Disclaimer: I own none of the 'verses this wanders through and make no claim to any characters created by other authors.

Author's note: First, I apologize for the brevity of the last few chapters. My muse has been inconsistent of late. Also, I will be putting this story on temporary hiatus for the month of November to work on another project for NaNoWriMo. If you want to follow my progress on that, I'll be using the same username for NaNo that I use here.

-Chapter 4-

"Wake up, boy! You have much to learn if you presume to be a teacher!"

Nabiki groaned for a moment at Genma's outburst down the hall. A glance at her clock told her what she suspected; this was about a quarter hour earlier than usual. Ah well. She stood, stretched, and pulled on her gym gear. Once Ranma was done throwing his father around the back yard, he'd be coming in to start her training for the morning. After a few hours of that, they'd break for most of the day, and then a few hours of sparring or other practice in the evening. They'd been training for four days now, and Nabiki was happy with her progress so far. She was still firmly grounded in the land of reality, but she'd improved a fair bit.

Kasumi passed her a cup of steaming hot tea as she walked to the dojo. The two sisters traded smiles. At least Kasumi was behind her in this, Akane had been studiously ignoring her since she'd begun training. She wasn't sure if the youngest sister was mad at her or at Ranma.

Bah. Something to worry about later. Fortified with blessed caffeine, Nabiki began stretching, working out the soreness in her muscles. She wasn't exactly out of shape, but this was far more work than she'd done in quite a while. Kamis, if Ranma hadn't had other things drawing on his time for the all-too-short month of summer break, and was able or willing to train her all day, she would probably not survive.

There were a few little aches and twinges as she warmed up but, she noted with some surprise, she was less sore this morning than the one previous. Probably her body starting to get used to the exertion. She hoped so.

After a few minutes, she heard a loud splash, followed by an unhappy sounding growf noise as Genma pulled himself out of the koi pond. A few moments later, Ranma entered the dojo, nursing his own cup of Kasumi's tea.

"Took you longer than usual to beat him, Sensei. Losing your touch?"

"He pulled something new out of his trick bag. I guess Pops still has a few secrets." He shrugged. "I'll have to convince him to show me a few more. They might be good."

Ranma gave her a few more minutes to stretch and warm up as he sipped his tea. After he finished, they started into the morning's training, Ranma leading her through a series of kata. He was watching her closely, with an odd sort of focus, and every so often he'd suggest something, some small change to stance or balance or movement, that seemed meaningless to her. But, still trying to be the dutiful student, she'd try it – and they worked. However Ranma was seeing it, his tips were helping her improve. After a few hours of training, as they left the Dojo for breakfast, she asked him about it.

Ranma smiled lopsidedly. "You know how I'm real good at pickup up someone's moves quickly?" He waited for her to nod, then continued. "I do it by observing what they do really closely. Stance, movement, shifting of weight, balance... I look for all that. It occurred to me last night that I could maybe reverse the process. So I got you to do stuff that I know, so I know what it's supposed ta look like, an' then just pick out the differences." He shrugged.

"It's very impressive. I wouldn't have thought of that."

"'S why you came to me, innit? I'm a genius at this stuff." They shared a polite chuckle. "You're doin' well. 'S far as the basics go, balance is the biggest thing. I want you to take a couple hours this afternoon and work on it some."

"Fair enough. How do you want me to do that?"

--------------------

Brow furrowed in concentration. Nabiki Tendo walked cautiously along a fencetop.

Ranma had gotten her to start fencewalking as a bit of balance training, stating that a better sense of balance would be invaluable for some of the more advanced stuff she'd be learning. She believed him. She'd seen enough of the madness he, Ryoga, Mousse, and various other ridiculously overpowered martial artists considered normal moves.

So she found herself carefully, slowly, marching around the perimeter of the Tendo's back yard, partially because she was sure she looked vaguely silly, walking along with both arms out for balance, and partially because it was a wide enough fence that she didn't think she'd be taking a painful fall on it. Ranma had first suggested the fences along the route from the Dojo to Furikan High, citing a decently straight route with few large gaps. She figured the back fence was good enough for now. Once she was confident that she wasn't going to fall and break her neck or otherwise embarrass herself, she'd be a little more willing to try a thinner one.

She was pleasantly surprised that Ranma wasn't being quite so harsh a taskmaster as she'd feared. Oh, training started early, and ran for several hours, but it wasn't the kind of all-day madness she'd feared. He still had his own training to do, and she knew nothing could dissuade him from that learning. It was probably for the best.

Coming to a corner she took a moment to carefully negotiate it, then kept walking, now going back towards the house. Standing at the back door was Akane, looking at her with an amused expression. "Something I can help you with, sis?"

"Just watching. Seeing what the baka has you doing for training."

