My apologies for the delay in updating, real life work suddenly reared up and bit me in the leg.

"These scenes from Times Square in New York are familiar to people around the world. The internationally famous ball drop ceremony, first held in 1907, has been held almost every years since then, attracting crowds of up to a million people, with many millions more watching it broadcast on television worldwide. Despite the weather over the recent New Year period, many hundreds of thousands of people filled the streets to watch the ceremony, none of them at the time realising how close to disaster they came."

"News is slowly emerging that the FBI foiled a terrorist plot to detonate a huge bomb at the top of 1 Times Square, directly under the ball drop pole, during the drop itself. Unofficial estimates of possible casualties range from hundreds to thousands. As a result of an extensive investigation with international coverage, the FBI was able to locate the bomb at very nearly the last minute. It was safely disarmed and dismantled by a team of experts from the FBI and the NYPD three days before it would have detonated."

"Our sources tell us that the bomb disposal experts removed over a quarter of a ton of the military explosive C-4 from the top floor of the building. We are told it was one of the largest terrorist bombs ever found in the US, at least in potential destructiveness, which could conceivably have destroyed up to the top five floors of the iconic 1 Times Square building, causing debris to rain down on the gathered crowd. An investigation is currently under way to determine the source of the explosives. No information as to how the terrorists gained access to the building, or managed to hide the bomb from discovery during building inspections has yet come to light. However, the terrorist cell responsible for planting the bomb is allegedly linked to the recent attack in London in which sixty-seven people lost their lives."

"Our sources claim that all the terrorists involved are either dead or in custody, but refused to be drawn on rumours that consultants from Japan, where a few months ago a similar cell was arrested, were involved in the recent FBI action in New York. Similar rumours surround the events in London the day after Christmas. We will bring you more on this story as it unfolds. This is Daniel Bashir reporting from New York for CNN." Ranma turned the TV off, sighing a little, turning to the others and picking up Nabiki's notebook.

"I'm sorry, I can't find any more clues, no matter how hard I look," Nabiki said tiredly, wiping her hair from her eyes with one hand while accepting a glass of wine from her sister with the other, smiling briefly at her. She looked back to Ranma, who was now flipping through her notebook and cross-referencing her copious notes to the documentation. "I'm sorry," she repeated, leaning back with a sigh. She'd been working on the problem on and off for the last week, ever since the others got back from the US.

"Don't worry, Nabiki, it was always a long shot. You don't have anything to be sorry for. Because of you we got two of the things out of circulation, don't forget." He grinned at her, reaching for his glass of coke.

"I only pointed you at the one in LA..."

"... which meant we met Richard again, talked about the whole thing some more, and were pointed at New York. So, it's because of you." Kasumi sat next to her and sipped her own wine, looking pleased at her logic. Nabiki sighed a little, then smiled.

"All right, I'll take the credit. I just wish I could work out this last one. It's worrying me." Ranma glanced at her, then went back to examining the paperwork.

"It worries everyone. At least there's only one of the damn things left now. That limits the possible damage." Dropping the pile of papers onto the coffee table he stretched, then slumped. "I'll be very glad when we finally get the thing. Waiting for the other shoe to drop is nerve-wracking in the extreme. I'd love to go back to more normal problems. Even cats up trees!" Watching him Nabiki looked amused.

"You know, if this was a comic book, when you finally overcome the last problem, either there will be a twist at the end, or it will set you up for an ever-escalating series of opponents." Gazing narrowly at her he frowned.

"This isn't a damn comic book. Or a video game. If I start seeing enemies that steadily increase in strength, I'm going to get very annoyed. That's more along the lines of what those idiotic cheerleaders for love and justice or whatever the hell it is that they keep shouting about do. Me, if I see that sort of thing begin to happen, I'm going to immediately find the 'end boss' and slice him, her, or it into lots of little pieces on the spot." Nabiki started giggling, spluttering into her wine. He looked extremely irritated at the suggestion. She could just picture 'Yori' walking up to some huge powerful monster in it's lair, watching it's puppets at work and rubbing it's tentacles together in evil glee, tapping it politely on the shoulder, then finely dicing it with extreme prejudice. Probably vaporising the remains just to be sure, grinning like an idiot in the process.

"We can't do anything at the moment except wait and keep our ears open," Kasumi said calmly, watching them both with a slight smile. "Everyone we know is also looking, sooner or later we'll find the thing and deal with it."

"Are we sure there is still one out there?" her sister asked slowly. "I mean, really sure? Is it possible there were only five prototypes that got out?" The other two exchanged glances. Eventually Kasumi replied.

"It's not a hundred percent guaranteed, but I think the thought that we got them all is wishful thinking, to be honest. The chances of there not being one left is so small it's not really something we can safely count on. If nothing turns up within the next five months or so, at that point we'll be fairly certain we got the lot. But until the maximum timer period elapses we have to assume all six are in play."

"Damn." Drinking a little more wine, Nabiki put the glass on the table and put her hands over her face, rubbing her tired eyes. A thought struck her, making her look at them. "You told me the one in LA was faulty, and leaking energy. Could it have leaked enough to stop working completely? What if this last one is bad as well?" Ranma thought about it, scratching the back of his head for a while.

