Twilight of the Senshi

by Eric Thorsen

A Ranma, Sailor Moon Crossover. This story is based on a common theme, with uncommon execution... What if the Moon Kingdom wasn't the only government in the solar system during the silver millenium? What really happened back then? What does it mean now?

3. Part Three

1This is a Ranma ½, Sailor Moon, Self-Insertion

Legal Notes: Every thing mentioned in this Fanfic belongs to their respective creators, and no infringement was intended here. This Fanfic is for entertainment use only.

Twilight of the New Senshi

by

Stacko

Edited by Lord Dragonbane

x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x

Part Three

x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x

Ranma and Steve were waiting outside the back of school for Kuno to show up. Nabiki had came in between class and told Ranma that Kuno wanted to see him after school. Steve went along to keep Ranma company. So they waited patiently as they waited for Kuno to show. In a couple of minutes, they saw Kuno approaching with a panda doll in his hands, dressed in his kendo outfit. When Kuno was close enough, Ranma started talking.

"Well, Kuno, what do you want?" Ranma asked impatiently.

"That will be 'upperclassman' to you." Kuno said and tossed the panda to Ranma, who easily caught it. Ranma looked blankly at it and faces Steve, who indicates he has no idea what's going on. Ranma then faced Kuno with the same confused look. "Tell me why I must give to you?"

"Say again?" Ranma asked still confused.

"Answer me why? 'If you want to give her your panda, give it to Ranma Saotome.' Quoth Nabiki Tendo." Kuno said, and then looked hard at Ranma. "How do you know my Pigtailed Goddess?"

"Forget her, trust me." Ranma said, tossing the panda back when he realized what was going on.

"What?" Kuno asked in confusion.

"You'll probably never even see 'her' again. Come on Stack, let's go." Ranma said. They both turned and left Kuno standing there in confusion. When they turned the corner of the building, both Ranma and Steve were hit with cold water from above.

"Hey, what if somebody was down there?" A person from a third floor window asked.

"Don't worry about it." The other person said, the one with the bucket in his hands.

"Never see her again." Thought Kuno, and then started after Ranma shouting. "What do you mean, Ranma Saotome?" He ran around the corner where Steve and Ranma went and found both of them no where in sight. He looked around but he couldn't find any trace of them then he started to get angry. "So quick to run, are you?"

With that out cry, Kuno used his bokken and sliced through a nearby tree. When the tree landed, both Ranma and Steve tumbled out of the branches. Kuno stared at them as they sat up and adjusted their pants to fit them better.

"You're the new Tendo sister and the ... the girl." Kuno said and both of them just looked at him without saying anything. "How I've missed y..."

Kuno went to Ranma to try and give her a hug, but Kuno's sentence was cut off with a punch to the face when he got near Ranma.

"Back off!" Ranma said, but Kuno didn't seem bothered by the punch and went and grabbed Ranma to his chest in a hug.

"I shall never let you go." Kuno said.

Steve tried to help Ranma by grabbed Kuno's arms and tried to pull his arms away. Steve then heard someone come up behind them and saw Nabiki standing there with a kettle. Steve backed away as Nabiki dumped the contents of the kettle over Ranma. Ranma screamed in pain as the hot water was poured over him.

"Sorry 'bout that. Too hot Ranma?" Nabiki asked, still holding the kettle.

"Ranma?" Kuno said in confusion, causing his grip to loosen enough that Ranma was able to kick Kuno back several steps.

"Okay honey, time to let go." Ranma said as he kicked Kuno back. Ranma stood up and flipped his pigtail off his shoulder. "Do you get it now, idiot? So long." Ranma made his way to where Steve and Nabiki were standing.

"Hold Saotome." Kuno said, causing Ranma to stop and look at him. "Where have you hidden my Goddess? Upperclassman Kuno shall not be fooled by such trickery."

"Listen Kuno ..." Ranma said, not believing that Kuno didn't figure it out. Steve even stared at Kuno in disbelief.

"He just won't get it until we spell it out." Nabiki said after a bit and then went over to Kuno and pulled him off to the side, leaving Steve and Ranma standing where they were. "C'mere Kuno-baby, listen. See, that girl there, her body, her soul, all his. You know what I mean, don't you?"

"I don't think she's helping the matter." Steve whispered to Ranma and she saw that Kuno was taking it the wrong way. "This don't look good, Red."

Kuno then turned around and slashed out at Ranma, not really noticing Steve standing there. The slash caused Ranma to jump up and caused Steve to drop to the ground.

"Tyrant!" Kuno yelled as he slashed at Ranma.

"I don't think you've got it yet." Ranma said from the tree he was hanging onto from.

"Silence! I can see it, wretch." Kuno yelled at Ranma as he thought of male Ranma using his 'Pigtail Goddess' as a sex slave. "How terrible, enslaver of women!"

Kuno slashed through the tree at the area where Ranma had been, because Ranma had jumped out of the way.

"Hey, get a grip." Ranma said as he jumped out of the way. No one noticed that Akane was now behind a nearby statue, watching what was going on, and wondering what was going on to cause Kuno to be trying to kill Ranma.

"I shall fell you." Kuno yelled as he kept striking at Ranma. "I shall free her."

"Oh yeah?" Ranma said, jumping up and grabbed the bokken as a balance and kicked Kuno in the chest. "So then if you lose, you'll forget her, right?"

The kick caused Kuno to stumble backwards several steps. The kick caused several items to come flying out of Kuno's garb. As Ranma landed, several of those items were flying near him, so he went and grabbed one of them. He realized that it was a picture, a picture of his female side taking off her shirt with Mr. Tendo nearby. Ranma was so distracted that Kuno took the opportunity and slashed at Ranma. Ranma was so distracted that Kuno was able to clip Ranma on the right side of his body. Steve, Akane, and Nabiki gasped at the sight.

Ranma used his hand to grab the wound as he stumbled backwards. Kuno thinking he had the advantage started striking at Ranma. Ranma quickly regaining his wits started dodging all the attacks Kuno was throwing. As he was dodging, Ranma started grabbing all the pictures that were fluttering around him. He was glancing at the pictures and saw that they were of Akane and his female side. As Ranma was dodging Kuno's attacks, two pictures landed near Steve's feet. She bent down and took a look at them and saw that one was of Akane working out and the other one had female Ranma and Steve's female side being hosed down by Kasumi.

"You look elsewhere in the midst of battle. You do not take me seriously!" Kuno exclaimed and with that, Kuno thrust his bokken at Ranma in an attempt to impale him.

Ranma easily dodged the thrust that Kuno did and rolled away from Kuno. Ranma kept rolling until he stopped at the statue Akane was by. He stopped rolling until he was at Akane's feet. He looked up to see who he stopped by and saw that it was Akane. Akane just looked down at him.

"I think you should know that when he battles a male opponent, Upperclassman Kuno is very skilled." Akane said.

"And I think you should know that blue panties really don't suit you." Ranma said as he was looking up at her.

Akane quickly used her hands to push her skirt in so Ranma no longer had a good view up her skirt, but then Akane's embarrassment suddenly turned to anger.

"Go back and die!" Akane shouted as she booted Ranma back at Kuno. Ranma was flipping in circles as he approached Kuno. Kuno smiled evilly at Ranma as he approached.

"The game ends." Kuno said smugly. Ranma evened out his flipping and looked at Kuno in confusion. Just when Ranma was about to land, Kuno's bokken suddenly blurred, going back and forth in a thrust attack. "Strike, strike, strike, strike, strike, strike, strike." Kuno said as he was doing his attack.

Ranma in the last second was able to dodge all of the attacks, but his clothes were not as lucky. Small slashes appeared on his shirt and pants. Everyone was watching Ranma easily dodging all the attacks when they started hearing the sound of stone cracking. They noticed that it was the statue that Akane was standing near had cracks appearing all over the place.

"Whoa." Steve said seeing that happening. "Just the air pressure alone."

Suddenly the statue crumbled and since Akane was close to it, she gasped in surprise. Ranma hearing her gasp, turned to her and yelled at her.

"Out of the way, stupid." Ranma shouted.

"I have you!" Kuno said, sensing Ranma was distracted and went for a final attack strike.

"Eyes front idiot." Akane yelled at Ranma, sensing what Kuno was going to do.

Suddenly several things happened so fast, that Steve, Nabiki, and Akane only saw Ranma dodge the bokken attack and looked liked he flipped in mid-air, landing several feet away from Kuno. Kuno straightened up and smiled evilly at Ranma. Then all of a sudden, Kuno took a step towards Ranma and collapsed to the ground. Nabiki and Akane wondered what happened and then went to Kuno's body as they saw Steve kneeling there. Steve then flipped Kuno's body over, so he was lying on his back. Nabiki and Akane saw that there were several foot marks over Kuno's body and face.

