The contest that Eris had started two months ago with 500 contestants had seen its participants drop to a mere handful. Most of those who had lasted through the first month of merely surviving the harsh and wild environment of Eris had dropped out when faced with the monsters the planetary spirit had unleashed. Currently, Eris was floating in the Astral Plane looking at her remaining potential champions. She soon began to talk to herself. "Yes, all of them are coming along marvelously. Any one of them is physically strong enough to wield my power. Even that Saotome kid is at an acceptable level."

Eris then grinned to herself and began to peer into the remaining eight's hearts and minds. She was looking for their greatest and darkest fears so that she could bring those fears to life in nightmares. A person's physical strength was important to Eris, but she also valued a person's mental strength. Being a champion involved a person facing whatever horrors the universe could potentially throw at the champion. Eris was not about to claim a champion who would run in fear. Only someone who could either conquer or control their fear was mentally fit enough to be a champion.

Soon enough Eris found out what her remaining challengers were most afraid of. She was so surprised at some of the fears that she blurted out, "What the Tatarus? Why would anyone have cats, getting married, or being turned into a woman as their greatest fears? Oh Neko-ken, well being subjected to that messed up berserker technique can explain away that Saotome brat's fear. But seriously, what's going on with that Amazon girl and that Musk prince?"

The planetary spirit fumed for a few minutes about the weirdoes she was counting on to defend her. After Eris let off some steam she cracked her knuckles and muttered to herself. "Oh well, weird fears only mean that they won't fear the regular tricks. Now how can I really make these contestants scream in terror?"

Eris was so involved in her efforts that she never bothered to notice that she had company. The other planetary spirits looked at Eris and shook their heads. "What's going through that crazy broad's mind this time?" Jupiter muttered.

Terra scowled and practically growled out, "I can't believe it. How can Sol let her get away with treating MY tenets like that?" Similar sentiments came from the other spirits as they watched the black sheep of the system really get into her work.

Ranma gulped down a lump in his throat as his body quivered in terror. His mind was racing to try and figure out how the hell he had gotten into his present situation. The last thing he could recall was lying down in his cave after hard day's work of training. So, how did he end up bound in a pit with a whole bunch of starving tigers?

Almost as soon as Ranma was aware of the situation he began looking around for a way to escape. His arms and legs were tightly bound in chains. Furthermore, the two sets of limbs were connected to each other behind Ranma's back. The young Saotome boy tried to think of a way to free himself. Ranma was sure that if only it was just his arms or his legs that were bound he could escape. However, he didn't know a technique that would let him break free with both bound. All the while, the terror within him kept on growing.

The nearest tiger roared at Ranma and then leaped towards the young martial artists. Something within Ranma snapped as he saw the tiger leap towards him and the boy let loose a roar in challenge. Cat Ranma quickly used his claws to slash the chains off and he then landed on all fours. Both the Tiger and Cat Ranma started circling each other looking for an opening.

It was the tiger that made the first move by lashing out at Cat Ranma. The berserker martial artist leaped into the air and slashed at his opponent with his front paws. Blades made out vacuum rushed at the tiger killing it instantly. Cat Ranma then charged at the other tigers ready to drive the offending males from his territory. The slaughter was swift and brutal as the berserker tore into the tigers. Soon enough, only Cat Ranma remained in the pit. He then leaped up the walls of the pit and escaped into a lush forest.

Cat Ranma began looking around his territory trying to find something to eat or drink. After a few minutes of searching, the berserker paused to sniff the air. He caught the delectable sent of a female in heat and rushed off. The feline acting boy soon caught up to a bronze and crimson stripped tigress that was drinking from a nearby stream. Cat Ranma moved to approach the tigress only to be met hostility. Nevertheless, Cat Ranma was just as stubborn as his human counterpart and eventually got the tigress receptive to him.

Just as Cat Ranma was about to mate with the tigress, an anvil fell on his head from the sky turning him into a pancake. The tigress then shifted her form to reveal Eris crouching on the grass next to the unconscious young man. Eris stood up, put her hands on her hips, and shook her head. "That was pathetic Ranma." She then snapped her fingers causing Ranma's mindscape to revert back to the pit. Eris blinked her eyes and Ranma was bound just as he had been and another batch of tigers appeared. Before leaving the pit Eris placed a soft peck on his cheek. "Try to last longer next time."

