*WHAT* INSERTION?

by Curtis Wildcat

Chapter Twenty-Two

Case File: Phibrizzo

"Destruction? Yes... destruction is the ultimate wish of any monster. That's what we were created for... isn't it? Isn't it?!"

/-/-/-/-/-/

(Cue theme)

/-/-/-/-/-/

Time: Wednesday morning, April 24, 1996

Location: Kadan residence

Another day, another...something or other.

Working some imagined kinks out of his arms, Phibrizzo jumped out of bed and threw his attire for the day together. Being associated with fire and darkness for longer than he could remember, his inked T-shirts and dark jeans reminded him of those elements whenever he donned them. What was more was that he vowed to never forget his past, for doing so would cause more trouble than it was worth. His darker side would always be a part of him, anyway.

He checked briefly on his two mind-dwellers, just to be safe. Inuyasha had once again bored himself asleep; this was becoming increasingly common for him, since he was nowhere near as stressed as he used to be during his hunts for that Naraku character. Considering the publicity he was garnering as a modern-day vigilante, he should've been more bothered.

Curtis, after once more disappearing for a short time during the night, had reappeared and decided to watch reruns of some old television programs. Phibrizzo had no idea what they were about, but judging by the voices he heard, he suspected that the main character in one of them was a major bigot. "Those were the days", indeed.

After finishing getting ready, he checked to make sure he had everything. Sunglasses in subspace...check.

Bracelet...check.

Junior Detective League badge...check.

Books and supplies...check.

Showtime.

After dodging around French Vanilla, eating a quick breakfast and wishing his parents the best for the day, he threw his shoes on and raced out the door into the sunlight.

Another day had dawned; and as usual, Phibrizzo was right in the thick of things.

/-/-/-/-/-/

Location: Nerima ward, Furinkan High School

She carried herself as a martial artist: about par for the area.

Short red hair that seemed to twist upwards at the back of her head without the use of hair spray, and tipped a bright white like a red fox's tails: A bit strange, but not bizarre.

But her hands... there was something not quite right about her hands.

No matter what was bizarre about her and what wasn't, it got the students talking. The majority of them believed that she was a new transfer student that hadn't registered yet; her face was definitely American, and her orange, black and white ensemble- - -while suitable for the great outdoors- - -wasn't standard issue.

Of course, there were still a few kids who guessed that she had a claim on Ranma, but that was only the default selection.

The students looked on as she inhaled deeply, a satisfied smile on her face. Several wondered aloud what she was thinking at that moment, standing up there like Dolphin had not long before...but in the next few seconds, their wonderment became moot:

"Hellooooo, Nerima! You're really great, devoting this time and attention to me, but I have something that needs done. I have a child to find and a home to reclaim! Good-bye, boys and girls, and don't do anything I wouldn't do!"

With a sudden spring in her step, the hyperactive young woman bounded off the school and began circling the rooftops of the ward, whooping and hollering at the top of her lungs and enjoying life to the fullest. The way she seemed to soar between buildings reminded on-lookers of a bird in flight, ever majestic and free.

And yet the consensus amongst people remained: "Is something wrong with her hands?"

/-/-/-/-/

Location: Kadan residence

Time: Mid afternoon

Sylvia Kadan, despite being happily married to a loving man for more than eight years and raising a good- - -if strange- - -child, never forgot how great it was to be young and carefree. She maintained the connections that she'd formed with her friends from youth on, and it could be said that her inner child had free reign of the playgrounds in a way.

It was for these reasons and more that she looked forward to Phibrizzo's return home from school, even if he had plans to go elsewhere- - -which he usually did. As was customary for her, she waited a handful of steps away from the door.

Right on cue, the door opened. Phibrizzo stepped on through, handing over his schoolbag to Sylvia and closing the door behind him. "Hi, Mom."

Sylvia smiled slightly. "Hi, Phibrizzo. You're going to Nerima, right?"

A blink. "How'd you guess?"

"It's been a few days, so I figured you were overdue. Anyway, you know the drill: be back by mealtime, and don't cause too much trouble."

Phibrizzo smirked at this, but nodded and teleported away. Sylvia stared at the spot where he'd been standing just a second prior, then walked over and sat down in a nearby chair...and wondered, not for the first time, why he was so adventurous. What spurred the need for him to always be out and about?

