Obiligatory Disclaimer...yeah I'm done with that gag now. I'm just not creative enough to keep it going. Fun while it lasted.

I realize I forgot to put a spoiler warning last chapter, so I'm putting one here. From this point on, I am assuming that you (the reader) are completely up-to-date with Negima. The Magic World Arc is now over, and I am ready and willing to take full advantage of the new status quo. If you are not caught up with the scanlations, then open a new tab, find the scans, and start reading. Don't worry, I'll be here when you get back.

Episode 4: Crisis at Mahora!

Silver steel corridors running at both sides, the ceilings shining white with light. Dirt zipping past beyond the tinted windows. Miscellaneous posters scattered on the walls. These were the sights of Ranma's surroundings as he took note of his first ride on a train.

He had never had to ride one before. Before Nerima, Ranma and his father would travel across the land on their own feet. They would never settle for any vehicle, even preferring to swim their way to their fateful destination in China rather than use a boat. (well, that and they couldn't afford it). Once he had settled in Nerima, Ranma had little need to travel anywhere else. Sure, he did take the occasional adventure outside Nerima's borders, his most recent being his journey back to China and against Saffron, but otherwise Ranma remained stationary. He did know of trains – he wasn't the best with technology, yes, but he wasn't that stupid – but he had never had the need.

Now, he could voice his own opinion. He did not like trains. At all.

He did like a train's speed, and wouldn't mind using it to get places where his "leap across buildings like Daredevil" technique wouldn't work, but Ranma is not what one would call "patient". He had not been on the train long, but already the act of standing still with his hand clenched onto the upper rail was boring him. The only thing that kept his from falling asleep was the constant shift in balance he had to make every time the train so much as twitched, which only served to piss him off.

Ranma let out an upset grunt. "Are we there yet?"

"Ranma, you ask one more time and I'll cave your face in."

"Oh shut up, P-Chan. I'm getting sick and tired of all this-OWW!" Ranma started rubbing the newly-formed bump on the back of his head. "What was that for, Akane?"

"Be quiet and stop picking on Ryoga-kun! We'll get there when we get there!"

"Hehehe," a voice chuckled, coming from the nearby seat. "Never would I have thought torturing Ranma could've been so easy."

"I don't need any from you either, Nabiki!" Ranma shouted, glaring at her as she flipped through the newspaper. "I still can't believe we're even doing this."

"Hey, you were the one who wanted to visit Mahora in the first place."

"Yeah I know, but I said that two weeks ago. Why the hell are we doing this now again?"

"Ugh, not everyone has free schedules all the time, Ranma. Besides, it wasn't my fault that the subway was facing some…technical difficulties." She turned her eyes up, but Ranma noticed she wasn't looking at him.

"St-stop staring," Ryoga stammered, complete with a minor blush. "I-it was only an accident."

"With you, it probably was. Just be patient, Ranma. We'll be at Kawagoe Station in a couple of minutes, and then it's only about 15 minutes on the Kawagoe Line."

"Alright, but one other question: Why is she here?" Ranma's question was punctuated with free hand jutting forward, his finger pointing at the woman sitting next to Nabiki. The woman was very old and shriveled, wearing a green and red robe. She appeared to be only 2 feet tall, but her silver hair and wooden staff were much longer.

With attention called to her, she smilied. "I am allowed to travel with you, aren't I, son-in-law? I promise that I have nothing planned for you today."

The way she said that, combined with her smiling face, made Ranma cringe. "Fine, but explain what they're doing here." Ranma once again pointed, this time down the train car to a couple standing close to each other. The man had long black hair, a long white robe, and large glasses. The girl had purplish-blue hair, the top part tied into buns, and was wearing a white and red gown. The man's face was one of joy; the girl's, however, was one of frustration.

"When I told Shampoo that I was going to be on this trip with you, she begged to come along. I wasn't in the mood to make her upset, so I let her come. As for Mousse, well, you know how much he likes to be with her. Plus, it gives me an excuse to close the restaurant for today."

X~~~X~~~X~~~X~~~X

"We've got 2 more orders, Ukyo-sama!"

"Don't worry 'bout it, Konatsu! We can handle this!"

Ukyo Kuonji was the best at what she did. She could make some damn good food and knew how to run a restaurant pretty damn well. She had a simple 3-step process of running things: 1) Have Konatsu look pretty to attract hungry teenage men, 2) Give food to hungry teenage men, and 3) Count money made off of hungry teenage men. And for the most part it got the job done. However, little can prepare a shop for Wave 3 of what is known as Lunch Rush Hell. Simply put, if the customers look like the human equivalent of a flash flood, then there's problems.

This is all Cologne's fault! Ukyo's thoughts screamed as she served a family-sized okonomiyaki. Whenever the Cat Café closes down things always get hectic! But that old hag didn't have to send me a letter taunting it! Like she set this up to get rid of me!

But then she mentioned leaving with Nabiki. And Akane. And Ranma's name was inked so hard it looked like it was engraved in stone! And this trip being all Ranma's idea? Just what is he up to?

"Ukyo-sama! They're starting to get antsy!"

Ukyo could only grunt. Damn it, Ranchan, you better have an explanation for this!

