Crossover Fan Fiction / Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction ❯ Path of Chaos: Ascension of Supremacy ❯ Chapter 03b ( Chapter 4 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

PATH OF CHAOS

- Lord Rance

Disclaimer: Someone asked if I should just cut and paste one of the
currently existing disclaimers lying around somewhere. But I wrote back,
'What about the disclaimer for that disclaimer?'

Author Notes: A bit of descriptive decapitation in the beginning
paragraphs, but that's all. If you hate those, just cover your eyes and
press the down button to skip it. Otherwise, enjoy. ^_^

Ancient Language (used by gods and goddesses, Ancient Gods): ++

======================================================================== =====
CHAPTER 3B - A VIEW OF THE HOMEWORLD: ARRIVAL OF TWO STRANGERS
======================================================================== =====

In the era where time had no meaning, where everything was nothing but
empty space, there was a great war. The Ancient War between two opposing
forces of those created by the Darkness... the first sentient being in
the cosmos.

The Ancient Gods... modern times called them Titans... waged war for
control over the entireness of existence. Against three of those who
were direct descendants from the Darkness itself. The Trinity of Power
that were granted the powers of creation itself.

When there was only the Darkness, nothing ever existed in the span of
space. Nothing but the bleakness of despair and loneliness that went on
for thousands of eons, allowing the Darkness to gain its own sentience.
Finally, as a forethought, the Darkness pulsed and created the first
species of the Universe, the Ancient Gods, as a catalyst to begin and
supervise the creation of life within the span of nothingness.

Planets and galaxies emerged from the Ancient Gods' divine hands,
thousands of newly created lower species were used as experiments on
evolution and adaptation.

All were at peace... but it was not to last.

The Ancient Gods reveled on the powers they have received from the
Darkness, which in turn corrupted them. They started creating other
species that were stronger and much more powerful than those of the
first created. The Titans finally tasted their first view of
bloodbath... deaths of civilizations by their creations, and they
thoroughly enjoyed it.

The Balance of Existence was upset greatly, which definitely had an
effect on the Dark Void, the Darkness.

The Darkness finally unleashed its final creations, in an attempt to
salvage and rescue the innocents that were caught in the mega coliseum
that the Ancient Gods have made out of the Universe. Its last bursts of
power led to the creation of the Trinity of Power, Righteousness,
Nightmare and the Chaos.

The Trio of Darkness' descendants finally got to work, and established a
somewhat balance in the wavering existence. With Chaos in control of the
loss of order, everything was slowly gaining its balance once again.
Until the time where the Ancient Gods declared a war against the Trinity
of Power.

The Titans were not happy with the Trio's 'intrusion' of their 'domain',
and were not about to give up their playground that easily.

The war took many eons, avatars from each side battled one another,
which claimed lives here and there. Angels and Demons on one side,
Manticores and Carrions on the other. The war devastated many stars and
planets, whole galaxies disappeared in a span of a second when the
fighting ensued. But the war was decided when Chaos itself joined the
fray, and slew the creations of the Ancient Gods with Its own hand.
Chaos finally reached the center of the Universe, the Alpha Prime Point
of Existence, where the Ancient Gods housed themselves. With Its last
powers, Chaos used Its ultimate attack, the Chaotic Disruption.

Time and Space warped around the Ancient Gods, who screamed for defiance
as they fought their way through the surface of the trap that was set-up
by the Chaos. Finally, the Mother of Black Holes became the Ultimate
Prison to the Ancient Gods.

But it was of not of no price, for Chaos cannot hold Its existence after
such an exhausting attack and finally dispersed Itself throughout the
Cosmos. Righteousness and Nightmare both mourned for their lost comrade,
and vowed to protect the order of the Universe, thus the Doublet System
was created.

It was to ensure that both parties would work hand in hand in order to
maintain their balance, and so as to avoid conflicts between interests.
There were squabbles, but Righteousness and Nightmare ended them with
compromises.

Righteousness finally became Kami-sama.

Nightmare became Hild-sama.

They continue to wait for their lost comrade Chaos, who was believed to
accumulate itself once again after many millenia.

The Seal of the Ancient Gods was said to be the most powerful, and yet
it was not forever. Eventually, it will wear down.

When that time comes, it will be the Twilight of the Gods, Ragnarok.

======================================================================== =====

The place, Asgard... the time, actually time is irrelevant in this
place.

Anyway, back in the Heavenly Plane, Kami-sama's office...

"WHAT'S THIS? THIS HAS GOT TO BE A MISTAKE. IT WAS TOO EARLY FOR THEM TO
APPEAR..." Kami-sama almost crushed the monitor of His computer as He
finished reviewing the data from a certain timeline.

The Lord of Heaven sat back to His comfy chair and sighed. "SURELY...
THE ANCIENT GODS ARE RARING TO GO INTO WAR ONCE AGAIN. THOSE... THINGS
THEY CALL THEIR 'BOUNTY HUNTERS'... SUCH VILE CREATURES. THEY ALREADY
REACHED ONII-CHAN'S AREA... I WAS REALLY NOT EXPECTING THIS."

Kami-sama grumbled under His breath. "ONII-CHAN'S BODY HASN'T AWAKENED
ITS POWERS YET. HE IS NOT READY TO BATTLE AGAINST THEM YET. BUT...
ONII-CHAN ALREADY DISPLAYED AT LEAST SOME PROWESS IN SURVIVAL. I JUST
HOPE HIS LUCK WOULD LAST..."

On the screen of His computer, the picture of a huge coppery scaled
mammoth was shown. Ominous green eyes adorned its feline-like face, its
huge silver talons raised high above in the air in a gesture of
supremacy. The hind legs were built for power, as well as holding its
enormous weight. A pair of large leathery black bat-like wings potruded
from its back, and a black tail that protruded out of its backside.

The Manticore... applicable comparison to class one category 2 demons
that roamed over the cosmos. Found and developed as a biological weapon
by an ancient planet that was ordered destroyed by the Juraian
Government when found out about its existence. These monsters were used
to eradicate whole galaxies, moreso than the dreaded Saiyajins. Their
intelligence were superb, but mostly follow their instincts to destroy.

What's worse... is that they evolve.

And the Carrions haven't been revived yet.

======================================================================== =====

Meanwhile, in somewhere really dark and spooky...

A pair of eyes gleamed in the dimness of the surroundings, glowing dark
blue.

"D3!!!" A feminine voice bellowed from those eyes. "What have you found
out about my sister's actions of late?!"

The said loyal figure materialized once again in front of the imposing
figure of Tokimi. D3 knew no one could never hide from those dark blue
eyes.

She gives the word 'Terror' a reputation.

D3 replied in a strange monotone, "Well, I thought you might want me to
find out about the temporal distortions first, but then as I looked into
it, Tsunami and the rest in the Masaki household is connected to it. Two
time travelers emerged from the distortion and stopped by the shrine for
a week. I found out one of the travelers' name... Ranma Saotome I think.
And according to my readings... he is of... huh? Tokimi-sama?"

Tokimi's eyes were wide in disbelief as she heard the name.

Ranma. Her Ranma.

"A-Are you sure about the name? R-Ranma?" Tokimi asked hesitantly.

D3's confusion turned into surprise as the minion watched Tokimi's face
sport several new emotions. D3 never saw the master do this before.
Remembering the question, D3 continued, "Hai, Tokimi-sama... Ranma
Saotome. Is... it important?"

"Where is he now, D3?"

D3 was silent for a moment, then a soft beeping sound echoed across the
darkness and as D3 replied, "Earth, Tokimi-sama. It is the planet that
is somewhat like a black hole to us."

Tokimi suddenly stood, her eyes brimming with unshed tears. "Prepare my
scrying talisman! I need to talk to Tsunami, NOW!"

D3 immediately went back to duty, more questions popping as Tokimi
continued to look pensive and panicky.

======================================================================== =====

Parallel Past, where Ranma was 'dumped'...

It was deep in the night, when the silence of the forest was
mind-numbing. Animals of all shapes and sizes took refuge from the
night, not only because of the cold or the darkness, but of something
else.

Suddenly, branches were broken as a figure came out of the darkest parts
of the forests, panting and crying its heart out. When the light of the
moon momentarily lit the figure, it was evident that the figure was
female. She wore a white colored kimono that was littered with what
looked like sakura leaves. The measly clothing hugged her figure and was
cut just two inches high above the knees. She stumbled on a stray root
that potruded on her path. She cried out as she fell down the ground,
her hand lashed out to catch her face as she fell. The young girl, whose
raven hair was tied up in a high ponytail, lifted her body up and forced
her legs to work as she heard the faint howls of her tormentors from
where she came from. Her knees, having been overworked for too long,
buckled under her. With a small yelp, she fell unceremoniously on the
ground below her. Her small sobs of anguish wafted through the darkness
of the forest.

Broken branches cracked far from the direction she was from, and as the
footsteps neared her position, she bit back a whimper. Her village had
been attacked by youkai, and for once it was defenseless. The sentries
for the youkai attacks became lax after months of having no trouble from
the youkai. The gruesome monsters worked their way down from the adults
to the children, drank their blood and ate the rest of the bodies. Only
bones were left of the inhuman onslaught. She barely escaped the sudden
attack on her village when she bolted out of the house that she shared
with her parents and older brother. As she ran past the confines of the
forest, she still heard the agonized screams of her family while they
were skinned alive by the youkai.

And now, it was her turn.

Yes, she's very afraid. But this was probably the fate that was handed
to her. It was her punishment for leaving her family like that.
Eventhough they had screamed for their youngest daughter to get away
from the chaos, it was still not right to just up and leave them to die.

