A Time for Wild Horses

by Jose Argao

A crossover between Ranma, Ah! Megamisama, and Sailormoon. I use plain text files, which the site messes up. For better reading, check out my homepage.

21. Chapter 19

Disclaimer: Ranma, Morrigan, Urd, Kasumi, Usagi, Setsuna, and the rest

of the gang are the property of their respective owners. The author is

just borrowing them for a bit of fun. ^_^

Warning: Tower 7 is impossible. (those of you who are playing Final

Fantasy X-2 will understand)

Warning: Altaverse (Keiichi ain't here, and the senshi timeline is

all messed up.)

"words"

'thoughts'

A Time for Wild Horses chapter 19

by Jose Argao

Ranma's jaw dropped. "What? Could you say that again?"

Ami closed her eyes and turned away, too embarrassed to look

Ranma in the eye. "It's my fault that you turned into a girl. You'll

never be able to live normally now, much less find a girl willing to

marry you like that. As the one to blame for putting you in such a

predicament, it's my duty to make the ultimate sacrifice and spend the

rest of my life making it up to you. Not that it's something I really

want to do, mind you, because it's not."

Ranma raised an eyebrow at her remark. "So you're going to

marry me, but you don't really want to?"

Ami immediately whirled around to face Ranma again. "No,

that's not it at all. Of course I want to marry you! It's just that I

don't, but I really do, but not because of the reasons that you're

thinking. I'm doing this all out of love, but only because I have to.

I'm not that kind of girl! Do you understand?"

Ranma nodded slowly, taking a small step backwards from the

crazy girl in the blue skirt as he did so. "Um... yeah. I think I--"

"No!"

Ranma and Ami turned towards Usagi, who was staring straight

at Ranma with a determined look in her eye. She struck a dramatic pose

as she launched into a dramatic speech, her mouth moving instinctively

with no need for any coaching on the part of her brain.

"I'm the leader of our team. If any member makes a mistake,

it's my responsibility. I can't allow Ami to suffer because my

leadership skills weren't good enough to see us through. I'm the one

who should make the sacrifice and marry Ranma."

"I won't let you!" Minako slowly got up, pumping a fist

in front of her as she spoke.

"Usagi, you still have to marry Mamoru for Crystal Tokyo to

become a reality. How could I ever live with myself if I stood idly by

as you threw away your destiny? As your friend and a fellow senshi, I

volunteer to take your place by Ranma's side!"

Minako was just about to run towards Ranma and show just how

far she was willing to go to help a friend when she heard a Makoto and

Rei speaking in unison behind her.

"No, I'll marry Ranma instead!"

"No, I'll marry Ranma instead!"

The two senshi slowly turned their heads towards one another,

electrical sparks seemingly flashing between their eyes. They frowned

and pointed accusing fingers at each other. Both girls spoke once

more, vocalizing their syllables at exactly the same time.

"You? Why would Ranma want to marry _you_?"

"You? Why would Ranma want to marry _you_?"

Makoto shook her fist in anger. "And why _wouldn't_ he want to

marry me? We share so much in common!"

Rei rolled her eyes. "So you're both jocks. Big deal. Ranma

needs someone to bolster his spiritual aspects, because his physical

abilities are already top notch. As a shrine maiden, I'd be perfect

for the job!"

"No no no no no!" Usagi interrupted the girls and tried to

reason with them. "You're all looking at it the wrong way! It's love

that makes relationships work. I believe that I can give Ranma all

the love that he would ever need. I'm a princess, you know."

Minako dismissed her friend's words with a skeptical wave of

her hand. "What are you talking about? I'm the senshi of _love_ for

crying out loud. If there's anyone around here who can give Ranma the

love he needs, it's me!"

Rei laughed out loud at Minako's remark. "Oh please. You've

already fallen for just about every other cute guy you've ever met.

If you ask me, you don't have enough love left over to give! I, on the

other hand, have vast stores of tender loving care stored up inside me

just waiting to be released."

Minako's jaw fell open. A look of anger formed on her face as

she glared at the senshi of Mars.

"I can't believe you just said that! I'll have you know I have

more love to offer him than you could ever dream of! I'm not some

prudish shrine maiden who spends all her time cooped up in a temple,

after all. I'm the blonde in this group, and blondes are more fun!"

Usagi frowned at Minako's words. "Mina-chan, that wasn't a

very nice thing to say at all. I'm a blonde too but I don't hold it

against other people that they aren't. You have to understand other

people's limitations."

"Hey, just a minute!" Makoto glared at Usagi and Minako as she

spoke. "You two are talking like being blonde makes you better than the

rest of us! I don't see how you can get off saying things like that

when both of you are less developed than I am." Makoto smirked at her

friends as she looked down on their smaller chests.

Rei glared daggers at her the other senshi as she responded

made her own opinions known to them. "You're all bragging about your

blonde hair and big boobs, but Ranma is Japanese. He'd obviously prefer

genuine Japanese beauty over your foreign looks. Come on, look at

yourselves! You look like rejects from a cospla-- ouch!"

Rei rubbed her bottom where something had seemingly zapped her

on her bottom. She hurriedly scanned the faces of the other senshi and

stopped when she got to Makoto. "You did that, didn't you? Admit it!"

Makoto grinned widely at Rei as she feigned innocence. "I

don't know what you're talking about."

Rei pointed an accusing finger at the senshi of thunder. "I

don't see any other people here who could have given me an electric

shock just now."

Makoto simply shrugged. "Really? I guess my hand must have

sli-- eeek!"

Rei smirked as she watched Makoto put out the small fire that

had materialized on her skirt. Small flames danced around the senshi

of flame as she charged up her energy. "Don't mess with me, Mako-chan.

You're gonna regret it."

Makoto glared at Rei, her fingers giving off electric sparks

as she did so. "Are you threatening me?"

Usagi was getting worried. Her friends were fighting with each

other. That's not the way things were supposed to be! She took a step

step towards them so she could stop any fights from starting. Suddenly,

a short chain of hearts appeared in front of her foot from out of

nowhere and tangled up her feet.

Minako giggled as she watched Usagi fall. "Would you look at

that. My hand must have slipped too!"

Usagi closed her eyes, counted slowly from one to ten, then

found that her anger had not diminished in the least. Her whole body

glowed with power as she got to her feet and turned towards Minako.

"Mina-chan, you're my friend. You'll always be my friend.

Friends look out for each other, and that's why I can't stand to see

you getting violent like this. I'm going to set you straight, even if

I have to kick your butt to do it!"

Minako raised her eyebrows at Usagi's words. "Kick my ass, huh?

I'd like to see you try."

*****

"Oooh, that's nice. Keep doing that."

Lilith shivered with delight as Morrigan ran soft, light

kisses down the flawless skin of her neck. Her arms went lovingly

around the neck of the older succubus and she ran her delicate fingers

through Morrigan's smooth, silky hair. A few meters away from them,

Setsuna gulped loudly and tried to tear her gaze away from the pair,

failing miserably. Urd rolled her eyes and shook her head at their

actions.

"Get a room, you two!"

Urd turned up her nose at the shameful behavior of her amorous

opponents. They paid no heed to her polite request that they stop their

rather public display, however.

A quick glance in the general direction of her remaining

opponent revealed that the poor thing had been paralyzed with shock.

The woman just stood there gaping as her opponents' encounter grew

more and more heated. Her whole face was bright red and a thin line

of drool was trickling from her slack jaws to the ground.

Gross!

Resisting the urge to watch her succubi friends more closely

and jot down the details of a few moves she had never seen before, Urd

turned around slowly and started walking away. Her eyes began searching

the area for signs of Ranma. World of Elegance slowly disappeared, her

presence no longer required.