"It could have leaked enough energy to no longer have sufficient to function, certainly. That was one of the possibilities we discussed with Lieutenant Harrison. The problem is that as it leaked it became unstable, which stood as much chance of triggering it as rendering it safe. We got extremely lucky with that one. I think it must have been faulty in several ways, so many people handled it that I'm absolutely astounded one of the booby-traps didn't fire. Sophie, particularly, had it for several days, and spent quite a long time poking it. How she got away with that I have no idea." He shuddered a little at the thought of what could have happened. "The chance that a different one would be bad in just the same way, leak enough energy to be unable to form a portal, and be completely undisturbed in the process is very low, I think. No, Kas is right, we have to assume a fully functional one is still sitting around somewhere with evil intentions."

"Fuck."

"Quite." Finishing his coke he took the glass to the kitchen. As he came back, the front door opened following a knock, Misaki and Fumiko entering. "Hi, guys, got your apartment all set up now?" he asked with a smile. Fumiko nodded, looking happy.

"Pretty much. Just a few books to stick on the shelves and a couple of boxes for the kitchen to unpack. Have you heard from Aiko or Tamiko yet?" Following him back into the living room they sat down, nodding to Nabiki and Kasumi. Misaki produced a banana and began peeling it.

"They were getting some stuff from Tamiko's house, last I heard," he replied, picking up the bottle of wine and waving at them. Both nodded, so he filled a couple of glasses. "Tamiko's parents bought her a few things for her new apartment, she said. I think they want to come and inspect the place. She's trying to put them off without them getting suspicious. She's worried they'll wonder how she can afford something so big."

"Pity she can't just tell them the truth," Nabiki commented, finishing off her wine. Fumiko nodded.

"I know. But it's difficult. You haven't met her parents. They're very nice people, but... kind of traditional. Conservative. They wouldn't be at all keen on the idea of their youngest daughter jumping around rooftops dressed in nothing much being a magical girl." Ranma snickered.

"Around this insane ward being a magical girl practically is traditional," he chuckled. Fumiko laughed.

"That's true enough, but I don't think they'd see it that way." Looking at her curiously, Nabiki had to ask.

"Do your parents know about you two?" Fumiko and Misaki exchanged glances.

"Um, yes and no." At her puzzled expression the other woman sighed. "Dad knows. He wasn't happy about it, but he's got a slightly odd past himself. He found out by accident, in fact, and after a certain amount of shouting we kind of talked him around. Pointing out that it wasn't something we actually looked for, it just kind of found us, and now that it had we were stuck with it, was an argument that actually worked. I know he worries, but he's come to accept it. Deep down I think he's even proud of us." She sipped some wine, glancing at her sister for a moment. "Mom, on the other hand, doesn't know. I think. She's a bit... difficult to read at times. I know Dad has covered for us a lot when we had to suddenly go out under odd circumstances, which so far seems to have worked. Sooner or later she's going to find out, though, she's not stupid. What we'll do then...?" She shrugged.

"We'll work it out when we have to," Misaki said, finishing her banana.

"What about Aiko?" Nabiki asked.

"Her father died several years ago. Cancer of some sort," Fumiko replied. "She doesn't talk about it much. She loved him very much and it hurt her a lot. She's said once or twice that he'd have been proud of her. Her mom knows something's odd about her, but as far as I know not exactly what. She doesn't ask, which is a bit weird, but then she's a very private person herself." Suddenly laughing, she looked like she'd just thought of something. "For all I know she could be a retired magical girl."

"We all seem to have weird parents," Nabiki said, amused.

"Minato and Nerima are full of strange people." Kasumi smiled. "It makes life very interesting."

"That's certainly one way of putting it," Ranma said, grinning widely. His phone rang at that point. Answering it he had a short conversation, then put it away again. "Aiko wanted me to drop the wards so she can teleport in to her apartment." Kasumi nodded.

"We have to finish giving them access so they can do it themselves," she replied. "I think we should set aside some time tomorrow."

"OK." A few minutes later another knock came at the door, followed by the other two girls entering. Both, like their partners, were dressed in normal street clothes. "Everything go all right?"

Aiko dropped next to him with a sigh. "More or less. Her parents are a pain." Tamiko looked slightly offended but after a moment nodded, also sitting.

"Unfortunately true. Mom simply doesn't know the meaning of 'lose the argument'." Aiko rolled her eyes, then looked longingly at the now-empty bottle of wine on the table. Kasumi followed her gaze, smiled, and went to retrieve a full one.

"You can say that again. She just wouldn't stop. Even her husband was looking worn out when we left." Accepting a glass of wine from Kasumi with a smile she drained half of it in one gulp. "Thanks, Kasumi. I really needed that."

"So, what happened, then?" Misaki asked curiously. Tamiko sighed, also taking a glass with a nod of thanks.

