Crossover Fan Fiction ❯ The Story; An Anime Tale with a Twist ❯ Aarthi's Story; A Tale of the Future ( Chapter 3 )

Aarthi's Story

A tale of the future

"Well Aarthi, we've been working on this for five days. Let's hope it works."

"Amber it better or I am going to… I don't know what I'm going to do but it won't be nice!"

"I'm going to tell her we're ready."

"All right, go ahead."

Amber pulled the microphone close to her and spoke into it.

"Shaula? You there?"

Words flashed across the screen and Aarthi watched in amazement.

Amber read the words and was shocked.

"What do you mean `what took so long?' It's only been five days!" Amber said into the mike.

More words appeared on the screen and Amber turned red with anger.

"What game are you playing Shaula? It's only been five days!"

Bold letters appeared on the screen in caps and they seemed to express great anger.

"I'm not joking! Here, talk to Aarthi! I got her to help with the program. She knows all that has happened and helped me cover with your mom. If you don't believe me then you should trust her!"

Amber angrily rose out of the chair and Aarthi took her place.

"Hey Shaula? This is Aarthi."

As the letters went back to normal font and color, Aarthi read them.

"No it hasn't been that long. Amber told you the truth; it's only been five days since she last talked to you. Why?"

More letters on the screen.

"Five years? It hasn't been that long."

"Oh no!" Amber said, smacking her head.

"I never understood how you could hit yourself like that without blacking out," Aarthi said.

"Neither can I, but that's not important! I think I know why the time flows off," Amber sheepishly said.

"What now?" Aarthi groaned.

"When I upgraded the time fluctuation, the virus must have interfered causing time variation between worlds."

"English, please."

"When I sped up time the virus must have changed the code and instead of one day being sped up it changed it permanently."

"So while time is the same for us, each day we have is equal to one year for her," Aarthi said.

"We had better get her out," Amber sighed.

Writing appeared on the screen and Aarthi read it.

"What? Why don't you want to come back Shaula?" Aarthi asked.

"Well?" Amber asked after Aarthi read the reply.

"She said to read the stuff for the five years she was gone."

"All right," Amber shrugged and scrolled to the top. "Let's see why Dorothy doesn't want to come back to Kansas."

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5 days/years ago

"Knowing Amber, it's gonna take her awhile to fix that program. Can I stay here till it's done?" Shaula asked.

"Sure," Akane said," then you and I can train and take on Ranma."

"Maybe I could stay here for a little bit?" Ryoga questioned.

"No pig boy, you've got someone waiting for you," Ranma snidely said.

"Who?" Ryoga said, rushing up and grabbing Ranma by the shirt collar.

"Oh Ryoga! You're back! Are you okay?" asked Akari as she ran into the room.

Ranma pointed over Ryoga's shoulder and said,

"I think she was waiting for you."

"What happened?" Akari asked lovingly.

"I'll tell you while we head back to your house," Ryoga told her.

"Let's go!" she said smiling.

Ryoga allowed himself to be lead off but gazed back longingly.

When they left, the two girls stared at Ranma.

"What?" he asked.

"Ranma, we'd kinda like to get ready for bed now," Shaula said.

"Oh, uh, see ya tomorrow," he said. "Get up early to train."

With that he left the room.

"Well," Akane said, grabbing two nightshirts from a drawer.

"Well, what?" asked Shaula, as Akane handed her a nightgown.

"Did you like kissing Ryoga?" Akane asked as she led Shaula to the bathroom.

Shaula blushed.

"Yeah, it was great."

"I wonder what it would be like with Ranma," Akane said, pushing open the bathroom door.

"Bu-kee!" squealed P-chan rushing out.

"Aww! How cute!" said Shaula, picking him up.

"P-chan, where have you been?" Akane asked.

"Akane, you get changed first. I wanna play with P-chan."

"Okay," Akane shrugged.

When she shut the door Shaula whispered to P-chan,

"What are you up to Ryoga?"

P-chan (a.k.a. Ryoga) opened his eyes wide and had a puzzled look on his face, then he got angry.

Shaula guessed what he was thinking.

"No, Ranma didn't tell me. I knew that you were P-chan for a long time. He is too honorable to break his word no matter how much he teases you."

Ryoga humphed and turned his head away.

"You listen to me," Shaula hissed. "You know Ranma's nice, you just don't want to admit it. I want you to try to get along, okay?"

Ryoga still had his head turned away.

"Okay?" Shaula stressed angrily.

Ryoga turned and slowly nodded his head.

"Good," she whispered, then she smiled. "Between you and me P-chan, I think Ryoga's as cute as you."

P-chan's eyes went wide and he blushed a deep red, surprising for a black pig.

Akane came out of the bathroom and told Shaula it was her turn. Shaula walked in and got changed while smiling as she remembered the expression on P-chan's face when she said he was cute.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~

"No more crazy idea's for tomorrow I hope," Shaula said as she lay on her sleeping bag.

"No way!" Akane said sleepily. "I want a nice, peaceful morning."

Shaula scoffed.

"Peaceful? With Ranma? That's impossible!"

P-chan snorted his agreement from a top Akane's bed.

Shaula frowned slightly but didn't say anything. After all, she had no say in telling P-chan where to sleep. Besides, she had no clue if he liked her the way she liked him.

Soon she heard Akane quietly snoring. Shaula tried to relax and fall asleep. She had nearly succeeded when a soft "Thump" startled her. She slowly raised her head and glanced around (half afraid a that a certain evil yellow mouse had made it's way there).

Instead of the evil screech of "Pika Pika!" she heard small snorts. Her eyes adjusted to the lack of light and she saw P-chan lying by her.

"Abandoning Akane are we?" Shaula said raising an eyebrow.

P-chan looked ashamed then stared at her with adoring puppy (er, pig) eyes.

"I was teasing Ryoga," she whispered in case Akane woke up.

