Girl's School

by Miko2

Ranma and Akane attend St. Hebereke's School for Girls. It's a Ranmachan story, yeah, it's been done too many times before, but you know, whatever.

37. Chapter 37

CHAPTER 37

Inside Out

Morning dawned. Ranma stirred in her bed. She opened her eyes, and looked into the face of a sleeping cat girl.

"Gaaaah!" Ranma screamed, leaping out of bed.

"Nyaaa?" The cat girl sat up. She clutched to her chest a stuffed monkey in a suit. "Princess Strawberry, what's wrong?"

"Who are you? What are you doing in my bed?"

"Silly!" the cat girl exclaimed. "I'm Chibi Strawberry, remember? My name is Princess Ragamuffin. You're going to teach me to be a magical girl!"

Ranma's eyes narrowed. "You're a... a cat."

"Nyaaa! That's right! I'm from the Kingdom of Ailouros!"

Ranma's face twitched. "Unfortunately, I'm not too fond of cats," she said.

"Nyaa! "One of the nice things about being a cat is you should always treat people as equals."

"Ah... yeah," Ranma replied.

Akane lifted the curtain that separated her half of the room from Ranma's and stepped through. In her arms she held the white bunny Octava.

"You slept with the rabbit?" Ranma asked.

"You slept with the cat girl," Akane replied.

Ranma glanced back at Princess Ragamuffin. 'I... sorry, but I don't even remember..."

"You were pretty wiped out last night," Akane said.

"You over-extended yourself," the bunny added. "You used up all of your energy protecting the town with your love swirl. By the time we got back last night, you were literally asleep on your feet."

"Really?" Ranma asked. She glanced back at the girl on her bed. "How does that explain Princess Kitty Cat here?"

"Nyaaa! I'm Princess Ragamuffin!"

"She's going to be staying with us a few months," Akane said. "You promised her father that you'd teach her to be a magical girl."

"I did?"

"You did!" Princess Ragamuffin said. "Grand Vizer Don Sphynx called you, and you agreed!"

"Grand Vizer Don Sphynx?" Ranma repeated. "Hmm.. Yeah, I kind of remember that, now. Some guy called... he said their Princess would follow me around and I'd teach her..." Ranma paused and stared at the cat girl. "Crap. I did promise to do that, didn't I?"

"Nyaaa!"

"You made a lot of promises, Shortcake," Octava said. "You girls are going to be busy the next week or so."

"Wonderful," Ranma grumbled. "That's just great."

XXX

At that very moment in another bedroom on the far side of town, a girl named Shiori Watanabe was staring at a picture of Ranma. It was one of Miyuki's promotional photos, showing Ranma dressed as Pretty Angel Strawberry (Shortcake). The photo was embossed with the magical girl team name: The Anything Goes Angels.

Shiori flipped the picture over. The one below it depicted Akane Tendo, aka Pretty Angel Peach. Below that were pictures of the other team members – Pretty Angels Blueberry, Plum, Blackberry, Pineapple, Tangerine, Grape and Black Cherry.

Nine Angels. Shiori consulted her list again. Yes, they could do this.

Mad laughter echoed throughout the household. Moments later her sister Manami poked her head in.

"Was that maniacal laughter I heard?" Manami asked.

"Yes! Yes!" Shiori replied. "The time has come! At last, the time has come!"

Manami stared blankly at her sister. "And what time would that be?"

"The time to make Miyuki Goji pay for all of the injustice she has heaped upon me!"

"Okay," Manami said slowly. "Forgive me if I don't remember, but which one is Miyuki again? The one who stole your future boyfriend?"

"No, that was Hitomi Godai," Shiori said. "You remember, I got my revenge on her last month when I ruined her current relationship."

"Ah, that's right. Then this Miyuki is the one who pushed you into the mud puddle in second grade?"

"No, no, that was Miki Kodama!" said Shiori. "I haven't had the chance to get revenge on her yet. Actually, I'm not even sure where she lives these days..."

"Then perhaps Miyuki was the one who stole all of your crayons in preschool..."

"No no NO! That was Takahiro Chino! He's not even a girl. Anyway, I got my revenge on him last year when I had him convinced that all of the color had drained from the world..."

"Okay, then who is Miyuki Goji?" Manami asked. "Other than your greatest living rival, this week?"

"She is my greatest living rival!" Shiori exclaimed. "When we were in fourth grade she insisted that Maho Shojo Lily Anne should fall in love with Super Buddha Sentai Soldier Green, when obviously it's Super Buddha Sentai Soldier Orange that is best suited for Maho Shojo Lily Anne."

Manami blinked.

"Sis," she said, "Maho Shojo Lily Anne and Super Buddha Sentai Soldiers are two completely different television series."

"Yeah? So? What's your point?"

"You're stressing over an argument that happened when you were in the fourth grade over romantic relationships between characters that never actually had any chance to ever meet each other."

"Oh, no, they did," Shiori replied. "I wrote several fan stories about it. Miyuki wrote a bunch of fan stories too, only hers were full of lies and deceptions wherein Lily Anne falls in love with Soldier Green. She completely wrote Lily Anne out of character in order to force her to do that. It was a travesty! It wounded my very soul! I was scarred for life! Even now, when I close my eyes and envision Lily Anne together with that... that creep Soldier Green... it positively drives me up the wall!"

"Then don't envision it," Manami said. Her sister stared at her, and she added, "Yes, yes, I know, this is you we're talking about – the Queen of weird obsessions and petty jealousies. How could I be so thoughtless as to suggest you just forget a slight from your past?"

"Indeed," Shiori replied. "For a moment there I thought you'd taken leave of your senses. Now, I know it's been six years, but my plan for revenge is only just now beginning to take form. What do you think of this?" Shiori held up her sketchbook for inspection.

"Um... it looks like some sort of costume," Manami said. "Sort of a Catholic nun's habit, crossed with a gothic lolita dress." She handed the sketchbook back. "It's cute, I'll grant you that. But how does this help you exact your revenge?"

Shiori waved a manga in her sister's face. "Have you read this yet? Have you? Have you?"

"I don't think so," Manami said. "What is it?"

"It's a manga written by Miyuki Goji. You see, she's writing about her own magical girl group now, and she even has friends who play the parts!"

"Oh, yes," Manami said. "I think you mentioned something about it yesterday."

"As if Miyuki Goji knows anything about magical girls!" Shiori spat. "She's named them the 'Anything Goes Angels'. Anything Goes! That is so like her, to just assume that you can do whatever you want, that the ends justify the means! You see? She doesn't have a clue!"

"We don't believe that anything goes, I take it."

"Sis, as school hall monitor, I would hope that you know my position on this topic already."

"Oh, yes," Manami said. "We must always obey the rules, mustn't we?"

"Exactly!" Shiori said. "Now, I've taken the liberty of enlisting you and seven of our other friends in my plan to thwart Miyuki..."

"We have seven friends?"

"Ha ha. Very funny."

"After that last time when you recruited everyone to stage a mock alien abduction, I distinctly recall Hama and Aoi saying they would never go along with another of your hair-brained schemes..."