X~~~X~~~X~~~X~~~X

Cologne laughed. "Hohoho! I do hope you can explain this to that poor girl Ukyo. She'd certainly want one."

"Cologne, you do know that you're a sick ol'-"

Ranma was interrupted by a loud bell sound. "THIS STATION IS YOYOGI. TRANSFERS ARE TO THE YAMANOTE, CHUO-SOBA, AND MAHORA LINES. THE NEXT STATION IS SHINJUKU."

"C'mon Ranma." Nabiki muttered as she stood up. "Time to go."

X~~~X~~~X~~~X~~~X

Ranma had seen big things before, but as he left the train he could still feel his eyes go wide and his jaw go slack.

What lay before him was a long strip that served as Mahora's plaza. The strip widened further than any street Ranma had ever seen, and seemed to stretch for a long time before coming up to the steps of the Academy. Speaking of the Academy, its size put Furinken to shame as it managed to stretch as wide as the strip and still towered despite its distance. People moved all about the plaza, the largest groups seen at the stores lining the plaza's edge and in the trolleys that cut through its center. But what really caught Ranma's eye was the largest tree that he had ever seen. It looked so big that it appeared to dominate the horizon even at a distance. The sun had just about set, but the plaza and tree glistened with life under the moonlight.

"Whoa," Ranma muttered. He was taken from his shock when he noticed that a female voice had repeated the same thing next to him. Turning to his side, Ranma saw Akane looking as amazed as he was.

"Told you guys this was big," Nabiki mumbled, looking at the plaza with confidence in her eyes. "Well, since it looks like we got the night to ourselves, I figure I best get going."

Akane was snapped out of her trance. "Wait, you're going? Where?"

"Sis, do you see everything going on here? I'm gonna have myself a fun night." With that, she walked off, her confidence carrying over to her stride.

The pause only lasted a second before Akane broke it. "I think I should go with Nabiki. Just to make sure she doesn't do anything. You coming, Ranma?" She turned to find Ranma now staring at her, his jaw closed but his eyes somewhat glazed. The look gave her the kind of creepy feeling that made her spine shiver. "Ranma, you okay?"

Ranma snapped himself back into reality, and tried to hold back a blush. He was staring at Akane again. For the last few weeks he realized that he was staring at her a lot more often, and it left him feeling confused. She'd always be a tomboy to him, but something inside wanted to blurt out that she looked cute. Something that he wanted to beat up, along with anyone that wanted to question him.

"AIREN!" Just before he could even let out a stammer, Ranma was assaulated by another of Shampoo's patented glomps.

"Oh, well I see that you're busy, so I guess I'll just go on my own then," Akane said, glaring. With that, she quickly turned herself back around and let out a small "Hmph!" before walking off.

"WAI-AAAGH!" Ranma couldn't even let out a word before he found himself carried off into the plaza by Shampoo, his legs dragging on the stone ground. Mousse and Ryoga could only watch as Shampoo and Ranma disappeared into the crowd.

Mousse pushed up his glasses. "Uh, I'm gonna follow them. Make sure Shampoo and Ranma aren't alone. See ya, Ryoga." Spotting Shampoo's general direction, he walked away.

Ryoga hesitated. He wanted to go with Akane, since Ranma wouldn't keep her safe, but he realized that he couldn't find her in the crowd, and he feared wandering would just get him lost again. His nerves grew more agitated as Mousse began to disappear. It didn't take long for him to break.

"W-wait! Mousse! I'm coming with you!"

Meanwhile, Shampoo continued to march forward, a happy grin on her face and a joyful skip in her step. She was never able to be with Ranma a lot (a fact that she always blamed on Akane trying to steal him away), so she took advantage of any time she could find Ranma alone to take him on a nice date. Granted, her definition of "date" has been called "stalkerish" and "manipulative" by others, but she never gave them mind. She was currently thinking of just where she could forcibly drag Ranma to when she heard a faint growl come from her side.

"Hm? Airen growl? Airen hungry?"

Ranma turned slightly pale as he looked up at her. "It's alright. I'll be fine." However, his thoughts were different as he looked back towards his stomach. Of course I'm hungry! I should've eaten dinner an hour ago! But there's no way in hell that I'm eating with you! His stomach betrayed him with another growl, turning Ranma's pale face red.

"Ah, Airen stomach no lie! We find food!" Shampoo began her scan of the area, invigorated by a newfound sense of dedication. Catching her eye was a small trolley-like cart nearby. The words Chao Bao Zi were neon-lit on its roof, and in the cart stood a slightly-plump black-haired girl. The seats were empty, and the girl appeared to be washing dishes. "Chinese food and no line? Perfect! We go!" Dragging him up to the cart, she threw him at the centermost chair while she took the seat at his right.

"Welcome to the Chao Bao Zi! My name is Satsuki Yotsuba. What would you like?"

Shampoo leaned onto Ranma and embraced him, a seductive look in her eyes. "We order dumpling meal. For two." The second sentence was said with a flirtatious purr that made Ranma furious.

"Alright then. Dumplings for two, coming right up."

Ranma watched Satsuki for the five minutes it took her to cook, if only because he had no interest in paying Shampoo any attention. Watching her reminded him much of watching Kasumi's evening cooking. The smell of the food even took him to that same little place in personal heaven that he went to whenever Kasumi came out with dinner.