Urd sighed. In retrospect, she should have known something

like this could happen. She hadn't listened closely to any of the

lectures in school, but she had a vague recollection of being warned

about the possibility of exactly this thing happening when they talked

about battling multiple succubi. They had been rather repetitive in

their warnings, in fact. What was the reason again? It was right at

the tip of her tongue but Urd couldn't seem get it out.

Oh well, it couldn't have been very important.

*****

"How much longer till we get to Juuban?"

Rose ran frantically beside Mousse as the two made their way

towards Juuban High. She was still irritated that Ryoga had gone off

on his own and that Mousse had neglected to tell her that Ranma was

currently fighting with the Sailor Senshi on national TV. It was a

good thing she fell down the stairs while running away from Kasumi's

crazy talk and rolled right in front of the television just in time

to see Ranma get hit with some sort of ice attack.

"I don't know, a couple of hours maybe? I'm not used to taking

the roads. I usually jump from roof to roof to get places, or I change

into my cursed form and fly."

Rose frowned at her annoying helper. "A couple of hours? We'll

never get there in time!"

Mousse shrugged. "Well, trains stop going to Juuban when there

are fights like this, and you can't really convince any of the taxi

drivers to take you to a war zone, so unless you can learn to roof-jump

or fly we'll have to make do with running."

Rose rolled her eyes in annoyance. "Well, if you'd only taken

the time to get off your lazy ass and tell me that Ranma was on TV, we

would have gotten started much sooner!"

Mousse continued running as he replied. "I didn't think it was

important. Ranma fights with all sorts of powerful people all the time.

It's not exactly unusual, you know."

Rose resisted the urge to hit Mousse over the head with her

fist. He had a point, after all, though for some reason that fact just

seemed to make her angrier.

"Never mind, let's just run. This argument isn't helping us.

It's not going to get us a car or anything, that's for sure."

Mousse's eyes perked up at that comment. "Actually, I have a

car up my sleeve."

Rose immediately stopped running. "You have a car? A real car

that you can ride?"

Mousse nodded. "Yeah, a real car that you can ride. I wouldn't

have mentioned it if it was just a toy."

Rose's face glowed with hope. "Where is it? Do you keep it

parked somewhere nearby?"

Mousse laughed. "I told you before, didn't I? It's up my

sleeve."

At that, Mousse started pulling a large object from inside

of his robe. Rose stared in amazement as a full-sized car emerged and

landed in front of her. After a few seconds of shocked silence, she

managed to regain her thoughts as well as the ability to speak.

"Did you just pull a Lamborghini Diablo from inside your

robe?"

Mousse nodded nonchalantly. "Yes I did. Don't you like it? I

got it on eBay last year. I bought it with the money I made selling

bootleg DVDs in China."

Rose shook her head in frustration. "You mean you had it with

you all this time?"

Mousse nodded once more. "Yep, that's correct."

Rose's left eye twitched. "Why didn't you tell me? We could

have used it from the beginning and saved so much time!"

Mousse smiled and scratched the back of his head. "Well, you

never asked, and I don't really know how to drive yet."

Rose would have facefaulted, if only times weren't so dire. As

it was, she just sighed in disbelief. "Never mind. Get on the passenger

seat. I'm driving."

*****

Doing their work as the Sailor Senshi, Usagi, Minako, Makoto

and Rei had all experienced combat. Using the incredible powers given

to them by their transformation pens, they were able to run around

like idiots and fire cheap shots at all kinds of foes. They pioneered

the 'shoot-the-enemy-until-it-don't-move-no-more' style of fighting

that had become associated with all magical girls.

Right now, however, they were rolling around on the ground and

trying to wrestle each other into submission. It just seemed to be more

appropriate for a catfight like this. The large dust cloud that they

had kicked up around themselves made sure that they couldn't be seen,

but their cries of battle painted a pretty clear picture of what was

going on.

"Take this, Minako! Hiyaaaa!"

"Owie, someone just kicked my knee!"

"Stop pulling my hair!"

"Take this Minako! 'Hiyaa'? That must be the lamest thing I've

ever heard anyone yell out in a fight."

"I think my skirt just ripped... again."

"Shut up! It was not lame. I got that line from a perfectly

good Yuyu Hakusho fanfic!"



"My eyes! Someone poked my eyes!"

"Hey, no fish-hooking!"

"Eeek! Someone just bit my... you know, the tip of my chest

area!"

"Sorry, that was me. I thought you were Rei."

"I _am_ Rei!"

"Oh, then good."

Ami adjusted her visor to be able to see through the dust, but

immediately turned it back to normal vision. A blush appeared on each

of her cheeks. She rapidly typed an important reminder for herself

on never to get a fight with the other girls.

Then she reached over to her visor and pressed 'record'.

*****

"Well, that about does it for the security check. Please enjoy

your stay in Midgard, Ma'am!"

Belldandy smiled sweetly at the handsome young man who had

performed the security check on her. He was cheerful and polite, two

traits that she thought were often lacking in today's youth. He also

hadn't tried to come up with some excuse to detain her for suspected

ambrosia smuggling, another big plus in her book.

There was no reason at all for a goddess like her to engage

in such a petty criminal act, but the customs officials always tried to

pin it on her anyway. She supposed that the mandatory strip search all

suspects were forced to endure had something to do with it. She had

never seen him before, so he was probably recently hired. Belldandy

decided to introduce herself.

"Thanks, I will. By the way, I'm Belldandy. Are you new here?

No one told me we had any new employees in this department."

The man ran a hand through his blonde hair as he replied. "Oh,

I'm just working here part-time until my girlfriend brings me back to

life. It might take a while, though. She still has a lot of side-quests

to do and mini-games to play."

Belldandy nodded thoughtfully as she took in what the man

had just said. "Er... forgive me for asking, but what do quests and

mini-games have to do with bring you back to life?"

The man shrugged. "Nothing, really. I just wanted her to do

them before I came back. It just doesn't feel like she gave a hundred

percent otherwise, you know."

Belldandy raised an eyebrow at this, but decided not to pry.

It wasn't nice to judge other people. She shrugged and started walking

towards the entrance to Midgard. She turned back towards the man before

she entered, however.

"What did you say your name was again?"

The man smiled brightly as he waved his right hand towards

her. "The name's Tidus, Ma'am. Star blitzball player of the Zanarkand

Abes. If you need anything down there, just whistle!"

*****

'Oh no, what am I going to do!'

Ami's mind raced as she tried to figure out the best course

of action to take. She had to stop her friends from fighting amongst

themselves over who would get to marry Ranma.

"Excuse me, but are those young girls your friends?"

Ami turned her head to see the strange girl who wanted to

take Ranma home with her. Ami wasn't sure what to make of the girl,

actually. She didn't seem evil, but she had been fighting Mamoru.

That might have been just a misunderstanding, though. Mamoru hadn't

been acting like himself lately. She decided to try and be civil.

There was no need to make enemies if she could help it.

"Yeah, they are. It doesn't look like it, but we're actually

teen defenders of love and justice. You may have seen us on the cover

of newspapers magazines, and starring in several popular doujinshi."

Hinako quietly mulled the blue-haired girl's words over in

her mind. Her face scrunched itself into a scowl as her mind struggled

to assess the situation and come up with an appropriate plan of action.

Moments later, her facial features once again pulled themselves into

a bright smile.

"Teen defenders of love and justice, huh? Well, you're all

delinquents then! I'm going to have to teach you girls a lesson!"

Ami immediately backed away from the strange girl. This was

bad. It seemed like she had completely misunderstood the situation.

"No, wait! You don't understand! You shouldn't be fighting us.

We're the good gu... er... girls!"

Hinako scoffed at Ami's frantic pleas. "Young girls like you

should be studying your lessons and doing homework, not saving the

world from the forces of evil! You should leave those kinds of things

to the professionals, like mecha-robots! If you can't understand such

a simple concept as that, I guess I'll just have to make you!"

