Tatton Ranma

Disclaimer: I didn't do it! I swear!

: Thoughts

Chapter 8

An Eye for an Eye

"Are you sure that you don't want me to, you know?" Balla asked as she watched her beloved prepare to go off to his job at the coffee shop.

"It's okay, Balla." Eric replied. "I'll be fine."

It had been a week since Ranma's fateful encounter with Kasumi Tendo and he had been extremely quiet since then. During that time, Eric had learned more about Tattoon Magic and had even mastered a few simple spells. Of course, he still trained as a martial artist, but was now incorporating his newfound skills into his fighting style. As he continued to improve himself, he began to slowly, but surely break away from the Anything Goes Martial Arts. As he no longer considered himself as Genma's son, he had decided to create his own personal fighting style. If his opponent didn't hold back, then he saw no reason to pull his punches either. He wasn't interested in flashy moves or taunting his adversary. He was now brutally efficient and would use whatever moves were necessary to bring his foe down. In that way, his enemy would know that he was dead serious in a fight. The cockiness and arrogance was gone, and in its place was an attitude that had zero tolerance for the crap that Ranma had endured in Nerima.

For the most part, the Anything Goes was based on the principals of thievery, lying and trickery. Therefore, Eric had decided to throw out the old codes. To HELL with Genma's hypocritical sense of honor, gluttony, greed, and his habit of making his son take the blame for his father's crimes. That no-hitting girls policy, even when they truly deserved it, also sucked! The overdevloped sense of pride was discarded as well. As of now, it didn't matter what gender his opponent was. No one was going to force him into anything. His engagement to Balla was the only exception, for the Tattoon girl gave him the faith and understanding that Akane and all those other fiancees never had. Eric's new codes were simple and straightforward. He belonged to nobody! If you keep your promises and honor to him, then he would keep his. Don't bother him and he won't have to hurt you. Piss him off... then it will be your funeral.

Balla as still a bit worried as she asked, "But what if that awful Nabiki person finds you? You told me that she's the most likely to find out where you work and live. Then she'll..."

Eric shrugged. "I'm counting on it."

"What?"

He then gave her a small smile. "Let's just say that this meeting has been long in coming and after all that I had to go through in Tokyo, it had finally gotten through my thick skull on how to handle her. The answer was so obvious, that I should have kicked myself for not realizing it sooner. Nabiki isn't as smart as she thinks she is. She's really predictable and she's no more than a minor itch to be scratched. The only reasons why I didn't do it before was because of my stupid pride, and letting other things keep me from doing what needed to be done. I'm taking control of my life and I refuse to let her screw it up for me now."

"But..."

"It's okay, Balla. I'll be fine, and after today, I'll have one less headache to deal with. So don't worry, all right? Hey, how about teaching me more about my Tattoon Powers when I get back?"

"No problem." The Tattoon Priestess leaned forward and gave Ranma an affectionate peck on his cheek. This time, the martial artist did not flinch. Just as he reached up to stroke the spot, a new symbol formed on his skin for a moment, then faded away.

Balla nodded as she noted the new secondary tattoo, which had been a rough, triangular shape and had three lines radiating out from it. "Your new tattoos are forming nicely. Take care."

Ranma nodded as he headed off to work. As he walked down the street, his thoughts went back to a certain, money-grubbing, unscrupulous Tendo daughter and all she had done to him, and what she was most likely going to do to him when she met up with him again.

Not THIS time, Nabiki. Not now... NOT EVER!

It had taken him a week to set the stage for this event, and he was certain that Nabiki would not soon forget this day.

After her beloved had left, Balla found herself pacing their apartment, still worrying over what he would do in his encounter with Nabiki. She then shook her head, dispelling those thoughts. Eric had assured her that he would not harm Nabiki, (physically at least), and the Tatton Priestess had complete faith in him. Trust was important to maintain a good relationship. That was something that Akane never had with Ranma and gave Balla a substantial edge.