It was her fault. And now she was about to pay for it.

As she lay on her back against a tree trunk, she could feel the light
tremors of the ground from the slight stampede caused by the incoming
mosters. She prayed to her gods that she would be sent to the place
where her family was. The trees in front of her suddenly burst apart,
exposing five wolf-like youkai. Their silvery fur reflected the slight
moonshine that filtered across the enwly renovated forest area. Their
faces were screwed in a deep snarl, drool gushed down the sides of their
mouths as they stared on their new prey.

The youkai group advanced slowly on the girl, her helpless body was
hopelessly pinned down by her weight on the ground. Her eyes screwed
shut as she heard some of the monsters howl in their delight when they
saw the amount of fear that was evident in her features. A snapped twig
was the signal for her that they have started their assault.

She waited for the pain of their teeth and claws.

But none came.

Instead, loud crunches of broken bones and pathetic whines from what
seemed like dogs kicked mercilessly echoed all over the area. She feared
that everything was just a ruse for her to open her eyes and gaze on
their playful eyes. She knew that most youkai fed on the fears of their
victims, before they brutalize them.

The last whine was a little longer than most, and then everything fell
silent.

A touch of gentleness on her shoulder caused her body to flinch from the
contact. She finally lost her control and screamed her heart out. A soft
and gentle voice cut through her cries of anguish.

"It's alright. They're all gone now. Nothing's gonna hurt you." The
voice said softly.

The young girl opened her eyes and saw a sight that brought tears to her
eyes. Two humans were standing in front of her, one with dark hair tied
up in a pigtail with blue-gray eyes that soothed her wracked nerves.
Behind him was another man with long black hair that was tied in a low
ponytail, who just sheathed his wooden sword into his sleeve.

The pigtailed boy patted her shoulder. "Are you alright? Are you hurt
anywhere?"

The girl shook her head from side to side, then launched herself into
the surprised pigtailed boy's arms. The boy stiffened for a moment, then
clumsily returned the embrace on the crying girl. He ran his gentle hand
up and down her back in a soothing manner.

The boy spoke again. "My name is Ranma, and my companion is Yosho. We
passed through this village that is being attacked by these monsters. We
managed to clean up most of them, and saw some run through here. It's
lucky that we found you."

The girl sniffed. "T-thank you, kind sir. My name... K-Koneko..."

Ranma nodded and cradled the girl as she cried herself to sleep. Ranma
looked up to Yosho, who looked back to him with concern.

"They're their offsprings, aren't they?" Ranma asked in a low voice.

Yosho sighed. "Yes. It would seem so. They opted to go for numbers, and
disregarded the great diminish in their strength."

Ranma grumbled. "Damn. We found at least a hundred and seventy hatched
eggs of these Manticores. We killed at least ten or so, right? so that
leaves a hundred and sixty more out in the wild, who had the right mind
to repopulate and cross breed with some of the local monsters in the
area."

"We swept across the WORLD already, and we found out that they
concentrated in Japan for some reason." Yosho stated.

Ranma slumped back down on the ground and groaned as he stretched his
thirteen year old body without disturbing the sleeping girl. "We have a
long job ahead of us."

======================================================================== =====

Back in Nerima, the home dimension of the famous Ranma Saotome...

Five months have past since the sad departure of one emotional pigtailed
Neo Saiyajin. Circumstances of luck were for once not in the side of
those left behind. Multiple enemies have appeared in the Martial Arts
City of Nerima, usually leaving the buildings in shambles. Dojo
destroyers have come and challenged the once prestigious Tendo Dojo.
Although one Ryoga Hibiki have managed to become damage control, he
barely won his matches and not escaping with one big injury to another.
And for some reason, he still blamed it all on Ranma...

"RANMA!!! THIS IS ALL YOUR FAU--URKKK!" Ryoga just began to recite his
battle mantra but was admonished by Akane's mallet. He immediately
collected himself and glared at the angry girl. "What was that for,
Akane?!"

The girl in question slung her hammer over her should and gave Ryoga an
evil eye, growling, "Where the hell do you get off blaming Ranma when
he's not even here?!"

Ryoga sniffed indignantly. "It's always his fault! Always running away
from his problems! He cries like a little girl! Damn him!"

Akane was sorely tempted to bop the bandanna-clad boy again, but went
against it. No matter how much she tried to explain, Ryoga would always
find himself blaming Ranma one way or another. She couldn't understand
what is wrong at all. She stomped away from the boy and sat in a corner
of the recently damaged dojo. Another one of the Dojo destroyers have
come seeking to take the sign once again. They were almost successful
this time, too, if not for luck. Ryoga was not really cut to defend the
dojo at all. He may be strong, but he didn't have the ingenuity of the
former defender of the dojo. Natsumi and Kurumi also went back to the
dojo last week, but when they heard Ranma was gone, they lost interest
and turned away. Ukyou also tried to pitch in in defending the dojo, but
her enthusiasm was lost, as well as Shampoo's. Mousse has also somehow
mellowed down and become retrospective. He didn't pine over Shampoo that
much anymore.

They were about to clean up the mess when the huge double doors of the
dojo opened wide. Akane and Ryoga turned to the doors and saw a dark
figure, wearing a long dark coat over the body that covered everything.
The black hood of the coat prevented recognition of the face.

Silence penetrated the dojo for a moment, then the figure raised its arm
and pointed to the Tendo Dojo sign.

"I'm here to challenge the Tendo Dojo!!!" the figure bellowed with a
voice that is sopranic in nature. It was difficult to determine though
whether the figure was male or female under the coat. But nevertheless,
the issue of challenge echoed all over the dojo and the house,
attracting the other members of the household. Soun, Genma, Nodoka,
Nabiki and Kasumi all filed out of the side door to see who issued the
challenge.

The issue broke the contemplative silence of Akane and Ryoga. The
youngest Tendo's eyes narrowed as she glared on the challenger. The
figure is quite a bit tall, lanky at the belly, and squirmish? Ahem,
anyway, a challenge is a challenge. Akane sighed and replied, "Sure.
What are the terms?"

The figure snorted under the hood. Its face is covered in a white mask,
but the eyes are exposed. Akane could see that the figure has dark blue
eyes under the robes. "It's your dojo, any rule will do. Besides, I
think you should take me on together, or you may not last at all." the
figure finally said.

"WHAT?!" everyone gasped at the proclamation. Ryoga clenched his fists
and said through gritted teeth, "You dare?! Don't get so cocky punk! I
alone can stand against you!"

"Yeah right. Being a pigheaded attacker sure works, doesn't it? Well, it
won't work with me. A thickheaded gorilla and a stupid pighead. What a
combination." the figure taunted.

Akane and Ryoga growled at the words, but restrained themselves. After
both sides took their position at the middle of the dojo, Soun finally
stepped up to officiate the match.

"Ready?" Soun raised his hand in the air.

"Begin!"

Akane immediately leapt for a low sweep, which the figure neatly avoided
by jumping slightly. Ryoga lunged in the air, his fist extended and
aimed towards the challenger's head. The figure bent backwards while in
the air in an impossible manner, earning gasps of shock from the
audience. The figure flashed a small jab at Ryoga's open belly and back
kicked Akane's open back as they pass through over and under the person.
Akane and Ryoga were thrown down to the grown with a thud.

<This guy's... fast!> Akane's mind screamed as she lay on her front,
panting.

The figure landed lightly on its foot. Sighing, the challenger said,
"What a pity. Is this all you can do?"

The two defenders scrambled to their feet and positioned again. Ryoga
unleashed a right handed cross to the challenger, which was caught
easily. Grunting softly, Ryoga threw another left cross, which was also
caught by the figure. Akane tackled the figure's unprotected belly, and
it caught her by surprise when she almost passed through the figure. She
closed her eyes as she saw the floor closing in on her fast. Three loud
simultaneous thuds were heard. Akane groaned and shook the cobwebs off
her head and was surprised to hear two more grunts behind her. Akane
then noticed that she has the figure's coat in her hands.

Akane looked around and saw everyone's attention was behind her. Turning
slowly, she finally saw what caught their attention. Under the long,
dark coat were two children, GIRLS, and were now rubbing their heads,
wincing as they struggled to compose themselves again. Ryoga still had
his arms outstretched as he looked on in shock.

There were two children under the thick black coat. One who looked to be
seven years of age while the other was six. It would seem that they
stood up on each other's shoulders so that they may look like one tall
guy. But right now, what was in the minds of the audience as well as the
defenders is, the two girls' appearances.

The older girl had dark red hair, almost maroon, which glistened against
the sunlight, which was tied up into a modest ponytail. Her clothes were
elastic-like and tight-fitting, colored black that showed much of her
small frame. Over the black tights is a white sleeveless body armor with
yellow outlines. She also wore blue shorts over her torso. She had white
boots and white fingerless gloves over her hands. Her eyes were dark
blue with a light tint of gray. A brown sash adorned her waist.

The younger of the two had blue hair, which was tied up in a low
ponytail that reaches up to her lower waist. Her tight-fitting is also
colored black. She wore the same sleeveless white armor with yellow
outlines, and shorts were dark yellow. Her white boots and white
fingerless gloves mirrored her companion's attire as well. Her eyes were
pink surrounding the black.

They looked familiar somehow...

Scratch that, they look VERY familiar...

"Ooowww! Toldya you shoulda dropped to the floor, 'neesan!" the younger
girl whined while rubbing her rump.

