gonna make it!'

Born from the desperation that one of those he saw as family would be crushed in mere moments, he tried desperately to summon his Ki, knowing it would be futile. But born from that desperation, he was able to tap into his still forming enhanced Ki forces. While his previous attempts to manipulate that new force had been born from a desire to manipulate his energies, this attempt was born from the primal NEED to use that same power to save one of his family.

Power beyond anything Ranma had ever felt before flowed into his muscles. Suddenly moving so fast that people watching would later swear that he had teleported, he was by Nabiki's side in less time than it took to blink an eye. He scooped her up and bolted out from the falling wall that was nearly upon them. They only barely made it out from under it as Ranma threw himself and his passenger in a duck roll, clearing the wall by mere centimeters. His momentum carried him a few meters beyond the fallen wall. When they became still, Nabiki was laying on her back with Ranma over her.

Unused to the speed he had moved and the massive drain the speed burst had had on his stores of newly formed Ki, Ranma felt dizzy and could not stop his head from drooping down. Now, in the position they were in, that meant that his head fell right between Nabiki's breasts.

And who else but Akane would notice them in that position when she arrived at the scene? She was furious that Ranma was now making moves on her own sister, in public no less! Her battle aura flared to life even as she pulled her mallet from wherever she hid it. She was so intent on pounding him flat for making advances to Nabiki that she never even considered what the strike would do to Nabiki herself, who was still pinned under Ranma.

Fortunately for her, Ranma looked up when he felt a huge Ki source nearing their location. His eyes widened when he recognised Akane, intent on malleting him six foot under. Once again, his mind moved at lighting speed to send the various signals to the right muscles to make a roll so Nabiki was no longer trapped under him and to throw her to safety. Nabiki was still airborne when the mallet descended on Ranma with a loud yell from Akane and it hit him with enough force to drive him partially in the ground and knock him unconscious. His body was still as strong as it normally was, but without the extra protection from his Ki force the mallet managed to cause a severe concussion when it impacted.

"NOOOOO!!!" Akane then heard yelling. She turned around to the sound and saw Ryoga running at her. He had a look of horror on his face as he approached her and Ranma.

Ryoga, who had been hiding in a tree to observe Ranma, had seen the entire thing and was appalled and seriously shocked when Akane had brought her mallet out to bear on Ranma. There was no way that he could dismiss what he had seen as Ranma's fault. When Ranma had rolled out from under the falling wall he had felt his Ki dropping to dangerously low levels. So it came as no surprise that Ranma had nearly blacked out. Then, for no apparent reason, Akane had whipped out her mallet and proceeded to mallet Ranma, disregarding the fact that Nabiki was still trapped under him. Only Ranma's fast actions had saved Nabiki's life a second time, for there was no way that Nabiki would have survived that blow, even with Ranma taking the worst of the attack. He ran straight past Akane and smacked the mallet away from Ranma as he dropped to his knees besides Ranma.

"My God, Ranma! Are you all right? Can you hear me?" Ryoga proceeded to try and wake Ranma up. However his attempts had no success and Ryoga was forced to pick Ranma up, who hung like a rag doll from his arms. He then thanked the Kami above that his directional curse had been removed the evening before as he ran as fast as he could to the practice of Dr. Tofu.

There, that should be a nice place to stop this chapter. It's a bit shorter that the previous one, but this way I get some suspense in the story. So, whadda ya think of it? Good? Bad? Let me know. REVIEW!!!