(Re-Posted January 11th 2007)
Disclaimer; This fanfiction uses existing ideas, characters and or worlds, but is an independent work of art. I own nothing, hence the reason for publishing my writings here instead of in real books where I could make some money.
The Diggers household was indeed a lively place. Dinner is not an exception.

In the kitchen, Beebee was helping Stryyp preparing said meal, when the phone rang.

"Diggers residence, how may I help you?" answered Beebee cheerfully.

" May I speak with Ranma? It's urgent! " said a female voice on the other end.

"Whom may I say is calling?" asked Beebee suspiciously.

" No time! Get him! "

Huffing at the nerve of the caller, Beebee was tempted to hang up, but it seemed important.

Excusing herself from the kitchen Beebee went to the nearest intercom, and called for Ranma to come to the phone quickly.

In the workout room, Ranma extracted himself from the hydraulic weights, and sighed. This was one of the few times Britanny wasn't on the thing, and he had just managed to shake off Brianna, Lydia, Beebee and Gina so he would be able to train a bit. Brianna wanted his opinion of Beebee's upgrades, and tried to drag him off to her room so he could give his statement there. She looked very tired, leading Ranma to believe that she had been up all night getting Beebee together. Lydia had claimed she could help him train, and also tried to pull him to her room. Beebee was very enthused about her new body, and kept showing it to him like an excited child that had just gotten a present they had wanted for a long time, luckily, she had yet to remove any clothes to give him the demonstrations of what she was now able to do. Gina had wanted him to do another experiment … this time in her bedroom. What was wrong with these people? What was so important about getting him into their bedrooms?

Sighing, Ranma picked up the receiver of the phone connected to this intercom, and wondered who it could be on the other end.

"Hello?"

" Ranma! It's Nabiki-chan! I'm at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport now, my time is almost up, I'll wait for you to pick me up at the entrance! Bye! "

-Click!-

"I'm a dead man …" moaned Ranma.

Whenever Nabiki used that sugary tone and used the suffix "-chan" at the end of anyone's name, she was either infuriated beyond description, or she was after your money, the first of which happened to end up with the results of the second.

"Better not keep her waiting …" he sighed. The longer she had to wait, the more painful it would be for his wallet when he caught up with her. Like a "money bandage", to use an apt image, the faster it's torn off, the shorter the sting will last.

He caught a glimpse of himself in a mirror as he was about to enter the main floor, and realised that he couldn't go get Nabiki looking like this … he'd have to change, at least until he had briefed her on his changes …

With another sigh, this time in resignation at changing out of the form he had gotten so used to, Ranma shifted to his human form. He was at the front door when he thought to check if the hole for his tail made his behind visible, luckily, the mage suit sealed the hole as soon as he shifted forms so no cracks could be made about his attire.

He had his hand on the knob when Beebee peeked around the corner and saw him.

"Where are you going?" she asked curiously. "Dinner's almost ready."

"Nabiki's at the airport," said Ranma tiredly. "I have to go get her before she gets impatient."

"Can I come? Please! I haven't ridden in a car before! I'll be quiet, I promise!"

Beebee hadn't had a human body for more than a few hours, and still she had gotten the puppy-dog eyes down pat. The eyes were just wide enough, a slight glisten of moisture along the lower eyelid, and the pouting lower lip just moist enough and extended far enough without being too exaggerated.

This action also served to made him realise that she even less like his female side … her features were paler, more western … perhaps what Mrs Diggers might have looked like in her youth, with a few Asian features mixed in … the eyes were slightly narrower than a westerner's, and the facial structure was soft, making it appear that she had a very small amount of baby fat under her skin. Her breasts weren't as abundant as her creator or her kin, but were noticeable, but the rest of her forms were very well put together, and would challenge any guy out there not to notice them.

It was unfair to have this technique used on him, Ranma thought. He had little to no resistance against it, despite how often it had been used on him. Only certain individuals would not pull it off right for him. Madrid tried it on him, but her hidden agenda glared at him, and made him use the Soul of Ice instinctively to beat down the effects of the pheromones she let out. Beebee had no such attraction mechanism built in, but even so, or maybe because of it, Ranma's defences were crumbling.

"Fine," he finally replied. "But don't do anything to her unless she warrants it, understood?"

