Author's Notes

Disclaimers were back at the start of the fic, but just in case you missed it –

I do not own either Negima or Ranma ½. If I did I would actually have something worth suing over.

Thanks to everyone who have read and reviewed.

Some of you may have noticed the swerve that the fic has taken from the respective mangas, but this is a crossover fic, which makes it AU.

For those of you who noticed; yeah, I did borrow something from Rebirth for some of Ranma's attacks.

Special thanks to my Betas KitsuneOverlord and Teturo.

I hope everyone continues to enjoy the fic. Please, read and Review.

Chachamaru looked at her reflection in pool around the fountain and noted the structural changes to her face. While she had no doubt that the magical age changing pills would work on her, the android knew that age was a subjective and relative term. Still, she had managed to change into what appeared to be a six or seven year old girl, matching Chisame's apparent age and size as well.

Following the others into the tavern she scanned the area for anyone that could reasonably match one of her classmates. Listening as Negi and Kotaro questioned the barkeeper; Chachamaru continued to scan the crowd as she continued to play the part of the curious little girl.

Looking over the wanted fliers she picked out several figures that could match the pictures on the wanted lists. Working as bounty hunters would definitely help them get some much needed income as well as allow them to travel around and search for the others without drawing any suspicion. Cautiously she watched as a hulking figure walked over to Negi.

"Hey, bro," the huge man said as he grabbed Negi's head and turned the smaller boy to face him. "I don't like that mug of yours," he declared, "let me gat a shot at it."

"Isn't that a bit abrupt?" Though he knew he could take the stranger, Negi wanted to avoid a fight and drawing attention to himself and the others.

Seeing that no one had cared to stop the brute, Kotaro shook his head. "This really is a lawless town."

"It's no use arguing!" the thug shouted as though seconding Kotaro's statement.

Quickly dodging and slipping behind the thug, Negi easily avoided the hard left cross that connected with the barstool that he had been sitting on. "I won't allow you to hit me without any reason," he stated as the stranger turned to face him.

"Hah! I was beaten to the pulp by an idiot with a mug like yours along time ago," he stated as though that were reason enough to strike Negi. "Since then I've had this conditioned response whenever I see some red-haired pansy-boy, ya know?"

Piecing the thug's slurred words together Negi casually evaded his attacker, leaving destroyed furniture in his wake. Sensing his opponent channeling energy for a magical boost Negi decided to finish the fight quickly before anymore damage occurred. Slipping under the larger man's guard he connected with a stiff left to the man's stomach.

He stared in surprise as the man fell to the floor. "I thought he was strong," Negi stammered as he tried to explain laying out the big man.

Finishing his drink Kotaro set the cup down as the unconscious man's companions rushed to attack Negi. Wanting to test his larger frame and build, the hanyo joined the fray. Despite their greater numbers the group was quickly defeated by the combined forces of the young rivals as they relied on just physical attacks.

"Sorry about the damages." In truth Negi was sorry to have caused such a commotion. The fight, as brief as it was, had drawn unnecessary attention to the small party, something that he had tried to avoid.

"That's just how it is sometimes," the owner said as he dismissed the young man's apology. "This happens all the time. I'll just have them reimburse me for the damages, so don't worry about it." Wiping a mug he watched as his staffers moved to repair or replace the damaged furniture. "Still, you kids are pretty strong for your age. Kinda reminds me of the old days," he said with a slight smile. "I can see why you're bounty hunters. But I think that you would be better off as prize fighters."

"Prize fighters?" Kotaro asked as he put a table back up.

"Yeah, as strong as you guys are, you could make a tidy sum. And you wouldn't have to put those cute little girls in harms way."

"We don't care about money," Kotaro snapped. Disappointed that he'd gotten so worked up over nothing, he was feeling slightly agitated. Pushing the ever polite Negi out of his way he turned to the owner, "What we want is information. Have you remembered anything?"

"I don't recall seeing any of them," the older man replied. Scratching his goatee he added, "Someone did come in the other day asking for them though." Standing up he looked at his assistants, "Hey Rorke, didn't someone come by in the last few days asking about the new bounties?"

"Yeah," a lean beastman replied as he finished setting down a table. "Scarlett stopped in; said she had a lead on someone on the poster."

Nodding the owner turned back to Kotaro. "The Scarlet Vixens; they're a fairly well know team of bounty huntresses around here. The Vixens only go after men," the barkeeper explained. "I don't think she's ever failed to catch her prey. Even though they only go after men, the Vixens aren't a team to take lightly. Scarlett and the girls sometimes work as prize fighters when they're not after some poor guy."