Ami started gathering her power to shield herself from an

energy-based attack, but was caught by surprise when Hinako rushed

right towards her. The sexy teen teacher collided with the pretty

young senshi and both of them flew off the ground, heading towards

the cloud of dust that marked the area where the other senshi were

having their 'confrontation'. The last thought to pass through her

mind was a hope that she wouldn't fall on any of her friends and

hurt them.

The first thought to pass through her mind after landing was

a hope that whomever was groping her ass would stop it.

*****

"Oh my aching...."

Happosai stood up slowly, brushing dirt and dust off his

body as he did so. He hadn't expected the cloaked girl to be good

at martial arts. She was deceptively dangerous. Definitely bad

news for him. From now on, he would stick to normal girls with

normal underwear.

Normal girls and Ranma, of course.

Happosai shook his head one last time to clear his head

of the grogginess he felt, but he couldn't seem to get the strange

ringing out of his ears. In fact, it actually seemed to be getting

louder and louder as time wore on. What was up with that sound?

He didn't really get hit over the head _that_ hard, did he?

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa-- ooof."

Mamoru slowly opened his eyes and took stock of the situation.

He was still alive, which was good. On the other hand, he had also

failed to get Athan to fall madly in love with him again, which was

bad. He could still feel his legs, and that was good, but he could

also feel that he landed on something small and squishy, and that was

almost always bad. As far as he knew he still had all of his limbs,

and that was good, but he also seemed to have lost his lucky hat, and

that was bad.

That silly little girl back there must have fallen a little

too madly in love with him, for her to get so angry because he was

paying Lady Athan a bit of attention. He would need to have a talk

with her later about how she should get used to the idea of him

spending time with other women if she wanted to be with a prince.

"My... pretties...."

What was that? Was he starting to hear voices now? Granted,

he had always been one to hear strange voices when no one was around,

but they had always been sweet-sounding voices that could only belong

to beautiful women. He had actually liked them and refused vehemently

when Queen Serenity had offered to cure him all those years ago. He

could remember this one particular voice that he had named 'sexy voice

number seven' that sounded particularly hot. Oh, the nights that they

spent just talking to each other. Those were the da--

"Get off!"

Well, that _definitely_ wasn't sexy voice number seven. For

one thing, she sounded a whole lot cuter than that. And another thing,

she was never so... crude with her words. Oh, she always knew that they

would get down to it in the end, but she never outright shouted at him

to get o--

"I said get off!"

Wait a minute, that sound wasn't coming from inside his head

at all. It was coming from the squishy thing that he landed on! Mamoru

quickly got up to see what had saved him from a rather painful fall.

The darkness of the night made it hard to make out exactly what it was,

but it quickly moved into an upright position the moment he got off

it. It started shouting mean things at him too.

"How dare you fall on a helpless old man when it's painfully

obvious that he's in a vulnerable state! I ought to teach you a... say,

didn't I just teach you a lesson a while ago? Tell me, sonny, how are

you doing? Did anything depraved and perverse yet?"

Mamoru took on an expression of total disgust at Happosai's

words. "Depraved and perverse? Endymion, crown prince of Earth, does

not engage in such actions!"

Happosai frowned. "Really? You're not feeling the urge to go

out and look for women to ravish? Not feeling your emotions regressed

to an earlier time when you knew nothing of the social rules set forth

by society?"

Mamoru rolled his eyes. "No, not at all. A prince must always

ensure that his actions fall within the rules of propriety."

Happosai raised a finger to his lower lip as he thought.

"Well, that's strange. Maybe I didn't regress his emotions far

enough, or maybe I regressed them too far. Or maybe I did the wrong

technique. I've never heard of the technique causing delusions of being

royalty before.... Say, where did you go after I hit your pressure

point?"

Mamoru thought for a bit before answering. "Well, I went to

Sailor Jupiter's apartment because I sensed that she was in trouble,

and then there was this strange woman who transported all of us to--"

Happosai suddenly interrupted Mamoru's reply. "Wait a minute!

You _know_ where Sailor Jupiter lives?"

Mamoru sighed. It was very rude of this old man to interrupt

him while he was talking. "Well, of course I do. It would be very hard

to protect the senshi if I couldn't sense where they were, wouldn't

it?"

Happosai was shocked. This was an important development

indeed. "You can sense where the Sailor Senshi are?"

Mamoru groaned. "Gee, you must be _really_ old. Haven't you

been listening at all? Yes I can!"

Happosai nodded slowly, a smile forming on his face. "Is that

so? Well, have I got a proposition for you!"

*****

"Whew, that was close."

Ranma sat down on the roof of Juuban High's gym, happy to

have escaped the commotion below. He breathed a huge sigh of relief

and stretched out on the roof to rest a bit before heading back to

his apartment. He would have to ask Urd-san for a new apartment when

he next saw her. Makoto was cute and all, but he didn't really think

that living next door to a crazy woman who dressed up in a perverted

fuku to fight evil was a good idea.

"That was pretty fast. I'm impressed."

Ranma rolled his eyes. "Fast? If I wasn't so out of it back

there I would have been here ages before-- wha?"

Nabiki stepped out of the shadows, walking slowly towards

Ranma. "I must admit that while I expected you to get involved with

something like this, I didn't expect it to happen so soon. You've

been here less than a day and you're already cheating on my sister.

With the Sailor Senshi, no less! I've a good mind to--"

"Ranma-san! You're safe! Nabiki-san and I were so worried!

I'm so happy to see you!"

Over the course of his ten-year training journey with his

father, Ranma's reflexes had been honed to superhuman levels. The

various bouts of speed-training he put himself through after that

only served to make his reaction time even faster. That said, Ranma

was caught completely by surprise by the fact that he suddenly had

a bishonen ninja in his arms and on his face.

"Mmmph!"

With every ounce of strength left in his body, Ranma pushed

Konatsu off himself and started spitting on the roof like his life

depended on it.

"What the heck are _you_ doing here? You're both supposed to

be back home in Nerima!"

Nabiki opened her mouth to say that she'd be happy to answer

any questions for a small fee, but Konatsu was too fast for her.

"Oh it was terrible, Ranma-san! Ukyo-sama left on a trip

and I couldn't go to the bathroom, then these two women came and

tied me up on the bed. I went here with Akane-san as fast as I

could, but I met up with Nabiki-san instead and here we are!"

An awkward moment of silence passed as Ranma and Nabiki

tried to make sense of what they had heard. Finally, Nabiki cleared

her throat to catch Ranma's attention.

"Listen, Ranma, it's obvious that you're in way over your

head here. I think I can help you, but you're going to have to tell me

exactly what's going on."

Nabiki smiled warmly at Ranma, her eyes twinkling at the

prospect of getting even more material to blackmail him with. She

wondered to herself about what he had done _this_ time. It had to

be serious, if the senshi were involved. It'd be so funny if Ranma

had somehow gotten himself engaged to a senshi! Of course, it

didn't really matter. It wasn't like she was interested in Ranma

herself. She was just doing this to get back at Kasumi. She wasn't

about to lose a guy to some older woman, even if that woman was her

own sister... and she technically didn't really have the guy to

begin with. It was a matter of principle.

Anyway, though things weren't exactly going according to

plan, they were at least going well. At this rate, he would owe her

his soul before he was twenty-one! Then, when he was so deeply in

debt that he had nothing, Ranma would have no choice but to cut his

losses and leave Akane to become her trophy husband.

Then Kasumi would finally see who was good wife material.

Not that she would actually go through with such a plan,

of course. She was busy saving herself for someone better.

Someone richer... someone cuter... someone who wouldn't borrow

money from her to buy a gift for Akane. She would make Ranma beg

to be with her, then let him know she wasn't interested.

But then, that would devastate him. One way or another,

Ranma was going to become family. It wouldn't do to have him run

the dojo if his will was broken after getting dumped by her.

