Disclaimer: I do not own Ranma 1/2 in any way shape or form. I hope and pray
that it was obvious since the beginning

IMPORTANT: Read Author's Notes at the end for important information.
*** designates a change in scenery or POV




File 03: Limited Disclosure


"Not that I'm hard of hearing...but could you repeat that?" Nabiki blinked as
she said that.

"These two are both your fiancées." Soun reiterated. The suitors in question
were currently standing at ease behind the two sisters. Ranma and Ryoga did not
look to be outwardly effected by the news.

"I'm sure you can understand Nabiki's confusion father. How did this come
about?" Kasumi voice was still calm and collected, though inwardly she was just
as jaw-dropped as Nabiki.

"Ranma, did your father ever tell you why he wanted you to come meet with me
when your training was completed?" Soun held off on answering for the moment.

"He didn't actually. He just made it abundantly clear that I was to seek you out
after the ten-year regimen was completed." He answered clearly.

"I see, than it falls upon my shoulders then." Soun cleared his throat before
beginning. "As you know there are only two existing schools of Anything-Goes
Martial Arts. The Tendo School and the Saotome School which was founded by my
good friend and training partner Genma Saotome, he is of course Ranma's father."

Kasumi listened closely. She had a fair idea of where this was going, but a good
question would be where Mr. Hibiki fit into the equation.

"Because of this, in order for the Art survive we need to unite these two
houses. This unification would occur through the sanctity of marriage; by this
point Kasumi was already born, Nabiki was on the way, and Genma informed me that
he would be siring a son. All the pieces fit perfectly; his son would marry one
of the daughters I had been blessed with. This was the original plan that was
conceived eighteen years ago." He then seemed to turn his attention to
Ryoga. "However, an unexpected yet welcome variation was added to the
arrangement."

Nabiki was wondering the same thing, though she knew she was about to get an
answer.

"During the first leg of there travels Genma and Ranma encountered a boy by the
name of Ryoga Hibiki. This boy showed a potential that rivaled Ranma, and Genma
knew that having an equal sparring partner his own age would only work to
increase the level with which they could both improve. As such he took the boy
in as his second disciple, but that wasn't all..." Soun grinned slightly. "You
see this boy began learning the basics of the Art but eventually his style began
to deviate sharply from any variation of the technique that Genma had at that
point encountered. Ryoga, in all aspects, had become the founding member of the
Hibiki School of Anything-Goes Martial Arts."

"I get it now..." Nabiki murmured.

"As such, in an attempt to incorporate an even greater range of diversity within
the soon to be unified house, Ryoga was included in the arrangement. Both he and
Ranma would each marry one of my daughters, effectively merging all three
schools through one common point." Soun sat back in his chair. "Does this
explanation satisfy your questions?"

"All but one..." Kasumi started. "Why didn't you tell us?"

"Yeah, something like this would probably be a good thing to give us forewarning
over." Nabiki agreed.

"I realize...that would've been the most appropriate course of action. But I'm
sure you both remember how tumultuous the years were after Akane's birth. The
last thing I wanted was to give you both an unneeded distraction."

The two relented at that. They both understood how uneasy those times were and
could understand why he had chosen to withhold information regarding future
husbands.

"Ranma, Ryoga," Soun eyed the two of them again. "You should also understand
that this arrangement also comes with a great responsibility on your part."

The two seemed to become slightly more attentive at that comment.

"While I firmly believe that one of my daughters would be more than capable of
this, tradition dictates that I appoint this title to a male. Therefore, as of
today, you are both the heirs of this company and all of its in-country and off-
shore holdings and subsidiaries."

Nabiki almost fell out of her chair. Kasumi was still keeping a straight face,
though it was becoming increasingly difficult.

"Since only one successor can be appointed in the end, I will leave the task
between the two of you as to who is more qualified to inherit Heaven's Star. I
hope that this does not drive a wedge between you, and if I find that this
arrangement has caused unwarranted bickering among you I will have no qualms
with rescinding the offer and appointing a more competent heir. Is this
understood?"