"Understood," chirped Beebee, making a brief salute then proceeded to jump in place with excitement.

"You're going out?" asked a voice from down the hall, the two turned to see Gina come at them in a hesitant pace, Lydia must have heard, and came out into the hall was well.

"Shotgun!" called Beebee before the two other women could say anything else.

"Jinkies, I wanted that seat …" grumbled Gina, folding her arms under her bust and pouted cutely.

"But I called it," chirped Beebee, getting more cheerful at having claimed her spot.

"Where are you off to," yawned Brianna, emerging from her room.

"Airport, to pick up Nabiki," grunted Ranma. "And I don't think you'd make much of a good first impression, being as tired as you are," he added, discouraging the woman from asking to come. "Get some rest, Brianna. You did a good job on Beebee, you deserve to sleep, even this early in the evening."

The time was barely seven, not really an appropriate time to go to sleep for most people, but Brianna had after all been up for at least forty-eight hours, if not more, constructing Beebee's new body and separating her A.I. chips and memory drive from the explosive devices of the standard Peebo, and inserting them into the human-like body. It amazed Ranma how she could pull that off when she had not even close to the speeds he could get up to while working, and only within a couple of days.

"Nah," yawned Brianna. "Need dinner first … and it seems Stryyp could use a hand preparing it … maybe I'll just do that, running around the state is slightly more than I'm willing to handle at the moment … unless I drink a few shots of espresso …"

"Okay, then … bye!" called Ranma hastily and nearly ran out the door. He didn't want to see how Brianna would be if she was on a caffeine-high … just the thought made him cringe. She was really hyperactive on any normal day … adding to it seemed … wrong.

The three other women followed, fearing the possible hyper Brianna and the damage she could cause.

Once in the driveway, Lydia looked around.

"So, Ranma," Lydia started. "Where do you park your f#- er - car?" she corrected her language as Beebee directed a glare at her, reminding her that Ranma didn't like that kind of talk. Maybe someone should have informed her that Beebee wouldn't blow up anymore if agitated …

"Oh," replied Ranma slowly, not really wanting to reveal his secret. "It's – oh, Kami, what's that?" he interrupted in a panicked voice, pointing down the street.

The women looked down as well, looking for the source of distress, wondering how terrible something must be to have Ranma so scared.

While the women were not looking, Ranma pulled his car from stuff space, and leaned against it casually by the time they turned back.

"What are you tal-" started Gina, but cut herself off when she saw the car was where there had been none before. "Where did your car come from?"

"I guess it must have been my imagination …" laughed Ranma nervously. "And I made the car myself, thank you for asking."

"No, I meant … never mind … forget it …"

"Good," replied Ranma. "Beebee, you know how to pull the seat forward to admit Lydia and Gina, right?"

"Of course, I was with you during most of your modifications," answered Beebee. "You moved the seat once or twice while I watched."

To demonstrate, Beebee opened the door, stuck her hand under the passenger seat and lifted on a bar that was placed there, sliding the seat forward, while the other hand lifted on a tab at the door-side of the seat, making the seat lean forward.

"See? Piece of cake!"

"Very good," complimented Ranma and opened his own door. "Let's get going! Nabiki will try to kill me if we make her wait longer than she wants!"

After a moment, Ranma stuck his head further into the car and looked sternly at the women.

"And no disturbing the driver," he added. "That means no groping, fondling, tickling, or jokes that make me lose my concentration, and we all stay in human form, got it?"

Beebee nodded enthusiastically, really only happy about going for a drive and getting a different perspective of the world, literally. Gina and Lydia gulped and nodded guiltily, showing that they had thought of doing something like it, but agreed not to do it anyway. Lydia also shifted to human form both because of the warning and because they were going to a public place, and revealing the existence of wererats to the public would result not only in her being thrown out of the clan, but hunted down like a rabid dog. The last of which might happen anyway once Gothwrain learned of her actions … but, damn it, as much as she feared the old wererat, she feared losing Ranma more … it was too bad she had competition …

For a brief moment the two, not knowing that they were mimicking each other, Lydia and Gina glared at Beebee for getting the best seat.

"Hang on," warned Ranma, and connected the cogs to the springs and flooring the acceleration pedal, causing the car to screech its tires for a moment before it got traction and sped up down the street.


