Kamen Rider RanO

by Ten-Faced Paladin

DenLiner has pulled into Nerima. Watch as Ranma takes on the role of a guardian of the timeline, DenO!

6. Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Cat?

I do not own Ranma 1/2 or Kamen Rider Den-O. They belong to their respective creators and not me. Whoever thinks otherwise needs their heads examined. For everyone else who has common sense, I hope you enjoy my work.

Kamen Rider Ran-O

By Ten-Faced Paladin

Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Cat?

The mood on DenLiner was certainly grim. Ranma had been once again victimized by the Neko-Ken at the worst possible moment. This newest Imagin had taken on the form of a cat and Ranma had promptly freaked out. His fear had been so great that not even Momotaros could suppress it so he could fight. He had barely managed to get back on DenLiner in time before Neko-Ranma ejected him from his body. Currently, Neko-Ranma was seated on Hana's lap as she sat on one of the chairs in the booths of DenLiner. She was still stroking his back while he purred in his sleep. Naomi was looking on in concern as she petted the cat-boy as well. Momotaros was at the front end of the car, fuming as usual. It wasn't about missing out on the fight with the Imagin, it was more along the lines that someone had had the gall to put Ranma through the Neko-Ken in the first place.

Momotaros may have been a pretty rough guy, but he did care about what happened to Ranma. It went well beyond the fact that he would disappear if the boy died. It was because he and Ranma had a lot in common. They both loved a good fight and they certainly had egos big enough to fill the train car they were in. They also had a respect for the other's abilities. Momotaros knew that if anyone could take on guys like Herb and Saffron, then he had to give him respect. The fights he had seen in Ranma's memories sure looked brutal. Ranma respected Momotaros because of his abilities in fighting Imagin. The Imagin were tough and Ranma put them in the same league as Herb and Saffron. He also enjoyed Momotaros' company. He was someone who could understand Ranma's troubles since he was privy to a private and unedited view of Ranma's life.

Urataros sat on the other end of the train car, near the back. He was silent and contemplative. He and Ranma sure hadn't started off on the right foot, but they had gotten along easily enough. Ranma was a good kid and Urataros had to tip his hat off to him. Anyone who could go through the hell Ranma had been through and still stay sane, much less nice, deserved some respect at least. Urataros may have the habit of lying and stringing people along, but he at least made sure he didn't hurt anyone in the end. Seeing Genma subjugate a six-year old Ranma to the Neko-Ken made even the calm and collected Urataros want to visit great amounts of pain down on the greedy and lazy martial artist.

"Ura-chan," Naomi spoke up. "Is Ran-chan going to be okay?"

"Yes," Urataros nodded. "Once he wakes up then he'll be back to normal. We can speed up the process by dousing him with water, but I doubt he'd appreciate that."

"Let the kid sleep," Momotaros grumbled. "He's had a hell of a day."

"So, does anyone have any idea what this Imagin may be trying to do?" asked Hana.

"Dunno," Momotaros shrugged. "Me and Bear-Boy found that blind dork Mousse beaten up. He was going after Lost Boy when we caught up with him."

"Why was he going after Mousse and the pig I wonder?" Urataros asked in curiostiy. "Could it have something to do with the Wrecking Crew?"

"Wrecking Crew?" asked Naomi in confusion.

"It is the name for Ranma, his fiancées, and his rivals," Urataros explained. "They are called that because they destroy a large amount of property whenever they get into fights. I assume that the contractors in this town just love them."

"Wow," Naomi blinked.

"Sounds like we may get added to the Wrecking Crew soon, eh Turtle Boy?" snickered Momotaros.

"Maybe Sempai," Urataros shrugged. "But remember that people think we're Ranma when we fight."

"What happened to Kintaros and Hiroshi anyway?" asked Hana, looking up from the snoozing Ranma.

"Ah," Momotaros shrugged. "I told him to grab the pig and run. Who knows where he ended up."

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

At that moment, Hiroshi Yellow was calmly walking down the street back to the Tendo dojo. He was holding P-chan by his bandanna and was taking a moment to check his back every so often on his travels back.

For his own part, P-chan was feeling rather depressed, which wasn't all that unusual for him. He had faced one of those weird monsters again and was beaten again. He had to be rescued by Ranma for the second time. His techniques were proving entirely useless against those creatures and he just couldn't understand why! How was it that Ranma had beaten the last one? What did Ranma have in terms of skills that he didn't? Sure, Ranma may have been faster and P-chan doubted that techniques like the Hiryu Shoten Ha would make a huge difference against those monsters. Yet, somehow, Ranma had managed to defeat that bull monster from before. Now the cat one had scared him off.

Hiroshi Yellow looked down at the piglet in his hand that was giving off an aura of depression. He quirked an eyebrow before shrugging and continuing on.

He rounded another corner and found the Tendo dojo again. He walked on and walked through the main gates. His attention was planted on the front door so he didn't have a whole lot of attention anywhere else. If he did, he would have noticed Akane coming around after finishing a training session consisting of breaking dummies and cinder blocks.

"P-chan!" Akane cried happily.

"Eh?" Hiroshi Yellow blinked as he watched Akane dash up to him. "Oh, is he your pet?"

"Yes," Akane nodded as she plucked P-chan out of his hand. Akane took a moment to examine who she thought was Ranma's friend for a moment. "When did you get a yellow streak put into your hair?"

"Uh...," Hiroshi Yellow gulped. He started looking for a way out of the little mess he had gotten himself into. "Well, it...it was...a recent acquisition."

"Really?" Akane blinked. "Well, where'd you get it? It looks good."

"Uhh," Hiroshi yellow stammered. Just how was he going to get out of this mess without blowing his or Ranma's secret?

"I recommended a place," a new voice spoke up, saving Hiroshi Yellow from spilling something he shouldn't.

Akane and Hiroshi Yellow turned to the front door of the Tendo home to see Nabiki leaning on the doorframe. She had the usual calculating look in her eyes and was totally devoid of any emotion on her face. Hiroshi Yellow wasn't sure if he should feel some kind of relief that she was there or be worried that she was. Hiroshi had a number of memories about her that were not very flattering.

"Ranma's not here at the moment, Hiroshi," Nabiki continued as she walked towards her sister and the possessed boy. "But I'm sure we can accommodate you until he comes in."

"That would be nice," Hiroshi Yellow nodded gratefully.

"Good," Nabiki smirked before she grabbed Hiroshi Yellow's arm. She then proceeded to drag him towards the house. "Then come with me. We have SO much to talk about."

Akane heaved a sigh as she cuddled P-chan. She knew that Hiroshi was probably going to get swindled out of every Yen he had before his visit was over. It was actually part of the reason why Akane never really had any friends over. Nabiki would usually strike deals with them when she wasn't looking. Akane only hoped that he would be in some kind of condition capable of telling her where he got that neat streak in his hair.

Nabiki dragged Hiroshi yellow through the house and straight up the stairs. Hiroshi Yellow didn't even try to protest. Along the way, Nabiki had snatched Kasumi from the kitchen so all three of them were gathered in Nabiki's bedroom. Hiroshi Yellow was placed in front of the two Tendo sisters.

"Okay, Kintaros," Nabiki frowned. "I can tell from how you came back here so soon without Ranma that something went wrong. What happened?"

Hiroshi Yellow heaved a sigh before replying, "Ranma and I went after the Imagin and found Mousse buried under a pile of bricks that used to be a wall. The Imagin's strength had made him cry from the utter defeat."

"Oh, my!" Kasumi gasped. "It's not nice to make people cry."

"Moving on," Nabiki huffed. She didn't need to hear how people cry at the moment.

"Anyway," Hiroshi Yellow continued. "I had found the Imagin attacking Akane's pet pig. I'm not sure why."

"...okay," Nabiki blinked. "Why would an Imagin attack Mousse and then P-chan? What kind of wish could possibly involve them?"

"What happened next, Kintaros-san?" asked Kasumi.

"That is what confuses me," Hiroshi Yellow admitted. "Ranma took one look at the Imagin and suddenly Momotaros had difficulty controlling Ranma's body. It was as if Ranma wanted to run away but Momotaros was trying to stay and fight."

"Ranma wanted to run away?" Nabiki blinked. "That doesn't sound like him. The only thing that I know of that scares him is...oh crap."

"What is it, Nabiki?" asked Kasumi, beginning to feel concern welling up for her little brother.

"Kintaros," Nabiki frowned. "Did this Imagin look like a cat?"

"Yes, it did," Hiroshi Yellow nodded. "Why do you ask?"

"Oh my!" Kasumi gasped. "The Neko-ken."

"Right," Nabiki sighed. "I wonder how Ranma's going to deal with this. It's probably way worse than the Ghost Cat he had to deal with before."

"What is the Neko-ken?" asked Kintaros.

"A failed martial arts technique," Nabiki replied. She suppressed her usual habit of asking for money. This was infinitely more important than petty cash. "Ranma was trained in it when he was six. Basically, you wrap the trainee up in fish products before tossing him into a pit filled with starving cats. Ranma learned it, but now he's terrified of cats."

"I see," Hiroshi Yellow nodded. "What evil this technique is. Who would subject a boy to that?"

"That would be Ranma's father," Nabiki replied. "He didn't even read the manual all the way through before trying it. Personally I think he will take any shortcut in training Ranma so he won't have to do any serious work."