"Yes sir." They both responded in unison.

"Okay," Nabiki was slightly vexed at the idea that two newcomers were now the
inheritors of the family business, but she kept that little detail to herself.
She understood that her father knew what he was doing at all times and therefore
decided not to go against his word, for now. "So how will this work? Who marries
who?"

"Well I'm glad to see your becoming more receptive." Soun grinned.

"Well going nuts over it isn't solve anything." She shrugged.

"Indeed. As to your question Nabiki, that will be entirely up to you."

"Could you be more explicit father?" Kasumi requested.

"Both Ranma and Ryoga will live with us from now on. During that time it is my
deepest wish that you all interact and communicate with them as much as though
they were already a part of this family. When the time comes yourself, Nabiki,
and Akane will decide who becomes married and those two will then choose their
respective husbands." Soun once again turned his attenntion to his new heirs.
"At that time the wife of the appointed final successor of Heaven's Star will
become co-owner and vice-president of the company. You will share all
responsibilities and powers that come in tandem with receiving this corporation.
Is this understood?"

"Yes sir." Yet another unified response.

"Excellent. Kasumi, Nabiki; if you would be so kind as to excuse us for a
moment. I must speak with your fiancées alone." Soun politely requested.

It would be quite a while before the concept of them being addressed as there
fiancées would stick. They both complied with Soun's request and rose to leave
but not without grabbing one final look at their would-be husbands.

"Well, today wasn't at all what I expected..." Nabiki mumbled as they exited the
executive office. She was about to ask Kasumi her opinion on the whole affair
when she noticed that her face was overcome by a seriousness she only saw when
they were out on assignment.

"This isn't right."

"I think that's already been established Kas."

She wasn't amused.

"Father knows how delicate the situation is at this point. Why would he do
something so precarious as to appoint two heirs? Individuals who could possibly
be used as bargaining chips against him?"

"Kas, you said yourself that Ranma was a pretty good fighter, and Ryoga's not
bad himself. Maybe he thinks they can look out for themselves well enough."

"I know, that's what makes this so...perplexing. Didn't you notice their
expression, or lack thereof, when he made the announcement that they were
engaged? Or when he told us that they were the new heirs?"

"I got ya. They must've known before hand, but that's not too big a deal."

"Here's another. Soun makes mention of this Genma Saotome person quite a few
times, he apparently was rather instrumental in the formation of the plan to
unite the schools. So why isn't he here to see the results?"

"That is strange. Dad didn't even bother asking, you'd think for knowing him as
long as he said he'd be wondering the same thing..."

"Exactly, but this is what has gotten me worried the most. They have plugs, M-2
plugs."

"Say what?"

"I never really got a good look at there back so I only noticed as we were
leaving. If my memory serves me, and correct me if I'm wrong, but M-2 plugs are
primarily used for System Junctioning."

"Yeah your right, an M-2 is required for any sort of replacement implant or
enhancement based System. Like a Falcon System or integrated Therm-Optic
camoflauge." Nabiki recalled her overwhelming technical knowledge. "If that's
the case, you can only wonder what they need them for. I couldn't see any
obvious trace of an enhancement so they most likely have replacement implants."

"Father isn't the kind of person to leave this many openings. He wants us to
find something on them." Kasumi narrowed her eyes back at the office door.

"This has gotten me interested. My personal info-net has been lax way too long,
it's about time I gave it a little exercise." She gave that mischievous grin she
was so well known for.

"Just be careful. We don't know who they are...or what they're capable of."

In the office however a staring contest of sorts was going on. A tense silence
had come over the room as the two sides waited for the other to make their move.

"Well?" Soun finally broke the stillness.

"What?" Ranma smirked.

"I've heard their critique of you, so what is yours of them?"

The duo exchanged glances before Ryoga began.