Nabiki Tendo, known mercenary in Nerima, prized employee at her job, the Ice Queen of Furinkan High School, was shivering and muttering curses.

While she waited outside the airport for Ranma to get her, a brief but violent shower of rain had passed by, soaking her to the skin. This was the reason she was shivering … the fat pig that had sat next to her on the airplane and was standing not far from her under an umbrella that looked more like a parasol and kept giving her perverted leers was the reason she was cursing.

Had she known she might end up in this kind of situation, she would have worn thicker clothing and brought an umbrella of her own … maybe some mace or a tazer as well …

Nabiki was tempted to go back inside and mug someone for their umbrella, but she did not want to wait longer than she had to, and risking Ranma not waiting for her if he came while she was inside was not worth it.

Looking around, she tried to distinguish a leaping red spot along the horizon in the fading light. How else was he supposed to come get her? In a car? The thought nearly caused her to laugh despite her mood.

"Hey, Nabiki!"

"Huh?" Nabiki looked down to the street before her instead of the horizon, and was surprised to find a big, black car of a very odd design that looked very expensive. The silver outline of a black cat's paw on the hood looked very well done, and the wheels looked like custom jobs, not unlike the car. The most surprising thing was that the doors were open, and Ranma, sans pigtail, was leaning out the driver's side, looking at her expectantly.

A woman that Nabiki first mistook for Ranma's girl side stepped out of the passenger seat and opened the path into the back seat for her. Of course, on closer investigation, there were some differences between Ranko and this woman … the paler skin, the lesser defined muscles, the lack of a pigtail made the woman's hair run freely down her shoulders, and most notable was the style of clothing … even Ranko wouldn't wear that if she got a year's supply of free ice cream for it. It was too tight and revealing.

"Get in, or we'll leave you here!" threatened Ranma finally, breaking Nabiki's stupor.

Not wanting to see how much Ranma had changed in making good on his threats, Nabiki nearly dove into the car, causing the two women in the back seat to groan in disgust at being wetted by Nabiki's clothes. Not that it was her that was the cause for disgust, nor her choice in clothing, just the wetness that was a result of the shower.

"Okay," she started as the redhead returned the seat to its rightful position and got back in. "Now that I'm here, I want to know everything, Ranma, or I'm calling in my debt at fifty percent interests per day since you first sat foot in my home."

"Where would you like me to start," replied Ranma calmly, though the car was getting slightly cooler.

The car started much the same as it usually did, abruptly, and the five of them were quickly making their way from the airport.

Nabiki was slightly startled by the sudden start, and seemingly careless driving, but soon composed herself.

"Firstly, where did you run off to?" she demanded. His departure had caused her well of funds to dry up, and that always made her cranky. Hey, when did Ranma's ears come to a point?

"I didn't run anywhere," chuckled Ranma. It was almost good to see things hadn't changed that much with the people he knew. "Kuno's scroll sent me to some sort of prison tower for these supernatural, evil beings."

Gina perked up at this.

"The Dragon Pharaoh's Tower?" she asked. "You went there?"

"I thought I told you already … didn't I?" asked Ranma absently as he cut off a big rig.

"No, you said something about some mean people and a stupid ball that got you sent to Jade, but you didn't say anything other than that before skipping to Jade."

"Oops," winced Ranma. "Sorry, but there wasn't much to tell … after I beat them up for laughing at me, the stupid ball sent me to Jade … Brianna is very feared in that tower, just to let you know …

"Anyway, I wandered the grass-covered desert for about a day before finding some signs of life, a caravan under attack by bandits. I did my thing and saved most of the merchants and passengers and had to run away, because the women just wouldn't leave me alone!" this last part was emphasised by him swerving out of the way of an old person who had decided that the world could wait, and speeding was not necessary to get where one was going.

"A day later, I found the bandits' lair, and decided to spend the night. Some short guy with a beard started attacking me in the morning, and was cheating with some rings, like Akane and Shampoo when they got their hands on the Super Soba, but I beat him anyway and discovered that there was a hidden floor beneath the one I was on. There had to have been over a hundred caged and bound women down there with barely a stitch of clothing on and so thin from lack of proper nourishment, that they looked like skeletons with some skin stretched over them.