The older one shook her head, favoring her side in the process, "Nah,
shoulda sidestepped. Papa would've done that!"

Soun finally recovered enough to speak. "T-two KIDS?! That's foul!"

The two 'kids' heard the comment, and immediately leapt up to their
feet. Putting her hands on her hips, the older girl glared at Soun,
saying, "Says who? Ya think that ya gonna accept the challenge when
we're like this then?"

"But still..."

Akane stood up, her eyes hard. "I can't believe this!"

Ryoga stood as well. "They look familiar though."

"So we gonna continue or what?" the younger girl chirped.

The bandanna-clad boy shook his head as he chuckled. "I can't continue
this. Fighting weak people is dishonorable."

The slightly older girl snorted. "Ya mean yer scared of us coz ya didn't
know we coulda taken ya down!"

Akane gasped lightly but she knelt at the floor in front of the kids and
said gently, "Children... it's not right for us to fight... kids..."

Ryoga was not as lenient. "Go away, you dumb brats! Go home to your
mommy and daddy!"

The smaller girl crossed her arms across her chest. "As if you've been
home for the last few years, ne? Piggy-chan?" she said and snickered as
she watched Ryoga sputter.

The other girl sighed. "A challenge is a challenge. We issued it, and
we're gonna finish it. Papa said to always finish a fight."

Genma harrumphed. "Crazy kids! Who is your father anyway?"

"None of your goddamn business!" the slightly taller girl snapped at the
Saotome patriarch's direction. She was then bopped on the head by the
smaller girl.

"Cool it, oneesan."

"Sorry." the reprimanded older girl looked sheepish, but recovered as
she turned back to the defenders, "We should continue."

Both girls nodded to each other and took a stance. Genma's eyes widened
in recognition of Anything Goes. A small sign of Anything Goes with an
emphasis on a more general type basis. For some reason, the stance
emphasized both speed and power tremendously, ignoring most of defense.

"Sorry 'bout this kids..." Akane sighed and took her stance, with Ryoga
mumbling beside her. They lunged themselves almost at the same time.
Akane took on the smaller girl while Ryoga took on the other.

Akane was careful not too put too much speed and power to her punches,
so that she may not hurt the small girl unnecessarily. The said girl
growled as she dodged and weaved out of the complex series of punches
thrown by the Tendo heir. The girl could see those attacks a mile away,
and she felt being ridiculed by it. She caught a weak sidekick from her
right, with Akane's eyes widening slightly. The girl glared at her
opponent, saying softly, "What kind of a martial artist are ya? Are ya
trying to stain my honor by fighting without any force in it at all?"

Genma stood up frantically, shouting, "Akane! Don't hold back! They know
what they're doing!"

The small girl smiled softly. "Ya only found out now?" and with that,
the girl pressed a pressure point at Akane's leg, causing it to lock up.
Akane grimaced when she felt her whole leg go numb. The girl looked up
to her and grinned evilly, saying, "This is what ya get for taking me
lightly." She threw a vicious uppercut at the helpless Akane, making the
taller girl's head snap back and throwing her across the mats.

"AKANE!!!" Ryoga bellowed as he turned for a moment as he dodged the
haymaker thrown to him by the older of the two girls. He was sporting
some nasty bruises right now. Turning back to the two girls, who were
now standing side by side, smiling at him bemusedly, he growled out,
"You little brats are going to pay!"

The younger girl turned to her companion, saying, "All yours oneesan.
Don't take too long." She turned her back and walked towards the
sidelines opposite of the audience.

Ryoga let out an animalistic battlecry as he launched another strong
punch to the girl's face. Kids or not, they hurt his Akane! Imagine his
surprise when the girl caught his fist in her small hands.

>CRUNCH!<

"ARRGGHHH!" Ryoga screamed when he felt his wrist broken as the girl
redirected his punch and twisted her hand. He ignored the pain and
punched out his other fist which was ducked under. Ryoga jumped back a
bit for breathing room and watched his opponent backflip away from him.
He felt his depression reach an all time low since the time Ranma was
here. He closed his eyes as he gathered the greenish ki from his body
into his unbroken hand.

The audience visibly paled at the sight. Soun was more vocal though.
"Stop it Ryoga!" he called out, "Don't destroy the dojo!" And as usual,
Ryoga didn't listen.

"SHI SHI HOKODAN!!!" the large green ball that was accumulated by Ryoga
blasted away from him.

The girl shifted her stance and placed her hands in front of her. The
green ball hummed louder as it rapidly approached her.

>PLINK!<

Everyone's eyes, except the girl and her companion, widened ten times
their normal size when they saw such a small girl easily backhand
Ryoga's trademark chi blast towards the open doors, letting the chi
blast pass outside and explode harmlessly in open air.

"HAH!" the girl gloated, putting her hands on her hips. "A chi-based
attack... emotion based on depression... papa warned me about that
though..."

"Oneesan..." her companion who was sitting patiently on the sidelines
whined, "Finish up already... I wanna go find a way home..."

The older girl waved her hand in the air in a dismissive manner. "Fine
fine... well since ya wanted special attacks... I gotta do mine too!"

Ryoga backed away slightly as he watched the girl lift her hand up over
her head with her palm up in the air. Slowly, the air around her hand
glowed and gathered over her palm. A small baseball-sized white
incandescent ball formed. "This..." she began, still gathering energy,
"Is a KI attack. Papa always taught me to avoid using emotion-based
attacks. It's bad for the health he says... anyway, take this!" Without
any loud cries, she flicks her wrist and the glowing ball sped towards
Ryoga. Akane chose this moment to wake up and watch helplessly as the
ball of ki darted to Ryoga.

The bandanna-clad boy immediately crossed his arms across his face, sure
of himself that he could dissipate such a small ball of energy. But when
the ball struck, the pain in his arms suddenly shocked him. The force of
the explosion forced Ryoga back towards the doors, propelling him to the
thick wall of the adjacent house. He crashed unto the cement and was
buried in the mess of it.

"Yatta!" Both girls chimed together as they hopped towards each other,
congratulating themselves on a job well done.

"Who..." the celebrating girls ceased rambling and turned to the one who
spoke, who was Nabiki, "Who are you girls?"

"Eh? Oh! If ya didn't remove the coat, we shoulda said we were 'Ryu'."
The younger girl replied.

The older snorted. "I hate that name! Anyway, I'm Reiko Saotome, and
this is my sister, Meiko Saotome, nice ta meet'cha!"

"WHAAAAAT?!" Everyone screamed.

======================================================================== =====

Across another town in Juuban Ward, a very normal shrine called Hikawa
Shrine is a secret meeting spot for a group of defenders, the Sailor
Scouts. At this time, Ami called an emergency meeting. As usual, the
meeting is decorated with Usagi Tsukino's cries and Rei's profanities.

"GIVE ME BACK MY MANGA, MEATBALL-HEAD!" the irate Rei, Senshi of Mars
screamed at the blonde haired ditz. Usagi's eyes suddenly watered and a
stream of tears, which could very well be a match for Soun Tendo's
waterworks, spilled once again, elliciting sighs from the rest of the
group.

"Waaaah!" Usagi, the Princess of the Moon cried, "Rei is being mean to
meeeeee~!"

Makoto Kino, the Senshi of Jupiter, rubbed her temples forcefully. "Will
you two just settle down?! We are having a meeting!"

Haruka Ten'ou, Michiru Kaiou and their adopted daughter, Hotaru Tomoe
were in a medium built sofa on the other side of the fighting duo. The
Senshi of Uranus, Neptune and Saturn repectively were cuddling and
talking among themselves, while they waited for Ami Mizuno, Senshi of
Mercury, to finish with her calculations in the Mercury Computer. Beside
the blue haired senshi is the ever chatting Minako Aino, Senshi of
Venus. The two lunar cats, Luna and Artemis, lay comfortable on a
comforter beside Minako. As usual, the Senshi of Pluto, Setsuna Meiou,
is absent at the moment.

The Mercury Computer suddenly beeped the rest out of their current state
of minds and forced them to focuse on the bewildered and flustered Ami.
"A big power spike..." Ami began as she typed more into her computer,
"And it originates from... Nerima, again."

Haruka snorted as she stood up, declaring, "Well? What the hell are we
waiting for anyway? Let's go then!" Getting everyone's assents with a
nod, they all stood up and quickly filed outside for their
transformations, then beelined towards Nerima.

At the Time Gate, Setsuna Meiou, Senshi of Pluto, was attacked by a huge
migraine and folded on her seat. Once the pain receded, she immediately
began a systematic search of a recent time distortion that backlashed to
her. <Strange... the distortion felt like what happened before...> she
thought as she waved her Time Staff around the black recesses of the
Gates. Her visage softened when she finally zeroed in unto the
disturbance, which to her dismay was once again from Nerima. But this
one was different, because she could feel two new presences that came
from the anomaly. Her view of Nerima was obscured by whisps of black
smoke, probably caused by the element of Chaos. The mention of Chaos
reminded her of Ranma Saotome, and the memory of her first meeting with
him.

-FLASH-

Pluto finally found the Chaos Factor in the area. He was currently
walking in a slow pace with a companion across town. She prepares her
magic blast, the Dead Scream.

-FLASH-

Pluto just lowered her hands after she blasted the cause of the
disturbance of the Timelines. The object of her wrath took the brunt of
her attack with his arms crossed over his face, his black hair tied up
in a pigtail flowing against the wind. He was dressed in a dark blue
overalls and dark blue pants.