Balla then decided to do some grocery shopping to keep herself occupied. She went into her room and began changing out of her normal tribal wear. Since coming to Hiroshima, Eric had bought her some new clothes, since she couldn't keep going around in her school uniform or her usual Tattoon outfit. She picked out a simple white blouse with a denim skirt ensemble and walking shoes. After changing clothes and brushing out her hair, she took a look in a full-lenght mirror and nodded before getting her purse and heading out the door. When she had left her village to search for Eric, her father had given her a sizeable amount of gold and jewels for traveling expenses and such. She had converted some of that fortune into currency and had opened up an account.

The priestess then headed out the door toward the shopping district.

Three blocks away, some time later...

Nabiki was sitting near the counter of the coffee shop, and was sipping on a cup of tea as she waited for Ranma. According to her calculations, he should be arriving for work in about five minutes. She looked about and saw that the establishment was fairly secluded and was certain that her business with Ranma would be secure. There was no one else around aside from a vagrant in a trench coat that was sitting at a table a few meters away. In any case, Ranma was just a dumb jock that was obsessed with martial arts. Always have been, always will be. He didn't know squat when it came to anything else and she could always play on that inflated ego of his. He had nowhere near the intelligence to have gotten away from Nerima all on his own and she already knew about the part the Furinkan Computer Club had played in making him a new identity. That in itself can be played as one of her trump cards to force him to return.

Her head perked up when she saw someone enter the front door. She nodded as she saw who it was. His hair had been cropped short and he now sported an x-shaped scar on his forehead, but that was Ranma, no doubt about it.

He was dressed in a formal dress shirt and slacks, which was probably the standard uniform of the coffee shop. He waved to the manager, who was behind the counter, who in turned greeted him.

"Hey, Eric! How's it going?"

"Not bad. Anyone here for me to wait on?" Eric replied, as he saw Nabiki out of the corner of his left eye.

"It's been pretty slow, so you can just go and refill this lady's tea." The manager gestured to the Tendo girl as he also gave Eric a slight shrug of his shoulders.

Eric nodded as he walked over to her and said in a very polite manner. "Hello there. I'm Eric and I'll be your server for today. Is there anything I can do for you?" Inside of him, he was trying extremely hard not to show any disgust for the middle Tendo daughter.

Nabiki smiled at the loaded question as she turned to face him with a smug grin. "Why yes, there are a couple of things you can do for me... Ranma!"

Eric showed no change in expression as he said, "Excuse me? I think you have mistaken me for someone else."

"Oh, there's no mistake... Ranma Saotome."

The shopping district...

Balla decided to stop at a restaurant to have some tea before going home to begin cooking dinner for her Eric. Setting down her bags of groceries, she sat down at a booth and ordered for some green tea. As she waited, her Tattoon senses began alerting her of some presences that reminded her of Eric. She wondered just what or who was giving her such strong impressions. She began fine-tuning her perceptions, causing the tattoo on her forehead to faintly appear. Since the presences were nearby, she didn't have to bring out the full power of the mark. She looked about and when she pinpointed the source, she looked out of the corner of her right eye and saw two women sitting at a nearby booth.

At that particular booth, Nodoka and Atsuko were enjoying their tea when the younger sister suddenly got a kind of feeling that someone was watching them. Nodoka looked about and caught sight of a certain someone that she had seen at the festival.

"Oh look! There she is!"

"Who?" Atsuko asked.

"The one from the festival. It's Eric's girlfriend." She gestured with a finger in Balla's direction.

"Oh?" Atsuko looked to where her sister was pointing. "Oh. Well, she might not be Eric's girlfriend you know."

"No. I'm certain that she is! I saw how she was around him during the fireworks. And she fits the description that Eric's co-workers had given to me. Let's go see her! I've been wanting to meet her for some time now."

"Now hold on, sister. Even if she is Eric's girlfriend, it's not really any of our business..."

Nodoka however, wasn't listening as she got up and took hold of her sibling's hand. Atsuko found herself being dragged out of her seat and pulled toward Balla's booth.

Eric's workplace...

Eric simply shrugged his shoulders. "I'm sorry, but my name is Eric Kobayashi. I have no idea who this Ranma person is."