"I rescued them, and nursed them to such a state that they could move on their own, and escorted them to the nearest town, which was Seer's Hamlet. Some of the women knew the way and played the part of guides …

"I travelled the desert a couple of days more before happening on the remains of another caravan, and followed the tracks to one of the few mountains of the desert. There were bandits here as well, and they had also kidnapped a good number of women. I beat up the bandits and freed the women, and went to sleep, as it was so late.

"When I woke up, I was in prison, in this thing called a Mage Cage, this flimsy metal box with silver lining, and decided to escape … I hadn't done anything wrong, after all, so I had no business being in jail.

"This huge woman suddenly burst through the wall down the hall and came into my cell looking for me, but she couldn't find me because I was hiding. When she ran off with Brianna clinging to her, though why she was put in jail in the first place is beyond me, I followed until we were out of town.

"I don't think I'm supposed to say anything more, because Mrs Diggers told us not to, and I don't want to make her angry …" finished Ranma seriously.

The women were stunned at his story. He had had the perfect opportunity to have sexual relations several times during his adventure, the opportunities had even been pushed into his face, and he hadn't taken them? If what he said was even halfway true, then the women were nearly throwing themselves at him, and he didn't take advantage of the offers made.

"You won't get off that easily, Sao- Koki!" growled Nabiki. "I want to know more!"

"Okay," replied Ranma conversationally. "I just got myself a new sensei, Gina's father. Gina is on your right, by the way, and on your left is Lydia. I've lived with Gina and her sisters since I returned to Earth … oh, nearly a week ago …"

"More, Koki," growled Nabiki.

"Nope," replied Ranma. "Not gonna happen," he added. "And I'd like to see you try to explain my debt to the police if you try and force me to pay it … after all, most of my debt came from acts that would be considered a common courtesy in most of the world, not to mention that when I said I had no money, you did the acts anyway and added the money to my so-called debt. And if you try to bring up interests, I just have to say that I can't remember there ever having been an agreement of any percent interest, which makes the claim more or less invalid.

"And it you persist in your futile pursuit, I will have to teach you the error of your ways."

There was a moment of silence in the car, broken only by the honking of car horns as Ranma cut several people off and the screeching of his tires as he made sudden turns.

"Is that a threat, Koki?" asked Nabiki sweetly. That tone always managed to break his threats, because it was a counter threat of higher debts … and she knew he wouldn't hit a girl, so there was really nothing backing up his threat.

"No, it is a promise, Tendo," returned Ranma. "I've changed in the time I've been gone from Japan, I've given up on the idiot act I've been playing since I started at Furinkan High School, and I've not only changed behaviour, but species as well … my kind gets very territorial and you wouldn't want to anger me …"

Again, there was a moment of silence.

"So, you forgot to introduce someone," commented Nabiki, trying to sound more annoyed than scared. Ranma's icy tone reminded her that this man had brought down a mountain in one of his fights, and he could do that and worse to her if he felt like it.

"Of course, how negligent of me," chuckled Ranma, completely erasing any trace of his previous tone. "Beebee, this is Nabiki, Nabiki, Beebee. Beebee is my secretary, I believe … Nabiki is the sister of my former fiancée, if I understood Kasumi's retelling of events …"

"Actually, I'm your new fiancée," corrected Nabiki, testing the waters. She expected him to blow his top, scream denials and bemoan his fate … she did not expect Ranma to start laughing so violently that it looked like they would drive off the road for a moment.

"Not on your life!" he chuckled, wiping a tear of mirth from his eye. "The honour pledge was between the Saotome family and the Tendo family, and as you so aptly put it, my name is not Saotome anymore!"

"Actually, I arranged it with your mother," tried Nabiki. She wanted his money before he spent it all on more stupid things like cars, if the one they were driving in was any indication of what he spent it on.

"Not likely," retorted Ranma, his mirth slowly fading away. "Mom would have been over the moon with excitement at the prospect of grandbabies, and would not have hesitated to inform me of the decision when I spoke with her last night." He paused a moment, looking quickly into the mirror to see her expression. "You know of my patent and Iwo's doings …" he concluded. "You know I have money and you want it, badly …"

"Not at all, Koki," denied Nabiki, trying to sound innocent. "I just want a bigger share than the managerial cut of your profits, say, seventy percent?"

"You're not my manager, Iwo is-"

" Iwo resigned from the job and appointed me to be his successor," corrected Nabiki smugly.