-FLASH-

She tried in vain to hide her blush as the young man berated her actions
and ideals. The other man with him with purple hair and a huge sword
strapped on his back is snickering at the sight. Her attack didn't even
scratch him.

Setsuna still remembers how her counterpart from the future appeared
before her and chastised her in a very civilized manner. Quiet, but it
was still a lecture. That was when she found out who the guy really is.
How could she know that the Chaos Factor is in fact one of two of the
current crown princes of Jurai and is also a Saiya-jin under the Elite
Class? And also the fact that he holds so much power that he doesn't
know what to do with it? But the best surprise of all, to her horror,
was the fact that in the future, she will chase this young man and will
want him as a husband. Being a crown prince of Jurai allowed him to have
multiple wives after all.

"Speak of the devil..." Setsuna mutters as her counterpart in the future
materialized in front of her, with a kind of frantic look on her face.

"Have you detected new Chaos signatures in this Timeline?" the future
Sailor Pluto asked.

Setsuna nodded and pointed out to her when and where the disturbance
appeared. She also took into consideration to mention that the Sailor
Senshi are currently dispatched and are about to engage the 'enemy'.
That was when she felt the future Pluto shake her in desperation.

"YOU HAVE TO STOP THEM!!!" the future Pluto bellowed.

"W-w-what?!" Setsuna gasped as she was being shaken.

The future Pluto let Setsuna go and straightened herself. "You have to
get there and stop them!" she began once again, "They are going to
attack the princesses of Jurai!"

THAT caught Setsuna's attention. "What do you mean? Wait! You mean to
tell me that the disturbances are really..."

"YES!" her counterpart screamed in desperation. "Princesses Reiko and
Meiko Saotome, have been involved in a time warp accident. Their father,
Crown Prince Ranma Saotome of Jurai, asked me to make sure they are
alright as he finds a way to get them back!"

"SHIT!!!" Setsuna swore as she stood and vanished in the mist.

======================================================================== =====

Meanwhile, a shrine in Nekomi Ward housed three powerful beings, namely
the Norn Goddesses. They have been living discreetly for the past few
months now, in favor of a wish that was granted to one Keiichi Morisato.

Skuld, the raven haired hammer wielding debugger of the infamous
Yggdrasil of Heaven and a Category 2 2nd Class Limited Goddess of the
Future was in her room, fixing her a new and more powerful version of
her own personalized Neo-Skuld Bombs Mk. III. Urd, the platinum haired
Category 2 2nd Class Limited Goddess of the Past was munching away on
junk food and sake while lounging on the living room couch, watching TV.
Belldandy, the brown haired serene Category 2 1st Class Unlimited
Goddess of the Present is currently working in the kitchen, baking
cookies while her mortal boyfriend Keiichi was tinkering in the garage.

A rather loud clap of thunder boomed across the yard, that caught the
attention of the occupants of the shrine. It only meant that the Lord of
Creation, Kami-sama, has a message for the goddesses. They all made
their way towards the message.

'To my daughters:
Belldandy, Goddess Class 1, Category 1, Unlimited,
Skuld, Goddess Class 2, Category 1, Limited,
Urd, Goddess Class 2, Category 1, Limited,

A time vortex opened in the Nerima Ward due to the Class 3 Wish
artifact 'Wish Sabre'. You are hereby requested to investigate. Skuld is
also to return to Yggdrasil after the investigation for system
debugging. A side-effect of the vortex caused data damage in the system.

Kami-sama
Lord of
Creation'

"Hmm... I wonder if it's Ranma again..." Urd mused to herself.

Skuld bubbled in excitement. "Cool! I'll see him again!"

Keiichi was confused at seeing the goddesses' sudden enthusiasm. Even
Belldandy's eyes seem to glitter a bit at the news. "What's up with
this, guys?"

Belldandy turned to her boyfriend with a wide smile. "We're requested to
investigate a certain disturbance in Nerima. We think it's Ranma again."

Seeing that Keiichi still has a blank look on his face, Urd sighed,
saying, "Ranma has an important part in the universe. He lives in
Nerima."

"Nerima?! The chaos zone of the world?"

Belldandy nodded. "Ah, yes. It's not really that bad there."

"Yeah right!" Skuld chimed in, "Someone like a Chaos Incarnate has weird
output in Yggdrasil. Ranma is the chaos incarnate, or the chaos
generator. He is very important."

"Chaos is a necessity. Without it, life will be dull." Urd added.

Keiichi gulped nervously. "So what do you want with him? Wouldn't he be
bad and cause chaos all around too much?"

Belldandy looked thoughtful for a moment. "You should know that being
chaotic is not evil, rather it is a balance."

Skuld snorted.

"So what do we do now?" Keiichi asked.

Belldandy smiled. "You stay here, while we check things out in Nerima."

======================================================================== =====

Back in the Tendo Dojo...

"WHAAAAAT?!"

>Thump!<

Everyone turned to see Soun slumped down the floor, unconscious.

"Oh my!" Guess who said that one?

"S-Saotome?!" Nabiki stuttered.

Nodoka glared at her shocked husband. "Care to tell me if you had any
affairs, DEAR?" she said with venom as she fingered her katana.

Genma backed away quickly. "I dunno who they are! Honest!"

Akane meanwhile was transfixed at the two girls. "W-who... who is your
father?"

Reiko eyed Akane. She sighed, saying, "Who else is a Saotome? Papa's
name is Ranma of course!"

"WAI! My son is so manly!" - Three guesses who said this one.

Meiko nudged her older sister. "Reiko-neesan! Ya aren't supposed to
tell!"

Reiko shrugged. "They gonna find out anyway!"

Akane sat herself slowly, her eyes still glazed. "R-Ranma's children?
Who's your m-mother?"

Both girls giggled. "Can't tell ya that one!" Reiko wagged her finger in
the air.

Genma's face contorted in anger. "How dare that insolent boy cheat on
his fiancee!!!"

Reiko and Meiko growled at Genma, making him back up a bit. "Don't speak
about papa like that, you panda!" Reiko screamed.

"Yeah!" Meiko chimed in, "You're the one who's stupid, panda-baka!"

"STUPID STUPID PANDA-BAKA!" they both chorused as they started to glow
bright blue.

Just outside the dojo, a certain group of heroines with skimpy outfits
landed on a nearby rooftop. They assessed the surroundings and saw the
debris where Ryoga was thrown by the ki blast. They looked at each other
and nodded. They leapt to the ground and walked slowly towards the
entrance of the dojo.

The bickering people inside the dojo stopped momentarily when they
noticed Reiko and Meiko stop talking and looked towards the doors. Reiko
looked at her younger sister, who nodded, and faced the doorway in a
battle stance.

"What?" Akane asked, bewildered at them.

"Shhh!" Reiko shushed her, "There are at least six powerful aura's
outside the dojo!"

"Magical aura's oneesan... it feels like..." Meiko trailed off.

Suddenly, the two girls sprinted to the exit, followed more slowly by
the former audience. Outside, they were confronted with the sight of
several females, all dressed in short skirted sailor fukus.

Well, it wasn't really a pleasant meeting, per say.

"WORLD SHAKING!"

"DEEP SUBMERGE!"

"JUPITER OAK REVOLUTION!"

"MARS FLAME SNIPER!"

"VENUS LOVE ME CHAIN!"

Nope, not pleasant at all. In fact, the short skirted girls immediately
jumped to the gun once they saw two really powerful kids, well according
to the beeping data from Mercury's computer. Sad to say, because of
their paranoia, they didn't hear much of Mercury's cries of caution in
the air.

Reiko turned back to the hapless family, saying, "Hang on everyone!"
then she faced the younger girl, "Meiko! Activate yer shield!"

Meiko nodded and hopped in front of the gaping crowd, who were
transfixed to the swirling mass of magical energies rocketing towards
their position. She raised her hands at shoulder level in front of her,
saying in a low voice, "Shields up..."

A red bubble like barrier suddenly sprung up as the magical attacks
exploded in front of them. One by one they dissipated against the
reddish shield. Meiko's face scrunched up as she tried to maintain her
control over the shield that protected her and the rest of those behind
her.

"What the hell was that?!" Uranus shrieked as she prepped another of her
premier magical blasts to go.

"Stop! Stop it right now! They're not evil!" Mercury implored.

"Haruka-papa, Michiru-mama, stop!!" Saturn added. She decided not to
attack the kids without any knowledge of the real situation. Besides,
she's also a kid herself, and those who they are going to attack are WAY
younger than her!

Sailor Moon just stood dumbly in a corner, staring in horror at how
callous her Senshi are in attacking unsuspecting innocents.

Just as the trigger-happy Senshi were about to unleash another round of
their attacks, the air in front of the receiving end shimmied for a
while, startling the attackers. A hole in the air appeared, and out came
a woman with long green hair with eerie red eyes dressed in the same
fuku and wielding a key-like staff.

"Pluto!" Sailor Moon mumbled despairingly. She was losing control of the
situation, and she didn't like the feeling. She saw Pluto flash her a
look of apology and did something that shocked the boots off of the rest
of the Senshi.

Pluto turned to the two children and fell on one knee.

Pluto NEVER bowed down to anyone. Well... not anymore apparently.

The Senshi dropped their weapons in shock with clangs on the ground.

The audience behind the kids were wondering how the hell did the woman
appear in the middle of a battle.

The two kids smiled broadly at Sailor Pluto.

"Puu-chan!!!" the two girls squealed as they threw themselves into
Pluto's startled arms. The green-haired woman braced herself and caught
the two bundles of energy in her embrace.

