After school Nabiki, Makoto and I sat in an empty classroom, trying to
work things out. That Nabiki was so willing to talk proved her unease at
the new situation.

"So, let me get this straight... I'm engaged to you, and my marriage to
Makoto is void, but because I asked for 'our' memories not to be
changed, none of us remember it?"

"Nor Ranma, he was there too, remember? Nabiki asked, before continuing,
"he doesn't remember me anymore than before, though my family does, now.
The first thing they asked was how I was getting along with my fiancee."

I chuckled, imagining Nabiki's reaction to that one, before remembering
class, earlier.

"You know... Kuno doesn't seem to have been affected, either." Nabiki
just shrugged.

"Kuno already lives in a falsified universe. I seriously doubt a change
in memories would effect the changes he makes on his own." Makoto and I
snorted, and Nabiki sighed.

"Still... What are you going to do?" Makoto asked, after a silent
moment.

"Well, seeing as how Ranma has girls fighting over him, we could
fight... I could call in a couple favors, and get some of the guys
around here to attack Kyle for random reasons..."

"Hell no!" I cried. "I'm Kyle, not Ranma! I fight with my mind, and
when that fails, I fall back on guns.. and when those run out of ammo,
then I'll use my fists!"

"But ... we don't have any guns." Makoto said, quietly.

"I... err ... will, one day. Fall back on guns before fists, that is.
Umm.. back to the important subject." I said, lamely.

"Well, daddy about cried when I 'faked' ignorance concerning you, Akane
mentioned something about perverts, and Kasumi ... was Kasumi. Ranma
didn't stick around much longer."

"Oh! Speaking of Ranma, how's he handling the change in the curse?"

"Changing the subjects just means we'll come back to it, you know."
Makoto said, beside me. I nodded, then turned to Nabiki, waiting for her
response.

"I don't think anyone knows yet ... and if Ranma keeps paying me, it
should stay that way until he forgets to change in front of people."
Nabiki sat back with a smug grin, and I sighed.

"You know, Nabiki, charging you future brother-in-law isn't all that
smart.. especially when he can do so much. A friend who could pulverize
anyone short of an Amazon Elder is worth much more than an irked and
abused ... non-elder-pulverizer."

"How ... astute." Nabiki deadpanned. I stuck my tongue out at her for a
moment, before turning to Makoto.

"Thoughts?" I asked softly.

"I..." she trailed off, frowning. Then she sighed, "I guess I'm still
just shocked. What about you? Isn't it most guy's dream to have two
girls.. or more?" I stared blankly at her, before pointing out the
window.

"You're forgetting which universe we're currently in." Makoto nodded,
and I shrugged, turning to look out the window I'd indicated.

"And," I said, realizing what I was looking at, " If you want a quick
refresher, Pantyhose and Happosai are about to duke it out. Indeed,
outside, Taro's minotaur-like figure was punching hole after hole in the
ground, a small blur darting around the swift-moving fists.

I turned to Makoto hoping to explain everything, but she was gone.
Turning back to the window, I realized what, exactly, Taro might look
like to an uninformed sailor senshi, and reached for my commlink.

"SHODAN, my apartment, as fast as possible."

My apartment materialized around me, replacing the classroom quickly. I
staggered under the disorientation such a quick double teleport caused,
then grabbed a couple somethings, before running out the door and roof-
hopping towards the school.

Arriving at the fight, I noticed Makoto, as Sailor Jupiter, glaring at
Taro and Happosai but not moving from her spot on the roof. I was about
to warn her about things when something attached to her chest.

"Hotcha! Thanks for the pick-me-up! I'll be back in a moment." Happosai
said, leaping away...

Only to be intercepted by my quickly descending foot, and sent face-
first into the roof.

"Jupiter, take the minotaur. The cling-on is mine."

Jumping to his feet at this, Happosai glared at me, and I dropped into a
fighting stance.

"You dare challenge me, and order such a beautiful person around?" I
shuddered.

"Careful there, letch, you're starting to sound like Kuno." Happosai
nodded, then frowned at me.

