June was sitting on a branch, high in her favorite tree. It was dark outside and the moon had already risen high above the trees. Her only source of light was a single glowstick she placed inside a small knothole. Crickets were chirping, and somewhere in the far distance, there was ominous groaning.

The dryad was reading a book she had picked from the Vault's library. It was called 'Enchanted rivers, ponds and springs'. She took her time reading every single paragraph very carefully.

"Jusenkyo," she muttered. "A legendary training ground filled with cursed springs. Location: Realm RT-6, China. Whoever falls into one of the springs shall be cursed to be turned into the creature which had previously drowned or nearly drowned within the spring."

She was intrigued. "I had no idea such an extraordinary place existed in the home realm of those two numbskulls. And according to them, this Ranma seems to have a curse that turns him female." She smiled. "Interesting… that opens up so many possibilities."

The sound of the groaning grew louder by the minute. She looked down and saw nothing but darkness. June reached into the small satchel she was wearing around her waist, took out another glowstick and threw it down to the ground.

The stick's green light illuminated a group of three zombies that were shuffling around the base of her tree. Unable to reach her up in the tree, they groaned and waved around their decomposing arms. The entrance to the Vault was close by, but the undead ignored it. The limited intelligence within their rotten brains dictated that they should go only after the flesh of the living… and the only one in the vicinity was the dryad sitting up in the tree.

June chuckled. "Boy, did you choose the wrong day to be here, fellas." She stood up on the branch and took another item from her satchel. It was a short, wooden rod that almost looked like a magic wand. The tip was slightly thicker and gnarled like a tree branch.

She raised the rod above her head. "Taste the power of the Dirt Rod, mold brains!" A tall wall of dirt then rose out of the ground beside the zombies. The dimwitted creatures looked at it for a moment, then they continued to flail their arms in June's direction. She smirked and made a strong downward gesture with the rod. Instantly, the dirt wall came tumbling down, crushing the three zombies under piles of dirt.

Smiling to herself, she put the Dirt Rod back inside her satchel. "Never underestimate a dryad." She picked up her book and glowstick and jumped down the tree, elegantly landing on her feet. It was time to head back inside. In the world of her two new Vault Keepers, it was probably already morning. And it was a Sunday, so they could arrive at any moment. It was probably for the best not to leave the Vault in their care unattended. At least not yet. So June went back into the vault.

She could hear their voices as soon as she set foot in the central corridor. They were coming from the Summoning Chamber… and it sounded like they were in an argument. And… June blinked. Were there more than two voices? She was able to recognize Hiroshi and Daisuke, but she could also hear two female voices.

Frustration started to build up in June as she ran down the corridor and kicked open the door to the Summoning Chamber. "What have you done now, you two?"

The four people in the room looked at her. In addition to the two Vault Keepers, there were also two girls that looked like they were their age.

"June!" Hiroshi waved his arms around in a panic. "I-it's not our fault! You see, the girls just ran over to us…"

"Y-yeah," Daisuke nodded. "And they just touched the mirror. And then… then it brought them here with us. We couldn't do a thing!"

"You idiots," June groaned. "Didn't I tell you NOT to bring other people into the Vault? You were supposed to keep it a secret. No one's allowed in here except for Vault Keepers and assistants!"

Yuka and Sayuri, meanwhile, were looking around in awe. "No way!" Yuka gasped. "What is this place? How did we get here? This isn't Nerima, is it?"

"And who's that half-naked chick?" Sayuri asked, looking at June. "Hey… did you boys take us to some cheap strip club or something?"

June gritted her teeth. "I am NOT a stripper!" she shouted. "I am June the dryad, Vault Keeper assistant. And you are only here because these nincompoops brought you here with the magic mirror. Seriously, you guys! I gave this artifact to you to use it responsibly. Did you even check for onlookers when you decided to use it?"

"Well," Daisuke sheepishly scratched his head. "We might have forgotten to do so because we were so excited for our newest idea how to use one of the orbs."