Jotting down quick notes Chisame hoped that the huntresses were not coming after Negi. From what she could make of the owner's words, it seemed like he and the rest of the patrons of the tavern held the Scarlett Vixens in much higher regard then they did the group of thugs that Negi and Kotaro had just beaten. Knowing how both boys tended to hold back when fighting against females, running into them could be disastrous.

"No way you're going to catch up to them," Rorke piped in as he dropped off a full tray of plates. "I think she said they were headed to Nayla."

Pulling out her map Chisame found the small city. Nestled between a deeply forested mountain range and a vast desert, the city was well over two thousand kilometers away. They definitely weren't after Negi or Kotaro.

"Ranma," Chachamaru whispered to the other girl. "His badge is distinctive, and it is showing on the locator to be in that region. He's not alone either." Holding the locator so that the other girl could see it, the android pointed to the other marker that appeared right next to it and one more within a hundred kilometers of him.

"With the Gateport closed the only way you're gonna catch up to them is with an airship," the beastman replied as Kotaro asked how the bounty huntresses were going to get to Manawell.

Waiting for the beastman to move to another table the group began to exchange their notes as they ate their meal.

"So it looks like Ranma's in the Nayla region to the northeast. He's with at least one of the girls is with him and another close by," Chachamaru stated as she pointed out Ranma's rough location on the map.

"It sounds like he has bounty hunters on his tail," Chisame added as she looked over the notes again. "Given the state we last saw him in, is he healthy enough to fight against the bounty hunters?"

"We don't know for sure what happened to him since the Gateport incident," Kotaro countered. "He's the strongest one of all of us, he could have taken all these guys," he pointed to the thugs piled up in the corner "with one hand behind his back and with a blindfold on."

"Looking at the map you can see that the there are more in this region. If we were to go after Ranma we'd be moving away from them. Should we head towards Granicus then we would be much closer to the rest of the girls while also being able to move towards Ranma before heading to Megalomesembria" the android pointed out.

"I suggest we head to Granicus," Kotaro stated. "Ranma can take care of himself; we don't know if the girls near Granicus are able to do the same."

"To Granicus then," Negi decided as he stood up.

"Leaving already?" the barkeep asked as he spotted the group getting ready to go.

"Yeah, the food was great," Negi replied as he paid their tab. "Um, Barkeep… The Thousand Master came to this town long ago, didn't he?"

Reminiscing, the barkeep scratched his goatee. "Yeah, it was eighteen or nineteen years ago I believe. He was wandering the world at the time. He was still a brat compared to the regular daytime thugs though."

"What sort of person was he?"

"Well, his name was known even out in this out of way place," the older man said as he sought to find the best way to answer the question. "Being the hero who had put an end to the war, I wondered what kind of finely honed man he would be… Yes… That's it… he was an idiot!"

Examining the young girl before her Lynn tried to maintain some degree of professionalism, as much as adventurers could be professional outside of having fun. Stealing glances at Christian as he stole glances at Aisha as she stole glances at Craig as he stole glances at the young girl that Lynn was examining, the vicious love triangle just became more complicated with the addition of Nodoka.

"Thank you," the mousy girl said.

"So what is a girl like you doing out in these terrifying woods alone?" Craig asked. Though he had tried to sound as though he was interested in why she was in the woods; Lynn knew that he was just trying to find out more about the girl. Stealing a glance at Craig then at Aisha and then back at Craig, the dark haired elf watched as her friend's complexion darkened. How does he miss things like this? It's so obvious on someone with such a fair skin and light hair.

"I've been separated from my friends," the human girl answered simply.

As the party of adventures walked with the young girl they listened to her tale. Having been at the Gateport during the incident she had found herself completely lost and alone. Having spent the past week wandering through the wilderness she had stumbled upon a griffin's lair prior to them rescuing her from said griffin.

Despite the obvious holes in her story, Lynn didn't sense that the girl was a threat to them. Shaking her head as she glanced at Craig, she knew that the party would be seeing quite a bit of Nodoka for a while.

"There's a town not too far from here," Christian stated, "why don't you come to town with us? We could always use another party member, and you seem to be fairly capable given that you've managed to fend for yourself for over a week."

Lynn knew that Christian was playing with Aisha. Given her feelings for Craig, the presence of a potential rival could either push her to finally act on her feelings or not. Lynn herself had no idea what was going to happen and was sure that Christian was in the same boat. Still, his propensity for screwing with Aisha was probably what had compelled him to invite Nodoka to travel with them. With Craig firmly supporting him, Lynn knew that neither of the girls could say anything to dissuade the strangely quiet girl from joining them.

