I don't have a working title for this idea just yet, but with how long it is I figured letting people see it couldn't hurt. It works along the same idea as my TimeBlack idea so I hope those who enjoyed it enjoy this one. Kudos to Archangel Igneel for editing.

Takeru Shiba was a man of opposites. He lived traditionally, but he never stopped himself from enjoying modern conveniences when they became available. He walked the path of a lord, which he was, but didn't treat those below him like they truly were below him. He kept a cool and aloof façade most of the time, but his heart was warm and encompassed all things. Which showed as he interacted with those around him. Despite his youth, he acted like an older man since he didn't have much company as a child and didn't often get to enjoy the fact that he was a child. His responsibilities were too much of a burden to forget; even for a little while.

Takeru was the eighteenth generation heir of the Shiba clan who were charged by the Emperor of Japan to protect it from the menace known as the Gedoushu. Gedoushu were beings who lived on the Sanzu River, demons born in its depths who wished to cause human suffering so that the Sanzu River would flood the world, allowing them to conquer both worlds. Takeru and his vassals Ryunosuke, Mako, Chiaki, and Kotoha were the eighteenth generation of the Samurai Sentai Shinkenger who protected the mortal world from the attacks and schemes of the Gedoushu. However, to assist them was Takeru's old friend Genta who had managed to become his own Shinkenger using the traditional arts of Mojikara in an electronic process. Something that was unheard of in the history of the Shiba family, but the results of his genius couldn't be ignored as the Shinkengers went from five to six members strong.

At this point in time, Takeru was inside the family archives room in the traditional Shiba home. Since his parents both died in the assault made by the Gedoushu leader Doukoku Chimatsuri, Takeru didn't have much of a parental influence in his life. To compensate, he often went to the archives room to learn about his ancestors and feel at least a little closer to them in some way. Not that his guardian Hikoma Kusakabe and his vassals weren't family in his eyes, but people in Takeru's situation couldn't help but want to know their biological families. Being such a close family with good record keepers allowed Takeru to learn about all the members of his family and their exploits since the first leader of the Shinkengers, Retsudou Shiba.

Removing scrolls from the sixteenth generation of Shinkengers and the people his grandfather led, Takeru opened them to read about the adventures his grandfather had led against the Gedoushu. Looking over the scrolls where he left off, he continued on. He hadn't had a chance to finish looking over his grandfather's exploits since the Gedoushou had returned as he was in the middle of it and he hadn't been able to get back to it until now. Still, he was able to recall where he left off and continue on. Rolling over a new section of scroll, he spotted the five kanji representing the five Shinkengers since their creation. Fire, Water, Sky, Wood, and Wind. Takeru was the Samurai of Fire as his father and grandfather before him and he felt pride at holding the title. His only hope was that he could hold it as honorably as his ancestors did.

"Hm?" Takeru blinked when he saw the circle of kanji which represented the sixteenth generation Shinkengers. The symbol of fire was in the centre as expected, but the remaining four symbols were placed strangely. Usually they were placed in a square formation with the four symbols acting as the corners as he saw in the scrolls of his father's time. However, the symbols were placed differently like the corners of a pentagon. The bottom left corner was missing between the symbols for sky and wood. Peering closer at the spot, Takeru noticed that something was indeed there, but age had actually caused the dust to turn into a crust which covered the symbol. Even worse, dust was made up of fibers from the scrolls so it matched the color of the scroll itself almost perfectly. Gently picking at the crust, the material fell away easily revealing what was underneath.

The symbol of Metal.

"A Samurai of…Metal?" Takeru asked himself with widening eyes.

Quickly putting down the scrolls, Takeru turned to the other older scrolls he had read through growing up. Why hadn't he heard of a Samurai of Metal before? If there was another Shinkenger out there, why hadn't he known about them? Why hadn't that samurai heeded the call when the Gedoushu began to reappear? He poured over all of the older generation texts searching for mention of a Samurai of Metal. There had to be something and indeed he quickly found it. In each history, the focus was usually centered on the Shiba leading that generation of Shinkengers as most likely the histories kept by the archives of his retainers focused on the individual vassals as well. However, in the Shiba Clan's case, the vassals were only mentioned in passing and never by name or color, just as a nebulous group more often than not.

Digging deeply into the first generation scrolls, Takeru discovered that his suspicions were correct. There was indeed a Samurai of Metal who was assisting his family in fighting the Gedoushu. The references to the vassals were vague, only found back in the first generation of Shinkengers, but it was easily missed. It mentioned the Shinkengers each as a master of a weapon. ShinkenBlue was a master archer, ShinkenGreen was a master spearman, ShinkenYellow was a master markswoman, ShinkenPink was a master of hidden weapons like a battle fan. The last one was marked as a master of all weapons, but in the past Takeru had assumed it meant his ancestor. Now he was proven wrong in light of his discovery. The passage didn't describe all of the Shinkengers, merely the first Shiba's vassals and their skills.

"Jii!" Takeru called out to his guardian and mentor.

In a matter of moments, Hikoma Kusakabe came dashing into the room. He was a man in his middle ages and had raised Takeru since his father fell sealing Doukoku Chimatsuri. The man was as trustworthy as they came and knowledgeable in all things relating to the Shinkengers abilities and practices. Now that knowledge would be put to the test in light of Takeru's discovery.

"Tono-sama, what is it?" Hikoma asked worriedly. Rarely hearing his charge shout for anything his whole life, hearing his shout usually meant something big was happening.

"I found something. Come look," Takeru explained, bringing his mentor over to the scrolls he had been examining.

What they would find would rock the world of the Shinkengers.

Ranma Saotome yawned as he walked home from school alone that day. It wasn't too much of a new thing for him especially since he usually walked home with his first arranged fiancée Akane Tendo who he had gotten mad at him for some unknown reason and thus she decided to walk home without him in her huff. Today her loss of temper was because Ukyo and Shampoo had dropped by to give him food where they found him sleeping in a tree. Because of a dream he was having involving weird monsters with people dressed in colorful outfits, he was expressing the odd groan as he felt his dream self get hit once or twice. Of course Akane assumed he was having a perverted dream and proceeded to get steamed over it and attempt to hit him. Then Shampoo and Ukyo showed up and when Akane shrieked why Ranma was being 'perverted' today, both girls assumed he was dreaming about them and proceeded to try and cuddle up with him but they just broke into a fight with each other over who had the right to do that. Akane used the distraction to bean Ranma out of the tree with a large rock, waking him up. When Akane accused him of being perverted while Ukyo and Shampoo demanded to know which of them he was dreaming of, Ranma denied any perverted dreams which just got all three mad and another fight broke out.

Ranma was feeling a little tense to say the least.

'I was taking a freaking nap!' Ranma mentally growled to himself. 'I wasn't doing anything and they still find a freaking reason to fight over me like a piece of meat!'

The days since the failed wedding had been…tense. Things were okay for a while, but the Fiancée Brigade were getting downright desperate to marry him and it seemed they stopped making the distinction between walking down the isle with him or dragging him there kicking and screaming so long as he ended up with a ring on his finger that matched theirs. Shampoo tried no less than three different tricks and/or unusual spices to try and make Ranma fall in love with her by force…in one week. Ukyo had been going on and on, lamenting about her lost childhood and how her fiancée abandoned her almost every time he stopped for something to eat...and the less said about Kodachi the better.

The rivals were attacking more often, but Ranma found that more comforting than anything. He could beat them all easily and it made for a great workout. More than that, it was familiar ground. It was a rut he was sort of comfortable with. Rivals get mad, hunt for Ranma, he kicks their butts, his day continues. It was familiar, it was comforting, and it all was completely logical in his mind. The rivals had genuine reasons to be mad. They were easy to understand and when they weren't trying to kill him, pretty okay guys to talk to…well, except for Kuno. He was just plain nuts regardless if he was upset or not. Now the fiancées, they were a whole different story. They were always scheming something or just ticked off at him for some reason, and rather than just coming out and saying it, they made Ranma play a guessing game about it and demand he apologize for something and then get even more ticked off when he guessed wrong.

At least other aspects of life in Nerima seemed to be getting better. The local people seemed to support Ranma and his bids for some measure of peace. He didn't have to 'cute' vendors into giving him free treats in his girl form anymore. They gave it to him in thanks for keeping the Wrecking Crew from destroying their shops and stalls. The other students at Furinkan had also been giving him a break. After over a year of seeing his exploits, the students had long since stopped believing Akane's rants about what a pervert he was and decided to believe their own eyes for a change rather than listening to Nabiki's propaganda or Akane shrieking at the top of her lungs when she got mad.

And Akane wondered how rumors concerning her got started up.

Scratching the back of his head and checking the almost vanished bump which Akane had placed when she threw that rock at him, Ranma spotted the Tendo Dojo up ahead. Seeing it just reminded how the situation was going there. Despite saying that the wedding should wait until their personal affairs were in order, Soun and Genma were furiously scheming to try and get Ranma married to Akane as soon as possible come hell or high water. Sometimes he wondered if the two men were really all there in the head since they kept forgetting how reality, and love for that matter, worked since they kept proclaiming how much Akane and Ranma loved each other and that they should hold the wedding right away despite evidence to the contrary.

Nabiki was still extorting his money through whatever means she could by billing him about what happened to the dojo at the failed wedding, but Ranma miraculously managed to outmaneuver her on that one. A while back, Ranma's mother had given him a pillbox which for some strange reason, looked like a wedding ring in a velvet case. Once Nabiki heard he had it, she immediately charged the fiancées and rivals money to let them know he had it. The fiancées then got in one of their usual brawls while chasing him trying to claim the ring as theirs, completely forgetting that Ranma had to willingly give it to them for it to be official. Ranma had managed to evade them by tossing a box of Band-Aids to his dad at his mother's house making the fiancées think it was the box, however in their usual frenzy to prove who was superior and thus deserved to be Ranma's wife, not to mention getting all worked up by how Nabiki spun the story, they actually destroyed the house completely before finding out the 'ring' wasn't there. Ranma held Nabiki personally responsible and she couldn't worm her way out of it since Ranma had kept the box a guarded secret and she had only discovered it by spying on him so the destroyed house was directly her fault. So, any damages she tried to charge Ranma for the dojo were deducted from the costs it would take to rebuild Nodoka's house. In a rare moment of insight, he even got the contractors who repaired the dojo to give him an extra invoice so he could see what it cost before Nabiki could try inflating the numbers so to manipulate him. It ticked Nabiki off when she first tried to get money for the dojo, but it didn't stop her from trying to extract money from Ranma in other ways.

Kasumi was as pleasant as always, never finding fault in anyone, but Ranma still felt bad about all the crazy stuff that kept happening to the house since he and his freeloading father showed up. To that end, Ranma tried to help out in a few ways. Usually he was able to keep the damage to the house to a minimum when the rivals tried to get the jump on him and he even convinced Shampoo that busting through walls simply because it was easier than walking to the door was not only rude, but it ticked him off as well. He never could understand why Shampoo always decided that simply breaking through walls was better than ringing the bell or knocking on the door. He could tell Kasumi appreciated it too since she kept giving him larger portions than usual at meal times.