Hiroshi nodded. "Yeah, and then those two suddenly came around the corner, started blabbering on and when they saw the mirror, they just touched it and…"

"Hey, we were not blabbering," Yuka frowned. "We just wanted to know what you two were up to. We're your girlfriends, for Kami's sake!"

"It doesn't matter who you are," June grumbled. "As long as you're not a Vault Keeper or an assistant, I can't allow you to be here. Now, we will send you back to where you came from… right after I dug out a spell that will wipe your memory."

"What?" Sayuri shouted with outrage. "You can't do that! Those are our memories."

"We can't have too many people know about this place," June said. "It's bad enough that these two scatterbrains are unable to keep a secret. I can't deal with two more."

Yuka turned to glower at Hiroshi. "Do something!" she shouted. "You can't allow her to do that to us."

"Yeah, it's not fair," Sayuri nodded. "Akane goes on all those crazy adventures with Ranma, and now that our boyfriends have this awesome secret, we are forced to stay out of this adventure, too? No way!"

"C… come on now, Juney," Daisuke said. "You can trust the girls. They won't tell anyone, right?"

"Sorry, can't take any risks," June firmly replied. "Everyone non-affiliated with this facility must be mind-wiped. Part of security procedures."

Hiroshi thought about it. "Well, then… make them affiliated."

June glared at him. "What?"

"Think about it," Hiroshi insisted. "They are our girlfriends, so they are obviously a big part of our lives. And that makes it difficult to keep it a secret from them. And if we can't keep it a secret… why not make them part of the plan?"

"Great idea!" Daisuke grinned. "Who says we can't have more than one assistant? I mean, you're obviously the… administrator. You have the experience and keep everything in check. And with us in charge of the relics… we still need someone for the rest of the Vault, right? Someone to take care of the storerooms, the crafting stations…"

"Yeah," Hiroshi nodded. "They can help. Right, girls?"

"Of course we can!" Sayuri grinned excitedly. Yuka seemed a bit hesitant, however.

June approached the two girls and carefully examined them. "You want to make them assistants? I mean… it's actually common practice to hire more assistants who take care of the rest of the Vault. But I was thinking of hiring professionals."

"But… but professionals need to be paid," Sayuri pointed out. "And we don't, see? We'll work for free."

"We do?" Yuka frowned at her exuberant friend.

"And how do I know that these two actually can help?" June asked. "Do they know anything about stock-keeping, craftsmanship, or studying the arcane? I don't have the time to educate them, I have my own duties."

"Well, that's not a problem," Hiroshi said. "Remember what you told us? Whenever there's something we can't do, we can use one of the orbs. Can't we do the same for the girls?"

"Wait, orbs?" Yuka wondered. "What orbs?"

"Oh, they're those magical items that can give you all sorts of awesome abilities," Hiroshi grinned at his girlfriend. "You can be a blacksmith, a guard, a wizard…"

Yuka's eyes widened. "Wizard?"

"Stop telling them about the relics before I agree on anything!" June yelled, making everyone wince. She took a deep breath. "Well… okay… it is true that Vault assistants can make use of the orbs without being changed forever. They have special privileges, just like the Keepers themselves. However, the rules say they are limited to only one class each. So we need to decide on which kind of assistants would be most beneficial for the Vault."

"Does that mean… they can stay?" Daisuke asked hopefully.

"For now, yes," June nodded. "BUT!" she exclaimed as she saw that the four teenagers started cheering. "Just like you, they need to learn the rules. They have to keep a secret from ANYONE, including family. And they can only come here while you accompany them. Is that clear?"

"Crystal clear!" Sayuri grinned. "Oh, I can't wait… this is going to be so cool!" She bounced up and down excitedly.

Yuka, however, was still hesitant. "I don't know… my parents don't want me to go anywhere without their consent. Also, is this really such a great thing? Ranma and Akane have lots of adventures, but also a lot of trouble. Isn't all of this going to make our lives much more complicated?"

"But Yuka-chaaan," Sayuri whined. "Aren't you excited? Think about the awesome stuff that's going to happen."

"I am and it's really worrying me," Yuka frowned.