Maybe she could go out with him for a while, just so his ego

wouldn't be bruised by finding out that she was completely

impervious to his charms. They would have a bit of fun, but

she'd end it quickly.

Of course, they could just as easily have a _lot_ of fun.

She was doing it to build up his confidence, after all, so

why not go the extra mile? It wasn't like he was unattractive. She

could probably teach him a few things too. It was like she was giving

a gift to Akane... or Kasumi if Ranma was really going to end up with

her. Wouldn't Kasumi be shocked to find out she was just a second

choice? That would teach her not to underestimate Nabiki Tendo!

"So then I woke up here, and I had no idea how that happened.

It was like I was at the apartment one minute, then the next minute

I was here. I just don't understand."

To her credit, Nabiki made no outward indication that she

hadn't heard a thing of what Ranma had been telling her.

*****

'I am not getting turned on... I am not getting turned on... I

am not getting turned on... I am not getting turned on....'

Setsuna stared raptly at the two fornicating demons in front

of her. She was confused. She was well aware of the fact that she

didn't normally behave like a deer caught in the headlights when in

situations like this. She had, in fact, seen far worse things among

the many images she had been able to view using the Time Gates.

She still couldn't quite bring herself to move, though. No

dice trying to look away, either.

What was wrong with her, anyway? She was fine just a moment

ago. Not just fine, she was great! She had been kicking that silly

little succubus's delectable ass all the way to next week and now

all she wanted to do was join in so she could maybe do other, more

enjoyable things to it.

'Why not?'

The voice startled Setsuna. She looked around, trying to find

its source. She had never heard the voice before in her life, but she

just knew she could trust its owner. She would do anything for the

owner of that voice.

'Come to us, Guardian of Time. We know you want us. It's okay,

we want you too.'

Then she knew. The voice was coming from the older succubus.

What was her name again? Morrigan? That couldn't be right. Morrigan was

such a mundane, boring name. It didn't fit her at all. Mistress! That

was it! The voice was coming from the older succubus, her mistress.

Her mistress was calling to her. She had to come. She had to come to

her mistress. She had to come for her mistress. She had to--

"No! You have to stop them!"

The louder, less inviting voice snapped the senshi of Pluto

out of her thoughts. She blinked her eyes and shook her head as she

tried to figure out what just happened. It was hard to get any thinking

done, though, what with that silver-haired woman making so much noise.

"Hey you, Sailor-Chick! I just figured out what those succubi

are doing. You have to stop them now or we're all gonna be in big

trouble!"

Setsuna knew who that woman was. She was Urd, the same woman

who had fought and defeated her in her own dimension. Urd had even

broken the Time Gates. She had been fighting the older succubus, but

had gone away. Now she was flying back towards them, barking out

orders like she was a PE teacher or something. Well, if Urd thought

she could just order the senshi of Pluto around from now on, she was

sadly mistaken. Setsuna Meiou was nobody's bi--

"Crap, _I'll_ do it!"

Electric sparks flew from Urd's hands as she gathered her power

into a ball of energy. She lobbed it at the fornicating pair of succubi

with all the strength she could muster, hoping that the ball would hit

them in time. The blast flew through the air at amazing speed, closing

the distance between it's target and itself in seconds.

It wasn't fast enough, though.

A split-second before her blast was able to hit the amorous

duo, a bright flash of white light engulfed them both. The light easily

swallowed Urd's attack into itself. After a few moments, the glare

died down to reveal a lone figure standing in its wake. Morrigan

smiled at her confused opponents, waves of raw power radiating from her

rejuvenated body.

"I hadn't planned on using my true form this early, but you

two gave me no choice. What once was split, is once again whole. Let's

try this again, shall we?"

*****

"Yes, well... I think the best thing to do would be to go back

home to Nerima."

Ranma blinked. "Go back? But what are we going to do about

the mess over here?"

Nabiki shrugged. "Nothing. It's not in our place, so it's out

of our hands. They'll just have to resolve this themselves. Besides,

we have our own problems to worry about. You should get home before

your girlfriends destroy Nerima and I should go home before father dies

of a heart attack."

So saying, Nabiki grabbed Ranma by the arm and started pulling

him away. "Now I don't want to have to pay fare to get back if I don't

have to, and Konatsu gets this weird, unnerving grin on his face

whenever he touches me, so you're going to have to carry me in your

arms on the way home. However, if you so much as think of touching me

inappropriately I will make your life a living he-- what now?"

Ranma pulled his arm free of Nabiki's grip and shook his

head sadly. "Look, what you're saying makes sense... but I can't

just leave things here the way they are. I feel kinda responsible

for all this, you know."

Nabiki rolled her eyes. "Responsible? You? What would _you_

know about responsibility, Saotome?"

Ranma clenched his hands into fists in frustration. "Isn't

it obvious to you yet? All those girls in the cheerleader outfits...

that weird homosexual guy in a top hat... Ms. Hinako... they're all

fighting over me! It's my fault. If I hadn't been so devastatingly

attractive to the opposite sex, none of this would have-- oof!"

"You're damn right it's your fault! How dare you run off to

flirt with other girls when you already have a girl like Akane! I'll

make you pay!"

Nabiki tilted her head to one side as Ryoga pounded Ranma

repeatedly onto the roof. What on Earth was he doing here?

"Ranma you jerk!"

Nabiki frowned as Akane seemingly appeared from out of nowhere

and joined Ryoga his in quest to make Ranma one with the roof. This

was not part of the plan. Nope, nope, nope.

"Er... Miss Akane...."

Akane looked up to find Konatsu standing beside her. The

bishonen ninja looked a bit frazzled.

"Where have you been? I was looking for you. Get over here

and help us!"

Konatsu laughed nervously. "Miss Akane... I don't think that's

such a good idea...."

Akane frowned. "What are you talking about? You saw what he

did. He has this coming!"

The male kunoichi shifted his weight from one foot to another

as he replied. "Er... I don't think they agree."

Akane grimaced. "They? Who are you talking about."

A loud, ditzy voice coming from behind her answered Akane's

question. "She would be talking about us, the Sailor Senshi! Such a

fine specimen of manhood must be loved well, not hit over the head

repeatedly in such a fashion... and by a tomboy no less! We will

all punish you in the name of love!"

Akane turned around and saw that she was the target of six

angry stares. She recognized their owners as Sailor Moon, Sailor

Mercury, Sailor Mars, Sailor Venus, Sailor Jupiter, and a young girl

who looked suspiciously like....

"Ms. Hinako?"

Akane's English teacher twirled around and flashed a dazzling

smile at her. "I'm disappointed with you, Akane. You were one of my

best students, but you turned out to be an enemy of love! That's even

worse than being a delinquent!"

Nabiki decided to jump into the conversation with her own

question. "Hey, weren't you guys fighting each other just a minute

ago?"

The six young girls immediately developed blushes on their

respective faces, even as they tried to straighten out their hair

and skirts. Sailor Venus answered Nabiki's question for the rest

of them.

"Er... we managed to... resolve our differences by... getting

to know each other a little better. Well, it's not really the 'how' of

it that matters. What's important is that we're friends now. It's all

perfectly innocent, anyway. It's not like we're doing anything wrong

or weird. We're young and curious! We're just experimenting!"

Nabiki nodded. "Riiiiight."

Ryoga chose that time to speak. "Look, I don't know what

this is all about, but any friend of Ranma's is an enemy of mine.

I don't care if you're girls. I'm taking you down."

Akane dropped into a ready stance as she got ready for

battle. "That's right! There may be more of you, but we're definitely

stronger. The three of us can take you on any day of the week."

Konatsu sighed audibly as he dropped into his own fighting

stance. He had hoped not to get involved in the fight, but it would be

terribly embarrassing for Ms. Akane if he said that he actually agreed

with the girls in colorful skirts.