"Hair-brained? Hair-brained? We had Yuki Minamoto absolutely convinced that she was on a flying saucer... well, at least until that cow got loose and started trashing the whole set..."

"My point exactly. In the end, it was a monumental disaster."

"But Yuki learned her lesson!"

"Indeed. She learned to never question whose turn it was to clean the classroom..."

"All she had to do was consult the chart! I made it for a reason!"

"Anyway," Shiori said, 'this time is going to be different. This time, there won't be any livestock to get loose and mess things up."

"How reassuring."

The doorbell rang.

"Who could that be this early in the morning?" Manami said, half to herself.

"Oh, I told the others to show up here early," Shiori said. "I want to set my plan in motion as quickly as possible.:

"And they agreed?"

"I bribed them with breakfast."

"How clever."

"It's time for Operation: Holy Loli Puritan Sisters of Strict Orthodoxy," Shiori declared.

"Which means... what? We have to dress in those outfits?"

"Exactly. The costumes are already made and waiting downstairs. You'll participate, of course, won't you?"

Manami sighed. "Of course," she said. "What are sisters for?"

XXX

Ranma squared off against Akane in the back yard. Ranma was dressed in her Chinese silks, Akane in her yellow gi. Ragamuffin watched nearby with rapt attention. The two girls flew back and forth, bouncing off walls and the rooftop. With her dark mass of tight ringlet curls, Akane was like a Greek goddess of war, while Ranma, with her waist-length curls of red was an Irish war goddess - albeit one who wore large, round glasses.

"If we're going to be involved in battles like the one against Licorice Swirl and her licorice serpents, then I need to find a way to accelerate your training," Ranma said. "You need to get up to speed asap!"

"I am getting better!" Akane replied.

"Yeah," Ranma said., "but you need to be even better. You need to improve your chi attack, for starters."

Ranma lunged forward. "Tenshin Amaguriken!" she yelled, her fists becoming a blur. Akane's hands moved nearly as quickly, blocking most, but not quite all, of Ranma's attacks.

Akane fell back, wincing. Even with her enhanced healing, she was going to be feeling the bruises for a couple of hours.

"Not good enough!" Ranma growled. "At least ten blows got through!"

"Out of three hundred," Akane muttered.

"Ten is ten too many!" Ranma shot back. "Work harder!"

Akane nodded. "Hai, Sensei."

Ranma launched into a series of lightning-fast attacks. The two girls bounced all over the back yard, with Akane always on the defensive. Still, anyone who had known them from their days at Furinkhan would easily see how much Akane had recently improved.

After fifteen minutes Ranma broke off the attack. Akane was breathing heavily. "Not bad," Ranma said. "Not good enough, but not bad."

"Nyaa! That was so cool!" Princess Ragamuffin jumped up and down. "Can I learn? Can I learn? Teach me!"

Ranma glanced over to the cat girl, and noticed she was wearing a black silk gi. "Where did you get that?" Ranma asked.

"In Aqua!" the cat girl replied.

Ranma looked about. "Uh.. Aqua? Where's that?"

"Nyaa!" the cat girl meowed. "It's my pocket dimension! Daddy bought it for me!"

Ranma blinked in confusion. "You have a dimension in your pocket?"

"No, silly! I'll show it to you later, okay?"

"Okay then," Ranma said, turning back to Akane. "Right now is when I train Akane, but later I'll show you some katas and you can work on them tomorrow morning while Akane and I are sparring."

"Yay!"

Ranma and Akane sparred for another fifteen minutes before Mrs. Saotome called them in for breakfast.

"Ranma, dear," Ranma's mother said as they ate their meal. "I understand that this young lady... Miss..."

"Princess Ragamuffin," Akane supplied.

"...That Princess Ragamuffin here will be staying with us for a while?" Mrs. Saotome concluded.

"I… ah… guess so," Ranma said.

"Nyaa!" Ragamuffin purred.

"Forgive me, dear," Mrs. Saotome said, "but – is it just me, or are you very catlike?"

"Nyaa! Princess Ragamuffin is a cat girl!"

'She's... ah... a foreign exchange student," Ranma said.

"I see. And I understand you've agreed to host this young exchange student?"

"Sort of," Ranma said.

"Daughter, do you think it was wise to agree to such an offer? We don't really have the room."

"Well," Ranma said, "I sort of agreed to it without thinking. I guess she can sleep with me – she did last night anyway." Ranma gave an involuntary shudder – she wasn't completely cured of her fear of cats. "Maybe we can squeeze in a cat bed, or something. Anyway, I'm supposed to train her to be a magical girl."

"As a magical girl?" Nodoka Saotome gave her daughter a penetrating look.

"You know," Ranma said. "It's part of Miyuki's thing. Part of the club."

"Ah. The school club? Well, that's good then," said Nodoka. "Socializing is, after all, an important part of the school experience. But you really should be more careful with your promises."

"Yeah, I know," Ranma said. "I kind of agreed to a lot of things. I thought it was a joke."

"Indeed?" Mrs. Saotome said. "Well, we all must live with our decisions, and I hope you are up to the task. But you must remember that your studies come first."

Ranma's mother took a bite of food before turning to Akane.

"Now, Akane, dear, I wanted to talk to you about your new pet bunny..."

"Ah... sorry, Ma'am..."

"Call me Mother, Dear. You are my daughter now."

"Sorry, Mother. It. . just sort of happened. We found him, I mean. He won't be any trouble, I promise..."

XXX

So began another school day. Ranma and Akane walked to school. It was only Wednesday, but they felt as if Tuesday had happened weeks ago. In one sense, they were partly right – three days had passed for them between Tuesday and Wednesday. It helped not to think about it too hard. Everything else had returned to normal, aside from a cat girl sidekick, a talking bunny, and new bracelets that allowed them to transform into their magical girl alter-egos at a moment's notice.

Princess Ragamuffin wore a second-hand school uniform. Technically she was too young to be attending high school, but then again, technically cat girls didn't exist. Ranma was hoping that the larger second issue would allow them to conveniently ignore the first.

Miyuki was waiting at the front gates of the school with a lunch for Ranma, as usual. Her two cohorts, Tomari and Sachiko, were at her side. Miyuki had dark circles under her eyes.

"Good morning, Ranma-sempai," she exclaimed with far less energy than normal. She held out the bento box. "Good morning, Akane-sempai. Good morning, Princess Ragamuffin. How are you this fine morning?"

"We're fine," Akane said. "You don't look so good though."

"I stayed up all night watching Nabiki's video footage," Miyuki replied. "So cool! But I didn't sleep at all."

"You stayed up all night?" Akane asked.

"It was even worse than that," Miyuki replied. "Technically, after you girls left on your adventure, Tomari and I worked all evening at my house making our outfits, then Princess Ragamuffin showed up, then we spent more time designing her outfit, then we traveled to Rocky Road, only to return after thirty minutes, but we returned an hour after you guys left. So Tomari and I had to hide out at her house all evening so that we wouldn't run into the two of us that were at my house designing our outfits!"

"Time travel can be tricky," Tomari added.

"Here, Octava," Miyuki added, holding out a second bento. "I made a lunch for you, too!"