"Come on, Yuka," Hiroshi smiled at her. "We have so many class orbs that can give you all sorts of abilities. I'm sure we'll find one that you'll really enjoy.

"I don't know," she muttered. "I guess… maybe… it depends." She took a deep breath. "You said I could be a… a wizard?"

Hiroshi chuckled. He saw the sparkles of hope in his girlfriend's eyes. She hid it pretty well, but Yuka was actually a huge dork when it came to fantasy, especially magic spells and wizards. "Sure you can!" He looked at June. "Right?"

June sighed. "Yes, there is a wizard orb. And yes, I suppose she can take care of organizing the library and all the spell books we have there. Also, the wizard class comes with a basic understanding of alchemy, so she can take care of potion making too, if we ever need some."

The sparkles in Yuka's eyes became much more prominent. "That really sounds… wonderful and amazing. I'll be Yuka the wizard!"

Sayuri giggled. "Told you you'd like it. So, what about me? Can we go and take a look at the possibilities now?"

"Sure," Hiroshi nodded. "Hey, June. I'm gonna take the girls to the Chamber of Orbs and help them choose something. That okay with you?"

"Fine, as long as you remember the rules," the dryad sighed.

"Awesome!" Sayuri shouted. She, alongside Yuka, followed Hiroshi out of the room.

Daisuke was about to follow them, but June held him back. "Can I talk to you for a moment?"

Daisuke blinked in surprise. "Um, sure. What's up?"

June closed the door, then walked back to Daisuke with the book she had been reading outside. "I've read about these 'Jusenkyo' curses you told me about," she said. "And I've come to realize that there's a lot we can do with them. You said you wanted to help your friend Ranma, right?"

"Yeah, that's basically it," Daisuke nodded. "He's a great guy, can all these cool combat moves and has tons of hot chicks after him… but I guess his life can be pretty tough sometimes."

"I see. And how do you intend on helping him?" June asked.

Daisuke shrugged. "I… haven't really come up with a good solution yet. I wanted to give him an orb, just like Hiroshi did with Akane… but I doubt he'd accept it. Martial arts are everything to him, you know? He'd never give them up."

"But let's assume for a moment he would accept one of the orbs," June said. "Which one do you think would help him?"

"Well… I was actually thinking about the Orb of Amazon," Daisuke suggested. "See, there are those weird people from China, they are called Amazons. And this crazy, sexy chick named Shampoo… Ranma beat her once. And I guess that means, according to Amazon honor, she must marry him. Or kill him."

"Is that so?" June wondered. "Tell me more." And Daisuke told her everything he knew about the Amazons and their traditions, which wasn't that much, really, but it helped her understand the situation a bit better.

"I see," June pondered. "If a man beats a female Amazon, their law dictates that she must marry him. But if an outsider female beats her, she has to kill her. And since Ranma is more or less both, she has to do one of the two."

"Yeah, I think so," Daisuke nodded. "But I was thinking… if Ranma becomes an Amazon himself, that would mean he's not an outsider anymore. And she didn't have to kill… or marry... him anymore. Right?"

"Technically, you might be right," June admitted. "However, there are two flaws with your plan. Three, counting the fact that he'd never willingly give up being a martial artist."

"And what are the other two?" Daisuke wanted to know.

"First of all, the Amazon orb does NOT turn the user into one of those Amazons you are familiar with, the Chinese ones. The Orb of Amazon instead gives the user the battle abilities, combat gear and the honor of a Themysciran Amazon. Themyscira is a mythical island from another realm, populated by an entire tribe of female Amazons which hails from ancient Greece. They worship the ancient gods of Greece and are excellent warriors. Men are usually not allowed on their island, but some of them have been known to leave their home to fight for humanity and protect innocent ones."

"Sounds just like the code of martial artists that Ranma always talks about," Daisuke realized. "But if he turns into another sort of Amazon, he'd still be an outsider, right?"

"Not necessarily," June smirked. "Some rules and laws conveniently can be taken very literal. Which means he might not be considered an outsider just because he is an Amazon. That's something that we need to make sure of. And then there's another thing."