Nabiki shrugged, started walking again. "Seeing anything interesting?"

"Not really. Why are you doing this?"

"Because he's training me and this is what he wants me working on right now. Besides, I can see where he's going with this." She continued walking along the fencetop.

Akane followed on the ground. "Where he's going with it? Oh please. You do realize he doesn't have any idea what he's doing, right?"

"Akane... when has Ranma ever known what he's doing going into something?" She let the statement sink in for a moment. "He's a master of making it up as he goes along. And he's way too stubborn to give up." She paused a moment, negotiating a corner. "He probably wouldn't even let me give up on it."

"So you're just going to muddle along with whatever he thinks will work for a while?"

"More or less. I'm already improving, and if nothing else it'll help me get into better shape." She shrugged. "Chasing a dream is kinda fun, really."

"I'm sure." Akane's tone was acidic. "You'll give up in a week when you realize how much damage it's doing to your pocketbook."

"Please, little sister, give me some credit. Those pictures were a decent source of income but hardly my only one." She smirked at Akane's annoyed expression. "Even with this bit of 'homework' I'll have enough free hours to keep the rest moving. It's slowing the money down but it's hardly stopped it." She looked back up from her sister to her path. "I set up a good system."

"Well... when you come to your senses, don't say I didn't tell you so." Akane stormed off, muttering vile things about 'the Ranma-Baka.'

Nabiki smiled as she continued fencewalking. Her little sister could be so amusing when she got all tsun-tsun.

--------------------------

Ryoga had figured he'd put one over on Ranma today, and so far it looked like he was right. The two of them were pounding around the ol' lot together, the fanged boy keeping Ranma on the back foot. The crowd was giving them a touch more room than normal. Wise of 'em. Not that he and Ranma would have a problem keeping things under control, but, well, accidents happen. They'd been at it for a while now, and Ryoga was slowly gaining the advantage.

Ranma'd been a bit distracted by something at the start of the fight. Ryoga hadn't seen any reason to mention that, or that he needed to get his head out or anything like that. It hadn't given him a huge advantage – Ranma had always been a bit more skilled than he was, but the aquatransexual had always surrendered a bit in raw power to the Lost Boy. But whatever Ranma'd been through in their little jaunt beyond had been better training than what Ryoga had run into, and they were almost dead even in power now, which put Ryoga behind him overall.

So he was rather enjoying putting Ranma on the back foot for this session. He didn't manage to pull that off very often. For all this was supposed to be a 'friendly' fight, he hoped that if he could get to a point where he was badly beating Ranma, Ranma would start breaking out some of his new stuff – Ryoga rather wanted to learn how to throw fire himself, and try and refine his flight technique. But Ranma wasn't co-operating, sticking to the rules of their little spar. Ryoga'd just have to push him harder, though he didn't much want to cheat either... he was currently winning the fight honestly, and that happened so seldom that it was worth finishing just so their audience would see it.

Like Ranma, he could be a sucker for the opinion of the crowd.

The fight continued; Ranma was fully in the game now, but Ryoga had the edge and was pushing it for all it was worth, keeping the momentum of the fight on his side. Suddenly, there was a smell of rotten eggs, and the sound of tearing cloth. Both fighters glanced up, and saw a strange, technicolour rip in the sky about a dozen feet above the ground. A large, misshapen hand reached through it, then another. The two friends and rivals exchanged nods. Whatever this was, it would have to be dealt with. And it would pay for interrupting their match.

The tear disgorged a lumpen, mostly humanoid form that dropped to the ground as the tear itself sealed. The creature roared at the crowd, began to move towards them, and suddenly found itself flat on the ground as Ranma kicked its legs out from under it. "Not so fast, Youma. You gotta deal with us first."

The two fighters circled the youma, which tried to keep them both in sight. It lashed out at Ranma, who dodged its claw with ease as Ryoga took advantage of its distraction to land a heavy blow to its back. It kicked out, catching the fanged boy in the middle and sending him toppling. Ryoga landed hard, rolled to his feet, and shook his head to clear it. That had actually hurt. This sucker hit as hard as the demons of Midland. He grinned ferally. Unlike those demons, it was alone.

"Hey ugly!" he shouted. The creature turned. "We were in the middle of something when you interrupted. That makes me sad. Shi Shi Hokodan!"

A familiar looking green fireball dropped from the sky. The crowd ducked and covered.

The fireball landed, clipping the monster and crashing around Ryoga. He blinked, the blast had been downright anaemic compared to the normal, barely covering the half-dozen yards between himself and the monster. What the hell?

"I wondered if that might happen," said Ranma as he laid into the creature, fists blurring.

"Wondered what?" Ryoga was still trying to parse what had just happened.