And why was he trying so hard to make amends? Wasn't the love and attention of his family enough?

Why?

/-/-/-/-/-/

Location: Nerima

The sun was shining. The birds were singing. Nary a noise to be heard. People were going about their business, happy as could be.

And Phibrizzo's arrival had upstaged everything.

His teleportation to the Nerima ward had accidentally startled Ranma into jumping backwards...right into someone carrying a glass of ice water. Tatewaki Kuno had caught sight of her immediately afterwards, and the following matchup resulted in the kendoist getting booted into the sky...or would've, if Shampoo hadn't decided to make her presence known by jumping her bicycle off a roof, and smack into the airborne Kuno. The Amazon's indignant attack resulted in Kodachi, who had been preparing for another attack against "that red-haired harridan", getting flattened by her own brother.

So not only was Kodachi locked in battle against Shampoo, but Mousse was furiously trying to browbeat Ranma- - -using everything, not just the kitchen sink- - -for attacking her.

No one noticed Phibrizzo slipping away in the confusion, relieved that it was business as usual.

Just because he couldn't indulge in other peoples' anger didn't mean he couldn't enjoy the chaos it brought; it was why he liked going here, after all. However, he didn't like it when the chaos was brought to him. While he was en route to Ucchan's for an okonomiyaki as per normal scheduling, he asked Inuyasha to keep his ears open for anyone who wanted to get him involved. Normally, he wasn't bothered.

Normally.

Halfway to his destination, the routine underwent a sudden change. "Oi, Phibrizzo," Inuyasha spoke up suddenly. "You've got incoming!"

Acting quickly, Phibrizzo's arm whipped out and snagged a nearby telephone pole, allowing him to Rocket out of the way of a pair of incoming feet. Whoever it was bounded off the ground where he'd been just a moment before and somersaulted onto a nearby roof, turning to face his (or her) target.

Phibrizzo let go of the pole and dropped to the ground, muttering to himself for a bit before speaking aloud. "I hate being snuck up on as much as the next person. What's going on?"

The person, identified as the one who had shouted an enthusiastic greeting at Furinkan High earlier (although the trio didn't know that), giggled excitedly. "So, you're the little boy that's gained my Elder's attention? Maybe I ought to look at this a bit differently."

"I thought Ranma was the chaos magnet around here," Curtis said, keeping an eye on his programs. "Shouldn't the girls be chasing after him?"

Phibrizzo grimaced after hearing both statements. While the girl could've been referring to anyone, there was only one person he knew of that treated the word "elder" as if it were a title. "Mind looking in a different direction instead of right at me? I didn't do anything to deserve that."

"Hee-hee... You're very funny," the teenage girl chirped, eyes shining. "Thing is, I can't leave until I've seen what I want to see. Understand me, kiddo?"

A shake of the head, and an accompanying glare. "I understand. That doesn't mean I want you to start a showdown when all I want to do is get a bite to eat."

"What's wrong? The food will still be there in ten minutes."

"How does she know?" Inuyasha growled to himself. Phibrizzo, thinking similar thoughts, asked the newcomer as much.

"Because I'll be the one paying for it." The girl took a fighting stance that the part-human had seen Shampoo assume once or twice; as one, a warning bell rang in each of the trio's minds. "A meal on me if you win, and you'll never see me again after that. If you lose, all that means is that you're the one paying for it. Is that alright?"

Disgusted, Phibrizzo prepared himself for a fight; the way the girl carried herself and acted told him that he wouldn't be left off the hook. "Fine, whatever," he said with resignation, cracking his knuckles and making sure his reserves (just in case) were still mostly intact. "Mind telling me who you are? That is, if you have a name."

This turned out to be a bad move on his part; the girl immediately went from a battle stance to a heroic pose, looking like something out of the Masked Yaiba show. "A girl from a faraway land, come to hone her skills in the martial arts and prove herself worthy of her father's legacy! Watch yourself, for you face the Haunt Fox, Aldonza Caretti!"

"..." Pure silence on Phibrizzo's part.

A mild frown. "What? My name's not that ear-catchy."

"It wasn't that. It's just that I was expecting something related to physical hygiene and cleanliness... like Spuhn Gi, or Cur Ler... or maybe Whas Cloh."

