The next day began with the feeling of weightless-ness. It was quickly replaced with
abrupt pain as I hit the floor.

"Ugh..." I groaned, rolling over to see what had made me leave the bed. Feeling
something nudge me, I turned, and followed a pair of legs up... and up...

"G'mornin' Mara. Can I help you?" I glared openly, pulling myself up to sit and look at
Makoto, who was watching use from the bed with an amused smile on her face.

"Well, you asked me about wish granting artifacts, and... well, I can't use this thing
myself, so I thought I'd drop it off." I blinked at that. Mara? Being helpful? She handed
me a picturesque lamp, and I stared at it for a moment, before looking back at her.

"Ahh... Thanks, I guess. How does it work?"

"You rub it, stupid."

"Ahh... Okay. Didn't think it was one of those kinds of magic lamps, that's all."

"Hmph."

"Well... thanks. There's some Liquor in the cabinet above the fridge, behind the cooker-
thingy."

"Cooker-thingy?" She asked, frowning.

"Ahh... I don't really know what it is. It's a big pan, but it heats itself... I think. It has a
plug." I shrugged. "I never use it, so I just put it there." Mara nodded, retrieved the small
bottle of bourbon (which I silently thanked her for taking, as it wasn't all that useful) and
disappeared.

"So what are you going to wish for?" Makoto asked, wrapping her arms around me from
behind.

"Hmm.... Depends on how this works. Want to give it a try?"

"Sure!" She said, reaching out to rub the lamp in my hands. A moment later, smoke
billowed out from lamp, gathering in the middle of the room before solidifying into a
rather generic-looking guy in jeans and a plain white t-shirt.

"I told you, you can't have... oh. Hello. Guess you want your wishes, right?" he said,
changing from upset to nonchalant when he saw us.

"Ahh... Yes?" Makoto said, staring.

"Are there any... umm... stipulations or anything we should know about before we
begin?" I asked, frowning. I may not get, or make wishes often, but I've seen enough
wishes gone bad to ask this before a wish is wasted.

"Of course. This is magic you're messing with, here."

"Right. So what are they?" a voice asked from behind the genie. Nabiki walked over to
sit beside us, and stared greedily at the lamp for a moment, before facing the genie.

"Simple. The first wish isn't all that powerful. It's good at pushing things in the right
direction. The second wish is standard. It can't do grand things, but it can do most
average wishes..." the genie trailed off.

"The third?" Nabiki asked, frowning. The Genie sighed.

"Take all the fun out of watching your wish get blown out of proportion. Fine. The last
wish is a big one. It's decidedly overpowered, and unless you word it carefully, it's
bound to be more than you imagined."

I nodded, thinking. Finally, I asked: "If the universe is going to re-write itself to correct a
paradox, could the first wish be used to guide that re-write favorably?"

"Hmm... Probably. If you-" He was cut off by a knock on the door. I moved to open it,
and was a bit surprised to see Ranma standing there.

"Ahh... good morning. I didn't wake you... oh. You have a guest. Sorry..." He said,
nervously. I shrugged, then waved him in.

"So what can I do for you, Ranma?" I asked.

"Ahh, Akane said she wouldn't be able to make it... and I was just going to tell you,
and... well..." He kept looking at the Genie, and I sighed.

"-and you heard us talking about wishes, and hoped we'd get rid of your curse." Ranma
nodded at this, and I shrugged.

"I'll see what I can do."

Rejoining Makoto and Nabiki on the bed, I thought for a moment, before shrugging.

"Okay, Genie! My first wish, Is-"

"To cure me!" Ranma shouted. I glared at him, and he tried to shrink in his spot by the
door.

"Ahem. As I was saying... when the universe rewrites itself, I'd like a job as... ohh... a
second English teacher at Furinkan. Give me an appropriate background, and some sort
of Hawaiin-realated favor to the principal so I'm on his good side. Makoto and I should
both be around Ranma's skill in martial arts when he first arrived in Nerima, and...
Hmm... Leave my apartment, and everything in it unchanged... aside from Makoto and
I. And our current memories. I'd like to keep those.

I squeezed Makoto's hand when I said this, and she squeezed it back.

"Can you do all that in the first wish?"

"Well... Since the changes are being made by the universe, and not the underpowered
wish... and the only real magic isn't really all that magic, I suppose so." The genie
crossed his arms again, and stared at us expectantly.

"Umm... that's it?" I asked, quirking a brow.

"What? You expected me to clap, do a dance, blink in an over exaggerated manner or
snap my fingers?"

"... Yeah." Ranma, Nabiki, Makoto and I all said at once. The genie shrugged. "Sorry, I
grant wishes. Entertainment's not my thing."

The four of us sighed, and I looked at Makoto, who shrugged at me.

"Right... Umm... My second wish, is..."

"Is?" The Genie and Ranma asked when I trailed off.

"These wont wear off when the universe changes, will they?" Nabiki asked, mirroring my
thoughts. The Genie frowned, then shrugged.

"Not if he says something about that," he responded finally. Nabiki winked at me, then
smirked at the genie.

"Right. Then, yeah... I wish Ranma had control of his curse, mentally, instead of it
changing by water-"

"WHAT? Why the hell didn't you get rid of it? What the hell good is having control over
it going to do me? I want it gone, not convenient!" He all but shouted. I fixed him with a
harsh gaze, which he returned.