"Here you go. Enjoy!"

Ranma grabbed a dumpling and plopped it into his mouth. "Oh…oh man, that is just delicious! This food's as good as Kasumi's!" Ranma threw another dumpling into his mouth, a grin forming as he chewed.

"What?" Shampoo asked, looking startled. "You give." She grabbed a dumpling, ate it, and nearly went into shock. "Oh my! This good!"

"Glad you two like i-" Satsuki found herself cutting her sentence short as she stared at the giant ball of iron that was now about two inches from her face. She didn't stop smiling, although one could see that she was beginning to sweat nervously.

"Dumpling would be very good for restaurant. You give me recipe, yes?"

"Shampoo, can you please put the chui down?" Shampoo saw a hand reach to her weapon and lower it. She turned to see Mousse, who was taking the seat next to her.

"Oh. You come, stupid duck-boy." Shampoo laid the chui down next to her and took her seat, now looking disappointed. Ryoga took the seat next to Ranma, catching his attention.

"Hey Ryoga. I'd give you some of the food, but I don't know how you'd feel about eating pork."

"Oh ha ha, Ranma. I suppose I should go tell Akane about how you two are spending your date."

"Oh c'mon, Ryoga, you know this isn-AAK!" Ranma found himself being smothered once again by Shampoo's embrace.

"Oh, you no mean that, airen! This date most fun!"

"You know I should beat you up for this, Ranma." Ryoga said matter-of-factly. "Akane wouldn't like this at all."

"I said this wasn't a date!" Ranma shouted, shaking Shampoo off. "I don't see why you're defending Akane anyway. It's not like you should care."

"Of course I should care! You take that back!"

"Try me, P-Chan!"

On instinct, Ryoga swung his arm back and tightened his fist, ready to smack Ranma in the face with a good right hook. However, just before he let loose he felt a sudden force holding his hand back. He turned around to find that his fist was being held by a man that looked only slightly older than him. His most notable traits were his black jacket-like robe and a pompadour that extended almost half a foot from his head.

Ryoga glared. "Hey! What are you doing? You defending Ranma?"

The man smiled. "I don't want to fight, but I'm not going to have you two fight either. I can feel you guys have enough ki to wreck this joint, and none of us want that to happen, right?"

Ranma stared. "You can feel ki? You're a martial artist?"

"Yup. The name's Kaoru Gotakuji. What about you guys?"

"I'm Ranma Saotome. Pork breath over here's Ryoga." Ryoga shot a quick glare at Ranma, which he ignored. "And those two back there are Shampoo and Mousse."

Kaoru looked at the two Amazons. "They got a Chinese look to them. Very appropriate." He then turned his attention to the chef. "Hey, Satsuki-chan. Just get me a glass of water."

Ranma still looked at Kaoru with an odd look. "Thanks for the help. Not like I really needed it."

Kaoru grabbed his glass and took a sip. "No need to start a fight if no one's expecting one. Just sitting here, eating, relaxing, it all feels great! It's too nice of a night for violence!"

X~~~X~~~X~~~X~~~X

Hell had descended upon Mahora.

Screams could be heard through the street as the demons rained from the sky. Their claws ripped through the steel and brick of trolleys and buildings, sending debris flying through the air like hail. They came in various shapes and sizes, but they all stomped on the ground with the same fear-inducing ferocity. They were surprisingly silent and surprisingly restrained against doing physical harm, but there was still an army-like efficiency in the spread of chaos.

"You just had to jinx it, didn't you?" Ranma shouted as he socked a demon with a right hook.

"How could I have seen this happening?" Kaoru replied, landing a sidekick straight into another demon's chest.

Seeing his target still dazed, Ranma jumped up and hit the demon with and uppercut square on the chin. A black substance was coughed onto Ranma's sleeve as he finished his motion, knocking the demon onto its back. Meanwhile, Kaoru waited for his target to kneel before finishing the job with a neck chop.

"Impressive, Ranma! I've never seen that style before! What is it?"

Ranma smirked. "The Saotome School of Anything Goes Martial Arts."

"Ah, a family style! Nice!" Then Kaoru saw Ranma's sleeve. "Eugh, what is that?"

Ranma took a look for himself. "No clue. Probably blood."

"These guys bleed? Gross." Kaoru took a look around. "Say, Ranma, where'd your buddies go?"

Ranma also took a second to look. "I dunno. We must've gotten separated."

At that moment, a third demon arrived, charging his way towards the two martial artists. However, Ranma and Kaoru heard a voice shout "RETSUKUSHO!" followed by a beam of ki nailing the demon right in the face. As it fell, Ranma and Kaoru looked behind them and saw three men. The man in the center wore a white gi and black belt and had short brown spikey hair with a section tied into a short pigtail. The man on the right had a dark blue Chinese-style jacket and shoulder-length black hair, his most notable traits being his big bushy eyebrows and his big lips. The oddest looking was the man on the left. His hair was long, spikey, and bleach-white, and he wore a black bodysuit and black gloves that extended past his elbows.

Kaoru gave a thumbs up. "Thanks for the save, Tatsuya-kun!"

The center one waved. "No prob, Kaoru-kun! Who's your friend?"