"I must apologize for the attacks..." Pluto murmured to the two kids in
her arms. She suddenly felt a warm fuzzy feeling in her heart as she
held the two.

"Pluto?! What the hell are you doing with the enemies?!" Uranus, the
ever tomboyish Senshi flaunted her mouth once again.

"Who the hell are you people?!" and of course, Akane, the tomboy of
Nerima shouted heatedly.

Pluto smiled at the kids and released them, then she stood up in her
full height and faced the Senshi. "Haven't you learned anything?" she
gestured towards the kids, "The ones you just attacked are Princesses
Reiko and Meiko Saotome of Jurai!"

Silence ensued.

The two kids blushed. "Puu-chan..." Reiko said nervously, "It's okay,
really!"

"Yup!" Meiko covered her cheeks with her hands, "It's just a
misunderstandin' or somethin'..."

"Saotome?" Jupiter fidgeted, "As in, connected to Ranma?"

"R-Ranma's... children?!" Uranus and Neptune chorused together. They
could've just attacked THEIR children with Ranma, for all they know!

Pluto sighed. "That's Prince Ranma to you! These two children are his
offspring, and are in effect princesses of Jurai, as I was informed by
my future counterpart. It's a good thing I arrived here just in time. I
have had half the mind to aim my 'Dead Scream' towards all of you!"
Suddenly, she stiffened as she felt another source of power approaching
them.

Out of the window of a nearby coffee shop, three figures emerged.

The one who wasn't the bit disoriented has long brown hair and wears a
modest dress. She has a weird likeness of Kasumi.

The second is taller than the other that has long wavy platinum hair and
wore skin tight black leather clothing. Her miniskirt is actually long
for her.

The third is a bit young, about twelve to thirteen years of age, has
long dark hair and has a mallet strapped across her back.

All of them have tattoos on their faces.

Before the Senshi could make one gesture, Pluto nodded to the new
arrivals. "Belldandy-sama, Urd-sama, and Skuld-sama... you were summoned
here as well?"

Urd grinned at Pluto. "Yo, Sailor Pluto."

The two kids giggled and called out, "Bell-neesan! Urd-neesan!
Skuld-neesan!"

Belldandy looked at the kids. "Oh my!" She blurted out, "Those children
are..."

"Rei-chan! Mei-chan! Eiiiiiiieeeeee!!!!" Skuld squealed out loudly as
she pranced towards the two hopping children, and hugged them tightly.

Urd groaned as she shook her head at the duo. "Darned kids. You caused a
bit of a havoc in the Yggdrasil. For the mean time, you are stuck here."

Skuld held her two friends in arms length, as she tried hard in the
glare she gave them. "Yeah. The temporal backlash made by that stunt of
yours with that Wish Sabre thingie really put a damper in the computer.
I have to debug the whole system, which would probably take... about two
weeks to a month, Earth-time."

The two kids looked properly chastised.

"Sorry, oneesan." Reiko mumbled. "It was jus' an accident! We didn't
know that stupid sword can hear us when we made the wish. It was jus' a
joke, really!"

"Ah, stuff it, Reiko-neesan." Meiko grumbled. "We screwed up, big-time."

Reiko blanched. "Papa will ground us for life! Noooo! My life's ruined!"

Skuld and Urd just nodded in amusement.

A slight cough broke their conversation. They turned to the source and
saw an irritated group of Nerimians and Senshi who glared at them.

Reiko drew patterns on the ground with her foot. "I guess ya want some
explanation or somethin' right?"

The group nodded as one.

======================================================================== =====

A few minutes later, we find the Nerimians, the Senshi and the Norns all
cramped up in the living room of the Tendo Dojo.

Kasumi had been busy bringing in snacks and drinks to all the guests
that came. Nabiki had her calculating look in her face. Imagine the cost
of information if she found out who the kids' mother was? It should
fetch her a fortune! Akane had her arms crossed across her chest as she
cradled her beloved piglet P-chan on her lap. She just figured that
Ryoga got lost looking for the front door (real slow on the uptake, mind
you). Soun was crying about how the schools were not about to be joined
(isn't it always?).

Shampoo arrived a little later trailed by Mousse. They were also
followed by the elder Cologne, because she felt the intense power given
off by one of the siblings during the challenge. The old crone knew it
was a bit of Ranma's ki.

The Kuno duo were ranting about their respective 'loves', but was
generally ignored by the people around them.

Ukyo was also there, eyeing the two children warily. The longer she
stared at the kids, the more she found the resemblance between them and
Ranma. Now if only she was the mother, then it would be better than she
hoped...

Genma was about to gripe about his 'insolent boy', but the presence of
Nodoka's newly sharpened katana forced him to hold his tongue. The
Saotome Matriarch meanwhile was livid with joy. In her mind there was
only one chant, "Grandmother, grandmother, grandmother..." Well, you get
the idea.

The Senshi have different reactions. Sailor Moon was busy munching on a
cookie that Kasumi had brought out, while Tuxedo Mask tried telling her
to wait for the others to get some. Sailor Mercury was busy tinkering
with her computer; she was still trying to figure out the power levels
of the children. Sailor Mars was a bit angry at their glutton leader, as
usual. Sailors Uranus, Neptune, Jupiter and Venus were curious to find
out who the children's mother was, for reasons so obvious. Sailor Saturn
sat shyly between her foster parents, wondering why they were looking
that way to the two little girls in front of them. They were not the
enemy, right? But it wasn't that look though... more like... well she
doesn't know really.

Sailor Pluto was chatting with one of the Norns, particularly Belldandy.

Urd looked bored as she lounged languidly on the carpet floor, munching
on a bag of chips that she sequestered as her bag of loot. Skuld was
eyeing Sailor Mercury's computer... she planned on borrowing it later
for 'analysis'.

"Ahem."

The whole group looked at the redhead child in front of them, who had
her knees bent under her in a formal way. The same went with the blue
haired girl beside her. The siblings looked at the group seriously.

"So ya wanna know what's what right?" Reiko asked bluntly. Seeing them
all nod in agreement, she continued, "Well, as I said earlier, I'm
Saotome Reiko, and this is my sister Meiko." She gestured at her side to
Meiko, who bowed slightly. "We can't tell ya much, 'coz it disrupts some
time thingie law or somethin'... so all I can really tell ya is that my
papa is known to you as Saotome Ranma. As for mom, I can't tell ya
that."

"Why not?!" Akane asked angrily.

"Because," Meiko replied in a steeled voice, "It will disrupt something
in time. We're not allowed to tell ya anythin' 'bout the future, 'xcept
Papa's name, 'coz it's kinda obvious in our last name right? If ya wanna
ask about the disrupt thingie, ask Sailor Pluto 'bout it."

Sailor Pluto nodded as the attention of the group went to her. "That's
correct. If they mention any information that will happen in the future,
chances are certain events will be disturbed, and maybe even kill a
thousand lives that might've been saved in the future, just because one
event didn't happen. Think of it as a calm lake... when you throw a rock
in the middle of the calmed water, the drop will form ripples across the
surface. Those ripples are those discarded decisions that might've been
changed because of what information these two carry in them. Like, when
they say their mother will be me, then a lot of you will plot for my
demise. I might also be alert and wary of it. What we don't know is that
maybe my marriage to Ranma will be the cause of intergalactic peace over
the entire galaxy. That's how big an effect Reiko and Meiko's
information will be in the future. So they have to be discreet in what
they say, and they have been taught well by their father."

Meiko looked sullen. "I wanna go home."

Reiko moved beside her sister and stroke her blue hair. "You an' me
both."

Skuld quickly took out her own laptop computer and started typing in it.
After a short silence, she looked up to the two children, who had
hopeful looks in their faces. She sighed and said, "Okay, I may have
found a way for you to go back. But..."

"But...?" Everyone was hanging unto every word she said.

"It's called the 'Tear of the Dragon'. It's an artifact that is similar
to that Wish Sabre that they accidentally found back in Reiko and
Meiko's time. The problem is the location..." Skuld said slowly as she
hesitated on her speech.

"Where is it, Skuld-neesan?" Meiko asked.

The youngest Norn paled slightly as she replied, "Musk Kingdom."

"Aiyah..." The high pitched voice of the bubbly amazon Shampoo broke the
awkward silence that ensued. "Musk Kingdom very bad place. No go there
if girl. Musk peoples perverts."

Cologne nodded sagely. "That's true."

"Oh... we don't know..." Reiko and Meiko said softly.

======================================================================== =====

Musk Citadel, same time...

Herb suddenly got a chill along his, er currently her spine. He turned
to his Lore Master and said, "Oregano, I wish for a peek in my fortune."

Oregano straightened in his seat. There were currently in the middle of
a meeting that will decide whether it will be a good idea to declare war
on the recently weakened Pheonix Kingdom.

Lore Master Oregano almost facefaulted at the Musk Prince's sudden
request.

======================================================================== =====

Tendo-Ke, little while later...

"Musk Citadel..." Reiko muttered loudly.

Meiko nodded. "Yep. Herb-chan's castle!"

Cologne bigsweated. "Errr..."

The two other amazons and Akane squawked though. Even P-chan's eyes grew
wide-eyed at this. "HERB-CHAN?!" The trio chorused, while P-chan's
'Bwee' was the only audible sound he could muster at the moment.

Reiko looked at them surprised at their reactions. "Yep. Good friend of
papa, with Saffy-chan."

Meiko giggled. "Saffy-chan always played shogi with papa back in our
time."

While the Nerima residents sat back in shock at the revelation, the
Senshi were skeptical.