"I'll teach you to respect your betters, boy!" Happosai leapt at me
slowly, and I realized he was underestimating me, and going easy.
Jumping back, I watched as he landed, then jumped at me again, this time
a little faster. Ducking below his attack, I punched up at him, but he
twisted out of the way.

"Hmm.. Seems I underestimated you..." he mumbled, before leaping at me
with blinding speed. Dodging what I could and rolling with the hits I
couldn't, I shot a glance at Makoto, who was dodging the fists as well
as Happosai had, and building up one of her magical attacks. The glance
cost me, though, as a kick sent me off the roof and onto the ground
below.

Groaning, I tried to stand up, but Happosai had landed on my back while
I was dazed.

"Maybe a few days of being weak will help you reflect on your
insolence." I felt a slight pressure on my upper back, before Happosai
jumped away. Standing quickly, I pulled out my secret weapon.

"Hey, letch!" I cried, the centerfold spilling open in my hand.
Suddenly, the Playboy I'd snagged from my apartment disappeared from my
hand. Turning, I saw Happosai laying on the ground, flipping through the
magazine with giant eyes. Walking over to him, I grinned.

"Busy?" I asked, my grin turning darker.

"Get lost, weakling, I'm busy." He replied, not taking his eyes off the
magazine. Shrugging, I reared back, and kicked as hard as I could,
Happosai not even bothering to dodge.

"Hoooowww?" The shriveled Grandmaster of Anything Goes cried as he flew
towards the horizon. Sighing, I watched as Sailor Jupiter's Supreme
Thunder Dragon missed the swiftly dodging Taro.

"How you do that?" Someone asked from behind he. Turning, I saw Mousse,
Shampoo, and Cologne staring at me intently.

"Do what? Kick? Well, I lifted my foot slightly, then pulled it ba-"

"Not that! How you avoid effect of Moxibustion?" Shampoo asked. Mousse
nodded, but Cologne just watched.

Shrugging, not really thinking it was a secret or anything, I shrugged,
and slipped my vest off. Turning it around, I showed them the hole in
the pocket, then picked the magazine up off the ground, and showed them
the back cover, where a scorch-mark had burned through it and a couple
pages.

Sliding the magazine into the rear pocket, the burns lined up perfectly,
and I grinned.

"An interesting solution." Cologne said, softly. I shrugged, threw the
vest back on, then turned, hoping to get to Makoto in time to give her a
hand.

"Sonny-boy!" I heard Cologne cry. Turning to her, I caught something
moving at my head, then dropped it as it burned my hand. Looking down, I
saw a kettle of water, steaming water pouring from the spout. Picking it
up by the handle, I nodded, then ran towards Makoto's fight quickly.

Coming up Behind Taro left me facing tentacles and an eel, so I decided
to wait for a good opportunity. Ranma had faced Taro after quite a bit
of action in Nerima, and Sailor Jupiter was a bit more powerful than me
at the moment. A hit from Taro would hurt at best, and break a lot of
things at worst. Looking down at the kettle, then at Makoto and Taro, I
shrugged, then ran towards a nearby alley.

Hopping up the walls I landed on one roof, then jumped to the other,
almost looking down at the fight. Taking aim, I threw, and the kettle,
leaking water, arced towards the Minotaur. At the last moment, however,
one of Sailor Jupiter's attacks caused Taro to dodge, both the water and
the attack missing him. Unfortunately, the lightning struck the building
a couple feet below the roof where I was standing, and the ceiling below
me collapsed, spilling me down onto the street.

Rolling as best I could, I still got the air knocked out of me, and it
took a moment for me to catch my breath. Pulling out the commlink (which
I'd not really expected to survive the battle, but was happy to find out
had) I called the Thunder, leaning against the wall. As the overall pain
had dissipated, a sharper pain had made itself known, and I felt along
my ribs, until I winced as a bruise, more-than-likely a cracked rib,
protested at the pressure.

"SHODAN?" I asked, squirming until I found a position to take some of
the pressure off the rib.

"Yes, Kyle?" the AI replied quietly.

"Are you watching the fight?"

"Yes, There's a reconnaissance droid hovering near where you were
previously standing." I shrugged, then looked at Taro.