The tension could be cut with a knife, as the three other occupants of the car watched this drama unfold. Gina suddenly wished she had some popcorn to munch on … this was better than any soap opera she had ever glanced at in passing.

"How about I fire you and assign the position to someone less greedy, like Gina, Lydia or Beebee?" countered Ranma, now equally smug as she had been.

"You wouldn't!" breathed Nabiki, for the first time actually letting a little of the fear she had slip through. He wouldn't seriously think of letting these apparent airheads take over his economy, would he?

"In a heartbeat," countered Ranma immediately. "Isn't that right girls?"

"Oh, yes, I'd do it for free!" chirped Beebee, happy to be included in the conversation.

"Absolutely," agreed Gina, "I wouldn't ask for more than the regular managerial fee, but I would gladly give discounts for my friends …"

"Well, I guess I could settle for the standard fees …" agreed Lydia reluctantly. "But I wouldn't say no to a bonus now and again …"

Nabiki stared open-mouthed at the three, hardly being able to grasp that someone wasn't with Ranma to get his money, or because Genma had messed things up again.


At the Diggers residence, two forms were sneaking in through an open window.

These were Moisha Rich and Romeo Ellis, wererats, trained assassins, and currently in search of their team leader, Lydia McKraken.

"All right, Moisha," started Romeo. "You search the bedrooms and common rooms, and I'll search the bathrooms and labs, okay?"

"Like, okay," replied Moisha seriously. "Meet you outside in, like, twenty minutes?"

"Right, let's get to work!"


"Why are we taking this exit?" asked Gina curiously, leaning over the back of the seat in front of her, watching the highway zip past them. "Our exit isn't for another couple of miles."

"Because someone, who shall remain nameless, didn't think to bring more luggage than could fit in a small and fashionable handbag …" replied Ranma calmly. "So we need to get to a super mart before it closes for the night, and get that certain someone at least a change of clothes and some toiletries."

In the backseat, between Gina and Lydia, Nabiki blushed at being patronised like this, but didn't dare speak up, because Ranma had put the fear of Poverty in her. Of course, she didn't mention to Ranma that she had her credit card with her, and enough money in her account to last her a month or two if spent sparingly, though it was mostly for her ticket back home.

Beebee got even more excited.

"Could we get me some clothes as well?" she asked, her face lighting up in anticipation of an answer.

"Don't you have any?" asked Ranma in return.

"I'm only borrowing these from Brianna," clarified Beebee, seeing where this was going, she started getting even more excited.

Nabiki did not want to know what the woman normally wore if she didn't have any clothes, and kept her mouth shut for her own sake … though she had to wonder if Beebee had been raised in a naturist camp and brought the habit with her when she moved in with the Diggers …

"Then I guess we could get you a couple of outfits …" agreed Ranma.

"Yay!" cheered Beebee happily. Only her concern for the safety of the other drivers on the road prevented her from lunging at Ranma in a hug of gratitude. Instead, she settled for bouncing eagerly in her seat, an action she would have been hard pressed to do in her previous body.

It wasn't that she really cared about the clothes … she could walk around without a stitch on for all she cared, but she had learned through observation and questioning that clothes were meant to cover indecent areas and to keep warm. It was merely out of respect for the customs of her assumed culture that she wore clothes at all, that, and Brianna said something about some men taking public female nudity as an invitation. An invitation to what, she wouldn't say, only that it wouldn't be nice.

The super mart was not overly noticeable, for what it was, and there were luckily not as many people there at this time of day, so very few were there to question the strange and intimidating car, which could have almost been mistaken for a tank with smooth edges if it had a big cannon mounted on it, parking as close to the entrance of the mart as possible without taking up any handicap spots or in spots marked for compact cars … wouldn't do to get a parking ticket …

"Okay," said Ranma as he hopped out of his car. "We have almost an hour until they close, why don't we all just get something we feel we need but haven't got back home, and I'll pay for it? Nabiki, you get one or two changes of clothing, some toiletries and breakfast foods you'd like, but don't exaggerate, I will exorcise my right to turn down any items that hasn't any good reason for being there. The rest of you, feel free to choose whatever you'd like, just keep it within reasonable limits, I'm not made of money …"

The women murmured their consent as they got out. Beebee, however, was bouncing with joy, and could not contain herself any longer.