"Uhm... who's 'Herb-chan' and 'Saffy-chan'?" Sailor Mercury asked
softly.

The jade-haired senshi answered them instead. "Prince Herb is a living
dragon descendant, current Emperor of the Musk Dynasty. Lord Saffron is
the living Pheonix, a demi-god who lives in Pheonix Mountain."

Sailor Mars looked nonplussed. "And their connection with Ranma is...?"

"Ranma defeated them both with pure martial arts." It was Akane's voice
that replied for Sailor Pluto. The youngest Tendo daughter turned to the
two Saotome offsprings and asked, "How did they become friends of Ranma?
Aren't they hateful to each other?"

Reiko and Meiko shrugged nonchalantly. "People change." Reiko said
simply.

======================================================================== =====

In a prison a hundred times higher in level than what imprisoned the
demon Metallia...

A familiar blue-haired woman trudged heavily along the darknened
hallway. She still felt the huge guilt of her sin against her sister.
Now she had to face the consequences of her actions in the past, which
resulted in the separation between mother and son. At that time this
reason was considered noble and true, but after a long time had passed,
everything seemed petty now. Her sister's servant had established
contact with her a while ago, after she had felt two new but familiar
traits of energy signal in Nerima. Once she found out who they were, she
answered to her sister's summons, and was led to this place now.

The place was full of dark branches coiled into pedestals that reached
to the ceiling. The ground she was stepping on were dried up roots from
the black trees that grew in the place. Her gaze left the path and went
to the faint blue glow in front of her. She could see the outline of a
huge tree with normal colors, brown and green, which was pretty unusual
and was left as a sore thumb out in the bleakness of the place. The
woman gathered her wits and walked onwards to the end of the dark
walkway.

In the outside, she was calm. Dead calm.

In the inside, she was scared. Real scared.

She was inside the prison domain of her sister, who had every right to
destroy her existence because of what she did before.

Imagine her surprise when she approached the miniature throne in front
of the huge tree. There sat a woman whose eyes were eerie blue, with
leaves sprouting out her cheeks. She has brown hair with streaks of dark
red that shimmers to golden with the lights that went out from the
golden stone in the middle of her forehead. Her dark red bodysuit was
lined with light red lines, that was held by two large gold buttons over
her chest. She had a gold belt that was not touching her waist at all,
that seemed just floating there. The same went with her floating gold
pendant that came together with two sapphires on her front neck. White
cloth covered her shoulders that converged to a large red oval gem in
the middle of her chest. Her black-gloved clawed hands tapped
impatiently at the wooden armrests of her 'throne'.

She finally stopped in front of the throne with a respectable distance.
She inclined her head and spoke, "Tokimi-neesan."

The woman on the throne jerked her head towards the sound of the voice,
seemingly surprised at her presence there. "T-Tsunami-chan." Her shaky
voice surprised the blue-haired woman.

<Who is this?> Tsunami thought to herself. <Where is the high-strung
Tokimi that always screamed bloody murder at everything that was Juraian
and connected to me?>

"Tsunami-chan." Tokimi finally got her voice straight again, which
caused the blue-haired woman to look at her seriously. "My son. Where is
Ranma?"

Tsunami started at this. "Well, he's in Earth..."

"Earth..." Tokimi breathed the word out, and to Tsunami's further
surprise, sagged down to her throne. "I missed him after all these
years..."

"Tokimi-neesan... I'm sorry. I know you must hate me so much for what I
did, but I..." Tsunami began, but was interrupted by Tokimi.

"Stop it, Tsunami-chan. I know the reason why you took my son away from
me. Do you think I'm stupid?" Tokimi snapped angrily, then relented
afterwards, "But it didn't stop me from being angry at everything and
everyone. I wanted you to feel the pain I felt. I lost my son, dammit!
Without any news of what happened to him whatsoever! MY only son, MY
flesh and blood, MY very own..." she punctuated every sentence with her
thumping her chest wildly with her fist, "Taken from me when he was
still in my womb. How do you think that made ME feel, sister?"

Tsunami's eyes watered as she sighed regrettably. "I-I'm so sorry,
Tokimi-neesan... it's just that you were... out of control back then. I
thought you would use Ranma for your needs to... I thought..."

Tokimi waved her hand in the air. "You were reading into me too much!
What do you know about what goes on in my mind?! I was named a goddess
of chaos, but that doesn't make me evil! You assumed I was evil! And
when I wanted a son, you thought he was evil! Don't assume too much!"
She breathed in softly. "I just wanted someone to love me... someone I
could care for without any restraint. Someone I could call my own...
someone to call me 'Mother'..."

Tsunami finally buckled under her knees and fell down the hardened
floor. She wept silently as Tokimi stopped her own tears from
overflowing her eyes. The goddess of chaos stood up from her throne and
staggered towards the weeping Tsunami, and knelt beside her. She
hesitantly took her younger sister into her arms.

"I'm so sorry, oneesan... I finally understood the need of being loved
when I took into assimilating myself into Sasami seriously. Through her,
I felt the tremendous empty feeling of loneliness..." Tsunami mumbled
silently.

Tokimi slowly patted Tsunami's back and gave up to her tears as well.
"I'm just glad he's safe, Tsunami-chan... I just want to see my child
again..."

Tsunami pulled herself out from her older sister's embrace and wiped her
tears. She smiled slightly at Tokimi and said, "You could've been proud
of her, oneesan. He's so wonderful and brave." Then her visage fell
slightly. "But... I probably misjudged that human Genma... he put
Ranma-kun into some crazy training schemes that might've killed him."

"What?!" Tokimi growled out, the last statement quickly sobered her up.
Tsunami just sighed and placed her hand on the lone golden ornament on
Tokimi's forehead. The two sisters glowed soft blue as they closed their
eyes.

After several minutes of silence that ensued between the two, Tokimi's
eyes snapped open as she released a wail of anger and despair. "That...
bastard! I'll kill him! I'll gut him while he's conscious! I'll make him
drink his own blood through a straw!" Tokimi stood up and began stomping
angrily around her domain. Tsunami just watched impassively at her older
sister's violent display. Not that she really had the heart to stop
Tokimi from doing those things she mentioned to the fat martial artist
anyway; she wholeheartedly agreed that some sort of punishment was in
order.

Tokimi calmed down after an hour of ranting about the seventy-five
thousand ways she thought up to torture and kill a certain panda on
Earth. After she calmed down, she turned to Tsunami and asked in a low
voice, "Will you free me now? I want to see my son..."

Tsunami fidgeted at Tokimi's question. "Well, I..." Her statement was
interrupted once again when a lightning bolt followed by thunder struck
the ground on their right. Tsunami and Tokimi quickly shuffled
themselves to the scribble written on the ground and read it.

'To my daughters:
Tsunami, Goddess Class 1, Category 1, Unlimited,
Tokimi, Goddess Class 1, Category 1, Limited (Pending),

Permission to release Tokimi's seal is hereby approved.

Kami-sama
Lord of
Creation'

Tokimi almost jumped for joy, if not for the composed image that she
kept strictly. In her revived heart though, she was ecstatic. She turned
to her currently shocked-still younger sister and grabbed Tsunami's
hands into hers as she said, "Tsunami-chan! I'm going to see Ranma
again!"

The blue-haired goddess finally broke through the shock haze that
encompassed her for the moment. She shook her head and groaned. "I have
to explain that one to you."

The change of demeanor in Tsunami really affected Tokimi's mood. Her
face grew neutral. "What happened to him? Where is my son?"

Tsunami twiddled her thumbs together. "Well, you see... oneesan... Ranma
is... lost in time."

The formidable goddess of chaos, the highly overrated supposed to be
harbringer of destruction in the universe, Tokimi, reacted normally.

She fainted.

======================================================================== =====

In the place called Alpha Prime Point of Existence...

A huge swirling mass of black pulled every bit of light and dust around
it. If observed from afar, it would seem that everything around it was
avoiding the area. Around it lay only space; no stars nor space
particles whatsoever.

The huge sphere prison of the Ancient Gods pulsed with unearthy light,
black lightning cackled around it every once in a while.

But the black surface was not perfect anymore. On one side, a small
crack has appeared a few years ago, marring the once infallible
blackness of the sphere.

A soft dark light now escapes the crack, a sign of the Seal weakening.

Inside the black sphere, gigantic figures were restless in the wake of
the crack. They stood there as they observed the crack grew in size,
which would eventually allow them to escape and finally wreak their
revenge upon those that imprisoned them.

"+How long must we still wait, Lord Chronos?+" The smallest of the
giants (ironic isn't it?) rumbled in their native tongue as he turned to
the largest of the group.

"+Soon, Ursa... we will sate our vengeance soon.+" The largest giant of
them all, Chronos, replied. "+Hypnos! How fare our energy reserves?+"
Chronos turned to the one who was kneeled along a rather unique
apparatus that emitted a sharp ray of light, which was aimed at the
spacial tear of the prison.

Hypnos snorted as he scratched the lone horn that stuck in front of his
forehead. "+We still have enough power. We could activate the Carrions
like we did to the Manticores.+"

A hoarse laugh answered Hypnos. "+Don't bother. The Manticores
themselves are enough to cause never-ending headaches for the Trinity.
Just concentrate on the way out of here.+" Chronos replied.

Hypnos nodded grimly. "+As you wish, Lord Chronos.+"

======================================================================== =====

Back in Tendo-Ke...

"Reiko-chan, Meiko-chan..." Both kids turned their attention to Nodoka,
who blushed slightly at the attention. "Uhm... if you don't mind me
asking, is your father a Man Amongst Man?"