One of Aldonza's eyebrows twitched. "You figured out where my allegiances lie that quick?"

"I'd seen one of the local Amazons take that same stance," Phibrizzo answered, noting several bystanders but deciding that they had the mind not to interfere. "Wasn't too hard. Now, are we going to fight or stand around and discuss the weather some more?"

Aldonza smiled, this time mirthlessly, and sprung off the roof to try and stomp him again; this left no doubt that she was in full agreement.

/-/-/-/-/-/

A safe distance away, far enough not to distract the two fighters but close enough to have a decent view, Shampoo maintained a quiet vigil. As much as she would've liked to be off trying to convince Ranma that the "Kitchen Destroyer" and Ukyo Kuonji weren't worthy of his time, Cologne had ordered her to watch and make sure that Aldonza had lived up to her expectations of the tribe. She had nothing against the other girl, and even wished her the best in life should she succeed, but privately she knew where her priorities were.

Shampoo watched Phibrizzo absorb and dodge some of the punishment that Aldonza was dealing out. Not for the first time, and unaware that his mother was pondering her son's chosen path, she wondered why the boy thought the way he did. Generally, if an out-of-towner didn't have anything to do with the Saotomes and Tendos, they stayed as far away as they could from the ward. There was the occasional exception to this, but they didn't stick around long.

"Small boy too mysterious," she said to herself in Japanese. "Much too easy-going for Nerima. Nice on outside, but maybe have bad thoughts on inside?"

"Mmmffh."

"Maybe more beneath the surface. Could be fierce monster come to bring destruction to the world... or could be fierce monster just come to have fun. Kind of hard to tell."

"Mmmmfffhh."

A hand went to Shampoo's chin in thought as she watched Aldonza duck past Phibrizzo's defenses and lay into him with a flurry of punches and kicks that were borderline Amaguriken speed. Most of these were shrugged off, and the self-proclaimed Haunt Fox had to step back to avoid the retaliatory uppercut that followed. "Physical defense seems really high... honorary sister probably figured that out now. Rubber-like body withstand impacts. Maybe water really bad where he come from? Who knows?"

"Mmffhhhh!"

Shampoo took a quick look over her shoulder, where a very frustrated Kodachi was implanted in the roof while hogtied with multiple gymnastics ribbons; where Kuno's "twisted sister" kept them was anyone's guess. "Keep down. Shampoo trying to concentrate."

Only a muffled retort answered her.

/-/-/-/-/

There was no shortage of tales and stories in Japan. The country had more than its fair share of legends, some of which were obviously false but others which were very much true. The story of the original beckoning cat, for instance, was one which held true in Sylvia's mind (it was one of the reasons why she agreed to keep French Vanilla).

None of the legends that were true had spoke of monsters and demons visiting the world; there were other creatures involved, of course, but none of them could come close in comparison. On the whole, everyone was happy to let stories be stories and go about their lives, worrying about their own problems.

The revelation that Phibrizzo was once a being intent on a planet's destruction had shaken Sylvia's intent to do just that. Maybe the tales here in her land of birth were too good to be true, but there was nothing that said that other worlds didn't exist beyond those that had been scientifically discovered... or beyond the very borders of the universe itself. That very evening (after a round of her favorite video games, of course), she decided that she wanted to learn more.

Sylvia had been wondering why Phibrizzo lived his chosen life. Having found the time to dwell on things, she realized that the conversation that she'd had with him just last night had already answered her question...

/-/-/-/-/-/

(Cue flashback)

Phibrizzo, as always, was stretched out on his bed and staring at the ceiling when she'd found him after dinner. He'd originally planned on hanging out with Conan, but she'd learned from him that he and the Moores were involved with another case.

She had never seen him actually doing anything whenever he wasn't touring Tokyo, hanging out with his friends, or visiting his sister. She'd tried asking him if he wanted to play video games with her, but he'd politely refused and retired to his room. He had none of the toys or knickknacks that kids liked to play with, thinking of himself as too old for those things, and his walls were almost completely devoid of decoration. Well, maybe he is too old, she thought, but he should at least look to be playing the part.

When Phibrizzo didn't react to her arrival, she had to snap her fingers once or twice before he finally looked up. "Oh... sorry," he muttered, sounding more annoyed at himself than at her. "What do you need?"