*****

"Faster, we almost got her that last time!"

Urd and World of Elegance released volley after volley of

crackling energy bolts at Morrigan as they circled the glowing

succubus in the air. Their attacks exploded violently as they hit

Morrigan, causing the rightful heir of the Makai Realm's throne to

become enveloped in a thick cloud of smoke.

Unlike the cloud of smoke down below, however, this one wasn't

just a silly, nonsensical excuse for nookie.

Urd and her angel gradually stopped firing as they grew

tired. The smoke surrounding Morrigan slowly dissipated, revealing

that she was all but unharmed by the assault she had just endured.

"Is that all you can do? I barely felt that."

Urd scowled at her opponent. Swirls of power surrounded her,

covering her completely. When they parted, she was already wearing

her battle gear. Well, actually, it was technically Jurai's battle

gear. She'd gotten it from Tsunami last Christmas.

"Shut up. I'm just getting warmed up!"

Urd disappeared from her position, reappearing instantaneously

behind Morrigan. She brought her hands together and slammed them onto

the top of Morrigan's head, sending the succubus hurtling downwards.

World of Elegance was waiting down below, ready to continue the attack.

The angel pressed the advantage Urd had achieved by attacking Morrigan

with a series of lightning fast punches and kicks. All around them,

clouds darkened as Urd prepared to fire her most powerful attack.

"Spirits of the Sky, of the Earth, come to me from the clouds.

Spirits of Lightning, with the power you lend me, I stand with you.

Lend me your power. Summon Lightning!"

Large streams of lightning converged from the surrounding

clouds into Urd's raised hands. The Goddess of the Past brought them

down to point at Morrigan, and the concentrated energy was released.

Six thick bolts of lightning flew through the air towards Morrigan

as World of Elegance disappeared, her master no longer having enough

power to maintain her physical form. The blast hardly slowed down

as it passed through the area where Morrigan was. It continued its

rapid descent and hit Juuban High's main building, with the resulting

explosion rocking the surrounding area.

"I think I got her."

Urd slumped forward, panting. Her energy momentarily expended,

she wasn't in the mood to move much. When she got home, she would have

the mother of all drinking parties, herself and her angel being the

only people invited.

"Too slow."

Urd's eyes opened wide as she turned around. Her worst fears

were confirmed: Morrigan was still alive. In her weakened state, she

could do nothing but watch as Morrigan fired a ball of energy at her.

She shielded her face with her arms and started praying.

"Dead Scream."

A green ball of light came out from nowhere and neutralized

Morrigan's attack. Urd lowered her arms and found that somehow, Setsuna

had pulled herself together and was back in fighting form. The senshi

of Time brandished her staff threateningly at Morrigan.

"I am still willing and able to fight. You would do well to

remember that."

Urd straightened herself as best as she could and shook her

head vigorously to clear it up some. She concentrated her remaining

power and successfully summoned World of Elegance to fight anew.

Morrigan groaned. "Well, I guess I'm going to have to kick

both of your asses now, right?"

Setsuna smiled. "You are welcome to try."

*****

"Die, monster!"

Father Andersen charged at Alucard with all the strength he

had in his altered body. One of his eyes was missing and his left arm

had been ripped out of its socket, but the deranged priest paid no

heed to his injuries as he relentlessly attacked. Behind them, Celes

whimpered softly as blood trickled slowly down her body from the

wounds where the nails went through her limbs to attach her to a large

wooden cross.

"Did you really think that torturing the policewoman would

get you anywhere, priest? You are overmatched. You cannot win. I

suggest that you stop your antics before I get really angry."

Father Andersen had heard similar words coming from the mouths

of his adversaries before, though he had to admit that Alucard was the

only vampire he had ever fought who tried to threaten him despite

having both legs chopped off at the knees. Just who did this man think

he was anyway? The servant of the church ignored Alucard's warning and

pressed on with his attack. He was just about to try gnawing Alucard's

nose off when something stopped him.

"Did you feel that?"

Alucard raised an eyebrow at Andersen's question. While he

was used to trading threats with the crazy old coot, Andersen had

never really engaged him in real conversation. He pulled his arm out

of Andersen's body, and the priest put did the same with the blade

he had driven through Alucard's stomach.

"I am impressed, priest. I did not think you had the ability

to sense such things."

Father Andersen snorted angrily. He stood up straight, his

body healing its injuries at an incredible rate. "I am a man of many

talents. I must admit, however, that my injuries have impaired my

senses somewhat. Is she back?"

Alucard stood, his own body healing itself at a similar

speed. "It is as you think. The time has come. I am afraid I shall not

be able to continue our little game."

Father Andersen nodded slowly. "It matters not. I have to go

back and report this anyway."

Alucard made his way towards Celes as behind him, Father

Andersen made his exit. The vampire removed Celes from the cross and

cradled her in his arms.

The young vampire opened her eyes slowly and raised her head

towards her master. "What happened?"

Alucard paused for a moment as he carefully chose the words

that would make up his reply.

"This does not concern you."

Celes pouted prettily at Alucard's reply. "Please, master. I

can feel it... a presence...."

Alucard shook his head. The woman was far too inquisitive for

her own good. He would have to give her the answer she was looking for,

lest she go out to find it by herself.

"The Queen has returned."

*****

Deep inside the Makai realm, on top of the highest mountain

in the land, the castle of Demitri Maximov stood looking over the

demon world. Inside, Demitri himself sat quietly on his throne,

thinking as usual. The castle used to belong to Berial, but it now

served as the living quarters of the ruler of the Makai realm.

Of course, in the case of Demitri, the term 'ruler' was

used loosely. In theory, Demitri had authority over the realm and

all of its denizens. In practice, however, he was little more than

a puppet to the whims of Asgard. He spent his nights wallowing in

frustration while the 'advisers' Odin had assigned to him ruled in

his stead. Demitri had little incentive to intervene.

After all, to go against Odin's wishes would mean that the

einherjar assigned to guard him would go back home. The loss of his

guard would give his subjects the courage to revolt against him,

something that they had probably dreamed of doing for hundreds upon

hundreds of years. The demon realm was crawling with his enemies.

There were the few remaining supporters of Berial, convinced

that no one else was fit to rule. They were mostly composed of old

demons who resisted change at all cost. While certainly dedicated to

their cause, their small numbers made dealing with them easy.

There were those who harbored dreams of ruling the Makai

realm themselves. Mostly composed of former generals under Berial,

they resented the fact that he did not transfer his power over to

them when he died. With each general a force to be reckoned with,

Demitri was lucky that their infighting greatly reduced their

power.

Finally, there were those who still hoped that their

beloved Morrigan would return and take back the position that

they still believed was rightfully hers. They composed a rather

large portion of the population.

They were a bit harder to deal with.

Demitri had the power to obliterate them all if he really

wanted to, but it was not really in his best interest to rule over

a kingdom with a population count that was exactly one.

Odin himself had refused to do anything about the problem,

preferring to keep a false peace in place by having the einherjar make

regular patrols around the lands. This of course made the demons

furious that their lands were being turned into a haven for Asgard's

foot soldiers, which in turn made them resent the fact that Demitri

did nothing to get rid of them. Their anger inevitably led them to

yearn for the old days when Morrigan was in power and they could do

as they pleased.

If only Morrigan had died all those years ago!

He would have been able to mount her head on a pike and

put it in display for all to see. He would have gained the fear of

the demon world, if not its respect. He would have been able to

unite his realm into an unstoppable force that even Odin himself

would be forced to bow down to.

She had ruined his plans by evading Rind's death squad

and jumping into that accursed spring in the human realm. As long

as she was still alive, the power to rule over the Makai realm

would never truly be his.

There was hope, however.

It was very faint, having come from a different dimension.

He could barely feel it, but there could be no mistake. Berial's power

was active once again. A smile formed on the face of the lord of the

vampires.

