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.


Ranma tried his best to think of a way to explain Hanza without it ending with him needing to tax his healing ability from the pounding he was sure to receive, but after a few tense moments, gave up … there was nothing he could say that wouldn't sound like a lie, so he might as well go with the truth. They might never want to trust him again, but at least he'd feel good inside when he got it off his chest … because he'd sure as heck not feel good on the outside …

"Er … well, y' see-"

"Hey, isn't that Hanza?" asked Sheila suddenly, interrupting Ranma's reply. "The woman that attacked me on the roof of the Arms-Master's Palace last night!" she added to the other women, who had yet to be introduced to her. "It was night, dark, and chaotic, but that huge sword is a dead giveaway!"

Ranma mused that anyone carrying a sword easily taller than themselves stood out in a crowd, and nodded to Sheila's identification.

"Well, she followed me from the river where I took a bath … she seems to think I can cure her of her gen-"

Once more, Ranma was interrupted.

"Ranma!"

And of course it was by a woman …

The group as a whole turned to see a dark elf running down the street, not a sight one could miss, as proven by the man behind her that walked into a wall with his eyes trained on the lower hem of the bathing suit like outfit most women fighters in Jade seemed to prefer … now that Ranma thought about it, he had not realised this until that moment … was the outfit to distract male opponents, or was it simply because it made mobility easier?

This shapely elf was none other than one of the ten Weapons-Masters, Karia, and she looked very happy to see him.

"You're back!" exclaimed the woman and came to a halt before the group, eyes mainly on Ranma rather than the others. "I heard some chatter about a short, black werecat in a black mage suit wandering around, and knew it had to be you! So, when are we going to have a rematch? Soon, I hope?"

Casting a nervous glance at the simmering women surrounding him, Ranma swallowed heavily.

"I'll definitely give you a rematch," he finally forced out, choosing his words carefully to keep the others from reading anything into it. "This time I'll win!"

"Great!" Karia exclaimed. "I'll catch you again before you leave! Got to finish my morning workout!"

In her enthusiasm, the Weapons-Master gave Ranma a quick peck on the cheek before running off again.

What the dark elf failed to realise, was that she was placing Ranma in quite the sticky situation by giving him a kiss, however innocent it was.

Looking around, Ranma noticed that there were very few happy faces … in fact, the five women he had spent the night with looked very serious, and Hanza wasn't exactly happy, either. Having been on the receiving end of Righteous Womanly Fury one time too many, Ranma knew that things could get out of hand, and he was the most likely victim of it.

Deciding that he'd better get things out quickly, Ranma blurted the incident at the river before the women could demand an answer again, and realised only after having said it, that he admitted to allowing another woman to see him nude, when to his knowledge, none of the others had gotten that far yet.

"Hanza, was it?" asked Lydia, acting as spokesperson for the women after a few moments of intense staring exchanged between the five in romantic pursuit of Ranma. "Is what Ranma said, true? You're only trying to get cured of your gender-disorder?"

"Yes!"

"Then … we have no beef with you," announced the wererat in human form, immediately dropping the façade of being angry, and gave the neo woman a hug, which was joined by the other women. "Welcome to the group!"

Ranma was very confused … moments ago, they all looked ready to lynch him for somehow acquiring another woman, regardless of her motives for pursuing him, and suddenly they were welcoming said woman as though she was a lost lamb returned to the flock. I'll never understand women, even if I do turn into one every so often … thought Ranma in resignation.

Things took a turn for the worse when the women started giggling and asked Hanza for all the details of the bath incident, or to be more precise, all the details about Ranma … Ranma himself was afraid his head would explode from embarrassment …


Back in Atlanta, Team Alpha and Team Beta returned to the mansion of their employer, fairly undamaged from the botched mission to retrieve a DNA sample from Ranma or the other werecreatures that seemed to be mysteriously drawn to the place.

The groups were very pleased with how little injury they escaped with, but their employer was not.

"You nincompoops!" ranted Erwin Talon, though he would prefer to be called Lord Talon. "You utter, complete failures! The first sign of danger and you run off like scared little mice! What kind of mercenaries are you?"

"But there were dozens of armed robots there!" protested Zelda.

"And a mage," added Ionis helpfully. "A skilled one at that …"

"Not to mention scores of those exploding thingies the insane Diggers sister makes!" continued Zelda.