"Nothing, really," Sylvia assured him, sitting on the edge of the bed. "I was just wondering if you'd be willing to talk to me for a bit."

"What about?"

"Well, it's about this life that you led before," Sylvia said, noticing her stepchild flinch a little. "I know that you had other things going at the time, but surely you weren't completely preoccupied with them."

Phibrizzo looked at her for a few moments, uncertain, before returning his stare to the ceiling. "Much of it isn't for the faint of heart," he admitted. "We were mazoku, and we weren't generally known for being 'nice'- - -"

"Not that," Sylvia interrupted, sitting at the foot of Phibrizzo's bed. "I should've phrased that better. ...What I mean is, do you have any interesting stories that you've heard in passing? Anything that wasn't relevant to the situation at hand but was good enough to be stored away for future reference?"

It was probably her imagination, but she could've sworn that she'd seen Phibrizzo's eyes turn from pure green to a dim yellow. "More family stuff, I suppose," he murmured. "It's incredibly rare for a human and a mazoku to get along. Our first impulse, if it doesn't involve outright killing them, is to lead them by the noses only so far before discarding them like trash."

Sylvia nodded, frowning, but kept silent as Phibrizzo continued. "You've met Dolphin already. Our other 'sister', Zelas, is more like a wolf than a fish: a very fierce predator, the scheming type. She kept a few humans around as slaves and whimpering lackeys, but her fondness for them wasn't much greater than mine.

"One day, while personally investigating rumors that a piece of Lord Ruby Eye's order-oriented counterpart had reemerged, she met up with this girl who was telling off her younger sister for something. She must've been made of some rather stern stuff, because after her sister left, the two of them stared eye to eye at each other for several minutes without so much as twitching. Zelas knew that this was the person she was looking for, and she was prepared to annihilate her without hesitation. The human? After the staredown, she just asked if she wanted the mutton stew or the spiced chicken."

Sylvia's audible amusement at this was infectious; soon, Phibrizzo was smirking as well. Her curiosity wasn't sated yet, though. "So, what happened?"

"Zelas was impressed with her; she had stared death in the face and inquired what it wanted for dinner. Under most circumstances they'd be fighting each other, since they were supposed to be mortal enemies. But since the girl's allegiance seemed to take second place to her waitressing- - -and because my sister was in the mood for meat and booze- - -she let things slide.

"They never became friends in the truest sense, but they never tried to rip each other apart either. They've hung out several times since then; once, they even went as far as to track me down just so they could have me decide who was better at brass rackets."

Sylvia nodded, then blinked at the unfamiliar term. "Brass rackets?"

"That world's version of tennis," Phibrizzo clarified. "Knockdowns are allowed."

"Sounds violent." Sylvia decided that she wasn't interested in knowing more about that particular sport. "And what was your opinion of it? The idea that they would get along, I mean?"

Phibrizzo raised an eyebrow at the question, then paused to decide what he wanted to say. "I didn't like it," he finally spoke after a minute or so. "I was still in my 'humans are worthless' phase at the time, and I was even more angry when I found out what sort of power the human girl had. They didn't give me much choice, though; Zelas wasn't quite as strong as me, but it still wouldn't have been worth the trouble to get into a fight with her."

Sylvia had the feeling that he was leaving something out; he almost looked as if he were going to say something else for a moment, and his expression had a somewhat haunted look to it. She didn't push the issue, instead trying something else. "What about now?" she asked, arching an eyebrow. "You still think humans are worthless?"

"They're the dominant species on this world," said Phibrizzo, not meeting her eyes. "I'm the one that's different here. Do I have a right to complain?"

"That's not what I asked," Sylvia said, shaking her head. "You've been here for a few months now, and you've likely been watching the world during that time. What's more is that you've willingly spent time with humans, both close to your physical age and not. What do you think?"

Phibrizzo didn't answer, pushing himself up and sitting on one of his pillows. He stared down at the bed, the haunted look still in place, and didn't look up for a few minutes. Sylvia was tempted to wave a hand in front of his face to see if he would respond to that, but decided that sort of behavior would be a bit less mature than what she needed to portray. At the same time, she had one or two things she wanted to do before going to bed, and this conversation didn't look to be going anywhere. "You don't have to answer the question right away," she offered as she got off the bed. "We can always talk about this another time." She took a few slow paces towards the door- - -

"I don't know."