"Sweeto!" the bunny exclaimed. "Thank you Miyuki! But how did you know I liked to eat?"

"Well, duh," said Miyuki. "What magical girl mascot doesn't like food? You're the animal sidekick; you're supposed to have a voracious appetite."

"You said it!" the bunny exclaimed. "That's me exactly! So when do we eat?"

"Not until lunch," Akane said eyes narrowing. "Anyway, you just ate."

"Yeah, but I'm hungry again!"

"Are you sure you're not related to Ranma somehow?" Akane asked.

"So," Miyuki said, "When do I get my transformation bracelet? And my special attack?"

"Hey, I'm working on it, I'm working on it!" the bunny said. "Gimme some time!"

"You were going to give someone a freezing attack," Akane said.

"Yeah, I know," said Octava. "I haven't forgotten."

"Good morning, Ranma, Akane," Ukyo called out. With her was Nabiki.

"Morning Sis, morning Saotome," Nabiki said. "Morning, Miss Goji, Miss Honda, Miss Nakayama, and Miss... Ragamuffin, was it?"

"Nyaa!"

"And Octava, of course," Nabiki concluded.

"Ranma!" Shampoo embraced Ranma enthusiastically. The purple-haired Amazon had agreed that Ranma was "hands off" until high school graduation, and that all talk of their engagement was shelved until then, but for Shampoo this merely meant that she could not call Ranma "Airen" and that she must embrace him with somewhat less energy than previously.

"Shortcake? Guys?" Octava said. "Stay frosty. I'm sensing trouble."

"What?" Tomari said. "Your bunny sense is tingling?"

"Ha ha. Very funny," Octava replied. "No, I've just got this funny feeling..."

"Halt right there, magical girl evildoers! Prepare to be punished for your lawless ways!"

Nine girls stood in the street shoulder to shoulder, lined up like cheerleaders in a photo shoot. They were dressed in modified nun habits, the main difference being that the tunic had an oversized, Gothic Lolita look, complete with a short skirt held out by ruffles of white petticoats. Otherwise the tunics had the long sleeves and the coif and bandeau headgear and the white guimpe bib common to the Dominican Order of Catholic nuns. The exposed boots were black leather and had a stylized combat boot look.

Oversized silver crucifixes completed the look. It was an odd mixture of severe no-nonsense nun and cute, sexy Loligoth girl. The effect was somewhat spoiled by one of the girls, who stood on the far right smoking a cigarette with a bored expression.

"We stand for law and order!" the girl in the center of the group yelled. "There have to be rules and regulations to make sure everything is done fairly and by the book! We are the Holy Loli Puritan Sisters of Strict Orthodoxy, and we are violently opposed to everything the Anything Goes Angels stand for and believe in!"

"Good grief," Nabiki said. "Is this for real?"

"I'm hoping this is some horrible joke," Akane muttered.

"Never heard of you," Miyuki said dismissively. "But if you ask me, the very idea sounds stupid."

"Shut your face, Miyuki Goji!" the apparent leader said. "That's slander! Slander! I'll be filing a petition!"

Miyuki crossed her arms. "Oh yeah? With who?"

"The International Magical Girls Oversight Committee!" the girl replied.

Miyuki laughed. "Fine," she said, "do that, if you want. Good luck with that."

"You know there is such a Committee," Octava said in a low voice.

"There is?" Miyuki asked.

"Yes, there is," the bunny said. "But don't worry, I'm pretty sure these girls haven't actually heard of it, or know where it is. In any case, the committee is the most worthless organization ever conceived. They never actually do anything."

"My name is Sister Asparagus!" the lead girl yelled. "These my allies are Sisters Zucchini, Artichoke, Butternut Squash, Cucumber, Onion, Leek, Scallion and Cabbage!"

On closer inspection, each girl did have a small decal placed over their heart depicting which vegetable they were named after.

"We have come to expose for all to see the evil of your ways," Sister Asparagus continued. "Prepare yourselves! Reflect on your sins and repent!"

"This is getting more stupid by the minute," Ranma muttered.

"Don't worry," Nabiki said. "It can't possibly get much stupider than this."

"I haven't committed any sins, you stupid cow!" Miyuki yelled back. "And the Anything Goes Angels can kick your stupid loli nun butts any day of the week!"

"Oooh!" Sister Asparagus said. "That's another sin in a long list that you've committed! You will pay for that!"

"Wait a second," Miyuki suddenly exclaimed. "Do I know you?"

Peals of maniacal laughter echoed down the street. "Why, Miyuki Goji, I'm surprised it took you so long! Yes, it is I, your bitter rival, Shiori Watanabe!"

Miyuki blinked. "Shiori... Shiori..." she said. "Are you sure I know you?"

"Yes I'm sure! We attended fourth grade together! You wrote all of those pathetic fan stories that paired up Maho Shojo Lily Anne with Super Buddha Sentai Soldier Green..."

Miyuki snapped her fingers. "Oh my God! I remember you now! You were that insane fan girl with the Soldier Orange complex!"

"Shut your mouth!" Shiori yelled. "You were the insane fan girl! You and your Soldier Green fetish!"

"I stand corrected," Nabiki said. "Just when you think the stupidity has reached its zenith.. It grows even more insipid..."

"Shiori?" Miyuki said. "Geez what gives? Showing up here with your friends dressed like loli nun magical girl wannabes?"

"Shut your mouth!" Shiori said. "We aren't wannabes, we're a real magical girl team!"

"You don't even attend a Catholic school," Miyuki said. "The whole thing is complete stupid."

"You're just jealous! You're the one who's attending St. Hebereke, and yet you couldn't even think up these cool nun-style costumes!"

"Because they're stupid."

"No they aren't!" Shiori yelled. "And instead you promiscuously name your team 'Anything Goes' as if anything does go. But it doesn't!"

"Huh?" Miyuki looked confused. "Shiori, you're not even making sense."

"I don't need to make sense!" Shiori yelled.

"Does our name seem promiscuous to you?" Akane asked Ranma.

"First I've heard of it."

Shiori, aka Sister Asparagus, laughed merrily. "As you see, little girl, I have assembled my own magical girl team, to mirror and oppose yours... nine girls, each the opposite of one of your team members..."

"That's nice," Miyuki said, "but our team has thirteen members now."

"What?" Shiori exclaimed. "No fair! You didn't warn me that you were adding more members!"

"Sorry," Miyuki said. "I didn't know I was supposed to warn you."

"But how can we oppose you if we don't match up?" Shiori asked.

Miyuki shrugged. "I'd say that's your problem, not mine."

"But I don't even have thirteen friends!" Shiori wailed.

"I'm not surprised," Miyuki said. "And, again, your problem, you stupid cow."

"Shut your mouth!" Shiori yelled. "I didn't come here to be insulted!"

"Oh?" Miyuki replied. "Where do you usually go to be insulted?"

"That's it!" Sister Asparagus growled. "Your pathetic magical girl team is about to go down!"

"You want a fight, you got it," Miyuki replied.

"Yay!" Princess Ragamuffin cheered. "Nyaa! Magical girl fight!"

"Miyuki yelled, "Strawberry! Do your thing! Kick their butts!"