"There was no possible way for us to win at those odds," finished Daishi stoically, leaning against the counter top of the kitchen, where their meeting was taking place. "And they had the home-field advantage, and an unknown number of reinforcements that could have made an appearance at any moment if we remained to fight."

"Excuses!" bellowed Peewee. "By failing so magnificently, you are making me look incompetent! Even Penny Pincer has better help than I have, and she has a bird-brained, naïve, pacifistic bodyguard, who has as of yesterday morning taken to wearing maternity dresses at all waking hours!"

To illustrate his point, Peewee directed the group's attention to his laptop monitor which showed Penny Pincer exiting her car in her own drive, and Charlotte exiting the car on the other side, looking positively radiant … she must have been eating too many peanuts again, as intelligence about the Harpy told she was prone to do, because there was a slight bulge on her belly, barely noticeable unless one really looked for it.

"You don't think she's really …?" Zelda muttered to Daishi, gesturing with a bun, pointing it towards the oven.

"Not likely, as she doesn't have a boyfriend, and legend about the Harpy does not suggest reproduction by mitosis … the odds are that she overate on some nuts and thinks she is because of some careless person's comment or compliment … it has happened before …"

"Stop your gossiping during working hours!" interrupted Peewee. "I am trying to make some scientific progress here, and none of you are of any help! Now, what conclusion have we come to as far as my employees' poor standing goes?"

"That we should kill the Harpy so you don't have the worst help anymore?" suggested Link.

"NO! All of you need to improve, or you're downsized!" corrected Peewee, his face turning a remarkable shade of purple with pent-up rage. "And I want results within the month!"

"A month?" blurted Zelda. "There's no way we can improve enough to make a difference in the span of a month!"

"Then you should start planning on what career to take after I blackball you from the mercenary business …" drawled Peewee smugly … there was nothing like the threat of having to start over to inspire ones minions to improve … "You are pathetic …" he added to further anger them to prove him wrong.

A sinister cackle interfered with any further admonishing or protests.

"They are indeed that, young man …" agreed a scary voice that sounded like ground rock … a voice that had weathered decades … even centuries of life.

Turning to the voice, the group of seven was very shocked to see a larger group of women, all very beautiful even if some of them were big enough to be scarier than pretty, dressed in scanty armour and carrying weapons of varying range and type, led by what appeared to be a wrinkly old monkey with long, white hair … perched on a stick.

It was not the sight of them that was the most surprising to the resident group, no … it was that Peewee had several high-tech security devices installed all around and on the property, alerting a member of the household if as much as a leaf moved, or a speck of dust settled where there was not supposed to be anyone there … not to mention that there were two very talented ninja present in the room, who had also failed to detect their entry.

Needless to say, the seven were very nervous … if this large group, large in number and because of some of their members being nearly twice as tall as the others, had managed to get past all of that, what would they then be able to do to them?

"Sonny boy … I believe I have a business proposition for you …" the Monkey-on-a-stick declared in a very intimidating tone.


It was dark despite the hour of day, and the crackling of the cooking fire was slowly dying seeing as no one had been tending to it for hours.

Tendo Akane shifted in her sleep, drifting unwillingly back from the world of dreams to the world of the waking … at least she was still comfortable, and with her love, her soon-to-be husband, Hibiki Ryoga.

They had sought refuge in this cave the night before, because the clouds on the horizon threatened with stormy weather, and it was getting quite annoying for the youngest Tendo to carry both her pack and his, as well as him while keeping herself from soaking to the bone by holding up an umbrella … Ryoga's umbrella, actually, which weighed close to a ton by itself. This was not an easy task, even with practice.

It was very convenient that they had found this cave, even if it was dark, it was dry and large … though there was something about it that set the hairs in the back of Akane's neck on end. And they could no longer see the entrance they had used to get in, so it was impossible to tell what time it was, or even hear what weather there was outside.

There was something wrong … that much Akane could sense, and it was this sensation that caused her to stir from her lover's side to check on things.

The fire was still there, though little more than embers at this point.

Their things were still close to them, and had not been touched.

The ground was dry, and surprisingly flat and smooth, but still as cold as rock should be in darkness.

The trail of spices left by her escaped attempt at making ramen still led into the darkness beyond the small reach of the fire. How that thing had managed to leap away from her, bowl, chopsticks and all, she would never find out, nor was she inclined to … she had to make due with dried foods for supper instead, and for some reason, Ryoga seemed relieved at the thought. She would have to get back to that thought later.