The Magus thought it was odd seeing Nekane so worked up. The young woman's even temperament tended to keep her relaxed enough to avoid confrontations with others or to cause problems for anyone. With her only living relative having left for the magic country it was no surprise that she was anxious, added to that was the fact that several of Negi's students had disappeared shortly after the group had left for the barrier left him feeling slightly unsettled.

Still, it was too soon to say if anything unfortunate had happened. Having just sent a large number of travelers through the barrier to the Gateport it would be weeks if not a month for them to receive any notice from the authorities on the other side. If the girls had wandered off after Negi and his companions then they probably had just gotten lost in the mist.

"You do know that there is no plausible way for you to have been able to connect with your partner with just your pactio," he stated as he dismissed one of her key points. "Telepathy generally extends to a distance of ten kilometers. Enhancers and amplifiers can only add a few kilometers at best. To have reached him on another planet is simply impossible."

"I understand," the girl conceded. "But please, just consider the possibility that something went wrong."

Huffing in resignation the elderly mage nodded. "I'll see what I can do. Please have a file on each of the girls that went missing on my desk within the hour. Do not let the other girls know that anything has happened."

Moving through the thick forest Kazumi hoped that she hadn't lost the Scarlett Vixens' trail. Losing their trail was not an option; not after she'd deliberately discarded her badge to throw off the bounty huntresses when they had mentioned that they were after someone from the Ala Alba; not after sneaking onboard their airship and avoiding detection for two days.

Spotting a blue stone she knew that she was still on the right track. Smiling she couldn't help but wonder how badly things would have gone if the ghost hadn't been around to help her evade detection during their time on the airship, not to mention how the tiny puppet body was able to stow away in one of the succubae's pack so that she could leave a discrete trail for the class reporter.

Picking up the azure marker Kazumi paused to catch her breath. Looking up she tried to make out the sun's position. Posing as a bard since finding herself separated from the others, she had only a light pack, not enough to sustain more then a few days in the woods.

"Kazumi!" Sayo shouted. Taking a frantic step forward the puppet fell onto her face.

"Sayo, what happened?" Rushing over to her seatmate she picked up the puppet.

"I found Ranma!" the ghost girl stated as she brushed some dirt off of her face. "Actually, the Vixens found him. I don't know what happened, but they left their things behind when they went to capture him. After an hour or so they didn't come back so I slipped out of the pack."

"So he beat them up and chased them off," the reporter concluded. Ranma was alive, that was good. Though she had seen little of the fight she had noticed that the cursed boy had been injured in the fighting. Then there was that huge explosion that he had disappeared in.

"I don't know," Sayo replied. "I did hear them while they were setting up; something about him being under the protection of a vampire and demon. They live in a cave up ahead."

Having dedicated the entirety of his short life in the pursuit of martial arts mastery Ranma had trained in various styles and disciplines. While he rarely ever used anything that he had learned from Martial Arts Tea Ceremony and Martial Arts French Dining, he had been forced to use them in the past. Reading over some of Nasham and Lynx's techniques he felt that they were a bit bloody and excessive, but they had their uses in actual combat.

Hearing the magical perimeter wards signaling that someone had entered the clearing by the cavern's entrance, Ranma quickly rolled up the Grandmaster's Scroll as he sprang to his feet. With Nasham and Lynx gone the wards were quickly fading. Lacking the knowledge to renew them himself and needing to search for the rest of the Ala Alba, he had decided that they needed to move out. If the Scarlet Vixens had found him, there were probably many other bounty hunters closing in on his trail.

Rushing past the girls Ranma began to charge up his kanka as he prepared for another fight. Exiting the cave he spotted a startled Kazumi with Sayo perched on the resident reporter's shoulder.

"Ranma!" the cheerful redhead cried as she greeted the cursed boy.

"Kazumi," he responded as he came to a halt and started to power down, "what are you doing here?"

"I followed the Scarlet Vixens," she stated as she inhaled deeply. Relieved at having reunited with another member of Ala Alba, she couldn't help but notice how cute Ranma was. Blinking she smiled at the cursed boy as she realized that maybe Akira and Haruna were right about him.

"Um, you alright?" he asked as he looked her over again. Unsure what to make of her strange behavior, Ranma took a step back. Seeing that Kazumi's legs were starting to tremble he put a supportive hand on her Sayo free shoulder.

Intoxicated by his closeness, Kazumi looked into Ranma's clear blue eyes. "I will be," she replied as she leaned forward and kissed him hard on the lips.

"Kazumi!" Sayo shouted as she realized just what her seatmate was doing. Had the ghost been able to blush, she would have been beet red.

"Ranma!" "Kazumi!" "Ranma!" "Kasumi!" The air echoed with shouts from the cave.