"Sorry, Miyuki," Ranma said. "No fighting during school, or on school grounds. That includes five minutes before the start of class."

"What?" Miyuki exclaimed.

Ranma shrugged. "Sorry. I made a promise to my mother."

"Aw!" Princess Ragamuffin said, crestfallen.

Sister Asparagus laughed. "Just as I suspected!" she exclaimed. "You guys talk big, but when it comes to an actual fight, you're all cowards. As always, the so-called rebels that claim to break all of the rules wimp out!"

Ranma narrowed her eyes. "With all your talk of obeying rules and doing things by the book, I'm surprised that you girls want to start a fight just before school, right in front of our school."

"Shut up!" Shiori yelled.

"Ranma's right," Miyuki said. "I mean, aren't you girls late for your own school? Nice way to demonstrate your so-called adherence to rules and regulations there."

"Shut up!" Shiori yelled. "As if you know anything about it! Unlike you, I enforce real actual authority every day. I am a school hallway monitor!"

"And?" Miyuki asked.

"And? You are not!" Shiori replied.

"What you also demonstrate," Miyuki said, "is a profound lack of understanding of what it means to be a magical girl. It's not about rules and regulations, it's about doing what you know in your heart is right, regardless of the consequences. It's about truth and justice and confronting villainy and crimes of the heart. Justice strikes swift and without mercy. Justice kicks evil's ass and doesn't bother to ask questions! You can't regulate love, it can't be contained by your rules, it can not be held down or held back by laws, it must be allowed to flow free and unfettered!"

"Wow, Miyuki," Tomari said. "That was almost inspiring. Almost."

"Never!" Shiori yelled. "Your way leads to chaos and disorder!"

"And the dark side?" Tomari suggested.

"Yes!"

"Yeah, okay," Ranma said, "I'm done here. School's about to start..."

The sky grew suddenly dark. With a clap of thunder and a blast of dry heat the air literally split in two. For a brief moment there was a rip in reality. The girls got a brief glimpse into another realm filled with fire, black smoke, and molten lava, and then a demon stepped through. The tear in space slammed shut behind it.

It had four arms and black, scaly skin. Its lower half was covered in wiry blue-black fur, save for the feet which were like those of a bird of prey. The head was vaguely wolf-like, but with multiple rows of teeth like a shark, multi-faceted buglike eyes and a spiky crown of horns sprouting from its head.

The monstrosity pointed a clawed finger at Ranma. "Angel Strawberry Shortcake!" it bellowed, with a voice that would sound quite at home on a death metal record. "Prepare to meet your doom!"

"Geez," Ranma swore. "Again? Can't I just attend school like a normal guy and deal with this later?"

The demon paused, looking confused. "A normal... guy?"

"Girl. Whatever," Ranma said. "Pretty Angel Strawberry Shortcake Transform!"

The demon extended a hand, and a sword of blazing fire appeared in it. In the same motion it swung the sword the weapon, slicing through the air where Ranma had been standing. But Ranma was already spinning about in the air, transforming into her magical girl outfit.

"Pretty Angel Peach Transform!" Akane yelled.

"Pretty Angel Plum Transform!"

"Pretty Angel Blueberry Transform!"

"Pretty Angel Tangerine Transform!"

"Pretty Angel Lime Transform!"

Multiple transformations later, six of the Anything Goes Angels confronted the demon. Meanwhile, the Holy Loli Puritan Sisters of Strict Orthodoxy had scattered, leaving their leader Sister Asparagus standing on the sidewalk, petrified. A stream of liquid ran down her legs and pooled on the pavement at her feet.

With a backhanded swipe, the creature swung its sword again. "Pretty Angel Tangerine Smoothie Firesword!" Sachiko called out. Her flaming sword blocked the demon's much larger weapon. Sachiko skidded several feet, but her block held.

The creature reared its head back and belched a sticky black tar. Ranma sensed the attack coming at the last moment and yelled, "Pretty Angel Strawberry Shortcake Love Swirl!" Her protective shield appeared just in time to deflect most of the strange sticky substance. Some of it landed on Sachiko's arm. There was a sizzling sound and she screamed, dropping her sword.

"Pretty Angel Lime Sour Mystical Healing!" Nabiki yelled out. Sachiko was surrounded by a green, healing glow.

"Crap!" Ranma growled. "Octava, do you think you could maybe shorten these activation phrases a little? They're going to get us killed one day!"

'Sorry," the bunny said. "It comes with the territory. Nothing I can do about it."

"Pretty Angel Peach Cobbler Thunderbolt!" Akane yelled out, summoning bolts of lighting. These seemed to momentarily stun the demon.

"Pretty Angel Plum Sexy Bomber!" Shampoo yelled, palms outward.

"Pretty Angel Blueberry Pancake Coquettish Bomber!" Ukyo yelled, swinging her spatula.

The twin energy attacks slammed into the demonic creature. Akane summoned another round of lightning, and Ranma followed with a massive chi blast. The demon stumbled backwards. Leaping high, Sachiko brought her sword down, cleaving the demon in two.

It screamed, and then burst into fire and smoke. In a moment it was completely gone.

Miyuki glared at Shiori Watanabe, still frozen with terror. "Tha... tha... tha... demon..." Shiori said.

"Yes, that was a demon," Miyuki said. "We are a magical girl group. A real one. Now, if you don't mind, we've got school to attend to..."

XXX

As Ranma and Akane took their seats before first period, Octava said in a low voice, "Be careful of those girls."

"What?" Ranma replied. "Little Nun By the Book and her eight clowns? They're a joke. They don't even know how to fight."

"yes," the bunny said, "but they're set on becoming your group's nemesis. Just as your attempt to become magical girls brought you to the attention of me and my agency, they are likely to attract the attention of a rival organization."

"Rival organization?" Akane asked. "Such things exist?"

"Oh, yes," the bunny said, "and they can grant those girls the power and ability to be more than just a nuisance."

"Good morning, children!" the teacher called out. "Ranma Saotome, I understand you have a guest? Would you like to introduce her?"

Ranma glanced to the perky cat girl seated next to her. "This is Pri… um, Miss, ah, Neko Ragamuffin. She's a cat gir… I mean, she comes from the King… er, the country of Ailouros. It's a long ways away. She's staying with Akane and I for a few weeks…."

"Nyaa!" Ragamuffin exclaimed. "Hello everyone!"

"Well," the teacher said, "welcome to our school, Miss Ragamuffin. My but that's an interesting name! Let's everyone give our guest a warm St. Hebereke welcome!" The teacher paused to glance about the room, then added, "And now, I do hope you've all been studying for today's test..."

"Crap," Ranma muttered, sliding lower in her seat. "Who's got time to study?"

XXX

Lunchtime came, and the usual suspects gathered at the usual spot in the lunch room. Outside it was overcast with gray skies like sheet steel and the crisp, cool air that signifies that it could possibly snow. The girls set their lunches out on the table like chess masters arranging a game board.

Everyone was here today. Ranma was gathered with Akane, Ukyo, Shampoo, Octava and Ragamuffin. Miyuki was there with her two friends Tomari and Sachiko. Kaida and her friends Rin and Akela were there, along with Nabiki, and the supposed outsiders Kohana and Yoriko were also present. Even Konatsu, disguised as a St. Hebereke schoolgirl, was there.