His mother was a different story. She had been acting weird lately and not out of her usual 'manliness' and 'get together with as many girls as you can' trips either. She was looking decidedly nervous about something and it seemed to be bothering her. She kept looking at her sword and Ranma was hoping that she wasn't considering the Seppuku idea simply because he hadn't made her a grandmother or because the girls seemed so upset with him for their various reasons. Steeling his courage, he once tried to ask her what was the problem, but before she could answer Akane had interrupted and force fed him something she made, sending him to the hospital to get his stomach pumped…again. Yet somehow, even with the medical evidence backing it up, Akane still thought he was making fun of her. So Ranma was left trying to muster up his courage to ask his mother what was wrong and hope no one decided to interrupt again.

"EEEEH?! You mean I'm the seventh Shinkenger?!" Genta Umemori gasped out in shock.

After Hikoma and Takeru made and confirmed their discovery, they had called all of Takeru's vassals into the meeting hall to explain the situation. In attendance were Ryunosuke Ikenami, a former kabuki actor and easily the most loyal and dedicated of all of Takeru's vassals. Next was Mako Shiraishi, a former kindergarten teacher who had grand dreams of becoming a wife…even if her cooking skills weren't up to snuff. Then there was Chiaki Tani, a high school student who had a good mind for strategy, but his battle training was a little lacking. Next was Kotoha Hanaori, whose family ran a bamboo shop and was somewhat sheltered from many things in the world. Finally there was Genta Umemori, an excitable and energetic sushi vendor who had been Takeru's best friend growing up and still considered himself as such.

"It seems that since the first Shinkengers eighteen generations ago, there has been a Samurai of Metal who has fought alongside the Shiba Clan and the vassals," Hikoma explained, revealing the scrolls which mentioned the elusive samurai.

"Then why didn't they heed the call?" asked Ryunosuke. "As a samurai and a vassal they should have come with the rest of us when Tono-sama called for us!"

"There may not be a Samurai of Metal anymore," Takeru replied to his vassal. "I recall the previous generation of Shinkengers when I was young and I only ever recall seeing five of them."

"Indeed," Hikoma nodded. "It seems the last Samurai of Metal existed in Tono-sama's grandfather's time. There hasn't been another one since then."

"You don't think something happened to that family do you?" asked Mako with worry.

"I have asked the Kuroko to retrieve records of that clan so we may discern just what is fact and what is rumor," Takeru replied. "If there is a seventh Shinkenger out there, we will need to find them. Everyone connected to this battle against the Gedoushu must give support."

The conversation halted when a Kuroko entered the room and produced a set of scrolls with the name Himura written on it. Takeru nodded his thanks and took the scroll before opening it for everyone to read. The group read over the list of births, marriages, and names trying to find the modern dates. The scroll was long so it took a couple of moments to find the right dates after a long winding chain throughout the ages. Since these weren't official clan scrolls, it only listed birthdates, death dates, and marriages, however for the sake of keeping track of vassals for the Shiba Clan, it was enough.

"Here!" Chiaki cried, pointing to a name. "Keiichi Himura. This is the last guy who had the title of the Samurai of Metal. The dates are right for our grandparents' time as Shinkengers."

"He had a son too, Daisuke Himura." Kotoha pointed out. "But the death date…"

"He apparently died before Tono-sama's father called for his vassals so there was no Samurai of Metal to take the mantle." Hikoma frowned.

"But what's this smudge below the son's name?" asked Ryunosuke.

"Well, it says that Daisuke-san got married before he died, perhaps it's the name of his child?" suggested Mako.

"Then why is the name partially erased?" asked Takeru. "There might be a story behind this." He then looked to his guardian. "Jii, try to find us a way to get in contact with Daisuke-san's wife if she is still alive. We must find out about her child and if there is anyone who can still take the mantle of the Samurai of Metal."

"Of course Tono-sama," Hikoma nodded as he immediately set off to find some Kuroko to assist him in this task.

"A seventh Shinkenger," Genta pondered. "I wonder who they might be?"

"Achoo!" Ranma sneezed as he walked onto the Tendo Dojo property. "Man, either I'm getting a cold or someone's talking about me. That's the seventh straight sneeze. Eh, probably the fiancées plotting to get me again." Ranma shrugged off the odd thought as he headed for the front door, wondering if today he would get the courage to ask his mother what had been bothering her so much lately.

Unbeknownst to Ranma, the reason Nodoka was anxious was because she had received a letter. It had come to her when a Kuroko, the black-clad servants of the Shiba clan had appeared and delivered it to her before vanishing. They were like ninjas, which technically they were. They were silent and efficient. Curious as to what the strange man had wanted, she had opened the letter and gasped when she read what was within it. The contents had been bothering her ever since.

"The Shiba clan…" She let out in a hushed tone just as her manly son announced he had come home.

"Yo, mom!" A boisterous voice called.

"Oh, hello my son," Nodoka greeted. She tried not to let her nervousness show, but it wasn't enough to fool Ranma's eyes. He could tell that something was bothering his mother, but thanks to Genma's conditioning concerning her, he was more than a little hesitant in doing anything around her lest she consider it unmanly and get the Seppuku idea stuck in her head again. So, he was still attempting to get his courage together to ask her something about what was bothering her.

Still, recently Ranma had likewise found that his mother wasn't pressing as hard for Ranma to get married or take on mistresses like she used to. Not that he didn't enjoy the peace, but Nodoka was usually always going on about being manly and making some grandkids for her to spoil. It definitely didn't make the other fiancées happy when they tried to plead their case to her to try and get Ranma to pay more attention to them. She just casually denied them and sent them on their way. For Ranma, he knew something was wrong since Nodoka usually never missed the chance to help him become manlier or increase her chances of becoming a grandmother.

"Hello Ranma," Kasumi greeted warmly, walking to the front hallway. "How was your day?"

"Pretty good," Ranma shrugged. "Woulda been better if all those ninja's didn't keep hanging around watching me all day."

"Ninja's?" asked Kasumi and Nodoka.

"Yeah, these guys dressed in black with veils covering their faces," Ranma explained as he got his indoor slippers on. "There've been three of them at school all day and two more following me home and I think there's one or two of them hanging around the property. Didn't feel anything aggressive coming from them so they probably aren't going to be a pain in the neck, but they just bug me."

"Oh my." Kasumi commented softly.

'They're here!' Nodoka realized. The Shiba Clan's Kuroko staff had come to observe Ranma. Usually, people paid them little mind. In Nerima, weird things happened often so men clad in black were not the strangest thing to appear.

"Well, as long as they don't attack me, I don't care," said Ranma. "I just hope they aren't working for some new martial artist who's coming to challenge me. I'm fed up with fighting."

"You? The martial arts jock? Fed up with fighting?" asked the usual I-know-everything voice of Nabiki from the living room. "The world must be ending."

"I love martial arts, but I am so fed up with fighting for stupid reasons," Ranma sighed, sending a neutral stare into the living room. "Half the people who come at me are after me because of something Pop did and he shifts the blame to me or something the rivals and fiancées somehow figure is my fault even though I wasn't even there or had anything to do with it, yet it's somehow my fault it happened. Challengers are okay since they just want to test themselves and stuff, but…I'm just sick of fighting for no good reason."

'You may get a good reason if what the letter I received is true,' Nodoka thought to herself.

"I have found out the name of Daisuke-san's child," Hikoma announced as he returned to the meeting room with a Kuroko holding a pile of papers. "According to the official documents, Daisuke-san had a daughter named Nodoka."

"So they did have a child! That's great!" Ryunosuke smiled. "But if he did have a daughter, why wasn't she summoned like the rest of us?"

"I had asked Daisuke-san's wife that same question," Hikoma replied as he took his traditional seat. "She was ashamed to admit it, but her daughter had married someone she didn't approve of. A man named Genma Saotome. He was hardly what she considered a worthy husband but Nodoka insisted even though there was much evidence to prove he was a dishonorable fool." The Kuroko dropped the stack of papers, the first labeling the rep sheet of one Genma Saotome and his crimes. It made up for a good portion of the papers, if not all of them.

"Then why marry such a man?" asked Kotoha. "Couldn't she see how bad he is?"

"Apparently Nodoka-san has some twisted ideas about what she found attractive in men," Hikoma sighed. "I had asked if Nodoka had any children, but as far as Himura-dono knew, she didn't. However, Nodoka-san has not communicated with her mother for many years so perhaps she was not told about any children. Incidentally, several incidents with Genma Saotome has reported a small boy in his company possibly his child. Still, Nodoka-san has not been found with either of them so we do not know if the child is hers. We managed to track all three of them down into the Nerima district. I already have several Kuroko monitoring them and have sent a letter to Nodoka-san explaining the situation."

"I see," Takeru nodded. "Then we should go speak to Nodoka-san and find out just why her son, if she has one, had not heeded the call when it went out."

"Then let's get going!" Genta cheered. "I want to see this new Shinkenger!"

"Ikuzo!" Takeru nodded, standing up and heading out of the room, his vassals close behind.

"Okay, these guys in black are starting to tick me off. Just what do they want?" asked Ranma just stood there, watching Kuroko duck behind the property wall again, noticing that they had gotten caught again.

The Tendo Dojo was at peace for the moment. Genma and Soun were out drinking again, something about celebrating the impending marriage with their children. Nabiki was calculating numbers again while Akane was out with friends. He was beginning to think that Akane was trying to avoid the house as much as possible so she could be a normal girl for at least a little while. Kasumi was getting the dishes done. At the moment, Ranma was trying to relax while keeping an eye on the guys dressed in black lest they try something funny.

"The Kuroko don't mean any harm Ranma," Nodoka spoke to her son from her cup of tea. "If I had to hazard a guess, it's because Tono-sama heard I was here and sent them to learn about my situation. I suppose it's only natural."

"Tono-sama?" asked Ranma. "Mom, who are you talking about?"

"Takeru Shiba-sama of course," Nodoka answered, blinking curiously at Ranma. "You should at least remember his name already. I'm sure he would have been brought up in your training."

"Never heard of him," Ranma answered, causing Nodoka to blink in greater confusion.

"Ranma, you must have. Why else were you on that training trip?" asked Nodoka, now becoming even more confused.

"To be the greatest martial artist and become a man amongst men." Ranma replied almost automatically.

"But surely you must have wondered what the other training was for," Nodoka frowned. "I mean, the swordsmanship training, the horseback training, the calligraphy training, the strategy training and all of the essential things. Haven't you ever wondered why you needed that sort of training as you were growing up?"

"Mnnn, Pop hated me even touching a sword so I had to learn from what I was able to see other masters use," Ranma shrugged, tugging on his pigtail as he tried to recall everything besides Genma's screw ups on the ten year voyage. "I never even got to touch a horse until we settled down in Nerima and that tea ceremony guy almost ran me over with one. Um, Pops said calligraphy was a waste of time so I never learned it and strategy I can do fine when I'm fighting."

"You…never…learned?" Nodoka gaped, her cup slipping from her fingers. Thankfully it was empty and didn't break when it hit the table. "But…but…but you must know your Mojikara, right?"