By now, Nabiki decided that it was time to take control. "Oh, you can just drop this whole charade, Ranma. I know who you are and everyone is going to know WHERE you are. Now, are you going to come quietly back to Nerima, or must I make your life a living hell in Hiroshima?"

"Lady, I don't know why you think I'm this Ranma person, but there are laws against people who make threats."

Nabiki gave off a small laugh. She couldn't believe that Ranma was actually trying to stand up against her, the Ice Queen of Furinkan. How amusing. "Oh come on now, Ranma. We both know that you're going back, and there's not a blessed thing you can do about it." She then gave him one of her taunting expressions. "Do you know that Happosai and our fathers are here? Hmmm? And so are Ukyo, Shampoo, Cologne and all the others who are just DYING to get their hands on you. You caused quite a stir when you went and left Nerima. Now I CAN sell them the information on where you work and live or..."

"Or what?" Eric asked, though he knew what the answer would be.

"Or you can simply come back to the dojo. Do you know that Kuno is hungry for photos again? Even those pictures I took of Akane in the bath aren't enough and he REALLY wants to see his 'pigtailed goddess' again."

"I STILL don't know why you insist that I'm this Ranma guy, but don't you think that taking pictures of someone naked without their permission, let alone forcing someone into it, is illegal? And besides that, blackmail and making threats is also against the law."

Nabiki snorted at her main source of income. "And what brought this on, Ranma? You think that you're going to tell the police, especially with no proof? Do you think that the Nerima police is going to care what you could say to them, especially with your curse? They haven't done a single thing since you came to our house, so what makes you think they're going to do anything now? They're all just a bunch of idiots who'd rather not get involved."

"Oh, I don't know." Eric shrugged. "I think the main reason why they didn't get involved was because they didn't have any solid evidence to go on, especially with that Underwear Thief and... certain people who were too afraid to speak out, mostly because of you."

"And what are you implying?" Nabiki began to get the feeling that Ranma wasn't the least bit concerned about his situation, but she was certain that she held all the cards.

"I'm saying that you must have pissed off quite a few people with your schemes, especially this Ranma person that you think that I am. I would say that people were probably afraid that you'd reveal certain secrets about them, which made it easy for you to fleece them of their hard-earned money. As far I can see, you're nothing more than an opportunistic parasite."

"Sticks and stones, Ranma." Nabiki commented with an off-handed wave. "I'm merely conducting business."

"You mean blackmail."

"I like to think of it as enforced payment collection."

"Underage pornography."

"It's simply supply and demand."

"Demand that you created in the first place, by offering the buyers a free sample, then getting them hooked. You're no better than a drug dealer."

"I'm simply an entrepreneur." Nabiki replied casually. "I just saw a potential market and helped it along. Kuno would have demanded for those photos of his 'fierce tigress' and his 'pigtailed goddess' sooner or later."

"And how about all those people that you've blackmailed? The Computer Club, half the Furinkan teaching staff and nearly all the students at the high school? Digging into their personal lives IS an invasion of their privacy, you know."

Nabiki gave a nonchalant 'hmpf' as she said, "I really don't think that reminding me of what I've already done is going to do you any good, Ranma. Like I said before, you don't have any proof, and even if you did, no one would believe you. So what are you going to do? Beat me up? I know you more than you know yourself, Ranma. You won't hit a girl and even if you did, I can simply have you up on assault charges."

"You seem to think that you know everything about this Ranma person, except that for the fact that I'm not him."

"Go ahead, Ranma. Keep on denying. You're just digging that hole even deeper."

"Nodoka, this is none of our business." Atsuko whispered as she and her sister approached Balla's booth.

Her sister continued to ignore her sibling as she smiled and introduced herself to the Tattoon girl. "Hello there. I know that we've never met before, but I've been wanting to meet with you for some time now."

The blonde-haired girl quickly made her forehead tattoo disappear before looking up and smiling at the two. "Oh really?"

Atsuko's sister nodded. "I believe that we know the same person? His name is Eric Kobayashi."

"Oh, you know my Eric?"