The siblings giggled at their flustered second grandmother.

"Hai, Nodoka-obaasan! Papa's Man Amongst Men alright!" Reiko chirped
happily. This caused another bout of giggles from the siblings.

Meiko gasped for her breath. "Papa still has the curse though... fer as
long as he lived, he never found the cure for it. Not that papa and mama
minded it anyways..."

Reiko nodded. "Although Tokimi-obaasan wasn't really all that happy with
Genma-panda-baka. She tried fryin' his ass with chaos energy when she
arrived. It was fun!"

Meiko bonked her older sister on the back of her head. "Oneesan! Yer
language!"

The Senshi took notice of Sailor Pluto's stiffened position when a
certain was mentioned. Sailor Moon looked at Pluto's wide-eyed
expression with expectations. The green haired woman shook her head
slightly.

"T-Tokimi-sama?" Pluto stammered slightly at the name.

"Why yes." Nodoka answered the questioning stares given to the obviously
shell-shocked Pluto. "Ranma isn't my son. He's Tokimi's son, although I
carried him in my womb for the goddess."

The Norns were quite horrified and looked at each other.

Urd was the first to comment. "Wow. Tokimi's son? How... surprising."

Belldandy was quite upset. "I didn't hear about this."

Skuld was quite vocal about it. "WHY DIDN'T I KNOW ABOUT THIS?!" She
immediately summoned her laptop and started typing in it furiously.

"I know. I still can't believe it even when he told us about it back
before he disappeared." Nabiki sighed.

"I'm almost afraid to ask, but who is Tokimi?" Sailor Uranus asked with
hesitation. After seeing the reactions of the group, her nervousness
rushed into overdrive.

Belldandy shrugged as she released a long soft breath. "Tokimi is a
goddess, one of three sisters who was imprisoned by her own sister in
eternal darkness because of the nature of her powers. The one who
imprisoned her, Tsunami, is her younger sister. She is the most
prominent figure in Jurai, as their patron and Goddess of Life. The
third sister, Washuu, is the Goddess of Knowledge. She gave up her
godhood and lived with mortals, locking her own memories. Tokimi was
revered as the Goddess of Chaos. Because of her imprisonment, her anger
and bitterness grew over the years, thus she declared war upon those who
are of Jurai, but lately she suddenly mellowed down for some reason. Now
I know why."

"Oneesan..." Skuld said softly as she folded her laptop timidly. After
Belldandy finally looked at her, she shook her head. "Tokimi's not
imprisoned anymore. In fact, Father just approved her release this very
day."

Everyone was quite startled at this information. After hearing what
Tokimi had done, they were quite weary as to what the Goddess of Chaos
was up to. Well, all except Nodoka and the two youngest Saotomes.

"Yay! Tokimi-obaasan is comin' to visit soon!" Reiko squealed as she
hopped up to her feet and danced a jiggy. Meiko laughed at her older
sister's antics.

Pluto stood up and hissed, "Are you both crazy?! Tokimi is worse than
Metallia and Beryl combined! Hell she's worse than every bad guy the
Senshi had encountered all these years combined!"

Meiko sighed. "But Puu-chan, Tokimi-obaasan is gonna be important in the
future! And 'sides, she's really nice to everyone!" Then she turned to
Genma. "Oh, well, except to ya. Prepare, ol' man. Yer gonna get yours!"

Nodoka smiled at them, despite Pluto's jaw dropping on the ground. "Tell
me, girls, is the future a really nice place?"

The siblings nodded simultaneously. "Tokimi-obaasan, Tsunami-obaachan,
Washuu-obaachan... err Washuu-chan and you Nodoka-obaasan, play with us
most of the time! Papa and mama trains us in Martial Arts too, with our
other brothers and sisters... but we can't tell ya any more 'bout it."
Reiko snorted as she saw the crestfallen looks in some of the faces of
their audience. She giggled at Nodoka who was now deliriously happy.

The Norns just looked one another and nodded. Skuld turned to Reiko and
Meiko. "When are you going to get the artifact?"

Reiko looked at Meiko, who just shrugged indignantly. The older sibling
snickered and faced the youngest Norn again. "Well, we could get it now,
but we wanna have some time here first. We could get it five days or a
week from now."

Skuld was about to protest, but Belldandy's hand being placed on her
shoulder placated her.

"Well, since you're here, you might as well enjoy it right? Besides, you
can wish to get back seconds after you just disappeared back in your
time." Belldandy explained not only to the siblings, but to the others
as well.

"Yup!" The two children agreed wholeheartedly.

Finally it was dark outside, and the Norns already disappeared in the
koi pond (they used Skuld's medium this time). The Senshi were alerted
by another Youma attack in Juuban district, so they promptly announced
their leave as well. Nabiki noticed the longing looks from the short
blonde haired Senshi, the moss haired one, and the green haired one with
red eyes. She didn't have time to ponder about it before they
disappeared, though she vowed she would interrogate them later about it.

Secrets of the Senshi? Sounds profitable.

======================================================================== =====

The first two days of the two Saotome siblings were interesting at most.
Eventhough it was a Saturday, Reiko had been glomped by Kuno the first
day, which resulted in the kendoist's (yes, I decided to give him the
title 'coz I can't think of anything to call him... idiot maybe? nah...)
unceremonious beating from a child. Akane for some reason felt her
defeat the other day was just a fluke (she's really reverting back to
the way she was before... the horror!) so she challenged the little
redhead again to another match, where she was thoroughly defeated almost
the exact same way Ranma defeated Akane way back then. Nabiki videotaped
the whole encounter and was chuckling the whole time.

Meiko on the other hand was blissfully happy in the kitchen with Kasumi
and Nodoka... it would seem that for some reason, the child's passion in
cooking was as great as her passion in the Art. Though she had this
nasty habit of interchanging powdered detergent soap with flour. But
she's learning the ways of the kitchen as fast as Ranma in learning new
martial art techniques.

P-chan skirted mostly out of the siblings' way. The porcine just
shuddered in fear as he snuggled deeper into his miniature box in the
dojo as he watched the match between Reiko and Akane. Ryoga-buta still
remembered when the younger of the two sisters grabbed his bandanna and
dragged him into the furo.

- FLASHBACK -

"Bweeee!!!" P-chan squealed as he struggled against Meiko's strong grip.
Luckily Reiko was busy talking with Nodoka, but the look in the
blue-haired girl's red-pink eyes scared the wits out of him. He was
currently being carried into the furo. When they finally entered it,
Meiko gleefully locked the door and threw P-chan down the tiled floor.

The piglet was about to launch an attack when Meiko growled under her
breath and muttered, "So, P-CHAN... ya still haven't told her who ya
really were, ne?"

P-chan stopped in his tracks and gazed fearfully into Meiko's eyes,
which were now burning with anger and loathing.

"You really are a pig! Papa was right about ya."

The pig forgot about his uneasiness and glared hatefully at the child.
He quickly hopped into the currently filling up furo and changed into
his uncursed form. Ryoga broke the shallow water and sneered at Meiko.

"So! Ranma really has no honor!" Ryoga smirked smugly.

"Actually..." Meiko broke Ryoga's tirade, "Akane-obaachan will find out
about it whether you like it or not. And she's gonna hate you, BIGTIME."

Ryoga sputtered at that.

Meiko sighed and crossed her small arms across her chest. "Here's the
deal, Ryoga-san. Stay the hell outta our way. If ya don't, I'm gonna
tell Akane-baachan 'bout ya. Also, not ta mention I'm gonna squash ya!
That's not to tell what Reiko-oneesan has for ya."

The blue-haired girl unlocked the furo door and left Ryoga.

- END FLASHBACK -

Yup. It's safe for the little piggy to stay in this place. At least
that's what's going through the mind of the little porker right now.

By Tuesday, Nodoka took Reiko and Meiko back to the Saotome Estate, much
to the delight of the two little girls. Ther in Juuban, they were
treated with youma galore, and countless encounters with the Senshi.
Some of them, like Sailor Mars and Jupiter, were still wary of the two
kids helping them. But when they saw how quickly and efficiently they
dispatched youma after youma, they changed their minds.

The girls spent another two days in the Saotome home. Nodoka constantly
grilled them about their father, which in turn they answered within
their set limits. They just let this pass, because their grandmother was
the same in the future. She still looked as young as ever in their time,
thanks to the Juraian blood that flowed within her. But Akane, Ryoga and
the rest of Nerima's residents grew into old, wrinkled ladies and men.

Finally, Friday arrived... the day the Reiko and Meiko set off to find
and borrow the 'Tear of the Dragon' from Herb. Ryoga, Akane, Shampoo and
Mousse greatly insisted that they should accompany the two, much to the
siblings' dismay.

Nodoka kissed each of the little girls on the forehead, her eyes
glistened at the unshed tears that threatened to fall. "Take care my
grandchildren..."

The two hugged their grandmother tightly. "We will, grandmama..." they
both whispered against the older woman's kimono. They reluctantly parted
and waved to each other.

"Tell myself in the future to give your father a hug, okay?" Nodoka
requested.

Reiko giggled as she sniffled her tears away. "Yes grandma..."

"Don't worry! You'll see us again when papa returns here!" Meiko replied
in a cheerful voice.

Nodoka smiled at their enthusiasm. "That's right. Now get going, or it
might be dark soon. Be sure to pitch your tents right!"

The duo nodded and turned towards the assembled group.

"You sure you wanna come with us? We can take care of ourselves, ya
know." Reiko snorted unlady-like.

The group nodded.