"Moji-what?" asked Ranma in confusion. "Is that some kind of technique Pops was holding out on me?"

"Surely you must have the Origami and Shodo Phone by now!" Nodoka all but pleaded, feeling her hopes plummeting as she saw her son's clueless face.

"What are those?" asked Ranma.

"GENNNMAAAAAAAA!" was Nodoka's enraged screech which caused Ranma to slip off of the back deck and onto the grass while the kuroko outside fell of their perches behind the wall. Ranma didn't bother climbing back up and instead peeked over the edge to see his mother seething with a dark aura surrounding her. No doubt about it, she was MAD! Way worse than anything he had seen Akane make when she lost her temper. Of course, Akane kept having her temper tantrums over moderate things (which most people would only feel mildly miffed about) while Nodoka seemed upset for some reason that was really important to her.

"Mom?" Ranma gulped.

"That…that…UUUUURRRRHH!" Nodoka snarled, clenching her fists. "He promised me that the training would take place! He told me to rest easy, that my son would get the knowledge he needed for his task. He said my ancestors would be honored! He said Ranma would be prepared for what was ahead! He said Ranma would bring my family out of its shame! He swore Ranma would be given his inheritance and told of his heritage! NNNNGH! I AM GOING TO KILL HIM!"

"Uh…Mom?" Ranma muttered weakly, desperately hoping that she wouldn't be reaching for her sword.

Nodoka's enraged gaze turned to her son and immediately softened, but she looked about ready to cry rather than her regular calmness, "Ranma…I'm so sorry. I…I thought Genma would tell you about your training. He promised to tell you about your family heritage and give you your inheritance when you were old enough. He swore an oath that he would give you the training you needed for the future. I…I don't know why he would deny you that. I…I…," Nodoka's sputtering began to dissolve into tears as she tried to hide her face.

"Mom? Mom, just calm down," Ranma spoke, heading over to his mother to try and help her however he could. "What heritage? What did Pop promise to do?"

"I –sniff- suppose that you need to know, more so than –sniff- ever now," Nodoka sniffled, trying to dry her eyes. Gesturing Ranma to take a seat, she heaved a shuddering sigh before beginning her story. "Well, Ranma, to begin, our family is descended from a very long line of samurai. At least eighteen generations of them to be exact. Our family acts as one of five vassal families to the Shiba Clan."

"Uh-huh," Ranma nodded, not liking the idea of bowing to anybody, but he let his mother continue her story. "Samurai. Right. You mean guys like Kuno?"

"Oh heavens no!" Nodoka gasped. "The Kuno family are merely low ranked compared to the likes of our family and the Shiba clan. Quite frankly, the reason that Kuno boy and his family love to lord their status and money over everyone is because I think no one in the old families really sees anything worth respecting anymore."

"I'd believe that," Ranma nodded. "So, the Shiba Clan?"

"Right. The Shiba Clan and its vassals have been charged by the emperor himself to combat against the forces called the Gedoushu," Nodoka explained. "I know this may be hard to believe, but the Gedoushu are in fact from the Sanzu River and have been trying to invade our world for a very long time. It is thanks to the actions of each generation of the Shiba family and their vassals which do combat against the Gedoushu and keep them at bay."

"And these Kuroko guys serve the Shiba Clan, right?" Ranma asked, pointing at the black clad figures who waved back, seeing as Nodoka was explaining the situation to her son. Monsters who come from the Sanzu River were perfectly within Ranma's range of belief, having fought (and beaten) Dragon Prince/ss's and (self-proclaimed) Phoenix God's in the past.

"Yes," Nodoka nodded. "Because of our duties as each Shiba head's vassals, each generation is trained in the samurai arts. Part of my stipulations in the contract your father and yourself signed is that you must be trained in the Himura family arts. I had given him scrolls so he could teach you everything you needed to know as a samurai and a vassal of Shiba-sama."

"Uhhh…I think Pop might have pawned those for drinking money," Ranma gulped. "I remember now and then he'd sell these scrolls I didn't remember him getting from the various dojos or shrines we'd visit."

"…He is SO lucky that those were merely copies," Nodoka growled. "It seems that despite threatening his life, Genma had done everything in his power to prevent you from learning the Himura Samurai Arts. Everything you would have needed to know was on those scrolls. It was my hope that you could undo the shame which my family unintentionally brought on itself in previous generations."

"Pops probably didn't like the idea of me kowtowing to anyone else but him," Ranma grumbled. "Not that I kowtow to him no matter how much he tries blubbering about honor or the schools or even about how he's my father and I have to respect him."

"Yes. The reason why I have been so off balance lately is because I have been hearing rumors that the Gedoushu have been active again yet you hadn't seemed to notice or even try to go investigate," Nodoka explained. "At first I was worried you either didn't know about the rumors or didn't care about them, but now I see you were purposefully kept ignorant of the family legacy and what you were born to become. I can guess Genma probably pawned off your Shodo Phone and the Uma Origami by now."

"Um…" Ranma frowned, trying to recall anything else that Genma probably tried to pawn off in the time making up their trip. Naturally, it was a pretty long list considering all of the places the man looted during their trip. Still, there was one thing that stood out if he remembered correctly. "Did those things come in an ornate box? One with metal on it and the kanji for 'metal' carved onto the lid?"

"Yes." Nodoka nodded.

"Right, Pops may still have it then," Ranma explained, hoping he was right. "He's tried pawning it off, but every time he tried, the pawnbrokers would take a look inside then turn really pale. Then they'd shove the box back in his arms and tell him to get out of the store. He'd bluster about customer loyalty or something and stuff the thing back in his pack. I was never allowed to touch it myself. He tried to sell it all the time but no one would buy it. The only reason I can think of why he didn't sell it in the street is because he figured he could get more out of the pawn shops."

Nodoka's eyes lit up with hope. "Is his pack here?"

"Up in the guest room," Ranma replied.

"Go fetch it. It's high time I give you what you were meant to inherit, my son," ordered Nodoka. "Then I'm going to have a long talk with that dishonorable father of yours."

"Alright," Ranma nodded. If this was a huge deal about his mom, he would do it. 'Sides, this was about his mom's side of the family and he had to admit that he had been curious about that side in the past. He had learned more than enough about his father's side when they visited the family grave shrine and found it was booby-trapped against thieves like his father. Add the fact that the supposed treasure it protected had already been pawned off painted a rather grim picture.

The story his mother had told him about being part of a samurai clan was somewhat unexpected, but not wholly surprising given his life. This whole deal of fighting demons was actually more of a good thing in his mind. Now he had a purpose. This could be the ticket he needed to get out of pointless fights and all the crap he'd endured in life. If you've been charged by the Emperor to fight demons then that takes precedent over any kind of responsibility your family laid out for you!

Practically leaping up the stairs, Ranma dashed into the guest room. Sure enough he found his father's pack in the closet. The man barely touched it these days save for when someone he was afraid of was coming to call, i.e. Happosai, Nodoka, various fiancées he set up for Ranma, etc, and he wanted to make a break for it to avoid responsibility and/or pain. Opening it, he dug through Genma's old gi and a few various trinkets he had probably stolen at some point and hadn't been able to sell yet. After digging to the bottom of the deceptively small bag, he found what he was looking for. An ornate box with polished oak which seemed a little scuffed from being jammed into a backpack with some slightly dirty metal from sweaty gi or bits of old food. It was still a beautiful piece of work with a kanji for 'metal' beautifully carved into the oak and set with metal.

"Here we go," Ranma smiled as he lifted the box out of the bag and exited the room. Heading back downstairs, he presented his mother with the box who smiled brightly.

"I see you weren't wrong," Nodoka sighed in relief. Taking the box and setting it on the table, she undid the locks on the front of the box before turning it to face her son. "Ranma, I am proud to present you with your birthright."

Opening the box, Nodoka slid the ornate box forward, allowing him to see inside. Curious, Ranma took a look. Inside, he saw an orange and black cell phone which almost looked like it could fold vertically as well as horizontally. Next to it was a silver disk with a hole in the centre and had several images of a horse running around the centre of the disk. Both were resting on top of a bundle of silk which gave both items an air of elegance and mysticism. The pair of items did look very cool and it made Ranma wonder why Genma wasn't able to sell them whenever he dropped by a pawn shop.

"Often everyone recognizes the treasures of the Shiba Clan and their vassals," Nodoka smiled as she gazed longingly at the two items. "Especially with the media able to spread word so quickly these days. I'd wager that's why your father was never able to sell them. The owners recognized them and feared that they were stolen and didn't want to be caught with them. Of course, Genma probably didn't consider them important beyond monetary value so I'd bet he never thought to find out why he was refused."

Ranma nodded, still admiring the items before he reached into the box and picked them up. He couldn't help but wonder how the two items were supposed to help him go against the Gedoushu, but in his life, things which looked harmless tended to have some pretty scary abilities more often than not. As he picked the items up, the silk began to move before something kicked its way out of the mess with a cute neighing noise. Looking down, Ranma blinked to see a mechanical silver horse looking up at him with curiosity. It seemed to be able to come apart, but Ranma likewise noticed something that looked like a horizontal spinning disk coming from its sides.

"Ah! Uma-chan!" Nodoka gasped in delight, reaching down and petting the tiny mechanical horse along its neck, making it neigh happily. "It's been so long!"

"Uh…what's that?" Ranma asked uncertainly, getting the small horse's attention turned back to him.

"This is Uma-chan Ranma," Nodoka introduced with a fond smile. "It is the Himura Family's personal Origami entrusted to us by the first Shiba Head as a sign of trust and comradeship towards his vassals. Origami are part of the Mojikara which the Shiba Clan and the vassals are able to produce, creating constructs known as Origami. Uma-chan has been in our family for years. Oooh! It's so good to see you again!"

The Uma Origami neighed happily as Nodoka continued stroking its neck. Ranma had to admit that the little horse was cute and probably easy enough to get along with. Unlike other pets he probably wouldn't have to feed the little thing. He'd have to keep it out of sight though. If Pop got wind of it he'd try to get rid of Uma-chan and Nabiki would most likely sell it to the highest bidder after blackmailing the martial artist out of the Origami first.

The small mechanical horse trotted over to Ranma and looked up at the pigtailed young man expectantly. Ranma reached over and ran his hand along the small horse's mane. The horse rubbed its head against Ranma's hand in response, pleased with the touch.

"He's cute, but I don't know how a little guy can help fight demons." said Ranma skeptically.

"Uma-chan's a girl." Nodoka corrected.

"Oh, sorry." Ranma apologized. The tiny horse gave a small neigh in response.

"The Origami are just one facet to the Mojikara which Shiba-sama and his vassals use," Nodoka explained. "If Genma hadn't decided his way of doing things was more important, you would have been taught about Mojikara and its many, many, uses. As it is now, you'll have to start from scratch."

"Hey, I can learn it in no time," Ranma grinned, earning an energetic neigh from the Uma Origami. "If I can learn high grade martial arts in at least a week, I can learn this Mojikara stuff!"