P-chan seemed relieved and gave a little pig smile.

Shaula smiled back at him and lay down. She dozed off and Ryoga gazed at her, amazed by her calmness. Then, he too, dozed off.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~

Shaula woke up to the sound of P-chan squealing.

"What P-chan?" Shaula said sleepily.

P-chan's squeals intensified until she got out of her sleeping bag.

"What?" she said, annoyed at not being able to get more sleep.

She scanned the room to see where P-chan was. She spotted him on Akane's bed, an empty bed.

"Freak! I slept in!" Shaula shouted.

She grabbed her clothes and ran to the bathroom. No one answered her knock so she locked the door and quickly got changed. She rushed out and nearly tripped on P-chan who was standing by the door.

"How'd you find your way to the bathroom?" she asked. "Never mind, change and meet me in the dojo."

She hurried downstairs and went to the dojo, there Akane and Ranma had begun practicing. Meaning, Akane was trying to punch Ranma while he dodged. Shaula joined in and gave Ranma a run for his money. Between her and Akane, they forced him to stop dodging and try to block or swing. When the three couldn't move any longer, they sat down and began to discuss ways to improve their skills.

"Can I help train?" a voice asked.

Ranma turned and made a face,

"How'd you get away from Akari, pig boy?"

Ryoga punched Ranma.

"I got lost."

Ranma kicked Ryoga.

"How'd you make it here?"

Ryoga punched at Ranma but was blocked.

"Luck."

Ranma grabbed Ryoga's arm and flipped him.

"Sure Ryoga, let's train."

Akane and Shaula watched as the two fighters exchanged blows. Ranma's speed made it hard for Ryoga to land a punch but Ryoga's body was built like a steel wall; the punches that Ranma placed hurt, but not much. Ryoga also had power on his side, one of his punches could easily knock down a house. Ranma had different varieties of attacks and was able to calculate his opponent's strengths and weaknesses quickly. All in all, it was a pretty even match.

Of course that didn't stop Ranma from sending Ryoga through the dojo wall. Ryoga luckily missed the pond and instead hit the nice, soft brick wall (which got smashed in the process).

Ryoga groaned and slowly got up from the rubble. He was slightly dazed and walked back through the hole in the dojo. Ranma had forgotten about him and was training the girls some more.

Ryoga watched as they double-teamed Ranma. Ryoga saw that they were both great fighters. Ranma had no chance with the two of them as a team. Not only were they a team, they worked like a team. If one got hit, the other would cover until the fallen one could rise.

He was so amazed by their fighting ability that he almost was hit by Ranma, who had been sent flying by the girls combined kick. The force of the kicks sent Ranma straight into the pond. Out of the pond came an angry Ranma-chan.

"Got beaten by two girls, huh Ranma?" Ryoga laughed.

Ranma-chan fumed then smiled wickedly.

"Oh girls," she called," Ryoga says he wants to help you train."

The two girls flew out of the hole in the wall and Ryoga barely had time to block their kicks.

For the next few minutes he was on defensive, then Akane got through his defense and landed a punch. While he was focused on Akane, Ryoga neglected to see Shaula's kick.

When Ryoga woke up, he was lying on the grass and his body was aching.

"You okay Ryoga?" Shaula asked.

"Yeah," Ryoga mumbled, trying to get up.

"Not so easy, is it?" Ranma-chan said smugly.

"Shut up," Ryoga growled.

"You bakas!" Akane shouted. "Maybe next time you won't hold back!"

"I don't fight girls," Ranma-chan said, turning her head away.

"Look who's talking," Shaula frowned. "How are we gonna get better if you don't go all out?"

"We could go to China and fall in the Spring of Drowned Man," Akane said," then you don't have to worry about fighting girls."

Ranma-chan paled and said,

"You aren't serious."

"I am if you don't start training us better!"

"Akane, we don't have to be that drastic," Shaula said.

"Do you have an idea?" Akane asked eagerly.

"Yeah, come on. We'll leave these two to sulk."

The two girls raced off down the street. Ranma-chan and Ryoga glanced at each other before hastily following their loves.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~

"Great-grandmother is not fair! Pervert girl and angry girl surprise Shampoo! Shampoo want revenge! Shampoo-"

"-has company," Cologne said as Akane and Shaula walked into the Neko Hanten. "Surprised to see you back red-head."

"Shut up ghoul," Shaula growled.

"We came to have a battle with you Shampoo," Akane said.

"The two of us against you, at the park," Shaula continued.

"When Shampoo beat your butts?"

"We are going to beat your butt now. Let's go!" said Akane running out.

"Catch us if you can!" Shaula said following Akane.

"Shampoo beat pervert girl and angry friend!" Shampoo shouted and raced after them.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~

Ranma-chan and Ryoga saw the two girls leave the Neko Hanten with Shampoo hot on their heels.

"What are they up to?" Ranma asked Ryoga.

"No clue," he answered.

As the two watched, the three girls took to the roofs.

"Let's go," shouted Ranma, leaping into the air.

Ryoga followed his example and they both followed the girls to wherever they were going.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~

When they reached the park, Akane and Shaula both stood ready. Shampoo glared at them.

"You catch Shampoo off guard last time, not now!"

She leapt at Akane and began to attack. While she fought Akane, Shaula got behind Shampoo and attacked. Shaula got a few hits before Shampoo focused on her but Akane wouldn't be ignored. She began to attack Shampoo as well. Shampoo jumped away from the two.

"You make Shampoo mad! Shampoo beat you now!"

Shampoo rushed in and began to attack both girls at once. Her hands made several bruises before Akane grabbed Shampoo's arm and flipped her. Shaula ran to where Shampoo was gonna land and kicked her like a soccer ball. Shampoo flipped through the air and turned her body so she faced them as she fell.

"Rapid Fire Blast!" Shampoo shouted and threw numerous balls of fire at them.