"Now, Nabiki," Kasumi remarked. 'It isn't nice to say things like that about people."

"I only call them as I see them sis," Nabiki shrugged. "Since he came here, Genma has avoided any serious work like the plague. He only had a job as Tofu's assistant for a brief time before he stopped going all together. He seems like the type to avoid strenuous effort unless it benefits him."

"You may be right, but it still isn't nice to talk about that in front of guests," Kasumi replied.

"Hmmm," Hiroshi Yellow pondered. "Is there anything that we can do to deal with this Neko-ken?"

"Not sure," Nabiki shrugged. "All we've really done about it is make sure Ranma avoids cats. It seemed to be working."

"Well, it did unless Shampoo-chan came visiting," Kasumi added. "She has a curse like Ranma except htat she turns into a cat."

"Really?" Hiroshi Yellow blinked. "But, isn't there any way for Ranma to tell that it's really her and not just some cat?"

"Well, Sampoo's cat form has purple bits that match her hair and those bell ties that she always wears," Nabiki replied. "The problem is that it doesn't have to be a real cat to freak him out. It just has to look or sound like one to freak him out."

"So telling him it isn't a real cat won't work," Kasumi agreed. "So even though we know this Imagin isn't a cat, poor Ranma will still be afraid of it."

"Yeah, but enough about that," Nabiki huffed. "We still have to figure out why Mousse and P-chan were attacked. It's about the only thing we can do until Ranma comes back."

--------------------------------------------------DenLiner------------------------------------------------------

"Ngg," Ranma groaned as he began to wake up. He was strangely comfortable and warm, but he wasn't sure why.

"Ranma?" asked Hana tenderly. She didn't want to stress the boy out any more than he was.

"Huh?" Ranma blinked as he looked up. He found himself looking into Hana's concerned eyes. It then took several more minutes to figure out that he was cuddled up in her lap. Ranma's eyes widened as his face began to match the same shade of red as Momotaros' armor.

"ACK!" Ranma cried as he leaped to his feet and away from Hana. "I'msorryI'msorryI'msorry!"

"Oh, Ranma," Urataros sighed as he stood up. The blue Imagin then walked over to his host and wrapped an arm around his shoulder. "It is nothing to be ashamed about. Many young men would love to be where you were a moment ago. Savor the victory."

There was a loud slam before Urataros was slammed into one of the booths. Hana's fist occupied the space where his head used to be. Ranma was sweatdropping nervously as Hana's fist was only a few inches from his head.

"Heh," Momotaros snickered. "That's what you get, you perverted turtle!"

Ranma was still stunned silent at what had just happened. He couldn't find any words to say as Hana brought back her fist and dusted her hands off. Her expression then softened as she looked to Ranma.

"Are you okay, Ranma?" she asked softly.

"Uh…yeah," Ranma nodded. "Can anyone tell me what happened? Last thing I remember was standing with Hiroshi, waiting for that Imagin to come out."

"Oh, it did come out," Momotaros grumbled while sitting up. "The problem was that you freaked out when it did because it looked like a cat!"

"WHAT?!" Ranma cried. He then hung his head in both agitation and shame. "Great. The Neko-ken strikes again. I'm going to pound Pop extra hard when we spar again!"

"I think we can safely agree that Sempai and I would like to help you with that," Urataros commented from his seat. The room was still spinning so he didn't try to stand up just yet.

"Damn right!" shouted Momotaros. "The panda went too far with that one! When I'm in control again, I'll turn him into a panda-skin rug!"

Ranma was finding himself rather surprised by the two Imagin. They rarely agreed on anything. It made Ranma feel good when he realized that they were upset because something had hurt him.

"Okay!" Hana cried, catching everyone's attention. She then turned to pigtailed martial artist. "Ranma, can you think of anyone who would wish for an Imagin to hurt Mousse and Ryoga?"

Ranma closed his eyes to think about that question. Hana had heard about Ryoga's curse from Urataros after he returned to Denliner after wooing Akane. It had been after the memorable date with Suzume where an Imagin had arrived to try and kidnap her. After an explanation into why Ranma hadn't told anyone, Hana now thought of Ryoga as an opportunistic pig.

"I think a better question would be who wouldn't wish for it," Ranma sighed. "Both Mousse and Ryoga have ticked off a whole lot of people. Mousse and his habit of not wearing his glasses usually leads him to attack or glomp random people or objects, thinking that they are me or Shampoo. Ryoga has a really bad habit of breaking things when he's depressed or embarrassed. A whole lot of people would naturally be ticked off after he broke their walls."

"My, my, Ranma," Urataros spoke. "Although I have seen memories of your past battles with these boys, I had no idea that they were responsible for such destruction over such meaningless reasons."

"Humph!" Momotaros snorted. "These punks all call themselves 'honorable martial artists' but whenever they see a chance to win, honor goes right out the window! They all piss me off!"

"…okay," Ranma blinked. It was something of a shock to actually be in continuous contact with people who wouldn't attack him on sight and actually cared about what happened to him. "Anyway, I think whoever made this wish, they have a bone to pick with the wrecking crew."

"So you think there are going to be more victims?" asked Hana.

"Without a doubt," Ranma nodded. "There a few more members of the wrecking crew that the Imagin hasn't hit yet. There's Kuno, Kumon, Taro, and me. There's also the fiancées."

"Hasn't Kuno already been defeated by the bear?" asked Urataros. "Also, the pig hasn't been truly defeated yet. Another concern would be that these people you call Kumon and Taro aren't even in town, are they?"

"Yeah," Ranma nodded. "I haven't seen Kumon since he tried to get the UmiSenKen scroll. Taro hasn't been by since he tried to hit Happosai with the Spring of Drowned Twins water. So, the only members of the wrecking crew are Ukyo, Shampoo, Kodachi, Ryoga…and me."

"But why are you even considered part of the Wrecking Crew, Ranma?" asked Hana. "You don't go on destructive rampages just because you feel like it, do you?"

"No," Ranma replied. "I'm considered part of it because all the others keep coming after my head or my hand. To lots of people, I'm the reason the wrecking crew came to be."

"Ungrateful jerks," Momotaros grumbled under his breath.

"So now we know who the Imagin is going to be after," Hana sighed. "But the main problem is how we are going to defeat it. If you can't get near it, then how are you going to fight it?"

"I'll think of something," Ranma sighed. "I usually do."

-----------------------------------------------Nerima------------------------------------------------------------

The streets of Nerima were relatively peaceful for a change. For the people there, it usually meant that there was a huge battle on the horizon if things had been peaceful for this long. They were all expecting something weird to happen at any moment.

"Nyow!" a feline voice cried.

Anyone who bothered to look to the source of the voice would have seen the Cat Imagin land lightly on the top of a wall. It heaved a small purr as it examined the streets, looking for more prey.

"Now where did that Hibiki boy go? Nyow," the Cat Imagin wondered as it peered over the scenery.

The Cat Imagin did know that Ryoga had a horrible sense of direction, but it also knew that he couldn't get lost in the middle of a fight unless he was moving. The Cat Imagin knew that Ryoga wasn't moving when he knocked it down with his Shishi Hokodan. So where did he go?

"Nyow," it pouted. "Where did he go? All I saw was that delicious looking piggy."

The Cat Imagin then froze. It had learned through rumors that the boy who was Den-O could change his gender, but a lot of Imagin wrote that off as stupidity. Then again, the Imagin's contract holder had a lot of memories about certain people changing with cold water.

"Hmmm," the Cat Imagin grinned. "Maybe the boy didn't run away after all."

Maybe…if this Ranma Saotome that the Cat Imagin's contract holder knew could change form with water, maybe Ryoga did as well. There was a broken fire hydrant when the Cat Imagin got back on its feet. Maybe Ryoga got drenched and changed into a pig. It would explain where the little porker had come from.

The Cat Imagin sat down and took a meditative pose. The only problem was where the little porker could be at the moment. The Cat Imagin knew that Ryoga had the odd talent of showing up at the oddest moment thinking he was halfway across the world. The problem was trying to track him down. The Cat Imagin thought about what its contract holder knew about the Lost Boy.

"Hmmm," the Cat Imagin hummed as it went through the memories. "World's worst sense of direction….can crush concrete and break walls with his bare hands…Ah! He hates Ranma Saotome and keeps ending up finding him! Puuuuurfect!"

It really was perfect. Ranma was on the list of people to get out of the way. If the Cat Imagin just hung out where Ranma Saotome lived then Ryga would eventually show up! It was perfect!

"Tendo Dojo, here I come!" the Cat Imagin purred before it leaped in the direction of the dojo.

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Kasumi had just put out another round of tea for everyone as they tried to figure out how P-chan and Mousse were connected together by the same wish. So far, neither Nabiki, Kasumi, nor Hiroshi Yellow had been able to think of any kind of reason.

"I'm stumped," Nabiki sighed. "How about you, Kintaros?"

"I have no ideas," Hiroshi Yellow commented. "Perhaps there is something about Akane's pet we don't know."

"What is there to know?" Nabiki grumbled. "He's a little porker who even after staying here for so long can't even find his way through the house without someone carrying him."

"He sounds a little like Ranma's friend," Kasumi spoke up. "Ryoga always seems to get lost and he can never find his way around the no matter how many times he comes to visit Ranma and Akane."