"What is it?" Daisuke asked.

"Well, some of the orbs are available for one gender only," June explained. "And the Amazons of Themyscira have always been and will always be female. Usually, that would mean that every man who decides to accept the Orb of Amazon's gifts will be turned into a woman, permanently."

"So he'd lose his martial arts AND be a girl forever? Then we can forget it," Daisuke groaned.

June smirked. "Don't give up too soon. See, I've done some research about transformative curses and how they affect the usage of the orbs and essences. If a person has two forms he changes back and forth from on a regular basis… then the magic of the relics will normally affect just ONE of his two forms. And since his cursed form is that of a female… well, we can be certain that the Orb of Amazon will only affect his female side."

"So… what?" Daisuke looked at her in confusion. "So he'll only be an Amazon when he turns female?"

"Exactly!" June smiled. "His male form will be unchanged… which means, he's still going to keep his abilities as a martial artist! At least, as long as he stays in his male form."

"But that's perfect!" Daisuke grinned. "That means we can help him by making him an Amazon, so Shampoo at least doesn't have to kill his girl side anymore… he gets to stay a martial artist and continue the honor of his family's school… and on top of that, as an Amazon, he'll be mainly using armed combat, right? Which means he can still spar with Akane, who also turned into a fighter with weapons." He then sighed. "I just hope everything really works out the way you explained it…"

"There's only one way of finding out," June said. "Bring him the Orb of Amazon. Then we'll see what happens."

"I guess that's the only way we can know, huh," Daisuke said. "All right, it's worth a shot." He turned his head. "Say, are the others still choosing classes? What's taking them so long?"

But soon enough, the giggling and chattering voices of the girls was echoing through the corridor, as they returned. However, it seemed strange to Daisuke that there seemed to be THREE female voices.

The door opened up… and Daisuke had to suppress a snicker.

There were three girls, all right. Yuka was wearing a very stereotypical wizard's outfit: A long, purple robe with very wide sleeves, adorned with stars, a pointy hat with a wide brim and, to top everything off, the most fake-looking beard you could imagine was dangling down from her neck. Sayuri on the other hand was wearing a very practical-looking set of overalls, complete with a tool belt and a huge wrench that was strapped to her back.

And the third girl… was a petite, young thing with blonde hair, wearing a nurse's cap and outfit… and her face was clearly recognizable as a female version of Hiroshi's.

"Um… dude…" Daisuke snorted behind his hand. "What the hell happened to you?"

"Yeah, yeah, laugh it up," Hiroshi said in a cutesy soprano. "I showed Yuka the wizard orb and then we helped Sayuri decide which one to pick. She chose the mechanic orb and she was excited and she wanted to use that big wrench of hers and then she hurt herself… And then Yuka had the greeaaat idea to use the nurse orb so we could deal with Sayuri's injury, but she didn't want to give up her wizard outfit… and, well, there was only one person left who could use it, right?"

"Oh, that's… too bad, buddy," Daisuke chuckled. "Um… nice ponytail, by the way."

"Thanks a lot, Dai," the nurse grumbled.

"Oh, isn't Hiromi-chan just the cuuuutest?" Yuka smiled while she hugged her feminized boyfriend.

"And she did a great job, too," Sayuri grinned as she showed off her bandaged fingers.

While Daisuke did his very best to try and not laugh at his friend's plight, June knew no such restraints. She broke out in guffaws of laughter. "Baaaaaahahahahahaha! Didn't I tell you some orbs were gender-restrictive?" She couldn't stop laughing. "Say, why don't you ask the girls if they wanna give you another hairstyle if that ponytail's not your thing?"

"Ooooh, great idea, June-chan!" Yuka giggled. "Come along now, Hiromi-chan. I've got an idea for a style that's going to look just adooorable on you!"

"You're so lucky, Yuka-chan," Sayuri said. "I wish I had a boyfriend that could test new hairstyles and makeup for me and…" She then gasped. "Hey, June! Are there any other orbs I can use to make Dai-kun a girl, too?"