The question was actually unnecessary, since Balla had already detected the spiritual connection between this woman and her boyfriend. The other woman had a somewhat lesser connection to him, but she could feel that she was strongly connected to Nodoka. She correctly assumed by this and their physical resemblance to each other, that they were related. She also noted that Nodoka had the same gray-blue eyes as her Eric. Interesting.

Nodoka nodded. "Yes. He happens to be my favorite server at another cafe. I had heard that he had a girlfriend. His friends tell me that she had beautiful blonde hair and a wonderful smile. When I saw you with him at the festival, I just knew that you were her."

Balla smiled warmly as she motioned for the two women to sit down. "It's a pleasure to meet you. I'm Balla."

"My name is Nodoka and this is my sister Atsuko."

Back to the other place...

Eric glared at the mercenary sister of the Tendo clan. When he had first seen her, he had a small hope that Nabiki still had a shred of decency left in her. However, whatever humanity she had left, had either been thrown away for greed or hidden so deep that it may as well been lost. So it was with a little regret that he had to... remove her from his new life.

Akane's sister noted Ranma's long silence and felt that she now had him backed into a corner. She didn't think it would hurt to gloat a bit more before driving the final nail of the coffin. "Nothing more to say, Ranma? Well, I don't blame you, considering that you don't have any choice in the matter. Now, shall we get back to the dojo? I'm certain that Akane is anxious to see you again."

"Actually... I do have a few things to say." Eric said as he crossed his arms on his chest. "You, Nabiki Tendo, are the COLDEST, most vindictive person I have ever met."

"Like I said, Ranma, sticks and stones."

"I just can't believe that ANYONE would so casually disregard the feelings of others and use them as pawns, just to fill one's own purse with their money."

"As I said before, it's just business."

"And how about the fact that Happosai, aka the Underwear Thief is being sheltered at your home?"

"That's no concern of mine, Ranma. It's YOUR job to keep him under control. And besides, the betting pools I have with your fights with him are also good money-makers."

"And how about those people who are forced to do your dirty work of spying and racketeering? A few hundred yen in simple wagers is nothing, but I hear that a lot of people owe you thousands!"

"Hundreds of thousands, actually, but what's the difference? It was their fault for gambling in the first place. In any case, this reminiscing of old times has been fun, but I still haven't heard your answer, Ranma."

"Old times? You're still doing it even now."

Nabiki gave an off-handed wave. "Yes, yes, yes. It's been a very profitable eighteen months. Well, except for the time when you left Nerima, but I figure that a few choice photos of your other self in some provocative lingerie should be enough to recoup my losses. Now then, Ranma, what's it going to be?"

"One last thing, Nabiki Tendo."

Already, Nabiki had gotten bored with Ranma's pathetic attempt to match verbal skills with her. "Oh, very well Ranma. I'll humor you. But then I expect to hear your answer."

"Oh, you'll get my answer. Now, my question is, do you have any regrets whatsoever, of what you had done to this Ranma person and all those other people that you had hurt with your schemes?"

Soun's middle daughter was silent for a long time, then replied, "As I said before Ranma. That was all business. I did what I had to do."

Eric nodded as he said, "Well then. It looks like I must do, what I have to do as well."

Back to Balla...

Balla and the two sisters enjoyed each other's company as they conversed about a certain x-scarred martial artist. The Tattoon Priestess however, couldn't get over that feeling that Nodoka had an especially close bond with her Eric, even though she said that she had only met him a few months ago. The blonde girl was tempted to use her powers to probe deeper into Nodoka's psyche, but with the two sisters sitting across from her, they were bound to see the tattoo appearing on her forehead.

"So how long have you known Eric?" Nodoka asked.

"Sister! You shouldn't be so nosy!" Atsuko scolded.

Balla waved it off. "Oh, I don't mind. I just love talking about my Eric."

"Tell us all about him." Nodoka asked, giving Balla her full attention.

The girl took on a thoughtful look. "Well... I'll have to admit that he wasn't exactly what I had been expecting when I first met him. He was... rough, abrasive and wasn't afraid to speak out his mind. Our first meeting was a little rocky."