"Oh my. Each blow has hit a vulnerable spot." Akane said in amazement.

"You kicked him?" Nabiki said as she watched Steve as she was waving her hand in front of Kuno's open eyes. When it got no response, Steve shrugged her shoulders and stood up. "I never even saw it."

"'Upperclassman Kuno' didn't have much did he?" Ranma said as he was popping a few joints.

"What do you mean? You took a hit didn't you?" Akane said.

"Oh that?" Ranma said with a bored tone, while crossing arms behind his head, while looking bored.

"Is it really all right?" Steve asked looking at the wound.

"Doesn't even itch." Ranma said and then Steve poked the wound and was startled back a couple of steps as Ranma dropped to his knees and hissed in pain as tears appeared in his eyes.

"So Upperclassman Kuno didn't have much, eh?" Akane taunted as the tears started running down Ranma's cheeks. Her anger left her temporarily as she wondered what distracted Ranma in the fight. "Say, what was it that distracted you in the fight?"

Ranma looked up at Akane and handed her some of the pictures he had. Akane took a look at the pictures and saw that the three she had were pictures of her working out.

"Why do you have pictures of me?" Akane demanded.

"Why do I ..." Ranma tried replying, but Steve interrupted before Ranma could make anymore trouble for himself.

"Kuno had these pictures, Akane. When Ranma kicked him, they came flying out of his clothes." Akane gave Steve a look. "Besides, you weren't the only one he had." Steve showed her the pictures that she had that showed Ranma's female form. Akane suddenly realized what had happened.

"Nabiki!" Akane shouted.

"Can't blame a girl for making a little money on the side." Nabiki replied as Akane glared at her.

"Tsk, tsk, really." Ranma said standing up with Akane at his back, looking at the pictures of himself taking off his shirt. "As if anybody'd want pictures of a dorky girl anyway. I don't know how you'll ever find a husband. Now me on the other hand ..."

Ranma failed to finish his sentence because Akane's temper peaked and then she started to beat Ranma up. Steve was wide-eyed at the violence Akane was doing. Steve didn't want to be near there and hid behind Nabiki. When Akane finished beating Ranma, she dusted her hands off and had a satisfied smile. Steve looked at Ranma and saw that he was twitching and was bent all out of shape. His arms and legs were bent at all angles that the joints shouldn't be bent at. As Akane neared Nabiki, Steve made sure Nabiki was in-between them.

"Are you sure that was necessary?" Nabiki asked Akane.

"He deserved it." Akane replied.

"Well, I think you should take him to see Tofu."

"All right."

Akane picked Ranma up and started walking towards Dr. Tofu's place. Nabiki left to head home as Steve followed Akane at a certain distance. Akane realized what Steve was doing, and told her that it was all right, she won't hurt her. Steve asked if she promised and Akane promised that she wouldn't. So Steve came closer and offered to help Akane carry Ranma.

xxxxx

"Dr. Tofu. A patient for you." Akane announced when they entered. Dr. Tofu sat down and stared at Ranma, who was lying on the examination table, while Akane stood next to Tofu and Steve sat on the chair on the other side of the table.

"This is astounding." Tofu said looking at Ranma. "The wound from the bokken is nothing compared to these other dislocations and contusions." Turned to face Akane. "This is brutal. What kind of thug did this?"

"Uh ..." Akane stumbled on what to say and blushed in embarrassment. Tofu looked at Akane and also looked at Steve, who was looking else where. He then heard a groan from Ranma, so he turned to face him.

"A ... a ... a dorky girl did it to me." Ranma replied. Akane quickly got angry and picked up one end of the table and dumped Ranma on the floor.

"Say that one more time, Ranma, and ..." Akane stopped speaking when she saw Steve staring at her wide-eyed and Tofu just looking at her calmly. Akane dropped the table in embarrassment and started blushing hotly.

"You did this Akane?" Tofu asked.

"Um ... well ... that is ..." Akane stuttered in trying to speak.

"What's with the sweet and innocent bit?" Ranma thought. Tofu then slapped his knee.

"Well, it figures. I had a feeling." Tofu starts laughing and then sees Steve trying to put Ranma back on the table. So he then helped Steve place Ranma on the table. "The way this joint's twisted backwards, for instance, that's Akane's touch all right."

Tofu started healing Ranma by placing the joints back in the proper position. But by doing that, several cracks, pops, and snaps could be heard over Ranma's shouts of pain. Steve was just staring at what the doctor was doing, in shock.

"You're Ranma, aren't you? I hear you're Akane's fiancée." Tofu asked as he continued on Ranma.

"That's what our parent's decided, not us." Akane retaliated.

"Well, it's too early, isn't it? You're still children after all." Tofu said.

"Yes doctor." Akane said quietly.

"So you're the new Tendo aren't you?" Tofu now faced Steve while continuing on Ranma, causing Steve to realize Tofu was talking to him.

"Oh yes, my name's Talia." Steve replied.

"What a lovely name." Tofu said nicely.

"Um, thanks."

"You need to set an appointment with me so I can add you to your family's record."

"Uh, okay."

"That hurts." Ranma yelled in Tofu's face when Tofu was done with Ranma.

"Oh? Someplace still hurts? Show me." Tofu asked Ranma.

"Uh ... it's okay. I'm better now." Ranma said, moving his body around to see if any place still hurts.

"Isn't he a great doctor?" Akane said smiling.

They got up to leave, and as they were leaving, Akane and Steve continued walking and stopped at the gate when Tofu called Ranma off to the side to talk privately.

"Fiancée or not, do try to get along with Akane." Tofu said.

"It's not like I start the fights or anything. She just overreacts to every little thing." Ranma replied to Tofu.

"Ah, but she's such a sweet girl."

"She is?" Ranma said in surprise.

"You don't have to sound so surprised." Both of them glance over and see Steve and Akane waiting patiently for them. "You'll understand soon enough. She's really a very sweet girl." Tofu then pats Ranma on the hip and sends him on his way.

They were halfway back to the Tendo Dojo when Akane finally broke the silence.

"What were you and Tofu talking about?" Akane asked.

"Nothing. He was sympathizing with me for having to deal with a crazed, violent lunatic like you." Ranma said and saw Akane twitch. He then jumped back into a defensive stance. "I'm ready."

"Oh, I see." Akane said when she realized what Ranma was trying to do and just continued walking.

Ranma stood confused for a moment before following after Akane. As Ranma got near her, he tried to get a look at her face, but she just turned her head the other way. Ranma then grabbed the bow that was in her hair and pulled back on it.

"It was a joke. Now you're acting like a real girl, Sissy." Ranma said.

"Who's a sissy?" Akane asked with anger entering her voice and glared at Ranma. "You looking for a fight?"

"Okay, that's the Akane I'm used to." Ranma said happily.

"What's wrong with you?" Akane asked angrily and started swinging her book bag at Ranma, who dodged and she almost hit Steve.

"Hey, watch it." Steve yelled out.

"Sorry." Akane said and continued swinging at Ranma.

xxxxx

"Three ... two ... one!" Tofu said, looking at the clock on a wall.

xxxxx

As Akane swung her book bag at Ranma, suddenly his legs gave out from under him and he fell on his butt. Akane stopped swinging when it happened and then knelt near Ranma, as he was trying to stand with no success.

"What is it?" Akane asked.

"My legs." Ranma said and then realized what happened and thought to himself. "Why that lousy ...! When he patted me, he did something to my hips." Then he noticed Akane and Steve helping him stand.

"What are you doing?" Ranma asked.

"What does it look like, we're helping you since you can't walk, can you?" Akane said.

"What? You think a 'man' will put up with this humiliation of being carried by two girls." Ranma said.

Akane started to get angry, but stopped when Steve grabbed her arm and pulled her to a nearby hose. Steve then turned on the water and turned the water on Ranma, turning Ranma to his female form.

"It's okay if we're all girls, hm?" Steve asked, turning off the water and Ranma got a defeated look. So Akane and Steve were able to prop Ranma on their shoulders and helped Ranma back to the Dojo.

"She's really a very sweet girl, you'll understand soon enough." Ranma remembered Tofu's words. "Not yet buddy, not yet." Ranma thought as they continued on back to the Dojo.

xxxxx

SOMEWHERE ON EARTH

In a dark room where only a small floor panel offered any light in the room, stood six robed beings in a circle around the lighted floor panel. They all stood there until they heard a voice speaking.

"What do you have to update?" The voice boomed.

"The Earth defenders have defeated our latest assault force." Replied the first robed being.

"What new do we have on them?" The voice asked.

"From our latest observations, they are reaching their limit in power." The second robed being replied.

"What else was observed about them?"

"They seem to work in a team, in order to defeat our forces." The third robed being said.

"What have you come up with to defeat these defenders?"