The group had much to discuss.

"Well, yesterday mostly sucked," Miyuki said. She was looking slightly better, having slept through all of her morning classes.

"What are you talking about?" Nabiki replied. "We befriended a talking rabbit, traveled to another world, stayed there three days, got some nifty powers, rescued a Prince, defeated a witch, got a nifty magical reward, and we still got back in time for dinner. We even befriended a cat girl into the bargain."

"Nyaa!" Ragamuffin exclaimed happily.

"Yes, our magical girl team has been a huge success," said Miyuki. "But I didn't get to do any of it!"

"What happened to the video I took?" Nabiki asked. "You got to see it, at least."

"Oh, the video turned out fantastic," Miyuki said. "I'm still trying to decide how to use it. But that's just the point – you guys got to do all of the cool stuff, and I get to watch a video of it! The fight with the dragon and the witch was cool and all, but I was only there for the last five minutes! No sooner had we arrived when we had to come back!"

"We were there for three days!" Ukyo exclaimed.

"Hey, at least you got to see us defeat a demon this morning," Ranma said. "Oh, and we met your mortal enemy and her evil magical girl team, whatever they were supposed to be."

"That part was certainly cool, I'll admit that!" Miyuki exclaimed. "The demon, I mean. Shiori's magical nun team was completely and utterly lame."

"Akela, Yoriko and I missed out on that," Kohana said. "I guess we need to shadow you everywhere."

"I would have called you, but it happened too quickly," Ranma said.

"The earring radios wouldn't have worked anyway," Kohana said, "since they only appear when we're in costume. That's a bit of a flaw, I think."

"When do Tomari, Ragamuffin and I get those things?" Miyuki asked. She stared pointedly at the white rabbit, who was busy devouring the bento lunch she'd brought for him.

"I'm working on it," Octava said. "Gimme some time."

"Okay, but hurry! I want to be able to transform!"

"Yay! Transform!" Princess Ragamuffin exclaimed.

"So Princess Ragamuffin is part of the team too?" Kohana asked.

'Of course," Miyuki said. "Ranma's training her to be a magical girl, so it's only natural she join."

"Nyaa!" the cat girl exclaimed. "The great thing about being a magical girl is everybody should fight for truth and justice!"

"How cute," Nabiki said.

"Isn't she?" Miyuki replied. "Her team name is Chibi Strawberry, by the way."

"What?" Ranma asked. "No it isn't! I mean… that's not a very good name."

"Indeed," Nabiki agreed. "After all, the correct name would be Chibi Strawberry Shortcake."

"No!" Ranma exclaimed. "She needs her own name!"

"Oh, come on now Ranma," Miyuki said. "It's a natural. It's like, you're teaching her to be just like you, right? You're her idol. She's the junior member of the team – really almost our mascot, in a sense – and so it's only appropriate to dress her in the junior version of your own costume. It's like Superman and Super Boy, or Devil Hunter Yohko and Junior Devil Hunter Asuka..."

"Or like Sailor Moon and Chibi Moon," Nabiki said.

"Well, yeah, obviously," Miyuki replied. "So Chibi Strawberry Shortcake it is."

"Yay!" the cat girl exclaimed. Ranma groaned.

"Plus, we did get this cool magic ice cream container," Miyuki added, producing it along with the special ice cream scoop. "I tried it last night, and it works perfectly. Who wants some ice cream?"

Everyone chimed in at once, eager to test the magical toy out. Miyuki produced several bowls and took requests. No matter what flavor of ice cream the girls asked for, the scoop and tub produced that flavor. Ragamuffin didn't seem to understand what was going on, and Ranma, deciding for her, asked for two scoops of strawberry.

"What's this?" Ragamuffin asked.

"This," Ranma said, "Is called ice cream. It's the single best food in the entire world. Well, aside from sukiyaki, and hamburgers, and pizza, and homemade miso soup, and… well, anyway. This is the perfect food for a magical girl to eat."

The cat girl sniffed it. "Better than mice?" she asked.

"Much better than mice," Ranma said.

"It must be delicious then!" Princess Ragamuffin exclaimed. She took a big bite. She swallowed. "Brrr! It's cold!"

"Yes," Miyuki said. "You need to be careful. If you eat it too fast you can get a headache."

"It's sweet!" Ragamuffin said.

"Yes, it is," said Akane.

"It's… it's really really good!" the cat girl exclaimed. "I love it!"

"Me too," Ranma said with a smile. The other girls chimed in with their agreement.

"The best thing about ice cream," said Ragamuffin suddenly, "is that magical girls should always be cute."

"Uh…" Ranma said. "Yeah."

The cat girl touched some to the mouth of her stuffed monkey. "Nyaa! Even Mr. Scree likes it!"

"Sukiyaki sounds good though," Miyuki suddenly said. "I think I'll have some delivered to our meeting this afternoon. You know, to celebrate our first successful adventure. Even if I wasn't allowed to be a part of it."

"Are we doing the travel to another world thing again?" Kohana asked.

"Possibly," Miyuki said. "We know we've agreed to help at least two other clients, so be prepared for anything."

"Well," Ukyo said, "as long as we get back in an hour or two. Some of us have a restaurant to run."

"What's that, Mr. Scree?" Princess Ragamuffin asked. Suddenly she leaped to her feet. "Yaa! Mr. Scree is right! Miss Strawberry, I was going to show you Aqua!"

"Oh, that's..." Ranma began. At the same moment, the cat girl grabbed Ranma's hand in hers. The ring on Ragamuffin's finger flashed... and suddenly they were somewhere else.

XXX

A few miles away at the Yamano Girl's Academy, another group of girls were gathered together for lunch. These included Shiori Watanabe and her older sister Manami Watanabe (Sister Asparagus and Sister Zucchini), Shori's best friends Aoi Yamamoto (Sister Butternut Squash) and Hama Fujiwara (Sister Artichoke), Manami's friend Kahoru Ochi (Sister Cucumber), their cousin Tooka Miyagi (Sister Cabbage) and the twins from down the street, Kemi and Remi Maeda (Sisters Onion and Leek). In addition a foreign friend of Tooka's, a tall, blonde-haired girl named Mary Kieran (also a known street fighter), had been added to their group. Shiori had christened her Sister Brussel Sprout.

Missing was Naoko Fujiwara, aka Sister Scallion, a cousin of Hama's who did not really like Shiori and, after the morning's debacle, had promptly quit the group.

The mood was somber, like that of stockholders the day after a market crash.

Not all of the girls were used to eating together. In particular, Kemi and Remi were not generally included in Shiori's social circle and her cousin Tooka usually avoided Shiori and Manami altogether. Shiori had had some difficulty talking them all into helping her with her strange plan, but the twins happened to be magical girl fans and Tooka had succumbed to a great deal of begging and pleading and outright bribery. Tooka was a key figure in Shiori's plans. As a juvenile delinquent, Tooka was one of the only members of the group with practical fighting experience.

"All things considered," Shiori said, "I think it went rather well."