"A little rocky?" Atsuko asked with a bit of a teasing tone. She remembered Eric's discussion with Kasumi at the festival.

"All right, it was VERY rocky." Balla admitted. "And it took a long while before he and I came to an understanding. But all those things that make Eric what he is today is what I love so much about him."

"Ah, I see." Nodoka nodded knowingly. She admired such loyalty and devotion. If only her son would be as fortunate as Eric to have such a girl by his side.

Balla nodded as she continued. "I know that Eric is hard to be with, but once you get to know him like I do, then you'd see that he's a good and kind person underneath that rough exterior. He's brave, he always looks out for his friends and he never backs down. He'll always do what needs to be done."

The coffee shop...

"Then you're coming with me to Nerima, right?" Nabiki asked with a smug expression, thinking that her money-maker had no choice.

"Wrong." Ranma then turned to the vagrant who was sitting at the table on the other side of the cafe. "Will that be enough, Officer Nagata?"

The 'vagrant' nodded as he stood up and removed his trench coat, revealing a uniform underneath, specifically of the Tokyo Police!

"That will be fine, son." The officer said as he signaled to his partner.

The 'manager' quickly rounded the counter and flashed a badge while whipping out a pair of handcuffs.

Nabiki's smugness disappeared as all the color drained out of her face. "W-W-What is this?!"

Now it was Eric's turn to be smug as the two officers came up to the table, blocking off the girl's avenues of escape. "May I introduce you to Detective Nagata and Sergeant Tanaka of the Tokyo Police Department, specifically of the Nerima Precinct?"

"W-W-What?!" The Tendo girl gasped as she was roughly hauled up by the detective's partner.

Officer Tanaka quickly grabbed hold of her wrists and moved them to her back before fastening the handcuffs on her.

"Nabiki Tendo, you are under arrest." The detective said.

"WHAT?! ON WHAT CHARGE?!"

"Extortion, blackmail, illegal gambling, and underage pornography for starters."

"What do you mean?! Where's your proof?!"

Eric then replied. "Oh, did I mention that our entire conversation has been recorded?"

The detective nodded as he signaled toward the door that led to the kitchen. Another officer appeared while holding a listening headset.

"Nice confession on your part, don't you think, Nabiki?" Eric said with a knowing grin. "You of all people would know the value of gathering information and evidence on a person."

By now, Soun's middle daughter was in total shock. Ranma had actually pulled this off?! He had outmaneuvered her?! It couldn't be! It was impossible! Ranma didn't have that kind of smarts!

Eric continued to gaze upon her as she was being taken away to the officers' undercover car.

"YOU CAN'T DO THIS TO ME! I'LL GET YOU FOR THIS, RANMA SAOTOME!!!"

Balla's beloved shrugged. "Ranma Saotome? Never heard of him."

Scene change...

"Eric isn't the kind of person who lets bad things get to him. He's very direct and once he does something, he'll follow through." Balla continued.

"Yes, that was my impression of him as well." Nodoka agreed. "Truly a man among men."

"Oh please, Sister. Let's not start THAT again!" Atsuko was getting tired of hearing that 'man among men' phrase.

The Tattoon girl became confused at that statement, then shrugged. "Even though Eric can get really angry, that's only because people don't understand him. He's been through a lot of things; a lot more than most people realize."

"Yes. I can imagine." Nodoka thought back to the festival and eric's outburst toward Kasumi.

"But he'd NEVER, EVER hurt an innocent. The only people he has hurt were the ones that deserved it."

"Oh my." Atsuko remarked.

Eric's girl then added, "But he's starting to change. I've noticed it. He used to deal things with just his fists, but now he's trying to find alternatives."

Back to Eric...

Detective Nagata stayed as his partners ushered the suspect to the vehicle. "I'd like to thank you again for helping the police. At first, we didn't believe you when you said you had some information concerning the Underwear Thief and rumors of racketeering near Furinkan High, but when you started sending us those negatives and files..."