Perhaps he would be able to put that stupid succubus's

head on display after all.

*****

"Dead scream."

Morrigan easily evaded Setsuna's latest attack, but found

herself directly in Urd's line of fire. She dodged a few low-level

bolts of lightning and the predictable follow-up attack by World of

Elegance.

She was being herded.

It was quite impressive, really. Urd and Setsuna's attack

patterns were unfocused in the beginning, but Urd was able to catch

on to Setsuna's plans rather quickly. Of course, Setsuna had to

make her intentions easily discernable, allowing her to figure out

what they were trying to do as well. She just didn't know what was

supposed to happen when she was directly in front of Setsuna, which

was obviously where her opponents wanted her to be.

Morrigan decided to humor them and allow herself to be led

into Setsuna's firing range. She was just dying to know what amazing

new attack the Senshi of Time had up her sleeve. A couple of flips

to avoid more of Urd's lightning bolts put her in position.

Setsuna twirled her staff a couple of times before pointing

the tip at Morrigan. A bright flash of light radiated from the Time

Staff, bathing Morrigan in its glow. Setsuna smirked at her opponent

as her attack did its work. She was uncharacteristically quiet during

the execution of her attack, it being very new and not having a name

yet. It was over now. No matter how powerful a being may be, no one

can defeat the ravages of time. Within moments, Morrigan would be

reduced to nothing, if even that much.

"Impossible!"

Setsuna glared at Morrigan as her attack ended. A thousand

years of aging compressed into a few seconds had no apparent effects

on the still shapely succubus. What had gone wrong?

Morrigan yawned as she floated lazily in the air. "Is _that_

the best you can do? It seems so anti-climactic after that overly

dramatic entrance you made. Actually, now that I think of it, you

should have just let the goddess take the hit and attacked me from

behind. That would have at least given you a free hit or two, not to

mention the advantage of surprise."

Setsuna glared daggers at Morrigan. Urd appeared beside her

and nudged her on her side. "Hey, that thing you just did, is it some

kind of delayed attack where the effects aren't obvious immediately?"

Setsuna shook her head. Urd tried again.

"Well, in that case, does it have an extremely powerful

non-physical effect? Maybe it messes with her mind?"

Setsuna shook her head again.

Urd nodded thoughtfully. "I didn't think so. I just wanted to

be sure. We're screwed now, right?"

Setsuna took a deep breath. "Yeah, unless you can come up with

anything."

Urd gulped.

*****

"Hey, did anyone get the license plate on that gorilla?"

Ranma opened his eyes slowly and raised himself to a sitting

position. The first thing he noticed was that he was still on the roof

of Juuban High's gym. The second thing he noticed was that he had a

splitting headache. The third thing he noticed was a bright blue ball

of energy as it whizzed by his left ear. There were voices too, in

the background. He could somewhat make out what they were saying.

"Shishi hokodan!"

"Happo no Yen Coin Return!"

"Shabon Spray!"

"Hey, no fair. I can't see a thing!"

"Owie! I just slipped again."

"Just what is this attack supposed to do anyway? Soap me to

death?"

"I've got one, Ms. Akane! I'm going to do a lip-lock submission

hold right now!"

"Let go of me, you idiot! I'm on _you're_ side. It's me,

Ryo-- mmmmph!"

"Happo no Yen Coin Return!"

"Supreme Thunder!"

"Wow, they really _do_ cancel each other out. It's just like

in the videogames!"

"Usagi-chan, stop that! Someone might _see_!"

"Ryoga, where are you? I can't see a thing."

"Okay, this is Rei speaking. You know who you are and you know

what you're doing. Stop it."

"She's down, Ms. Akane! Completely unconscious. It's kinda

funny, though, since my lip-locks never used to do that."

"...."

Ranma got up and took a deep breath. Fortunately for him, he

was out of range of the strange mist attack that had the others in a

pinch. Perhaps the best thing to do would be to leave, after all. The

last thing he needed was to have Konatsu do a submission hold on him,

too. Ranma was just about to jump away when he saw something out of

the corner of his eye.

"Hey, what's that?"

Ranma squinted to get a better look at the strange, glowing

object in the sky. It seemed to be getting larger and larger, like

it was falling or something. Falling towards him, in fact. Ranma's

instincts saw the unknown falling object and demanded that he catch

it. After all, it might be food.

Now Ranma was never one to ignore his instincts. Even though

they mostly equated to 'run when chased', 'chase when run from', and

'eat when given the chance', his gut instincts had served him well

over the course of his life. With a few well-timed leaps, he had an

armful of Goddess all to himself.

"Ms. Urd?"

To his credit, Ranma was not really all that surprised to

find his academic advisor falling from the sky. Stranger things had

happened to him, after all. His right hand was firmly latched onto

one of Urd's breasts, but Ranma was already used to the feeling and

never even noticed it.

"...nnimm...bunnni...."

Ranma frowned. Did Ms. Urd want to talk about rabbits? Why

would she want to do that?

"...inn...commmming...."

Ah, incoming. That was what Ms. Urd said. Incoming. Now what

was _that_ supposed to mean? Ranma was still busy trying to figure out

the meaning of Urd's message when Setsuna fell from the sky as well.

Ranma leapt into the air and caught her with his left arm, his left

hand going straight for one of her breasts. The poor martial artist

acted completely on auto-pilot and never even realized it.

"Well, Ranma, aren't you the ladies man tonight."

Ranma cringed as he heard the familiar voice. Why did she

always have to be around when these things happened to him?

"Twenty thousand yen for my silence, Saotome. That, and you

go back home to Nerima. Give me what I want or my little sister hears

about how you've been playing around with older women."

Ranma groaned. "Nabiki, you've got it all wrong. This isn't

what it looks like!"

Nabiki had seen the whole thing and was well aware that it was

all innocent, but the ball was in her court and Nabiki Tendo always

pressed an advantage.

"Look, Saotome, my offer is non-negotiable. Just give me the

money and I'll go home with you and everyone will be happy."

Of course, as luck would have it, Sailor Mercury's Shabon

Spray chose to dissipate just as Nabiki was starting to speak. When

the mist finally faded, a very angry Akane was revealed.

"Ranma you jerk! I came all the way from Nerima just to take

you home and I find you molesting two grown women and propositioning

my own sister of all people. You're such a... such a jerk!"

If you really think about it, it was quite an amazing

coincidence that Akane saw and heard just enough to create a

completely wrong explanation for the events that were happening

around her. What was even more amazing was that by the time she

got to where Ranma was and started stomping on him, Ryoga was

already there and beating him to the ground. Pretty impressive

reflexes for a guy who was out cold a moment ago.

Setsuna and Urd were thrown off Ranma's arms by Ryoga's

initial attack and were safely cuddling off to one side. Several

seconds passed before they awakened, stood up, and tried very hard

to pretend that nothing had happened. They tried so hard, in fact,

that neither of them thought to warn the others that a powerful

succubus was hot on their heels and likely to wreak havoc and

destruction when she got to the school.

"Wow, everybody's back here. How convenient. Now I can

beat you all up before wiping your memories and starting fresh with

my Ranma."

The group of fighters assembled on the gym's roof all turned

towards the new arrival. Morrigan pointed her arms towards them as

various parts of her wings disengaged from her body and morphed into

large cannons. The succubus's shapely body glowed with power as she

executed her most powerful attack.

"Soul Eraser!"

Large beams of pure energy burst forth towards the gym's roof.

Only Urd and Setsuna's reflexes were fast enough to even realize what

was happening, and they were already far too weakened to do anything

about it.

"Stasis."

Suddenly, the entire school was bathed in a pale blue glow.

Morrigan's beam attack froze in mid-air, as did everything else for

that matter. Every inanimate thing touched by the glow was rendered

motionless.