"She wouldn't stop asking about seeing my apartment. I couldn't think of any way to get her to back off completely, but I managed to persuade her that I needed a few days to get settled first. I'll just have to think of some way to explain how I can afford something that nice in an area like this before then." She sighed again.

Nabiki thought for a while, then slowly suggested, "Why don't you tell her you're sub-letting it from a friend who's out of the country, or something like that? Someone who has money, but wants their apartment looked after while they're away on business for a longish amount of time." The auburn-haired woman nodded thoughtfully.

"That might work. It would at least give me some breathing space. Once she gets over the initial shock of me moving out she'll probably calm down and won't be so pushy." Aiko looked dubious.

"What if she realizes the rest of us are living here as well?" she asked. "It's going to look a bit weird."

"Don't worry, we can come up with something," Kasumi said soothingly. "Illusion spells, the perception altering techniques, all that will let us show her whatever we need to to satisfy her curiosity. I'm sure it will be fine." Tamiko nodded, sipping her wine, although she didn't look completely convinced.

"OK. We've got a week or so before she gets pushy again, at any rate."

"You could just tell her you have some well-off friends who gave you and your friends the use of expensive apartments and see what happens," Ranma suggested, a small grin on his face. She gave him a look that made him burst out laughing.

"Yeah, no, that's not going to happen," Tamiko said, seeming fairly certain of this.

Kasumi clapped her hands together. "All right, enough of all this. Put the papers away, stop worrying about parents and terrorists, and let's just relax. This is the first time for a week there's nothing desperately important to do. All of you are moved in now, no threats seem to be looming, and the restaurant booking isn't for five hours." She smiled. "Let's go swimming."

Fifteen minutes later, seven mermaids were dashing about the swimming pool with shouts of glee. Surfacing at the shallow end, Nabiki reached for the wine which they'd brought with them. Kasumi floated next to her on her back, smiling gently at the ceiling, waving her tail-fin around in the water. She'd adopted the same mermaid form she'd surprised Nabiki with months ago. Lifting a webbed hand she accepted the glass her sister handed her. "Thank you," she said, sipping it slowly.

Nabiki pulled herself up to sit on the steps moulded into the end of the pool, pouring herself a glass as well. She was beginning to feel pleasantly tipsy after three glasses and decided she should make this the last one until the restaurant. Watching the others leaping about in the deep end she grinned. "This is the purest insanity, but it's really remarkably relaxing," she said, leaning back on her elbows. A vertical fin slowly moved past, making her start humming the theme tune to 'Jaws'. Misaki had requested a mer-form based on a shark of some sort and was amusing herself cruising around just under the surface occasionally grabbing one of the others. Kasumi giggled at the sight.

"I must admit you're right, sister," she replied, moving to sit beside the other woman. She sighed a little. "I do wish we could share this with Akane, though. How is she coming along since Shampoo started training her?" The middle sister smiled happily, flicking her tail in the water.

"Amazingly well, I'm happy to say. I was watching her a couple of days ago, she seems to have learned a surprising amount in less than two weeks. It even seems to be helping her keep her temper better. I guess Ranma was right, the discipline of taking the art seriously does have beneficial effects in other ways." Kasumi appeared relieved.

"Good. I'm very glad to hear that." They watched with amusement as Ranma, who was floating on the surface at the deep end talking to Aiko, suddenly yelped and vanished in a cloud of bubbles, only to reappear leaping half a metre out of the pool like a breaching dolphin. Grinning she dove under again, chasing the other magical girl mermaid around the pool fast enough to leave a visible wake at the surface. Nabiki shook her head again.

"Total insanity." Scratching an itchy scale she slipped into the water and began swimming lengths just above the bottom. Eventually they all congregated at the shallow end, sitting on the edge and talking. Misaki, due to her large dorsal fin, lay on her side. "So, where is this restaurant? The same one we went to that time?" Ranma nodded.

"Yes, we haven't been back since then, it seemed like it was time." Kasumi held up her watch. "Speaking of time, we should get ready, the booking is in a bit over an hour." With a shimmer she regained her normal form, standing and walking over to the towels. The others followed as they changed back. Once they had all showered, changed, and called for a pair of taxis they met up in the lobby. Looking around the group, Kasumi smiled.

"It's nice to have neighbours again."

"Surely you already have neighbours, in the other buildings around here?" Aiko asked.

"Well, yes, I suppose, but we don't really know them very well, oddly enough. People in these apartments tend to keep to themselves, as do we, for obvious reasons. What I meant, I think, is that it's nice to have neighbours we don't have to hide from. People we can trust. Family, basically." The oldest sister looked at the others, who seemed pleased.

Soon the taxis arrived and they left, 'Maiko', Misaki, and Fumiko in one, the others in the second car. The drive to the restaurant passed quietly, as did the meal itself. The group spent several hours enjoying a very good meal, then went on to a club for another couple of hours. Arriving back at the apartment building late that night, everyone except 'Maiko' was quite tipsy. Nabiki was flat-out drunk, to the point that in the end her sister sighed a little and slung her over her shoulder. Giggling and watching the world go past upside-down, Nabiki waved to the others as 'Rika' carried her into the building.