"Thank you!" she squealed and latched onto Ranma's chest, repeating her thanks into the top half of his mage suit.

"No problem, Beebee," answered Ranma carefully, still not entirely comfortable with physical contact. It was somewhat different when Beebee was a Peebo, because then there wasn't any confusion about what she was … now, she was as human as she could get without the help of magic or science decades if not centuries ahead of the current level … but she did almost possess an independent aura now … how did she get that?

Now, he needed a distraction …

"Hey, is that a shooting star?" he asked dramatically.

"Where?"

While the women were searching the sky in the general direction he had pointed, Ranma stowed the car away, somehow managing to avoid letting Beebee notice the big vehicle getting by her. There were about ten people in the parking lot, going to or from the mart, but they had not been looking at them directly, and assumed that their eyes were playing tricks on them when the car they thought had been there was gone.

"Must just have been a passing car …" sighed Ranma in feigned disappointment. "We'll meet at the register in half an hour … the last hour or so of the working day is when the staff starts to get tense, so the shorter time we spend here, the smaller is the chance of offending them."

"Hey!" exclaimed Nabiki. "Where's the car?"

"I have no idea of what you mean," replied Ranma casually and started walking to the super mart, which was difficult with Beebee firmly attached to his torso's right side and her legs locked around his right leg.


Romeo was in deep doo-doo.

He had searched the labs first, finding no trace of his elusive leader, nor any trace of her kidnapper. He had searched the downstairs bathrooms and toilets, and found nothing.

This was how he ended up here, hiding in the corner of the shower stall in his rat form, staring with quivering fear up at the werecheetah, who was not only nude, but also using the shower. He was terrified beyond the expression of mortal words.

And the werecheetah was making horrifying noises that sent chills up his spine, which he was convinced a way of torturing Lydia, wherever they had hidden her. It may be disguised as singing, but he knew better.

He knew there was only one way to get out of this situation alive … it had worked twice already, so he knew it would work.

Slowly, Romeo shifted to human form.


Britanny had just finished an after-dinner run, and felt the need for a shower before going to bed with her hubby … maybe reward him for his great dinner with some nookie

With a plan in mind, she went to the upstairs bathroom, it being the least likely place where she'd be interrupted by any of the houseguests.

The warm water was refreshing, and washed away some of the tension her muscles were recovering from as well as the dirt or sweat from the workout.

This feeling of relaxation made her feel like some music … but since she hadn't brought any devices for such a purpose with her, she had to provide her own.

"-the six o'clock alarm would never ring …" sang Britanny cheerfully, humming the words she didn't really know. "Cheer up Sleepy Jean … oh, what can it mean … to a daydream believer and a Homecoming Queeeeen …"

It wasn't the best rendition of the song, but it wasn't bad.

Suddenly, a pair of hands came out from behind her, and grabbed onto the "fun bags" meant only for her muffin!

"Aaaarg!" she screamed inarticulately, spun around and slammed her fist into a face of the male wererat that kept touching her at each encounter, and had just done so again.

The pervert crashed through the wall to the hallway as a result of the punch.

"Moisha, save yourself! Avenge my death!" he screamed before crashing into the next wall, where he stopped, making an ominous spider-web crack around him.


Moisha had just finished her search and was about to join Romeo outside when something crashed through the wall in front of her. This "something" screamed for her to save herself and avenge his death.

She realised that this was Romeo about the time he crashed into the wall opposing the one he had crashed through.

Not wanting to have another member of the trio kidnapped by the werecats of the house, Moisha raced forward and grabbed her incapacitated team mate before racing on. She just knew the werecheetah was in pursuit.


In the kitchen, Brianna had made some tuna sandwiches for Ranma and the others, along with tuna salad. They had missed dinner, so maybe this would make up for it … of course, they wouldn't notice if one or two sandwiches were missing … or if they only had a little tuna in them …

She had drunk about ten cans of caffeinated soft drinks to recover from her tiredness and was as alert as ever.

Maybe Ranma would be up for some "workout" when he got back …

-CRASH!-

Looking up at the noise, Brianna realised that they had intruders.

Grinning wickedly, Brianna pressed a button on her wristwatch.

"Intruders on the premises, guys, let 'em have it!" she declared loudly.

Over the speaker part of her time-telling device, she heard the enthused cheer of dozens of Peebo ready for what they did best, blow bad guys up.