"Come to think of it," Nabiki pondered. "P-chan and Ryoga do have the same problem. They can't find their way anywhere….wait a sec."

"What is it Nabiki?" asked Kasumi.

"Don't you think that it's odd that both Ryoga and P-chan have the same problem with directions? I mean, I've seen P-chan wandering in the halls with boxes of crackers from Okinawa tied to his back," Nabiki explained.

"Now that I think about it," Hiroshi Yellow spoke up. "Doesn't Ryoga wear the same bandanna that P-chan has around his neck?"

"We don't even see them at the same time do we?" asked Kasumi.

"You don't think Ryoga…." Hiroshi Yellow pondered.

"It must be," Nabiki frowned.

"Oh my!" Kasumi gasped.

"Ryoga is…." Nabiki gasped. "P-chan's original owner!"

"Do you think that's why Ryoga is traveling so much?" asked Kasumi. "He's trying to find his little pet piggy?"

"Only someone close to him can have a sense of direction as bad as his," Nabiki commented.

"Oh, Akane is going to be so sad," Kasumi sighed sadly. "She just loves her little piggy."

The three continued to ponder what whoever had contracted the Imagin could have wished for. As they began pondering, there was a loud crash downstairs and a loud scream from Akane. Nabiki and Kasumi froze for a brief second while Hiroshi Yellow was already on his feet. Both of the Tendo girls recognized Akane's screams. They usually ranged from her training cries to outraged screams when she got mad at Ranma. This was one of her very rare screams of terror.

"Akane!" Nabiki and Kasumi cried as they headed for the door. Hiroshi Yellow was right behind them as a sense of foreboding came to the back of his mind.

The three made their way downstairs to where they had heard Akane scream. They were quick to head out to the dojo. As they got closer, they could hear Soun and Genma making groans of pain or whimpers asking for mercy.

Kasumi, Nabiki, and Hiroshi Yellow finally reached the dojo and found the door ripped off its hinges and the new Imagin standing in the centre of the dojo. Soun and Genma were lying on the ground covered in bruises and cuts. They had most likely tried to fight it when it went after Akane. Their reasons for defending her were questionable in Genma's case. Said heir of the Tendo Dojo was staring down the feline Imagin, staring each other down.

"Nyow," the Cat Imagin purred. "Hand over the pig, little girl. If you do then I won't have a reason to hurt you."

"No way!" Akane growled, shielding P-chan from sight. "You leave my P-chan alone or I'll show you what real martial arts are about!"

"You, nyow?" the Cat Imagin chuckled. "That's rich. My contractor has seen almost every fight that erupted in this town. You don't even come close to beating me!"

"What?!" Akane growled, putting P-chan on the ground. "Take it back! I'll show you!"

"Akane, no!" Kasumi cried in fear for her little sister.

"Hyaaaaa!" Akane cried, charging at the Imagin with her fist raised. She was completely ignorant of her sister's pleas.

"Fool," The Cat Imagin chuckled as it watched Akane charge.

Akane curled her fist and sent a devastating haymaker that she was positive would wipe that stupid smirk off the creature's face. The result that she got was very different than what she was expecting.

In a blur of movement, the Cat Imagin brought up its hand and captured Akane's fist. The Tendo heir was somewhat stunned to see that someone had actually managed to catch her punch. She tried to pull her arm back again, but the Imagin just kept a solid grip on her hand. Akane's rage bubbled as she heard the Imagin chuckle again.

"Here's a free tip, little girl," it chuckled, leaning close to Akane. "Dig yourself out of the bottom of the barrel before trying to fight me again, nyow."

Akane wanted to retort like she did with anyone who belittled her skills, but she was cut off before she could even begin. The Cat Imagin gripped the front of her gi and with one swift movement, hurled Akane straight into the wall of the dojo. The sheer force of the attack had even managed to crack the wall. Akane was knocked out on impact and slumped to the ground.

"Nyow," the Cat Imagin purred before turning back to an angry P-chan. "Now for the little piggy."

"Akane!" Kasumi and Nabiki cried in shock and fear for their sister.

"Hraaaaah!" Hiroshi Yellow bellowed before he charged past the two elder Tendo girls and straight at the Cat Imagin.

"Nyow?" the Cat Imagin blinked before a punch from Hiroshi Yellow connected with its face. "Nyoooooow!"

The Cat Imagin was pushed back by the force of the blow that Hiroshi Yellow used. The surprised Imagin was actually forced to the ground. Nabiki and Kasumi had only watched with shock at the power Hiroshi Yellow was throwing around. Obviously Kintaros was stronger than they had first thought.

"Ouch," the Cat Imagin grumbled as it shakily got to its feet. It then got a good look at Hiroshi Yellow before snickering.

"I recognize you, nyow," the Cat Imagin smiled. "You're Hiroshi aren't you? Or at least, you are the Imagin contracted to Hiroshi anyway."

"That is correct," Hiroshi Yellow nodded. "What does it matter?"

"Nothing to me," the Cat Imagin shrugged. "but I can imagine the surprise on my contract holder's face when he finds out that his own best friend is trying to keep his wish from coming true."

"What?" Hiroshi Yellow blinked in confusion. After a moment, it began to dawn on him. "No. You can't mean Daisuke is the one who made a wish!"

"To believe or not is up to you," the Cat Imagin shrugged with a growing smile. "As for me, I have a little piggy to get out of the way!"

With a sudden burst of speed, the Cat Imagin leaped at P-chan, scooping the surprised pig up in its arms before leaping out of the dojo and towards the house.

"I will not let you escape!" Hiroshi Yellow cried before following.

The possessed boy gave chase to the feline Imagin who held the tiny pig hostage. The Cat Imagin as proving to be quick, but whatever obstacles that it tried to slow the boy down with were crushed underfoot by Hiroshi Yellow. Kintaros' unbelievable toughness was proving to be good for the human body.

The Cat Imagin didn't let it faze it as it dashed through the halls for the closest source of hot water to find. It the immediately dashed into the furo before Hiroshi Yellow barreled through he doors, unsurprisingly breaking them. The possessed boy started to stare down the Cat Imagin as it held a struggling P-chan over the furo which was filled with hot water.

"Release the pig now!" Hiroshi Yellow growled.

"Nyow, gladly," the Cat Imagin laughed before dropping P-chan into the hot water of the furo. The air was still for a few seconds before the inevitable happened.

"Ahhhhh!" Ryoga cried as he leaped from the water butt-naked. "Hot! Hot! Hot!"

"What?" Hiroshi Yelllow blinked in confusion.

"I knew it!" the Cat Imagin purred in glee. "You do change with hot water!"

"Argh!" Ryoga growled as he glared at the Cat Imagin. "You'll pay!"

The Lost Boy lunged at the Cat Imagin with a blow aimed to take its head off. The Cat Imagin just purred before dodging the blow and grabbing Ryoga by the throat. The Lost Boy was then slammed into the tiled floor like a ton of bricks. He was knocked out almost immediately. The Cat Imagin grinned before standing up again.

"Two down and two to go," it purred.

The Cat Imagin then lunged forward and knocked Hiroshi Yellow back through the changing area before dashing past him and out into the hall. From there, the Cat Imagin went into the yard before leaping over the wall and out of the property.

"Hnnn!" Hiroshi Yellow growled as the Imagin vanished from sight.

Hiroshi Yellow then raced back to the dojo. Since there wasn't an Imagin to fight anymore, he might as well go to see if the Tendo girls needed some help. He reached the Dojo door and was about to open it when he started hearing a train echoing in the air. Before he could react, the dojo door slid open to reveal Ranma and Hana stepping out into normal time. Both had shocked looks on their faces that matched Hiroshi Yellow's.

"Kintaros?" Hana blinked.

"What are you doing here?" Ranma asked. He then spied the damage done to a number of the garden ornaments and other such things that were littering the property. "What happened here? Don't tell me Ryoga got in a fight over something again."

"Worse," Hiroshi Yellow sighed. "It was the Imagin."

"What?!" Hana cried. "Is everyone okay?"

"The fathers and Akane Tendo are out cold since they tried to fight it to protect the little pig," Hiroshi Yellow continued. His face then took a rather surprised tone. "Did you know that P-chan is really Ryoga Hibiki? I was really surprised. The Imagin dropped his pig form in the furo and out comes Ryoga. It was really something."

"He got Ryoga, didn't he?" Ranma groaned.

"He did," Hiroshi Yellow nodded gravely. "Oh! But I do know who this Imagin's contract holder is!"

"Really?" Hana blinked, determination filling her eyes. "Who?"

"It is Hiroshi's best friend, Daisuke!" Hiroshi Yellow proclaimed.

"WHAT?!" Ranma and Hana both cried at the same time. Ranma then took the lead in his arguments. "Why would Daisuke have anything against the Wrecking Crew? Ever since I've shown up they've been okay friends and drooled over my fiancées!"

"I don't think Daisuke was the type who would intentionally harm someone," Hana agreed.

"Well," Hiroshi Yellow shrugged. "Some Imagin do try to take a short route in granting a wish. Maybe this one is doing that."

"It doesn't matter right now," Ranma sighed. "The point is that we have a lead on the guy who contracted that Imagin. I say we split up and try to find him."

"Right!" Hiroshi Yellow and Hana agreed.