"She seems happy enough," Tamiko said, hiccuping, as she staggered in after them. 'Maiko' grinned.

"True. But she's going to regret it in the morning..."

"Gaahhh!" Nabiki stared at the ceiling, wincing at the throbbing pain in her head. Her own whimper set up unpleasant resonances that made the headache worse. "Oh, god," she whispered, blinking very loudly. The light from the window seemed to be pulsating in the corner of her vision. "I have to stop doing this," the brunette mumbled to herself, waiting for the world to stop spinning, or at least slow down enough she stood a chance of getting back on. That took quite a long time. Eventually she managed to sit up without throwing up, grabbing her head and holding it in place so it didn't fall off. A knock on the door was followed by her sister opening it, holding a large glass of water and smiling sympathetically at her.

"I could feel your pain from the kitchen," Kasumi said, walking over and handing her the glass. "Here, drink this, you're dehydrated." As the middle sister drained the glass, Kasumi put a hand on her head. A feeling of relief passed quickly over her, the throbbing ache and nausea diminishing rapidly.

"Thanks, sis," Nabiki croaked, finishing off the water. "That's pretty effective." It was the first time she'd experienced her sister's healing abilities first-hand. "A damn sight faster and more efficient than painkillers."

"Safer, too," Kasumi said, smiling at her, before sitting next to her on the bed. "Did you have a nice time last night?"

"I think so," Nabiki replied, handing her the glass. "As far as I can remember. I may have had a little too much to drink." Kasumi giggled.

"That's a distinct possibility." After a moment, she asked, "Do you feel well enough for breakfast?"

"Yes, surprisingly. What time is it?"

"Just after nine AM. We all slept rather late. The coffee is on, it should be ready in a few minutes. Come out when you're ready." Standing, she smiled at her sister and left the room. Nabiki stretched widely, then scratched her head, mussing her hair, before standing and opening one of the drawers of the dresser on the other side of the room. She stayed over enough that she'd taken to keeping several sets of clothing there. Heading for the bathroom in a robe and carrying clean clothes, she got ready for the day. Soon she was sitting at the table talking to Ranma and drinking her first cup of coffee. Kasumi brought the food out of the kitchen and they all began eating.

"By the way, Nabiki, here," Ranma said to her, producing a key-card and handing it to her. She took it and looked curiously at it, twitching a little at the tingle that went through her hand.

"What's this for?" she asked. He grinned.

"The front door." At her look of surprise he laughed. "You're here often enough you might as well have official access. We trust you. When we change the wards later we'll add you to the authorised access list."

"I'm not a magic-user. How will that work?" she asked, puzzled.

"Well, you're not a magic-user yet. I intend to sort that out one day. But, true, you won't be able to control them like we can, although you'll have access to the building. The ward system on this place is incredibly complicated and powerful, it's the best Kas, I, and Happosai could do between us. We're constantly updating and modifying it, not to mention pushing power into it on a regular basis. By now they're probably the most powerful wards on the planet. This place could take a direct hit from a tactical nuke. The spells are so complicated it's almost sentient." Nabiki looked slightly appalled as well as impressed. "Once we add you to the list you'll be able to come and go even without magic. The wards will recognise you and let you through."

"What would happen if someone tried to force me to give them access to the building," she asked curiously. "Not that it's likely, but just wondering." He laughed.

"Well, lets say that it wouldn't end well for them. You'd get through, but someone with hostile intent, not so much. This place can defend itself pretty effectively even without us around." Feeling suddenly slightly nervous, Nabiki looked around. Reaching out she patted the wall beside her.

"Nice building." Kasumi giggled.

"Don't worry, it likes you." Her sister looked oddly at her causing her to giggle again.

Once they'd cleared breakfast away, the three of them talked for a while. Half an hour later Aiko knocked at the front door, entering followed by the others. "Hi, guys. Right on time." Ranma looked pleased. "Come on, let's go into the practice room. Access is easiest from there." They followed him into the huge room, then watched as he and Kasumi walked to the middle and faced each other. They concentrated for a few seconds, then everyone else gaped as a massively complicated tracery of light slowly faded into existence around them. It looked like a series of nested, highly magnified snow crystals, rendered in multicoloured glowing lines. Somehow it gave the distinct impression of being much larger than the room, even though it was contained within it. The thing was actually rather difficult to look at.

"Good grief," Aiko muttered. "I knew the spells on this place were complicated, but..." She shook her head in awe. "I've never seen anything remotely like that before."

"It's pretty cool, isn't it?" Ranma said with a smile. "Right, you first, Aiko. Stand over there, please." He pointed to a spot on the floor where a gap in the multi-dimensional pattern outlined a circle a metre across. Hesitantly, the short brunette walked over to the indicated spot, watching wide-eyed as the spell pattern in front of her moved as she approached, leaving a path for her. Once she was in the correct position it closed around her again. "OK, hold still. This will tingle a bit but it's safe." The pattern surrounding her moved in several different directions simultaneously, changing colour, with tendrils reaching out and touching her head.