"Are you nuts?" Aoi asked. "They kicked our asses."

"No they didn't," Shiori replied. "They kicked a demon's ass. They didn't kick our asses at all, on account of they refused to even fight us."

"They would have kicked our asses, though," her sister Manami said. "At least, if they had fought us for real. Let's face it, they're real magical girls. We're just wannabe's.

Tooka took a long puff on her cigarette and blew out a stream of smoke. Shiori wasn't sure how she got away with doing that right out in the open during lunch. Perhaps the teachers were too frightened to discipline her. "We looked like morons," Tooka said.

"Nonsense," Shiori replied. ""We announced our presence and alerted them to the fact that we were ready to counter their every move."

"Plus, we looked like morons," Tooka added.

"Yeah," Kahoru added. "I'm sure they're quaking in their boots right now, frightened of what we might do next."

"They summoned a demon!" Hama exclaimed. Hama was hardly the bravest girl in the group, nor one likely to ever look on the bright side of anything. "If we try that again we're going to die! That demon will eat us!"

"They did not summon a demon," Shiori said. 'It summoned itself. You'll notice it attacked them, not us."

"Who cares who summoned it? I don't want to be devoured by a demon!"

"You're not going to get devoured, Hana," Shiori said. "In the meantime, we served notice of our intentions. We showed them that we're ready and willing to tangle with them anytime anywhere."

"How?" Tooka asked. "By running away?"

Shiori frowned. "I do admit, I was disappointed in you girls a bit there…."

"Hey," Tooka said. "Earth to Shiori! Big clue: a freakin' eight foot tall demon appeared out of thin air right in front of us!"

"Yeah," said Aoi. "I mean, it had massive horns and cloven hooves and everything! It breathed fire! The whole bit!"

"Really?" Mary asked. "I think I'd run away too.'

"No kidding," Kahoru said. "What were we supposed to do, invite it over for tea and biscuits?"

"Actually," Shiori said, "the feet were more like raptor talons, not cloven hooves, and it didn't breath fire it was some sort of stick black substance. Incredibly corrosive by all appearances. I mean, it nearly burned that katana girl's arm right off or something. See what you miss when you don't pay attention?"

Tooka blew out a stream of smoke. "You're totally missing the point here, Shiori."

"Look," Mary said. "I don't mind dressing up as a magical girl – actually it sounds like a lot of fun – but I know some of these girls. They're way out of our league."

"Yeah," Tooka said. "Even without the magical girl attacks, these are some of the nastiest martial artists in the whole city. Maybe the country. You do realize that, don't you?"

"Miyuki's nothing," Shiori began.

"I ain't talkin' 'bout Miyuki," Tooka said. "That red-haired girl? She's a topnotch martial artist. She trained in China, and she's fought virtually every martial artist with an ounce of skill in Tokyo. Martial artists come from China regularly to fight her. And the dark-haired girl with her? She's really good too. She used to beat up half the boys in her school before class every morning."

"Oh, come on," Shiori said. "I'm sure she's a good fighter, but let's not get carried away."

"It's true!" Mary said. "I've seen them fight, and trust me, they're scary good. That's not all, either. The girl with the spatula is really, really good, and I've heard that her friend is a ninja. Also, the purple-haired girl comes from a Chinese tribe of martial artist Amazon women."

"Now I know you're making things up," Shiori said.

"No, it's all true," Mary insisted. "You don't know. They like, destroy a neighborhood practically every week. With their fists."

"They fight demons and gods on a regular basis," Tooka said.

"They know every obscure martial arts style known to man," Mary added.

"You two know how to fight," Shiori replied.

"Me?" Tooka said. "I'm a talented street fighter. I know some boxing and judo and dirty tricks, but that's it. Mary's a bit better than me, but there's no way we're in the same league as half those girls. Even the Hawaiian girl is pretty good, and the one with the katana is supposed to be a top notch student of some special school..."

"What about Remi and Kemi?" Shiori asked. "They're experts in that weird martial arts gymnast thing."

"Martial Arts Rhythmic Gymnastics," Remi said.

"We can't hold a candle to Kodachi Kuno," Kemi added. She's from St. Hebereke too, you know. And by the way, only one person has ever defeated Kodachi – and it was that red-haired girl, Ranma. We're no match for her, even on a good day."

"Are you girls giving up then?" Shiori asked, exasperated. "Already? We haven't even been together for a whole day!"

"Well," Aoi said, "you never said anything about demons..."

"How do we deal with demons anyway?" Kahoru asked. "Is it in the rule book?"

"Not that I'm aware of," Aoi replied.

"Isn't it?" Manami asked. "I know there's a section on creatures from the Negaverse... but I guess that doesn't quite cover it..."

"Running away isn't in there either," said Aoi. "But that didn't stop us."

"Oh, but it is," Shiori said. "Under emergency procedures, what to do in case of overwhelming odds. I tried to think of everything."

Manami brightened. "Oh yeah, that's right. I forgot about that."

Aoi smirked. "An eight-foot tall fiend from the pits of hell probably qualifies as an emergency."

"Probably?" Tooka asked. "I don't think there's any doubt."

"Anyway," said Shiori, "I obviously need to update the book and amend the rules. There are some things I clearly didn't anticipate. I mean," she added, "if there's going to be a next time."

"I don't see how," Mary said. "From everything you've told me, your plan was dead in the water even before you add in their special magical girl powers..."

Shiori sighed. "I... I guess you guys are right. Damn it! It's just not fair!"

With a soft "pop" and a puff of gray smoke, a small kitten, as black as tar, appeared on the grass before them.

"I can help you with that," the kitten said.

As one, the girls stared at the little kitten, blinking in shock.

XXX

Warm air hit Ranma in the face; it was like walking into a wall. The crash of surf and the cry of seagulls echoed in the distance. The air had the tang of sea salt. Bright sunlight warmed her skin, and palm trees swayed. A light breeze tousled her waist-length mass of red curls.

Ranma and Ragamuffin stood on the marble deck of some sort of seaside resort. To their left was a Mediterranean villa of sorts, with white stucco walls and red clay tiled roof. To the right the deck overlooked a cliff leading down to the sea.

"Where are we?" Ranma asked. 'Where did the school go?"

"Nyaa!" Ragamuffin said. "This is Aqua!"

"Aqua?"

"It's a Haven," Ragamuffin said. "That's what Don Sphynx calls it. It's a kind of pocket dimension."

Ranma looked about. She could see ocean in every direction.

"It looks like an island," she said.

"It is, it is!" the cat girl said. "The best thing about an island is that I love to eat fish!"

They walked to the building. Large sliding glass doors led into a wide-open kitchen/dining/living room area. The kitchen counter tops were tiled stone, as was the floor. A white spiral staircase led upstairs.

"Are we in the South Pacific then?" Ranma asked.

"No, no, weren't you listening?" Ragamuffin replied. "It's a pocket dimension. It's a world all by itself. It's, like, my own private universe, sorta. I mean, really it's Fatima's place, but I can come here any time I want."

Ragamuffin led Ranma upstairs. There were several bedrooms, a restroom, and an upper deck. On the main floor was a bathroom with a very large Jacuzzi tub. It wasn't exactly Japanese style, but it looked inviting, and big enough to accommodate six or more at once.