With that, Hana and Hiroshi Yellow started running for the exit of the property. When they got to that point, they both split up, trying to find Daisuke. Ranma took a more direct route by leaping over the stone walls surrounding the property and roof hopping, hoping to find a sign of his friend with a bird's-eye view. The clock was ticking and they needed every second.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Cat Imagin strolled lazily onto the school grounds of Furinkan High in hopes of finding its next target. Everything was calm for a change since no one was there. Even the after-school clubs had gone home. Still, there was the chance that someone was there so the Imagin was determined to find out whom. It walked closer to the school, straining its ears, trying to hear if someone was still there. Everything remained calm and the Imagin was about to leave when it heard several groans coming from near the gym. Purring excitedly, the Cat Imagin raced over to find the source.

It moved around to the side of the gym and managed to peek inside. It noticed a sliding door that shouldn't have been part of the usual gym, but had been torn right off its hinges. Sneaking inside, the Cat Imagin moved across the floor and walked to the open doorway. It idly noticed the sign which told everyone that this was where the kendo club was meeting.

"Nyow?" the Cat Imagin meowed as it looked inside.

All the Kendo club members were strewn across the floor. They were all awake and clutching what looked like small paper napkins in their hands or had them on their bodies. The latter was true for the members in too much pain to move. A few of them were moving, but the going was slow since they were still in pain. At the back of the room and in front of a hole in the wall, the captain of the kendo club was still out cold, a silent testimony to whoever had attacked him. The Cat Imagin knew how much it took to put down the delusional kendoist, but for him to be out cold like this for so long was truly a marvel.

"Hmmm. Who did this I wonder?" the Cat Imagin purred as it spied Kuno sprawled out on the ground. It then shrugged and turned to leave. "Oh well, nyow. Three down and one to go. You're next, Ranma Saotome."

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ranma continued to hop over rooftops in attempts to find his friend. He knew of a few places that Hiroshi and Daisuke liked to hang out, but Ranma had never been there before. Usually it was because some rival would hunt him down before he got there or Akane had been kidnapped again. Eventually Ranma gave up on going to those places like arcades and malls because his rivals didn't care where they fought just so long as they could take him down. Ranma may not have been a genius, but he knew what a lawsuit was. His father had been threatened with them enough times before skipping town during the training trip.

"Where the heck is he?" Ranma grumbled as he watched Nerima from the rooftops.

Daisuke wasn't home. A quick stop at his place revealed that fact quickly enough. So Ranma was now forced to look the old fashioned way for his friend. He had been at it for a while now and there wasn't even a sign of him anywhere.

"Where else can he hang out?" Ranma sighed.

His answer suddenly came when he heard a small 'ding' from a nearby convenience store. Naturally tuned to see where all noises came from less they be another rival or fiancée out to get him, Ranma turned to the source of the noise. He sweat dropped slightly at seeing Daisuke exiting the store with a bag of goods. Deciding not to kick this gift horse in the mouth, Ranma leaped down to ground level and rushed over to his friend. Daisuke immediately took notice of him.

"Hey, Ranma," he grinned. "What's up?"

"A lot, Daisuke," Ranma sighed. "I really have to ask you a question."

"Okay," Daisuke nodded. "Go ahead."

"Okay, this is going to sound a little weird, even for around here," Ranma explained. "But I really need to know if you've made any wishes from a creature made out of sand."

"Huh?" Daisuke blinked. "How'd you know that? Wait...Hiroshi told you about his, didn't he? Yeah, I did. So what?"

"Crap," Ranma groaned tiredly. "Okay, Daisuke. What was the wish? I need to know the exact words you used."

Daisuke was feeling a little panicked by how serious Ranma was acting. Usually the pigtailed martial artist was confident to the point of arrogance about whatever he did unless it got him mad or was concerning someone he cared about. Right now it seemed that Ranma was being incredibly serious about his questions and Daisuke started getting a bad feeling in his gut about what was going on.

"Um," he pondered for a moment. "My wish was to be able to get a date without having to worry about the male members of the Wrecking Crew ruining my chances."

"Huh?" Ranma blinked. "Ruining your chances? What do you mean?"

"You're kind of dense and your rivals are too focused on their obsessions to notice so I'm not surprised that none of you know," Daisuke sighed. "With the exception of Kuno, you and your rivals have pretty much snagged almost every girl in school! It's impossible for us boys who aren't part of the Hentai Horde to even get a date since they are either scheming to get you out of your engagements or trying to get your rivals paying attention to them."

"What?!" Ranma blinked incredulously. When did this happen?

'You mean you couldn't tell?' Urataros asked incredulously. 'I thought you didn't return their advances because you were afraid of being pounded by your fiancées.'

'Not helping!' Ranma snapped back before returning his attention to Daisuke.

"Well, I guess you really aren't that ignorant of it anymore," Daisuke sighed as he looked at Ranma with a plain stare.

"Huh?" Ranma blinked again. He was now very confused at what his friend was talking about. Half of the things he had been talking about didn't make sense at all. Not to him anyway.

"Don't play dumb, Ranma," Daisuke pressed. "Both me and Hiroshi saw how you were flirting with that older chick today. Not to mention how all the other girls crowd around you at school when none of the fiancées are around. Just when did you clue in and get so good at flirting anyway?"

'I can thank the blue turtle living in my head for that,' Ranma commented sourly.

'You're too kind,' Urataros sighed.

'Oh, shut up already!' Momotaros raged at his fellow Imagin.

"So why do you want to know what I wished for?" asked Daisuke curiously.

"A pretty good reason," Ranma replied. "That thing you made a wish on slammed down both Ryoga and Mousse. I don't know what it might do to Kuno, but I can tell you it wasn't a pleasant experience."

"What?!" Daisuke gaped. "No way! That can't be! I only wished that I didn't have to worry about you guys!"

"What better way to go about it than to put us in the hospital?" Ranma grumbled.

"You mean that thing is strong enough to do that to Ryoga?" Daisuke blinked. "Holy cow! I had no idea it would do that! I'm so sorry! Did it hurt anyone else?"

"No and apology accepted," Ranma sighed, trying to calm his friend down. A panicking male was easier to deal with than a weeping female in his mind. "These things aren't exactly ones for detail unless you word it just right. But I really need to know Daisuke, just who do you consider in your way of getting a girlfriend?"

"Uh..well, there's Mousse who the girls think is 'so romantic in staying faithful to his love'," Daisuke began. "Then there's Ryoga who's just 'too sweet'. There's Kuno because he's a target for girls outside of Furinkan with his poetry spouting and stuff. And then there's..."

"Me," Ranma finished sourly.

"Sorry, Ranma," Daisuke gulped. "If I knew it was going to do this then I wouldn't have made the wish!"

"Well, sorry isn't going to make it go away now," Ranma sighed.

'A fat ass-kicking will!' Momotaros chuckled darkly. Despite trying to sound upbeat, which was odd enough as it was, Momotaros could still sound pissed off that the Neko-Ken was keeping him from fighting this new Imagin. Ranma just ignored the grumbles from his two 'houseguests' for the moment.

Before Ranma could get any more details out of his friend, a sound cut through the air. A sound so horrible was heard that it sent Ranma running behind his friend to keep something between himself and the source of that noise. It was the noise that birds and fish all over the world came to fear, provided they weren't bigger than the one making the sound.

"Nyow!" was the awful cry.

"AAAHHHHH!" Ranma screamed before leaping behind Daisuke, hoping to use him as a shield.

"Huh?" the clueless boy blinked at the sudden reversal in Ranma's attitude.

Daisuke looked around, trying to find out where the noise had come from. Living in Nerima for a good portion of his life, Daisuke instinctively looked up to see if the noise was coming from that general direction. One never could tell if some kind of martial artist or one of their weapons were going to come falling from the sky at any given moment. His instincts didn't fail him when he saw a humanoid figure on top of a building. It leaped off its perch and landed on the ground in front of the two. Ranma whimpered in fear while Daisuke immediately recognized it as the being he had made his wish on.

"Nyow," the Cat Imagin purred. "One more and they shall be out of your way."

"Uh...," Daisuke shivered. The thing had been freaky enough to look at before but now it was downright frightening. "I think we'd be better off if we cancelled this wish business."

"Oh?" the Cat Imagin chuckled. "Sorry. I can't do that. The only way to end the contract is either to kill the one holding it, or to finish it."

"What?!" Daisuke cried, stepping back. "You have to be kidding! You've been pounding the crap out of the martial artists! I didn't wish for that!"

"You wished for them to be out of the way," the Cat Imagin pointed out. "You didn't state how they were to be removed. I merely decided that putting them in the hospital would be the best, nyow."

Well that's not how I wanted it!" Daisuke shouted back. He hoped his displeasure with the methods of the Imagin's choosing might get him out of the contract he made.

"Well too bad, nyow," the Cat Imagin growled. "There's only one left and you can't stop me now! Give me Ranma Saotome so I can get him out of the way!"

"No way!" Daisuke frowned. "I'm not going to let you hurt him because of my stupid wish!"

"Nyow! Get out of my way!" the Cat Imagin hissed. It was prepared to teach the boy a lesson before it was interrupted quite suddenly.

"MEEEEOOOOOWWWWW!"

"Huh?" both Daisuke and the Imagin blinked as they looked towards Ranma.