"Two things we have come up with. First keep sending weak forces to tire them out, and second, is to break their morale with each other so they don't work as a team." The forth being said.

"What have you come up with to break their morale?"

"We plan to hit them with a ray that will deliver a nano machine that will make its way to the victim's brain and make them easy to send small messages to delude them of the fact." The fifth being said.

"Make it happen. Remember we need to secure the place known as Tokyo, in order for the invasion force to arrive safely. That is the point on this world where our transport beam will hit this world. We must not fail."

"Yes sir." All six robed beings said and then the light goes out.

xxxxx

AFTER SCHOOL IN JUUBAN

The inner Senshi were called by Michiru and Haruka to meet at Rei's Shrine after school. They were wondering what they wanted, they were very urgent about wanting to talk to them. So they were waiting patiently until they showed up. They didn't have to wait long before Michiru and Haruka showed up with Hotaru. When they sat down, they noticed that Hotaru had an unusual smile to her face.

"So what did you two want to talk about?" Rei asked.

"There was a situation that happened yesterday." Michiru said.

"What happened?" Usagi asked.

"We were called into Hotaru's school to talk to Hotaru's principle today." Michiru said.

"It appears that several boys from her school claimed that Hotaru beat them up." Haruka said.

"What?" Everyone else exclaimed.

"But the problem with their claim is that Hotaru was with us at the time the boys said Hotaru beat them up." Michiru said.

"Why would they say that?" Ami asked.

"It's Saria!" Hotaru blurted out.

"Why would you say that?" Minako asked.

"Who else could it be?" Hotaru said smiling. "According to Luna, she's supposed to be my twin, so the boys could have mistaken her for me."

"That could be." Makoto said.

"We have to find her." Hotaru said.

"That may not be a good idea, Hotaru." Michiru said.

"What do you mean?" Hotaru asked.

"Remember, Luna also said that they may be our enemy." Michiru replied.

"Oh." Hotaru felt depressed, being so close but couldn't be near her so called twin.

"Don't worry Hotaru; she could be looking for you." Chibi-Usa said to Hotaru, who then had a confused look. "That Helios guy knew were to find us, so it's most likely the Star Senshi know where to find us if they really wanted too. With Saria going around town could mean that she is looking around."

"That does bring up a good point, they do know where to find us if they really wanted too." Makoto said.

Usagi was thinking that if the Star Senshi were looking for them, it could help her in her search for them. They then started commenting that since Saria made an appearance that the others of the Star Senshi will start showing up. So they started discussing on where and what they were going to do when they had to face them. Just then, Ami's computer started beeping. She looked at what the computer was telling her and gasped. When the others asked her what was up, she told them that they had another monster attacking. So they transformed and went to confront the monster.

xxxxx

When the Senshi arrived at the scene, they only found one monster terrorizing a street. It was humanoid with a bat-like head. It had two pod-like items, one on each shoulder. It was about eight feet tall, and had normal looking hairless skin that was colored brown. When the Senshi arrived, they saw the monster grabbing people and throwing that person into a wall.

Sailor Moon started her speech, but had to dodge out of the way when the monster threw a person at her. The other Senshi checked the person and found that the person was dead. So the Senshi started to attack the monster. The Senshi realized that the monster was very quick and agile, when the monster was able to dodge all of their attacks. Tuxedo Kamen showed up and saw that the Senshi were having trouble hitting the monster, so he decided to see if he could help out and cause a diversion to distract the monster. Even with Tuxedo Kamen helping them, they were still unable to hit it because it was still dodging all over the place.

The Senshi knew they were in trouble when the monster grabbed Chibi-moon and threw her into Sailor Moon. Both of them fell to the ground in a tangled mess. Sailor Saturn went over to help them out while the others continued to fight the monster. The monster dodged all the attacks until the Senshi were in a group, except for Sailor moon, Chibi-moon, and Saturn. The monster then popped open it's two pods to reveal a bazooka like barrel inside each one that was glowing red. Mercury realized that it was a weapon, but was too late to warn the others as the blast hit everyone except Sailor Moon, Chibi-moon, and Saturn.

Saturn saw what happened and used a 'Silence Glaive Surprise' and the monster disintegrated. Saturn and the others ran over and checked to see if the others were all right. Upon initial inspection, the others looked all right, and when Mercury scanned them, she told them that the blast only just weakened them and by morning, they should be all right. They were about to leave, but they heard a cat yowl in pain. They found Luna and Artemis under several boxes that were hit by the blast. They picked them up and left the scene before the police and paramedics arrived.

That night, everyone that was hit with the blast, started to have a change in their sleep. The blast that hit them, carried little nano bots that went to their brains to grow to receive special signals. When they were done growing, they started to receive the signals to have the Senshi start hating Usagi. So during when the Senshi slept, they started to have dreams where Usagi was the cause of all their pain. No matter how much they tried, they kept having nightmares about Usagi causing them pain in their lives. So when they finally woke up the next morning, they were very tired.

xxxxx

NEXT DAY

In the morning, the Saotome's and Steve did their usual morning sparring before breakfast. After a while of sparring, Steve went and took a bath to wash off, so he could help Kasumi finish breakfast. The problem that happened was that Akane suddenly entered the bathroom as Steve was standing up in the furo. Akane suddenly started blushing as Steve quickly wrapped his towel around him. The saving grace that Steve had was that Akane had her towel wrapped around her. Akane quickly apologized and Steve asked if the sign that he set up was still there. They checked and found that it had fallen off. So after the misunderstanding, Akane went into to take her bath while Steve got dressed.

So during breakfast, Akane couldn't bring herself to look at Steve. Every time she did look at him, the image of what she saw would keep popping in her head. So once breakfast was done, she quickly left and headed towards school as Ranma and Steve followed behind her at a slower pace. Ranma was a little confused at why Akane was acting weird and asked Steve if he knew, and Steve told him to just drop the subject and that Akane would be her normal angry self later in the day. Ranma dropped the subject and they continued on to school.

xxxxx

Right at the end of the school day, as the students were leaving, a lone figure in a dirty yellow and green traveling gear, a backpack with a bamboo umbrella, and a yellow and black striped bandana on his head, was standing at the main gate. The students were wondering what that person was doing there, just standing there. As a student walked pass that person and suddenly the person quickly reached out and grabbed the student.

"You." The person said as he grabbed the student.

"Wh ... what do you want?" The student asked nervously.

"Where's Furinkan high school?" The person asked.

"Say what?" The student asked as his nervousness changed to confusion. The student then pointed to the sign that was behind the person's shoulder. The person looked over his shoulder and read the sign that said 'Furinkan High School'. The person then faced the student again.

"Where is Ranma Saotome?" The person asked.

"Saotome?" The student said and then looked into the school yard. The person looked into the school yard and saw the person who he was looking for.

At that moment, Ranma was running away from an angry Akane. He was easily dodging the slow walking students as Akane was chasing him and shouting at him.

"Ranma! Stop!" Akane shouted.

"Come and get me." Ranma shouted back as he jumped into the air to avoid Akane. It was then that his danger sense started to warn him. "Trouble." Ranma thought.

He looked up and saw a person above him heading towards him with a bamboo umbrella as a weapon. They both landed at the same point and when Ranma jumped back, a crater suddenly appeared where the umbrella landed and four feet around. Ranma landed and looked at the crater that appeared. He was amazed that the person could cause a crater with a bamboo umbrella. The person with the umbrella looked up and smiled evilly at Ranma.

"You haven't changed, Ranma." The person said to Ranma. "You're still good at running away."

"Someone you know?" Akane asked Ranma when she came up to him.

"Yeah, sure, he's ... he's ..." Ranma started to say but then trailed off and then started thinking and really thinking, but not coming up with anything.

"Don't strain your brain remembering, Ranma." Akane told Ranma sarcastically.

"Just tell me one thing, Ranma." The person said. "Why did you run out on our ..."

The person was stopped short when a school bag hit the back of his head. He turned around to face the person that hit him. He saw a person standing there with a school bag and was smiling at him.

"Why did you hit me with your school bag?" The person asked somewhat angrily.

"Because your head is hard as an ox's and for you disappearing on me ... Sensei." Steve said smiling. The person looked at Steve in confusion.

"Stack?" The person asked Steve confused.

"Long time no see, Ryoga." Steve said.

"What happened to you, you look younger all of a sudden?" Ryoga said.

"Let's just say something happened to me after you disappeared on me." Steve said.

"Oh." Ryoga remembered the day that he was no longer traveling with Steve.

"Wait! I remember." Ranma suddenly exclaimed causing everyone to look at him. "Ryoga Hibiki. You were in my class at my old middle school. Long time no see."

"Answer my question." Ryoga said as he remembered that Ranma was there and he got his anger back.