Ranma woke up just after Eris vanished to find himself right where he had started out. This cycle of events repeated itself again and again throughout the night and every time Ranma tried to get to sleep that month. The young martial artist was always exhausted when he woke up and tried to ignore the nightmares Eris was sending him. Unknown to Ranma, he always managed to hold onto his sanity for a few seconds longer during each cycle in the pit. Furthermore, the cat persona started to slowly become more in sync with Ranma's true self.

A month of constantly fighting monsters during the day and being repeatedly subjected to nightmares during the night had really taken its toll on Ranma. There were bags under Ranma's eyes from the lack of sleep. His muscles were aching from all the training and fighting he went through daily. Only two things kept the young Saotome boy from calling it quits. The first thing was the training Ranma was receiving from being on Eris. Secondly, the boy was simply too stubborn to throw in the towel.

Ranma practically dragged himself into his cave after fighting for his dinner and then crawled over to where the regenerative berries grew. He quickly grabbed a handful and devoured them. Relief soon came to Ranma as the magic in the berries took away the pain and started mending his body.

The next thing Ranma did was roll over onto his back and he stared at the cave ceiling. In most places, a ceiling is a rather uninteresting thing. However, boring did not exist on Eris. Before Ranma's eyes the cave ceiling continually changed. Stalactites constantly grew and shrank while veins of semi-precious minerals danced across the ceiling like fire in a fireplace. Ranma found the whole effect of this rather soothing as the ceiling was just active enough to keep from being boring while not being too active that he couldn't relax.

Suddenly, Ranma's quiet solitude ended when the sound of clapping started echoing throughout the cave. Ranma immediately sprang to his feet and slipped into a defensive stance. A voice immediately called out to Ranma from all directions, "Marvelous, simply marvelous. Your training these past three months has done you wonders Ranma Saotome."

Ranma quickly realized who was talking to him and he relaxed his guard slightly. "Would it hurt to show yourself Eris? Why are you here?"

A crimson haired, bronzed skin woman wearing an outfit inspired by the clothing that many artists typically drew the Greek goddess Artemis in appeared. Eris shook her head slightly as she looked at Ranma. "Silly boy, I am this planet. You've been seeing me every waking minute since you arrived here." The planetary spirit paused for a second and an almost predatory gleam appeared in her eye. Suddenly, her outfit vanished and the now nude Eris continued talking. "Still, I suppose that for a human like you it's easier to talk with someone that is at least vaguely human."

Only the most perverted teenage bit wouldn't get a little nervous being in the same area as an attractive woman like Eris. Ranma was a bit on the shy side immediately blushing and looking down at the ground. Unfortunately for Ranma, Eris wasn't ready just yet to stop teasing him. The planetary spirit immediately shifted her projected astral form behind Ranma and grabbed the young man pulling him close to her. She then began whispering sensuously into his ear. "What's the matter Ranma? You've admired my body and been inside me. Why so shy all of a sudden?"

Ranma was about ready to pass out at this point when Eris decided to stop her teasing. Eris shifted her astral form back to being clothed and in front of Ranma. She also adopted a no nonsense demeanor snapping Ranma out of his shyness induced stupor. "This is your notice that the three months of training are over Ranma. Congratulations on being one of seven individuals who were capable of surviving the training."

"Now then, you've got a choice before you Ranma. You can either choose to quit now or fight in the tournament to decide who the champion will be. If you quit, you'll be sent back to Earth as you are. If you continue, you'll be put in a tournament to decide who will be my champion granting you power the likes of which you can only imagine. However, there is a catch with this tournament. If you lose either by death or defeat, you'll be sent back to Earth with all your memories and training here erased. The choice is up to you. Will you deem yourself satisfied at your current level knowing that you had the chance to be so much greater or, are you willing to risk everything to achieve that goal?"

Ranma quickly made up his mind on his choice. "I haven't backed away from a challenge yet and I won't do so now. I'll enter this tournament of yours."

Eris smiled at the young Saotome and then snapped her hands. The cave vanished and the duo was now in a regal looking bedchamber. "Welcome to Dysnomia Castle Ranma. This room will be yours to rest up for the tournament tomorrow. Any dish you want to eat can be summoned by holding the lid on that food cart and thinking about what you want. An alarm will go off an hour before the tournament begins. When that alarm rings, simply go through that door to your right and you'll arrive at the arena."

The planetary spirit vanished as soon a she finished speaking leaving Ranma alone in his chambers. Ranma quickly found the bathroom and enjoyed a nice long hot bath. After that, he had dinner and watched some TV. Finally, he went to bed and rested up for the tournament.