"Ick. That feels really weird. Like it's looking at the inside of my mind." She shook her head slightly.

"Basically, it is. It's learning who you are in a way that's essentially impossible to fool. Don't move for a moment." She froze, grimacing at the itching inside her brain, which abruptly stopped. A faint chime sounded from somewhere, sounding like it was kilometres away and inside her head at the same time. "Right. Your pattern is accepted as an authorised user." Ranma smiled at her. "That's it. You can go back. Tamiko, you're next." The auburn-haired girl grinned and took Aiko's place.

One at a time all four magical girls were added to the ward control pattern. Eventually it was Nabiki's turn. She looked slightly worried, but her sister's serene smile persuaded her it was all right. "Don't worry, sister, it doesn't hurt."

"It feels very odd, though," Fumiko said, rubbing the side of her head. Shooting her a curious glance, Nabiki shrugged and took her place. The pattern closed around her, the tendrils of light making contact with her head. Once more the pattern changed shape and colour.

The sensations were extremely strange. She felt dizzy for a moment, then there was the sense of a large presence in her head, like some sort of enormous, incredibly powerful and dangerous animal, that nevertheless was friendly and safe. She smiled a little. It was weird, but somehow comforting. She imagined it was like having a guard dog the size of a bus leaning gently against her, or possibly a guard tyrannosaur, it felt about that relative size. The pattern surrounding her changed a few times, before the chime came again. Ranma looked at the ward spell with a raised eyebrow, then exchanged a glance with his wife, who looked curiously back.

"That's... interesting," he said slowly, inspecting parts of it carefully. After a moment he returned his attention to Nabiki who was watching with curiosity. "Ah, Nabiki? Did you feel anything... odd... just then?" She laughed.

"What about it wasn't odd?" He smiled a little.

"Fair enough. I mean, OK, describe what you felt." She tried to put it into words.

"There was sort of a presence. Not an intelligence, really, more like a loving pet, but one about the size of a truck. It felt like it leaned against me, just a little, kind of looked me over and decided I was someone it liked." His other eyebrow went up.

"Hmm. Can you still feel it?" She nodded.

"Not as strongly, but yes, it's kind of in the back of my mind. It's difficult to describe."

"That's fine, I understand. OK. Stay there a moment." He turned to Kasumi and nodded, both of them concentrating again. The visible pattern faded away. After a few seconds the room looked normal once more, no sign of the manifestation now present. Turning back to her he inspected her for a few seconds.

"Can you still feel it?" Once more she nodded.

"Yep. What is it?" Studying her with interest, he shrugged.

"The wards, basically. The system accepted you to a much deeper level than we expected. I told you the thing was practically sentient. Think of it a bit like a magical computer program. It's not really smart in the sense of a living thing, not in the normal way, but it's so complicated it replicates some of the functions you'd normally associate with a life-form. That wasn't the intention, but it's not uncommon with extremely complex spells. They kind of take on a life of their own, an... intent, I suppose. The intent of this one is protection. People it knows, it protects. Inside this building you're safer than probably anywhere on the planet." He stopped for a moment. Nabiki looked slightly worried.

"What does all that mean for me?" He grinned.

"Well, it shows I was right when I said you'd most likely be very good at ki and magic manipulation. You must have a pretty strong latent ability for it to link so strongly into you like that. It knows you from all the time you've spent here, and like Kas said, it likes you." Nabiki glanced at her sister, who smiled.

"I wasn't joking."

"Now, we've essentially officially introduced you. It would have accepted you anyway, that's the point of adding you to the list, but normally only someone like us or the girls here would get so strong a reaction. You're not trained in ki or magic, so the usual result would have been what I said earlier, you'd be able to pass through the ward but not control it. I'm not so sure that applies now." He inspected her again, walking around her with interest. "No, it's linked as deeply into you as the others. Fascinating. I didn't expect that, but it's good." Stepping back he grinned. "We really have to start teaching you some of the ki exercises. Your ki reserves have been growing steadily for months." She stared at him.

"Um, what are you talking about? I don't know any of the martial arts you said were necessary for all that sort of thing."

"Well, like I said ages ago, that's not strictly true. You have a good working knowledge of a lot of the theory from your family style and your early lessons, not to mention what you've probably picked up from watching us. I still think your inherent talent might be nearly as good as Kas'. Much better than Akane. You just lack the practical experience. But that aside, there are a lot of things that can build up ki. Martial arts are the approach I know well, and have the experience with, but magic use can as well. And, I'm beginning to think, exposure to magic. At least the right sort. Ours, basically." Looking at her with an evaluating expression, he nodded to himself. The others watched and listened with interest.

"Hmm. An experiment. Turn around." After a moment, she did so. "Right. Close your eyes." Once again she followed his instructions. There was silence for a moment, then a sudden feeling washed through her, making her duck violently, then lean to the side, dropping to one knee.

"What the fuck?" she yelled, spinning around and jumping back. Everyone was staring when she opened her eyes. Ranma was standing half a metre away from her, having approached silently, a low-powered ki blade a metre long coming from his hand. Unusually it wasn't making any noise at all. "What did you do?" she demanded.