"What question?" Ranma asked.

"Why did you run out on our fight?" Ryoga said angrily.

"I waited three days at the appointed place." Ranma replied.

"Three days!" Everyone that was around exclaimed.

"Yes. And when I showed up on the fourth day, you had already had run away." Ryoga said.

"Ryoga? Can I ask you something? Why did it take you four days to get to the empty lot behind your house?" Ranma asked.

"Do you think I was out for a casual stroll for four days? I suffered to meet up with you." Ryoga said as he started hearing people around him talking about him having a bad sense of direction. "Breaking a vow between men and running to China with your father."

Ryoga then slashed out at Ranma with his umbrella but Ranma was able to jump out of the way easily and land several feet away.

"In other words, you want to finish our fight?" Ranma said.

"'Finish our fight'? How feeble. This is for revenge." Ryoga said angrily and opened up his umbrella and then threw it at Ranma.

The umbrella was spinning like a top as Ranma dodged out of the way. The umbrella kept going as the other students had to dodge out of the way as it when pass them. The umbrella spun around and went past Ryoga and stopped at Steve's feet. Some of the students that were nicked by the umbrella were taken to the nurse's office to treat their wounds. Ryoga just faced Ranma angrily.

"No matter what it takes, Ranma, I shall destroy your happiness." Ryoga said angrily.

"My happiness?" Ranma said confused and then faced Akane. "Am I happy?"

"Don't ask me." Akane replied.

Ryoga was about to comment when he was hit in the back of his head again. He turned around and saw that it was Steve again, but this time he had his umbrella.

"Would you cut that out?" Ryoga said.

"Man, I forgot how heavy this thing was." Steve said quietly to himself then said to Ryoga. "I did that because you injured some students here. What did I tell you about this conflict you have with Red? I don't care what you do about it; just keep it between the two of you and not to injure any bystanders."

"Sorry Stack." Ryoga said.

"It's not me you have to say you're sorry to." Steve replied.

"He wouldn't be able to find them anyway." Ranma said as a smart comment.

"Why you..." Ryoga got angrily and grabbed the umbrella from Steve and chased after Ranma.

Ranma started running towards the school with Ryoga right behind him. Within a matter of minutes, Ranma returned and Ryoga was no where to be seen. Ranma returned to where Akane and Steve where standing and he had a smile on his face. He failed to notice the scowl on Steve's face when he returned.

"That should keep him busy for a while." Ranma said and then noticed Steve's expression. "What's wrong Stack?"

"Well, thanks a lot Red, it's been over a month since I last saw him and I wanted to talk with him. But you had to run him off and who knows when I will see him again. He is my first Sensei in the martial arts if you remember." Steve replied with a small amount of anger in his voice.

"Sorry Stack." Ranma said as he remembered that Steve did tell him that Ryoga was the person that started to teach him martial arts.

"I'm heading back to the Dojo; I'll see you two later." Steve said and then left the school yard, leaving Ranma and Akane there in minor confusion.

xxxxx

Kasumi had asked Steve to go over to the Juuban Ward to pick up a couple of special items for her for the next day's meals. Steve being the nice guy he is, agreed to help her out. En route to the train station, Steve was splashed with water by a water sprinkler. Steve didn't feel like changing back was important and continued to the train station. Once she arrived in Juuban, she looked at the list Kasumi gave her and headed to the first place on it.

When Steve was done with that store, she was carrying the bag in her arms and walked out of the store. Steve was adjusting the bag to a better position; she failed to notice the person in front of her. They collided and Steve fell to her butt, still hanging on to the bag. Steve stood back up and apologized for not paying attention to where she was going. Steve looked at the person she bumped into and saw that it was the same person she and Ranma had bumped into before.

"That's all right dear, no harm done." The woman said after Steve apologized to her. Then the woman looked at Steve as she seemed to remember something. "Have we met before?"

"We sort of ran into each other before when a friend of mine was with me." Steve replied.

"Oh yes, I remember now. So who are you my dear?"

"Talia Tendo."

"Any relation to a Soun Tendo?"

"My father's name is Soun." Steve replied, playing the role of Talia.

"I see." The woman remembers that she didn't give her name. "My name is Nodoka Saotome."

"Any relation to a Genma or a Ranma Saotome?"

"My husband and son have those names."

Steve happen to glance at her watch and see that she had to get hurrying if she wanted to get what Kasumi wanted.

"It was nice talking to you, Mrs. Saotome, but I have to hurry and get the rest of the items my sister needs." Steve said to Nodoka.

"All right, it was nice talking to you dear. Have fun now." Nodoka said.

Steve said farewell and they headed in different directions. She then looked at the list and headed to the next store. Steve went to every store she had to go to and was heading back to the train station. When she was near the train station, Steve passed an alley and felt hands grab her and pulled into the alley. When Steve got her bearings, Steve saw four boys in front of her. It was then that Steve recognized the four boys in front of her.

"Didn't you guys get it last time; I'm not this Hotaru person." Steve said.

"Shut up freak, we don't know how you did it last time, but we are going to get you for what you did to us." The leader of the boys said. Steve set the bags off to the side and got into a defensive stance. The boys started laughing at Steve. "Hey look guys; she thinks she's a martial artist."

The boy walked over and tried to grab Steve, but to his surprise, he found that rather difficult when he flew into a bunch of trash cans. He quickly stood up and brushes off his clothes.

"You'll pay for that freak." The boy said.

All four boys rushed Steve, and she had to really start fighting back. At the end of the fight, all four boys were on the ground moaning in pain, with several bruises and cuts over their bodies. Steve wasn't fairing to well either. She had several bruises, a cut lip, and her shirt was torn at the seams at the shoulder, and she had a minor limp. Steve was glad that Kasumi's items weren't damaged and collected the bags and headed to the train station.

Steve arrived back at the Dojo an hour later than what she wanted. En route back to Nerima, it started raining. So when Steve got to the Nerima station, she waited there for a while for the rain to stop. She used that time to go to the restroom to clean herself up. She was glad that no one was in the women's restroom at the time while she cleaned herself up.

After she was done, she waited for a while for the rain to die down. Luckily it died down to a drizzle a while later, so Steve started to head to the Dojo. She was glad that she was all ready changed, because by the time she got to the Dojo, she was soaked. As she got to the gate, she found an animal by the gate. As Steve approached, the animal went into a defensive crouch. Steve stopped and looked at the animal and realized that the animal was really a brown fox that was wearing a yellow and black striped bandana for a collar. Steve approached and crouched down and offered her hand out to the animal.

"It's okay, I won't hurt you." Steve said nicely as she waited for the fox to come nearer. "Don't worry there." The fox then approached Steve and she started petting it. "Now where are you from?" The fox then cuddles up to Steve. "Jeez, you're soaked as much as I am. Come on, let's go inside and I can dry you off, warm you up, and find your owner." Steve picks the fox up without much struggling from the fox and the fox starts licking Steve's face. "Okay, okay, quit it." Then they entered the Dojo.

Steve enters and takes off her shoes and announces she's back. She walks into the living room and found Ranma, in female form wearing an undershirt and boxers, and the Tendo sister's around Ryoga's backpack and clothes.

"Hey Kasumi, here's the items you wanted, sorry if they are damp, but the rain caught me off guard." Steve said.

"That's all right Stack ... oh my." Kasumi gasped when she noticed Steve's appearance. Kasumi's exclamation caused the others to look at Steve and noticed the bruises, cut lip, and torn clothes.

"What happened to you?" Nabiki asked.

"Remember those boy's I told you about that confused me with someone else?" Steve asked and after everyone nodded she continued. "Apparently they got confused again and this time they were out for blood."

"What did you do?" Akane asked.

"I defended myself. Needless to say, I'll be feeling this in the morning, but the good part is they're going to be feeling it even more." Steve replied.

Kasumi finally comes over and takes the bags from Steve and then notices the fox Steve was carrying.

"Oh my, where did you get the fox?" Kasumi asked and then everyone notices the fox.

"He was outside the gate when I arrived. Since he has this bandana around his neck, I figured he was someone's pet. Since it was raining out, I figured I'd dry him off and warm him up, so tomorrow after school I can look for his owner." Steve replied.

"That's nice of you." Kasumi said smiling.

"What's up with Ryoga's stuff?" Steve asked.

"Oh, Ryoga came looking to settle our fight, but the rain came and I turned into a girl. Ryoga was surprised and I was able to kick him into the rain. Then all of a sudden Ryoga just ran off. When I followed after him, I only found his clothes and backpack." Ranma replied.

"I hope he's not running around naked." Steve said surprised at what Ryoga had done.

"I'm sure that moron knows what he's doing." Ranma said.