"This here's Ranma Saotome. He's a martial artist like us. Ranma, these are my friends from the Tournament. The guy in the middle is Tatsuya Nakamura. The one on the right is Pochi Daigoin, while the one on the left is Keiichi Yamashita."

Ranma looked intrigued. "Tournament? What tournament?"

"The Legendary Mahora Martial Arts Tournament during Mahorafest last month? Were you there?" Kaoru was surprised to see Ranma shake his head. "Aw, you missed out, dude! Look it up whenever you get a chance. I gotta say, that fighting was intense. Right guys?" Tatsuya and Keiichi responded with nods (Tatsuya more enthusiastically) while Pochi just stared into the distance.

"Hey Pochi-kun, you alright?" Tatsuya asked, only to gasp as he saw a swarm of demons charge towards a group of civilians. In front of the group was a girl with black hair parted into two ties. She had glasses, wore a black skirt and beret, and wielded a short staff. "Oh shit, that girl's in trouble!"

"Not if I have anything to say about it!" Kaoru shouted. "SHIN OTOKODAMA!"

A beam of energy shot from Kaoru's hand, knocking a demon on its back. The crowd gasped and the girl turned in astonishment.

Kaoru continued his cry. "We're just some passing martial artists joining the fight! I've got no idea what's going on, but we're here to back you up!"

"You are…um, who are you?" the girl asked. "Oh, the commentator!"

"Whoa!" Kaoru shouted, causing the girl to turn again. The rest of the demons had gathered together, chanting in an inhuman tongue as strange energy emitted from their hands. A rune suddenly appeared, emitting the same energy and covering the ground that Kaoru and his friends stood on.

"Is that high ancient magic?" the girl muttered. "Oh no! Get back!"

"Don't worry," Ranma yelled, "'cause now it's my turn! MOKO TAKABISHA!" He crossed his arms, gathered ki, and shot the energy forward . The ball was wide enough to smack two demons off their feet, creating confusion among their ranks. The chanting stopped, and the rune faded away.

The girl began to panic. "There's still some left! Sagitta Magica, Series Septemdecim Aqua!" She held her staff forward, and a series of water arrows shot forward. Like missles the arrows split off, splashing the remaining demons with enough force to knock them unconscious.

Tatsuya smirked. "Nice shooting…eh…sorry, what's your name?"

"Oh! Sorry! My name is Megumi Natsume! Call me Nutmeg!"

Pochi gave her a nod. "Impressive attack, Nutmeg. You have any clue what's going on?"

As if on cue, a giant hologram appeared in the sky. It was of a blonde hair teenage girl wearing a rather elaborate white dress. And by "elaborate" this author means "damn, how is it possible for her boobs to hang out like that without anyone seeing her nipples?"

"Is everyone enjoying themselves?" the girl asked. "Excuse us for all the fuss! This is the Mahora Academy Events Executive Committee! Welcome to our Last-Day-Of-Summer-Vacation Surprise Event!"

If you think this author's going to recreate the entire Ayaka Yukihiro speech scene, then you're either insane or ignorant to how long this chapter already is. You should know how the scene goes (if you don't, I did warn you before about spoilers), so I should be allowed to skip.

"Oh I get it." Kaoru said. "A surprise event, huh? You got a real class act going here!"

"Hell yeah!" Tatsuya cheered, pumping his fist into the air. "Let's rock!"

"You guys really think this is just a game?" Kaoru and Tatsuya's faces lost their excitement as they saw Ranma's serious face.

"I'm sorry?" Kaoru asked confusedly.

Ranma looked around, as though he were assuring himself of something. "Too much mayhem. Too much destruction. Yeah, this is as much of a game as one of Principal Kuno's obstacle courses."

"Principal Kuno?"

"The principal of my school. He'd gather the school together for surprise obstacle courses to reach a pineapple. He'd force everybody to get haircuts if nobody finished. Then he'd rig the course with fake pineapple bombs and other traps to make sure no one passed."

Tatsuya's jaw nearly hit the ground. "That…that's horrible!"

Kaoru was also shocked, but managed to keep his composure. "So what are you trying to say? That all of this is real?"

Ranma shook his head. "I don't know. All I'm saying is that something's wrong with this. I've been in enough games, duels, and competitions to know that this is way too chaotic." Ranma bent down and began feeling the ground, moving his hand as though he were wiping the dirt away. "And then there was that energy before. I have no clue what that was, but no way was that ki. Nutmeg, didn't you say something about 'high ancient magic'?"

Nutmeg shook her head ferociously. "N-No I didn't! No way! Wh-Why would I say something like that?" She stopped shaking her head, but still trembled. Did I really say that out loud? Stupid!

Pochi decided to chime in, and to Nutmeg's relief he ignored her outburst. "So now you're suggesting magic, Ranma-san? That's insane."

"Hey," Ranma retorted, "this attack is nowhere close to being the craziest thing I've ever seen. Although I'll admit, the giant glowing tree and the floating castle are certainly out there."

"Speaking of giant trees," Kaoru replied, "we really should be heading for the World Tree now. They said these Martians are going after it, so that's where all the fun is gonna be. You guys with me?" The group all responded with nods.

"All right, guys! Let's get 'em!"

