Special Author's Note: As I'm putting my chapters into html, the thoughts are now within single-quotes, and the dialogue is in double-quotes. Please contact me if anything goes wrong with the single/double-quote thing. Thanks!

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Standard Disclaimer (Not that I'm into all this, but…)

Smarter? Part 2: Chapter 1:

The First Test

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Ranma had been training in secret for a few days, and had perfected a few basic level chaos spells. Nabiki hadn't been tracking him, much to his delight, and none of the Nerima Wrecking Crew even fathomed that he would be hiding in a library.

As he had perfected his spells, he had found ways to slowly incorporate the spells into his beginner katas. His highest level spell, a level 3 special technique (out of 25 levels—and this was only the intermediate book) was strong enough to freeze half to dojo in about 5 seconds. Condensed, this spell could freeze any thing, inside and out, within a 4 foot radius instantaneously. The spell could be shrunk and weakened enough to only freeze the outside of something the size of a finger. Ranma couldn't imagine the damage a level 50 (Highest level advanced spell) could do to a town.* 'It's time. I've done enough training. I need an opponent. Hmm...'. Ranma walked out of the Tendo Dojo and smirked as he walked passed the Nekohanten. His smirk grew as he walked passed Furinkan and Ucchan's.

Ranma looked around carefully as he stepped into an abandoned parking lot (there sure are a lot of these in Nerima nowaday! ^_^), before saying, "I wonder if I should take Shampoo on a date?"

'Nabiki ought to have gotten that on tape... I wonder who she'll get here? I'd give it 14 seconds to the arrival time...'. Ranma made a show of tapping his foot against the ground, unknowingly cracking the concrete with the extreme force of his taps.

"Aiyaa! Airen take Shampoo on date now, yes?"

"Saotome, you fiend! I'll never let you have my Shampoo!"

"Saotome, you scoundrel! You dare think a commoner's beauty is better than my beauteous Akane? Have at thee-URK!"

"Shampoo no beautiful? You too, too stupid. And Shampoo no commoner!"

"I shall date thee!"

"I've learned new things Saotome, you'll never have my Shampoo!"

"You're not the only one who's been studying, Mousse." Ranma smirked, as he stepped back, and flipped a bucket of cold water onto himself.

"Fighting as a female now, Saotome? Getting ready to give up your masculinity?"

"No, just training." Ranma-chan smiled, as she slid back to dodge the multitude of chains. "I need a dummy for my target practice." Ranma-chan seemed to wink out of existence and appear behind Mousse.

Suddenly, about twenty see through blurs appeared around Mousse, who blinked a few times as he felt his feet freeze to the ground, as his joints lock up in ice. He quickly shook off the ice, and said, "Surely you don't think that will hold me down? You're getting slow, Saotome."

"I don't think so-"

"DIE RANMA!"

Ryouga suddenly jumped onto the scene, late, but present. He made his way to Ranma and smiled at Mousse. "He can't beat both of us at our best, now can he?"

"Probably not. Let's not give him the chance."

"Guys? I was just trying to train..." Ranma-chan gulped, before she felt herself get pummeled into the ground by hundreds of objects. Suddenly, she felt her control slip, and her chaos energies flowed through her veins, unchecked.

"We did it! Yes! Victory is ours!" Mousse and Ryouga cheered a little longer, before Mousse turned to look at the speck that was Shampoo chasing Kuno to give out the required punishment for calling an Amazon warrior a lowly being. He and Ryouga spun around as a low-growl sounded from behind them.

"You think you won? Heh... I doubt it. You can't defeat me by normal means. Fools," Ranma-chan growled out. She crouched down, nearly lying flat on the ground, before winking out of existence.

"Did she run away?" Ryouga wondered, looking around. Suddenly, Mousse collapsed, surrounded by ice, five-feet thick everywhere but his head..

"Think again..." Ranma-chan's voice whispered from nowhere and everywhere at once.

"Ranma? Are you feeling alright? You aren't acting normal- URP!" Ryouga felt himself get lifted off the ground by his neck, but he could tell that there was nothing there but air. He stared as Ranma-chan faded into existence in front of him. "That wasn't the Umi-Sen-Ken, was it? I can usually detect a void when you..." Ryouga trailed off as Ranma-chan raised her head. Her eyes glowed a solid gold, no pupils or irises were visible.

He let out an audible gulp, as Ranma-chan licked her lips and leapt forward.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Oh, no! I didn't think this would happen so soon! He was a martial artist, too... what type of stress can he be going through? I have to get there before it's too late..." Yuki whispered, as her eyes widened.

Dr. Tofu looked on, concerned.

-Yay! New Chapter!-

-Wheee! Cliffhanger! Sorta! Heheheheh.-

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* I hope you don't mind, but a level fifty special spell could do the damage of 15 Dragon Slaves. I hope you've watched the SLAYERS anime before. Otherwise, just think of about 10 New York Cities being decimated in one blast.

Author's Notes:

I'm changing my chapter uploads to html files. It's easier for me to type these chapters without worrying about loss of my formatting. Sorry if this causes loading inconvenience (though I doubt it will) and forgive me if there are any problems with the file.

Please continue to C&C or R&R, and thanks for your current reviews. Any questions, post them in the review section! Oh, and during Spring Break, I'll probably write a few more chapters. They're probably not going to be posted until Spring Break ends, though. I got my internet service ended, and I upload my chapters at school.

Sorry for any inconveniences, and I apologize for the upcoming wait. I'm starting my web-site over again, w/ a comic strip too. My fanfiction will be here, on FF.Net, but my comic strip will be on my web-page.

E-mail me any complaints, questions, comments, or suggestions. Or put them in the review section. R&R or C&C! Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed the fic!

Spelling difficulties:

Furinkan or Furinken? Which one is the right spelling? (The school.)

Ucchan's or Uchan's? (The restaurant name.)

-Ayanami Rei