The arena was dark underground cavern with a huge slab of stone floating above a pit of lava with smaller floating stones connecting it to the arena entrance. Ranma gulped as he looked out at the lava. It was quite obvious why the matches would be until defeat or death. Giving the lava one last good glance, Ranma turned his head to look for his fellow competitors. However, Ranma could only see Eris standing next to the arena exit looking incredibly enraged. "Uh Eris, where are the other competitors?"

Eris suddenly exploded in rage yelling out loud enough to cause the entire arena to shake. "THOSE NO GOOD JERKS DECIDED TO QUIT LAST NIGHT!!!! HOW DARE THEY DECIDE TO QUIT AFTER AGREEING TO MY TOURNAMENT. THIS IS THE THANKS I GET FOR GIVING YOU PEOPLE A LITTLE R&R BEFORE A DEATH MATCH?!"

Ranma had been blown away by Eris's ranting and was plastered with his back on the wall. He pulled himself out of the wall and then took a step towards Eris. "Uh, does that mean that I win the tournament?"

Eris fell to her knees and started wailing out her response. "Yes damn it! Why is it that I'm stuck with the weakest finalist as my champion?! It's just not fair! I wanted Prince Herb or that ninja Itachi to be my champion."

At this point Ranma's pride got the better of him and he quickly got front of Eris's face. "Hey! What's the matter with me winning and why the hell were you hoping for someone else to win?"

The irate planetary spirit sent Ranma a glare that could kill an elephant as she responded to his demand. "Let me spell it out for you, you're the W-E-A-K-E-S-T, weakest person to survived the three months of training! Your closest competitor stats wise was twice as strong as you. Well, at least they were before those bums ran out and lost all the progress they made. Their loss of progress has placed you second among them given what they were when they first arrived."

"Don't get me wrong Ranma, you're a powerful fighter and you made tremendous progress in your training. However, I was simply expecting you to be a nice warm-up for one of the other finalists when you decided to continue on with the tournament. A challenging warm-up to be sure, but the odds were extremely high against you."

"And yet," A voice boomed out surprising both Eris and Ranma, "the boy has emerged as the winner of the tournament." Sol's astral form suddenly appeared and the solar spirit continued on. "Strength, adaptability, and luck are what allow individuals and races to survive in chaotic environments. Those that survive and thrive in chaos pass down those traits which allowed them to do so well to the next generation. It is thus that the process of evolution occurs."

"The boy Ranma is a clear example of luck coming into play. He was the weakest fighter in your tournament, but he had something that the other competitors didn't have: a lack of outside influences. He only had to risk losing three months of training, your other competitors' risked loosing status and other negative consequences if they returned home after 3 months of training with nothing to show. It simply luck that the boy would be so stubborn and willing to risk everything even after a chance to think it over in a much more peaceful location."

Sol's explanation annoyed Eris, but she accepted what he was saying. Any thoughts that the solar spirit had stacked the deal for Ranma were squashed by Eris. She knew that Sol would not and did not interfere in her competition. The planetary spirit sighed. "You're right Sol." She then turn to Ranma and gave his a mildly friendly smile. "I, the spirit Eris of Sol's domain, do hereby declare Ranma Saotome, the son of Genma and Nodoka Saotome, to be the winner of my competition. From henceforth, Ranma Saotome will be my champion on the mortal plane."

There was a flash of light that emanated from Eris signaling that her champion had been selected. Sol then started glowing with a golden light and he regally began to speak. "I Sol, Lord of all within my reach, do hereby approve of the sprit Eris's choice of champion." He then turned to look Ranma in the eye before continuing. "Do you, Ranma Saotome accept your position of champion for the spirit Eris? Are you willing to fight in her name to the utmost of your abilities to defend her and any innocents you may find in harms way even if it might mean your death?"

It didn't take long for Ranma to make his decision. "Yes," he stated in a very clear and determined tone. The young martial artist knew from the beginning that if he won he'd be doing some sort of guard job. This wasn't exactly what he was expecting, but it was close enough. Besides, something about this reminded Ranma of all the tales his father used to tell about his samurai ancestors. The champion position didn't seem too different from the duties the samurai had to perform for their overlords.

Sol nodded his head and then finished his part of the initiation ceremony. "Your oath to Eris has been given and witnessed. From this day forward you shall be the Warrior of Chaos and Evolution. With this title you are charged with protecting life along with the means by which life can grow and thrive. Let your Lady and Benefactor now proclaim the name by which you shall ride into battle."