"Well, since she completely trashed a cyber by herself, I've got to say that her
skill level is probably equal to ours. Which means, she wasn't going all out
when she fought me that night."

"So I take it Ranma informed you of the full particulars of the mission?" Soun
asked.

"Tch, yeah only this morning. You know I would appreciate it if you kept me
informed of little details like that. Having the owner of the company hire you
to ROB his own company is kind of a critical piece of information in my own
opinion." Ryoga glared at his partner.

"Don't bitch. I told you he only did it to test the security measures."

"Yes and it appears those measures were totally ineffective in keeping you out
of the system. Network Maintenance is quite perturbed with you." Soun was less
than enthusiastic about that.

"It's not bad. It just wasn't prepared for an invader like us. With the proper
alterations to your personnel any attempted infiltration will be easily
deflected." Ranma removed his shades. The reason he kept them on for so long was
apparent in the color of his eyes. The right was the typical black; the left was
a very pale green.

"And what is your opinion of Kasumi, Ranma?"

Ranma chuckled a bit before answering. "You have the quite the daughter Mr.
Tendo. I've heard a lot of rumors from the underground, I was bit surprised to
know some of them were true. I can only imagine what she's like when she's at
her limit. How do you do it? Daughters or not, you couldn't have known they had
that kind of potential just by looking at 'em."

"I have my secrets Ranma. Just as you have yours, though...yours are more
plentiful."

"Right. At any rate, I hope you haven't forgotten the specifics of this deal."
Ranma rested his knuckles on Soun's desk and stared him eye to eye. "I really
could care less about any marriage deal my dad made. You want us to be exclusive
to Heaven's Star? I got no problem with that. Just as long as YOU can abide by
our demands."

"Unlimited access to Heaven's Star's entire info-net. That includes any and all
contacts and connections within the military and tech industry. And lets not
forget about our usual fee." Ryoga went down the list.

"Easily, and already done." Soun glanced at his watch. "At this point you should
find this month's 10 million dispersed evenly in alll your European and American
accounts. Also, when you arrive you should find your personal belongings intact
and set-up in your room."

"Does this guy know how to do business or what?" Ranma laughed. "Okay, you
bought us. Though...you could've been a little more discrete with your
daughters. Dropping them all those hints, almost a bit too obvious."

"Hehehe. Well, there combative skills are beyond reproach, but that doesn't mean
there investigative skills should suffer. Consider it a test." Soun shrugged.
"Though, I hope pairing you with them will not come as too much a shift in your
normal routine?"

Ranma smirked yet again. "Keep pairing me with Kasumi, and you'll find how
quickly I can adapt to any situation."

"Of course. If you have that much interest in her...perhaps your 'caring less'
about this marriage is unfounded?" Soun raised an eyebrow.

"You got a point there. Maybe, we'll see."

"Well Ranma, I don't know about you but my arm is need of some personal
maintenance. I've had this thing running straight for the past two months and it
starting to act up." Ryoga gripped his right wrist and flexed his fingers. His
skin actually flickered and staticed for a moment, and for a split second you
make out the sleek, mechanized Piledriver underneath.

"If you'll excuse us Mr. Tendo." Ranma actually bowed respectfully. "It's been a
pleasure doing business with you."

"You realize Ranma, and Ryoga, I have called you here for a reason beyond just
uniting our houses."

They stopped for a moment to hear what Soun had to say.

"Tensions between us and our rivals are rising far past the boiling point. I
have been in this business for many years, I have developed a foreboding sense
that has more than once directed me on the right path." Soun stared at the two
of them with an edged look in his eyes. "Something is coming, something is going
to happen that is going to push this situation into a full-scale war. To this
point, Heaven's Star has merely been a reactive force, a very successful
reactive force, but the time will come when the beast must bear its claws. The
time will come when we must show those who seek to destroy us that we will not
stand idly by and allow ourselves to be dominated. We must show them why we are
the most powerful, and we must show them that we will stay the most powerful. At
any cost."