As for the people, they found that they could move their

heads, but not much else. Urd recognized the voice of the spellcaster

even before she saw who it was.

"Belldandy!"

Morrigan's eyes widened at the sight of Belldandy. "Well,

this is certainly a surprise. I haven't seen you in centuries! You're

all grown up now, and a goddess to boot! You've done very well for

yourself since we last met, Anita."

Belldandy replied calmly, almost as if having a civil

conversation with your opponent was the most natural thing to do.

Of course, the battleground being Juuban, it actually _was_ a

perfectly normal action.

"It certainly has been a while. Uncle Donovan took a

clerical position in Asgard after defeating Pyron. You should come

and visit him sometime. He got me the job interview for the position

of goddess. By the way, I am called Belldandy now."

Morrigan nodded slowly before answering. "Really, so he's

still alive? I'll have to meet up with him sometime. Anyway, I'm

curious to know what you expect to accomplish with this spell of

yours. I mean, the stasis field immobilizes me but it does the same

thing to you. Sooner or later you're going to run out of energy to

maintain it and I'll break free."

Belldandy smiled brightly. "Yes, I know. It's a good thing

that angels are unaffected by stasis."

At that, Holy Bell appeared behind Morrigan and poured a

pail of water on the motionless succubus. The contact of the liquid on

Morrigan's skin triggered a most unexpected reaction. The wet succubus

rapidly separated into two familiar figures.

Urd's jaw dropped wide open. After a moment spent gaping at

the smaller of the two, she regained enough coherence to utter a single

word. "Skuld!?!"

Meanwhile, a look of pure joy was adorning Konatsu's face.

"Ukyo-Sama, you're alive! Can I go to the bathroom now?"

Skuld and Ukyo were able to give surprised looks at the

assembled fighters before both fell unconscious. Holy Bell caught the

pair in her arms as the two started falling.

Belldandy turned towards the others and bowed low. "I am

terribly sorry for everything that has happened. Truly I am. If I

could, I'd stay to help fix things. As it is, however, I must return

to Asgard with my sisters."

At that, bright beams of light fell from the sky right onto

Holy Bell, Belldandy, and Urd. An instant later, they were gone.

*****

Akane sighed.

Five minutes had passed since a beautiful woman she had never

seen before came out of nowhere to save her life from another equally

attractive stranger. She was hanging out at Juuban High with the Sailor

Senshi and it seemed that the famous heroines she had long admired were

not at all like she thought they were. To top it all off, they were

giving her some very disturbing news.

Akane took a deep breath before going through the facts again,

just to make sure she had everything straight.

"So basically what you're saying is that you're _all_ engaged

to Ranma, but he didn't know about it because the actual engagements

took place thousands of years ago, in a past life."

Usagi, Ami, Rei, Makoto, and Minako nodded their heads in

unison.

Akane continued. "Also, aside from the five of you, Ranma is

likewise engaged to four other Senshi, that strange lady over there

among them. The fact that you're all engaged with him doesn't really

bother all of you."

The six girls all took a moment to glace at a nearby corner,

where Setsuna was playing rock-paper-scissors with Ms. Hinako. Usagi

responded thoughtfully to Akane's statement.

"Well, I dunno about the outers, but the five of us have

already... resolved our differences about that. We feel that we can...

er... find a compromise that will make everyone happy."

Akane tried to ignore the shy, blushing looks that the senshi

gave each other as Usagi spoke. "You are also all aware that Ranma is

already engaged to many other women, but these other engagements don't

bother you at all."

Usagi replied once again. "Well, we feel that Ranma isn't

getting all the love he deserves from those other girls. As defenders

of love and justice, it's our duty to help him get out of these other

engagements. The fact that he would be free to accept our love once

that happens has nothing to do with our decision, of course."

Akane rolled her eyes. "What's up with your friend, anyway?"

The six girls glanced at Setsuna and Hinako once again. Rei

replied to Akane's question this time.

"Well, we're not really sure. She hasn't been herself lately.

She's not usually like that."

Akane groaned. "You guys really aren't joking?"

Usagi smiled brightly. "Not at all."

Akane growled in frustration. "You're all crazy. Nabiki, tell

them that they're all crazy!"

Nabiki remained seated on the rock where she was waiting for

Konatsu to come back from the men's room. An unconscious Ranma was

sprawled out on the ground in front of her.

"No, I think I'll just stay right here. We wouldn't be in this

mess if it wasn't for you, anyway, so you figure out a way to get rid

of little miss blonde hair and her amazing friends."

Akane turned towards Nabiki. "Nabiki, are you implying that

all this is my fault?"

Nabiki stared icily at her sister. "I'm not implying anything,

Akane. I'm saying it right to your face. Ranma and I would already have

been home by now if you hadn't come along and knocked him out."

Akane stared right back at Nabiki. "I can't believe that

you're blaming me for what happened. Can't you see that this is all

Ranma's fault?"

Nabiki rolled her eyes. "Oh please, Akane, not _that_ again.

You blame Ranma whenever anything bad happens."

Akane shook her fist in anger. "That's because the bad things

that keep happening to us are all his fault! Why are you taking his

side anyway? It's not as if you even like him!"

At Akane's words, Nabiki's expression became unreadable. She

stood up from her seat and walked slowly towards her sister.

"Whether or not I like Ranma has nothing to do with this,

Akane."

Akane's face darkened. "Oh my God. You _do_ like him. I can't

believe this. My own sister is turning against me!"

Nabiki was about to shoot back with her reply but she was

interrupted by a loud crash.

Rose calmly stepped out of Mousse's car as Mousse himself

surveyed the damage caused by her hitting the tree. "Where is Ranma

Saotome? Hand him over to me right now!"

A moment after saying those words, Rose found herself the

target of seven angry stares. She smiled uneasily. "Look, it's not as

if I want to marry him or anything. It's just that I think someone is

after him and I want to make sure he's alright."

Akane, Nabiki and the senshi softened their gazes after Rose's

explanation. Nabiki gestured absently behind her, towards the rock she

had been sitting on. "Ranma's safe and sound. He's sleeping somewhere

under there."

Rose looked in the direction Nabiki had pointed to. "Under

where?"

Seven pairs of eyes widened as they realized what had happened.

Off to the side, Hinako and Setsuna continued playing their game. Ami

was the first to put her thoughts into words.

"He's gone."

*****

Author's Rant

Ah... the author's rant. I used to call this section the

author's notes, but they never really had any notes in them. That's

why I decided to call a spade a spade and turn this into a full-blown

author's rant. Well, actually, it already was a rant. I just started

calling it one.

Well, the first arc's finally finished! The next arc will

feature something old, something new, something female, and something

cool. I'm hoping to get it done sooner than later, but we all know

how that usually ends up.

I'm sure you're all wondering why this took so long, and the

short answer is Final Fantasy. I bought FFX a while back but didn't

play it right away because I wanted to wait for FFX-2. Boy what a

mistake _that_ was. It took forever to beat FFX, what with all the

stat-maxing, chocobo racing, lightning dodging, and all the other

annoying mini-games you have to play. Then after that, I had to do

it all over again in FFX-2, which I had to beat twice because I only

got 99% in my first game. Killing Trema the first time around was a

pain. I now have two Iron Dukes, but Catnip-gunners still rule all.

In other news, I hear that the international version takes even longer

to beat. Aren't you glad I didn't pick _that_ one up?

Another reason is that I have Eliza Dushku on my desktop

wallpaper, and every time I boot up my computer I am struck by how

amazingly attractive she is. Wastes a few seconds of my life each

day, she does.

Anyway, onto business. My last rant did not contain a want-

list, and I realized because of that how stupid not including one was.

The thing is, I simply do not have the time to live my life, write my

fics, and search for all the cool stuff the internet has to offer all

at the same time. That's why from now on, I'll be including a list of

everything I'm looking for after every chapter. The way I figure it is

that I get what I want faster, and can therefore devote more time to

writing, which is good for my readers (that would be you guys).