"A good attitude to have," Nodoka nodded with a smile. "You already have magnificent control over your internal energies so we may be able to skip that. However, calligraphy is a must when learning Mojikara. After all, it is the art of using kanji as a medium for your magic."

"Huh?"

As Nodoka began explaining the finer points of Mojikara to her son, Kasumi was handing cups of tea to the nice men in black who were watching over Auntie and Little Brother. She didn't want them to think they were inhospitable or rude after all. Besides, being out in the sun all day wearing black had to be tiring.

The Sanzu River

The Sanzu River was not a pleasant place by any stretch of the mind. The shores were littered with rocks; some forming piles and knock just one over, you'd be assaulted by the most populous residents, the Nanashi. The water itself was a blood red and even worse things lived in there, those being the Ayakashi, the tougher members of the Gedoushu and the ones whom the Shiba Clan did battle with most often. On the river itself sailed the Rokumon Junk, the ancient ship which carried the Gedoushu's most powerful members. The boat itself looked like the kind used by the Japanese in the ancient past, but looked old and worn with the sail in tatters. It never really sailed anywhere, it just drifted along.

Onboard the ship were some Gedoushu who were the ones spearheading operations into the mortal world, attempting to raise terror and despair so that the waters of the river would flood the mortal realm and allow them to invade. Sitting on one side of the boat with a saucer of sake made from the screams of humans was the leader of the Gedoushu, Doukoku Chimatsuri. He was a terrifying figure covered from head to toe in red and black armor/flesh and several yellow eyes on his skull-like face. Next to him was his broadsword which he never went without.

Looking out through some of the viewing holes in the side of the boat into the human world was a short squid-headed figure who seemed to be rather old and holding a gnarled staff. His eyes were glowing yellow in the low light and he seemed to be pondering something. His name was Shitari of the Bones and he was the Gedoushu's strategist, discovering ways to try and flood the Sanzu River so to speed up their impending invasion into the human world.

Pacing up and down the deck in an almost bored fashion was a new member to the small crew on the Rokumon Junk. He wore pale robes and had six slitted eyes and a large grin stuck on his face. In his hands was a folded metal blade which could be used as a weapon if he so desired. His name was Akumoro and he was a master of the black arts. Eighteen generations ago, he had fought the first Shinkengers, but the battle left him trapped at the bottom of the Sanzu River until a burst of power from Doukoku during his yearly power increase during the Bon festival in summer managed to set him free. In gratitude, he pledged his service to Doukoku, but no one really trusted him.

At the moment, the group was going about their usual routines. Shitari was reading through his archives of knowledge which included written works by the more intelligent Gedoushu of the past and books stolen from the Shiba house when Doukoku had attempted to invade the human world before the seventeenth head of the Shiba clan managed to seal him away, trapping him in the Sanzu River. Doukoku was indulging himself on his sake as a Nanashi refilled it for him whenever he finished his last saucer of the stuff. Akumoro finally ceased his pacing and just seemed to be sitting at the back of the boat's interior, looking out through the hole that Ayakashi would use to enter or exit the Rokumon Junk. Hanging from the ceiling were several yellow fur balls with big mouths and red eyes called Susukodama and had an annoying habit of repeating the last interesting sounds or words they heard tirelessly until they heard something else. Today, they were playing a soothing tone from a shamisen which seemed to soothe Doukoku's ever bubbling temper.

Shitari turned the page in one of his books, his eyes landing on a pentagon of symbols which the Shiba clan head had found himself not too long ago. His glowing eyes widening in shock, Shitari began to panic. "Oh no! This can't be! This is impossible!"

"Shitari," Doukoku growled from his seat, making the Nanashi shiver in fear. "What are you overreacting about this time?"

"I'm not overreacting! This is serious!" Shitari cried, waving the book in his hands around. "This book that we had stolen from the Shiba House during your attack says that there should have been six Shinkengers there to fight you!"

"So?" Growled Doukoku, slurping down more sake. "There are six Shikengers now, aren't there?"

"No! That idiot with the gold is not the sixth Shinkenger!" Shitari cried. "Doukoku-sama, this book says that there should be a Samurai of Metal working with the Shinkengers against us!"

"Ah, the silver one," Akumoro nodded with his ever present grin. "I remember him. He was fun. I was wondering why there wasn't a new generation Shinkenger for him."

"Hmph! We probably got lucky and that family died out or something!" Doukoku snorted.

"Not from what I can see," Akumoro chuckled as he peered into the human world. "The Shinkengers have found where their missing comrade is and are going to collect him."

"WHAT?!" Shitari cried, dashing over to the hole so he could see as fast as his stubby legs could take him. Peering through the hole and into a gap which connected the mortal world to the Sanzu River, he indeed saw the Shinkengers heading down a street and they were talking.

"So what do you think this Shinkenger is like Tono-sama?"

"I don't know. I've never met anyone from the Himura family."

"Do you think Nodoka-san had a child?"

"I hope so. Then we can have another cool Shinkenger join the team!"

"This is bad! We can't let them get the last Shinkenger!" Shitari cried as he hobbled back to his books, trying to find the name of the possible new Samurai of Metal or any clue where they might be found.

"Why not? I think this might be fun," Akumoro laughed.

"Of course you would," Shitari grumbled. Akumoro was probably the only one of their members who had a consecutive winning streak against the Shinkngers when he took them on himself rather than let one of his minions do the fighting for him. When he first met the Shikengers he was actually winning until he just came back claiming he got bored and left his kirigami to deal with them in his place. The paper construct was obviously destroyed, but Akumoro said he had fun so that was more important.

"Send an Ayakashi and the Nanashi!" ordered Doukoku, slamming his saucer down and standing up. "Six Shinkengers are already too troublesome! A seventh will just be more annoying!"

"I have just the Ayakashi," said Shitari, hobbling over to the side windows of the river. "Shukaku!"

"HAI!" Shukaku, an Ayakashi resembling a tanuki, appeared out of the river. Shaking the water from his fur, he stepped deeper into the ship to meet with his superiors. He had on a straw hat, a fat body and a fluffy tail. He also carried a large gourd which he could wield as a weapon. A sash was tied around his waist and he had heavy boots and gloves. "Reporting for duty!"

"We have a serious task for you," Shitari spoke, hobbling over to the Ayakashi. "There is supposedly a seventh Shinkenger by the name of Nodoka Himura somewhere in," Shitari pointed at the gap which gave a view of the human world. "This section of the human world. You are to find her, and ELIMINATE HER!"

"You've got it!" Shukaku laughed. "I'll leave her a dried out husk!"

"Oh, but if we send an Ayakashi, wouldn't the Shinkengers hear of it and attack?" asked Akumoro. "Then all of them would be together just the same."

"And what would you suggest?" asked Doukoku with a snarl.

"We divide and conquer of course," Akumoro chuckled as he turned his attention to the Sanzu River. "Wanyu! Are you down there?"

"Yes," A deep voice groaned back. Emerging from the water was another Ayakashi. This one's head was covered in burlap with one yellow eye sticking out of a hole. His neck was in the centre of a wagon wheel which had spikes on the edges. He wore robes which seemed similar to that of feudal lords, save for the dirt and rocks stuck to them. Smaller wagon wheels were attached to his ankles and elbows while his hands and feet were red armored flesh. "What do you want?"

"We need you to team up with Shukaku to distract the Shinkengers while searching for a human named Nodoka Himura," Akumoro explained. "We don't care how you do it, but she must die. Understand?"

"Ha! Easy! She'll be dead before sundown!" Wanyu laughed before he eyed Shukaku. "Let's go!"

"Yeah!" Shukaku nodded before both he and Wanyu dove out the back entrance of the Rokumon Junk and into the Sanzu River, heading for the human world.

"Now all we do is wait," Akumaru grinned.

"This had better work, for your sake!" Shitari hissed.

Nerima

Takeru and his vassals had entered Nerima and were a little confused as to the people. When Ryunosuke had asked for directions to the Tendo Dojo, a lot of people began sighing in long suffering, as if many people had wanted to know the same information. Other people began closing their windows and strengthening doors while giving the group a fair bit of space.

"Hmph!" Ryunosuke frowned. "These people are so disrespectful of you Tono-sama!"

"I don't think they even know who we are." Chiaki commented as no one gave them a second glance. Back in their usual stomping grounds, everyone knew who they were and offered proper respects. It felt a little odd to be ignored in their current lifestyles.

"Eh?" Genta gaped. "But I thought we were famous samurai!"

"Well, famous back home," Mako commented. "Since we hardly fight this far out, it's not surprising to find that some people haven't heard of us."

"Wait! Wait! Wait! How could anyone miss the super cool giant battles we go through?! Everyone in Tokyo could see those!" Genta cried.

"People acknowledge what they will," Takeru shrugged. He didn't really care if people found him famous or not. He had a task to do here and he intended to see it through. "Remember, we're here to find Nodoka and see if she had a child or not."

"Shampoo! My beloved!"

"EEK!"

The group turned quickly when they heard Kotoha's cry of terror. To their surprise, a teenage boy probably around Chiaki's age with long black hair and wearing Chinese robes was hugging her from behind and pressing his face into her back. While the young man seemed to be in romantic rapture, Kotoha was pale and trembling in fright. Being as softspoken as she was, she wasn't the type to lash out against people, but she was just too stunned to do much of anything.

"Hey! Get your hands off of her!" Chiaki cried, dashing to Kotoha's aid. Takeru and the others were right next to him. Takeru acted fasted by grabbing the boy's arms and pushing him away. Kotoha quickly clutched the back of her lord's shirt as she hid herself from the boy who had grabbed her.

"Saotome!" The Chinese boy spat, getting his balance back. "You dare keep Shampoo and I apart for your own twisted pleasures?! Prepare to die!"

"I'm not shampoo!" Kotoha cried out from behind Takeru as Mako tried to comfort her. "My name is Kotoha Hanaori!"

"Huh?" the Chinese boy blinked. Withdrawing his hand into one of his oversized sleeves, he produced a pair of glasses which had the thickest lenses that any of the group had ever seen. Placing the lenses over his eyes, the boy peered at them, apparently needing to squint even with the lenses on. "Oh. You aren't Shampoo. My mistake."

Bowing in apology, the boy turned and left, leaping over a fence and out of sight.

"…what is with the people here?" Ryonosuke blinked in shocked confusion.

"Wait, didn't he say Saotome?" asked Chiaki.

Silence reigned for a moment as the Shinkengers turned to where the Chinese boy had gone.

"Wait! Wait! Wait!" Genta cried, giving chase after the myopic young man. "We need to ask you something!"

Ranma reeled from the revelation. Calligraphy! The focus of Mojikara was to use calligraphy as a weapon! Now he knew he was doomed. His penmanship wasn't all that good. Heck, even Ryoga was better at calligraphy than him. Genma never saw calligraphy as a useful art. Then again, the fat panda was a close-minded fool who though with his stomach. Still, Ranma would need to improve his calligraphy if he ever wanted to inherit the items his mom had shown him.

Well, there was no point in griping about it. He wanted in on fighting these Gedoushu jerks so he needed to learn this. His memory recalled back to the martial arts calligraphy incident. He knew all the characters or at least the ones he'd need for the situation, but making them look good was his actual problem.