Sylvia paused as she heard those words, turning back to face him and waiting for him to expand on that. Eventually, he did. "I've spent too long scheming, too much time trying to deceive people... it was second-nature to me from the time I was created. Even now, it's so deeply ingrained that it would mess with my judgment if I tried to tell you the truth. Not even a sickening feeling from the thought of it would stop that."

He looked up at her, his eyes angry but determined. "I can't give you an answer to that question right now. I need to see for myself what humans are like. There's more to them than the pain, suffering, and anguish that has become synonymous with them... but the thing is, I need to convince my brain of that. You understand what I'm saying?"

Sylvia stared at Phibrizzo, putting her own words together. "I don't claim to understand what evil is." A thin smile. "But for now, I wouldn't worry about it too much. Just take your time, dear."

This seemed to settle him for now; Phibrizzo laid back down, not looking as brooding as he'd been a few moments ago. His 'mother' decided that now was as good a time as any to take her leave, silently making plans to make his life with her and Marcus a bit more enjoyable. There has to be some sort of toy or game out there that he would like... maybe an RPG of some sort? A few of them do seem vaguely similar to his previous environment...

She paused in mid-step. For the briefest of moments, Sylvia thought she had heard something spoken from Phibrizzo's room. She turned briefly, wondering if she should double-check on him, then changed her mind and stepped down the stairs. Whatever it was, it could wait for later; Marcus was due home soon.

(End flashback)

/-/-/-/-/

There's a lot to see in the world, both good and bad, Sylvia decided. The things that help other people are balanced by those that would do harm. He's searching for those good things, having experienced and caused others to experience the darker side of life. He's still finding his way in this world... I don't think he knows what he's going to do after he finishes school. As free-spirited as he is, I doubt he could be held to any job in particular.

Maybe I should get in contact with her. Sylvia shuddered momentarily, not liking the thought, but pressed on. When we were both in high school, she was even more free-spirited as Phibrizzo is now and didn't let the trials of life put a damper on things. Maybe she has some advice that she can give... and hopefully, she's managed to calm down some after all these years. She always was more of an associate than a friend.

That settled, she got up and walked out of the room towards the telephone. Waiting patiently for a few moments, she was rewarded with the sound of a familiar voice. Smiling, she greeted the recipient in turn. "I'm just as surprised to be talking to you, too. ...Yes, I'm doing fine." Her smile became a mite sad. "You're some months late... he died months ago. But, enough of that... and it's nice to hear you're fine too. Would you pipe down a moment? ...Thank you. Now, if you have a few minutes, Ms. Yukari, would you mind hearing me out on this?..."

/-/-/-/-/

"Ho!"

Phibrizzo ducked his head to avoid having it punted into the sky (and more than likely taking him with it). His battle with Aldonza thus far had been frustrating; while he wasn't taking any serious hits thanks to his genetics, the Amazon-in-training wasn't taking any hits, period. Trying to resume his attack, he fueled his foot with his internal furnace and got into position for a heel drop.

"Ha ha!"

Aldonza caught his ankle just above the enflamed area with one hand; Phibrizzo noticed that her grip was unnaturally tight. He didn't have time to think about this further when another kick caught him in a certain area below his stomach; since said area was missing, however, his recovery time was short enough for him to "return fire" (so to speak) quickly.

"Duck!"

The girl stooped down, manuevering around a Gum Gum Pistol and trying to deliver an uppercut with her free hand. Punching it aside with his own free fist, Phibrizzo pulled his ankle free and tried to nail Aldonza from behind with the snapback from his failed Pistol attack...

"Turn!"

...Only for her to turn aside, letting the fist fly unimpeded back to its starting point. Phibrizzo spun around almost immediately and lashed out with his foot, too low for it to be easily grabbed.

"Parry!"

Aldonza easily deflected the kick with one of her own, then pushed off with her other leg and flipped, trying to catch him in the chin. Phibrizzo took the hit, but instead of falling backwards as was the norm, he jerked his head back forward with the intention of catching the self-named Haunt Fox with a headbutt.

"Spin!"