There didn't seem to be any danger around, like angry bears that didn't feel like sharing their den with a pair of humans …

Then what options remained?

Suddenly, the cave was lit with blinding brightness and with such suddenness that there was no way for Akane to have prepared herself for it.

Blinking her eyes back to normal, Akane was greeted to the sight of several men in white lab coats, and several more in military uniforms, aiming automatic and semi-automatic weaponry at her and Ryoga.

That was not all that uncommon, as authority figures seemed to hold a grudge against the two no matter where they went. She had experienced it for the first time just after she started her wandering with Ryoga, but was told that it was a common occurrence by her travelling companion.

What was strange, was the cave.

No longer was it simply a cavern, but a huge room, painted grey over the cement it was made out of, and illuminated by fluorescent lighting nearly a hundred feet above them.

Along the wall on the left side of the door, stood a series of glass tubes large enough to fit even Mr Saotome into … had they not already been occupied by tall, white persons with abnormally large hands, heads and eyes, and who lacked genitals. The semi-stitched autopsy wounds on them, the liquid filling the entire inside and their lack of movement said that these persons were not among the living anymore.

Along the next walls were desks and computers, as well as supercomputers and at the immediate right of the door stood a water-cooler.

In the middle of the room, nearly above the two, was a huge metal object that looked like an overturned bowl with a lid, with spikes for support, keeping it several feet above ground, and a ramp extended to the ground from an opening in the side.

The trail of spices led behind the glass tubes, where a pair of chopsticks peeked curiously out.

The sudden change in lighting did its job in waking Ryoga, and as soon as he saw the guns aimed at him and his betrothed, he sprung into action, grabbing Akane with one arm and their things with the other, before dashing through the only open door he could see … the one in the metal bowl at the end of the ramp.

The soldiers followed them, but once they were inside the stationary alien vessel, found no trace of them, which was very conspicuous as the door was the only way in or out. The scientists, however, were fascinated with the new life form they had discovered hiding behind the tanks where they kept the remains of the Roswell alien autopsies. They could not tell merely by looking whether it was alien or mutant, but a series of tests should clear that up …

Ryoga ran with Akane until he found a set of metal bars blocking their path.

Looking around, he found no other exit to the small concrete room they were in, so he kicked the door off its sliding tracks, snapping the lock like it was a toothpick holding back a car on a slope in the process.

The racket caused some attention, mainly from the man already occupying the cell they were in, because it most definitely was a cell.

"Thank you, dear friends!" exclaimed the blue man with a scar under his eye … the orange prison outfit does not go well with that skin, thought Akane idly as she watched the animated man. The man, who introduced himself as Dr Drakken, went further with his thanks, complimenting them on their timing and strength, while proclaiming his innocence and unjust imprisonment.

"No trouble at all," replied Ryoga, sheepishly rubbing his neck, not wanting to let the man know he hadn't planned on freeing him. "It's a Martial Artist's duty to protect the weak and free and innocent."

"Yes," Dr Drakken agreed hesitantly. "I appreciate your help immensely, but could you do me just another tiny favour? You see, my – er … research assistant was captured along with me, and is being held in this very complex, just beyond the wall down that hall … if I helped you find her, could you free her as well? She is as innocent as I am!"

"Sure," muttered Ryoga … what harm could it do to free a couple of unjustly imprisoned people? "Lead the way …"

Dr Drakken grinned and grabbed onto Ryoga's arm, the duo having rearranged their possessions to the rightful owner during Dr Drakken's explanation, and Ryoga in turn hastily grabbed onto Akane to keep from getting lost without her.

The wall in question was a sturdy, twelve feet thick wall of concrete, iron bars and bricks intermingled to make sure that none of the more desperate male prisoners couldn't manage to tunnel their way through to the other side in search of female companionship … it also worked the other way …

Dr Drakken pulled Ryoga and Akane to the wall, and waited, wondering how this would be solved … after all … steel bars were not nearly as difficult to get through as twelve feet of wall with strong, intermingled materials.

Eying the wall cautiously, Ryoga could tell this would not be as easy as he had thought … but not entirely difficult either …

Placing a single finger to the wall, Ryoga employed his famous Breaking Point technique, which caused a large portion of the wall to explode violently in both directions, though mostly away from the trio waiting to get through.

The explosion had done its job, clearing away the metal, concrete and bricks, scattering them all across the women's ward, and partially in the men's ward.