"Well, you have the practical side down at least," Nodoka sighed, watching her son turn a paper into a mish-mash of paper and metal thanks to his messy kanji for metal. "But your handwriting is so messy it causes the kanji to be unstable and cause…this."

"Sorry," Ranma grimaced, clutching the brush. He was embarrassed, no doubt. He didn't like goofing up in front of his mother who was probably one of the few good things that had happened in his life.

"It's not your fault," Nodoka smiled reassuringly. "Now, it seems that you have the same problem with calligraphy that Akane-chan does with cooking. You both rush through the steps and end up causing numerous mistakes along the way."

"Ouch," Ranma frowned in mock pain. Being compared to Akane's cooking was not a good thing in any stretch of the mind. In fact, it was downright bad. "Okay, so what do I do about it?"

"The answer is simple," Nodoka replied. "You must remember that this is a discipline no different than meditation. You need a balance of concentration and thought to achieve the result. In short, this is an art form."

Meditation and concentration. That Ranma could understand. He had used lots of meditation to get his thoughts in order and it seemed like second nature to him. Taking that train of thought and running with it, he got a fresh sheet of paper and began again. Calming his mind and emptying it of all though, he pictured the kanji for metal which he was aiming for. Placing the brush against the paper, he took a cleansing breath before beginning his work.

'Slow and steady. This isn't a race. I am not competing with anyone. I am learning. I wish to make art. This isn't a race. I am not in competition…' he thought to himself as he made his brushstrokes across the paper. 'There is no one here but me and the paper.'

Finishing his last stroke, Ranma allowed himself to exit his meditative state. Looking down, he found himself looking at a rather nice kanji for metal on the paper. It didn't stay that way for long before the entire paper transformed into a sheet of steel.

"Excellent!" Nodoka beamed. "You see? A little patience and time can go a long way! Ooooh! I'm so proud of you Ranma!"

"Thanks Mom," Ranma smiled, honestly proud of his work, but happier that his mother was proud of it. It wasn't a side of her he often got to see. "OK, so, what's next?"

"Practice," Nodoka said. "You have to practice over and over again with the same kanji so you don't make an error in battle. A single brush stroke can be the difference between life and death, especially since you and Uma-chan are going to be fighting side-by-side."

Ranma nodded. He wasn't really expecting to go straight to the advance stuff just yet. Like martial arts this required strict discipline and patience. Still, he was always eager to learn the really cool stuff quickly and sometimes he could be impatient for it, one of his regrettably bad habits. Luckily his learning curve was really high when material was presented properly so he was able to get to the cool stuff quickly more often than not.

"Son, does your school have a Calligraphy Club? Maybe they can give you some pointers." Nodoka suggested.

Ranma frowned. He doubted the Calligraphy Club would accept him. They'd probably reject him for his chaotic reputation. "I guess…"

"It's best to look into it if Tono-sama doesn't arrive soon, if not today," Nodoka nodded. Looking to the supplies on hand, Nodoka saw that Ranma had drained their source of ink and most of the paper was now gone, now horrible fusions of metal and paper. "I think we should get some more supplies before we continue your training though."

"Right," Ranma grimaced as he stood up. "I'll get them. Some fresh air might do me some good." Nodoka quickly withdrew a purse she hid in her kimono and handed Ranma some Yen before he headed outside and leaped over the wall.

"Hurry back!" she called out, amused by how stunned the Kuroko were.

"OK, after we got that guy to stop cursing about Saotome, we finally got some directions," Chiaki sighed as he and Genta managed to get back with their friends. It had taken them some time to catch up to the Chinese boy and ask him about the Tendo Dojo. He then went off on a rant for a few minutes about a jerk of a womaniser who strung innocent girls along for his own games before he finally calmed down enough to actually give the directions the group had wanted. "Man, I wonder what this guy's like?"

"He didn't sound too nice from what the boy had to say." Ryunosuke pondered.

"Considering how we saw him act, I'm not too sure if we should believe him about Saotome," Mako commented. "At least we know Nodoka-san had a son though. He sounds to be around Chiaki's age."

"That Chinese guy didn't have anything nice to say about him though," Genta added. "I still wonder what this Ranma guy is like."

"We can't trust the words of someone who's so obviously biased against him," Takeru spoke. "The only thing that we can do is go to the Tendo Dojo and see Nodoka-san and see if this Ranma person is her son or not."

"I'm afraid you won't be getting that far."

The group instantly turned to the source of the voice and found themselves looking at an Ayakashi. It had wheels on its elbows, ankles, and one around its neck. The monster was calmly walking down the street with a spiked wheel in its hands, ready for a fight.

"You can call me Wanyu. I'll be your executioner today," The wheeled Ayakashi snickered. "You won't be finding the seventh Shinkenger while I have something to say about it!"

The six heroes stiffened slightly at the Ayakashi's mention of their missing teammate. Somehow, the Gedoushu knew about the seventh Shinkenger and aimed to stop him or her from joining the others. How they knew was anyone's guess, but it didn't change the fact that they knew. The situation had become a whole lot more serious now that the Gedoushu were getting involved. If Nodoka and any children she had were likely unable to transform like Takeru and the others could, then they would be sitting ducks for any attacks made by the Gedoushu.

"So, you're getting involved then." Takeru frowned.

"Yeah, I am!" Wanyu laughed. "Why not just make it easy on yourselves and die now so to save me the trouble?"

"Ha! As if the eighteenth head of the Shiba family and his vassals would go down so easily!" Ryunosuke laughed as he, Takeru and the others stood in a line against the Ayakshi. "Prepare to be defeated Gedoushu!"

"Shodo Phone!" Takeru and his vassals produced red cellphones which they pressed a button and what appeared to be a brush emerging from the top. Genta produced a white cellphone and a red disk which had sushi-like designs on it. "Sushi Changer!" Folding the disk at the sides, he placed it on his changer and presented it like a piece of sushi.

"Ippitsu Sojo!" five of the six cried, writing kanji in the air. Takeru: Fire, Ryunosuke: Water, Chiaki: Wood, Mako: Sky, and Kotoha: Earth

"Ikkan Kenjou!" Genta cried out, holding his phone out like it was a piece of sushi.

The kanji the five produced began to grow as Genta's phone produced a kanji for Light at the same time, allowing it to grow large. In a flash, the kanji enveloped them, leaving them covered in colored uniforms which matched the ink which their kanji had been written in. All of the uniforms looked like samurai robes at the top with gold belts and black pants (save for Genta's which were blue) and had a sword on the hip (again, save for Genta who had a fish shaped sword on the back). The only difference between the suits besides color was the visors for the helmets were shaped like the kanji each person had written.

The red clad leader stepped forward, unsheathing his sword and placing it on his shoulder. "ShinkenRed, Shiba Takeru."

"The same, blue!" The blue figure spoke next making a downward cut with his sword while putting his hand to his face in a Kabuki pose. "Ikenami Ryunosuke!"

"The same, pink!" The pink figure said next with a graceful swing of her blade. "Shiraishi Mako!"

"The same, green!" The green figure spoke, running his hand along his blade. "Tani Chiaki!"

"The same, yellow!" The yellow figure spoke, gracefully showing a short kata. "Hanaori Kotoha!"

"The same, gold!" The gold figure announced, showing his speed in unsheathing, cutting, and then sheathing his weapon. "Umemori Genta!"

The colorful figures then bowed while the ShinkenRed stood tall gripping his blade tightly. "The Samurai Sentai authorised by the providence…" the group then all stood up with a slash of their blades. "Shinkengers! On call!"

"You don't scare me!" Wanyu crowed, waving his hand in the air. "Nanashi Company! Report!"

"NYAAAA!" A hollow sounding roar echoed before the enemy came. Somehow, they were squeezing themselves out of the gaps which no possible person, even a trained contortionist, could squeeze their way out of. They were dressed in yellow fabric with brown armor which looked scaled like a reptile's skin. Their heads were covered with a red helmet which looked organic with teeth lining where the visor had went. Inside the 'mouth' of the helmet was a black void, hiding the features of the monsters' faces, if they had any. Every one of the monsters was holding a wicked looking blade that looked eager to cut something.

ShinkenRed then ordered with a single word. "Ikuzo."

Ranma was walking back to the dojo, excited to continue his lessons. He was going to need a lot of practice to make up for Genma's neglect. He still couldn't believe that his father would purposefully neglect something as serious as fighting the Gedoushu in favour of his plot to retire early on Ranma's labour. Then again, Genma seemed willing to do just about anything to avoid work, retire early, eat for free, or get free money. Knowing that, it didn't come out as much of a surprise as it should have.

Having been to the art store and gathering the supplies his mother requested, Ranma was on his way back when he stumbled across what he thought was a fight…between people in spandex and monsters. It was probably a movie being shot but considering Nerima's nature it could be something more real. Each of the colourful figures had a kanji on their helmets and were fighting a bunch of screaming monsters with red helmets and yellow outfits while another monster with a wheel around its neck hung near the back.

Each of the colored figures were doing pretty well as Ranma took in the sight. The one in green seemed to be the most inexperienced with the yellow one being a close second. The pink one seemed to be about average, but against the obvious sloppy monsters she was up against, it was enough. The gold one was definitely the most interesting since he was using a backhand slashing style which relied of sheathing and then drawing his sword. Ranma didn't recall seeing a style like that before so he assumed that it was an original used only by the one man. The most skilled of the group had to be the ones in red and blue. While the blue one definitely had style, it seemed to be more of a showy style like actors would use adapted to battle. The red one on the other hand was using his sword like a trained samurai would. No move was wasted and every stroke hit something. Ranma could tell that the red fighter took the samurai arts as seriously as he did the martial arts.

When he heard the word. "Gedoushu," being uttered by one of the colourful characters, he realized that this was not the average Nerima strangeness nor was it some kind of television show being recorded. These were the Gedoushu and the Shinkengers in another one of their battles. "So, I'm supposed to fight these guys, huh?" Ranma put his calligraphy supplies in a safe place before cracking his knuckles. "Alright, let's see how tough they really are!"

Starting at a run, Ranma charged into the mass of foot soldiers, taking a flying leap and kicking one in the back, knocking it into its fellows. The monsters screamed and bellowed, but managed to get back up to their feet quickly enough. Snarling, they charged at the pigtailed martial artist with their weapons raised. It didn't really serve to intimidate the young man, having faced the sheer amount of weapons that Mousse had in his arsenal. Instead, he began dodging the sword swipes like a grasshopper on steroids, causing the blades to only hit air in their quest to strike him down.

"Who is that?!" Cried ShinkenBlue, spotting the teenager enter the fight.

"Dunno!" ShinkenGreen grunted as he swung with his Wood Spear.

"He's a civilian! We have to get him out of here!" Gasped ShinkenPink.

"Moko Takabisha!"...Hold thought.

BOOM!

"Nyaaa!" Several members of the Nanashi Company went flying through the air before hitting the pavement heavily with their chest armor smoking from whatever attack the pigtailed young man had used. ShinkenPink and ShinkenGold blinked as the young man continued to do battle with the Nanashi, a grin on his face.