The pigtailed boy was crouched onto all fours and was in a position similar to what a cat would be in if it was cornered. Ranma's eyes had also taken on a feral gleam. They also showed a lot of hostility towards the Imagin that was standing in front of him. Daisuke could already tell that the Imagin was in for a world of hurt. Ranma had slipped into the Neko-Ken!

"Now this is odd," the Cat Imagin spoke as it peered at the cat-like boy. It then just shrugged as it drew its sword. "Oh well, nyow. I'll still get you out of the way."

"Fffftt!" Ranma hissed before leaping at the Imagin with his 'claws' outstretched.

Now the fur was really going to fly.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Both Hana and Hiroshi Yellow were racing down the streets in attempts to find Daisuke. Hana had no choice but to be with the Imagin-posessed boy since he knew what Daisuke looked like.

"Daisuke!" Hana cried out into the air.

"Where can he be?" Hiroshi Yellow sighed as he peered at every corner.

"You don't know?" Hana sighed with a slight twitch in her face. "You're possessing his best friend! You have to know!"

"I know where Daisuke likes to go but I don't know where he is at the moment!" Hiroshi Yellow retorted, trying to defend himself.

Hana sighed tiredly and was about to shout again when a sudden explosion ripped through the air. They both turned to see a plume of dust rising into the air. They both looked at each other before turning back to the sight of the rising dust.

"I think Ranma just found the Imagin," Hiroshi Yellow remarked casually. His words managed to snap Hana out of her shock. She immediately turned to look at Hiroshi Yellow.

"Well?" Hana asked impatiently. "Let's go! Ranma may be fighting the Imagin and I'm the only one who can snap him out of Neko-Ken at the moment! Let's go!"

"Oh!" Hiroshi Yellow gasped. "Right!"

Both Hana and Hiroshi Yellow then began to make tracks towards the site of the explosion. It was no mystery that Ranma was involved. Hana only hoped that it was the Imagin he was fighting and not some selfish rival who was out for Ranma's head for reasons they had made up in their mind.

----------------------------------------------------DenLiner----------------------------------------------------

"Ikuzo! Ikuzo! Ikuzo!" Momotaros cried out as he stood on a table in the dining car. Both Naomi and Urataors were at the front of the car, watching him go wild.

"What's Momo-chan doing?" asked Naomi curiously.

"Ah," Urataros smiled. "Ranma has caught up with the Imagin and slipped into Neko-Ken. Since we can't enter Ranma's body while he is in this form, Sempai is trying to give him some orders instead."

"No!" Momotaros cried suddenly. "The face, you baka! The face!"

Both Urataros and Naomi continued to watch in interest at what their red friend was doing. Momotaros was now swiping his hands like a cat. He was most likely trying to influence Neko-Ranma in some way or another.

"Momo-chan is sure enjoying himself!" Naomi smiled before turning back to the station.

"Sempai likes his fights," Urataros shrugged as he leaned back, waiting for this battle to be over.

----------------------------------------------------Nerima-------------------------------------------------------

"Meeeeeoooooowww!"

"Nyooooooooooowwww!"

Both Neko-Ranma and the Cat Imagin were in the middle of a literal cat fight. Both of them were clawing at each other for all their worth. At first the Cat Imagin tried to use its sword, but Neko-Ranma batted that away before attacking head on. It then degraded to both of them attacking like rabid felines. Currently, both of them were rolling in the dirt in attempts of taking the other down. Daisuke has a safe distance away watching the fight.

"You're beginning to annoy me, nyow!" the Cat Imagin hissed before it threw Neko-Ranma a short distance away.

"Meeow!" Neko-Ranma hissed before preparing for another attack.

"Come and get me, kitty!" the Cat Imagin hissed, getting onto its knees.

Neko-Ranma didn't need an invitation as he lunged with the intent of destroying the intruder to his territory. Soon enough, another hissing catfight began. As the two combatants started their attempts at maiming each other again, Hana and Hiroshi Yellow came around the corner to see what was happening. In a split second, Hiroshi Yellow spied Daisuke pressed against a wall of a nearby building.

"Daisuke!" Hiroshi yellow cried, catching the other boy's attention. The possessed boy came running over to his host's best friend with the same determination in his eyes as when they first met. "I am glad to see that you are alright! I must know however, were you the one who contracted this Imagin?"

"Yeah," Daisuke nodded quickly. "Ranma asked me the same thing. I had no idea that this thing was going to hurt those guys. I thought it would just make the other girls forget about them for a while."

"Imagin aren't very precise with how they grant a wish," Hana sighed as she stepped closer to the duo. "This one just thought taking out your rivals would be easier."

"I would never be that sloppy!" Hiroshi Yellow huffed. "My contract is a vow that will be upheld! I will not stop until my holder is entirely happy with the results!"

"NYYYOOOOOW!"

All conversation stopped as the Cat Imagin let out a yowl after Neko-Ranma dug his claws into its arm. The Imagin thrashed around wildly before throwing Neko-Ranma away again. The pigtailed martial artist only shook his head and got back, ready for more.

Both combatants looked like they had seen better days. The Cat Imagin's cape was even more torn up and his hat had taken some damage as well. Needless to say the rest of him looked just as bad. Ranma looked no better since he was beginning to look like the day his father had thrown him into the pit to learn the technique. He had several tears in his clothes and he had scratches all over his body.

"MEEEOOWW!" Neko-Ranma yowled before going for another lunge at the Cat Imagin.

Neko-Ranma went into another great leap which was aimed directly at the Cat Imagin's head. His 'claws' were outstretched and it seemed that the Cat Imagin wasn't about to get out of this next assault without some more injuries already added to the inventory that it already possessed.

However...

Before the Cat Imagin took the blow, it suddenly ducked underneath the blow and used a well-placed uppercut which collided directly with Neko-Ranma's chin. The sound of impact was loud as the force of the blow sent the pigtailed martial artist through the air yet again, but this time had him hitting a brick wall face first. The slam and resulting crunch made the three witnesses wince in sympathy. Ranma would definitely be feeling that one tomorrow.

Neko-Ranma didn't stir as his body landed flat on the ground. The Cat Imagin waited for a moment to ensure that Ranma wouldn't be getting up before purring in delight.

"All four down," it purred, turning to the witnesses. "Contract complete. They are out of your way, Daisuke."

"Not if I can help it!" Hiroshi Yellow growled.

Hiroshi's body flared yellow before Kintaros appeared in front of him, brandishing his axe. Hiroshi stumbled slightly before Daisuke and Hana helped him gain his balance. Kintaros continued to stare at his opponent, who just stared bag.

"Raaaaaahh!" he cried suddenly and charged at the Cat Imagin in his attempt to defeat it.

"Nyow!" the Cat Imagin meowed before it summoned its sword back in a brief flash of light. It then lunged for Kintaros with its own weapon raised.

Kintaros reared the mighty weapon back and went for a chop that would have sliced the Imagin in two. Unfortunately, the Cat Imagin leaped over the strike AND Kintaros, before running right towards Daisuke. The boy was frozen still with fear at watching the creature come at him. The Cat Imagin purred before waving its sword. The action caused Daisuke to split down the middle and reveal a green portal. The Cat Imagin then dove right through before Daisuke closed back up again.

"Oh, no," Kintaros gulped.

"What the heck just happened?!" Hiroshi cried, watching his best friend slump down to the ground.

"It went back to the past!" Hana cried before pulling out a ticket and holding it up to Daisuke's head. A small image of the Imagin appeared on it along with the date, 09-09-06. Hana nodded before turning back to look at Daisuke.

"Daisuke," she said seriously. "What happened on the Ninth of September, 2006?"

"I can tell you that," Hiroshi answered. "That's the day me and Daisuke met."

"Among other things," Daisuke sighed as he recalled the time.

-----------------------------------------------------Flashback--------------------------------------------------

Daisuke leaned on the wall outside the doors of Furinkan. His class had been let out early so he placed himself strategically so to get his best shot. He had worked up his courage for a week and now was his moment of truth. The final bell rang for everyone and the doors soon slammed open to the numerous students all wanting to get out of school and back home. Daisuke's eyes scanned the crowd until he found his target. Yuka, Akane, and Sayuri were walking towards the main gates and were splitting apart form the crowd.

"Okay, Daisuke," he muttered to himself. "Don't choke now."

Taking another sigh, Daisuke headed out to try and talk to the girl he wanted to go out on a date with. He cut through he crowds quickly in hopes of talking to Sayuri. He also hoped that Akane would let him speak two words to her friend because she went on the warpath since Kuno started up the Hentai Horde that morning. As he got closer, he was about to call out Sayuri's name when he was suddenly cut off by none other than Kuno.

"Hark peasant!" he frowned. "Does thou believe that he shall ask the fierce tigress Akane Tendo out?"

"Huh?" Daiskue blinked. "No! I'm going to ask...!"

"Enough" Kuno barked. "I see the truth! You plan to try and take AkaneTendo for yourself! I have already dictated the terms that no one may date her unless they defeat her in battle! If you cannot do that then you are not worthy of her!"

Daisuke wanted to say something but found himself cut off by two members of the rugby team when they tackled him from behind. Daisuke's world went blurry for a while, but when he regained consciousness, he found himself tied to a tree. He looked around and noticed a guy with shaggy hair tied up next to him.

"Tried to ask Akane out on a date?" Daisuke asked the boy.

"Na," the boy sighed. "I was trying to ask her friend Yuka, but that moron Kuno thought I was going to ask Akane and had some guys from the soccer club attack me."