Shaula and Akane dodged her blasts. When Shampoo landed she stopped firing and grinned.

"You two good, Shampoo better!"

"Seems to me you're not doing so good," Shaula scoffed.

"Shampoo finish battle with ultimate technique!"

"What? Calling Cologne?" Akane grinned.

Shampoo frowned angrily and made a pose.

"Massive Power Cannon!" Shampoo shouted and sent a massive blast of energy at them.

Shaula and Akane barely dodged before another blast was fired. Rocks flew up and cut them from the blast.

Shampoo laughed and fired another blast.

"You is dead now!" Shampoo shouted.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~

"Ryoga, let me go! I have to help Akane!" Ranma-chan shouted.

"Baka! She doesn't want your help! She wants an opponent who will fight her without holding back!" Ryoga said.

"You don't understand," Ranma-chan said, struggling to break free of Ryoga's grasp.

"I do understand," Ryoga said, trying to restrain Ranma-chan long enough for her to here him out.

Lucky he is a she or there is no way I could hold him, uh, her.

"Listen Ranma, ever since I meet Shaula I've felt that way. Like I have to protect her no matter what. She doesn't want that though, not unless she really needs it. They won't get any better unless they are challenged!"

"Shampoo's more of a challenge for them!" Ranma-chan yelled.

"I can't let you go until they call for help, they'll hate you if you help now!" Ryoga pleaded for Ranma to listen.

Ranma-chan ceased struggling and turned to stare at Ryoga with a great fierceness in her eyes.

"If they get hurt badly or die, I will strangle you P-chan," Ranma-chan snarled.

"I doubt that will happen," Ryoga said, "but I won't let it get that far."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~

Akane and Shaula dodged the blasts but it was hard. Shampoo was keeping them too far away to attack her head on.

"This isn't working!" Shaula called to Akane.

"Yes it is! I'm so mad I'm going to…" Akane stopped talking as her body flared up with her blue ki.

"I hear you!" Shaula said as she lit up on her own accord.

"What you do?" Shampoo asked, ceasing fire.

That was the opening they needed. Shaula and Akane were on her in a second. Shampoo was so taken aback that Akane and Shaula both got her before she moved away.

"Katana Power Blade!" Shaula shouted and her blade appeared.

"Mallet Power Strike!" Akane shouted and her ki powered mallet appeared.

"Shampoo no be beaten by macho pervert girls!" Shampoo said angrily.

She let loose with several large blasts which Akane and Shaula either absorbed with their weapons or dodged.

When Shampoo began to ware herself out Shaula asked,

"Give up?"

"Never!" Shampoo said, gathering power for another blast. "Multi Seeker Blast!"

A blast of black shot out from her hands and headed towards them. It divided, no multiplied, into many other balls. Akane and Shaula soon learned that they couldn't easily avoid them or absorb them.

"Follow me Akane!" Shaula shouted.

Shaula led Akane near Shampoo.

"No! You no do this! Leave Shampoo be!" Shampoo yelled.

Shampoo tried to blast them but she had used up nearly all of her power.

Because Akane and Shaula moved, the orbs followed them. Now the orbs surrounded all three girls.

"What do we do now?" Akane asked.

"I don't know, the orbs keep multiplying," Shaula answered.

"Ha!" Shampoo laughed, "You no escape Seekers, is impossible!"

"Akane, we need to combine our power. Maybe then-"

"-we can blast them all? It's worth a shot, Shaula."

The two girls stopped trying to evade the ki balls and held hands. Their power once more covered their bodies. As one they shouted,

"Ki Wave Ripple!"

Their ki formed a ring around them and shot outward. The ki engulfed the black orbs and they exploded. After a few more `ripples' the orbs were destroyed. This took only a matter of minutes. Then the three girls stared at each other, all equally drained.

"Shampoo," Shaula said, " you are worthy to be called an Amazon. Do you wish to continue or shall we call a draw?"

"Shampoo no like draws, Shampoo either win or loose," she huffed.

"You really want to fight, Shampoo? Why? We are all ready to drop, let's have a rematch when we are all up to full strength," Akane said.

Shampoo pondered this,

"Very well, we do this later. Shampoo train more, beat you next time."

She walked away towards the café. Shaula and Akane fell wearily from use of so much ki.

When they caught their breath, they began to discuss ways to train. They never saw the two `boys' in the bushes.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~

"Ranma, if you keep your mouth open like that you're gonna swallow a bug," Ryoga said, but inside he felt as shocked as Ranma-chan looked.

"They tied with Shampoo," Ranma-chan said, dazed.

"I think that we are gonna have to help train them better," Ryoga said, "before they go fight Cologne."

"What do you mean we?" Ranma-chan asked.

"Well, uh, with two different teachers they will learn more skills and tactics."

"And…"

"They need to be taught to fight without the others help."

"Why?"

"So if they fight two people or one is hurt they don't get the stuffing beat out of them! What's with the interrogation?" Ryoga angrily asked.

"Oh, I just wanted to make sure you weren't doing it to hang around the uncute macho American chick," Ranma-chan said, putting her hands behind her head.

Ryoga smacked Ranma-chan over the head.

"Don't call her that! She is cute and macho!" Ryoga shouted.

"Who, Shaula?" Ranma-chan innocently asked.

"Yeah, baka, Shaula!" Ryoga yelled, "Who else would I be talking about?"

"I know who you're talking about, but to whom are you talking, Mr. Windbag?"

"You! Who else would I be…" Ryoga's voice trailed off as he turned around.

Of course, Akane and Shaula had heard every word he shouted.

"See ya, Romeo!" Ranma-chan laughed and raced off.

"Saotome you're dead!" Ryoga shouted and ran after her.

Shaula and Akane watched them run off and began to laugh. How could they not? Guys could be so funny sometimes.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~

It took them a while to get enough energy for the walk home. When they made it, the two girls could only think of sleeping.