"I'm just doing my duty as a concerned citizen, sir." Eric replied. "Though I hope you will honor our agreement..."

The detective nodded. "As far as we're concerned, you were just an anonymous tipster. The recordings and evidence you've provided for us is more than enough to build a case against Miss Tendo. In addition to the charges I've already mentioned, I'm pretty sure that we can also add harboring a known felon."

"Felons actually." The former Nerima resident corrected. "There's one more bastard you can add to your list. His name is Genma Saotome. I'm certain that if you look back on past cases of unsolved petty thievery, you'll find his name and description. I've also got some evidence on him as well. Hold on a minute." He quickly walked over to a place behind the main counter. At that moment, the real manager of the cafe emerged from the kitchen.

"Is everything all right, officer?" The middle-aged man asked.

"We're just finishing up here." Nagata replied as Ranma then returned with a large envelope, which he handed to the officer.

"Here. This should be enough evidence to nail Genma Saotome to the wall and there are also some things you should know about Happosai, the Underwear Thief."

"Thank you." The policeman looked into the envelope's contents and then gave Eric a confused look after seeing a photo of Happosai during one of his panty raids. It figured that Nabiki would have shots of him, in order to keep the letch from bothering her. "This runt is the Underwear Thief?!"

"Don't let his looks fool you. He's a very dangerous and formidable martial artist. It's almost impossible to bring him down. However, I've listed his weaknesses and if you follow that information, then you should be able to handle him. At the very least, he won't be able to steal and harass people with impunity anymore. The authorities will know who he is."

"All right... I guess you've given us much more to work with than what we had before."

"Oh, and I've also made a few other calls before you came here. In that envelope, you'll find a list of numbers of people that can help you in your case against Nabiki Tendo and the Underwear Thief."

The detective smiled as he read the underlying meaning to Eric's words. "I take it that you weren't the only one that she pissed off, eh?"

The x-scarred martial artist smiled as he bid the officer goodbye. "Thank you for taking the time to come to Hiroshima to hear me out, and set up this sting operation."

"Good day to you..." The detective gazed on the teen for a long time, taking in every detail of the martial artist. There had been stories of an exceptional fighter that had disappeared several months ago in Nerima. The tales of his fights and outrageous escapades had been the stuff of legends and myths. However, with his disappearance, all the chaos that surrounded him also vanished. And now this young man had just come out of the blue with information that could help the police solve some of the most mind-boggling crimes of that selfsame area. It was so obvious, that a cadet fresh from the police academy could have deduced the identity of their 'anonymous tipster.'

However, they had already made an agreement. In exchange for the information, files, photographic and audio evidence, the police would not ask about, nor call upon their informant. Not that it mattered. With the list of phone numbers that Eric had given to him, Nagata was certain that other witnesses could be found to testify against Nabiki and those other criminals.

"Sayonara, Kobayashi-san." The officer gave Ranma a polite bow and exited the cafe.

Balla again...

"In the end, Eric is just trying to make himself into something more than what he was. He came to Hiroshima to get away from his old problems and start over. After what he told me about his old life, I don't blame him and I stand by him one hundred percent!"

Nodoka and Atsuko nodded in agreement. From what they had seen and heard at the festival, they could believe it. Of course, they did not tell Balla that they had been eavesdropping. It was then that Atsuko glanced at her watch.

"Oh dear! Look at the time. Nodoka, we need to get going."

The younger sibling nodded as they both rose to their feet. As they turned to head for the cashier, they bowed to Balla.

"It was a pleasure speaking with you Balla, and I hope to see you again." Nodoka said.

"Same here, Ms... I'm sorry, but I didn't catch your last name."

Atsuko nodded as she replied. "Our family name is Kobayashi."

"Kobayashi? Are you related to Eric?" Balla wondered if that was the reason why she felt such a strong impression from their spiritual energies. She took a sip of tea.

Nodoka shook her head. "I would love to call Eric as one of our family, but no. Kobayashi is a very common name. Actually, I go by my husband's family name. My full name is Nodoka Saotome."

At that point, Balla nearly choked on her tea. She quickly swallowed and took a deep breath as she looked up at the woman with a bit of shock.