"Can you teleport a large amount of hot water on Taro?" I asked.

"Taro?"

"The Minotaur."

"Does the salinity of the water matter?" she inquired. I shook my head.

"Just the temperature. Can you do it?"

"One moment."

The air above Taro rippled, and suddenly a few cubic meters of water
fell on Taro, the steam rising from the water testifying it's
temperature. Taro shrank back into his human form, the look of surprise
on his face turning to one of pain as the Supreme Thunder Jupiter had
thrown impacted. When the lightshow ended, Taro lie smoking in a puddle
of cooling water.

"Wha..." Makoto asked, de-transforming.

"A curse ... like Ranma's." I said, walking over to her. Cologne
appeared, and knelt by Taro.

"He'll be fine, "she said, looking at the large pool of water. Sniffing
the air, I looked down and grinned. There was the distinct odor of
sulfur coming from the water, and if I was willing to taste it, I was
pretty sure It would be salty. Noticing my grin, Makoto asked what I
thought was so funny.

"SHODAN get the water from an undersea volcano. Hot water nobody would
miss." Makoto nodded, and turned to Cologne, who hopped over towards us.
"Well, I'm pretty sure you're the same couple that came to see me
before." Shrugging, I remembered she was immune to the universal
changes, and glanced at Makoto, who was looking at Taro still.

"He's not that nice a guy.. trust me. He needed that." I said. She
nodded, but still looked sad, and I shrugged again, unsure of what to
say.

"Your skills have improved quite a bit since we last spoke. You could
probably have given son-in-law a run for his money if you had been here
around when I first arrived." Cologne said, carefully.

Nodding, I looked around, then back at her.

"Did you want something, Elder Cologne?" I asked finally.

"I'm sure you'll understand my concern if you think on it for a moment."
I frowned, then turned to Makoto, then looked up at the sky. Finally, I
realized it.

"You're afraid that I can now use the lessons for the techniques I
have."

"Very good. Before, even she," Cologne motioned towards Makoto, " would
have been unable to learn them. Now however, you're almost at the level
to learn them." I frowned at her.

"Ranma, at the level we're at, beat your village best. Certainly we're
above the level you can teach those techniques at."

"Heh. You have the consistency and training, but you're both
inexperienced. You let your bodies react before you have time to develop
a strategy. If I had to theorize, you two got the skills, but didn't
receive the memory of using them. Discipline is a big part of the art,
and you both have little, compared to Shampoo, or even Akane."

"Okay.. so.. Ranma intends to teach us, it shouldn't take too long for
our minds to catch up. After that, we could more than likely learn The
Chestnut fist, maybe even the Hiryu Shoten Ha." Cologne's eyes narrowed,
and I continued, carefully.

"Of course, you could always offer to teach them to us..." Although I
said it dissmissively, she and I knew that I was asking her to.

"An ... interesting proposition. And in return for such a favor?"

"I've got a starship that could decimate your village in a few shots..."

"Don't threaten me, boy."

"Err, sorry. How about I... ahh..." I trailed off, unsure what I really
had to offer.

"Well, child, I could make you honorary Amazons ... as long as you
promise that you begin an Amazon tribe somewhere in another universe."

"That's... kind of weak..." Makoto said, haltingly.

"You two seem incapable of offering anything of value... All I ask is a
simple promise..." I blinked, then smiled.

"You just want us to establish a society in which women, or a woman is
in charge, then? And the strongest warriors are held in the highest
respect?"

"Sounds pretty diffi... oh.. oh!" Makoto said, understanding.

"That is loosely what we would consider an Amazonian society. We also
believe in tradition and honor."

"Tradition, right. Thousands of years worth? We can cover it. No
problem. Right Makoto?" Makoto nodded.

"Right! And Honor. Very honorable people. Leaders. Defenders of Justice,
even." She said.

"I seem to be missing something..." Cologne said, scowling. Makoto and I
smiled.

"DEAL!" we said at the same time. Cologne blinked, then shrugged.

"Just so long as you keep that promise..." Cologne said.