He grinned at her. "Proved a point. Why did you move like that?" She shrugged angrily.

"I don't know. Something told me to." Kasumi walked over and looked at her, then turned to her husband.

"That was very interesting," she commented. He nodded.

"What was very interesting?" her sister demanded. The elder sister smiled at the younger one.

"Ranma tried poking you with the energy sword. It's only low powered, it's safe, but your reaction was extremely interesting. You moved away from it without being able to see it or knowing it was there." Nabiki stared at her.

"Really?" She nodded.

"Yes. What did you feel?"

The younger Tendo thought for a moment. "It's weird. There was just this feeling that something was coming at me really fast and I needed to move out of the way. Three times. I couldn't help myself, I just reacted." Kasumi smiled.

"Indeed. You avoided it perfectly. Oh, he'd have hit you easily if he'd wanted to, you're nowhere near fast enough yet to keep up at full speed, but you moved much faster than almost any untrained person could possibly manage. It was quite impressive." She looked pleased. Nabiki slowly shook her head.

"I still don't understand."

Ranma dismissed the energy blade. "Come on, let's go and sit down and I'll see if I can explain." Soon, she was holding a mug of coffee and listening with interest, the others also sitting on the sofa around her. "Right. As I see it, you have a strong talent for this sort of thing, like Kasumi does, and I do. Akane does as well but to a much lesser degree, I'm afraid. You haven't had as much training as Kasumi, or Akane for that matter, but when you were young all three of you had quite a lot of exposure to some unusual martial arts. That started all of you on the path towards mastering ki, amongst other things. Environment shaping talent, I guess. Akane is close to topping out her ki level, although she has a long way to go before she masters being able to use what she has as efficiently as she can. She could become a lot better at it even though her raw power level won't go vastly higher. We talked about this some time ago." Nabiki nodded, sipping her coffee and listening intently.

"Kasumi and I are still increasing in power. We haven't hit our upper limits of raw power storage yet, wherever those end up being. I suspect our magic use has increased those limits very significantly, and vice versa. They compliment each other in some way I still don't fully understand. Aiko and the others here are similarly growing rapidly in power output, for the same reason. I think that exposure to our magic, and the version of ki we use, has had a sort of catalytic effect on your own abilities, even in the absence of formal training. It's... well, I guess its given your own body a kind of pattern to latch on to, which once it goes past a certain point is self-sustaining. The power level will probably continue to steadily increase, although I'd suspect that without the training it will top out at a much lower level than it could otherwise reach. Still much higher than other people could normally manage though. You don't have the knowledge yet to really use it, but the ward system can connect to it. That's why it linked so strongly to you."

Nodding slowly, the middle sister pondered what she'd been told. Tamiko looked at Ranma. "Does that mean that Akane could also learn your magic system and increase in power?" He thought for a while.

"I'm not sure. It's possible, I suppose. Her inherent ki limits are much lower than ours, or yours for that matter, so she'd certainly never reach the level we have or you will. But I guess it would be possible that she'd go past the level she's otherwise limited to. At the moment I'm not sure that would be a good thing. One day, perhaps, we should look into that, but until she overcomes the problems she still has I think she'd struggle with it, never mind whether it would be a good idea in the first place." The other woman nodded thoughtfully.

"I see."

He turned back to Nabiki. "When I tried the ki blade on you your own abilities, as untrained as they are, warned you something was threatening you. You reacted to it. It also seems to be boosting your speed noticeably. That's the sort of thing we do all the time, it's one of the first uses you learn for ki, normally without really realising it unless you're specifically being taught how. A lot of martial artists can use it to one degree or another although most of them never know what they're doing. It's kind of instinctive when you get to the right level. I think you're basically at that level now, even though you haven't consciously been learning martial arts, you've started using some of the techniques subconsciously. It's very interesting." Studying her for a moment, he held out his hand and formed a ki ball. "Can you feel anything when I do this?" She looked at the sky-blue energy ball in his hand and nodded slowly.

"Yes. There's sort of a fizzing sensation in my head. I thought that was normal when you were using your energy manipulations?" He looked quizzically at her. "I mean, I've felt that before. All the way back to when you made the crater in the park with that first monster. It felt like my head was full of soda, it fizzed so much. It was almost painful." Ranma and Kasumi exchanged glances.

"No, that's not normal," he said, raising an eyebrow. "Not for the average person in the street. They might feel something with so much energy output, but it would just be a momentary discomfort, a sort of mental pressure. What you're describing is much more unusual. To pick up the output from such a small amount of energy you'd need to really be quite sensitive." After a moment, he grinned. "Here, catch." Flipping her the ball of energy he looked amused as she squeaked and frantically grabbed instinctively at it.

"Holy crap!" she yelped, suddenly finding herself holding an orange sized ball of ki. It sat in her hand as if it had real mass, although there was no weight to it. He laughed, as she slowly relaxed when it didn't blow her hand off her wrist. "What the hell did you do that for?" she demanded, staring at it in fascination. Her hand tingled, in a manner that was almost relaxing.