"If you're too happy to get depressed enough to power that properly."

Ryoga stopped, dumbstruck. Had he... he had, he realized, been genuinely happy with his life lately. Oh, he was still stuck with the pig, but for the most part he was doing fine. He could actually call his house a home, his dog was surviving on more than just the kindness of strangers, and he was honest to god holding a job. Was all this really sabotaging his ability to fight? That was... that was just so... unfair.

The shi shi hokodan that followed was rather truer to form, driving the monster into the turf hard enough to leave a youma-shaped dent. Ryoga surged with elation at that, then realized that the joy at being depressed had killed the depression. The creature, tougher than it looked, recovered quickly, and lunged. Ryoga barely managed to dodge the attack, and danced back, getting enough room to try and figure out a plan of attack.

Ranma closed with the monster, hammering away at its flanks for a moment. Unfortunately he underestimated the creature's speed. A claw hooked around his leg, sent the martial artist flying into the street. Ranma crashed through a fire hydrant, sending water geysering upward and rolling to a stop. Ryoga looked away; Ramna hadn't worn his usual red shirt today, but a white one. A not-terribly-thick white one. That had gotten soaked, along with the aquatransexual herself, by the crash through the fire hydrant. Ryoga turned his attention to the monster.

Most of the other boys watching didn't, dropping with blood streaming from their noses.

Ryoga grabbed his umbrella from where he'd left it, bounded at the monster again. If it was fast enough to tag Ranma, he'd need the reach. He tagged it a few times, circling the creature and keeping an eye on its various limbs. He just barely managed to parry one of its strikes with his umbrella, the impact tossing him through the fence. The youma reared up onto its hind legs, prepared to charge at him.

"Moko Takabisha!"

Ranma's ki blast took the creature in the midsection, threw it back. The creature seemed to fold in half for a moment, then dissolved into dust. After a few moments, Ranma said, "Ryoga? You still with us?"

The fanged boy began to pick himself up, replied, "Yeah, I'm here." Don't look. Don't look. He's still swapped. "That sucker was fast."

"Yeah." Ranma walked to the hole in the fence. Ryoga gulped, then fixed his gaze at a point about three inches above the redhead's head. "You okay, P-chan?"

"Fine, fine."

"Did it get a shot in on the crowd while I was down?"

"No. You knocked everyone out yourself." Don't look. Don't look. Looking equals horrible bloodloss.

"I what?" There were a few seconds of awkward silence as Ranma glanced downward, seeing the current state of her shirt. "Oh. One second." Then she quickly ran through a sequence of moves. Ryoga felt heat rise from around her; realized she was doing some version of that firebending trick. Surely if it's just to learn a new move I can look...

Before he could do so, Ranma had finished her impromptu shirt-drying. "That should be better. Wish there'd been enough water left to swap me back, though."

"There's still a geyser in the street. Go ahead and heat it up."

"You just wanna know how the trick works."

"You say that like it's a bad thing. Hell, if my Shi Shi Hokodan isn't gonna work right anymore, I need something."

"You'll figure somethin' out. Ya always do." The two rivals walked across the vacant lot, heading for Ryoga's gear.

"Why are you wearing that shirt anyway?"

"Laundry day. An' it ain't like I figured on gettin' soaked." They paused for a moment as Ryoga recovered his pack. "Same time tomorrow?"

"Sure. Don't invite a demon next time."

"I'll try. See ya." The redhead walked away, waving goodbye absently.

-----------------------------

The Outer Senshi crouched on a nearby rooftop. They'd gotten the alarm, and had hurried over. Finding the Youma engaged by both Ramna and one of his allies, they had decided to observe before leaping into battle. They hadn't been disappointed.

"He is way too damned powerful for someone without magic," said Haruka. She glanced at Setsuna. "We are sure he doesn't have any magic, right?"

"Other than that transformation curse, none that I could detect." The green haired Senshi shook her head. "I think we won't go very wrong to take what we've heard about everyone down here at face value. These martial artists are impressive."

Michiru nodded. "Given that youma are showing up that we don't seem to be able to predict, having them around wouldn't be bad." She glanced at Setsuna. "Do you know what's going on there?"

The Senshi of Time frowned. "No, I don't. Once they pop up I can review them, but I'm not getting any indication of who's sending them or why, or when. I'm working on it." That last was in a tone that did not invite comment.

Then they returned to their homes, and the rooftop was left in silence.

----------------------------

Usagi was bored. It was Friday, and they were supposed to have had just half a day of class, and then some time off. Tomorrow, they would have some 'practical' classes and get their talismans back after upgrading. Usagi was not so fortunate as the others. Upon learning that she had some healing abilities, Nanoha had decided to get her doing some work with the local medical types. And so right after class she'd been sent down to the Academy's doctor's office and put to work, somewhere between candy-striping and actual nursing.