The manuever was for naught as she twisted away, an inch ahead of him. Phibrizzo's eyes widened momentarily as his face said hello to Aldonza's palm; the slap that echoed through his chamber made Inuyasha wince at some memory or another. Grimacing, the half-mazoku focused a little of his firepower into his hand and took a swipe at the teen's knee.

"Ha!"

Aldonza hopped away just in time, noting that his fingers had burned clear through the bottom hem of her pant leg without setting it ablaze. Charging forward before Phibrizzo could follow up on his attack, she prepped herself for a full-speed Amaguriken assault that would end the fight the best way she knew how: by launching him into the lower atmosphere.

"Thrust!"

Just as the first set of punches came flying in, Phibrizzo's hand shot inside her guard...and Aldonza staggered back, forced to abort her attack as her hand went straight to her nose. "No fair, no fair," she whined, her voice sounding funny. "That was a cheap shot!"

"Like you're one to talk," Phibrizzo uttered, checking for any injuries out of habit and pleased when none of them were beyond superficial. "If you have to resort to hitting below the belt just to gain an advantage, don't complain to me about fighting dirty."

"Oh, hush," Aldonza snarled, dropping the happy-go-lucky look that she'd kept on her face since she'd made herself known at Furinkan High. "It's not like there were any rules in place. And the standard ways of dealing a blow don't work well with you, so I had to at least try."

A shake of the head. "Ch. Give me a break. This whole fight is one big rules violation. Last I looked, you were supposed to keep any extra digits at home."

"... ...So you finally noticed, did you?"

"What do you mean 'finally?'" Phibrizzo folded his arms. "That grip you used when you caught my heel kick a minute ago was a bit tighter than it should've been. It doesn't take a genius to figure out what was causing the extra pressure."

Aldonza slowly lowered her hand from her face. Inuyasha blinked, leaning forward in his chamber; sure enough, there was a fifth finger on her hand. What normally would've been her pinky finger was roughly a centimeter longer than what was normal, and the extra digit next to it was about the length of a normal pinky. The addition of that finger made for an absurdly shaped hand... both of them.

A half minute went by as each person's mind stewed over this development. The would-be Amazon finally broke the silence, heaving a long sigh. "Well, I've seen all I've needed to see. I should be going. Elder Cologne's gonna have kittens over this when she finds out."

/-/-/-/

From her vantage point, Shampoo wondered why she suddenly felt the urge to jump over there and smack somebody for making a stealth pun.

/-/-/-/

"Hold up a moment," Phibrizzo said, stopping Aldonza before she could turn around. "I don't get this whole thing about 'talking with your fists', and honestly I think it's ridiculous. What I'd like to know is, what's your connection with the Project?"

Her muscles stiffened. "The Project?" she asked warily.

A nod. "The Project. Or to be more specific, Clandestine."

"...Dare I ask how you found out about it?" Aldonza inquired, hoping it wasn't as bad as she suspected.

"I fought against someone recently who gained increased strength and mobility as a direct result of the Project." Phibrizzo's eyes narrowed. "I wasn't told much about it, but I was under the impression that it took place decades ago. On the other hand, you don't look a day past seventeen years."

Aldonza stared at him long and hard for several seconds, altering her assessment of him. She'd heard of child prodigies; she knew that she probably would've been one of them if life's course had permitted her. No child spoke like this, however, but she wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of an advantage over her. "Kid, I don't need to tell you anything." She held up a hand to keep him from continuing. "I'm on a tight schedule, and I have things I need to do. I'm not gong to sit around and tell you my life story when I could be securing my ticket home."

"Oh, c'mon. Not even a few little sentences?"

"No."

"No hint?"

"No hint. Forget it." Aldonza's smile returned with a vengeance as she walked up to him, handing him the money for his meal that she had promised. "You'll just have to find the hints on your own, if you're as smart as you're implying. 'Kay, Phibby-chan?"

With nothing else to do or say, she turned and jumped up to the nearest roof, desiring to take a shortcut back to the Nekohanten. Hopefully, she mused on the way, the information I ascertained will be enough for Elder Cologne to allow me to return home... I've been gone way too long, and my friends are probably getting impatient waiting for me.

/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/

"... ... ..."

Inuyasha frowned as he watched Aldonza depart. That encounter was a bit too strange for his tastes, and it didn't help that the scent she left in her wake reminded him too much of Shippou. Added to that was Curtis's complete silence following the girl's introduction; it was corny, sure, but it wasn't that corny.