"We have every intention of keeping it." Makoto said, firmly. Looking us
both over quickly, she nodded.

"Very well, then. Stop by the Nekohanten once your minds have caught up
with your bodies." Cologne hopped away then, and I looked at Makoto.

"Amazonian Crystal Tokyo..." I said, softly.

"Wo ai ni!" Makoto said, jumping onto me in an Amazon glomp. I winced,
falling to the pavement painfully as the cracked rib flared up from the
pressure.

"Oh? What happened?" Makoto asked, getting serious.

"Ahh, I busted a rib falling." I said, straightening up.

"How bad?" she asked, softly.

"A crack, I think. Nothing too too bad." Makoto quirked a brow at me.

"Amazonian Crystal Tokyo, eh? Guess you'll have to beat me in a fight."
She said with a smirk. I shrugged, then stood, looking at Taro before
turning to Makoto.

"I'm going up to the 'Thunder' for a while. I've got a couple ...
projects I want to check up on." Makoto nodded, and I called to be
beamed up.

Arriving, Captain Archer stepped over to me, and I nodded to him,
waiting for whatever he had to tell me.

"My Lord, the report from Engineering is ready, and the Science Staff
has requested your presence when possible."

"Science, eh? Well ... let me go over that report, first. Anything
else?"

"A few incidents during shore leave. Your ... arrangement with the US
Government has kept any lasting problems from arising, but..." I nodded.
"That report, and a few others are on your desk. And when you're ready,
I'll notify the Science crew of your imminent arrival."

Disappearing into my office (A small antechamber off the main bedroom
with a rather nice desk) I sat down, and began reading the report I'd
asked for earlier.

Basically, the report told me that, despite recorded and measured
changes during the universal rewrite, no combination or reconfiguration
of the hyperdrive could produce the effect over a noticeable area.
Sighing, I pushed it aside. While it would be nice to be able to rewrite
reality as I see fit, I hadn't placed much hope in it. At least I know
knew the Jupiter's Thunder was capable of recording and somewhat
analyzing such universal disturbances.

The next report was smaller, basically describing a crewman who'd gotten
in a fight with a civilian over the layout of a Super Star Destroyer.
Glancing at the holographic globe, I wondered what the US Government was
thinking.

I'd phoned the president, and offered to speak to him personally ... and
wasn't surprised to be declined. Beaming down to the Oval Office (after
beaming the Secret Servicemen nearby out onto the lawn below) The
President was more willing to listen. Explaining the need for shore
leave, I offered some printed information on fusion reactors that would
advance the United States power situation beyond 2000.

His initial defiance was culled somewhat as I showed him via the
commlink exactly what he was opposing, and proving with a heavy
turbolaser blast to the Nevada desert that it wasn't just a screenshot
from Star Wars, he agreed, and I went on my way, moments before the
Secret Service burst in, weapons drawn.

The officer who was assaulted attracted little attention, but more than
I, the US Government, or his superiors would have liked. Writing a quick
note to keep him off the next few rotations, I flipped through the rest
of the reports, nodding.

Finally standing, a half hour later, I stretched, before wincing in
pain. Leaving the office, I found Captain Archer waiting on the bridge,
and I called him over quietly.

"Yes, Lord Kyle?"

"Medical, then Science. I'm on my way."

I turned and left after he nodded, and made my way to the turbo lift
that would take me to the first aid station we'd passed during the
initial tour. The Officer in Duty had his back turned to me as I
entered, and I coughed slightly to get his attention.

"Don't be impatient, trooper, I'll be done in a moment," he said,
putting another bottle back on the shelf before punching something in on
the datapad he held in his hand.

"First time anyone's treated me like that on my ship..." I quipped. The
Datapad hit the floor, and the officer spun, eyes wide.

"My Lord!"

"Well ... if you have to. Leave that pause between the words out. I'm a
superior, not a Deity."

"Yes, my Lord!" he said, shaking slightly as he stood at attention. I
sat down in a chair, slowly, before waving at him to relax.

"Stand at ease. I'm in need of some medical assistance. I cracked a rib
earlier, and was wondering what you could do for me."