Eris grinned and stated, "Senshi Eris will be your battle name." There was another flash of light signaling the end of the impromptu ceremony. Sol then sent the planetary spirit a questioning glance to which she quickly responded. "What? He's not a girl so I don't have to use that annoying Sailor convention in his name. Furthermore, Terra is the only other spirit in your territory to have a male champion which means that the male naming convention has not been locked. Ranma may not have been my first original choice, but he's my warrior and will be known as such!"

Knowing Eris as he did, Sol simply took the spirit's antics in stride. The solar spirit then got to the last reason why he was in this neck of the woods. "Now that entitlement is completed, Senshi Eris needs to be empowered. Eris, how will you proceed with empowering your champion?"

The maverick planetary spirit snapped her fingers and the arena that had previously been set up vanished in a puff of smoke. Both Ranma and Sol started to get nervous when they saw the lava below start to bubble. Ranma's danger sense started blaring on full alert when he saw that the lava's color started randomly shifting colors. Eris calmly stated, "It's simple. All Ranma has to do to be empowered is to jump into the pit below."

"WHAT!" Eris and Sol turned around to see an annoyed Ranma. "Why do I have to jump into a pit of boiling lava? Seriously, isn't there a less painful way for me to become empowered?"

Ranma never noticed the gleam in Eris's eye as he started ranting. His ranting stopped when he felt Eris pressing herself against his back. The young Saotome started getting nervous and flustered when Eris started sensuously whispering in his ear. "Perhaps I could empower you in another way. Would a more intimate setting be to your liking?"

It was almost comical for Sol to watch as Ranma bolted away from Eris and jumped into the lava. The satisfied grin on Eris's face told Sol that she had planed for this to happen. He could only wonder what Eris was planning for her champion's senshi form. Knowing her, it was bound to be something outlandish and that broke all the norms for magical warriors.

Sol wasn't disappointed when the lava spat out a smoke covered person who had to be Ranma onto the edge of the rock cliff. The smoke soon dissipated and Sol wanted to smack his forehead when he got his first look at Senshi Eris. The first thing that caught Sol's attention was the thick, red hair that wildly flowed down to Senshi Eris's knees. Next, the warrior's face was dominated by a black Hand of Eris that went across his face like a mask covering his now cat-like red eyes. The rest of the face was covered in dark blue paint. Senshi Eris's outfit was something that a heavy metal rock star from the 80s would have worn. He had a studded leather jacket, black half-gloves, spandex pants, studded shin guards, and boots.

Senshi Eris broke the silence caused by his appearance. "Whoa! This is incredible; I've got to be at least 10 times stronger than I originally was."

Eris grinned at her champion's remarks. "Actually, the physical enhancements in this form are 13 times that of your base form. That is not considering the magical defenses you've gained along with the large energy well you've gain through your connection with me. Now then, you're going to stay here for the next week to learn about your new abilities and then you'll return to Earth."

Ranma appeared in a back alley wearing a white Chinese shirt and black silk pants. He took a moment to adjust his backpack and then left the alley. According to Eris, his father had been spending the past three months living back with his mother. It had been quite a shock for Ranma to find out that his mother was still alive. However, Ranma didn't let that phase him as he followed the direction Eris had given.

Soon enough, Ranma reached a small townhouse in a neighborhood on the outskirts of Nerima. He double-checked that he had the right number and then rang the doorbell. A few moments later, the door opened to reveal Nodoka standing in the door. The Saotome matriarch looked at Ranma and softly whispered, "Ranma? Is that you? Is, is that really you?"

Not trusting his voice, Ranma simply nodded his head. Nodoka quickly flung herself at Ranma scooping her son up in a hug as tears freely fell down her face. "Oh Ranma, I missed you so much! Your father said that you were going away on special training." She then moved him to arms length and muttered, "Let me get a good look at you. My, how strong and handsome you've grown. That class picture Genma showed me just doesn't do you justice."

Ranma just blushed under his mother's inspection. Nodoka quickly led her son inside and motioned for him to sit at the dinning room table. Meanwhile, the Saotome Matriarch hurried about getting things ready for some tea. She had just put the kettle on to boil when she started the conversation again. "Your father told me that you were entered into a three month long training session for a job that required a strong martial artist. Care to tell me about that?"

Thinking quickly, Ranma gave an edited story. "That's true. I was recruited as a free agent/bodyguard in a private security agency. They needed someone who could handle tough situations so they recruited me and many others as potential agents. For training, I had to survive in the wilderness which happened to be a desert. After we got used to roughing it in the desert, they started posting guards by the only source of food so every day I had to fight to eat. I got the job because I was the only one to make it through the training and not quit."