Pushing himself away from the eager redhead, Ranma glanced back at the entrance to the cave. "It's not what you think!" he cried out in his defense as he spotted Akira, Natsumi, Ako, and Haruna.

The cool ocean breeze casually rolled over the beach as the tide slowly receded. Standing on the stern of the small boat the fiery redhead scanned the beach as she clutched her satchel. Spotting the columns of smoke she looked towards the seaside village.

The tiny port suited her needs as it probably had not received word of the bounty placed on her head. It had been difficult finding a ship with room after the Gateport incident. With most of the larger ships carrying cargo and travelers to the larger cities Asuna had to settle for one of the smaller ships. Smaller ships meant that the journey would take longer, but with the club having been scattered to the ends of the magical world, that was a sacrifice that she and Setsuna both would gladly make as they had already searched the entirety of the small chain of islands.

Besides, not many ships were willing to take someone who couldn't pay for their fare. I'm just glad they were hiring extra muscle, she thought to herself.

"You did good," the first mate said gruffly as stood up beside her. "Here's your pay."

"But I thought our pay was just enough for our fare?" Setsuna asked

"It was," the werewolf replied, "but since you both won't be here when we collect the bounty, this is your share for them. You might want to stay away from the collection office," he advised sternly. "Honest girls like you shouldn't go near those places."

Nodding in understanding the two girls headed into town, making sure to avoid the local bounty office.

Filling up her newly acquired canteen Ku Fei smiled at the unconscious lizard-man. The most recent of bounty hunters to have come after her, Ku Fei had found herself hard pressed to deal with his four arms and long tail. Still, she had managed to win despite being unable to finish the fight quickly.

Rummaging through the warrior's pack she found some rope. Binding her unconscious opponent to the nearest tree she hoped that he did not have any companions in the area. Grabbing a few essentials she tied Negi's staff to the pack before setting off in what she hoped was east. Taking out what appeared to be a nutrition bar of sorts she cautiously took a bite. Despite her hunger she couldn't handle the awful taste. Spitting it out the tossed the meal bar back at the unconscious lizard man. Drinking heavily as she hoped to drown her growling stomach Ku Fei couldn't help but chuckle as she recalled her title Club Negima – Meat Bun Minister.

Catching a tantalizing scent Ku Fei's mouth watered as she fought to control her base instinct to find the source of the aroma and satisfy her hunger. Following the scent discreetly she hoped that it wasn't more bounty hunters.

Roasted… rabbit, she thought as the scent grew stronger. She'd yet to see a rabbit or anything like a rabbit since arriving in the magic country. With its many creatures it was possible that there was something around related or resembling a rabbit.

Hearing several voices she quietly approached the clearing as her need for caution won out against her hunger.

"I can't believe you kissed her," Natsumi said louder then necessary.

"She kissed me," Ranma shouted in his defense. "I can't help that my stupid phara..."

"Pheromones," the freckled girl finished.

"Pheromones were in overdrive – I haven't learned how to control them since the binding those succubae." Carrying several large boxes into the Scarlett Vixen's vacated airship he couldn't help but wonder if they were laughing at him from where ever it was that they were now that they were bound to him. Messing with his hormones and pheromones which caused the girls around him to go crazy, he'd have to figure out a way to keep his energies in check. "From what I've read of the notes that Lynx left me I can affect only those who might or already are interested in me; I probably don't affect you two because you both are interested in someone else."

"So you're going to have to watch yourself around Akira and Haruna," Ako stated as she checked on the roasting meat.

"I guess," he admitted, like things aren't already weird between me and those two.

Instinctively he jumped to his feet as he heard someone approach the airship. Moving between the intruder and the girls he relaxed his guard as Ku Fei emerged.

"Ku Fei!" the two girls shouted as they recognized their classmate.

"Food!" the Chinese girl shouted as she ran past them.

Author's note –

Shorter chapter then the last few ones, but I wanted to get away from writing fight scenes -Sorry to everyone who was looking forward to seeing Ranma fight Nasham. I'll probably visit that fight later on in a flashback, for now Ranma just has to deal with his fluctuating powers and the issues that causes him.

As you may have noticed, I'm branching out from the group that's with Ranma.

After last week's flurry of chapters/updates, don't look for me to keep that pace up. I'll be lucky to get one chapter a week. Somehow getting sick two weeks back sent my mind into overload and I just had a load of ideas that I wanted to put down. That combined with the free time from the holidays and taking sick time at work gave me a lot of time to write. I'm just glad that the ideas worked out.

Hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving, for those of us who celebrate it when we do.

Later –

Dreamingfox