"Me too," Daisuke sighed. "Only I was going for Sayuri and it was the rugby players who got me."

"I hate that guy," the boy growled.

"Join the club," Daisuke mumbled.

"I'm Hiroshi by the way."

"Call me Daisuke."

-------------------------------------------------End Flashback------------------------------------------------

Hana found herself stewing over Kuno's delusions yet again since the Samurai Imagin incident. She just couldn't understand how one boy could have so much influence, even if he was rich and the principal was his father. It just didn't make sense why anyone would listen to him.

"I never forgave Kuno for that," Daisuke grumbled. "I sure was happy when Ranma cleaned his clock."

"Same goes for me," Hiroshi agreed. He then turned thoughtful. "So what happened to that other Imagin?"

"Right now?" asked Hana. "He's probably going to appear sometime during that memory Daisuke just told us."

"Really?" Hiroshi blinked. "Do you think Kintaros can go there and stop him?"

"Only if your strongest memory is the same as Daisuke's or earlier," Hana replied. "Why?"

Hiroshi didn't answer. His face only turned to a determined one as he turned to Kintaros. The shaggy-haired boy walked right up to the yellow Imagin which had been possessing him for the better portion of the day and planted himself right in front of him.

"Kintaros," he spoke seriously. "Your contract is complete!"

"Eh?!" Kintaro gasped. "But-!"

"No buts, Kintaros!" Hiroshi interrupted. "You completed the contract when you used my body to fight that other monster. I was awake when you did so I know that I can do the same moves you did. Besides, fighting something that beat Ranma is good enough for me! So, get back to my strongest memory and keep that cat thing from killing someone!"

Kintaros was silent for a moment as he contemplated what Hiroshi had told him. The wish itself was to become a martial artist strong enough to match the Wrecking Crew, but Ryoga was part of it and all he did was throw around his brute strength with punches and kicks to break things. Kintaros had already shown Hiroshi how to do that just by fighting Kuno and the Cat Imagin. That certainly was enough to fulfill the wish and both he and Hiroshi wanted to stop that other Imagin, so...

"I understand," Kintaros nodded, popping his neck. "Contract complete."

With a nod of his head, Hiroshi split open before Kintaros squeezed his way through the portal before it closed again. Hana was there in a flash with another card which soon revealed a picture of Kintaros with a date that matched the one with the Cat Imagin on it.

Hiroshi, seeing Hana's shock just grinned, "Hey, if a poetry spouting lunatic stopped you from asking for a date from someone you liked, you'd remember it too."

Hana wanted to reply, but a growling noise from Ranma caught her attention. She looked over to Ranma's body and found that he was already on his feet again, shaking his head. However, his hair was slicked back with a familiar red streak in it. His eyes had also turned red. This wasn't Ranma anymore. This was Ranma Red!

"Ore Sanjou!" Ranma Red growled. "Where is that bastard!? I'm gonna tear him a new one!"

"He's already flown to the past, Momotaros," Hana frowned. "You're a little too late!"

"Kuso!" Ranma Red raged before he grabbed Hana's hand and started dragging her to the nearest door. "Let's go already! I've got a cat to skin!"

"Hey! Ow! Watch it!" Hana cried, trying to keep her footing.

----------------------------------------------September 9th, 2006-------------------------------------------

Hiroshi and Daisuke were still tied up to the tree that Kuno and the more dedicated members of the Hentai Horde left them on. They were currently making small talk while they waited for a janitor, teacher, or a student who stayed behind to find them so they could get out and go home. After a couple of minutes, the boys began to feel something odd happening to them.

"Hey, Daisuke," Hiroshi spoke up. "There's sand coming out of your clothes."

"Really?" Daisuke asked, looking at himself. He then noticed the same odd occurrence that was happening to his new friend. "You're treading sand too. Where'd that come from?"

The sand continued to fall from both boys and piled at their feet. The sand that had piled up under Daisuke was the first to move. It moved forwards with a mind of its own a couple of meters before piling up on its own. It continued to rise until is shaped itself into a humanoid cat form. It was dressed in fancy clothes which became colored as it became flesh and blood.

"Nyow," the Cat Imagin purred. "Now to really have some fun!"

Hiroshi and Daisuke both were stunned silly at seeing what had happened. Nerima was filled with all sorts of weird stuff, but seeing a cat man rise out of a pile of sand was a new concept for the two Nerima natives.

Since they were too stunned to pay attention to anything else that was going on around them, they didn't notice when the second pile of sand was moving directly towards the solid Imagin. Sand was still piling together before it suddenly erupted into another Imagin. This one was black and yellow with a visor over its face and a horn coming out of the forehead. It was also wearing a jacket which had fur lining on it. It was also holding a large axe. It only gave the two boys more incentive to wet themselves if they managed to get their bodily functions rewired to their brains.

"Stop!" Kintaros bellowed at the Cat Imagin.

"Nyow!" the Cat Imagin hissed as it drew its sword and faced the Yellow Imagin. "Now I'm getting REALLY annoyed!"

"Your annoyance means nothing!" Kintaros huffed before cracking his neck. "In this battle, my strength will only make you cry, feline!"

"I'm not crying!" the Cat Imagin hissed before it leapt at Kintaros with a feral look in its eyes.

Hiroshi and Daisuke were the unwilling witnesses to this new battle. Of course they were scared out of their minds at what they were seeing in front of them. On the other hand, they were witnessing something out of a fantasy show where costumed heroes would fight monsters on a regular basis. They were paying rapt attention to what was happening right before their eyes. This was something that they were not going to forget anytime soon.

Over at the school building itself, a man in a brown coat and a brown hat was leaning on the side of the building. He was holding a silver pocket watch in his hand and was intently viewing the battle between Kintaros and the Cat Imagin.

As Hiroshi and Daisuke paid rapt attention to something besides girls, they noticed a motor sound echoing through the air. They turned their heads to see what it was, but the tree was obstructing a good portion of their view. The sound continued to grow until it sounded like it was surrounding them. They tried to see what was coming, but hat they got was the red armored visage of Den-O SF riding onto the scene on the DenBird.

"Den-O!" both Imagin cried for different reasons. As he drove closer, Kintaros and the Cat Imagin leaped away from each other as he roared between them before pulling a U-turn and coming to a stop.

"Okay, you bastard!" Den-O SF growled as he got off DenBird. He walked towards the two Imagin while drawing the pieces of DenGasher and putting them together into its sword configuration. "You may have gotten the first blood, but from here on in it's all a climax!"

"Nyow!" The Cat Imagin hissed angrily. "I destroy you both!"

"Just try it!" Den-O SF shot back before joining the battle.

Kintaros and Den-O SF launched themselves at the Cat Imagin with as much force as they could. Both of them were powerful fighters in their own right but the Cat Imagin was proving to be a little troublesome for them. Kintaros was incredibly strong and he knew how to use that strength, but the Cat Imagin was simply too fast. It was able to slip past his wide-range strikes and get in close to deal a slash or two to him. Den-O SF was having a slightly different problem. He was using Ranma's body to fight in so speed wasn't an issue, but he didn't have anywhere near Ranma's precision skill at his disposal. He was a brawler fighter who was handy with a sword. Unfortunately, the Cat Imagin was a nimble one and was able to retaliate against him as well.

A wide slash from the Cat Imagin managed to hit both Kintaros and Den-O SF and force them to stumble backwards.

"Dammit!" Den-O SF growled as he took a moment to catch his breath. "Can't this just guy hold still?!"

"Hnn," Kintaros hummed before cracking his neck. "We should work together if we wish to defeat this Imagin."

"Oh, no!" Den-O SF cried loudly. "I've been itching for a fight and I'm not going to let anyone take this away from me!"

"But..." Kintaros tried to speak up.

"NO!" Den-O SF shouted. "I'll take care of this stupid cat! You get Hiroshi and Daisuke outta here!"

"...sure," Kintaros nodded before he turned to the tree where Hiroshi and Daiuske were still tied up.

He dashed over to the detained pair and raised his axe over his head. At first both boys thought that he was going to finish them off, but his axe dug deep into the bark of the tree and cut the ropes that were holding the two boys in place.

"Run!" Kintaros ordered sternly as the two boys continued to gawk at him.

"WHAT IS GOING ON?!" a new female voice shrieked loudly.

The three combatants, as well as the two witnesses turned to the source of the noise to see Akane, and her friends Yuka and Sayuri staring incredulously at the battle which was occurring. The Cat Imagin immediately saw their arrival as something amusing for him to do rather than hard like fighting Kintaros and Den-O.

"Nyow, my first victims!" the Cat Imagin purred before lighting began to arch up its sword. It then pointed it at the three girls. "HA!"

The jagged lightning ripped through the air at the three girls. Den-O wasn't quick enough to stop it in time and it seemed that the three girls were going to see the bright light as the last things they would ever see in their lifetimes.

"Yuka!" cried Hiroshi.

"Sayuri!" Yelped Daisuke.

"NOOOO!" Kintaros bellowed as he raced to get to the girls first.

The lightning was aimed to hit all three girls at once, and with their incredulous stares and shock holding them down, it seemed that it was going to fry them. Before the bolt could actually hit them, a large mass of black and yellow got in the way. Kintaros cried out in pain as the voltage raced through his body. His body quivered and shook before the light died down and he collapsed on the ground.