The duo exchanged glances briefly. There was a moment of silent understanding
between all three. That was when the two gave grins born of years of doing what
few men were capable of doing. They knew full well what they had gotten
themselves into, and they could not be happier.

"I assure you Mr. Tendo. You will not be disappointed."


***


A familiar Ferarri 360 pulled into the driveway of the Tendo estate and training
hall. The neighborhood of Nerima was the perfect picture of suburbia, very quiet
and unassuming. Soun Tendo was not one to overly flaunt his fortune to the
masses like most of the monetary elite and it was shown in the quaint household
that he kept.

"Invariably it is impossible to determine the myriad of universes that exist
beside our own. The number can be infinite or finite, we can never truly know
until the theory of multi-dimensional translocation can be perfected." The radio
guest explained his far-fetched, and everyone else's ears, absurd theory.

"Thank you Mr. Sun for your insight into the hypothesis of alternate universes.
Our next guest will be..."

The radio clicked off with the turn of the key.

"Man, people will believe anything these days." Nabiki shook her head in
disbelief.

"Now Nabiki you should know that just because something sounds unbelievable, it
does not mean it is."

"I know, but c'mon, you don't really believe that in some far-off dimension
you're, I don't know, a housewife, do you?"

"Whose to say really. The universe itself is ever growing into infinity, we
can't possibly know what secrets it holds or how reality can be warped outside
our own world." Kasumi thought for a moment. "We ourselves know from experience
that there things that can't truly be explained by our knowledge. We just have
to accept that they exist."

"Good point. Try describing what we've seen on-air and see how many don't call
you a crack." Nabiki laughed.

That's when they both noticed a girl with short blue-black hair standing at the
door. She had a puzzled look on her face and she was holding a yellow slip of
paper.

"Hey Akane. Did you just get back?" She asked as they both approached.

"Yeah I did. What's this?" The third Tendo sister held up the yellow slip. "It's
an invoice for transport and labor."

"For what?" Nabiki wondered as she looked over the slip. Whatever it was it had
been delivered in the afternoon, when no one was home.

At the same moment a black Lamborghini Diablo pulled up into the driveway. Just
as one was about to ask who they knew that had such an expensive car, the two
occupants inside stepped out.

"Good afternoon ladies." Ryoga greeted them. Ranma had redonned his shades and
had once again taken up his stoic image.

"Hello. May I ask who you are?" Akane rightfully asked.

"Ahhhh, I take it your sisters haven't informed you yet."

"Informed me of what?" Akane eyed the two of them suspiciously.

"We...had better take this inside." Kasumi interjected. "It…will take a bit of
explaining."

All four of them were gathered within the living room. Ranma was idly staring
outside, Ryoga was still standing and seemed to thinking to himself; Kasumi and
Nabiki were trying to find the most delicate way to explain the fact that they
now had two fiancées

"They're moving in with us? Are they friends of the family?" Akane, who had
changed from her uniform to jeans and a sweater, asked.

"That's...what we're trying to explain..." Nabiki started.

"We're going to marry two of you." Ranma suddenly broke in and dumped the news
with an absolute screw-off to tact.

All three were silent. Nabiki was frozen at what had just happened, Kasumi was
simply waiting patiently for the eruption.

"You're...joking...right?" Akane was smiling, it had to be a joke, it was simply
too funny.

"No...Akane...he isn't..." Nabiki admitted defeatedly.

There was a calm before the storm. Ryoga was wondering why there seemed to be a
slight raise in the air temperature. Ranma just kept daydreaming, or so everyone
thought since his eyes were covered.

"WHAT IN THE HECK IS HE THINKING?!!!!!!!!" The dam had burst.

"Akane, you have to calm down and let us explain. There is a very good reason
for all of this." Kasumi reasoned calmly.