The living room was large, with a central fireplace. It contained comfortable chairs and a pillow-filled sunken pit. One door led to something Ragamuffin called a "fall-in closet". 'It's like a walk-in closet, but deeper," she said. "It's, like, an extra-dimensional space. That's what Fatima says. I don't know how far back it goes, but there's more clothes in there than you can imagine."

Stairs led down to a basement with a pantry, wine cellar and three storage rooms.

"Nice place," Ranma said as they climbed the stairs to the ground floor.

"I like it," Ragamuffin said. "It really isn't all that big – just the island and a few miles of ocean, that's all there is. But it's fun to come here and hang out."

"But we should probably be heading back," Ranma said. "Everyone else is going to wonder what we're up to."

The cat girl shook her head. "No," she said. "Inside here is outside of time."

"Inside is outside... what?"

"We can stay here as long as we want," Ragamuffin said, "and no time will have passed when we return."

"Really? Like when we traveled to Rocky Road?" Ranma asked. "We were there three days, but we got back just a few hours after we left."

"Not 'zactly like that," Princess Ragamuffin said. "That was a time difference – that happens between dimensions, you know. Ojos Azules says dimension travel causes time problems – time is malleable. That's what he says. But time doesn't move here, because we're outside of time. And if we're outside of time, that means that time shouldn't move."

The cat girl smiled at her own logic, and added, "Daddy says I shouldn't spend too much time here, though. Like, I can't spend more than a week here before going back for a day or so. If I spent a whole month here, it would be bad, or something. I'm not sure why though."

Ranma had noticed a few strange things about the place. As they stepped back outside, she could feel a tingling on her skin. It was constant, as if the air were charged with electricity. Also, there was something slightly unreal about the sky and the sea. It was like a digitally enhanced photograph with over-saturated colors. Everything looked too bright and picture-perfect to be real.

Ranma glanced at a lavender rose bush and noticed something else. "Ragamuffin," Ranma said, "why are the bees purple?"

"Fatima likes that color," the girl replied. "The seagulls are purple too, and so are a lot of the fish in the sea."

"You said that name before," Ranma replied. "Who's Fatima?"

They rounded a corner of the house. There, in front of them, was a pool of crystal blue water. Beside it there was a woman sunbathing on a wood chaise lounge. She wore sunglasses and a very tiny thong bikini, with no top. She had an iced drink in one hand. "Oh, hello, Ragamuffin!" she said when she saw them. "Who is your friend?"

"This is Magical Princess Angel Strawberry!" Ragamuffin exclaimed. "Although her real name is Ranma Saotome." She turned to Ranma. "This is Fatima. She's a genie. She owns this place."

Ranma bowed. "Pleased to meet you, Miss Fatima," she said. She blinked, and added, "Wait a second. Did you say she's a genie?"

"That's right," Fatima replied. She stared at Ranma a moment. "Hmmm. That's a Jusenkyo curse, isn't it?"

Ranma's eyes expanded. "How can you tell that?"

"I am a creature of magic, Darling," the woman said. "Genie, remember? I know magic when I see it. So... a girl who was a boy, and is now a magical girl? And has a cat fist curse into the bargain, although it's been weakened somewhat."

Princess Ragamuffin's eyes grew wide. "Ranma," she said, "what's a cat fist curse?"

Ranma winced. "Er..." she said. "It's something my father did to me when I was young. He thought it would teach me to be a better fighter. He... ah... wrapped me in fish rolls and dropped me into a pit full of starving cats."

The cat girl's eyes doubled in size. "Did they scratch you?"

"Yeah. A lot."

"Oh, that's awful!" she said. "You must have been terrified!"

"I was."

Ragamuffin began to cry. She suddenly embraced Ranma in a hug. "I'm so sorry!"

"Ah…" Ranma said, struggling to pry her loose. "Remember, Princess, I don't do so good around cats, ever since then... and you're a cat too…"

Ignoring her, Ragamuffin added, "And you were just a little girl when it happened!"

"Well actually," Ranma said, "I was a little boy."

"Really?" The Princess wiped away her tears.

"Ranma nodded. Yeah."

The Princess smiled. "But you're a girl now, so that's okay."

"Uh… yeah."

"Yay! Girls are better!" Ragamuffin exclaimed.

"If you say so," Ranma said.

"Tell me," Fatima said, "did Princess Ragamuffin warn you about this place?"

"Um… no?" Ranma said.

"Ah," Fatima said. "Naughty cat girl! That part is very important!"

"Sorry, Fatima," Ragamuffin said. "I forgot."

"You see," said Fatima, "Aqua is a djinn world. It is specifically my djinn world, created and maintained by my own magic. I am a djinn – a genie, as Ragamuffin puts it. What Ragamuffin forgot to warn you is that this dimension is tailored to me and me alone. That means, on a technical level, only I am supposed to be here. However, there are loopholes and workarounds, which Ragamuffin and you are currently taking advantage of. To put it in layman's terms, the magic that sustains this world considers each of you an extension of me, and thus it doesn't prevent you from visiting this place. It thinks that you and Ragamuffin are just different versions of me."

"Huh?"

"It's nothing to worry your head about, Darling," the Djinn said. "Just be aware that, in theory, you could be called upon to perform my role, should that unlikely event ever happen."

"Fill your role"?

"You might be summoned from a djinn lamp and asked to grant wishes. And while I'm certain you'd make a very beautiful, sexy djinn," Fatima winked, "you really have nothing to fear. It would only happen if I weren't available, and I am only unavailable when I am out answering another call. And while I do have multiple lamps scattered across the realms, I have never been summoned by two different ones at the same time. So while it's technically a possibility, the chances of it ever happening are almost infinitesimal."

"Okay," Ranma said. "But if it did happen, then what? I can't grant wishes."

"Well, should such an unlikely event actually occur, it is still my magic that is in effect. It would guide you in the granting of any wishes; you'd just have to fill in for me physically. You know, in a sense you're a genie right now, just by being here. How does it feel?"

"I dunno. The air feels electrified."

Fatima laughed. "Yes, that's right. That's the magic," she said. "This whole realm is a creation of magic, so you can't escape it.

"One other thing to keep in mind," Fatima said. "Given that Aqua is my realm, and given that those who enter are treated as extensions of myself by the magic that sustains this world, no males are allowed in. That means your curse cannot be undone while you are here. There's actually a nice little magical subroutine that offers any male attempting to enter the opportunity to do so, but only if they agree to be transformed into a female for the duration of their stay."

Ranma frowned. "I can't imagine many guys agreeing to that."

"Oh," Fatima said, "you'd be surprised." She smirked, as if enjoying some private joke. "But it does make bringing a boyfriend home a bit of a problem…."

"Ranma introduced me to ice cream!" Ragamuffin exclaimed excitedly. "It was yummy!"

"How wonderful!" Fatima replied. "I love ice cream. That's a fairly recent invention. Modern society has so much to offer, don't you think?"

Ragamuffin nodded. "Miyuki's got a magic tub. It produces any ice cream you can think of!"