"Hey Red, you're bad mouthing my first Sensei." Steve said and noticed that the fox was growling at Ranma when Ranma called Ryoga a moron, but quit growling when Steve talked and was now staring at Steve.

"Sorry Stack." Ranma said.

"Apology accepted." Steve said and then faced Kasumi. "Hey Kasumi, is any of my clothes washed yet?"

"Yes, they're in the dryer right now." Kasumi replied.

"Can you send a set to the washroom for me; I need something to change out of. I'll be going to warm up for a bit and then you can tell me all about when Ryoga showed up."

Steve went to the wash room and set the fox down and started removing her clothes. She hissed in pain as she stretched in positions the bruises didn't want to. After she removed all her clothes, she picked up the fox and went into the bath area. After Steve quickly washed herself, she picked the fox up and headed to the furo. Steve absently noticed that the fox was just staring at her. When the fox felt the steam of the furo, it started to struggle out of Steve's grip.

"Whoa, hey, quit it." Steve said as the fox slipped out of her grip and fell into the furo.

Steve was just about to go after the fox when a male human body sat up in the furo. Steve stumbled back in surprise as the person just sat there. It was when the person suddenly became bugged-eyed, blushed very heavily, and turned his head away that Steve recognized the person.

"Ryoga? You're the fox?" Steve asked and Ryoga just nodded, still looking away. Steve was wondering what was going on, when she remembered that she was female and the position she was in was giving Ryoga a show of all of her glory. She quickly grabbed a bucket and poured some furo water on herself, turning into a male. "Better now?"

"Yes, thanks Stack." Ryoga said sighing in relief. "So it really is you in that girl form."

"I could say the same about the fox."

"You got a point there."

"So you ended up going to Jusenkyo."

"I was following a lead on Ranma when I came to looking over a cliff ledge over several pools. Just then, this panda came out of the woods with a crazed red-head after it. The girl knocked me over the ledge and I fell in one of the pools and I came out a fox." Ryoga said and then noticed that Steve was staring at him wide-eyed. "What is it, Stack?"

"It was you!" Steve exclaimed.

"What about me?"

"After me, Red, and his father got our curses, Ranma went berserk and chased after his father to kill him. I ran after them to try and stop him, when I saw Red knock a person over the ledge. When I finally caught up with Red, I gave him a chewing out."

"Who's Red?"

"My nickname for Ranma."

"I see, so it's because of Ranma I have this curse?"

"I guess so."

Before Ryoga could say anything, they were interrupted.

"Hey Sis, I got your clothes for you." Came Akane's voice from behind the door. Before Steve could say anything, Akane opened the door.

Ryoga ducked under the water in fright and Akane realized that Steve was nude and in his male form, with another naked boy. Akane blushed heavily and looked down. Steve covered himself with a towel as best as he could.

"You know Akane, I don't mind playing your little sister, but don't forget I'm also male." Steve said to Akane. "This is the second time today that you walked in on me."

"I'm ... sorry." Akane said quietly.

"Apology accepted, but could you get Ryoga's clothes for me, before he decides to drowned himself." Steve asked Akane and looked into the furo at the underwater Ryoga.

"That's Ryoga?" Akane said in surprised.

"Yes, I'll tell you all about it later, now please close the door."

Akane closed the door and Steve pulled Ryoga out of the water to breath. A couple of minutes later, they heard Akane say that the clothes were in there. When they heard Akane leave, they got out of the furo and got dressed. They walked to the living room, with Steve guiding Ryoga there, and they sat across from Ranma. Kasumi had a first aid kit ready and started treating Steve's injuries.

"Where's the fox?" Nabiki asked.

"Turns out that Ryoga here is the fox." Steve said between hisses of pain.

"How?" Nabiki asked.

"Hey Red, remember when I told you about the person you knocked off the ledge at Jusenkyo?" Steve asked.

"Yeah." Ranma replied remembering.

"It was Ryoga that you knocked into Jusenkyo." Steve said.

"Oh." Ranma said.

"So tell me what I missed when I was shopping." Steve asked.

"You going to tell us what happened to you?" Akane asked.

"Okay." Steve agreed.

They traded stories on what happened after School. Nabiki then asked about Ryoga's fox form. Steve made a comment that the dog catchers would be after him when he was a fox. So they started to think of ways to help. Steve had made a comment that 'Talia' would like to have a pet. Steve explained what he meant and the other's agreed that if Ryoga was around in fox form, he could be 'Talia's' pet to help save Ryoga if he was caught when he was in fox form.

Akane then said what name should they give Ryoga's fox form. They thought about it for a moment and then Steve said how about 'Haiyashi'. When everyone asked why that name, Steve just said that it just came to him. Ryoga thought about it and agreed to the plan. Then Steve got up and said that he was going to bed to heal. So after Steve left, Kasumi offered Ryoga a place to stay for the night.

xxxxx

Throughout the day at Usagi's school, she noticed that the other Senshi were looking very tired. When Usagi asked them what was wrong, they would snap at her for a reply. Usagi was surprised that they would snap at her, but they would quickly apologize, saying they didn't get much sleep. That night, the dreams the Senshi had were more powerful, more intense than the night before.

xxxxx

NEXT DAY

The next morning, Ranma and Steve sparred as usual, but Steve had Ryoga join them. After the sparring, when Kasumi had called them in for breakfast, Ryoga had disappeared when they entered the house. So after a quick search of the house, it was confirmed that Ryoga was no where to be found. After breakfast, they all headed to school. As school began, Ranma started to fall asleep in class. Steve had kept waking him up whenever he could. During one of the times that Steve was waking Ranma up, the teacher got fed up and sent both of them in the hall to hold buckets.

Both of them were standing there for several minutes when Steve heard a noise and looked in that direction. When he saw what was causing the noise, he was surprised. It was Kuno running at them with buckets in his hands again.

"Red, behind you!" Steve shouted as Kuno came charging down the hall, buckets in hand. "It's the nutcase!"

Ranma jumped out of the way as Steve backed away nervously, and then swore when he saw Ranma kick the buckets out of Kuno's hands. He was almost to the corner when he saw that he wouldn't escape in time. After the water struck, he quickly turned the corner, swearing as he changed. She stood there shivering for several seconds, more from fear than cold, then decided to find out what was going on. She was about to look when she felt a hand clamp down on her shoulder.

"What are you doing out here, young lady?" A female teacher demanded. "Why are you not in class, and why are you wet?"

"I'm new here Sensei." Steve replied nervously. "I umm ... got a little lost and walked into a water fight between two boys. I got hit with a bucket of water when I tried to move out of the way."

"Where are you trying to go?" The teacher asked more patiently.

"I'm trying to visit my sisters. I wanted to get to the office to tell them why I'm here." She said, acting near tears. "The man at the gate said I should go left, up the stairs, and then right, but I haven't been able to find it. Could you help me?"

"Of course dear." The teacher said kindly. "In fact, I'll take you there myself. Once you're registered there, I'll take you to get a temporary uniform for you, don't want you going around in wet, oversized clothes, now do we?"

"No, Sensei, thank you." Steve said with a gush. "Ranma, you owe me big time for this one." She thought as she followed the teacher. After answering several questions from the teacher, and dodging a couple, while remembering the history Nabiki came up for his role as 'Talia'. They arrived at the office and went in.

"And what do we have here, Miss Kikuchi, another young delinquent?" The secretary said with a glare at Steve.

"No, Mrs. Okazaki, merely a lost little girl." Miss Kikuchi said with a smile. "This young lady was given very poor directions by Mr. Tanaka. She would like to visit her sisters."

"Very well." Mrs. Okazaki said, bustling about with some forms. "This shouldn't take long at all. What is your name and who are you visiting?"

"My name is Talia." Steve said. "Talia Tendo and I'm here to visit my sisters Akane and Nabiki Tendo." Mrs. Okazaki typed that onto the form.

"Age?" The secretary asked.

"Thirteen." Steve replied with more confidence over the situation.

"Why are you not in school?" Miss Kikuchi asked in concern. "Shouldn't you be in junior high school?"

"No Ma'am, I mean Sensei. I am home tutored. My Sensei didn't show up today, so I thought I would visit my sisters in school." Steve replied innocently. "I'll be damned if I'll go to Junior high school again." Steve thought to herself. "High school is bad enough."

"What grade did they say you should be in?" Miss Kikuchi asked in wonder.

"Well, my sensei didn't really tell me." Steve said, looking confused. "But they did say I'm very smart."

"I'm sure you are dear." Miss Kikuchi said in shock, seeing her own question mirrored in Mrs. Okazaki's face. "We can find out for you if you want?"

"We can give you a test to tell what grade you can be in." Mrs. Okazaki said.

"Okay, may I take the test now please?" Steve asked eagerly, enjoying herself in the role-playing she was doing. "I don't want to miss too much of my first day of a real school."