"HOW COULD HE DO THIS WITHOUT TELLING US!!! HE KNO..." Akane suddenly stopped
mid-word. She seemed to catch herself; she slowly sat back down and took several
slow and deep breaths. "He knows that I'm not interested in boys. He could have
at least asked us first."

Ranma and Ryoga were taken aback by the sudden shift in her mental state. Even
her voice sounded different from the erupting volcano they had just witnessed.

"We were apprehensive at first too, but he truly believes it's for the good of
the family. So we should at least try to accept them." Kasumi smiled at how well
she was learning to rein her temper.

Akane thought for a moment. Her gaze moved between the two new members of there
family. They both were staring back at her, though what they were thinking was
unknown to her.

"Yeah I guess, doesn't mean I have to like it." She mumbled.

"Trust me, you aren't the only one Akane." Nabiki laid down as she said that.

Ranma had since gotten up and both he and Ryoga were gazing out into the massive
backyard of the household. It was 350 ft x 350 ft with a stonewall surrounding
it on three sides. There were intricate carvings in the stone that had to be
professionally done and an average sized dojo in the center.

"They say you practice a form of our style. Is that true?" Akane appeared next
to Ranma.

"Yeah...a little."

"Would you like to have a little match? I might as well see how good my fiancée
is." She smiled. She did not look at all mad anymore, it was quite amazing.

"Sure." He shrugged. Might as well as amuse the girl.

"This should be interesting." Nabiki sat back up with curiosity on her face.

The five gathered outside. The three spectators gathered outside and the
challengers prepped themselves near the center.

"Tell me if I'm being to harsh okay?" Akane rotated a shoulder.

"Yeah sure." Ranma removed his shades and replaced to his back pocket. Everyone
present, except Ryoga of course, narrowed their eyes when they saw his. His
right eye was normal, his left however was not.

"That's why he wears sunglasses." Kasumi murmured to herself. Nabiki was
thinking the same thing.

"O...kay." Akane just thought it was a trick of the light, or maybe she was just
seeing things. "You ready?"

"Yeah."

Akane took a relatively simple stance. Ranma however seemed content to just
cross his arms.

"Are...you sure?" She noticed that he was making no attempt to prepare himself.

"Start off whenever you want." Ranma could tell from her form that she was a
beginner at best. She would humor her for a while; let her take a few shots,
then end the match with a tap. Famous last thoughts...

"Alright. Here I come..."

Ranma did not think she was going to be a challenge, he could tell she had some
training, but probably not much. One could imagine his surprise as the match
started. Akane cleared the field between them almost instantly, by the time he
realized she was already in his face there was a fist coming at him. Conditioned
reflexes were the only thing that allowed him to turn to one side and roll his
head back allowing the punch brush past his chin. It was so close he could feel
the body heat radiating off her skin.

"Close..." Ryoga whistled. "Who's been training her?"

"We both have." Nabiki indicated herself and Kasumi. "She's our pet project."

"Project? What's the objective?"

"The goal is for her to have surpassed the both of us by the time she's my age."
Kasumi explained.

"It may sound like much, but we believe she can do it. She's been progressing
very well already." Nabiki eyes moved rapidly as the fight picked up the pace.
"Though, there's only so much we can do here. Eventually were going to have to
get her out of the house and broaden her horizons of the world."

"I know exactly what you mean." Ryoga whispered.

The fight was not something Ranma could not handle. However he had not expected
her to be an actual challenge, therefore when the fight started he found himself
ill prepared to compensate. He still had quite a substantial reserve of velocity
at his disposal, but it had been far too long since he had fought a strong
opponet and he found himself having slight trouble compensating and predicting
her moves. Eventually a kick found its mark on his chest; surprisingly enough he
was knocked partially off his feet but rolled back to them effortlessly.

"Oh, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to actually hit you." She apologized profusely at
the surprised look he was giving her.

"Don't worry. It was my fault entirely." He chuckled a bit as he dusted himself
off.