"Ranma... remember what I said, this universe is just a story to me? Trust me, if I'd
gotten rid of it, you'd get splashed when shampoo tried to use Nyannichuan, or
something stupid like that. Your cure wouldn't last more than a week before it somehow
came back. Hell, even if you avoided Shampoo, I doubt Happosai would let you stay
cured for long."

Ranma frowned, but didn't answer, and I turned to the genie, and thought, before
continuing: "As I was saying, I also want the changing factor to stay that way, even if
exposed to more Jusenkyo water... and, of course, this stays, even after the universal re-
write."

The genie shrugged, then looked at me, again. I thought for a moment what I could
possibly wish for that was huge and pointlessly grand, before shrugging.

"Fine... Third wish, is the grossly overpowered one, right?" I asked, stalling while began
phrasing my wish. The Genie nodded, then grinned at me, as if reading my thoughts.

"What's it going to be, Kyle?" Nabiki asked, a bit of anticipation in her voice. Makoto
squeezed my hand again, obviously as curious as Nabiki. Ranma was busy grumbling in
the corner, though I noticed him shrink, into his female body, before turning back into his
male self.

"I wish..."

Nabiki, Makoto and the genie leaned forward in anticipation. Ranma turned around to
watch, an annoyed, but not quite as angry look now on his face.

"I wish... for a fully staffed (by extremely loyal officers and enlistees, of course) Onyx-
black Super Star Destroyer-" Makoto, Nabiki and Even Ranma fell over after hearing
that, and I ignored them as I continued, "with fully loaded TIE-fighter bays, shuttles, and
turbo-laser batteries and shield generators. I'd like a special teleporter-bay near the
bridge, so I don't have to be shuttled to and fro, and I'd like the engines to be magical in
nature, so I don't have to fuel it ever. The Central computer will be powered by an AI
that cannot disobey me, though it can recommend against my orders. Its appearance, on
screen, will be like SHODAN, from System Shock, and its voice will be similar in
nature."

The genie blinked, then started laughing. Finally, after a minute or so of non-stop
laughter, it spoke "That's... damn creative. I like it. I assume you want it to survive the
universal re-write?"

I nodded, then spoke up again "Ahh... I also want it to follow me to whatever universe I
go to, and withstand any re-writes that happen there, as well." The genie quirked a brow
at this then shrugged.

"As... weird as that sounds, it's not like there isn't enough power to do it. You got a
name for this ship?"

I thought about that for a moment. While I could call it something intimidating like "Lord
of Nightmares" or something, I thought of something a little less threatening, and
(hopefully) smile inducing.

"Call her the 'Jupiter's Thunder.'" The genie shrugged, and pointed to my desk.

"Your watch has a new button that will signal for you to be beamed up. Kind of like in
Star Trek. There are personal communicators onboard that you can get when you arrive...
at the moment, it's on the far side of the moon, avoiding your planets telescopes. And,
with those three wishes, I'll be leaving now. Bye!"

The Genie disappeared, and Ranma dove across the room, snatching the lamp from my
hands before I could blink.

"Ha! I'll get rid of this damned curse myself! I... huh?" Ranma stared as the lamp faded
from view, disappearing before he could attempt to rub it. He stared at his hands, before
falling to his knees.

"NOOOOOO!!!!!!!" He cried out. "I was so close!!!!"

I stared at him, then shrugged. "Better under your control than relying on water, right?" I
asked. Ranma stood, glared at the three of us, then turned to the door. "I'm going to
school." He left without saying anything else.

"Hmm... I suppose I could have cured his curse, and set it so it was locked..." Nabiki
sighed, and walked into the kitchen, looking somewhat mad herself.

"Nabiki? What are you mad about?"

"... You know how much... money you threw away, with those wishes?" she asked,
haltingly, her temper barely held in check.

"Ahh... I don't need money that badly, really..." I said, slowly.

"... Riiiight...." She said, glaring at me.

"Well... I don't. But if you want some, I'll..." I paused, thinking about how I could
follow through with what I was saying.

"... Well?" She asked, her glare intensifying.

"Um... Oh! I've got a dead Cell phone in the closet. It's a bit dated, by 2003's standards,
but still years ahead of anything now. Take it, and the charger to... well, whoever's
making Cell Phones, at the moment, and ask for a percentage of all future profits, or
something. I'm sure you can think of something good like that. Okay?"

"... I..." Nabiki paused to think about my offer, and I turned to Makoto, who hadn't said
anything, yet.

"You okay?" I asked, wondering if I'd upset her somehow.

"... 'Jupiter's Thunder?'" she finally asked, quirking a brow.

"Heh... I thought you might like it if I named it after you... sort of. Sorry. I can always
re-christen it, if you want." I said nervously.

"No... It's cute, in an evil-looking-spaceship kind of way." She said, smiling a little.

"Well..." I asked, looking at her, and then Nabiki, who'd apparently accepted my offer.

"Well what?" They asked, staring at me.

"Want to go see the ship?" I asked, smiling. Makoto nodded, and Nabiki shrugged, before
mentioning I should put on something more captain-ly. Makoto slid into some jeans and a
striped t-shirt, and I threw on my black outfit, the silk shirt and cotton pants looking
stylish, if not official. Nabiki wore a plain white shirt and khaki pants, and when we were
finally dressed, we gathered around the desk, and my modified watch.

"Ready?" I asked, holding the watch. They nodded, and I pressed the button.