"Is something wrong?"

"Er... uh, well... no... nothing's wrong." Balla stuttered as she made the shocking connection. Eric had told her of his previous life as Ranma Saotome and now this woman claimed to be a Saotome! With the strong spiritual essence being similiar to Eric's, that meant...

"I do have a son named Ranma who would be about Eric's age by now. Oh, I would be very proud if he turned out to be even half the man that Eric is." Nodoka said dreamily.

"Oh... I'm pretty certain that he will be." Balla said nervously. That last statement of Nodoka's had been the clincher and now she was at a loss of what to do.

"How do you know?" Nodoka inquired.

Balla shrugged while giving her a smile. "Well... call it a hunch. With you as his mother, how could he not be?"

The two sisters laughed lightly at what they thought was a joke and bid the girl goodbye. A few minutes later, after paying the cashier for their drinks, they departed from the establishment, leaving the mystic girl alone with her thoughts.

Balla knew that Eric wanted nothing to do with his former life, though he had never mentioned his mother. He unconditionally despised his father Genma. The Tattoon Priestess became torn. She had just spent the last half-hour talking to someone who was technically her mother-in-law! Now the real question was... should she tell Eric?

She knew next to nothing as to what he felt toward Nodoka, though her intital impressions of her were favorable. She seemed like a very nice person and Balla had detected no malice or harsh feelings from her and she held her son in very high regard. What would be the harm of telling Eric? Then again, she had no way of predicting how he would react if she did so. Perhaps the reason why he never talked about his mother was because he hated her as well.

The blonde girl sighed. She had wanted to learn more about her husband, but she now in possession of something that even he didn't know. She was going to have to give this a lot of thought.

Later that night, at their apartment...

"So Nabiki is going to prison?" Balla asked as she and Eric practiced some breathing exercises to help focus their Tattoon Powers. Both were sitting cross-legged on the floor, opposite to each other. The priestess was in her tribal wear while her husband was bare-chested and wearing only a pair of silk pants. Balla's tattoos were prominently displayed. Ranma's secondary marks were glowing brightly, as well as the primary symbol on his forehead. The x-shaped mark had morphed into a symbol that was similar to the one that was on Balla's forehead. At present, he had seven tattoos; one on his forehead, one on his right cheek, one on the back of each hand, with two on his right forearm and one on his left bicep.

Eric nodded to her question as he took another deep breath. "Like I told you before, I wasn't going to let that mercenary or anyone else screw up my life anymore. The police weren't the only ones I called this week. I got in touch with some people that she's blackmailed, and they've agreed to be witnesses against her. I also gave Detective Nagata a list of her associates, and I'm willing to bet that they'll testify against her to avoid getting criminal records. Nabiki had made a LOT of enemies and very few friends."

The High Priestess of the Tattoon Tribe nodded as she noted that a new tattoo was beginning to form on Eric's chest, just above his heart. "So, now you don't have to worry about her anymore. And I'm very proud that you handled her without having to fight or hurt anyone."

Eric gave the Tattoon girl a sheepish smile. "Well, fists wouldn't have worked against her, no matter how much I wanted to pound her for what she did to me. When I stopped and thought about it, I realized that Nabiki was nothing more than a penny ante operator, and that she was very predictable. I guess it was my pride which kept me from seeing that. She only got away with things for so long, because I never used my head. I was never prepared for anything besides martial arts, and she took advantage of that. When I finally got away from Nerima, I realized that if I wanted to get ahead in life and protect myself from those kinds of attacks, then I needed to learn how to fight without my fists."

Balla nodded as she continued to listen. The mark on Eric's chest fully appeared and took a crescent shape.

Ranma continued to talk as he felt more power flowing through his body as his ki realigned itself with the magic of the tattoos. "Nabiki played on my arrogance and... yeah, I'll admit it, my stupidity. And since I learned to be an idiot from my father, I just didn't know how to stop her and I ended up being her money-maker."

"But you won in the end, Eric!"