"Uh…you sure he needs help?" asked ShinkenGold.

"Hah!" ShinkenRed slashed at a Nanashi, knocking it to the ground with smoke coming from its chest. Glancing, he saw the young man kick a Nanashi away, sending it packing into its fellows. Both fighters stood back to back with each other, watching the remaining Nanashi circle around them, trying to get a critical hit, but being deflected or nowhere near brave enough to try.

"So…you guys the Shinkengers?" asked the pigtailed young man.

"Yes," ShinkenRed nodded, deflecting a blow. "Who are you?"

"Ranma Saotome," the boy answered, elbowing a Nanashi in the face while it tried to sneak up on him. "Which one of you is Takeru Shiba?"

"I am," the red samurai answered, slashing a Nanashi down. However, the name had instantly caught his attention. The son of Nodoka Himura, now Saotome, was named Ranma. Could this be the one they had been looking for?

"Oh. Saves me the trouble of finding you then," Ranma grinned, kicking a Nanashi in the head. "Supposedly I'm a Samurai of Metal which is supposed to help you fight these guys. Sorry for being so late."

"The help is appreciated," ShinkenRed replied as both he and Ranma kicked one Nanashi into his fellows, creating a domino effect. "Although I expect an explanation as to why the call wasn't heeded when the Gedoushu began to reappear."

"We'll have to talk to Mom about that," Ranma sighed, scratching the base of his pigtail. "I only found out about this stuff today and she hasn't explained a whole lot about the history."

"What?!" ShinkenRed gasped, for once truly surprised about something.

"Talk later!" Ranma cried, taking on more of the attacking Nanashi, separating himself from ShinkenRed.

Ranma twisted and swerved around the Nanashi, knocking them away with punches and kicks, getting the maximum effect for minimal effort because of the numbers against him. The Nanashi weren't revealing any kind of great skill, but numbers were capable of destroying a powerful fighter if they weren't careful about how and when they used their attacks. Flipping through the waves, Ranma slid between two of the foot soldiers before kicking their feet out from under them. Getting up, he prepared to face down more fighters, but instead they began backing away. Ranma frowned at the action for a moment before the mass of soldiers backed away, leaving a straight path towards the wheeled monster.

"Did my ears deceive me?" The creature asked. "You're the seventh Shinkenger?"

"I am," Ranma nodded. "Supposedly anyway."

"Well, isn't this lucky?" The monster grinned, stepping closer with an easy stride. "It'll save me the trouble of having to hunt you down. Time to die Shinkenger!"

The wheeled monster charged at Ranma with murderous intent, raising its bladed wheels high for an assault. Far from being unused to attacks aimed to kill him, Ranma charged at the monster rather than attempting to run away from it. Both combatants met with the beast slashing at Ranma's neck only to find air where his target had been. Sliding underneath the blow, Ranma twisted on the spot and kicked at the monster's rear, knocking him down with a grunt.

"I was expecting a little more from the infamous Gedoushu." Ranma smirked, going with his tried and true method of ticking the enemy off.

"You haven't seen anything yet!" The demon roared angrily. Rearing its arm back, it actual threw one of his spiked wheels at the teen. It was fast, no doubt about that and had Ranma been a regular person, he would have been short one head. However, years of intense training and dealing with people who were faster than what was considered normal, he was able to dodge the blow, even if several of his hairs became shorter in the process. Righting himself, Ranma looked to see the member of the Gedoushu on his feet and charging with his remaining weapon. Tensing, he began dodging around blow after blow from the monster. Despite how bulky it looked, the wheeled monster was by no means slow. Ranma was putting more effort into simply dodging than he usually did in his usual bouts against rivals and fiancées.

"Hey kid! Look out!" One of the Shinkengers, the green one Ranma though, called out in warning. Heeding the call, Ranma looked away for a moment to see that the wheel which the monster had thrown before was returning like a boomerang. His eyes widening, Ranma dove so to avoid the attack. He managed to avoid it, but the tearing sounds from his shirt and the sudden pain which lanced across his back told him that it wasn't a clean miss.

"Ha!" The demon crowed, catching his weapon as if it were catching a feather. "Weren't expecting that, were you Shinkenger?"

Ranma just grimaced as he tried to get back to his feet. The wound on his back was already beginning to stiffen and it wasn't going to make fighting any easier. Either Ranma had been letting himself get soft with all of the average fights everyday or this Gedoushu was way better than any of the other fighters he had been dealing with as of late. Checking his surroundings, Ranma noticed that the other Shinkengers were being mobbed by the cannon fodder, making it less than likely that he was going to be receiving any help soon.

"Just perfect." He muttered crossly.

"And here I thought this job was going to be hard," The Gedoushu snickered as he advanced. "Heh, heh, heh, heh, he-URK!" The crowing of the monster was suddenly cut short when the centre of its chest began to turn dull and grey with cracks spreading across it as if it were fossilizing. The beast tried to advance, but the grey area just grew as the cracking noise became louder. Glancing at the other monsters the Shinkengers were fighting, Ranma saw that it was happening to them as well, hindering their fighting abilities. Looking back at the wheel monster, he watched its lone eye narrow. "You got lucky this time –ugh- Shinkenger! Now we know your face though! You'll never receive a moment of peace after today!"

His threat made, the wheel monster ran towards a bench. Drawing closer, the creases between the lines of wood began to glow a bright red before the monster just seemed to compress himself through them and vanish. The weaker monsters likewise dashed for small gaps between buildings, items, or wherever they could find one and likewise squeeze through and disappear. Ranma didn't bat an eye at their means of transportation, having seen things which were just as strange and long since gotten used to them. Instead, he tried to check the wound on his back, quickly finding his shirt torn and a warm liquid covering his fingers.

"Hey, you okay?" A voice called, making Ranma turn. Approaching him were the Shinkengers, likely concerned about him. As they approached their outfits began to glow before flashing their respective colours and vanishing. In their place were two women and four guys. The one who had called out to him was ShinkenGreen who turned out to be a teenager with brown hair that was slightly spiked. Next to him was ShinkenBlue who was an older guy who had a vest and tie along with a blue button up shirt. ShinkenGold looked to be a guy dressed as a sushi vendor, complete with the headband. ShinkenPink was a young woman with long black hair who wore a pink sweater with a black skirt. ShinkenYellow was a girl who seemed a little closer to his age with black hair done up in two ponytails and wore a yellow hoodie with white shorts and sandals. Lastly ShinkenRed was a slightly tan fellow with a red t-shirt and black pants on who hard short dark hair and a look of utmost seriousness on his face.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Ranma answered, wincing as he touched the wound on his back. "It's nothing that I'm not used to."

"It still looks bad," The woman in pink worried as she approached. "Please let me take a look." Not waiting for a reply, she went to Ranma's back and began inspecting the wound. The gasp she gave when she saw it did not make Ranma, nor her comrades, feel any better.

"So, you're Ranma Saotome, the son of Nodoka Himura-Saotome?" asked the man in red, Takeru Shiba, approaching Ranma as the woman fussed over the wound on his back.

"That's me," Ranma nodded. "I saw you guys fighting those things and decided to get involved. You'll probably be wanting to talk to my mom though, won't you?"

"Yes," Takeru nodded. "Is she nearby?"

"Not too far," Ranma answered, breaking free from the concerned woman's grasp. "Where I live is pretty close so we can walk there. Follow me."

Walking past the group with the woman in pink still trying to treat his wound, Ranma began leading the Shinkengers towards his home.

"Damn! Damn! Damn!"

Wanyu cursed loudly as he emerged through the stone gaps on the edge of the Sanzu River, splashing onto its shores before coating himself with its waters. Almost immediately the grey coloring began to fade and the cracks began to close. Denizens of the Sanzu River were incapable of staying in the human world for very long before their bodies began to dry out and they had to return to the Sanzu River to rehydrate on the special water there. It was a rather bothersome hindrance for the Gedoushu who wished to invade the human world, thus the reason they tried to cause a lot of misery in the human world so to flood the river.

"Hey, you find anything?"

Wanyu blinked and looked down the shoreline to see Shukaku approaching. He looked just as fine as ever while Wanyu himself was still trying to get all of his water back from his own excursion into the human world.

"Yeah, I found the Samurai of Metal," the wheeled Ayakashi grunted, splashing himself with more water. "It's some kid with black hair in a pigtail. Wears Chinese clothes. He's good through. He managed to avoid nearly all of my attacks and he wasn't even in his suit. I managed to hurt him, but I ran out of water before I could finish him off. Now the other Shinkengers have him."

"Wow. That sucks," The tanuki huffed. "Well, I didn't find that Nodoka Himura lady either. I did find a lady named Nodoka Saotome though! Do you think Shitari-sama will be satisfied with that?"

"You idiot!" Wanyu growled, smacking his partner on the head. "Of course Shitari-sama won't be pleased with that! We're looking for Nodoka Himura! Not Nodoka Sao…tome…" The Ayakashi trailed off as he remembered something. He had been watching the battle where the boy had gotten involved. If he remembered right, the brat called himself Ranma Saotome. Maybe…just maybe rather than her husband marrying into her family, she married into his. Looking to his partner, Wanyu continued, "Shukaku! Where'd you find this Saotome woman?"

"At some dojo in the human world," the tanuki answered. "Why?"

"When I get my water back, you're going to head over there and finish off that woman while I distract the Shinkengers!" Wanyu answered, heading back for the river. "Maybe if we're lucky we can finish off at least one of those Shiba vassals before the day is through."

"All right!" Shukaku grinned

Tendo Dojo

The mood was more than a little tense at the Tendo Dojo, but rather because Akane was upset at Ranma for some reason, the fathers were aiming for another wedding, or another fiancé appeared, it was for a brand new reason. Having been formally introduced to the head of the Shiba family and his retainers, Ranma brought them all to the Tendo dojo for someplace to rest and getting some explanations. Kasumi was very pleased to meet all of them and hadn't spared anything in the tea and snacks she made for everyone. Mako, the girl in pink Ranma had met, was given the first-aid kit so she could see to the wound on Ranma's back which the Ayakashi had given him. However, the tense atmosphere had stemmed from Nodoka and how pale she had become after Takeru and his retainers had entered the house.

Everyone was sitting at the dining room table. The only ones who seemed to be totally dense about the tense atmosphere were Kotoha and Genta as they enjoyed the snacks and tea that Kasumi had put out. Ranma, very used to tense atmospheres just took it in stride as he waited for the red-clad samurai to make his statement.

"W-well Tono-sama," Nodoka smiled weakly. "I…I hope your trip here was not too harsh."

"It was well enough save for the Ayakashi which attacked us," Takeru answered stoically. "Your son stumbled upon us and took up the fight. He acquitted himself well. What concerns me is that he hadn't heeded the call when the Gedoushu began to appear nor was the call apparently heeded in my father's time. I sincerely hope that you have an explanation for this."