"Oh, lots of them," the dryad smirked. "There's the maid, the belly dancer, the party girl…"

"June, don't encourage them!" Daisuke went pale as he envisioned himself in Hiroshi's position. "Noooooooo!"

June continued to snicker as she walked back outside. "Have fun…"


At the Tendo residence, Akane was sitting in her room, inspecting her bow and arrows. She held an arrow in her hand and carefully touched the feathers at its end. Next to her lay a short sword, another piece of ranger equipment she had found in her closet.

It was strange. She knew she had never used any of these weapons before. But still, in her mind, she knew everything that was important. She knew how to handle a blade, how to choose the correct arrows and everything else about archery. How to hold the bow, to keep her eye on the target, the importance of keeping a calm mind.

A small voice in the back of her head asked: Am I really the right person for this fighting style? Maybe she made the wrong decision in a fleeting moment of doubt and weakness.

But she still was a fighter. As long as she was able to defeat her opponent, it was okay, right? She still had her own skillset needed to win. It was still 'Anything Goes'.

A knock on her door pulled her out of her thoughts. "Come in," she called.

It was Ranma. "Hey," he said. "Can I talk to you for a sec?"

"What, are you feeling sorry for the spar you promised me?" Akane asked, then shrugged. "Don't be, I'm over it. Besides, I don't think we'll be able to spar anytime soon…" She looked at the arrow again. "No way of sparring with a martial artist using a short sword and arrows, right?"

"That's actually why I wanted to talk with you," Ranma said. "These… new weapons of yours… that bow you're carrying around, even at school… and earlier today, I watched you doing practice shots in the dojo. That's something you never did before, right?"

"And?" Akane asked. "Are you saying I can't try something new?"

Ranma shook his head. "No, that's not it. But you're doing things you shouldn't be able to. No martial artist can use a new move perfectly just after her learned it. And I doubt it's different with other fighting styles. So I was wondering… did you maybe find some sort of magical relic that gave you these abilities?"

"Wh-what?" Akane stammered. "How did you… I mean… what gave you that idea?"

Ranma pulled a small, orange glowing orb from behind his back. "Lucky guess."

Akane bit her lip. "Oh. So… you got one of those too?"

"Looks like it," Ranma nodded. "Yours is the same, right? Mysterious glow, gives you a message and a choice…"

"Yes, but mine's green," Akane said. "So… did you take the offer?"

"No," Ranma said. "At least, not yet. I was a bit curious about its message, and then I remembered you and your bow. So how did you get it?"

"Um… Hiroshi gave it to me," Akane said. "He was pretty vague about it and ran off as soon as I took it. I haven't had a chance to talk to him ever since."

"Huh, that's odd," Ranma muttered. "I found mine just lying under my futon. Whoever put it there obviously didn't want me to see him."

"And what did your orb say?" Akane asked. "What did it offer? Mine's apparently the Orb of Ranger, but what about yours?"

"Orb of Amazon," Ranma said and winced, expecting Akane to get mad. "Yeah, I know, I know. Shampoo is trouble."

"You're damn right she is!" Akane glowered. "Besides, you giving up martial arts? I hope you're not honestly considering it. I mean, you'd be giving up our families' whole legacy!"

"You're one to talk," Ranma frowned. "Isn't that exactly what you did?"

Akane growled at him and nearly sounded like Ukyo while doing it. "You dumbass! I only did that because I felt that I could never catch up to you! You, Ukyo, Shampoo, Ryoga… I just can't catch up with all of you." She threw up her arms in frustration.

"But giving up the arts?" Ranma muttered. "Is that really worth it, 'Kane?"

"I… I dunno," Akane muttered and lowered her arms. "I thought it was, but… now I'm not so sure. But it's not like it matters anymore, right? The orb said… the exchange is irreversible. I'm stuck with this 'class', as he called it. So please, Ranma…" She stared at her fiance with pleading eyes, a pretty rare sight for him. "Please don't give up being a martial artist. Please don't give up the schools… don't be as foolish as me."