"I can't let kids roam the countryside full of perverts alone!" Akane
declared.

Ryoga sighed. "I must stay with Akane."

"I can take care of myself you know!" Akane retorted.

"Must come with future childrens of airen and Shampoo!" The purple
haired Amazon hopped from side to side.

"Wherever my Shampoo goes, I go too!" Mousse told a telephone pole that
he was facing. He was bashed by Shampoo's mace in the head without any
ceremonies.

Reiko and Meiko Saotome, daughters of Saotome Ranma and... someone (I
won't tell yet!), Princesses of Jurai, sweatdropped as they watched the
group of teenagers bicker against one another.

The journey to Musk Territory is full of peril. It just went up another
notch.

======================================================================== =====

Back in the Alternate Past, where Ranma was 'dumped'...

Three people were navigating against the thick forest, coupled by the
darkness of the night. The girl Ranma had rescued now slept securely
while riding piggy-back style on the pigtailed boy's back. Howls of
monsters were still audible in the night air, and seemed that were
getting closer to them.

Yosho gripped the wooden bokken tightly. It might not be enough if the
Manticores appeared now. He silently preppared the other sword he
carried, the Tenchi-Ken. He thought he would never need it again, after
defeating the space pirate Ryoko. He was even tempted to bury it in
another location. Imagine his gratitude for his indecision right now.

Suddenly, a shrill pitch of sound that was blended with the lower
octaved howls warned the two that the youkai were not the only vile
things that were chasing them right now.

"Damn it, not now!" Yosho muttered angrily under his breath. He was
hoping against hope on not meeting the things. They were planning that
if ever they couldn't go away by land, then they could escape if they
take to the air. The appearance of the newcomers squashed the idea.

On the other hand, Ranma groaned. He took a peek on his bundle, who was
still sleeping peacefully. "Just what we needed. We might need to find a
place to let Koneko off and lure those monsters away from her to fight."

Yosho nodded as he looked intently in front of them as they ran.
"There's a clearing ahead. Small shimmers... probably a lake. Good. You
better run ahead while I stall for some time. I'll catch up once I get
rid of the cannon fodders."

Ranma agreed. "Alright. Be careful when you encounter the Manticores.
Just run away from them and lead the creeps to the clearing. We'll fight
them together." Without waiting for a visual nod of response, Ranma
poured in a bit of ki into his legs and started to speed up. He overshot
Yosho, who stopped with a skid in the middle of the darkness and
positioned his bokken for attack. Left alone in the middle of the
forest, Yosho lifted his weapon up in the air and began firing vacuum
blades to anything that moved.

The pigtailed boy neared the clearing when he heard the loud sonic
booms. He was sure that his companion would use large scale attacks that
would decimate the large number of enemies. <A technique that was
well-thought of Yosho> Ranma thought as the scenery finally opened up
into the large lakeside. Ranma quickly flew to the large tree on the
other side of the lake. He propped Koneko against the tree, an action
which caused the girl to awaken. After she finally got her bearings, she
started panicking.

"Relax, Koneko! We have a problem, and we need you to stay here while we
take care of it." Loud booms and flashes of blue light decorated the
surroundings as Ranma tried to explain the situation to her. Koneko
finally relaxed a bit and looked over Ranma's shoulder. She saw trees
and rocks thrown everywhere as a battle commenced in the area.

Ranma stood up. "I have to help Yosho, then we'll return here and get
you to a safe place, alright?"

Koneko nodded. "Please be safe, Ranma-kun."

Ranma flashed a smile at her, then floated in the air, much to the
girl's surprise. There was no time to explain, so he quickly turned and
jetted towards the battlefield as he left the gaping girl.

The battle was actually going pretty well. Yosho had decimated
three-fourths of the entire attacking group of youkai. But for some
reason he was still concerned. The shrill cries of the Manticores still
echoed in the air. The question now was, where the hell were they?

Ranma reached the battlezone. Burnt pine wafted the chill of the night,
as the area glowed in red haze. Yosho was standing in the middle of the
firezone, his bokken stroke every monster that tried to approach his
area of defense. The pigtail boy scanned the surroundings for any sign
of the Manticores. Their absence made him uneasy, but he just shrugged
and joined the fray in earnest. He dove sharply from where he floated
and smashed an open palm strike on a monster's open back.

The fight was rejoined with a vengeance.

Finally, the haunting howls stopped. When the smoke cleared up,
countless bodies of dead youkai littered the decimated part of the
forest. But still, the Manticores have not yet made an appearance.

The two combatants stood poised and ready for any attack.

It seemed that their wait was over.

Ranma pushed Yosho to one side as he dove for cover. The ground they
stood on a while ago cracked and exploded upwards. In the debris stood
the hulking black figure of a Manticore. The monster turned to Yosho and
quickly attacked viciously, which caused the Juraian Prince to parry
quickly for his life.

The pigtailed boy picked himself up and saw the Manticore concentrated
on Yosho. He jumped to his feet and was about to leap to Yosho's aid
when a clawed hand grazed his side. He grunted in pain as he saw
everything blur as he flew back to a tree trunk, which shattered in
impact. Ranma shakily stood up and dodged the incoming deathblow that
was meant to decapitate his head. He flipped to the creature's back and
sent a spinning back kick to it. The Manticore was launched into the air
and fell into the middle of the lake.

Ranma saw an opportunity and launched a massive ki-blast towards the
monster that Yosho was fighting. As the creature was hit at the back,
which burned most of its wings away, the Manticore arched its back and
screamed in agony. It leapt back from the two to allow itself some time
to recover.

But Yosho did not allow it to rejuvenate. Without hesitation, he drew
the Tenchi-Ken from its harness and concentrated. The energy blade lit
up and hummed against the air. Yosho quickly gathered more ki into the
sword hilt and watched as the Tenchi-Ken's width grew wider. Satisfied
with the result, Yosho launched multiple strikes to the momentarily
helpless Manticore and cut it into pieces.

After challenging enough of the creatures, Ranma and Yosho had found out
that the only way to dispose of the things was to pulverize them into
dust. The only problem was that they usually expend so much energy just
to kill one or two of the things.

The two still stood in position as they watched the discarded pieces of
the Manticore. They were waiting if ever the thing would decide to
reform itself, not that they expected it, but it was better safe than
sorry afterall.

A female cry caught their attention though. They turned to the direction
of the far side of the lake and saw the other Manticore floating slowly
towards where their cargo was resting and defenseless as of the moment.
Ranma berrated himself and grabbed Yosho's arm. He flew them quickly
towards the monster.

Koneko backed away fearfully from the slowly approaching form of the
monster. She had never seen this type of youkai before, which was much
more menacing than the normal youkai. The sharp claws in its hands
glinted against the pale moonlight as it stalked near her. The creature
lifted its claw in the air and prepared for the final slash.

Ranma saw that he was not going to make it. "I'm gonna throw you!" Ranma
called out to his companion, who just grunted in response. The pigtailed
boy whirled them around and threw Yosho into the air towards the
Manticore, while he sped on faster because of the loss of baggage.

Ranma poured on his ki as he saw the Manticore raised its claws in the
air to strike on the terrified girl. He breathed out sharply as he
reached between the monster and the girl, and raised his left arm to
block the strike. His right arm glowed with energy.

At the same time, Yosho's sword thrust into the monster. The Manticore
yowled as it let its claw swipe downwards, while Ranma fired a ki blast.
The boy felt his left arm burn painfully. He screamed in pain.

Darkness welcomed the pigtailed warrior.

======================================================================== =====
== To Be Continued... ==
======================================================================== =====

Author Rants:

Cool.

I am inspired!

Got this finished faster than I expected.

Anyway, some people asked me about Cooking Master Boy, and what it has
to do with my story.

Frankly, I only needed the meteor thingie that was used to make those
Cooking Utensils being fought over in the anime. Also, the time frame
was appropriate. Sorry if it didn't make much sense.

I originally planned to use Mei-Li as the template for the Spring of
Drowned Girl, but the time frame was all wrong. So that idea's out of
the window.

In this chapter, I began hinting the next cross.

Youkai. ^_^

Manticores and Carrions... I think I got the names from an old RPG game.
Castle of Winds, I think. But the looks are not the same. Only the name.

Before you ask, no there is no 'Koneko' character whatsoever in the
anime cross I'm gonna use next. She's what we call, 'originals' and also
'extras'.

If you still can't guess what time era Ranma was flung into, just tell
me through email and I will make sure to clear it up in the next
chapter.

Hmmm... what else...

This chapter is pretty straightforward. Explained some instances, also
introduced baddies. Tokimi was freed too, and reconciliation with
Tsunami was needed (to be honest, I like Tokimi's character, don't ask
me why, I just do).

Reiko Saotome is a Saiyajin/Human/minute amount of Juraian hybrid. Birth
defects, birth deficiencies, call it what you want. That's just is. But
she's still plenty strong. Got it mostly from her father.

Meiko Saotome on the other hand is a Juraian/Human/minute amount of
Saiyajin hybrid. Her tail hadn't grown because of the smallest traces of
Saiyajin in her blood. Got it mostly from her mother.

Who's their mother? Heck, that will be unveiled in the future.

Next chapter, the continuation of Reiko and Meiko's journey to
Herb-chan's kingdom. Also, what the heck happened to Ranma? Who's the
guy with the fluffy white doggy ears?

Heheh. ^_^

Ja ne.

- Lord Rance

In case you need my email for some reason at all, here:
lord_rance@yahoo.com

For those who will send flames, well, I'll just douse it with my trusty
bucket of cold water!