"It will take me about fifteen minutes to prepare for the test." Mrs. Okazaki replied, smiling at 'Talia's' contagious good humor. "Why don't you go get Miss Tendo a temporary uniform, while I do that Miss Kikuchi?" Her tone said she thought of the students the same, nuisances to be dealt with quickly then banished.

Steve followed Miss Kikuchi to the girl's locker room and, keeping her eyes from the various undressed girls there, to the uniform shop.

"Hello Mrs. Tsuchida." Miss Kikuchi greeted the friendly older woman behind the counter. "Might you have something to fit someone of this young ladies stature? She needs a uniform for today."

"My my, she looks to be only twelve or thirteen, Chieko-chan." Mrs. Tsuchida said.

"That's because she is thirteen." Miss Kikuchi said blushing lightly and informed her why they were there.

"Well, what a surprise." Mrs. Tsuchida laughed merrily. "Let me take your measurements and I'll have the uniform ready for you by the time your evaluation is done." She fitted actions to words by ushering Steve into the changing room and taking her measurements. After protesting mildly about Steve's underwear, she completed her notes and sent her out. Miss Kikuchi led her back to the office where she was ushered into an isolation room and given the test.

Steve had no problems with the math and science parts, and she breezed through English and world studies. It was only when she came to Japanese and Japanese history that the gaps in her knowledge began to show. When Mrs. Okazaki scored the test, the results achieved ranking in grade eleven, based on her best subjects.

"You will need to take better lessons in order to bring you up to standards in your weak areas however." Mrs. Okazaki said. "Once you have received your uniform, you will be joining your sister Nabiki in room 2-E."

"Why am I not going to see Akane?" Steve asked.

"She seems to have left the school yard." Mrs. Okazaki replied.

"Oh." Steve said, thinking on what could have happened to Ranma when the teacher had caught her.

"Besides, since you have the same grade level as your sister Nabiki, you can start visiting her, and if Akane returns, you can visit with her then." Mrs. Okazaki

Steve nodded, and then followed the route back to the locker room. Mrs. Tsuchida had her uniform ready and waiting when she arrived. When the grandmotherly woman noticed Steve's hesitance, she smiled and said that since she was the youngest girl in the school by many years, she could change in the dressing room. Steve thanked the woman and changed into the uniform. It fit perfectly, and Steve made sure to thank the woman for her hard work, then made her way back to the office, picked up her school pass, and then proceeded to room 2-E. It was only when she noticed Nabiki sitting bolt upright in her chair that Steve smiled.

"Class, this is Miss Talia Tendo, here to visit her sisters." The teacher said, looking a little bewildered. "Please help her to feel welcome."

The entire class greeted her and she smiled at them shyly.

"Well, since you are visiting your sister, why don't you go and sit next to her." The teacher said and moved Kuno to an empty desk. As the teacher returned to his lecture on molecular theory, Nabiki turned to her new study partner.

"Stack, is that you?" Nabiki asked in a low tone. Steve only nodded. "What are you doing here? I thought you were in Akane's class?"

"It's a long story, Nabiki." Steve said in a low tone, and then noticed the teacher looking speculatively at Nabiki. After scanning the notes he had put on the board, Steve prepared to help Nabiki with the question that was coming.

"Miss Nabiki Tendo, will you please give me the name of the bonds responsible for water's expansion at low temperatures?" The teacher asked, expecting Nabiki not to answer.

Nabiki came to her feet, blushing a little. Before she could say anything, Steve handed her a small note. Glancing at it as if looking at her hands, Nabiki smiled. "Sir, the Hydrogen bonds of water are responsible for this behavior."

"Very good, Miss Tendo." The teacher said surprised. Shaking his head, he continued the lecture. As the bell rang to end class, Nabiki turned to Steve.

"Alright Stack, spill it." Nabiki said looking at her pointedly.

"Um, can't it wait Nabiki?" Steve asked, looking at the girls around them nervously. "If I tell you now, everyone will know."

"Okay, 'Talia', we'll talk about it later, when we're studying." Nabiki said, making it more of a promise than a threat. Steve winced, and then started trying to answer the many questions coming her way. She slipped away for a short time, and headed to the office to hand them a note that she had made to say that she was going to pick up 'Steve's' homework after school. Giving the reason of something very important came up and he had to take care of it. Steve also found out that Ranma and Akane didn't return to school.

In Japanese studies, the last class of the day, Steve got another surprise. The teacher was Miss Kikeuchi, and she remembered 'Talia'. After the final bell rang, she asked 'Talia' to stay behind. After agreeing to meet Nabiki at the gate, she walked to the front of the classroom.

"I know you have problems with this subject Talia, but I'd like to suggest someone to help you." Miss Kikeuchi said with a reassuring smile. "Ami is the daughter of a friend of mine. She's in this grade and would be happy to help, I think. Would you be interested?"

Not wanting to hurt the kind teacher's feelings, Steve said that she would be interested, but she had to talk to her family about it first. Miss Kikuchi understood and handed Steve a piece of paper with Ami's phone number and address on it. "I'll give her a call to let her know about you." Steve waved at the teacher, and then went to meet Nabiki at the front gate, after changing out of the uniform to return it. Since she knew that Nabiki didn't want to be kept waiting, she didn't change back to male.

"Okay, Stack, give." Nabiki said as they walked along the path. "Why did you change forms?"

"I didn't have much of a choice really." She said defensively. "Kuno attacked Ranma with two buckets, and Ranma kicked them into the air. My bad luck continued and just after I got splashed, Miss Kikuchi showed up. The only thing I could think of was pretending to be 'Talia'. That just made it worse though since she chose to help me. But as I think about it now, I much prefer some time away from Ranma the Ego."

"Careful Stack." Nabiki said with a laugh. "It can cost a lot of money to keep people from hearing insults."

"Sorry Nabiki, but Ranma already knows about that one." Steve laughed. "Speaking of Ranma, where has he and Akane been? I haven't seen them since my little adventure."

"I'll give you this one as a freebie since one of them will probably tell you anyway." Nabiki said in a tone that said this wouldn't happen very often. "Ranma jumped out of the third floor window without looking, again."

"Red does that sometimes." Steve said, shrugging her shoulders. "What about it?"

"This particular window is right above the schools swimming pool." Nabiki said smugly, and then blinked when Steve howled with laughter, stopping where she was. Steve tried to regain control of herself several times before she succeeded.

"I'm sorry." She said, still chuckling. "It's just that it is so classic. I've been warning him that he should look before he leaps, figuratively speaking, for the three weeks in China, and now the couple of weeks here, and now he gets an object lesson. So what happened? Did anyone see the change this time?"

"Not really." Nabiki replied shrugging.

"I don't know where that kid gets his luck from, but he must buy it in bulk." Steve said shaking her head. "Oh well, I guess he went home after that, I guess that is why they ..."

She froze suddenly, and then ducked around a corner. Nabiki looked around, trying to find out what had caused that reaction, but could only see a girl in silk Chinese clothes, walking down the street. She continued until she turned another corner and went out of sight.

"Is she gone?" Steve asked.

"If you mean the girl, yes." Nabiki replied with interest. "Who was that? More importantly, why are you afraid of her?"

"That will have to wait until we get back to the Dojo." Steve said, breaking into a run. "I have to warn Ranma about what's coming."

"Hey, wait up!" Nabiki yelled, trying to catch up. "You'll pay for this, Stacko!"

Steve vanished around a corner, and there was a thud sound, followed by a startled exclamation. She could be heard apologizing, then she started running again before Nabiki rounded the corner and dodged Steve's unfortunate victim, shouting for Steve to wait again as she followed him to the dojo.

When Steve and Nabiki got in front of the Dojo, Steve remembered he had to pick some things up for her family in the Juuban Ward after school, so when they had caught their breath, Steve told Nabiki that she would be back, that she had to pick stuff up in the Juuban Ward. Nabiki looked at him questionly, but told her to have fun.

After arriving in Juuban, Steve heading to the mall where the store was she had to go to. Along the way, Steve realized that she could change back and took a slight detour to a shop to order a cup of hot water. After Steve got the hot water, she went and found an isolated area and after making sure no one was watching, dumped the water over her head and turned male again. He then continued towards the shop where he had to pick up the items for his family.

After he purchased the items, he was leaving the mall, when a water fountain's water sprayed and got Steve wet. When the change occurred, Steve quickly looked to see if anyone noticed and sighed in relief when she saw that it appeared no one had noticed. So she continued on her way. She wasn't that far out of the mall when she heard a voice calling out to her.

"Talia?" A female voice called out, and it took a moment for Steve to realize she was being called.

"Yes?" Steve said turning around and saw Mrs. Saotome. "Oh, how are you Mrs. Saotome?" Steve bowed politely.

"How are you today, dear?" Nodoka asked.