Nodoka smiled as she heard Ranma's description of the training. It defiantly something that only a real man among men could endure. She then brought the tray holding everything needed for tea over to the table, placed the tray on the table, and then sat down opposite Ranma. Nodoka then asked, "So son, are you going to continue school or are you going to be working full time?"

Ranma sighed. "I'll go back to school in the fall Mom with the rest of my year mates. My employer got me to take the tests to complete junior high and wants me to continue my education while I work. My boss told me that, 'Having a dumb guard is like having a dull sword'. Test scores weren't fantastic, but I'll be able to get into a fair number of good high schools."

Nodoka clapped her hands together. "Oh Ranma, it does me good to see that you're working your mind as well as your body. Do make sure to find a good looking smart girl when you go to school. If she's an upper classmen, then that's even better!" Visions of grandchildren started flowing through Nodoka's mind.

Luckily for Ranma, his mother was too distracted by thoughts of grandchildren to notice how uncomfortable Ranma was at her declarations. This awkward moment ended when the tea pot started to whistle snapping Nodoka out of her day dreams. Nodoka quickly picked up the tea pot and made some tea for the duo. They then started talking about everything that had happened over the 10 year long separation.

There was a knock at the door an hour after Ranma arrived. Ranma quickly got up from the table and told his mother that he'd get the door. He opened the door to find a large panda standing in the doorway. Everything suddenly got weirder just as Ranma tried to figure out why a panda was standing there because the panda suddenly pulled out a sign. The young champion of Eris was so surprised that he read the sign out loud. "Hello boy – get your poor father some hot water – I'll explain after that?"

Ranma didn't even bother to figure out how a two sided sign could have three sides. He simply turned his head and called out. "Mom, we've got a panda at the front door asking for some hot water? What should I do?"

Nodoka's answer quickly came as she called out, "Its okay Ranma just let your father in. I've got some water heating up dear. You'll be able to change back in just a few minutes." Ranma then watched as the Panda walked on his hind legs towards the kitchen. What had happened while in was gone?

Shortly after this little incident, the three members of the Saotome family were sitting at the kitchen table. Nodoka quickly started to fill Ranma in on his father's situation. "While you were gone, your father went on a short trip to China. He had been planning to take you there before that job offer came and wanted to see if there were any good places for the two of you to go train at after you got back. Unfortunately, one of the training grounds is cursed so that if you fall into spring there you turn into the last thing that drowned in the spring. Every time your father gets splashed with cold water he is turned into a panda. Luckily, hot water reverses the effects of this curse."

Genma simply grumbled, "How was I to know that the springs were cursed? It's not like they had a big warning: DO NOT USE TRAINING GROUNDS AS THEY ARE CURSED WE ARE NOT JOKING sign up every fifty feet on the path to the training ground written in many languages."

Ranma blinked his eyes and wondered about his father's stupidity. He then muttered to himself, "Glad I wasn't with you."

Genma took offense at that remark and shot back, "Your right it's a good thing you didn't come with me. Why, if you'd been there you'd probably turn into a little girl!"

Nodoka sent both her boys a firm glance and as she held up her tea cup. "Now, now boys, it's unmanly to for the two of you to carry on like that. Ranma, you should be grateful that your father was willing to go through such trouble and pain in order to see that you turned out into a man among men. Genma, you should not tease your son about things like that."

Twin replies of "Yes Mom," and "Yes Dear" came from the Saotome men. A small grin formed on Nodoka's face as she thought about how easy it was to get her strong men to listen to her. She then put down her tea cup and began to clear away the tea set.

Once the tea set was cleaned up, Nodoka turned around to address her family. "Let's go out to eat tonight. It's been so long since all three of us were together so I think we should celebrate."

Genma's face soured at that pronouncement. "But dear, I don't get paid until Thursday and the fun money for the week has been spent." The fun money never lasted past Friday night when Genma went out for his drinking binge at the local bar.

Ranma quickly spoke up, "It's okay. I can cover dinner." The young man got defensive thanks to the glances his parents were sending him. "What? The training was paid training for whoever got the job. It's all set up at the bank so all I have to do is withdraw some yen and then we can go out to eat."

Nodoka clapped her hands together. "That's wonderful Ranma. Isn't wonderful dear that Ranma can do this?" Genma nodded his head. He wasn't one to pass up free food. However, it was a little embarrassing that Ranma was able to do this when his wife asked and he could. As Genma and the rest of the family headed out, the Saotome patriarch comforted himself with the fact that this should make Ranma all the more appealing to Soun's daughters.