X~~~X~~~X~~~X~~~X

"FIST OF THE WHITE SWAN!"

Mousse leapt up to the demon's back and smacked it on the back of its neck. It fell forward and laid down unconscious.

He laughed triumphantly. "Ha! Shouldn't have exposed your back, you oversized freak!" He suddenly found his laughter shrinking as he saw the ground below him get covered in a shadow. Turning behind, he saw another demon standing behind him.

"Stupid Mousse no brag! HI-YAH!" Shampoo emerged, landing a flying kick on the side of the demon's head. It was sent several feet to the side, conscious but definitely dazed.

"Oh Shampoo! Thank you for saving me!" Mousse jumped in hopes of making a successful glomp on Shampoo, but instead received a punch to the face, breaking his glasses.

"You try too hard stupid." Shampoo got back to a ready stance as Mousse grabbed another pair of glasses from his robe. The demon from before was back on its feet, but it now had two companions with it. However, before they could do anything a green blur swept by, knocking each demon out with a single hit.

"Great-Grandmama!" Shampoo shouted as the blur disappeared, revealing Cologne on her staff. "Where you come from?"

"Oh, darling, I was doing some touring of my own before all this madness started." Cologne took a look around, her eyes peering at everything destroyed. "I'm afraid it is as I feared. Shampoo, Mousse, I'll need you to come with me. I need you two to do something."

"What do you need done?" Mousse asked.

"You will see. But you must promise not to question my orders. Understood?"

They hesitated for a second, but eventually nodded and ran off.

X~~~X~~~X~~~X~~~X

Keiichi slid under the demon's legs, striking both of its ankles with his feet. It stumbled slightly, allowing Keiichi to stand up, position himself at its side, and ram it with his knee. In a continuous twirling motion he made his way to its hunched back and jumped on top, only to drill his foot into the back of the demon's head. It fell over to the ground, allowing Keiichi to jump off.

As he caught his breath, he began to feel the adrenaline building inside him. My 3-D Jutsu allows me to attack and defend from the air as though it were the ground. It's practically made for big guys like this thing. It gave me enough openings for me to dance circles. A smirk almost formed on his face, but disappeared when he saw that the demon was still conscious. Just as quick as the smirk vanish did it reappear as Pochi arrived, connecting his boot heel to the demon's jaw.

"Hey Keiichi-san, you're supposed to finish the opponent before you pose."

"Very funny, Pochi-san." A kind of crashing sound roared from the sky, turning the two's attention upwards. "Hmm? What was that?"

Several odd objects appeared in the sky, floating away from the giant structure. No less than a second later was a building crushed by a meteor-sized rock.

Nutmeg screamed. "N-n-now the sky's dropping rocks?"

Kaoru also panicked. "Hold it, this can't be right! Ain't people gonna die from this?"

"Welcome to my world!" With a confident smirk, Ranma jumped up into the air and crossed his arms. Shouting "MOKO TAKABISHA!", Ranma cupped his hands upward, shooting a ki blast that blew one of the rocks to pieces.

Tatsuya stared with awe. "Whoa, Ranma-kun, that's awesome! That's stronger than my Double Retsukusho! You gotta show me how to do that!"

"Later, Tatsuya! We gotta keep moving!" However, before he could take another step, Ranma noticed a small boulder, no doubt shrapnel from the giant rock, heading its way to the ground near him. Ranma cursed as he saw the rock's target: a nearby fire hydrant.

A stream of water shot outward like a bullet, knocking Ranma off his feet. He felt himself land on top of Tatsuya as the two were carried off the other side of the street. Kaoru, Nutmeg, Pochi, and Keiichi all heard the gushing water and ran to their friends' aid.

"Tatsuya! Ranma! You guys al-" Kaoru didn't finish his question as he looked at the two surprised. Similar expressions formed on the faces of his friends.

"Everything's good! Right, Ran…ma?" The delay in Tatsuya's question came from a quick realization that one of his hands had grabbed…something. He couldn't put it into words, but it was definitely round, definitely large, and definitely…pillowy? His curiosity turned to horror as he looked up to see eyes. A girl's eyes. An angry girl's eyes.

"Hands of the boobs, jackass!" she shouted.

"WAAAHH!" Tatsuya leapt backwards, landing square on his ass. He pointed at her, his shock making his finger bounce wildly. "Wh-wh-who are you? Where's Ranma-kun?"

Keiichi, however, took a step forward while looking at the girl, specifically at her clothes. "Ranma?" His eyes widened when she responded with a casual nod.

"WHAT?" Tatsuya shouted. "Ranma's a tall black-haired dude! How could this red-haired chick be Ranma-kun?"

Keiichi stared at him. "Tatsuya-san, look at her clothes."

Tatsuya complied, and his eyebrow raised. "Those...those are the same clothes Ranma wore. But how?" He looked down, his mind reeling with possible explanations. "Maybe that's a different set? It's not too crazy for two people to have the same outfit, right?"

Keeichi was now glaring. "The sleeve."

"The what?" Tatsuya turned back to the girl, and saw it. "Oh god, what's all that black stuff?"

"Black stuff?" Kaoru repeated. "Let me see." Tatsuya moved out of the way as Kaoru examined it. "Yeah, I saw this before. Pretty sure it's blood. I saw one of those monster cough it up on..."