"Bear-boy!" Den-O SF cried.

The girls were still stricken at hat they had just witnessed. Hiroshi ad Daisuke however, had gotten used to the sudden skyrocketing weirdness and managed to do something other than gape at what was happening. Acting surprisingly fast for guys like themselves, they were on their feet and racing over to the three girls.

"Are you okay?" Daisuke asked concernedly, his eyes locked on Sayuri.

"Yeah, but what about that poor thing with the jacket?" asked Yuka.

Their eyes wandered over to Kintaros who was still stirring, but having a difficult time moving. His head turned slightly so that he could see all five teens clearly.

"I will be fine," he coughed. Being zapped with electricity hurt much worse than he imagined. "Go. Run now!"

The five students didn't need anymore conviction than that. They immediately turned tail and raced as far away from Furinkan as they could. Kintaros watched them leave with satisfaction knowing that they would be safe from the Cat Imagin.

Speaking of which, it was feeling rather disappointed that its attack had failed "Nyow. Oh well. At least I got that little traitor!"

"Shut up!" Den-O SF raged before taking another swing at the Cat Imagin. His opponent merely sidestepped the attack before dodging more wild blows from the enraged Kamen Rider.

'Huh?' Ranma's voice suddenly echoed in Den-O SF's mind. 'What's going on?'

"Oh, no!" Den-O SF groaned. "Ranma! Don't look!"

"NYOOOW!" the Cat Imagin cried as it began a charge for the crimson hero.

'CAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAATTTTTTTTTTT!'

The fear of the Neko-Ken came back full force into Den-O SF's head. His body began to thrash wildly. Momotaros attempted to try and regain control, but just like last time, he was fighting a losing battle. The Cat Imagin saw this as a perfect opening and slashed a wide arc across Den-O SF's chest. Sparks flew wildly from the strike and sent to crimson hero flying from the force. he hit the ground like a ton of bricks and still kept going. During his tumble, the Terminal Belt unlocked and fell off his body. The transformation was quickly undone and soon Ranma was left groaning on the ground.

"Nyow," the Cat Imagin chuckled. "Now that that is over with, I can go have some fun!"

The Cat Imagin gave off a loud purr before it leaped to the wall surrounding Furinkan High and then off into the streets. It had no set destination in mind, but it did have a goal. Chaos, and lots of it!

"Ugh," Ranma groaned as he slowly got up. "That thing sure knows how to use a sword."

'I would have kicked his ass if you didn't wake up!' Momotaros raged.

'You were losing badly, Sempai,' Urataros calmly pointed out. One could tell the agitation in his voice though. 'I think we will need a new plan of attack. Perhaps it's is time I took the rod and reel and cast out my own line?"

Ranma grabbed his head to get the swelling headache out of it. He hadn't been confronted by cats so many times in one day since Gosunkugi found out his fear about them. He turned to see where he was and found himself in front of Furinkan again. His eyes wandered over to see the scorched Kintaros laying in front of the gates. Ranma may not have been an expert at treating wounds, but he sure was an expert at figuring out what caused them.

"Kintaros!" he cried, his headache forgotten. He quickly got to his feet and ran over to his third Imagin friend. "Kintaros! Are you okay? Speak to me!"

Kintaros groaned softly as he turned his face to Ranma. The pigtailed martial artist suddenly realized that half of Kintaro's face had turned back to sand and it was quickly spreading. The parts that were already sand were loosing shape and looked like they could fall apart at any given time.

"Kintaros?" Ranma asked fearfully. He hadn't felt a dread like this since Jusendo where he thought Akane had died from Saffron's attacks. "What's happening to you?"

"We have changed the timeline," Kintaros replied weakly. His arms had turned to sand by now. "Things have changed so that Hiroshi did not make the contract with me. I can only hope that he has his wish truly granted now."

"Kintaros...but what's happening to you?" Ranma asked, still wanting to know. He watched as his friend's torso changed to sand.

"Hiroshi no longer remembers me," Kintaros explained. "We Imagin depend on a person's memory to give us a form. If Hiroshi no longer remembers me, then I am vanishing."

"No!" Ranma cried loudly. "I won't let this happen! There has o be something...wait!"

"Nn?" Kintaros grunted. His entire body was made of sand now and was threatening to fall apart.

"All you need to do is make a contract with someone else to stay alive, right?" Ranma asked hurriedly. Kintaros only gave a weak nod in reply. "Then you can make one with me!"

------------------------------------------------------DenLiner--------------------------------------------------

Urataros suddenly spewed out his coffee while Momotaros did a face plant when he tripped out of sheer shock. Both Imagin were surprised by the sudden offer to another Imagin to share Ranma's body. In their opinion, just the two of them were enough and they didn't want anyone else hoarding time in Ranma's body when they got so little of it to begin with.

"Now, Ranma," Urataros tried to reason with his host. "Let's think things through for a moment!"

"No way!" Momotaros raged. "I am not sharing with that bear-boy!"

'Tough!' Ranma snapped back. 'My body, my rules! Live with it!'

"Gyaaaahh!" Momotaros raged angrily, knowing that he really couldn't do anything about it. Urataros merely sighed in defeat. Over at her counter, Naomi had gotten the gist of the conversation and smiled brightly while she went to prepare a newly invented Kintaros special to give their newest passenger when he arrived.

--------------------------------------------------September 9th, 2006----------------------------------------

What do you say, Kintaros?" Ranma asked with his usual confident grin. "Want to give the power of Den-O a spin?"

Kintaros looked up at Ranma with some kind of sparkle in his eyes. He then nodded firmly. He then cracked his sandy neck before vanishing into an orb of yellow energy. He hovered in the air for a few moments before soaring right into Ranma's body. Ranma shivered for a few moments before he looked up in the direction that the Cat Imagin went in. His eyes were revealed to be a bright yellow and a yellow streak of hair stood out proudly among his black locks. He reached up to his pigtail and quickly untied it. He then redid it into a simple ponytail. A confident smirk appeared on his face before he cracked his neck and dashed off in the direction the Cat Imagin ran off to.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Tha Cat Imagin was having a blast. It had torn up so many tings that it had lost count. No doubt things in the present were getting rather chaotic. Then again, Nerima was a pretty weird place and a lot of the people may not have noticed or were already working to repair it. That just wouldn't do at all.

"I'll just have to start ending lives then!" the Cat Imagin laughed loudly.

"Stop!" a gruff voice yelled loudly. The Cat Imagin swiftly turned to face it.

"Oh," it sighed. "You again."

The Cat Imagin was staring down a rather angry looking Ranma Yellow. The possessed martial artist said nothing as he reached out his hand and summoned the Terminal Belt into it in a flash of light. He quickly wrapped it around his waist before pressing the yellow button. The centre of the buckle turned yellow while a strange new tune echoed from it, resembling a flute. Ranma Yellow reached into his pocket and fished out his Hyper Pass before holding it out for the Imagin to see.

"Henshin!" he called loudly before swiping the pass.

"Axe Form!" the belt called before it engulfed Ranma Yellow's body. The armor hovered around Den-O's body before swirling to a new configuration. The red plates attached to his back while the yellow and black ones connected wit his chest. The shoulder plates also stuck closer to his back while round ones with red centers appeared form under them and attached to Ranma's shoulders. To complete the transformation, a white axe with a yellow blade slid down Den-O's face before the blades attached to his face into a triangular visor with a black slits in them. The white handle attached itself down the centre of his face to look like a large horn.

"My strength will make you cry!" Den-O AF called as he raised his hand into the air. Surprisingly, white napkins started to flutter to the ground. "Wipe your tears with these!"

"I'm not crying!" the Cat Imagin growled before raising its sword and charging for Den-O AF.

'Hey!' Ranma cried from within in realization. 'I'm not freaking out!'

'Of course not,' Den-O AF replied. 'My strength is too much for any Neko-Ken to defeat!'

Den-O AF returned his attention to the battle and remained calm. He just popped his neck before reaching to his pieces of the DenGasher. He attached three pieces together before placing the fourth piece on the side of the top. A large axe blade extended from the configuration to make a battle axe.

"Nyow!" the Cat Imagin cried before slashing at Den-O AF with all its might. Sparks flew from the impact, but Den-O AF didn't budge from the impact. It didn't even appear to hurt him. Wordlessly, Den-O AF started marching forward with his grip as strong as ever on his axe.

"Nyow! Nyow! Nyow! Nyow!" the Cat Imagin continued to cry as it tried to slash at this new version of Den-O. It was proving futile as Den-O AF was too strong and his armor too thick for any real kind of penetration.

"Hah!" Den-O AF bellowed as he slashed upwards with his axe. The Cat Imagin howled with pain as he was sent tumbling from the blow. The single blow had proven devastating on the Cat Imagin as it had a lot of speed, but wasn't used to actually getting hit. This led to it writhing on the ground from the sheer strength put behind the blow.

"Humph!" Den-O AF grunted before he pulled out his Hyper Pass and swiped it over his belt.

"Full Charge!" the belt called before yellow streams of energy raced from it into the axe.