When they opened the door to Akane's room they both gasped. The entire room was filled with flowers.

They gaped until P-chan, with a little flower wreath, trotted up to them with an envelope in his mouth. Akane got the envelope and opened it, then she red the note to Shaula.

Dear Shaula and Akane,

On the way home we ran through, uh, stopped at a florist shop.

We decided to buy the flowers we kinda smashed. Hope you like them cause they weren't cheap!

Ranma (and Ryoga, who did not write this note)

PS: Great battle, get up early for practice.

Upon further examination, Shaula and Akane could see that many of the flowers looked a little…smushed.

"That was nice of them," Shaula said, lying down on her sleeping bag.

"I suppose," Akane sighed." Night."

"Night."

With that the two girls, and P-chan, fell asleep.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~

"How is it," Ranma grumbled, " I have to sleep with a panda and Ryoga gets to sleep in there?"

Genma flashed a sign that said `Go to bed' before knocking his son on the head.

"Well, he should be in here!" Ranma mumbled darkly.

Then, he too, drifted off to sleep.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~

"Great grandmother, Shampoo is needing more training!" Shampoo said.

"I see," Cologne sighed and hosted herself up on her staff. " You and I will train if that is your wish, but you need to tell me why you are so drained."

"Shampoo fight two pervert girls. Pervert girls use ki attacks. Shampoo tie with them. Next time Shampoo no tie!" Shampoo vowed.

"Sleep now Shampoo, you and I will train tomorrow."

"Yes Great grandmother," Shampoo said and climbed the stairs to her room.

Cologne closed her eyes and began to ponder what new attacks to teach Shampoo.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~

"Bu-kee!" P-chan squealed.

He was slightly agitated. He had been squealing and snorting for the past five minutes trying to get the two girls up.

They sleep like the dead, he thought, one last go.

"BU-KEE!" he squealed as loudly as possible.

Both girls jumped up and looked around. They saw P-chan staring darkly at them and wondered what was wrong.

"Oh no!" Akane moaned, "We're late!"

Shaula hurriedly pushed P-chan outside the door while the two got dressed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~

Shaula sat down and stared in amazement at how fast Ranma and Genma (panda still) were shoveling down their food.

They are like two vacuums, she thought.

"What's wrong Shaula?" Kasumi asked, "Is the food not to your liking?"

`I'll have it' Genma's sign read.

"No, that's okay! I'll eat it!" Shaula said hastily.

She glanced at her food.

Yummy, she sighed, I've always wanted curry.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~

"Come on," Ranma said, " you two were late so we have to start right away."

"What are we learning today?" Akane asked.

"How to use your ki-"

"We know that!" Shaula interrupted.

"-when you're not mad," Ranma finished.

"All right, let's do it!" Akane said.

Shaula tried to bring up her Katana but it wouldn't come. She saw Akane was having difficulty as well.

"No girls," Ranma sighed. "Remember how it felt when you used your ki?"

"Yeah," Akane said. "So?"

"Focus on how it felt. Search yourself for that feeling."

Shaula closed her eyes and took a deep breath then she exhaled. She tried to find her ki. She pictured how it felt in her mind. Her ki was blood red and was filled with power. It was…there. She closed her eyes tighter and in her mind's eye she saw her ki as a fire, a fire waiting to burn down her foes. She reached out and grabbed some. The ki didn't burn her, in fact it felt nice. It was a part of her and now that she found it she would never forget where it was.

Shaula opened her eyes and saw Ranma staring at her.

"What?" she questioned.

"Congratulations," he said, pointing.

She followed his gaze to her hand where the ki she had grabbed still remained.

"You've found your ki. Now you should be able to call it to you when you need it."

"How'd you do that?" Akane asked. "I haven't gotten it yet."

"I focused on what it felt like the last time I used it. Then I…found it," Shaula shrugged. "Sorry, it's a little complicated to explain."

"Akane! Ranma! You're gonna be late for school!" Nabiki called.

"Ahhh! Baka! Why weren't you paying attention to the time?" Akane shouted.

"I thought you were," Ranma casually said.

"BAKA!!!!" Akane said, lighting up blue.

"Akane stop!" Shaula said, placing herself in front of Ranma,

"LET ME AT HIM!" Akane shouted.

"Akane, look at yourself," Shaula said, trying to remain calm.

"I did it!" Akane said, looking at her ki.

"Focus on how it feels Akane," Shaula said, not wanting to get Akane mad by telling her that the reason she got her ki up was because she was angry at Ranma.

Akane concentrated on how it felt. When she closed her eyes she saw a pool of fire.

That's my ki, she thought.

She noticed how low it was and realized it was because of how much she took out. Reaching a decision (to beat up Ranma or let him live), she put the ki she had taken out back into the pool.

When she opened her eyes she saw Shaula sitting on the floor.

"I did it! Where's Ranma?" Akane asked, "I wanna tell him!"

"He headed to school and said he'd see you later."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~

From two miles away Ranma heard Akane shout his name.

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"No offence Shaula, but I'm not going to read your life story," Amber said.

"Skip to the interesting parts," Aarthi suggested.

"I'll search for Shampoo, I wanna see the rematch."

"Okay, go ahead," Aarthi shrugged.

Amber scrolled and then stopped.

"Here we go, it's about a month later," Amber said, then she read.

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Akane and Shaula were fighting each other in hopes of learning something new. Akane had been trying to increase her speed and Shaula worked on new strategies. Both had been working on ki attacks in hopes of increasing their power.

They broke off fighting and took a break. While they were sitting, they talked about plans for new attacks. Now that Ranma and Ryoga were actually trying, they got better each day. While Ranma and Akane went to school, Ryoga and Shaula continued training.

Needless to say, all of them were very happy to go to bed at night.

Shaula lay down and tried to take a little nap.