"I…I do," Nodoka nodded nervously. "After my father's unfortunate passing, I was still too young to take the role of a Shinkenger so when the previous generation of Shinkengers were called, there was no one to take up the mantle of the Samurai of Metal. My family was shamed by being unable to support the cause. When my son was born and my husband desired to take him on a training journey, I insisted that he be taught the Himura family arts so that he would be ready should the Gedoushu rise during his lifetime," Nodoka's nervousness then gave way to anger. "Unfortunately, my husband has done everything in his power to prevent Ranma from knowing about the Gedoushu and the responsibilities our families have by facing them."

"What?!" Ryunosuke gasped. "You mean your husband actually sabotaged your son's training?!"

"Sabotage nothing," Ranma huffed. "I never got training for fighting Gedoushu. I didn't know anything about swords, Mojikara, or any of that stuff until today."

"EH?!" Chiaki, Kotoha, Genta, and Ryunosuke gaped widely.

"Does your husband realise that in doing so he is technically a traitor to Japan by indirectly assisting the Gedoushu?" asked Takeru with a deep frown. "All of us have been charged by the emperor to combat the Ayakishi wherever we find them and we will need all of the help we can get."

"I realize that, but I doubt Genma does," Nodoka sighed. "He is notoriously lazy and greedy, often finding everyone else's needs and desires secondary to his own. Often times I allowed his behaviour because it helped provide for my family in the past, but after seeing what he has done with Ranma's education and some of the other messes he has made of the Saotome honour, I can't help but see that he has gone too far."

Ranma looked to his mother and felt the sudden urge to roll his eyes. His mother had been over the moon about the number of girls who were after him and he didn't doubt they told him about their engagements to him. It made a mess of the Saotome honour already, but Nodoka's solution was just to take all the girls as mistresses and be done with it. Of course, Ranma really wasn't into that sort of thing despite how manly his mother assured him it was. Even if he was, the Fiancée Brigade would never go for it since they were all determined to become the wife and take down any girl who so much as sniffed around him.

"But why would he do such a thing?" asked Kotoha with concern. "The Gedoushu are dangerous and a threat to everyone."

"Most likely because becoming a Shinkenger means doing away with all personal connections," Nodoka sighed. Seeing the curious looks of her lord and his vassals, she continued, "You see, Genma has arranged a marriage with his best friend and owner of this dojo's daughter. He wishes very much to see this marriage happen, believing that Ranma and the youngest daughter of the household are destined to be and would make a wonderful couple."

"Yeah right." Ranma muttered under his breath.

"I see," Mako nodded, the truth dawning on her. "If Ranma were to become a Shinknger, then the engagement would have to be cancelled since having any kind of connection to the outside world would make a target for the Gedoushu."

"Huh?" Ranma blinked, his attention instantly back in the conversation. Did he hear that right? If he joined up with the Shinkengers then the engagement with Akane would be cancelled because the Gedoushu would try to use it as a weapon against him? Would that apply to all of the other engagements too?

"But, couldn't the engagement just be remade after the Gedoushu are defeated?" asked Chiaki.

"Well…technically yes…but Ranma and Akane-chan…" Nodoka trailed off, unsure of how to word the next phrase.

"The uncute tomboy and I fight like c-c-cats and dogs," Ranma answered bluntly.

"Ranma!" The Saotome matriarch chided her son.

"Wow. That bad?" asked Genta.

"Very bad," Ranma nodded. "She has got to have the absolute worst temper in the world. I call her a name and she hits me with a mallet. She can't cook at all and when I try it I get sick, but does she believe it's that bad? No, she assumes I'm making fun of her about it even though I have to be taken to the freaking hospital half the time. She can't sew and her martial arts aren't really that good either. She always assumes the worst about me no matter how many times I help her out so the two of us willingly being engaged probably wouldn't happen."

"And the fight with the Gedoushu could very well last long enough until you are legally an adult," Takeru nodded. "That would nix your father's plan for you and this Akane girl."

"Pretty much," nodded Ranma. "He doesn't really care if our marriage is a happy one or not so long as he gets what he wants to feed his fat belly. Mr. Tendo is just as bad. He's really excited about joining the schools. I mean so much so he seems to just turn a blind eye to everything else."

Although she was only observing, Nabiki had to agree with her potential brother-in-law about her father's attitude about the engagement. Before that fateful letter came, her father tended to just go through the motions everyday, just content to apparently live for the moment. After the whole engagement mess came up, he acted like a little kid, giddy as could be. He completely ignored the fact that Ranma and Akane fought nearly all the time, seeing it as just a phase. When more fiancées started showing up, he preferred to blame Ranma for it rather than Genma who had been the one to break the pact in the first place. Anything that wasn't good for the engagement was ignored by the man or he used his demon head to make the perpetrator take back what was done to make the bad news unable to be ignored. In most cases that was Ranma when he did or said something to make Akane mad and she would proclaim she would never marry him. Soun Tendo never could stand up to his daughters.

Kasumi just patiently observed in case one of their guests needed more snacks. It was quite the serious situation and if the wound on Ranma's back was any indication, as serious as it got. Nodoka had touched on the Gedoushu and Ayakashi with Kasumi while they waited for Ranma to return, saying they were demons from the Sanzu River. If Ranma was to fight them, then perhaps it would be a good thing that the engagements and other connections were forgotten until the Gedoushu were defeated. Her father certainly wouldn't like the news, but Kasumi thought that it might give Ranma and Akane the space they needed from each other so that they could sort out their feelings for one another.

Even the eternal optimism Kasumi was known for didn't hold much hope for a positive relationship happening at this point after so much fighting, anger, and hurt feelings. The pressure from all sides to either get married or break up had done nothing but bad for her little sister and brother, often fighting over little or imagined slights. Despite his bravado, Ranma was actually insecure with himself a lot thanks to his father's constant slandering of his skill, worth, work ethic, and even his gender while Akane was likely never to trust a man completely thanks to the actions of Kuno and the Hentai Horde. The only males she seemed to trust were older ones like Dr. Tofu or the kind who seemed to just nod their heads and say yes to anything she said like Ryoga.

"If the Gedoushu succeed, then all that won't matter in the end," said Takeru, continuing the conversation. "Ranma, I ask you if you wish to become a Shinkenger and fight as one of my retainers," This was a question he'd asked his fellow Shinkengers when they first joined together. He didn't want them to become Shinkengers because they had to or because they were obligated to by honor. Rather, he wanted them to be his fellow Shinkengers by their own free will. It seemed that they wanted to help him anyway and so the team was born. "This is your decision. I won't force you to…"

"I'll do it," Ranma agreed instantly.

Takeru blinked. That was fast.

Ranma explained. "It seems these Gedoushu freaks really want to mess up this world. If there was one good thing that Pop taught me, it's that a martial artist is to protect the weak. The Gedoushu are the kind of things I've been training all my life to go up against." Ranma's face seemed almost solemn in a way, like he had found something he had been searching a long time for. "I'm…not always the easiest guy to get along with and there's a buttload of issues I'm dealing with right now…but if you'll have me, then I'll help against the Gedoushu any way I can."

"Then all I can say at this point is, welcome." Takeru nodded.

"Yatta!" Genta cheered wildly, raising his arms into the air. "Now we have seven Shinkengers!"

"The Gedoushu won't know what hit them!" Chiaki grinned.

"Welcome Ranma-kun!" Kotoha smiled brightly.

"Don't worry about a thing Ranma!" Ryunosuke reassured the younger boy. "With us around we'll get you caught up with everything a Shinkenger needs to know!"

"Appreciate it." Ranma smiled.

"I'll make a big meal tonight to celebrate!" Mako smiled in a very matronly way. The statement seemed to make the other Shinkengers cringe save for Kotoha who seemed to look happier at the thought.

"Sounds good," Ranma nodded, his smile growing large enough to light the room. It felt good to be needed and not for selfish reasons for a change. Takeru and the others needed his help to protect the whole country from the Gedoushu and they weren't even trying to force him to help either. Everyone else he knew constantly demanded his attention and often tried to force him to follow them for their own reasons be it for marriage or trying to get rid of him so the girl they lusted over would pay more attention to them.

Sure, Ranma would be serving Takeru and taking orders from the Shiba Clan head, but he wouldn't be a servant. Rather, Takeru was leader and the most experienced when dealing with Gedoushu. Ranma would need to follow his lead since he was the least experienced when it came to Shinkenger matters while Takeru was probably the most knowledgeable out of all of them.

"Pack up," said Takeru. "We leave today." As a Shinkenger, Ranma would have to live at the Shiba home with the others. The house was surrounded with a barrier that the Gedoushu could not pass so the Shinkengers would live there to allow them some measure of peace and a safe place to train when the Gedoushu were not being active.

"Mom." said Ranma, giving Nodoka a hug.

"Make our Clan proud." She told him, returning the hug. This was important, far more important than the Saotome-Tendo pact and the Seppuku contract. This was something that determined the fate of the world. Ranma needed to do this and no matter how much the fathers and fiancées were going to complain, their wants for Ranma all came secondary.

Nodding, Ranma darted to the stairs and headed for his room. He wanted to get going before the fathers, Akane, or even worse one of the fiancées showed up and found out what was going on. The last time he left, he and Akane just ended up trading insults and then the fiancées followed him back to his mother's house and caused a whole bunch of trouble. This time he knew it was probably going to be worse since in all likelihood, Ranma wasn't going to be coming back for a while since he had to fight the Gedoushu. Since Nabiki was witness to the whole exchange between himself and the Shinkengers, she was no doubt going to sell the information to everyone. Ranma just wanted to be gone before the shit hit the fan and all hell broke lose.

Sliding into his room, he grabbed his pack and stuffed what few of his belongings that was in the room into it. Going into the closet, he removed one of the floorboards and pulled out a bundle of Yen notes which he kept collected in case of emergencies or if he needed to pay off Nabiki. Taking a quick count, Ranma frowned when he discovered that there was less than he remembered in it. Apparently his father had discovered his stash and took up the habit of 'borrowing' money from his son without asking. Cutting off his anger, Ranma just finished packing and headed back downstairs. "I'm ready!"

"Ranma, don't forget your Shodo Phone and Uma-chan," Nodoka reminded her son, holding up the ornate box with the lid open.

"Right, right." The pigtailed martial artist nodded, quickly grabbing the phone in question. Bringing his fingers to his lips, he made a sharp whistle which echoed through the house.

The other Shinkengers blinked at the odd notion before a tiny neigh met their ears. Looking to the ground, they saw an origami horse trotting into the room and straight towards Ranma.

"Kawaii!" Kotoha giggled, admiring the tiny horse.

"Your personal Origami I take it?" asked Takeru.

"Yup. Uma-chan," Ranma nodded, picking up the small horse and keeping it securely in his hand. "Okay, now I'm ready."

"Then let's get going," Takeru nodded.

"Yeah! You have a lot of catching up to do!" Ryunosuke agreed.

All making respectful goodbyes, the Shinkenegrs, now seven members strong, headed to the exit of the dojo.

Nodoka waved a solemn goodbye, seeing her baby leaving once again. She tried not to cry, she really did, however when faced with her child going away for a second time she was finding the prospect difficult to handle. However, she was descendent of a noble line so she had to remain strong. Ranma was now going to make sure the stain on her family's honour was removed and that the Gedoushu would not try to harm more people in their quest to conquer the human world.

