Disclaimer: I don't own this. I also didn't create the cat fist. I AM working on variant involving lobsters however.

My Chinese Ghost

Chapter 10

The self styled Dark Lord Setamaka stood over the last, un-cursed, pool of Jusenkyo. Two of his 'wives' stood with him, one turning into a cat as the first wave of energy flowed over them. "Begin the chant." He commanded the other wife, as he lifted the first, trembling, from the ground. He drew a dagger from his belt, and as his chanting woman reached her crescendo he drove it into the stomach of the unfortunate curse victim, ripping off his head coverings, and sucking the blood pouring from the wound.

The chanting woman barely managed to continue speaking, the horrifying, scared face of the man she called husband filling her with terror just to look at it. Still, she had a duty to perform, and had no desire to join the less fortunate woman in death.

Setamaka, for his part, ignored the chanting woman. Instead she took his bloodied dagger, and slit the wrist holding the dead cat. "Dark Demon of Jusenkyo, accept my tribute and my acceptance of my fate. Take me as your vessel, make me what you need of me!" He chanted, then fell, bleeding and willingly, into the pool.

He timed it for the very moment that the mystical backlash his assassin had released reached the pool as well. The chanting woman was blinded by the power of the flash of light, then knocked from her feet as the very ground seemed to rebel at her presence.

When her eyes cleared, she saw a male form, perfect, and beautiful where Setamaka was ugly and horrible, stepping from the pool. He was dabbing the water from his eyes with the dead cat. "Hmmm… It's been so long since I've felt sunlight." The man said, then saw her laying on the ground. "Oh, good. I was hungry."

He reached down, grabbing her about the throat. She tried to scream, but the air was cut off from her lungs, then she felt her Ki being sucked out of her, by the demon-mans hand. Within minutes, she was dead.

Dropping her body into the pool behind him, Setamaka Jusenkyo strode towards the cave and the number of willing servants his new host had provided for him. preparations had to be made, so that he could return to full strength.

And the weaker needed to be consumed, to sate his hunger.

Nadoka Saotome was frequently immune to most of the chaos that surrounded her son. Like Kasumi, most of the Nerima Wreaking Crew considered her off limits, though not for all the same reasons.

That made the shock of what happened, the burst of energy as she followed Soun into the dining room of the Tendo home as well as the Chinese girl falling at her feet, and changing into a cat, all that much more shocking.

Ironically, it made it easier for her to recover from the strange behavior of the curses, while Soun and Kasumi were shocked by the sudden, unprecedentedly dry, change. "Ranma!" She yelled, breaking the other two out of their stupor.

Nadoka ran, dropping her katana on the ground in her rush, and came to a crouch next to her child, and realized for a horrifying moment she didn't know which body was that of her child!

The girl was so much like Ranma-chan, and indeed only the blue hair was different. Her son's body, masculine as ever, lay next to the female form. Then both groaned.

"Ranma… oh god, which of you is really you?" She asked. She'd heard horror stories about the curse girl getting loose. It was only as the green eyes of the girl fluttered open that she realized she was now unarmed.

"Mei? Is that you?" Kasumi, who was standing behind her, asked. Nadoka peering over her shoulder realized she was talking to the girl.

"Yes… what… happened?" The girl asked, her eyes locking on Ranma's body, next to her own. Ranma, for his part, had regained consciousness, and was looking back at her.

"Mei? You don't look transparent…" Ranma said, reaching out to poke the other girl in the side. "You're real!"

"I'm real?"

"What's happening here?" Nadoka demaned. "Do you know this girl? Soun said I should come over, because of something happening to Ranma! Is this it?"

Kasumi rested a hand on the Saotome matriarch's shoulder. "No, but this is probably related. I think I should call Cologne, and she can help explain it."

Nadoka, not as easily fooled by Kasumi's act as others, simply nodded. "Call her, I'll help my son and… Mei up."

A few minutes later, and Shampoo was awake, with Cologne beside her. The rest of the Tendo's and Laun Te were also present, and had heard the story of what happened. "The girl you describe, was called Su-udz. She was and amazon warrior, once."

"Once?" Nabiki asked. "Not now?"

"No. While you might not agree with the statement, the Amazon people do not approve of sensless brutality or cruelty." Cologne stated. "While Men aren't warriors, or ever granted the right to make decisions for the village as a whole, they aren't slaves either. Su-udz forgot that. She tormented, tortured, and eventually killed the man she had married."

"I'm shocked she's not dead." Nabiki commented. "You're laws are pretty draconian."

"Indeed, she should have been, but her grandmother was a matriarch. The day of Su-udz's execution came just after her grandmother's death. As a deathbed request, she begged that we not kill her grand daughter. Traditionally we granted such requests to dying leaders, and banished the woman instead. We had all thought she'd died, or ended up in Hong Kong working for the triads."

"Instead she came here and hit us with a water balloon. What the heck was in it, anyhow?" Ranma demanded.

Laun Te spoke up. "Most likely, spring of drowned twins. Were I to make a bet, it was probably a sample from the Musk locking ladle."

"What makes you say that?" Cologne asked.

"One vial was stolen, about six months ago, from the tribe's archives." Laun answered. "It's all that remained from the Gemini war with the Musk, in 1573 CE."

Cologne winced. "We KEPT some of that?"

"Gemini War?" Ranma asked, and then did the math. While uneducated, he wasn't stupid, and years of star gazing led to him knowing his constellations. "Wait… Gemini's the Twins… so if you declared a war by that name… did you start making Amazon clones or something?"

"Exactly correct. We split thirty of our best warriors, twenty five women and five men, and sent them out to meet the musk forces. The water had been created during the short time we had control of their locking ladle, so we knew they couldn't reverse the curses. We kept back five in case we needed to use it on the matriarchs, but I had thought them destroyed." The matriarch admitted.

Akane frowned. "But why the heck would they use it on Ranma? And why did it make a Laun, instead of another baka."

"Gee thanks, Akane."

"Actually, I think that's because of the legend." Laun answered. "If someone escapes the cursed springs grasp, the demon can get loose. And Mei, in her own body…"

"Is definitely escaped. Oh my." Kasumi finished.

"This isn't good." Ranma muttered, then dropped his glass of hot tea. It spilled in his and Mai's lap, causing both to jump up. "Oh man…" Both said, then Ranma froze, realizing Laun hadn't changed. "You're still a girl."

"I appear to be."

"I'm cured!" Ranma laughed, pouring a cold glass of water on his head, laughing happily. His laugh stopped when he shrunk down, and developed d-cups.

"Well, that was almost predictable." Nabiki commented.

"Well, it's not that surprising. I mean, what would make him think a new curse would counter act the old one?" Akane commented. "It's not like he's ever seen that happen before, or anything."

Somewhere, far away, Ryoga sneezed.

Authors Notes: Well, it's been a while, and here's something new. I hopefully will get something more up soon, but at least I'm trying to get the ball back rolling again.