"Yeah, right. Taking a nap there? I don't think so!" Amber told Aarthi.

Crash!

The dojo wall (just mended from the day before) was smashed by Shampoo riding her bicycle.

Shaula got out of the way just short of having her face smashed in.

"Shampoo is ready! Shampoo want fight! You fight Shampoo now!" Shampoo said excitedly.

"Shampoo, we aren't gonna fight you now," Shaula calmly said.

"Why you not?" Shampoo huffed.

"You didn't give us a challenge letter," Akane said.

"You no give Shampoo challenge letter before!"

"You accepted Shampoo," Shaula said.

"We are declining because we choose not to battle you now," Akane told her. "We'll battle you tomorrow. Where do you want to fight?"

"And when?" Shaula asked.

Shampoo was red with rage.

"Tomorrow you two fight Shampoo at park. Shampoo see you at noon."

Shampoo stormed away on her bike (you could see the storm cloud over her head).

"That's not a good omen," Akane said.

"Hmm," Shaula thought and decided to take her nap later.

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"That wasn't very exciting," Amber yawned.

"Honestly Amber, why don't we give you a nuclear war head to play with," Aarthi said, rolling her eyes.

"Depends, is it the older model or the newer one? The older model is sooo easy to disarm."

"O-kay. Why don't we keep reading."

"I want to see the fight."

"You can't see it! You're reading it!" Aarthi said aggravated.

"Like I said, any way…"

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Ryoga and Ranma sat at their hiding spot, waiting to see the battle. Although Shaula and Akane hadn't hold them, it was kinda hard not to hear Shampoo's voice when she issued the challenge.

They saw Shampoo come and a few minutes later Shaula and Akane joined her.

"You is ready? Shampoo train, now beat you good!" Shampoo said.

"Let's do it!" Shaula said.

"Bring it on!" Akane added.

A sharp wind blew by and the trees rustled. The three fighters stood tense and stared at each other, waiting to begin.

"Flying Dart Attack!" Shampoo shouted, shooting off sharp ki needles.

They were hard to evade but Shaula and Akane made it without to much damage. The two girls called for their weapons. Shaula led off while Akane trailed behind.

"Aiah!" Shampoo shouted as a giant maraca appeared in her hands.

Shaula and Shampoo began a one on one battle with their weapons. Though Shaula was good, it was easy to see Shampoo was better. Shampoo began to force Shaula to become defensive with her katana.

Akane had enough of watching and hit Shampoo on the head with her mallet. Seeing an opportunity, Shaula knocked Shampoo's bonbori out of her hands.

"Tricky," Shampoo smirked," Shampoo be tricky times two!"

She grabbed some powder out of her pocket and flung it in the air. Akane and Shaula immediately backed off. Shampoo began to chant in Chinese and finished with,

"Two Times Shampoo!"

Lights like fireworks swirled around her and made a high pitched whistle noise. The fireworks left a trail of smoke that covered Shampoo. When they finished covering her they rose sky high and exploded. The smoke cleared and the two girls gasped. Now not only had they Shampoo to deal with, they had her pink haired twin!

"What? A twin? Isn't Shampoo an only child?" Amber asked Aarthi.

"I don't know Amber!" Aarthi said," Keep reading and see!"

"You in trouble now! Spell make another Shampoo," said Shampoo with purple hair.

"Now fight even," the pink haired Shampoo said.

"Good," Akane sighed, relieved.

"Yeah, now we don't have to hold back," Shaula said.

"Shampoos no hold back either!" both Shampoos said.

Akane attacked the purple haired while Shaula got the pink haired. The girls began to use some new attacks they learned while the Shampoos fought back.

"Mallet Strike!" Akane shouted as a large hammer nearly squashed Shampoo.

"Cat Claw Swipe!" Shampoo answered back and four claw marks were carved in the cement where Akane once stood.

While Akane and her Shampoo exchanged ki attacks, Shaula and hers were doing hand to hand combat. Both exchanged bruises and continued their fight.

Then the Shampoos stopped and shouted,

"Ki Power Blast!"

Both hit home sending Akane and Shaula flying into each other. They rose without too much difficulty, but both were extremely mad. They stood back to back and faced the Shampoos.

"Shampoos finish you now with newest move!" purple haired Shampoo cried out.

"Is just for you!" pink added.

"Ki Bomb Blast!" both shouted sending out a massive surge of power.

Both blasts hit where Akane and Shaula were standing. Before Ranma or Ryoga could do anything, the two blasts formed one and exploded.

The wind blew the two boys into a tree and the dust covered them. To them it seemed like an eternity before the wind died down enough so they could look.

Where Akane and Shaula once stood, a massive crater now was.

---------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------

"AHHHHH! I KILLED SHAULA!" Amber screamed.

"Amber you moron! If you killed Shaula she wouldn't have told us to read the story!" Aarthi said.

Amber stopped to think.

"Oh yeah, silly me."

"Can we go on?"

"Sure, I'm done."

---------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------

"Aiah! Shampoos killed pervert girls!" purple haired shouted.

"Now airen is Shampoos!" pink hair said happily.

"Shampoo, you need help," a figure in the shadows with long, blond pigtails said. "You have no class or style, your attacks are lame and I will not stand for it! On behalf of the Moon…"

"Mercury," another girl said.

"Jupiter," a figure in a tree said.

"Mars," called a voice.

"Venus," shouted another.

"We shall punish you!" they shouted as one.

"Who are you?" purple haired Shampoo asked.

"We are the Sailor Scouts and we're…"

"In the wrong story," Shaula said from behind a tree.

"Sailor Moon, I told you it was the other way!" Sailor Mars yelled.

"I guess you were right," Sailor Moon pondered.

"Sorry for any inconvenience," Sailor Mercury apologized.

"That's okay," Akane said, coming out of her hiding spot.