"I'm fine, thank you. What can I do you for you?"

"I was wondering if I could talk to you for a moment."

"Uh okay."

"Why don't we go to the café over there to talk?"

"Okay."

Both of them headed to the café and ordered some drinks to have while they talked. They took a seat near the back of the café and talked small talk while they waited for their order. After their order arrived, and the waitress left, they really started talking.

"So what did you want to talk to me about?" Steve asked.

"About your family first of all." Nodoka said.

"What about them?" Steve was suddenly becoming nervous.

"You said your father's name was Soun, correct?"

"Yes."

"You have three sister's named Kasumi, Nabiki, and Akane?"

"Yes."

"Why are you claiming to be their sister, I know they don't have a forth sister." Nodoka said and Steve realized that she was being found out, but she had to know one thing.

"Before I answer you, can I ask you a question first?" Steve asked.

"All right." Nodoka agreed.

"Just to make sure you are who I think you are, your husband and son went on a ten year training mission, correct?"

"Yes, which should have ended a couple of weeks ago."

"Okay then, but I want to know why Genma told Ranma you were dead. As far as Ranma knows you're dead." Steve told Nodoka and watched as she turned pale when she heard what Steve said. "I only know it has something to do with Ranma being a 'Man among Men'. What is up with that?"

Nodoka came out of her shock and then tells Steve all about the contract that was signed. Tears were rolling down Nodoka's eyes when she finished talking and asked about her son. Steve told her what she's seen of him, leaving out Jusenkyo. When Steve got done talking, Nodoka got very depressed.

"I don't want to know what you think a 'Man among Men' is, but to answer your question, I feel like I'm condemning Ranma." Steve said.

"What do you mean?" Nodoka said confused.

"You are correct when you said there wasn't a forth sister. I'm playing the adopted forth sister because of a slip of tongue. Akane claimed I was her younger sister, so instead of dishonoring her family, I started playing the role." Steve explained.

"I see and understand that, so who are you really and why are you feeling like you are condemning my son?" Nodoka asked.

"If you'll hold on a moment, I'll show you." Steve said and got up and went to get a glass of ice water and a cup of hot water. She then came back and sat back down looking at Nodoka carefully. "You are right, my real name isn't 'Talia Tendo', it's really Steven Stachowicz."

"That sounds like a boy's name."

"It is and I am. What I'm about to show you, will shock you."

"What do you mean?"

Steve looked around the place and saw that it was safe; she dumped some of the hot water on herself. Nodoka stared in shock as a thirteen year old girl turned into a sixteen year old boy. He then poured some cold water on himself and turned back to a girl. She then poured the remainder of the hot water on herself and turned back to male. When Nodoka just stared at Steve for several minutes, Steve snapped his fingers in front of her face to snap her out of the zone she was in. Nodoka shook her head to clear it.

"How is this possible?" Nodoka asked surprised.

"I'll tell you, but you have to keep an open mind, most of what I'm going to tell you will be unbelievable, but as you saw, it's true." Steve replied.

"Okay." Nodoka said nervously.

Steve then proceeded to tell her the story on how he got started on his adventure to Japan. Nodoka was surprised at the age he said he was, and he showed her his driver's license. He explained that he thinks it's a side effect of the curse. He continued to tell her everything that went on from when he met Ryoga to talking to Nodoka in the café. Nodoka was in tears again when she realized what she let happened. Steve squeezed her hand reassuringly and she smiled.

"Can I see the change again?" Nodoka asked quietly. Steve smiled at her and poured the remainder of the cold water on himself and turned back to a girl. "So my son turns to a young girl also?"

"Actually, he stay's the same age. Here." Steve said and hand over a picture of Kuno's she had. Nodoka looked at it carefully.

"So this is my son when he's a girl?" Nodoka asked.

"Yes." Steve replied.

"What did I let happen." Nodoka said quietly.

"If you want, I can help set up for you to meet Ranma." Steve said.

"Thank you."

So Steve and Nodoka talked about how they should go about setting up the meeting. After they thought of several ideas, Nodoka asked if she could keep the picture, and Steve let her. Steve saw the time and told her she had to be getting back. So they said their farewells and Steve collected her stuff and left the café. She was only a block from the café when she was roughly grabbed and thrown into a nearby alley.

Steve had dropped her bag in order to catch herself on the ground. Before she was able to know what was going on, she was kicked in the stomach and she went down. Steve was finally able to see what was going on. She saw five boys around seventeen years old, standing around her. They didn't look too happy to see her.

"Well, well, well. What do we have here?" One of the boys said.

"What do you want?" Steve gasped.

"To get back at you for what you did to our younger brothers." The boy replied.

"I was just defending myself."

"Well, you are going to pay for what you did." The boy said and then punched Steve in the gut. Steve fell to her knees and then two other boys grabbed her arms securely and held her up. Steve struggled to get lose, but couldn't get loose. "Now let's see what my brother said is true." He reached out and ripped open her shirt to reveal her bare chest. Steve now struggled even more. "He was correct; now let's see what else she has to offer."

The boy reached for her pants, but Steve started kicking him. The boy got fed up and punched Steve in the gut several times. Steve then went limp in the boy's arms. The boy then reached out again and pulled down her pants. All the boys were surprised when they saw she was wearing boxers. The boy went for the boxers when the sound of a sword being unsheathed got their attention. All the boys turned to the sound and found a woman standing at the entrance of the alley, holding a katana at the ready.

"I would strongly suggest you let her go." The woman said in controlled anger. The woman then took a step forward and the boys got scared. They let Steve go and ran away. After the boys left, the woman put the sword away and walked up to Steve. "Are you all right, dear?"

"Mrs. Saotome?" Steve gasped looking up.

"Yes dear." Nodoka said smiling.

"Thanks."

"You're welcome."

"What are you doing here?"

"Well, when you left, I had thought of one more question and wanted to get your attention, when I saw you pulled in here. When I got here, I saw what they were doing and I got a little upset."

"I guess I should thank that question." Steve said then Nodoka helped her to stand up. She also helped Steve put her clothes on and straightened out, when Steve noticed her shirt no longer have its ties. "This sucks; this was one of my good shirts."

"Wrap it around yourself, then we can go to my place and we can see about getting you something to wear." Nodoka said.

"Okay." Steve said and secured her shirt around herself and then went to collect her things and looked at them. "At least nothing was breakable in here."

"Shall we go; I don't live that far away."

"Okay."

They walked out of the alley and headed towards Nodoka's home. As they were walking, Steve was unconsciously walking closely to Nodoka as she was thinking on how close she had gotten to being raped. She was thinking deeply and failed to notice that Nodoka was looking at her in worry. As they walked several blocks, they started to hear people screaming. Steve was shaken out of her thoughts when the screaming was heard. She looked up at Nodoka and they both went to see what was going on.

When they got to the scene, they found out it was another monster attack and the Senshi were fighting it. They were off to the far side of the fight as those people that stayed were watching the fight. The monster seemed to be a mixture of ape and bat. As they watched, Steve seemed to notice that the fight was going a little different than the last one she saw. This one, it seemed that the Senshi were more fighting with themselves than the monster.

The Senshi was able to defeat the monster, but it seemed it was by pure luck. The monster just missed dodging out of the way and it took a hit. From that point on, it was defeated easily. When the fight ended, the Senshi were arguing, who Steve thought was Sailor Moon, about what she could have done better. Then the Senshi left in a hurry, with Sailor Moon left more slowly. After everything died down, Nodoka and Steve continued on their way.

When they arrived at Nodoka's house, Nodoka showed Steve where the bathroom was. When Steve was in the bathroom, she cleaned herself as best as she could. She then heard a knock at the door and Steve told the person to enter. Mrs. Saotome entered the room with a sorry look.

"What's wrong?" Steve asked when she saw the look Nodoka had.

"Well, I was going to lend you some clothes to use, but all the clothes of Genma are gi's." Nodoka said.

"I don't want to wear any of them." Steve replied.

"I understand, but all of Ranma's clothes are too small."

"I see your point." Steve said, and then noticed that Nodoka had a look to her that said she wanted to say something. "What is it?"

"Well, I don't know how to put this, since I know who you really are, but if you want to, I think I still have my old school uniform you could wear." Nodoka replied uncertainly.

"It doesn't bother me, it's not like I've done that before in my life." Steve said which caused Nodoka to give Steve a funny look. "Throughout my high school and college years, we had a spirit week, and one of those days was called 'Opposite day'. It's a day where we would come to school dressed as the opposite gender."

"Oh." Nodoka said after Steve's explaination.

"So let's go check out this uniform."