Rubbing her eyes as Ranma and his new friends vanished outside the compound gate, Nodoka looked to the two Tendo daughters. Kasumi seemed just as sad as she was, often finding Ranma as much of a treasure as she did at times. Were it not for her view on younger men, Nodoka would have honestly considered asking Kasumi if she wanted the engagement, but as it were the eldest Tendo merely saw him as a younger brother which brought much life to her house. Nabiki on the other hand seemed indifferent to what had happened and was just munching on some of the snacks that Kasumi had made which were leftover.

"Nabiki, I assume you're going to try and sell this information to the fiancées and rivals?" Nodoka asked, steeling herself.

"Was considering it." Nabiki nodded. An event like this was prime moneymaker material after all and with Ranma leaving, the chaos was going to go with him, leaving less ample opportunities for profit. She would only have so long to cash in so she might as well profit while she could.

"I would strongly suggest not doing it," Nodoka replied sternly. "Tono-sama and his vassals have enough to do with fighting the Gedoushu and making sure they don't invade our world. They don't need Ranma's fiancées and rivals breaking onto their property in attempts to find him on top of all that."

"Uh-huh," Nabiki nodded, obviously not seeing how grave the situation was. Granted, she didn't know just how terrible the Gedoushu were, but the way she seemed to view the situation only in terms of monetary gain was quite vexing to the Saotome matriarch.

"If it does happen, then I don't doubt that the Emperor will hear of it," Nodoka frowned. "If he does hear of it, then he will have all of the fiancées and rivals detained and questioned for their roles in disrupting the activities of the Shinkengers. If questioned, I also have no doubts that they will tell the Emperor just who gave them the information on Ranma in the first place. Once they know, the Emperor will be sending agents here and I will be quite happy to explain to them just what has been going on for the past year as best to my knowledge."

Nabiki's eyes suddenly widened in realization. She figured that whoever Takeru was, he was pretty important. However, she had thought that he was just rich like Kuno was. Now, normally she would have taken Nodoka's indirect threat as a bluff, but she knew the woman never bluffed. Not after all the times she had witnessed seeing her go after Ranma with a sword or draw it on Genma. If she said that the Shiba Clan, Takeru was head of had connections to the Emperor, then she could believe it. She also knew that if agents of the Emperor did catch the Wrecking Crew and interrogate them, they'd roll on her in a second if only to avoid taking blame themselves. From testimony from the Wrecking Crew and Nodoka herself explaining what she knew, the agents would be able to put together what Ranma had to go through for the past year at the hands of Akane, the fiancées, and the rivals. No matter how one spun things, the only one who would be able to get away without getting into some very deep trouble would be Kasumi.

"I see you understand," Nodoka nodded, seeing Nabiki's shocked face. "If Tono-sama and his vassals must deal with Ranma's suitors and rivals then I will be able to tell who gave them the information. Please do your best to remember it," Drawing upon her reserve, she straightened up. "Now, I believe we'll be in need of some extra ingredients for dinner tonight. I'll go and get them." Her warning made, she retrieved her outdoor shoes and headed for the door from the property.

Nabiki just continued to stare as the consequences of her actions for the past year dangled in front of her face. Not one person aside from Kasumi who had been close to Ranma was innocent of anything less than abuse, harassment, sexual harassment, assault, and/or destruction of property. Nabiki likewise knew that she herself would probably be a candidate for racketeering and blackmail charges if agents of the Emperor heard about her betting pools and the various people who paid her money to keep quiet about secrets she really didn't have much business knowing in the first place, Ranma being chief among them for some time. If Ranma's family on his mother's side was really such a big deal, then Nabiki knew that the hammer was going to come down hard if his problems in Nerima decided that what they wanted was more important than the word of the Emperor himself.

"I think…I should make a few calls..." She murmured to herself after a few moments of contemplation.

"That's nice." Kasumi commented, although there was possibly less warmth in that smile than there usually was.

Furinkan High School, despite some of the lunacy perpetrated by its principal or various students, did manage to operate like a normal school when given the chance. As such, there were several after-school clubs which went on when the official day was done. Likewise, some people just liked to hang out there since their friends had clubs there or they had nothing else better to do for the time being and simply decided to be there. In today's case, the clubs and various people hanging out included Yuka, Sayuri, and Akane as they decided to just see what was going on with the latest drama production or other upcoming school events. Of course, Yuka and Sayuri were pleased with the distraction since they had to listen to Akane complain about what a pervert Ranma was being that day.

The two girls liked Akane and they of course supported her through a lot, like when the mob of boys known as the Hentai Horde tried to beat her up for the right to date her. They even supported Akane through all the tough times which seemed to come when she got engaged to Ranma. However, both girls knew about how quick Akane was to proclaim boys as perverts and as such, tried to give Ranma the benefit of the doubt in some of the incidents he seemed to get caught up in. Sure, the debacle with Ukyo's engagement they might have been hasty with their judgement, but they were defending a fellow girl who was denied every girl's romantic dream. In hindsight, yeah, it was more Genma's fault since he set the whole thing up and after Nabiki somehow got a hold of childhood photos of Ranma and Ukyo, the girls could see how he could have mistaken her as a boy. They had also long since determined that Shampoo would and did do just about anything to make Ranma get closer to her to try and consummate her marriage, having witnessed her do things such as tricking Ranma into eating that herb which would make him do a certain command when he heard a noise. Despite Akane's rants about him chasing after Shampoo, most girls guessed it was probably because she had something which Ranma really wanted or did something that would make him do it. Likewise, they knew that Kodachi was just as nutty as her brother so they really doubted that Ranma would be chasing after her no matter how provocatively she dressed.

A lot of students, including Yuka and Sayuri, had been on the school grounds when the latest spat between the fiancées broke out. They had all seen Ranma sleeping in the tree and mumbling about something. Granted, there was the chance he was dreaming about something ecchi, but there was also the chance that he was just having a bad dream or was dreaming about fighting which considering his personality, was much more likely. Of course, Akane just jumped straight to the dirtiest answer and got angry while the other fiancées just assumed he was dreaming about them. Yuka and Sayuri just had to wonder what made them so sure about their answers when Ranma had shown little to no interest in any of them in the past without the use of some kind of magic item or mind-altering substance.

"...and that pervert just sitting out there dreaming dirty things in the middle of the schoolyard!" Akane ranted as they walked towards the gates. "Can he get any more perverted?!"

"Right, right." Yuka sighed.

"Uh-huh." Sayuri nodded, not really listening. Really, it was like Akane was a broken record since the failed wedding. Ranma's a pervert. Chasing hussies. I hate Kuno. Daddy won't listen. Total jerk. Yadda, yadda, yadda. Both girls had thought that it was going to get better since it seemed Ranma had picked Akane, but with the youngest Tendo lashing out at him for just about any reason these days, it seemed better for his health if he didn't pick her for any reason.

As the girls approached the school gates, they didn't notice that something odd was happening with a nearby pile of bricks which were going to be used to repair the walls damaged from the latest spat. Gaps in between the stacks began to glow a deep red as noises seemed to echo from within. No one really took notice of it though, it being taking place in a spot no one would think to look and the event itself being so small it was easy to overlook.

When the Nanashi along with the wheeled Wanyu squeezed themselves out of those gaps and began to swarm the schoolyard, even the usually accepting people of Nerima began to freak out.

"Kyaaaa!" Yuka screamed, seeing the yellow-clad monsters swarming towards them, swords raised.

"What are those things?!" Sayuri cried, backing away.

"I can take them!" Akane frowned, taking a stance.

"What?!" Her two friends cried in shock.

The Nanashi didn't seem particularly caring of the overconfident Tendo as they swarmed all over the area, causing screams of terror to erupt.

Takeru's Shodo Phone began to ring as he and his six retainers headed towards the train station which would take them back to their usual stomping grounds. Immediately pulling it from his pocket, he answered it with the press of a button with a stoic "Hello?"

"Tono-sama!" The voice of Hikoma spoke from the other end. "A Gedoushu has appeared again! It's in the same area as you are currently in! It had appeared once before but it had vanished by the time we managed to find its location! I apolo-!"

"We already know Jii," Takeru answered. "We drove it off before. Where is it?"

"According to the map we managed to find, it's at a place called Furinkan High School," Hikoma replied, sounding like he had to read something as he said so. It was normal since the area which the Gedoushu and Shinkengers did battle was separated by numbered quadrants and Hikoma knew those by heart. This battle taking place outside of their usual area made his reaction time a little slower. "Do you know where that is?"

"We have someone who knows with us," Takeru answered, glancing over at Ranma. Quickly ending the call, he spoke to the pigtailed martial artist. "Do you know the way to Furinkan High School?"

"Furinkan?" Ranma blinked, suddenly finding the eyes of the other Shinkengers on him. "Well…sure I do. I went to school there. Why do you want to go there though?"

"The Gedoushu are attacking there," Takeru answered bluntly. "We need to get there now."

"What?!" Ranma cried, his eyes as well as those of his new friends widening in surprise. "Then what are we waiting for?! Follow me!" Quickly turning in a different direction, Ranma began to run towards Furinkan. Mindful that the other Shinkengers could not roofhop like him, he kept it to the streets. However, none of them were going to have time to catch their breath if he had anything to say about it. People were in danger and it was his duty to protect them!

"WAUGH!"

Akane screamed as she slammed against the wall of Furinkan, being dealt a powerful punch from Wanyu. The wind had been knocked from her lungs and one of her eyes was slowly swelling shut. Huddling against one of the trees which decorated the school's property, Yuka and Sayuri were watching with fear and despair at the sight of their friend being beaten.

When the Ayakashi and the Nanashi appeared, the students began to freak and began piling into the school, barricading the doors in attempts to keep the monsters out. This was Nerima and they were used to destruction sprees by martial artists and various entities so they were well-practiced in this procedure. However, Akane wasn't one who practised this procedure and despite urgings from her friends, she charged forward to meet the advancing Nanashi with her fists clenched, ready to unleash her usual rage-powered strength. On a normal day she wouldn't have tried to do this, but she had worked herself up in a frenzy over Ranma's daily 'perversion' and given how pathetic some supernatural entities which showed up in Nerima were, she charged in head first like a bull expecting the Nanashi to be the same.

The Nanashi didn't even break stride.

To her credit, she managed to deal with a few of them, knocking them silly with her rage-fuelled strength. On the downside though, the Nanashi she was able to knock down and hit managed to get themselves back up and into the fight. It was a short time before Akane was overrun by the foot soldiers and had to make a break from the yellow-clad demons to try and figure out a plan of attack. Unfortunately, it led her straight to Wanyu, who had been watching with amusement. Correctly assuming that he was the leader of the band of monsters, she figured that by defeating him, the others would run away. So, against the wishes of her two friends, she charged at Wanyu, believing her anger and martial arts would be able to take him down and for once credit her with saving the day.

She didn't see Wanyu's punch coming.

A/N: And that's as far as I go. Is it good? Want more? Send a review but don't flame me okay? If you see a mistake or something then just tell me and don't go postal on me for it. I'm not perfect.