Ami would probably have loved it, since she actually wanted to become a doctor, but they hadn't asked her. She was probably with the others, in town, shopping. They'd been granted a smallish stipend for 'reasonable expenses,' especially after Makoto pointed out that she could cook. Instead, Usagi was on her own helping with patients. Well, not entirely alone, but other than the patients, the only one here was Dr. Shamal. She was friendly enough, but it didn't change the fact that Usagi wanted to be shopping.

Usagi was sorting out magically imbued bandages when Shamal popped in again. "How is it going?"

"Well, no offence, but I'm kinda bored."

"That's fair enough. I know it can be annoying to stay behind while your friends are off doing something, but Nanoha wanted you working with me for a reason. Healing magic is complex and ever so useful."

"Well, sure. But I can already do healing magic. When I'm transformed, anyway."

Shamal took a seat across from Usagi. "Do you know how it works?"

The blonde Senshi shook her head. "Not really... It just does. It covers a lot of different things, too." She shuddered for a moment at a memory. "It's brought us back before, too."

"'Back?' As in, from the dead?"

Usagi nodded. It was not a pleasant memory.

"Well then. Are you sure you don't want to know how it works?"

"I guess I do wanna know, but... I'd rather be with my friends right now. All this training..." A quirk of a smile. "This was supposed to be our summer holiday."

Shamal smiled back. "Well, for what it's worth, you're doing fine. In some ways, you're doing better than most of Nanoha's classes."

"How? She trashed us that first day."

The healer chuckled. "Miss Tsukino, Nanoha trashes every group she trains at least once. Especially when she's assigned to work with a group that's already established. By starting with a hefty drubbing, she makes it more likely that an experienced team will actually listen to what she has to say."

"It worked. We've definitely been paying attention."

"That's a good thing. Nanoha was a field agent for several years. She knows exactly what our medical magitech can do, and she trains accordingly. Her sending you here to work with me isn't some kind of punishment or make-work. It's actually a mark of respect."

"That's kinda cool. But, if she's so hard on recruits, why is she a trainer?"

"Because she is a very good trainer. Pay attention and you'll go far."

"I think I will." A pause. "So, what did you want to show me next?"

----------------------

The Inner Senshi were fairly bouncing in place with energy. They were driving out to a field test area, and were getting their transformation talismans back today. The talismans had been upgraded by a woman named Shario, who rode with them and was talking animatedly with Ami. This was going to be interesting. They had spent the last four days in training, all in a classroom. Being able to put that into practice was going to be amazing. Though they'd been trying to learn, in their civilian forms they just didn't have that much power to play with, which made trying out several of the things they'd been taught problematic.

They piled out of the van in a small forest glade. There were a few minutes of stretching and enjoying the fresh air as Nanoha, Shario, and another mage who'd come along to assist Nanoha, a short redhead named Vita, gave their talismans one last check-over.

"Okay, everyone," began Nanoha, getting their attention, "Let's get your Devices and get started. We're just going to be doing some practical training today, not a mock battle."

There was a bit of relief at that. Minako gave an exaggerated sigh of relief.

"So... did the activation code change?" Rei was looking over the brooch she'd been handed. Just holding it, she could feel that it was her talisman, yet.. not.

"We didn't change that. They should work just fine. By all means, please engage them."

The Senshi exchanged nods, raised their talismans, and transformed as one.

The change seemed quicker than normal, and it's attendant rush of power seemed slightly muted compared to the normal. Usagi observed two things as the transformation finished: it seemed that her uniform had acquired a jacket, and she was holding a staff. As her vision cleared she saw the staff; almost as tall as she was, silver and white in colour, one end curved around a fist-sized gem. It seemed to thrum with contained power as she held it. "Wow..."

"Greetings, my master."

"Did you just talk?"

"Indeed, master. I am Silver Song."

Usagi glanced around. The others were holding similar staves, were wearing jackets similar to the one that had added itself to her own outfit. They were mostly white, trimmed the same colour as each Senshi's ribbon. "This is so cool."

Rei nodded. "When can we try these out on something?"

Vita spoke up. "Whenever you're ready we can get started." She and Nanoha had also transformed. Vita's outfit was pretty in a gothy sort of way, with an elaborate hat. And a large hammer. "Anyone who wants to work on barriers can join me over here."

The Senshi exchanged glances. Something in the short woman's tone was worrying. Seeing their hesitation, Vita snickered. "Oh come on, I won't hurt you. No more than Nanoha would, anyway."

"That's not exactly a comfort," muttered Rei. Vita's snicker became a full laugh.

"I like you people. You're funny. Let's get started."