"... ... ..."

The view outside seemed to darken a little.

"She..."

Annoyed, Inuyasha jumped to his feet and started pacing back and forth. "She what?" he asked irritably. "Spit it out!"

"She..."

"...Well?" Curtis asked, finally getting over whatever it was that was keeping him from talking to his host. "What happened?"

It took a bit more blackness before they realized what was going on: Phibrizzo's dark flames had manifested themselves as a battle aura. "She... she called me PHIBBY-CHAN!"

Both chambers rattled as the surprised occupants fell to the floor.

/-/-/-/-/

"...So, that's the conclusion that you reached?"

Aldonza just nodded. After returning to the Elder's restaurant, she had told Cologne every detail of the encounter and resulting fight. Nothing was left out, from the littlest spoken word to the blazing aura that she'd felt shortly after she left. Shampoo had arrived shortly after she began, and was on hand to back up her words.

When they were finished, Cologne was troubled; it wasn't as bad as the situation made it out to be, but the facts themselves didn't lie. "So... that's how it is," she murmured. "The way he acts is that of someone out of place in society. He is privy to details that children should not be allowed to hear..."

Both of the younger warriors gazed at their Elder, worried. "What wrong, great-grandmother?" Shampoo was the first to ask.

Cologne stared them in the eyes unnervingly. "I have believed for a while that Phibrizzo wasn't human. Everything she said points to him as being a potential terror, a supernatural creature without any qualms against doing harm. He could burn this ward to the ground in his fury, if he were so inclined."

The room was silent a bit longer. To the surprise of them both, Cologne's visage became a bit softer. "But he hasn't. There seems to be a lot going on inside his mind; it's been implied that his 'parasites' are keeping his powers in check, and I have sensed that Phibrizzo is trying to think more of others than of himself. If they continue to keep a close watch on him, maybe we need not fear him at all."

"Good," Shampoo said, smiling. "Small boy make things interesting; not interfere in pursuit of Airen. Will do just fine."

"I agree," Aldonza chirped. "He is really cute when he gets all emo- - -OW!"

"Glad to hear he meets with your approval," Cologne commented dryly, lowering her walking stick from Aldonza's forehead. "Now then..." She took a moment to switch languages, speaking in her native Mandarin. "Aldonza Nanette Caretti... as a representative of the Amazon Council and on behalf of the tribe, I hereby deem the conditions of your father's agreement with us... fulfilled. You may return to your homeland with our blessings, as long as you promise to come to our aid should troubled times befall us."

A delighted squeal was Cologne's only warning before Aldonza leapt onto a table, doing some sort of bizarre dance that had become popular as of late. Sweatdropping, Shampoo looked on for a few seconds before whispering to Cologne in Mandarin: "Great-grandmother, as much as I'm happy for her, wouldn't just saying 'you can go now, good-bye' be a lot easier on our minds?"

"Now, now, child," Cologne chided her, chuckling. "When you become as old as I, you take your amusement where you can get it."

Unwilling to argue with that, but still nonplussed at Aldonza's behavior, Shampoo remained quiet.

/-/-/-/-/

Sylvia's conversation with her former school associate had been more helpful than she had first planned. Yukari always was an oddball, and the years hadn't changed her personality much. After explaining her situation (while leaving out the details of Phibrizzo's origins) and asking for ideas, Sylvia was pleasantly surprised when Yukari complied with her request. The conversation that followed lasted for most of Phibrizzo's absence.

When Phibrizzo came home, he was surprised to see that her usual gentle smile had given way to a cat-eating-canary grin. "So... what happened?" he asked nervously, unsure what it meant. "You didn't just find out that you're about to have another kid, did you?"

"No, no," Sylvia said, her smile not wavering despite the audacity of the question. "I'm just wondering if you'd like to talk more about your life back home, after dinner."

Somewhere in the back of his mind, a siren began ringing. "Um, why?"

"I'm curious." That smile really wasn't helping anything. "I want you to tell me as much as you can before your bathtime. And don't skimp on the details." She stuffed a scrap of paper into her pocket and walked past him, putting her shoes on at the door.