"What do you mean?"

"I admit...I wasn't taking you all that seriously at first. Were you just
pretending to be a novice at the beginning?" Ranma raised an eyebrow in
suspicion.

"It tends to throw people off. Have I changed your opinion of me?"

"Quite. Shall we try that again?" This time he actually took a stance.

"You start this time."

"You two did quite a number on her. It's been a long time since Ranma's had to
use this kind of speed." Ryoga critiqued.

"So he's not moving as fast as he can?" Nabiki asked.

"No, but don't get me wrong. The fact that he actually has to try and defeat her
speaks a lot."

Kasumi listened and wondered exactly how far the skill level of the two went. By
Nabiki's description, Ryoga had incredible physical strength, and by what they
were seeing now, Ranma possessed inhuman speed. Quite the opposites and yet
appropriate for training partners.

Ranma was quite impressed at how long she was lasting. The advantage had
actually shifted several times and the two had to resort to intercepting each
other's blows instead of simply dodging them. Much like the other sisters all of
her attacks were backed by power that was not noticeable by looking at her. In
fact she had succeeded in slipping by his defenses and getting in close enough
to grab him by the shirt and execute a leg throw*. She had actually thrown him
into the air and not just onto his back. This was amazing since she had next to
no forward momentum to work with; it had to be all strength.

She kicked up back to her feet and turned to notice that he had righted himself
in mid-air somehow. As soon as his foot touched the ground he shot toward her
like a bullet. It was then that everyone realized just how fast Ranma could
become. Akane's started to panic when he came to within a foot of her, she
thought he was going to ram into her head-on, there was a rush of wind and when
she opened her eyes it looked as if Ranma was slowly vanishing in front of her.

"What the..." There was a tapping on her shoulder. She whirled around to find
his grinning face. Her head moved back and forth between and where the ghost
Ranma had been, it had now faded completely.

"I guess I win."

"Uhh yeah...you do."

"You're not bad. We should do it again sometime." Ranma redonned his glasses.

"Thank you. How...did you do that?"

"Do what?"

"The...fading...thing." Akane pointed to where it the image had been.

"Oh that. Practice. By what I've seen, you'll probably be able to do it yourself
soon enough."

"You think so?"

"Yeah," Ranma and herself walked back to the others. "Just don't let it go to
your head."

"Well Ranma, if you're finished showing off, we need to get some work done."
Ryoga said over his shoulder as he disappeared into the house.

"If you need us we'll be on our room. Excuse me." Ranma politely excused
himself.

The three sisters were silent for a moment as they each assessed what they just
saw.

"He seems nice enough. I...guess I could get used to them being here." Akane
nodded her approval. "What's the deal with his eye though?"

"I was thinking the same thing. I've never seen one that shade of green
before..." Kasumi murmured.

"It's gotta be artificial. A Cyclops without a doubt, that would explain the
need for the M-2 plug." Nabiki deduced. "That just leaves Ryoga. I couldn't find
anything obvious on him so his implant has to be pretty hidden."

"You make it sound it's a big conspiracy or something. He probably just had an
accident or something. Don't worry so much over it." Akane waved it off.

While Akane knew what they did for a living, that had made it a practice to keep
certain details from reaching her. The fact that she did not perceive them as a
threat was easy enough to understand. For Kasumi and Nabiki however, they had
been in the business for far too long, and for them to simply let facts like
that slip by them was simply foolish in there eyes.

"You're right. Father did tell us to treat them as if they were part of the
family, and so we'll do just that." Kasumi relented.

"See? Just give them some time, they'll open up eventually."