Unsurprisingly, an alarm went off, whether because the dust set off the smoke detectors, or a guard had heard the explosion and triggered it, but the cause wasn't as important as what it would lead to. It would not be long until they had several guards arriving.

Wasting no time gawking at the enormous hole that had been made simply by touching a finger to the mass that had previously made it, Dr Drakken grabbed onto Ryoga again and led him through.

Locating the woman was not difficult, as the explosion had drawn every inmate in both wards to the bars to see what was going on, making identification a fairly simple task.

"There! The green one!" crowed Dr Drakken and pulled his saviours to the cell where a woman with green skin, green hair, green eyes and a hideous, clashing orange prison outfit was watching their approach. "Shego! These nice people have decided to free us from our wrongful and unjust imprisonment!" Dr Drakken filled in, though why he stressed some words was a mystery.

The woman, Shego, who looked like she was normally a glum person, brightened and suddenly looked sad and grateful.

"Oh, thank you!" she nearly screamed, tears gathering in the corner of her eyes. "I can't begin to describe how awful we've been treated!" a sob interrupted further communication, and Shego buried her face in her sleeve.

"Okay, step back ma'am," stated Ryoga. "This would definitely hurt if you got caught in it …"

Shego released her grip on the bars of the cell, and stepped back and aside, not really sure what the fanged young man was planning on doing.

Ryoga concentrated, and with a mighty shove, the door impacted against the cell wall with a loud clank, jutting out diagonally both horizontally as well as vertically.

"Hey!" screamed a guard from the male side of the wall, raising a shotgun to eye-level, aimed at the four. "Hold it right there!"

Realising that they were once again in danger, Ryoga grabbed the green woman and Akane's hand, and Akane grabbed hold of Dr Drakken, before the eternally lost boy started running away from the armed guard.

Several shots were fired, missing each time with bare margins because of the scattering shots and the distance combined … had it been a rifle, they would have been halted already after the third step, Ryoga realised this, which was the reason why he at the first corner turned, and suddenly vanished with his comrades, leaving several shocked inmates and prison guards who had witnessed the four vanish into thin air.

It was very sudden, but didn't surprise Ryoga very much anyway … they nearly crashed into another wall.

Dr Drakken started looking around in a panic, searching for the crazed guards and their shotguns, only to find an illuminated street in the middle of the night, leading up to a big, red tower which was lit up almost like the decorated tree used in western culture during the celebration of Christmas, and street signs in multiple languages, meant for tourists no doubt, welcoming them to Tokyo Tower.

Despite feeling strange about their sudden and impossible teleportation, Dr Drakken turned on a bright smile for his rescuers.

"Thank you once again, friends!" he proclaimed gratefully. "That fiend Kim Possible and her newest ally, Ranma Koki, will pay for putting me away! Imagine, I was on an innocent business cruise with a few of my employees just outside Tokyo when Kim Possible and her ally dropped in out of nowhere and beat us up and planted some doctored footage of Shego in a bank just to claim their violence was justified."

Shego rolled her eyes … sure, these two were gullible, but they couldn't possible buy that lame excuse, could they?

"Ranma?" asked Akane, surprised at the name … it was very rare for her to come across that name, and when she did, it was usually connected with her currently deceased fiancée.

"Saotome Ranma?" asked Ryoga, getting a hard feeling in his gut.

"No, Koki …" corrected Dr Drakken, and looked around the street, then spotted a news stand not far away … or rather, a shop with a wide selection of papers and magazines displayed in the window. "Here, he's on the cover of Science Monthly … they've nominated him for Scientist of the Year, a rather prestigious award that I've never had the honour of being even nominated for …"

"Not to mention, he's quite the looker," commented Shego and pointed to the cover, showing the person to Akane. "Have a look!"

Both Ryoga and Akane did indeed look, although when Dr Drakken had mentioned Science, they had dismissed the possibility … until they saw Ranma grinning up at them from the cover of the magazine. There was no doubt about it … it was their Ranma, and apparently he wasn't nearly as dead as they had been led to believe … yet …

"RANMA! THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT!" bellowed Ryoga angrily, while Akane seethed, imagining what horrors he was exposing her sisters to at that very moment, wherever they had been taken to by Ranma, while she was not there to protect them … the pervert …


Back in Jade, Sheila separated from the group to stop by Onoli for some files, then go visit her brother to give him an update on certain things, including the events of last night, as he had wandered off before listening to her debriefing. And given how this morning turned out, there might just be one less bad guy to worry about out there.