"Well... you sure you really want to know?" Phibrizzo stared at her apprehensively, shoving aside his shoes absent-mindedly. "Like I said, it's not exactly suitable for children- - -"

"Compared to you I may be a child," Sylvia interrupted as she slowly turned back around. Her grinning face disappeared en route, and was replaced by a visage that- - -to Phibrizzo- - -was half Soun Tendo, half Lina Inverse. "But in this world I am, above all things, a parent! GOT IT?!"

Phibrizzo reflexively recoiled and held up his hands; this was a side of her that she hadn't exhibited in the few months that he'd been here. "Okay, okay, okay! Fine! Storytime after dinner! I got it! Yeah! Sure! Eh heh heh heh..."

With an ease that was disturbing to consider, Sylvia's demeanor switched gears again. "Thank you, dear," she said, once more smiling widely. "Can I trust you to hold down the fort here until I get back from the store?"

A blink. "Huh? Now?"

"Something came up, so I need to grab a few things. Do you mind having take-out again tonight?"

"I guess I don't..."

"Great. Don't go anywhere, okay? I should be back before Marcus's program starts." Sylvia smiled at Phibrizzo, then left the house and hurried off at a mildly fast clip.

It took a few seconds for him to recover long enough to shut and lock the door. "Did that... just happen?"

"You're the child around here, not us," Inuyasha said, shaking his head. "You tell me."

"You see what was written on that paper?" Curtis inquired from his chair. "I couldn't get a good enough look from here."

Inuyasha was quiet for a few seconds before replying. "Something... something supplies, how-to... something or other. Again, bad angle."

Phibrizzo went over to sit down in Sylvia's favorite chair, mind still a bit numb from a moment ago. "I guess... we'll be finding out when she gets back, will we?"

"Yeah."

"Uh-huh."

Beat.

"So, Curtis... there something wrong with you?"

"Not anything more than the usual, Phibrizzo. Why?"

"We didn't hear a peep out of you during that fight earlier." The half-mazoku stared at the blank television, frowning. "No commentary, no smart-mouth remarks, nothing."

Curtis gave his chamber's camera an innocent look. "Would you believe that I was shocked into absolute silence?"

Inuyasha glared in his general direction, but their host beat him to the verbal punch. "What for? Don't mistake this for caring, but that's not like you at all."

The trio's pure-blooded human didn't reply.

"Well?" Inuyasha urged. "What's the deal?"

"Would you be satisfied with a simple 'I know that girl'? I don't think now's a good time to talk about it."

This time, both of the others were struck silent by the implications. As of yet there wasn't any way to separate the three, so Curtis couldn't have met her elsewhere. That meant...

"She's from your world, isn't she?" Phibrizzo was the first to ask. "It's the only thing that really makes sense."

"Well, sort of."

"'Sort of'?" Inuyasha growled. "C'mon! Is she, or isn't she?"

"Yes... and no," Curtis explained hesitantly. "Could we please not talk about it? It's like she said before, it's not like we'll be seeing her again."

"You can be frustrating to deal with sometimes, you know that?" Inuyasha grumbled, reclining on his side. "This one's going to be bugging us for a while, and that's the best you can give?"

Curtis just shrugged helplessly.

Sighing as his 'parasites' quieted down, Phibrizzo dismissed Curtis's strange behavior from his mind and focused more on his mother's. Why on this world or the other was she acting like that? he asked himself. And here I thought I was making some headway on figuring out how humans acted around each other... why is she so curious about my past? Doesn't she know that those things are better left private?

Of course, no answers were waiting for him.

/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/

Location: Unknown

Time: Four hours later

All was quiet. Down below, the city's night life went about their business without caring- - -or noticing- - - the winged shape that was flying overhead. It was much too noisy for them to hear it, anyway.

A Pidgeot soared through the skies, racing as fast as it could without dislodging its passenger. Seated on the giant bird's back was the would-be Amazon who had given Phibrizzo a good degree of difficulty, a grin on her face and joy in her heart. "Finally, finally, finally," she whispered to herself. "Five long years... five long years are finally over! Hang onto your hats, Johto, because Aldonza Caretti's coming home! Yeeeeeee-haaa!"

A cry of "Pidg-eeooo!" was all that was left.

/-/-/-/-/-/-/

Chapter Twenty-Two concluded. Chapter Twenty-Three soon to commence