"But… you don't know everything, Akane," Ranma told her. "The orb also told me something else. Apparently, since I have a Jusenkyo curse… I'm a special case. If I decide to make my female side an Amazon… then my male side would still be a martial artist."

"Really?" Akane stared at him. "Sounds a bit too convenient if you ask me. But why would you want to me an Amazon in the first place? A female one at that."

"Think about it," Ranma said. "Why is Shampoo after us? Because I beat her as an outsider. But what if I become an Amazon? Then I'm not an outsider anymore. Makes sense, right?"

"I… guess it does," Akane admitted. "But aren't you taking a big risk here? What if it doesn't work correctly? We don't even know where these orbs are coming from. Shouldn't we at least try to talk to Hiroshi first?"

Before Ranma could answer, something came crashing through Akane's window… an all-too familiar girl with purple hair and a pair of bonbori.

"Shampoo get you this time, mercenary pony!" she shouted. "You give up unicorn horn or Shampoo will…" She blinked and took a look around the room which she just trashed. "Oh… this is not mercenary pony's room, is violent girl's room. Oops…"

Akane angrily shook off pieces of debris. "Shampoo!" she yelled at the Chinese girl. "Get it through your thick head already, we have doors!"

"Door just slow Shampoo down," the Amazon shrugged. "Oh well, you just get out of my way and I go find unicorn sister, yes?"

"Whatever you want from Nabiki, you're not getting it," Ranma sternly said. "Shampoo, why are you doing this? Isn't it enough that you have to bother us again and again? Do ya have to go after our families now, too?"

"Oh airen!" Shampoo smiled. "Shampoo only do this for you, see? Soon you be Shampoo's husband, then she no longer attacks and you can be happy, yes?"

Akane drew her short sword. "Over my dead body, you Chinese bimbo!"

"Shampoo can arrange that, violent girl," the Amazon yelled as she attacked. Metal clashed with metal as the two girls went at each other.

"This is getting ridiculous," Ranma sighed. "I have to end this once and for all." He reached for the Orb of Amazon and held it up in front of his face. "Hey, orb-thing. I accept your gift!"

Akane was getting worried. There simply wasn't enough space in her room to make proper use of her bow, and Shampoo was obviously at an advantage in close combat. But just as she considered luring Shampoo outside, a bright orange flash illuminated the area, blinding both combatants momentarily. "What the…?"

"Aiya! Shampoo no can see!"

As the bright light disappeared, the two girls witnessed an incredible sight…

A tall, muscular, female figure, dressed from head to toe in an awe-inspiring, Greek-styled battle outfit with a shimmering breastplate that emphasized her ample bust and a leather skirt that showed off her strong legs. The sunrays falling through the broken window were reflected off the surface of a beautiful, round shield she was holding in one hand and made the sword in her other hand shimmer and shine. Her flaming red hair was bound in a long pigtail that hung down lower than her hips, and on her head she was wearing a masterfully-crafted piece of headgear that looked like a mix between a helmet and a tiara.

She pointed her sword at Shampoo and shouted in a powerful voice: "Cease your aggression, Amazon sister! Lay down your arms and leave her alone, or else I will be forced to put you down."

For a moment, everything was quiet. Shampoo and Akane couldn't help but stare at the female warrior.

Then Akane blurted out: "RANMA?"

The armored woman then looked down at herself and gasped. "Great Hera! Whatever did that accursed artifact do to me?" She then let out a groan when she realized what she just said. "By the gods… my manner of speech is just like that of Kuno."

"Airen?" Shampoo let out a gasp of astonishment. "But what… what happened to you? You… are not an Amazon… are you?"

Akane sighed. "Just fantastic… looks like the orb was talking of an entirely different kind of Amazon."


Ranma ½ belongs to Rumiko Takahashi.

The Dryad (NPC) and everything Terraria belongs to Re-Logic.

My little Pony belongs to Hasbro.

World of Warcraft belongs to Blizzard.

Themyscira and Wonder Woman belong to DC Comics.