She did, however, make sure to inform the others about not taking up the subject of Ranma leaving a shadow clone in bed with them before she returned, because she might have a thing or two to say about the subject, and it would be rather superfluous to bring the topic up several times … besides, it would leave Ranma to think about what he did until they were all there to chastise him.

"Oh, and if he wants to start talking about weddings, save it for later because I have a few ideas!" she had added before disappearing around a corner.

Ranma was actually surprised that he had not been physically punished … some might say he was being a masochist, but he had simply been conditioned to expect certain reactions, and was thoroughly confused when that reaction did not take place. He was well aware of that it was not acceptable in normal society to hit someone simply out of displeasure, but personal experience told him otherwise. Although, lately that had not been the case … since he was transformed, he had been treated as a person, not an object … although those women he had rescued in the desert had been very insistent on trying to thank him by physical means, so insistent, in fact, that he had barely been able to retain his virginity.

From the looks of things, he wouldn't get punished for somehow picking up another woman, like he would have when he lived in Nerima. Gods that uncute tomboy was violent …

What bothered Ranma the most at the moment, was Hanza … not the person, though her temper and desperation for a cure was eerily familiar … no, it was the cure she sought …

To be honest with himself, Ranma knew of no real cure for her.

Sure, he could take her to Jusenkyo, but there were a few uncertainties with that plan … firstly, there wasn't a guarantee that the magic of Jusenkyo was compatible with whatever magic that had turned Hanza from man to woman … and certain things that weren't compatible had an unfortunate habit of blowing up in some form, which could have completely random effects in this case, as the energy in question was magic. Secondly, Jusenkyo was, to his knowledge, still flooded, so the springs had either mixed or been filled by debris, wiping them from existence, but then, he was far from an expert on the subject of Jusenkyo ...

Sure, there was the possibility of the Instant stuff, but it was an even more temporary solution than the Jusenkyo curse, as it only gave a curse that lasted a few showers or hours, depending on which came first.

And even if there was a possibility of locking the cursed form - be it the form of the real curse or the powdered stuff - with the locking ladle, the Musk were not likely to be cooperative with him, considering he had defeated their Prince, who happened to turn into a Princess some times because of the same curse Ranma once had.

Though, Ranma was certain that had his mother been there, she would have told Hanza to accept the new body, saying it was useless worrying herself into an early grave over a cure that might not exist. He could hear her now … " Accept your body, embrace the change, find a man and pop out a few babies … I'm sure Ranma would be able to help … "

"Auntie!" hissed Beebee, making Ranma turn around to see the human robot hissing into what looked like a cell phone.

The women surrounding Ranma blushed … whether from embarrassment or anger, Ranma didn't really want to know.

"Mom?" asked Ranma, indicating the phone, which had for a moment accidentally been put on speaker, thus allowing the suggestion to be heard. Beebee nodded guiltily and handed the fist-sized, unfolded cell phone. "Mom, how did you get a hold of Beebee all the way from Japan?"

" Oh, she gave me a cell phone just like hers before you all left, so we could stay in touch … she's been very helpful with keeping me abreast of your little trip … " replied the voice of Nodoka.

"But how did you get a connection?" prodded Ranma. "We're in a different realm! There aren't even any satellites here to bounce the signal off of if you had been here!"

"Um …" stuttered Beebee. "I modified the phone, using some basic Light Gate technology … it should be able to reach us anywhere in the known universe … and the other away around as well …"

" Don't worry about it, dear, " came Nodoka's voice from the speaker of the cell phone. " You were only doing a good deed … I'm sure Ranma appreciates it very much, right, son? "

"Sure!" assured Ranma quickly. That woman was scary with that sharp edge to her voice even through a phone and a dimension wall … "But we have to cut this short, the battle is about to begin! Tell Nabiki and Kasumi I said "Hi"! Bye!"

Pressing the disconnect button before he could hear the response to his abrupt farewell, Ranma handed the cell phone back to Beebee, who put it away in hyperspace storage, suddenly much happier.

Ranma and his "Harem", as Gina had jokingly dubbed them while standing in line for tickets, had not gotten good seats at all.

The name for the group of women seemed to stick, because it was how Beebee kept referring to them as, and none of the others bothered to argue that statement, as it was more or less true … or, it would be when they managed to persuade Ranma into "tying the knot" with them all.