"Yeah. I do learn. It may take a while for things to get through my thick skull, but I do learn. Nabiki underestimated me when we met today. She thought that I was still the same, stupid jock that I was back in Tokyo. Well, I may not be able to get her for EVERYTHING that she did to me, but the charges that are against her now should be enough."

"She's going away for a long time." Balla agreed.

Eric nodded wholeheartedly. "Once I got away from that crap in Nerima, I started to actually think about things and let go of that ego of mine. It's caused me nothing but trouble. I'm not concerned with being THE best anymore. I just want to be the best that 'I' can be. That's good enough for me. And I finally realized that I don't have to face everything by myself. It's... really good to have somebody who's with me... you know?"

Balla blushed a bit and smiled, then decided to change the subject. "So... what are you going to do when all those others come for you?"

"I'll deal with them. I have a feeling that I'm going to need my new powers. They might be my ace in the hole."

Balla nodded again as she and Eric continued their breathing exercises.

At a certain hotel...

"YOU'RE WHERE?!" Soun screamed as he clutched the phone in his hand. Behind him, Genma wondered what was going on.

Guess who just called from a jail cell?

In their bedrooms, Akane and Kasumi looked up and saw their father shouting hysterically at the receiver. After her encounter with Ranma, the eldest sister had become reclusive and would not speak to anyone. As for Akane, she of course, blamed Ranma for her sister's state of distress and promised to deliver immense pain to her wayward 'fiance' when she caught up with him.

At another hotel...

"Shampoo, you must do all that is necessary to bring back your groom." Cologne said as she addressed her great-grandchild.

"Yes, great-grandmother! I will bring back Airen!" The purple-haired girl said as she prepared to go out in search of her husband.

Cologne then stiffened as she began sensing a strange energy that was emanating from somewhere near the center of the city. The three hundred-year-old matriarch began to wonder just where she had encountered such power before, then a chill went down her spine as a centuries-old memory came back to her.

It... couldn't be... could it?

Then a word began echoing in her head as the energies she felt became even stronger.

Tattoon.

Back at Eric's apartment, Balla had decided. Her beloved had a right to know and trust was very importatnat in a relationship.

"Eric?"

"Yeah, Balla?"

"There's something that I need to tell you..."

Meanwhile...

The girl in a hooded cloak watched the setting sun from a rooftop. It had taken her some time, but she had finally tracked down her quarry. Soon, she would have her revenge against the High Priestess of the Tattoon Tribe. With a wave of her hand, she invoked a spell as a mystic tattoo appeared on her forehead, causing her to disappear from sight.

To be continued...

Author's notes

For those of you who are wondering, yes, this time around there was no bloodbath, but that doesn't mean that there won't be more in future chapters. As for my solution to the Nabiki problem, well I figured that once Ranma realized that he doesn't have to handle everything by himself, then using the law to help him wouldn't be out of the question, right? As for the charges of pornography, yes, it's true that Japan has looser rules concerning nudity and such, but remember that it is always with the consent of the people involved. I asked a friend of mine who works with a Japanese officer and he told me that as long as it is with the consent of the persons involved, then the law isn't that harsh. However, did Nabiki ever ask for Ranma or Akane permission for those photos? Nope. She either took them without them knowing it, or blackmailed them. Furthermore, she sold those photos to Kuno and any other pervert, thereby inciting more trouble for Ranma. In real life, such action can be charged, even in Japan as invasion of privacy, as well as pornography of minors without any consent. And just remember, Nabiki is eighteen now and can be tried as an adult.

Even though Ranma's curse does make a difficult case in court, the little sting operation and Eric's preparations should be more than enough to at least give Nabiki a criminal record, which will make her life even harder. Getting a job may be all but impossible in Japan with a criminal past.

Well, enough about this chapter. In chapter nine, Shampoo and Cologne will soon learn just how powerful Eric has become and we'll also see the final confrontation between Happosai and our new Ranma.

That takes care of the final rewrite of the eight chapters. I've been having writer's block with ch.9 and the rewrites of the previous parts have helped me get over that. As for what's going to happen next, well... you'll just have to wait.