"Let's go," sighed Jupiter," the Negaverse isn't gonna wait for us before they start causing mayhem."

"Cho," Venus said.

The Sailor Scouts turned to leave when a small, old man came running up to them.

"Mini Skirts!" he shouted.

"Quick, blast him!" Akane shouted.

"He's a civilian, we can't," Mercury said.

"He's a pervert called Happosai! Blast him!" Shaula yelled.

"Oh, in that case (Sailor Moon pulled out her scepter), MOON PERVERT ELIMINATION!"

The blast hit Happosai and he was sent flying though the air, hopefully never to be heard from again (if only!).

"Bye!" the Scouts said and ran atop the roofs.

"They is weird," pink haired Shampoo yelled.

"Hey, how pervert girls survive?" purple hair asked.

"We is not telling you!" Shaula said.

"You no make fun of Shampoos!" they yelled.

"We're gonna finish this!" Akane said, grabbing Shaula's hand.

"We is!" Shampoos yelled lunging at them.

Shaula and Akane glowed in their ki colors and both cried out as one,

"Ki Power Surge!"

The two girl's ki combined turning purple. The surge hit the two Shampoos who were in mid-lunge. They both screamed with pain and the pink haired one turned back to dust. The real Shampoo was still caught in the purple beam.

When it died down, her body fell and crashed into the already existing crater. Shaula and Akane felt great, this time they had beaten Shampoo far and square. Not only that, they still had energy unlike the last time.

"Now what?" Akane asked.

"Well," Shaula said, "it would be best to take Shampoo to Cologne but-"

"Cologne would go postal," Akane finished.

"So what do we do?"

"BURY HER!" Ranma called from the bushes.

"WHY DON'T I BURY YOU, BAKA!" Akane shouted back.

"I think we should go have ice cream to celebrate," Shaula said loudly.

"Yeah!" Ranma said, popping out of the bushes.

"Sorry," Akane said, sticking her tongue out. "Warrior girls only! No boys or part boys allowed."

"See ya!" Shaula called, racing down the street.

"Wait for me!" Akane said, chasing after her.

"Well," Ryoga said," what should we do?"

"I don't know about you P-chan, but I'm going for ice cream," Ranma said and began to run.

"Hang on Ranma!" Ryoga called out and hurried after him.

No one saw a hand reaching out of the crater.

---------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------

"Oooh, spooky," Amber commented.

"Amber," Aarthi sighed, "keep reading."

"Bet ya ten bucks."

"What on?"

"That Shampoo gets Cologne to help her."

"Let me think about that…NO! I'm not stupid!"

"You sure?" Amber mumbled.

"What?" Aarthi asked.

"Nothing," Amber said, innocently.

"Keep scrolling Amber."

"Fine."

Amber quickly began to skim the story so fast that Aarthi couldn't keep up.

"Hey Shaula went back to school!" Amber said, still scrolling.

"What does that have to do with anything?" Aarthi asked.

"Huh, oh nothing really," Amber said and picked up speed.

"How can you read that?" Aarthi questioned.

" I'm special!"

"Yeah, Special Ed."

"Would you stop saying that! Whoa," Amber said and stopped scrolling.

"What?" Aarthi shouted.

"5 weeks after the fight with them and Shampoo, Shampoo was feeling better," Amber read.

---------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------

Thanks to Cologne's medical know how, Shampoo was feeling much better. When she had come to the restaurant looking like something the cat dragged in, she collapsed in front of he door where Mousse found her.

After he finished crying over her unconscious body and wailing about who could do such a thing (this was going on for over an hour), he took her body to Cologne. Cologne whacked him over the head for taking so long then she began to heal Shampoo the best she could.

Cologne was amazed at the bruises and scratches on Shampoo's body, not to mention the burn marks.

Who could have caused her this much damage? Cologne thought.

Then it came to her,

Those two girls, but how? They don't have nearly as much experiences as Shampoo. Cologne thought leaning on her staff and closing her eyes, What to do? Those two easily beat Shampoo, I have to get them away from each other so Akane will be weaker. Then Shampoo will beat Akane and be wed to Ranma.

"So then, how to get rid of Shaula," Cologne murmured to no one in particular.

---------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------

"Ooooh, Shaula's in trouble!" Amber said gleefully.

Aarthi chose not to comment and continued to read.

---------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------

"This school is worse than the one I used to go to!" Shaula complained.

"How so?" Ryoga asked.

"For one thing, if you're late for class you don't have to hold buckets of water," Shaula said, shifting her buckets to a more comfortable position.

"Hey, it's not my fault! Talk to Ranma!" Ryoga said.

"If you two girls could get up earlier…" Ranma trailed off.

" You shouldn't fall in the pond!" Akane yelled and began to lean her buckets in Ranma's direction.

"Take it easy Akane!" Ranma said, backing away.

"Quiet!" the teacher shouted, popping his head out form the classroom," unless you want to be out here longer!"

The four instantly went silent.

"Good," said the teacher going back into the classroom.

I wonder what Aarthi and Amber are up to, Shaula thought, I miss them-

"She misses me!" Amber said happily.

"I'd keep reading," chuckled Aarthi.

-well, Aarthi any way.

---------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------

"Aarthi, why are Shaula and I friends again?" Amber asked.

" I have no clue," Aarthi said. "It still mystifies me about how a Anime obsessing, N64 playing, fantasy lover, bookworm got to be friends with a black belt in TKD who hates Pokemon and most of the other stuff you like."

"Odd isn't it?"

"Let's keep reading, I wanna be able to leave your house sometime this millennium."

---------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------

After school, Ranma and Akane went home while Shaula and Ryoga went for a walk.

Ryoga noticed Shaula was deep in thought and didn't seem to notice him. He wanted to ask her about it but thought better of it. This was probably something she needed to work out herself.

When he looked at her again, he found she wasn't there.