Julia had only been given three tickets, which had been given to her two newest students and her husband, leaving the others to get seats on their own at the last minute, which limited the choice very much, even if the price remained steep … "Supply and demand, kid," the grumpy ticket salesman had groused in reply to their query of the amount of gold needed to get the seats. There had almost been a free seat on Julia's tickets, but Luan had hobbled into the Arena, weak, injured, healing slowly, and leaning on anything that would support her weight, so she still got the seat.

Looking down at the battlefield, Ranma could make out a small figure with red hair sauntering onto the field from one end, and a large form with white pants from the other end.

Binoculars or even a spyglass had been a good thing at this time, because they were far enough away to barely make out anything down there, as the vague descriptions of the figures could reveal.

Beebee, however, came up with the solution … she was not exactly human, and as such was able to zoom her line of vision further, enlarging the image … hooking her up to a laptop computer was a cinch with Brianna and Gina around, and soon Ranma, Brianna, Gina and Lydia were staring at the monitor of the laptop, while Beebee acted as the camera … a camera with a much faster frame rate than the peebos Brianna normally made. Sure, with the digital zoom and the bright flames surrounding the platform of the Fire Arena, the image became a little grainy and over exposed, but it was not something the combined genius of Gina and Brianna could not smooth out on the spot. And to top it off, she could also act as a directional microphone, catching whatever sounds made down on the platform, enabling them to hear whatever banter that might be exchanged.

Now they had a better view of things, and were able to tell what Julia's opponent looked like.

The man was tall, and dark, with broad muscles and curly black hair. Circling his wrists and biceps, as well as crossing diagonally his chest from his right hip to his left shoulder and down the other side, were a series of symbols or tattoos in silver colour, though it was not clear if it was silver or not. If Ranma hadn't known better, he'd say the designs looked a little like computer circuitry, but that couldn't be it … after all, these people abhorred technology enough to sentence someone to prison for being in possession of anything more recent than what was found in fifteenth century Europe …

He wore no shoes, leaving his feet bare and in direct contact with the ground. His legs were covered by white pants, held up by a broad, white sash, which was decorated with gold rings here and there. Covering his head, was a white cloth that concealed the upper half of his face to his hairline, and ran around back, where it flowed down like long hair. A golden trinket decorated the forehead of this veil, and a golden loop was stuck in the side.

His name was Rhaoton.

Rhaoton's weapon of choice seemed to be the naginata, the bladed staff. It was a grand weapon, with a shining blade that had several white feathers attached to the bottom, for either decoration or ceremonial reasons. Each end of the wooden pole was capped with gold.

Julia's stance and walk was that of confidence … Ranma thought it seemed rude to act that way towards an opponent in a tournament, and apparently Rhaoton agreed with Ranma in his opinion, because the big man crossed the platform and slapped Julia before she had the time to react properly out of shock or surprise.

"How dare you …" Rhaoton growled in a voice that dripped of venom, and sounded like it could frighten more than a few demons with its darkness. "How dare you step into this arena with your stance slackened and your eyes unfocused? Against me? Just who do you think I am, Julia? Who do you think you are facing? I am one of the ten, Julia! You do not face me as though I was just another fighter! Do not think that winning the last Tournament of Arms has made you special."

Ranma couldn't really help but agree with the dark man, though he had to physically restrain Gina from leaping from her seat to get down there to open a whole crate of whoop-ass on the mean man who hit her mommy.

"Now, get up!" demanded the man sternly. "And prepare to face someone who is, indeed, in your class!"

Julia, sitting on the ground from the force of the blow, a large, angry bruise on her right cheek, looked up at her opponent, humbled back to her senses.

"You're right," admitted Julia. "I deserved that little "reminder" …"

Standing up, Julia straightened her stance, and raised her sword.

"En guarde."

Rhaoton crouched down in a ready stance of his own, twirling his naginata into starting position.

There was a moment of tense silence, where hardly a speck of dirt in the arena moved, where hardly a single person dared breathe for fear of ruining the moment.

Then as a bubble in the lava popped, the two flew at each other faster than the average person could follow.

Julia's strike at Rhaoton's legs was blocked by the naginata, and Julia in turn had to raise her sword to block an overhead blow.

Rhaoton's disposition remained the same, like a statue, not showing any emotion on him at all, despite the severity of the battle. Not even distress or strain showed as he effortlessly wielded his naginata to block and retaliate Julia's attacks.