Kaoru could practically hear the switch click in his head.

"I-It coughed this up on Ranma's sleeve! This is the same stain! How did you get this?"

"If you give me a sec I'll show you," the girl said as she stood up. She turned around to see the lights in the building behind her. "Neat, a café. They'll definitely have some hot water."

She went inside, the other five following her sheepishly. She spotted a kettle sitting by itself on the counter. "Hm, not as hot as usual, but it'll still do." And then she did something unexpected; she lifted it above her head and poured the water on herself. The group gasped as the girl disappeared, instantly replaced with a familiar boy.

"Wh-wh-wh-what?" Tatsuya stammered. He slowly approached the boy, and put his hand on the boy's chest. "They're…they're gone! But that's impossible!"

"Ranma-kun?" Kaoru asked, receving another nod. "What…what just happened?"

Ranma smirked again. "It's a long story."

"Then make it short. What the hell was that?"

"It was a Jusenkyo curse, alright?"

"A what?" Tatsuya asked.

"A Jusenkyo curse. Over a year ago me and my pop went to a ground of cursed springs in China. I fell in one of 'em. Cold water turns me into a girl, hot water into a boy. That's how the curse works."

"If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes I wouldn't have believed it." Pochi remarked.

"You weren't kidding when you said you had seen crazier stuff." Kaoru added. "Magic gender bender curse? Easily the craziest thing I've ever seen."

"So that leaves the next big question," Keiichi asked. "You were talking about how everything felt too 'real' outside a while ago, while mentioning something about magic. And you have your curse. So what does that make those things outside?"

"I dunno. I have no clue what's going on outside, but that shouldn't matter right now. They're causing damage, and as martial artists it's our duty to stop them. You guys with me?"

Receiving a couple of nods (and a fistpump and "Yeah!" from Tatsuya), Ranma led the group back to the street to continue their charge. He was pretty surprised to see the revelation of his curse go as smoothly as it did, but they did only ask for a quick explanation. They knew as well as he did about the destruction outside, and would've berated him if he did the whole story.

As he ran, he heard a voice barely reach him.

"Uh, Ranma-kun?"

"Yeah, Tatsuya?"

"About the whole, uh, boob thing, um, did that hurt at all?"

"Nah, it's happened before. It doesn't hurt, but it isn't comfortable."

"Oh. Sorry for that, man."

"Uh, it's no problem. Just focus and don't do that again, alright?"

"Got it, Ranma-kun."

Ranma continued running forward, but began to feel uneasy. Is this what it feels like when someone apologizes to you? It feels all weird and stuff. Maybe I'm better off with people just punching me.

Meanwhile, Nutmeg stayed in the back of the group, keeping her eyes on Ranma. So not only does he know magic, but he's also cursed? Really good I stayed quiet then; I would've been exposed for sure if I tried to argue. Better deal with this quickly so I can alert Takane-sempai. I just hope things don't get worse.

X~~~X~~~X~~~X~~~X

"GYYAAH!"

Ryoga leapt forward, caving a demon's face in with his fist. As it stumbled backwards he delivered a side kick to its chest. It didn't launch forward as he expected, but it was pushed several feet back before it fell.

He began to look around, a panicked look in his eyes. "Akane! Akane! Where are you?" However, he couldn't find her amongst the chaos, and he found that his voice couldn't carry over the noise. His cries quickly shrank until he was silent.

As he moved forward, there was only one thing he could do: curse Ranma. Damn him! First he leaves Akane by herself and then he just runs off! Now Akane's most likely in danger somewhere! If only I could tell where I was going!

"GAAAAH!" he cried. "Could there please be someone I know here?" He had lifted his head to shout to the heavens, but he now allowed it to sink to the ground. He sighed as a familiar sense of hopelessness waved through him.

As the smoke began to clear, he looked up to see a figure in the distance. He began to run towards it, seeing the figure split in two, one standing in a fighting stance, the other leaning on a wall. Who is that, and why is it giving me a familiar feeling? W-Wait! Th-That hair! Could it be…yes! I've found you, Akane, all safe and sound! That must be Nabiki next to her! A tear of joy ran down his cheeks. Finally I've managed to find someone! Don't worry, Akane, if Ranma won't protect you, then I will!

And then the world went black.

X~~~X~~~X~~~X~~~X

"Is that a giant telescope?" Pochi asked as the group ran towards a large structure in the middle of the street. The group could easily see that it was, but they could also see a group of girls running around in circles while trying to avoid the demons.

"More civilians in danger, guys!" Kaoru shouted. "Tatsuya-kun, Nutmeg-chan, start us off. Everyone else, get ready to charge in."

Tatsuya nodded. "Got it, Kaoru-kun." He charged ki into both of his hands, cupping them together before stretching his arms forward. "DOUBLE RETSUKUSHO!"

Nutmeg held out her staff. "SAGITTA MAGICA, SERIES UNDETRIGINTA AQUA!"

A beam of ki and 29 water arrows shot forward, One demon took the full brunt of the Retsukusho, and was knocked out instantly, while the rest of the demons were dazed by the water arrow barrage. The demons could barely recover as the rest of the martial artists charged forward, fists and kicks flying away.