Oh no! I must have turned down the wrong street! What do I do now?

"I know! I'll ask for directions and meet up with Shaula at the Tendo's later!"

He grabbed one of the millions of maps in his bag. He glanced it over and saw that it was the right map to the Tendo's house.

"Excuse me sir," he said, asking a fellow who looked a little green," could you tell me where this place is?"

"Sorry," the man said," I can't help you. I'm looking for someone by the name of Goku, have you seen him?"

"No," Ryoga said. "By the way, do you feel okay? You're awfully green."

"I'm a Namic," Piccolo growled, "we are all green."

"Oh," Ryoga said and wandered away to ask someone else for directions.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~

"RYOGA, WHERE ARE YOU?" Shaula yelled.

Where is he? He couldn't have gotten lost that easily! Oh, wait, yeah he could have.

Shaula began to search around and ask people she met if they had seen Ryoga. She saw a guy with black hair that was sticking up everywhere and decided to ask him.

"Hi, I'm looking for someone, could you help me?" Shaula asked, she gave a very accurate description of Ryoga.

The man thought and said,

"Sorry, I haven't. You wouldn't happen to have seen a green Namic named Piccolo, would you?"

"No, I think I would have remembered," Shaula said and tried to get away from the creep as fast as she could.

The man ran up to her,

"Tell you what, I'll help you look for your friend and you help me."

"That's really O-kay," she said, picking up the pace.

"You sure? Maybe my friend has seen him," he said.

"Almost positive," she said and kicked it up to full speed.

To her surprise, he was still able to keep up and he wasn't even having trouble doing so.

"I'll see ya then," he said. "Hey, wait a sec, there he is!"

Shaula stopped and turned in hopes of seeing Ryoga. Instead she saw…

a green Namic, whom she assumed was named-

"Piccolo, where have you been?" the black haired man cried out.

"Goku, I was looking all over for you," Piccolo said.

"Hey," Shaula said," this is all good but I need to find Ryoga before he gets even more lost."

"He wouldn't happen to have passed by, did he Piccolo?" Goku asked.

"There was this one kid," Piccolo said and described him.

"That's him," Shaula groaned." It'll take months for him to find his way!"

" Tell ya what," Goku said, "we'll keep an eye out for him and if we see him we'll give him a lift."

"Thanks!" Shaula said, relieved. " Tell him, Shaula says to get your butt back to the Tendo's now."

"Will do," Goku said, smiling. "Let's go Piccolo!"

To Shaula ( and everyone else's) amazement, the two men took flight and zoomed away.

Very weird, Shaula thought. Oh well, I should head back now.

---------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------

"This is a big help," Amber muttered.

"I can agree with you there. This is taking way to long," Aarthi said. "Let's skip to the end."

"No! We can't do that!"

"Why not?" Aarthi asked.

"Can't you tell?"

"Tell what?"

"Something is gonna happen," Amber whispered, "something big!"

---------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------

Shaula continued her walk, oblivious to anything. As she walked, she worried about Ryoga even though she knew he could take care of himself.

I don't wanna have to wait to see him, she thought. I wanna see him now!

She thought of all the fun they had been having. Walks, ice-creams, going to the park…it was all wonderful when he was there. Shaula blinked and looked around.

Odd, I don't think I've been here.

Somehow she had wound up in a baseball field.

I must be picking up Ryoga's habit of getting lost, she thought.

Suddenly the warm air turned cold and Shaula glanced around. She spotted Cologne on the home plate, propped on her staff.

"Nice to see you," Cologne grinned.

"Hello hag," Shaula said calmly.

"Before anything happens, I'd like to say it's not personal. It is just something that needs to be done," Cologne told her.

"What are you talking about?"

"You and Akane pose a great threat when together, so we plan to eliminate the threat."

"We?"

"Come out team!" Cologne cackled.

Shampoo, Ukyo, and Kodachi steeped out of the dugout.

"Four against one," Shaula said nervously. "How great."

"You in trouble now!" Shampoo said.

"Any friend of Akane's is an enemy of mine," said Kodachi, laughing evilly.

"I can't let you help keep Ranma away from me!" Ukyo said, withdrawing her battle spatula.

Shaula was good but not as good as these four girls (technically 3 girls and 1 hag) put together. The odds were stacked against her.

"It is time to use the technique Ranma taught me," Shaula said. "It's time to use the Saotome Secret Technique!" (click for explanation of Saotome Secret Technique)

"Saotome-" Shampoo began.

"-Secret-" Kodachi continued.

"Technique?" Ukyo ended.

"Yep, with a twist!" Shaula said.

Before they knew what she was doing, Shaula gathered up an amount of ki. She threw it and the blast sent dirt and grass into their eyes. They began to cough and tried to get the dirt out of their eyes.

"Look!" Ukyo pointed.

Shaula started running into the woods behind the baseball field.

"That was the Saotome Special Technique?" Kodachi fumed.

"Shampoo get her!" Shampoo said and took off.

"Wait for us!" Ukyo shouted.

The chase was on.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~

"WHERE AM I?" Ryoga shouted from deep within a forest.

"Right here," said a voice.

"Who's there?" Ryoga called out.

A small boy with black hair (that stook up everywhere) dropped out of a tree. He had several fruits in his arms.

"Hi!" he smiled to Ryoga. "Are you hungry?"

The boy tossed him an odd looking fruit.

"Try it, it's good," he insisted.

Ryoga took a bite and began to chew it.

"This is great! Thanks!" Ryoga said.

"No problem," the boy replied. "Are you lost?"

"Once again," Ryoga sighed.

"Maybe Icaris could give you a lift," the boy said.

"Who's Icaris?" Ryoga asked.

"A friend of mine. By the way, my name's Gohon."

"I'm Ryoga. I need to get to the Tendo's house in a hurry."

"Follow me," Gohon said, taking off.