"Trying to prove something. Right, hold your hand steady in front of you. Yes, like that. Now, tell me what you feel." She alternated glancing at him and the ki ball, concentrating on keeping her hand still.

"It tingles. Like a slight electric shock, but not painful."

"OK, good. That's my ki, I'm keeping it stable. That's why it's safe for someone else to handle. I did the same thing for Serena in LA, although this one doesn't have as much energy in it. Now, I'm very slowly going to pass control over to you. Tell me what you feel as I do." Slightly worried, Nabiki nodded, looking at him and her sister next to him. Kasumi didn't seem too concerned. Aiko, who was sitting next to her, shuffled slightly further away, grinning when Nabiki glared at her.

"Just in case."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence," she snapped, returning her attention to the ki ball in her hand. Aiko giggled. "OK, it's tingling more. A lot more. Ow, that's kind of painful now." Ranma nodded as she spoke, then the tingling backed off a little.

"Good. How's that?"

"Better. Not painful, but pretty intense."

"OK. Now, concentrate on it. Feel it. Try to see it, inside your head. Close your eyes if it helps." The brunette followed his instructions, staring at the ball of translucent light, then closing her eyes and trying to sort out the weird feelings it produced in her. Slowly she became aware of the energy from the 'inside' as it were, a very odd feeling. It made her hand warm, like holding it in the sun, but cold at the same time, like water was running over it. It was a very strange mix of sensations. After some time she felt she could almost see the ball with her eyes shut, shimmering and glowing in the darkness behind her eyelids. "Can you feel it?" She nodded slowly, looking slightly puzzled and also intrigued.

"This is a very strange thing," she said quietly. Opening her eyes she looked at the ball and gasped, nearly dropping it. It had changed colour to a pale green. Ranma grinned.

"Very impressive. You picked that up a lot faster than I did."

"What's going on?" she asked faintly. He laughed, while Kasumi smiled proudly.

"That's all your ki. My energy was the trigger, but now you're supplying it all. I transferred control over to you while you were concentrating on it. See how long you can hold it." Staring at the energy ball with fascination she lifted it closer to her face, inspecting it closely. There seemed to be an internal structure to it that was slowly rotating, layers of complexity she'd never expected but could actually feel.

"Wow," she mumbled, gazing at the thing in her hand. Tamiko glanced at Aiko, who raised an eyebrow herself. "How is this possible?" she asked, looking sideways at Ranma. He smiled a little.

"Well, like I said, you have quite a talent for energy manipulation. That's been obvious for some time. Linking to the wards has probably boosted that a bit, it kind of unblocked some pathways in the same way a year or two of advanced martial arts, or our form of it anyway, would have done. Gave you a jump on the whole process, in a way. You'll still need a lot of training to get good at it, but this is a start. I provided you with a... seed, or pattern, with that ki ball. Transferring the control slowly to you let you work out how to keep it stable by following my pattern. Whether you can produce it from cold at this point I'm not sure, I kind of doubt it, but it wouldn't take much practice to get to that level. Although clearly, once it's running you can stabilise it perfectly well." Impressed with herself, feeling slightly faint at the possibilities, she looked at the thing in her hand then back at him.

"So, what does this really mean?" He shrugged.

"It's final proof that you have what it takes to learn ki control, special techniques using it, and most likely our magical system. It also gives me some ideas on how to do that without the martial arts mastery, although I'd highly recommend that even so. You get a lot out of it other than the fighting abilities, and it would make the ki control much easier to learn. That said, I'm pretty sure I can teach you some interesting things pretty effectively without it. The ki ball should be easy, you're most of the way there already. Hidden weapons should be possible with some work although it won't be easy. The ki beam needs considerable power and experience, the energy blades even more, but that's still within your reach I'd think. Ki reinforcement of strength, speed, endurance, that sort of thing, that's easy by comparison, and will tend to happen more or less automatically as you practice." Her mind whirling with the sudden possibilities, Nabiki almost dropped the ki ball in her hand. As her attention drifted from it the manifestation swelled, dimmed, then guttered out with a faint hiss.

"Aww. I screwed it up." She scowled at her hand. Kasumi giggled.

"Don't worry. That was extremely impressive for a first attempt. Much better than I managed, even with help." Misaki grinned at her, biting into an apple with a crunch.

"It's very good. None of us can do that yet."

Ranma looked at her with interest. "See if you can bring it back. Concentrate on the feeling you had when it was in your hand." She did as requested, but aside from a transient slight glow in the palm of her hand and an incipient headache nothing happened. He looked slightly disappointed but unsurprised. "I didn't think that would work, but it was worth a try. Let me think about it for a while, I'll come up with some exercises for you to practice. I don't think it will take long to get you to a point you can produce a ki ball like that easily."

"I can't believe it's something I could learn to do," Nabiki said, still staring at her hand. He laughed.

"I've been telling you for nearly a year."

"I know, but it sounded so crazy. But, then, everything surrounding you guys is crazy. I guess it was only a matter of time before I got infected." Grinning at him she picked up her coffee and finished it off.