"Ranma! To the right!" Ranma turned, to see Keiichi charging towards a demon standing over a girl. The girl had short black hair and a Mahora schoolgirl uniform, but her most notable feature were her eyes, which glowed an unnatural green. Like waving lights her eyes moved back and forth, her mind in clear terror.

Keiichi distracted the demon with a swift kick to the ankle, following through with several punches to the gut. However, although the monster stumbled backwards it did not fall. The girl ran off as Ranma charged forward, landing a flying kick that caused the demon to stagger again. He quickly threw in a uppercut that sent the beast flying.

"GRAAAGH!" The brief sigh of relief ended as Ranma and Keiichi turned around, spotting a second demon that had managed to sneak up on them. They quickly got into their fighting stances, although Keiichi was still shaken.

"COLLATERAL SHOT!" A ball of energy was shot forth like a bullet, hitting the demon in the back of the head. It fell face-first to the pavement, revealing the same girl from before, now wielding what looked like a pistol.

"Wow!" The girl muttered, holding her gun up to her eyes. "No wonder you martial artist types like shouting attack names and stuff! It feels so cool!" She noticed Ranma and Keiichi staring at her and waved. "Hey guys! Thanks for the save!"

"My thoughts exactly." Keiichi answered. "Who are you?"

"Who am I?" the girl repeated, an odd sense of joy in her voice.

And then it happened.

"Like the flower that blooms in destruction, I shall deal justice to the beasts that stray this land! For I am the President of the Mahora Academy Science Club, Ayame Burakuban!" Insert a bunch of twists and turns before ending with the gun held over her head triumphantly.

Both fighters had gotten out of their stances, but their reactions were different. Ranma was visibly confused, with his head tilted and one of his eyebrows raised. Keiichi, however, was visibly broken, his eyes widening with astonishment and fear, and his posture frozen like ice.

"I see you have been left breathless by introduction. Is it any good?"

Ranma squeezed the bridge of his nose. "Oh yeah, um, sure. Pretty freaky, but I guess it's still good." Keiichi wouldn't answer, allowing Ranma to continue. "By the way, I'm Ranma, and he's Keiichi."

"Okay, what the hell is going on here?" Kaoru shouted, arriving with the rest of the group. "I could've sworn I heard trumpets or something."

Ayame turned and pointed her gun at the group, causing them to jump. "I see there are more guests. Who might you be?"

"I'm Kaoru, he's Tatsuya, he's Pochi, and she's Nutmeg. Now who are you, what are you doing here, and could you please put the gun down?"

"Hmph, it's a shame you missed my introduction, because I only do it once. I'm Ayame, President of the Mahora Science Club. My lackeys and I have teamed up with our comrades in the Astronomy Club to prove a certain rumor."

"WE ARE NOT YOUR LACKEYS!" a female voice cried from the telescope.

Ayame chuckled. "Hehe, it'd be best to ignore them."

Kaoru was shaking his head, but he complied. "What rumor are we talking about?"

"The rumor of the Child Teacher, Negi Springfield."

Ranma perked his head up "Wait, is Negi here?"

"You know Negi?" Kaoru asked.

"Yeah. Showed up in my town a couple of weeks ago. You?"

"He was one of the contestants in the Tournament. Kicked my ass to get to the first round. He actually made it all the way to the final round before losing to his dad of all guys."

"As I was saying," Ayame interrupted, "there are rumors going around saying that you can see the Child Teacher in the structure up there. The Astronomy Club lent us one of their telescopes, which we have modified. Not only have we boosted the magnification, but we've also installed a camera to get photographs."

"Cool," Kaoru muttered. "Can we see?"

"Sure. Should be done by now anyway."

The group approached a computer screen next to the telescope. One of the girls had her eye in the lens, and was trying to adjust it. The screen displayed what the scope saw, jittering with every movement like the screen of a shaky camera.

"Everything set yet?"

"Almost, Ayame-sempai. Calibration is complete. Scanning now."

As they watched the screen, Ayame felt a tap on her shoulder. She turned to see Tatsuya waving at her."

"What do you want?" she asked.

"I just wanted to ask about that gun you had."

"Hmm? Oh, you mean this little baby." She shook her hand, which still held the gun at its grip. "This was one of the pistols the Committee was distributing. Pretty cool, huh?"

"I know that. But that bullet was far stronger than anything I've seen from the other guns. How did you do that?"

"I have no clue what's in this thing, but it can be taken apart. Anything taken apart can be rebuilt, and anything that can be rebuilt can be modified. I was able to install an amplifier that allows it to fire a more powerful blast than a standard shot."

"DON'T TAKE ALL THE CREDIT YOU BITCH!" another voice cried.

"OI! SANAKO! SHUT IT!" Ayame took a breath to recompose herself. "Sorry for that. Anyway, the unfortunate downside is that it uses up about 3 or 4 regular shots for a single Collateral Shot."

"Yeah about that…seriously? Collateral Shot? Does that even mean anything?"

"Hey, don't judge! I've heard you fighters shout goofier crap!"

"True, but the names aren't gibberish. Every part of a technique, including its very name, has a purpose to its use."

"Look, I just made something up that sounded kinda good, alright? And don't get all philosophical with this 'purpose' bull-"

"Hey Ayame-sempai! Target confirmed! Negi Springfield is now on screen!"