The Officer sighed in relieve, before picking up some sort of scanner.
Holding it over the area I indicated, he waited for it to beep, before
turning to a large screen on the back wall. An image of the rib,
transparent musculature around it, was displayed, text scrolling down
the side of the screen slowly.

"It's cracked, all right, but not much... mor.. hmm.." he said, trailing
off.

"Something wrong?" I asked, standing beside him. he jumped then stepped
away nervously, before pointing.

"That," he said, circling a slight bump on the bone, "is a healed
fracture..."

"But that's the one I got today," I said, carefully.

"Yes.. either you re-broke it, or it's already started to heal."

"Keen," I muttered softly. Turning to the Doctor, I quirked a brow, "So
what can you do for me?"

"Well Lord Kyle, With a simple fracture, the best I can offer are some
pain killers. Had it been a complete break, we would have to wrap them,
and hope they set close to normal, but..." He trailed off, looking back
at the X-ray-like image onscreen.

"Well, gimmie something that wont cause drowsiness." I said, finally.
The Doctor nodded, then handed me a pad to sign. Jotting my name down
quickly, I handed the pad back, and turned to go, swallowing one of the
pills in the bottle as I did so. Turning to glance at the Doctor as I
left, I nodded before the door shut behind me.

The walk to Science was a little lengthier, and I wondered what was so
important that they had called for me, instead of sending me a report.

A few minutes later, I arrived, the Officer in Charge waiting
expectantly for me.

"Ah, Lord Kyle. I'm glad to see you got our summons."

"Ahh... yeah. What was it you wanted to see me about?"

"Right to the point, eh? It's about the Jusenkyo Water you had
collected." I perked up, my curiosity piqued.

"Oh?"

"After purifying the water, we tested the minerals and impurities, and
found that, when added to standard water, they would create a one-time
curse, much like the 'Instant Spring of Drowned Man' packets you told us
about. However, even without the impurities, the Jusenkyo waters
exhibited form-altering properties." I nodded.

"That's hardly startling," I said, softly, "or new."

"Yes, my lord, but after breaking down the water into it's component
atoms, we discovered that the oxygen gas carries the curse, while the
hydrogen stays hydrogen."

"So the curse is a mainly held in the oxygen atoms.. neat. And we
breathe oxygen, so... heh. I guess that makes sense ... somehow." The
Officer nodded, then smiled, letting me know there was more. I waited,
and he began speaking once more.

"The Oxygen we obtained was minimal, as we had a small supply of
Jusenkyo water to work with. However, one of our Scientists tried
replacing some of the Tibanna gas in a standard sidearm with the oxygen.
Without the potent gas, the blast was strong enough at it's highest
setting to stun a full grown man, but the interesting side-effect was
the beam carries the curse, much like the water and oxygen."

I stared at him.

"You're saying I can curse someone with a blaster?" I asked
incredulously.

"Precisely, my Lord!"

"How many shots per weapon?" I asked, thinking.

"Not too many. The Tibanna gas was one of the primary reactants, and
with it's potency retarded by the cursed oxygen, even a fully charged
blaster is limited. Eight shots with a sidearm, Fifteen with a Rifle." I
nodded, thinking.

"Have you tried using the one-time curse water oxygen?"

"Er..."

"I take that as a no. See if you can get a temporary-curse in a standard
sidearm."

"Yes, My lord!"

"And..." I paused, before looking at a wall sensor set near the ceiling,
"SHODAN?"

"Yes?"

"Officer..." I looked at the science officer, who jumped to attention.

"Lieutenant Commander Cantrell, My Lord!"

"...Cantrell has permission to requisition a squad of stormtroopers for
retrieval of Jusenkyo water." I nodded, and the Science officer,
saluted, before going to work.

Looking at the gray, well lit corridors of my ship, I sighed, realizing
what I had to do now.

"Nabiki..." I said, before calling SHODAN and telling her to beam me to
Makoto.

**************************
Chapter 10.. Done. Chapter 11, coming... eventually.

BTW, last chapter was initially spell checked by Nate, and I forgot to
mention it. Soo... Thanks, Nate!