Nodoka showed Steve the way to her bedroom and pulled a box from the back of the closet. She handed the box over to Steve and Steve opened the lid. Inside the box was a girl's school uniform, which the main colors being orange, white, and tan. Steve pulled the shirt out and held it to herself. Steve saw that it would probably fit her, so she went and took off her ruined shirt and put on the uniform shirt. Steve then realized that she had changed clothes right in front of Nodoka.

"I'm sorry." Steve said apologetically.

"That's all right dear. If you don't have a problem with changing in front of me, then I don't have a problem." Nodoka replied.

"Uh, okay." Steve said.

So Steve then got out of her pants and then put the skirt on, with help from Nodoka. Steve then adjusted the uniform and found that it fit pretty well. Steve looked at herself and smiled at what she saw. She looked over towards Nodoka to thank her, but stopped before she said anything. She noticed that Nodoka was smiling and had a look in her eye that Steve had only seen once before.

"Thank you mother." Steve said happily and then gave Nodoka a hug. This surprised Nodoka that she just stared at Steve.

"What did you do that for?" Nodoka asked after Steve stepped back.

"Well, it looked like you needed it." Steve said, but Nodoka looked at her in confusion. "You had the same look in your eyes that my mother had when she gave a special item to my sister. Plus I think you've been alone for too long."

"You are correct, I've been lonely these ten years, and when you wore that uniform, it felt like I was giving my daughter a piece of my life." Nodoka said.

"That is why I did it. You needed it."

"But why did you call me 'mother'?"

"Uh ... would you believe that I wanted to?"

"But why?"

"Well, I've been calling my best friends mother 'mom' for several years now, she was like a second mother to me. So when I saw the look in your eyes, it just felt right."

"That's nice of you." Nodoka said and then gave Steve a hug, which Steve returned just as warmly.

"Could you help me with something?" Steve asked.

"What is it?" Nodoka asked.

"In order to play the role of 'Talia', could you teach me how to act in a skirt?"

"Sure."

"Thanks ... mom."

Nodoka smiled at Steve and then started showing Steve what to do. After an hour of training, Steve thanked Nodoka, but told her she had to get back to the Tendo Dojo. Nodoka thanked Steve for keeping her company for a while and told Steve that she could keep the uniform and to visit once in a while. Steve thanked her again and collected her things, placing her old clothes in a bag and headed back to the Dojo.

xxxxx

She arrived at the Dojo and announced that she was back. She heard everyone was in the living room, so she headed there. When she entered the living room, those that were in there were surprised at what Steve was wearing.

"Hey, Stack, why are you dressed in a girl's uniform?" Ranma asked as Steve came into the living room. "What happened after I left?"

"It's a long story Red." Steve said with a shrug. "But most of it's your fault."

"My fault?" Ranma said in surprise. "What did I do?"

"You only kicked Kuno's buckets away." Steve said in a reasonable tone. "Unfortunately for me, I was in the way and didn't dodge fast enough."

"Did anyone see the change?" Ranma asked in horror, wondering how he would explain this to whoever saw it.

"No, luckily no one saw." Steve said with a sigh. "But before I could change, one of the teachers caught me in the hall. To make a long story short, I decided to play the role of 'Talia' and said my tutor didn't show, so I wanted to visit my 'sisters'."

"Why did you do that?" Akane asked, coming in at the end of Steve's story.

"It was the only thing I could do on such short notice." Steve replied.

"What happened?" Ranma asked.

"Well, I was given a uniform since they didn't want me walking around in over-sized, wet clothes. They gave me a level of knowledge test that placed me in eleventh grade, due to my weak areas in Japanese knowledge and history. I tried to be place in our class, but it appeared that my sister seemed to have left school for the day." Steve said, looking at Akane.

"So the office decided to have her come to my class." Nabiki said with a glare at Steve, coming into the room, which didn't have much force since she was smiling. "Though, it was fun watching you figure out how you were going to do afternoon PE class."

"I just went along with everyone else in the class." Steve said distractedly, suddenly remembering why she had ran to the Dojo in the first place, before she remembered about those gifts.

"You pervert!" Akane shouted, getting to her feet menacingly.

"Now what?" Steve demanded, moving away from Akane. "What did I say?" She asked as she dodged Akane's punches, sweating when she saw the damage Akane was doing.

"You stayed as a girl just so you could watch the other girls shower, didn't you?" Akane demanded, grabbing a bokken. "I'll beat you so bad; you'll wish you never even notice girls!"

Akane chased Steve around the dojo until she finally caught her in a corner. Before she could beat her with the bokken, the practice blade was torn out of her hands. She turned to glare at Ranma, and then stopped when she heard Steve sigh behind her.

"Akane, the thought never entered my mind." She said patiently. "But you probably won't believe that. Mrs. Tsuchida let me change in the dressing room though, so the other girls wouldn't tease me."

"You weren't around the other girls?" Akane asked in surprise. "What about the shower?" She asked suspiciously.

"Took it in the dressing room." Steve said seriously. "I'm not a pervert who watches girls getting dressed when they don't know I'm watching."

"I don't know if I believe you." Akane said suspiciously.

"I do." Nabiki said with a smile at Steve. "Besides, I trusted him." She walked out under the amazed stares of everyone.

"She trusts you?" Ranma said incredulously. "Is there something going on that we should know about, Stack?"

"I'm just as in the dark about this as you are." Steve said, staring after Nabiki. "But I'm going to find out."

Steve handed Kasumi her old clothes and told her what happened to them and if she could help repair the shirt. Kasumi told her she would do her best and Steve headed up to her room. She got out of the uniform, folded it up and put it away, along with the items for her family. She then went and changed back to male and then walked up to Nabiki's room and knocked on the door.

"Who is it?" Nabiki's voice said cheerfully.

"It's Steve." He said nervously. "Can I come in to talk to you?"

"Certainly." Nabiki said with a laugh. "I'm decent."

Steve swallowed convulsively at the thoughts that statement called to mind, and then opened the door. Nabiki was lying on her bed, doing leg exercises in shorts and a tank top.

"Umm ... what did you mean down there that you trust me?" He asked nervously. "Why do you trust me? You've only even known I existed for a couple weeks."

"There are three reasons I trust you, Stack." Nabiki said, sitting up on the bed. "First, you were honestly surprised at Akane's question, as if you really hadn't thought about it. Second, you don't lie needlessly or to avoid trouble, something I would expect in a sixteen year old, but not in a mid-twenty year old."

"Thanks, I think." Steve said, his expression still a little confused. "What was the third reason?"

"If you ever tried to pull anything like Akane was afraid of, I'd hit you with a bucket of hot water so fast, you'd never see it coming." Nabiki said in a tone that made her threat a promise. "After that, I think you'd survive maybe thirty seconds."

"If that." Steve agreed with a shiver. "Now I have even less desire to do that than I did before."

"Good, then I won't need to worry, will I?" Nabiki said with a grin. "Thanks for the help in class; by the way, Mr. Yamagi is terrible if you're not paying attention."

"He reminds me of Dr. Van Ghent, my organic chemistry professor at the college I went to." Steve said, laughing at the memory. "He was this old South African guy who expected you to respect him because he was older. Anyone who didn't pay attention found out that the old guy had a perfect aim with pieces of chalk."

"He would throw them at you?" Nabiki asked, trying to imagine some of her older teacher's doing that, and failing.

"Absolutely." Steve laughed.

"Now that you mention chemistry, I remember that I have homework due in all of my classes." Nabiki said. "If Talia wants to study with me, she can." Nabiki laughed at Steve's annoyed expression, and then looked at him questioningly.

"It's just that I just realized what I've set myself up for." He grumbled. "I'm going to be spending most of my days as Talia. I'm going to be spending half my life as a girl, more importantly, as your sister. I'm going to have to wear girl's clothes at times, hell; I may even start having to worry about periods. My sister would love this."

"Your sister?" Nabiki asked in surprised.

"Yeah, I have a sister who's about eight years younger than I am." Steve said, and then laughed. "Who am I kidding; we're about the same age now. Though, how I'm going to explain that one, I have no clue."

"What do you mean?" Nabiki asked interested.

"I mean, how do you explain to your parents that you appear eight years younger? It would probably be better to fake my own death."

"Easier said than done, at least here in Japan." Nabiki said seriously. "Every reported death is investigated very closely here, and if they find out it was faked, they make you pay for their wasted time."

"Ouch, I definitely can't afford that." He said with a wince. "I never thought I'd actually say this, but let's do our homework. It has to be easier than thinking about my problems."

Nabiki laughed in agreement and they started doing their work after Steve changed forms and grabbed his homework. Then Nabiki started asking questions about what happened to him that he came back wearing that uniform. Steve told her all that happened to her in Juuban, leaving out the part about Nodoka finding out about the 'Talia' role and being Ranma's mother, along with the plan to set up in the future. After that, they just continued on their homework.

xxxxx

To Be Continued