"Let's rock this joint!"


In Seer's Hamlet, Sheila was very tired, and smelling badly.

She had just gotten back from her shift at the Edge Guard's new duty, the garbage dump, as she had done nearly every day for the past week.

Of the group, the ones that weren't complaining so much were Onoli and Thropan. Onoli, because he was a spiritual sort of person that believed that justice would be served and he worked on finding the kidnapped magic users and clear the Northern Edge Guard's reputation. Thropan was not too displeased because he got a chance to find material for his inventions, and the light workload gave him time to work on them.

Tirga had been more grumpy than normal, because he was unable to attract women with the stench that now followed him around.

"Serves him right," muttered Sheila as she thought about it. He deserved to be taken down a peg or two … then maybe he'd do something about her.

At the moment, she wasn't certain if she cared what he did one way or the other.

Ever since she had seen him, Sheila had a budding, but growing crush on Ranma. Being around him was intoxicating, and being away from him made her feel empty.

At first she thought it would just pass … but over a week had gone by, and the feelings of loss were still there, festering, for lack of a better word. She occasionally got occupied enough to forget him for a little while, but as soon as she wound down, he returned to her thoughts.

She wondered if she would ever see him again, if he'd be back or if she had to go search for him. If it wasn't for her duty to the people of Jade through her occupation, she would have followed him by now.

-Sniff-Sniff-

Right now, she needed another wash … even three times before bed was not enough to get the dirty feeling away after the new assignment.


It was nearly nine when Ranma and company returned to the Diggers household.

Or what was left of it …

Nearly a quarter the house was little more than charred remains, and the entire property was covered in craters from countless explosions.

In the front yard, Brianna and a few Peebo were dancing in circles around the remains of a tree, to which two forms were tied, not unlike the witches of old tied to the stake, or like the cinematic Indians did to the dentist portrayed by Bob Hope in one of the few westerns he did. Britanny was standing in only a towel, lightly kicking one of the forms now and again to produce sounds of suffering, and scowling if the sounds waited after she kicked.

This sight provided enough distraction for Ranma to stow away the car and extract the purchases.

Lydia groaned and slapped her face when she recognised the two forms as her team mates. Charred and bound.

The groan attracted Brianna's attention from her victory dance.

"Ranma!" she exclaimed in delight.

Before he could drop the purchases, he found Brianna had lunged at him, and latched onto his neck in a perfect rendition of an Amazon glomp.


Speaking of which, just south of Brunswick, Georgia, wandering through a small forest was the hunting party of Amazons. All of which were soaking wet and muttering dark curses about temperamental mages with bad aim, in their native tongues.

However, that is not to say that muttering dark curses was all they said.

"Great-grandmother," asked a confused Shampoo.

"What is it, Shampoo?" replied the withered old woman as she jumped along the forest floor on her staff.

"If Airen strong as Weapons-Master, why we hunt him?" asked the normally bubbly Amazon warrior. This journey had changed her views of the world just a little more than her stay in Nerima had, and it was causing her to question certain facts of her life. "He not get mad?"

-Whack!-

"Don't question our traditions, child," chided Cologne the young woman who rubbed her head where the old crone had struck her. "Our laws have held fast for three thousand years. A pair of teens will not be able to change everything. You would do well to teach your husband to obey our laws when we catch him, or he will have to answer to the punishments along with you. And speak properly, you sound like an idiot speaking like that!"

"Yes, great-grandmother," replied Shampoo sadly.

"Good," grunted Cologne. "And now that we are back on Earth, we have the final say in out approach, not that stuck-up young "leader" they sent …"

With that fact established to her great-grandchild, Cologne started cackling to herself as she envisioned the strong children Ranma would give Shampoo. The tribe would be stronger than ever, and the balance of power of the Jusenkyo area would no longer be even, but in their favour.

It was indeed a bright future for the tribe … if they succeeded …


Author's Notes; another chapter reread, and as before, only cosmetic changes were made. If there is still something wrong, please tell me, and be specific.

Credits; Nabiki waiting in the rain was based on the idea by ChaosRune. The original idea called for her to come to the Diggers home in the rain, but I thought it a bit cruel … and that it would be better to let Ranma be cruel instead. The song Britanny sings in the shower is "Daydream Believer" by the Monkees.