As Julia moved to block a low swipe of the naginata blade with her own, she suddenly saw Rhaoton's free hand come down for her own. It was a feint, but it was too late to do anything about it, and the hand struck the unguarded part of her wrist, causing her to nearly drop her sword.

She recovered in time to raise her other arm to block the follow-up fist by the same hand, but the strength of the blow was enough to set her off balance.

"Check," commented Rhaoton casually.

Julia dropped backwards into a roll as the naginata swung at her.

Pushing with her arms, she managed to leap over a follow-up sweep of the fearsome blade.

As Julia landed, she felt hot air against her heel. Looking down, she saw that she was at the very edge of the arena … fiery lava running no more than a few feet below her.

"Checkmate," declared Rhaoton, seeing she had realised that she had played into his plan.

Ranma had to admit, the plan was brilliant … distract the opponent with strikes and attacks to them, while gently guiding them into the position that was the most favourable … there was little that could be done in this situation, and Ranma would be lying if he said he wouldn't be disappointed if Julia lost … he had money riding on her victory, and could just feel Thropan getting ready to tinker with his car, as was part of the bet … Ranma had little Jade currency, so he had, during the wait in line, bet his car against a hundred gold pieces that Julia would win … the only person willing to even touch such technology was the werepanther Edge Guard. Damn it, he had spent a lot of time making that car, and he was on the verge of losing it! Though, knowing the Diggers women as he did, he wouldn't count the elder one out just yet …

"Not yet," argued Julia stubbornly, meeting Rhaoton's eyes, or rather, where his eyes were supposed to be. "There are still "moves" I can make …"

"So be it …" growled Rhaoton.

In a desperation move, Julia used a Master Technique, rushing at Rhaoton and used all her strength to push against the block the man erected the moment before she moved.

"Aegis Crash!" yelled the big man as the woman tried to push him off.

The two energies of the chi attacks flashed brightly, tearing up the ground, and forcing the two apart, though, since Julia's attack was not focused as much outside her body, Rhaoton won the battle of wills, and was forced far less away than Julia, who was sent careening away, surprisingly still on her feet.

At the very edge of the platform, Julia skid to a stop, but with a smirk on her face, even as Rhaoton proclaimed another checkmate. Ranma wondered why until he remembered something about the fight … Rhaoton had fought the entire thing relying on his aura to focus his attacks, and move as swiftly and powerfully as he had been … the man was not primarily a physical fighter, but relied more on his techniques and chi-enhancements than skills … he was a chi user.

"Yes …" agreed Julia confidently. "Checkmate, indeed …"

The next moment, Julia had vanished from her spot, leaping into the air at great speeds with a very easily spotted opening in her attack, which was going to be overhead chop with her blade.

"Fool!" cried Rhaoton angrily. "Aegis Storm!"

The form of Julia was suddenly bathed in a broad beam of purple energy that had been discharged from the bladed staff and its wielder.

Before the large man could register any change in this, Julia appeared next to him, coming in for a landing.

Without warning, his mask ripped apart where Julia's blade had cut, revealing a shocked face.

-Pnk!-

The gold trinket on Rhaoton's forehead split in two, causing the head dress to fall apart.

Without breaking her stride, Julia sheathed the sword with a flourish and walked away from the stiff man.

"A battle well and truly fought, Rhaoton," Julia announced. "You have my utmost respect for your skills. I understand now, why my flippant and nonchalant attitude towards them earlier enraged you so …"

"Julia-" growled Rhaoton, causing Julia to stop and curiously turn her head to see what was going on.

Suddenly, a pair of hands grabbed her tightly, and her feet lifted off the ground.

"Julia, you are a marvel!" laughed Rhaoton in a booming and happy voice. "A marvel!" he repeated as he lifted the woman into the air and looked on the verge of twirling her and throwing her into the air like a father playing with his toddler.

After Julia came past her shock, embarrassment took over.

"Could you set me down now, please?" she asked in a nervous laugh.

"Of course!" laughed Rhaoton thunderously, and set the woman on the ground, raising his own fist into the air and lifting Julia's with his other. "All hail Julia! The victor!"