"OK, let's leave that for the moment. On to the wards. We'll show you guys how to control them. The first part is how to open a hole for teleporting. You'll be most interested, Aiko, but the rest of you should learn as well. It's easiest if we demonstrate, it's not the sort of thing you can explain." They all nodded. "Pay attention to the feeling of the wards. Got it?" One by one then all nodded slowly. "Right, I'm going to open a hole. Remember what I do, you should be able to feel it." All of them could sense something happening. After a moment there was a sensation almost like a window was open somewhere not very well defined.

"Weird," Aiko said curiously, her eyes shut and her head cocked to the side. "Do that again." He did so.

"See what I did?"

"I think so. Let me try." It took her a few attempts but she managed in the end. When she got it wrong there was the sensation of polite refusal from the ward system, which almost seemed regretful that it couldn't comply. "Very weird. OK, I think I have it."

"That's it," Kasumi said, watching the energy patterns change. "Tamiko, you try it." The auburn-haired girl got it on the third attempt, having seen where her friend and team-mate was going wrong. Fumiko and Misaki both got it immediately. Turning to her sister, Kasumi smiled. "You try, Nabiki." Looking at her curiously, the middle sister tentatively attempted to duplicate what she'd felt, becoming rather surprised when the ward system almost eagerly accepted the wordless request.

"Hey, it worked!" she yelped, somewhat shocked. Kasumi laughed.

"Of course. Like I keep saying, it likes you."

"This is so weird," Nabiki replied with a grin.

"OK, that's the first part." Ranma smiled at them, then he and his wife took them through a number of mental exercises that taught them several useful things about the ward system. They learned how to use it to sense an attack on the building, block certain rooms from access in either direction, even control the internal defences which turned out to be rather formidable.

"Holy crap, Ranma," Aiko muttered as she studied what her magic senses were telling her. "I had no idea this system was so dangerous." He laughed slightly.

"You weren't meant to. That's kind of the point. You guys have always been trusted guests, so you didn't even really notice the system, and it allowed you in and out. The anti-teleport system is always running as is the surveillance blocking stuff, but the defences would only kick in if this place or one of us was attacked. If that happened, well, it would take something pretty incredible to get through. Most threats would cease to exist fairly quickly."

"I'll say. The amount of power here is horrifying."

Kasumi smiled. "In many ways it's a huge magical battery. All the ward users can pump power into it, which gets stored for future use. We've been pushing power into the system for nearly four years now. It will take a small amount from you lot as well, which is how it keeps contact with you, but you can push more in if you want. You don't have to, though. You can also pull power out in an emergency."

"What's the distance you can connect to it over?" Fumiko asked curiously. Ranma shrugged a little.

"I'm not entirely sure. Certainly, once you're connected to it, probably anywhere on the planet. It may well work for you through portals. It does for us. Up until now we've been the only ones using it, plus Happosai of course, but he's not around very much at the moment. We'll have to experiment a bit. With so many more people added in the complexity of the system will increase which will probably add some interesting effects."

Nabiki looked at them. "Do we all have equal access to it?" The martial artist smiled a little and shook his head.

"Not quite. Kas and I, and Happosai, have what in computer terms would be super-user access. We created it, and it knows it. You're all at a slightly lower level. We could override your access but not the other way around. Not that we would. We'll add information to it that designates your apartments as personal space, which will have their own sub-wards that only you can control. We could only access them in a real emergency. Is that all right?" The four girls exchanged glances, then nodded.

"That's fine, Ranma," Aiko said. "We trust you. This is your building after all. And your home." Kasumi smiled at her.

"It's your home as well. We trust all of you completely or we wouldn't have invited you to live here in the first place. All of this is just the way the system is set up. We were being very careful and paranoid when we designed it." The shorter woman grinned.

"We know. Don't worry, we don't mind."

Ranma turned to his sister-in-law again. "The key-card I gave you has a spell on it as well, you'll find it almost impossible to lose. That one cost us quite a lot. It keyed to you when I gave it to you." She nodded.

"That was what the tingle I felt was?"

"Yes. It's locked permanently to you now. No one else can use it."

"Cool." She pulled it out of her pocket and looked at it for a moment, then put it away again.

"Just run it through the reader, you know the process." Looking at her watch, Nabiki stood.

"I'm going to have to go in a minute. My first class of the new semester starts in an hour."

"I'll jump you over there, Nabiki," Aiko offered.

"Thanks." She headed to her room to pack. When she came back carrying her bag she found Aiko had changed into her uniform.

"I'll work out some exercises for you, Nabiki," Ranma said, smiling at her from the sofa. "In the mean time, when you're in private and have some spare time, it wouldn't hurt to see if you can recreate that ki ball. I don't know whether it will work or not, but even trying will help build your ki control. When you do get it, you'll progress pretty quickly." He grinned. "We'll have you storing entire roomfuls of stuff away in ki pockets by the end of the summer."

Laughing, she waved to him and the others, then she and Aiko vanished with the usual flash.