Den-O AF spread his legs apart slightly before throwing his weapon up into the air, sending it end over end straight up. The Cat Imagin was still trying to get up so it couldn't do much at the moment. Den-O AF bent his knees slightly before pouring his muscle into them and jumping an incredible height into the air. Well, about normal for the Nerima Wrecking Crew, but amazing for everyone else. Den-O AF met the apex of his jump just as the axe was beginning to fall. His hand clasped the handle and the blade of the axe erupted into yellow energy before Den-O AF began coming back down. The Cat Imagin managed to get back up before it saw its opponent coming back down. It didn't even get time to scream before Den-O AF brought his weapon down on his opponent and sliced it right down the middle. A yellow line was visible in the Imagin before it exploded in a fireball which sounds echoed through the air.

"Dynamic Chop," Den-O AF grunted from his position.

'So you say the name of the attack after you use it? I always shout it out while I'm doing it,' Ranma remarked.

Den-O AF grunted before turning to leave but then froze. He turned to the spot the Cat Imagin had stood before its destruction to notice particles of sand beginning to recollect, forming into the visage of something…BIGGER.

'Oh, crap!' Ranma cried. 'Not again!'

Like the previous Imagin Ranma had defeated, the Cat Imagin had now reformed into a giant Gigandeath. It had a large muscular body and stood on all fours with blood red claws. Its hide was black and thick. Its head resembled a panther's but with a blood red horn on top and tusks jutting out from its mouth which held a jaw of gleaming blood red teeth. The Gigandeath roared and charged straight at Den-O AF who was able to roll out of the way before being flattened by the giant monster. The creature began going on a rampage. This was not good.

"What should we do?" Den-O AF asked.

'We need the DenLiner,' Ranma told him.

"DenLiner?" Den-O AF questioned. Suddenly, out of the air, the same tune that played prior to the axe-form's transformation began to echo. This was followed by the sound made by the DenLiner and the tune played by the belt before Den-O assumed rod form. A warp tunnel appeared and a yellow train came out of it, the tracks generating before it. This train was known as the DenLiner Rekkou, Den-O AF's personal train. This was followed by the blue train of Rod Form's, DenLiner Isurugi, that was on a separate track and finally the DenLiner Gouka, the familiar red fronted train followed by three additional cars on a separate track.

'Now, get in!' Ranma instructed.

"OK," Den-O AF responded before jumping up. A hatch opened up on the top of Rekkou so that Den-O AF could land in the cockpit, sitting firmly on the DenBird. He pressed the buttons on the bike.

The three separate tracks soon converged into one, with Rekkou in the lead, followed by Isurugi and finally Gouka. The three DenLiners soon linked up to form a new train that was prepared to battle the Gigandeath that was, as of now, rampaging through town.

Inside Gouka, Momotaros didn't want to be left out so he took a seat on a spare DenBird, gripping the handles. He eagerly shouted, "Ikuzo! Ikuzo! Ikuzo!"

Urataros had also taken his place in Isurugi, sitting on the DenBird within it. He sighed. "Well, a fisherman must sometimes go into the water to catch his fish." He didn't want to be considered a coward so he too gripped the handles.

'Ready, guys?' Ranma spoke into their heads. They all nodded.

Den-O AF, Urataros and Momotaros all activated the weapons of the three trains. The Gouka revealed its artillery, the cannons, laser blasters, bomb launchers and missile ready. The Isurugi's back transformed into the robotic turtle, Radome, mounted on its back. The fins glowed. The Rekkou's weaponry also revealed itself, 6 axes on red handles, 3 on each flank, swung out of the body of the train. Den-O AF, who was in the lead, made the train turn to intercept the Gigandeath. It roared and charged at the train but then Den-O AF used the train to trip the Gigandeath up. The Gigandeath once again roared and then charged at the train.

"Time to show you the climax!" Momotaros shouted, pressing the buttons on the bike he was on. Outside, Gouka fired its ammunition on the Gigandeath. It roared in pain as lasers, bombs and missiles bombarded its body. The bird-shaped missile also flew around, slashing at its face.

"My turn then, Sempai," Urataros said, pressing a button. He launched Radome into the air and the robot turtle fired its lasers at the beast. The blade-like laser beams easily sliced off the Gigandeath's horns and tusks. Urataros congratulated himself. "Like a fisherman, always gets his fish."

The Gigandeath, disoriented but also enraged by its pain, charged again. Rekkou, in front, charged back and both of them crashed into one another. The beast and time train began pushing at one another, struggling. The time train proved stronger as the beast was forced onto its hind legs as the Rekkou seemed to stand up upon tracks suspended under it.

"Now to make you cry!!!" Den-O AF shouted as he turned the handles of the DenBird from side to side. The train copied his movements, chopping at the Gigandeath with its axes and then grabbing it before throwing it aside. The Gigandeath rose up to charge but this time the Rekkou was ready. It raced towards the Gigandeath and the axe-blade in front of it flipped up and glowed, extending in length as energy surged from it. The train then raced right under the beast and the blade sliced it cleanly, straight down the middle in half. The two halves then exploded.

Momotaros cheered, "Now that's how it's done!"

Urataros sighed, "Well, that was invigorating."

Ranma, inside Den-O AF, said, 'Welcome to the team, Kintaros.'

Den-O AF nodded, grunting. "It will be my honor to serve you, Ranma-sama."

'Let's just go home. This has been too much excitement for me for one day,' Ranma told him and the time train vanished into a warp tunnel, the tracks vanishing behind it.

As the train vanished from the timeline, numerous people who had been witnesses to the battle began to come back and see what damages had been done. This wasn't unusual to the folks of Nerima, but this had been the first time such a grand scale of damage had been done before. A number of people who were lucky enough to have witnessed the battle with cameras had taken pictures. Unfortunately, a number of those people were employed by Nabiki, but Nabiki herself was taking pictures at the time as well.

The middle Tendo daughter was conversing with her lackeys in how to treat the information that they had come across. None of them had gotten it on tape so selling it to news stations was out. They did have a number of photographs, so newspapers were an option. Nabiki's core thoughts were relaying on the yellow armored figure and his trains. Nabiki recalled seeing someone like him save for the fact that he was in blue armor. The trains were also very familiar. The yellow one was new though. The mercenary daughter figured that she would have to keep a sharp eye out for these figures or people like them.

-------------------------------------------------------Present----------------------------------------------------

"Tadaima!" Ranma Yellow called as he stepped inside the Tendo home after getting dropped off by DenLiner.

"Hello, Ranma-kun," Kasumi smiled as she stepped out to greet her 'little brother'. However, she immediately stopped short when she noticed Ranma's hair in a ponytail and a yellow streak in his hair. Kasumi could instantly tell that someone new had taken control of Ranma's body. It was also obvious who was doing the possessing as well.

"Hello again, Kintaros-san," Kasumi bowed respectfully. "I wasn't expecting you to be in Ranma's body."

"Well," Ranma Yellow smiled while crossing his arms. "I completed my contract and Ranma and I joined forces to defeat the Imagin."

"Wonderful!" Kasumi smiled brightly. That meant Ranma had another new friend. Kasumi admitted to herself that the other people Ranma called 'friends' really didn't treat him in a friendly sense. His Imagin friends on the other hand were very nice and seemed to be becoming good friends for him. "Does that mean you will be staying?"

"If it is not too much trouble," Ranma Yellow smiled sheepishly.

"That's good," Kasumi smiled. "Well, dinner is almost ready. Why don't you take a seat and we'll eat."

"Thank you," Ranma Yellow smiled. He then headed to the living room where dinner was usually eaten. He reached the sliding door and opened it wide.

KRACK!

Too wide actually. His massive strength caused Ranma Yellow to accidentally tear the door right off its hinges. The possessed boy immediately began to panic as he tried to slide it back into place before anyone noticed. Unfortunately, Kasumi had heard the noise and had come to see what it was. She was almost surprised to see that it was Ranma Yellow tearing a door out of the wall.

"I'm sorry!" Ranma Yellow cried, trying to fix his mistake. "I can fix it! I really can!"

Kasumi just had a tiny fit of giggles. Ranma's new friends were just so funny! Of course, her laughter was short-lived when Akane came downstairs to get something to eat. She stopped quite suddenly when she saw the damage Ranma Yellow had inflicted on the door. Her temper immediately started boiling when she saw it.

"Rrrrraaannnnnmmaaaaaa," she growled. "It isn't enough that you let those other girls destroy our home, but you have to tear it apart as well?!"

"I can fix it!" Ranma Yellow stated loudly.

"RANMA NO BAKA!" Akane shrieked, not even bothering to listen to Ranma Yellow's words before she brought out her mallet and aimed to give Ranma some 'righteous womanly fury'. Well, in her mind it was justified anyway. Her mallet flew straight and true at her target, however, that was when things went differently.

The mallet hit Ranma Yellow directly on the head, but on impact, it shattered like glass. Wood splinters flew in all directions before piling up on the floor. Akane was left staring stupidly at the handle of her mallet which had formerly been known to survive impacts against Ranma's tough skull, but Ranma Yellow's was much harder.

Kasumi sighed and went to get the broom to clean up the wood splinters as Ranma Yellow continued to try fixing the door, leaving a shell-shocked Akane still staring dumbly at her mallet handle, unable to comprehend what the hell just happened.

All Ranma Yellow did was crack his neck to get the stiffness out.

To Be Continued...

There we go. Chapter 6 is up and Kintaros is here to stay. Of course, everyone already knows who is coming up next right? That's right! The hip-hopping hypnotizing child Imagin we all know and love! See you then!