***


There was a constant buzz of electricity in the air. What was once nothing more
than an empty guest room had been turned into a technological wonderland.
Networking media were run across the length of the room connecting a row four
rather tall servers were standing under a large desk. Two 20" monitors were
standing on the top and with the usual welcoming screen of an OS loading on each
of them. There was a similar set-up on the opposite side of the room, except
there were three high-end workstations in place of servers and three large
liquid crystal flatscreens linked together in place of the monitors. There was a
shelf in a corner, on it there lay several dozen cyber components including
brain plug adapters, needlepoint Cyclops jacks, replacement Piledriver rippers,
and other spare parts and accessories.

"How's your head?" Ryoga asked as he connected a final wire to the three ports
in his now exposed Piledriver, one in the shoulder, one in the crook of his
elbow, and the last in his wrist. The wires ran into the back of the
workstations themselves.

Ranma was currently sitting in a chair with his back to the servers. There were
four adapters in the four plugs on his neck, from those four serial cables ran
into one of the stations. On the screen, file names were rapidly scrolling down
a window, there was an occasional ping when something had been successfully
uploaded. Ranma had a look of intense contemplation on his face as this was
occurring.

"Feels like a 1000 pounds have been taken off my brain. I never want to keep
that much in my head ever again." Ranma sighed. The blinds were drawn and the
room was dark.

"What's got you? You look concerned." Ryoga absently reached over and began
typing rapidly on the keyboard. A diagnostic screen showing a wire-frame image
of his artificial arm appeared.

"Just thinking about this new situation of ours." Ranma tapped his nose in
thought. "It's the kind of shot we've always dreamed of but never found."

"What makes you say that?" Ryoga looked back and forth from the screen to his
arm.

"Think about it. The battle between Star and Sword is one of the most well known
in our trade. They've been at each other's throats for years. Now you add us,
the best this business has ever seen, to the mix."

"One for the history books right?" Ryoga began pressing down on certain areas of
his right arm. His skin began to flicker and static back into existence before
shutting down again.

"And then there are those daughters of his. He wouldn't say how he knew they had
this kind of skill in them, but I have a gut feeling I know how he did it."

"Those three...jeez...I don't think I've ever felt that much power in three
people before." Ryoga flexed his fingers. "Genetic Manipulation? Maybe they're
test-tube babies."

"Naaah. If they were it wouldn't have felt so...pure...so...natural." Ranma
sighed. "Damn good bloodline I guess."

Suddenly both monitor screens were filled withh detailed images of terrain,
people, objects, satellite images, and everything else Ranma had stored inside
his head.

"Damnit..." Ryoga cursed to himself.

"What's wrong?"

"It's official, I burned out the freakin skin imager. That's what I get for
having it on for months straight without letting it cool down." Ryoga
disconnected the cables. "And I left the spares with Ukyo."

"What else did we leave with her?"

"All the therm-optics and the dampeners. Not like we could've stored them here
anyway."

"It doesn't matter. I'm sure they've guessed that we aren't entirely normal.
They must know about my eye and it would only be a matter of time before they
found out about your arm."

"On that note. We haven't discussed how we're going to break our...power...to
them."

"Do you think that's necessary?"

"If we're going to work with them we gotta break ice with them. Of course, that
would mean revealing I'm the thief she tangled with."

"I'll think of something when the time comes."

A silence swept the room, save for the sound of computers thinking. The two
stared at each other for a long period, each one knowing what the other thought.

"This...is gonna be good."

"Oh yeah."




To Be Continued...








Author's Notes:
* = I've had this move done to me several times before, and I know for a fact it
has a name but I can't remember for the life of me. I know it starts with a 'T',
if anyone can tell me the name I'd be most appreciative.

1). Okay I admit. Not much happened this chapter. Introduced Akane, showed off a
little bit more of the tech, delved into the nature of Ranma and Ryoga's
relationship and essentially got a few minor details out of the way.

2). I believe Akane's ability to control her temper, her increased skill level,
and her overall more mellow attitude I think are all possible due to the fact
that she's actually being trained properly. I.E: she's not breaking cinderblocks
all day long. At least that's my opinion

3). As always C&C are highly sought after and valued.



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