Fatima raised her eyebrows. "Really? How fantastic! Even mouse flavor?"

Ragamuffin looked surprised. "Wow! I didn't even think of that! I bet it can!"

"What a wonderful device!" The djinn said. "Why, you must bring it here some time so I can try it out."

"But – can't you just summon ice cream yourself?" Ranma asked.

"Of course I can," said Fatima, "but too much magic use leaves me drained. My powers aren't infinite, and it takes time to recover. Besides, food prepared by hand always tastes better than magically produced food. One of the first things you learn as a user of magic is how to avoid using it, except when absolutely necessary.."

Ranma frowned. "But... the tub doesn't make ice cream by hand," she said. "It does it by magic."

"Yes," said Fatima, "but it's not my magic. Magic items take a great deal of time and effort to create, but they can be quite useful."

Ranma glanced down at the silver bracelet on her right wrist with the strawberry charms. 'Then... this took time and effort to create?'

"Well, not so much," Fatima said. "I'm sure the original bracelet did, but yours is just a copy of that one. Making a copy of an existing magical item is often much easier."

She turned to Ragamuffin. "Here, I'll demonstrate for you. Can I see your ring, Princess Ragamuffin?"

"Sure," the cat girl said. She handed over a gold ring set with an amethyst stone.

"This is Ragamuffin's key to my realm," Fatima said. "Although it is but a small magical device, it took a while to craft. But to make a copy of it? That is relatively simple."

Fatima closed her hand over the ring. She concentrated. A deep violet aura surrounded her closed fist. There was a humming sound that grew in volume, and Fatima began to chant. Moments later, the chanting ceased, the hum disappeared, and the glow faded.

Fatima opened her hand. In her palm were two identical rings.

"Thank you, Ragamuffin," she said, handing one ring back to the cat girl. She turned to Ranma. "You've promised to train the Princess here to be a magical girl, am I right?"

"Yes," Ranma said.

"You are a good person," Fatima said. "I sense that in you. You can be vain and thoughtless. You can be a jerk. But deep down, despite a hard life, you wish ill of no one. You do good when you can. Above all, you strive to honor your obligations to your family and your vows as a martial artist, and now as well your vows as a magical girl."

Ranma nodded. Fatima smiled.

"I like you, Ranma. That's why I'm giving you this." She handed Ranma the second ring. "Now, bear in mind, this is contingent on Ragamuffin's use of this realm. I guess you could say that her father is renting the use of this realm for his daughter. That may sound strange to you, but King Korat is a powerful man and had things to offer me that I greatly desired. So, for as long as my deal with King Korat and Princess Ragamuffin lasts, you will have access to this realm as well, with the understanding that I may revoke that privilege at a later date should you abuse my good will."

Ranma stared down at the ring, then slipped it on her finger. She bowed very low. "Thank you very much, Fatima," she said. "I am deeply honored."

"Moreso than you probably realize," Fatima replied with a smirk. "Feel free to invite your magical girl friends here as well. You have free reign to use Aqua as you see fit."

'Nyaa!" Ragamuffin yelped. "Yay for Strawberry Sensei!" Ranma winced slightly at the name.

"I must add," said Fatima, "that you are limited to three trips to my realm within a 24 hour period."

Ranma blinked. "Okay," she said. "But can I ask why?"

"Because," said Fatima, "there is a potential for abuse. The power therefore must be designed with limits, and three is a magic number."

The djinn turned as two drinks came floating out of the kitchen and across the patio. "Here," she said. "I realized that I was being a bad host, so I've made each of you a drink. Non-alcoholic, of course." She winked. Ranma stared at the drinks floating in the air, and realized that there was something holding them – an amorphous, wispy shape like that of a ghost, but of a faint lavender. She could just barely see it, whatever it was.

"This," said Fatima, "is butler. He's not actually a person – he's not self-aware. He's just the physical manifestation of my magic – the magic that maintains Aqua. He can be handy, though, can't he?"

She handed the drinks to Ranma and Ragamuffin. "Yay!" the Princess exclaimed. "Strawberry Daquiri! My favorite!"

Fatima leaned back, smirked, and sipped her drink. "So," she said, "there's these three guys shipwrecked on a deserted island," Fatima said. "One of them finds a bottle and opens it. A genie appears and promises to grant each of the men one wish.

"The first guy says, 'I wish I were living in a mansion on the French Riviera, with all the money I could ever want and a beautiful woman as my wife.' Instantly he's gone.

"The second guy says, 'I wish I was a famous world-class skier vacationing in the Swiss Alps, with more endorsement money than I knew what to do with.' In a flash, he also vanishes.

"The third guy looks around and says, 'Gee, I miss those guys already. I wish they were back here….'"

Fatima burst out in gales of laughter. Ragamuffin giggled. Ranma watched both of them with a bemused expression.

"What's the matter, Strawberry?" Fatima asked. "Don't you get it? See, the third guy's wish canceled out the wishes of the first two."

Ranma smiled. "Yeah, I get it," she said.

"That's how things often go, you know. You grant someone three wishes, and they wind up having to use the last wish to reverse the first two. They make such a mess with their first wishes that they have to waste a wish fixing everything. I don't know why. People are like that, they just don't think. Third Wish Syndrome, they call it. Sometimes I think we should just give people one wish and damn the consequences, just like the Goddess Agencies do, but they'll never change something as fundamental as that. My stars, they haven't even changed the basic genie outfit in over 3,000 years!"

Fatima insisted on giving them a tour of the rest of the island. Parts of the island contained ruins that looked quite ancient, like those of ancient Greece or Egypt or Machu Picchu. At one end of the island was a statue of a bare-chested man in a turban and pantaloons, wielding a great scimitar.

"That is Sinbad the sailor," Fatima said. "I commissioned it in his honor, and to remember him by. He was soooo dreamy. I just love a sexy rogue!"

"You knew him?" Ranma asked.

"Of course, Darling!" Fatima laughed. "I am centuries old, you know!"

There was a chiming of bells. "Oh!" Fatima exclaimed. "A customer! How fun!" She headed down a stone path that wound down from the patio and around the side of the villa. Ranma and Ragamuffin followed.

The path ended in a grotto at the base of a stone wall at least fifteen feet high. Set into the wall were two stone archways, one large and one small. At first, Ranma thought they led into caves, and then she thought that they didn't lead anywhere at all. Nothing could be seen beyond them but swirling purple mist.

"This," said Fatima, "is the way out. I use the larger one myself, but I suggest you use the smaller one when you leave. Unless you want a quick change into work clothes!" Fatima laughed. "That's a joke, you know. If you want to know the punch line, you'll just have to use the larger gate. Now, ta!"

With that, Fatima leaped through the gate and vanished.

"We should probably head back," Ranma replied. "I have no idea what time it is, but we've been here quite a while."

"There's no hurry," said Ragamuffin. "Like I already said!"

"Yeah," Ranma replied, "but I'm probably already late for next period. Do I just walk in, like Fatima?"

"Yes, but..."

Ranma stepped into the doorway.

"No, Ranma, wait!" Ragamuffin yelled. "Not that one!" But it was too late. Ranma was gone.

To Be Continued