Also, I'm kinda hoping it'll be more than just _my_ want list.

I mean, if you see something you like in there, you can email me and

I'll forward all my information to ya. It'll be like a public want

list, except the public is limited to all the readers of my fics.

Besides, it's not like you actually have to look for the stuff. Just

drop me a line if you know where to find them. Anyway, here it is.

.~@*Jose Argao's Amazing Want-List*@~.

1. Japanese Rom of Super Mario Bros 3 (.nes format). I have Morimoto's

famous time-attack with me, but I can't play it because I don't have a

japanese rom for SMB3. I own the cart version for the famicom, but I

have no idea how to get a dump of that thing.

2. Outlaw Star. A long time ago, I copied a bunch of Outlaw Star eps

from a friend. The thing was, his cd writer was incredibly buggy and

more than half the episodes were lost. I need those files! Speaking

of episodes, I also want Catgirl Nuku-Nuku, Saber Marionettes, Slayers

Next, Slayers Try, Wild Arms, Steel Angel Kurumi, Step Up Love Story

etc. Even torrents will do! I have torrents of SAK, but there are

never any seeds. ;_;

3. Boku no Seinen 6. I already have it, but it came in these little

itty-bitty files. I had a friend get me an actual copy (since I collect

all of Saigado's work) but it'll be months before he can visit me and

give me my book (past experience taught us that sending it over would

not yield good results). Also, if there's a translation for the series

somewhere, I want it. I can only read hiragana and katakana after all,

and not very well at that. Sucks to be Asuka.

4. Saigado's new work. I think it's Guilty Gear-based. Any news on

that? Also, anything new by Mogudan, Studio Katsudon, Big Boss, or

Frapper Spirits? Sabin's site is no more, and the forum I depended

on for these things is gone. ;_;

5. Handmaid Mai. What happened to that? Any more eps forthcoming? I

really liked the dancing chibi-mais at the end! Also, if I could get

the ending song on mp3 it would be great. I wanna make it the sound

for a combo video I'm making.

6. mp3s of the Handmaid Mai ending song, Steel Angel Kurumi opening

song, Full Metal Panic opening song, and everything like it.

7. Manga scans for Hanaukyo Maids. I actually already had these, but

my computer lost them. Bleh.

8. Good condition Cabal Therapy, Circular Logic, Skullclamp, Sulfurous

Springs, Upheaval, Living Wish, Broodstar, Viridian Zealot, Polluted

Delta, Exploration, Gaea's Cradle, Isochron Sceptre, Yavimaya Coast,

Jackal Pup, Fireblast, Barbarian Ring, Wasteland, Diabolic Edict. This

is just in case any of my readers live in the Philippines, in the

Manila area, and play Magic: the Gathering. Email me if you exist and

own these cards. I'm willing to buy or trade for them... at reasonable

prices of course.

9. The Queen of Hearts fighting game series. I have '98 and '01. Are

there any more?

10. One of those pc memory card thing-a-ma-jiggers for the PS2. I

think it's called a card shark? Where in the Philippines can I get

one of those?

Well, that's it for the list. If you want a copy of any info I

get on anything in there, ask me about it.

Now, for more ranting. What is up with Kenshin fanfiction? I

just got back from helping Chester with his fic and it was filled with

all these strange, cryptic descriptions of stances. I mean, stances

are cool and all, but do you really have to devote so much space for

describing them? I mean, if your readers already know a stance, why

describe it so much? You could just as easily have filled all that

space up with character-bashing and fanservice!

Chester says this is normal in RK fanfiction, and it's his

visceral side that makes him write them. He says he's a visceral type

of person. I had no idea what he was talking about, but I acted like I

knew anyway. I have written one RK fic in my life, and that was a

Kenshin/Misao lemon I wrote under my lemon-writing name. (As a side

note, that lemon had waaay too much plot for my taste so if you read

it and were not completely satisfied with the product, please accept

my apologies. If you have no idea what my lemon-writing name is, I

ain't telling)

Don't get me wrong, though. Chester is a good friend and ATFWH

would not be what it is today without him. The fact that I don't get

his fics does not in any way imply that they're not good. I'm pretty

sure they're all very good. ^_^ Seriously, check them out. You may find

your inner fangirl.

When I think of RK fanfics, I sorta get memories of my brief

flirtation with Eva fanfics, where you either write exactly like

everyone else and share their opinions or people send you death threats

and tell you you're a sick, sick man for liking the Shinji/Rei pairing.

Hanaukyo Maids la Verite. Is anyone else as excited as I am?

Hanaukyo Maids is my favorite series of all time! You can listen to

people drone on and on about the sexist themes, shallow plot, stupid

characters, and all that other crap but at the end of the day Hanaukyo

Maids is funnier than every other comedy anime out there except for

Azumanga and Cromartie... and those two don't have any fanservice.

Speaking of which, did anyone ever sub the newer episodes of

Cromartie? Is there a manga? I have like eleven or so eps, then my

source dried up. Bleh.

Mahou Sensei Negima. Nodoka-chan is so cute! She's my favorite

character. The series is fragmented and doesn't seem to have any

direction, which is always a good sign. I'm hoping for more Nodoka

stuff in the future.

I also have this series in my hard drive: Mahoutsukai ni

taisetsu na koto. I have twelve eps. Is this complete? I haven't seen

the series yet. Is it any good? What's it like?

I watched the final episode of the Bible Black series and was

left a mere shell of the man I once was after viewing. Is that stuff

sick or what?

Soul Calibur 2. I know I told Black Dragon I was sick of this

game, but my interest was renewed recently. Now my Talim is already

pretty good thanks to watching match videos by XCTU and Kayane (who

both rule all, by the way) but now I'm working on my Sophie, Cassie,

Seung Mina and Taki skills.

Sophie and Cassie are easy to play, thanks to their cheesy

236B moves, and Seung Mina has that crazy 6A+K, 6BB combo, but Taki's

possession cancels are really hard to do! Oh well, back to studying

frame data for me. This isn't like MVC2 at all, where you just maximize

your Cable skills and beat everyone else to a pulp. May all Nightmare

players receive the thrashings they deserve.

Now that we're on the topic of video games, isn't Malin of

KOF '03 just the cutest? I mean, it's great that I can beat just about

anyone with her uber-choiness and yo yo traps, but she's just so very,

very cute! My current team (dedicated to annoying the hell out of my

opponent) is Mai/Athena/Malin or King/Athena/Malin. Isn't Goro a little

bit too strong, though? I used him once and racked up more than ten

wins, despite almost never using him. Just walk up and mash on B and

D, inserting a few running grabs here and there. Then, if the other

guy switches with qcf C+B, do your counter super. May all Goro players

receive the thrashings they deserve. For other cute characters, see

May of Guilty Gear fame. She's Skuld in disguise, I tell you!

I'm also back to playing Diablo 2: LOD (how could I stay away

for long?) and I only learned of the Rogue hireling's secret lightning

attack last week, making me feel like a total noob. Why on Earth did I

ever settle for that Holy Freeze hireling before?

Finally, I would like to thank Chester, Tom, Egan Mandreck,

Zorknot, David Andersson, Beege, and Shade for all of the help they

have given me on this chapter. Special thanks also go out to Udg,

John Rasmussen, Robert Knighton, Kevin Wible, Tony, Laith, and Ian

Hunter for showing interest in the fic enough to volunteer as

pre-readers. In some cases, they never replied. In others, the

chapter bounced back to me every time I tried to send it (cough

coughJohnRasmussencoughcough). It's all good, though. I'm happy

they were interested.

Please send C&C to ukyo_rulz@edsamail.com.ph

Visit my homepage (www.geocities.com/ex_fuk) for new chapters.