Ranma was amazed at how good a sport Rhaoton was, not only accepting defeat, but rejoicing in his opponent's victory … it was the mark of a good fighter, as being one didn't necessarily mean having a plethora of techniques or an abundance of power, but having the heart to carry on or support those deserving it despite ones own shortcomings. It wasn't the win that determined the quality of a fighter, but how they carried themselves throughout and after the battle … this was what Ranma loved about fighting …

Now, Ranma was looking forward to the chance he'd maybe get to fight Julia some time in the future … it would be so much fun, even if he ended up bruised, battered and defeated at the end … but for now, he had a bet to collect on, and some techniques to make notes on …


At Narita International Airport, an ancient pervert stepped off a flight that had apparently been primarily occupied by beautiful and well endowed women.

If he had the will, the old man would no doubt have declared to the world exactly how well endowed those women were, but a glance at them had him cringe in disgusted fear, so there was no danger of him informing the numerous drooling men around about the women they were staring at.

The old man passed through customs without much of an ordeal … though the hump on the man's back did look suspicious … almost like a backpack containing a ball …

Once through all the security, the old man walked up to the information desk, and politely asked the woman behind it if she would call a taxi for him.

Anyone who knew this old man would have been bowled over in shock … this old man usually would have molested or violated every woman in the airport in some way, be it groping and commenting on their body, or liberating them of their underwear … but now, he looked nearly fearful as he spoke with her … cringing as a slightly perverted idea popped into his head, almost as though he expected to be struck down for his wicked thoughts … a rather Pavlovian reaction, actually.

When he was assured of his taxi, the old man thanked the woman, and went outside to find the taxi that would be waiting for him.

Patiently, the old man stood in front of the entrance to the airport, twiddling his fingers to keep himself occupied.

"Yo," called a young man in a normal, fairly new, yellow car with the word Taxi written in red on the side. "'You Happosai?"

"Yes, sonny boy, that would be me," chuckled the old man.

"Where's your stuff?"

"I didn't have time to bring any luggage with me when I left," chuckled Happosai with a sense of self-irony. "And there was nothing at my destination that I thought was worth keeping …"

"Then get in, the metre is running!" warned the driver.

Happosai nodded and entered the taxi, getting really comfortable in the back seat, despite the hump on his back, and the slight limp he had in his walk.

"So, where to?"

"Take me to the Nerima ward, 'm boy," chirped Happosai. Then his voice turned serious. "I have some unfinished business to take care of there …"


Author's Notes; Hah! You thought I'd get on that "Call him a cab" gag, right? But I didn't, because it is worn out, overused and frankly, not all that amusing any more …

What does a typical Tokyo taxi look like? Could anyone tell me? Because it would help make the story more credible … the same goes for anything else I might have been mistaken about, feel free to correct me if the errors are glaringly obvious, and please give me some reference sites or something, because I recently had to format the drive, and lost all of my old ones … reference sites, that is …

I know I wrote that Rhaoton and Julia used chi, there's no need in pointing that out to me. The reason for it, was that it is my interpretation that the characters of Gold Digger use their ki more as a focusing lens for power than as a source, like a magnifying glass used to burn ants … understand? The Ethereal Stream is merely a different source of chi, which a mage draws on using their ki to draw and focus, instead of using their energies for their purpose, which is what throws most GD people off about Ranma's way of doing techniques and "magic" … if this is not an adequate explanation, I don't know how else to formulate myself to make myself understood …

My brother pulled through in the end … he came and formatted the drive, a painstakingly long process, made longer by the installation of all programs again … luckily, none of the other drives were affected in any serious way, so my text files were left untouched, meaning I didn't need to fall back on the backup DVDs I made as soon as I discovered the virus that so annoyed me for nearly two weeks …

Small writing tip; "Sole" and "Soul". Your "Soul" is the part of you that consists of your mind, character, thoughts and feelings. Many people believe that your soul continues existing after your body is dead. You can refer to someone as a particular kind of "Soul" when you are describing their character and condition. You use "Soul" in negative statements like "not a soul" to mean nobody at all. The "Sole" thing or person of a particular type is the only one of that type, if you have "Sole" charge or ownership of something, you are the only person in charge of it or who owns it. The "Sole" of your foot or of a shoe or sock is the underneath surface of it

Second writing tip; supplied by Dobe-Teme "Thought", "Taut" and "Taught". "Thought" is the past tense and past participle of "Think". A "Thought" is an idea that you have in your mind. "Taught" is the past tense and past participle of "Teach". Something that is "Taut" is stretched very tight, if someone has a "Taut" expression, they look very worried and tense.