Ayame and Tasuya turned around, and joined their friends in staring in awe. On the screen were two boys gripping their hands together. One was clearly Negi Springfield, although he looked so radically different that it took a while for the group to recognize him. The other boy had an outfit similar to Negi's Chinese-esque garb, and had short bleach-white hair.

"Whoa," Kaoru muttered. "look how different Negi looks! Damn!"

Keiichi smirked. "Heh, I have no clue why Negi's suddenly gone for the 'Super Saiyan 3' look, but I'll admit…he definitely makes it look good."

Tatsuya turned to Ranma. "Negi looks like he's made of lightning right now! And he's glowing just as much! You recognize any of this?"

Ranma shook his head. "Nah, never seen anything like this before. But what about that other kid? Anybody recognize him?"

Tatsuya also shook his head. "Nope. But man, you can just feel the energy! Whatever's going on there, it's gotta be intense!"

"Oh sure," Pochi snarked. "Definitely the most ridiculously intense handshake contest I've ever seen."

"Hey," Ranma countered, "it's not all that ridiculous. Maybe they're in…I don't know…a Martial Arts Handshaking match?"

"Martial…Arts…Handshaking," Pochi repeated, enunciating each word. "You have realized by now that everything you've said sounds absolutely insane, right? Even the stuff that was true?"

"Hey, when you mastered the arts of Martial Arts Eating and Martial Arts Tea Ceremony, then talk to me about crazy."

Tatsuya stared, his mouth dropping. Pochi hit his palm to his head. "O-Oh god. I can literally feel my brain cells popping."

"Hey guys! Check this out!" The three turned back to the screen. Negi and the other boy were staring at each other harder, the grip on each other's arms becoming tighter. In a single motion the two pulled back their other arms, each glowing with a different energy, and swung them at each other. The resulting clash created a white light that quickly blinded the screen. The group looked up at structure and saw the light growing and spreading like sunlight.

"I-It's too bright!" Tatsuya shouted. "I can't see!" He instinctively closed his eyes, and shielded them further by holding up his arms. Each member of the group found themselves doing the same thing as the light swept through them.

As quickly as the light came the light vanished. Confused, everyone opened their eyes slowly, some of them blinking wildly to remove the glare.

"Whoa, that was unreal!" Kaoru cried, a bit of ecstasy in his voice. "Any guesses as to what happened?"

"No clue," Ayame answered. She turned her attention back to the screen, and felt her eyes go wide. "W-What? What's happened to Negi and the other kid?"

"I-I can't find them!" one of the girls shouted as she began to move the lens frantically. "It's like they've completely vanished!"

"Um, guys? They're not the only ones missing." Kaoru and Ayame turned to Tatsuya, who was looking around himself. He looked back at the two, his eyes containing a mix of confusion and panic.

"Where's Ranma?"

X~~~X~~~X~~~X~~~X

The bell rung as the door to the Cat Café opened.

"Hm? Oh. You're already back. Successful?"

Mousse panted, taking in a few breaths. "Yeah, we did it. Ranma, Ryoga, Akane, and Nabiki have all been returned to the Tendos. Nobody heard us, and they were still unconscious when we left."

"Excellent. Now it's best you two head up to bed. I can't have you two sleeping during work hours."

Mousse complied, and headed up the stairs. However, his companion hesitated.

"Great-grandmama, I still curious why we knock out Airen."

"Shampoo, I already told you not to ask questions. Now go to bed."

As Shampoo left, Cologne jumped on her staff and hopped outside. In the quiet of the night Cologne could look at the stars in peace.

So is that what it's like? A battle of Western magic? I would have never anticipated such widescale destruction, but I suppose it is understandable, given its power. I have done my part, but I'm afraid that it's too little too late.

Cologne sighed. It has been a long time since I've last seen you, old friend. I hope you are ready to see me again after so long, because if Ranma Saotome has become involved, then you will have no choice.

Damn, I'm not trying to make these long waits a pattern. Honestly, I've had this chapter ready for several weeks, but have had to put off submitting it due to college stuff. I don't want to make promises, but I'll try to get the next chapter in sooner.

First battle scenes for this fic, and I gotta say, writing this stuff is tougher than it looks. You can't just say "Ranma punched X" or "Ranma kicked X" or "Ranma Hiryu Shoten Ha'd X" all the time, because it'd get boring even for me. I hope I'm doing the narration for the battle scenes correctly; going through each motion feels right to me, but it might not work for someone else. This chapter is also a first for me following events that occur in the Negima manga. Being the canon-obsessed man I am, I assure you that this won't be the last time.

Kaoru and Nutmeg are both notable enough characters in Negima that I don't need to give them introductions. For those who've forgotten Tatsuya, Pochi, and/or Keiichi, they're all minor characters who filled spots in the Mahora Tournament. I needed Kaoru in this chapter, and when I saw he was with these guys in the manga I knew I had to use them too. Ayame is my first OC (Original Character). Yes, she is a blatant reference, and yes, it's so blatant that I won't even say what it is.

Finally, I'd like to thank you guys for your continued support. As a still-novice writer it pumps me up to see feedback. I am really excited to work on the chapters to come!