Ryoga raced after the little boy, who was surprisingly fast. They reached a cave where Gohon began to look around.

"ICARIS!" Gohon called.

Ryoga heard a shuffling noise from inside the cave.

"Come on, it's all right," Gohon coxed.

From inside the cave, two blue eyes peeped out.

"Uh, who or what is Icaris anyway?" Ryoga asked nervously.

"My dragon friend," Gohon shrugged.

"Oh," Ryoga said in relief, "it's only a…DRAGON!"

The eyes seemed to be getting closer and Ryoga could already imagine the dragon chomping him in two. He closed his eyes and felt the dragon's tongue tasting him. He couldn't move, his body was paralyzed. He opened his eyes to see the terrible…

…light violet, baby dragon with blue eyes.

The dragon, Icaris, made a small noise and began to sniff Ryoga.

"He's not going to bite me, is he?" Ryoga asked, a little frightened still.

"No silly," Gohon laughed, "he's gonna give you a lift."

Yippy, thought Ryoga sarcastically. He handed Gohon the map and said,

"I wanna go to were the circle is."

Gohon took the map and showed it to Icaris. He began to tell Icaris where to go and Icaris nodded his head every once in a while.

"Okay, he'll take you there. If you see my dad or Piccolo, tell them I'll see `em later."

"What do they look like?" Ryoga asked.

"My dad looks similar to me and Piccolo is a Namic-"

"Oh him! The green dude! He was looking for some black haired guy," Ryoga remembered.

"He must have been looking for my dad," Gohon said. "Thanks! Tell them `Hi' if you see them fly by."

What, Ryoga thought, they have more dragons to fly on?

"Hop on Icaris's back and he'll fly you to where you want to go. I gotta go, I'm supposta be doing my math homework."

Gohon waved and ran through the woods to where his house was.

Great, dragon flying, thought Ryoga as he warily eyed Icaris.

He climbed on the dragon's back and held on. The small dragon began to flap his wings and they were off.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~

So much for trying to blind them and running, Shaula thought as she dodged several razor, sharp mini spatulas and some black roses.

Think, now what?

She kept running hoping to lose them.

I can't keep this up forever, she thought. What do I do?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~

Ryoga tried not to look down as Icaris soared in the sky. Ryoga closed his eyes and decided to wait until he got on the ground to open them.

"Hey! How's it going?" someone asked.

Ryoga opened his eyes and saw the green dude with a black haired man.

"You can fly?" Ryoga said going bug eyed.

"Yeah," the man said, "Why? What's odd about that?"

Ryoga decided to change the subject.

"Oh good, you found him," Ryoga said to Piccolo.

"Goku? Yeah," Piccolo said. "By the way, you're friend was looking for you."

"Which one?" Ryoga asked.

"A red headed girl who said to tell you, ummm, wait a second," Goku said, trying to remember.

Piccolo sighed and shook his head,

"Honestly Goku, she said `Shaula says to get your butt back to the Tendo's now.'"

"Thanks," Ryoga said. "I have a message for you from Gohon, he says `Hi' and `He'll see you later.' He seemed to be in a rush, something about math homework."

"Chi-chi can be really stubborn when it comes to getting that kid to do his homework," Piccolo said.

"See ya, I gotta get back," Ryoga said.

"Me too," Goku said, " else my wife will have my head on a platter."

The two men continued flying and Icaris started off once more.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~

Shaula sent a blast of ki at her pursuers and ran on. She was beginning to tire from running and the occasional ki attacks. The cuts on her body from plants, mini spatulas, and black roses were causing her much pain.

The trees began to thin and she rushed out to find herself standing on a cliff, a very tall cliff.

"This way!" she heard Cologne shout.

Shaula heard them coming and she backed to the edge of the cliff. The three girls and the hag came bursting through the bushes.

"Now we finish red head," Shampoo said.

Kodachi grinned wickedly and Ukyo stepped forward menacingly.

"You can't kill me," Shaula said. "Ranma would never speak to any of you again."

Ukyo looked a little nervous.

"Hmmm," Cologne thought. "Very well, we won't kill you."

"Speak for yourself!" Kodachi said and lunged at Shaula.

Shaula took a step backwards and lost her footing. She began to fall off the cliff.

"We have to save her," Ukyo shouted and ran over to grab Shaula.

Suddenly, Ukyo fell to the ground unconscious. Cologne stood behind her, staff raised.

"Foolish child, this is the perfect way to get rid of her. I won't have you mess it up!"

So Shaula continued to fall to her doom on the ground below.

---------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------

"This story is long but it's good," Amber said.

"You like it because Sailor Moon and Dragon Ball Z characters were in it," Aarthi told her.

"Yeah, now if Outlaw Star, Digimon, Cardcaptors, or Tenchi characters would show up!"

"You are a really obsessive person."

"You think that's bad? I didn't even name half of the characters I'd like to show up."

"Oh? Who else?"

"Well, most aren't anime characters but Wolverine from X-men, Virgil from Static Shock, Spiderman, Batman, Tai from Digimon-"

"Okay, you can stop now!" Aarthi said.

"But there's still Ashitaka from Princess Mononoke, Bit Cloud from Zoids, and Belldandy from Oh My Goddess, and Z from The Zata Projects-"

"Amber that's enough! Look, I'll agree with you on Ryo-oki from Tenchi. She is really cute but that's the only one!"

Amber smiled and continued to read while Aarthi began to wonder how many cartoons a day Amber watched.

---------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------

Shaula fell and began to regret all the things in life she had not accomplished in life. Form something as easy to getting straight A's or something harder, like being nice to Amber. Tears appeared in her eyes. As she neared the ground she thought of her greatest regret,

I never told Amber how much of a friend she was to me.

---------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------

"Aarthi, I am such a moron!" Amber sobbed.

"No argument here," Aarthi mumbled.

"Shaula actually liked me as a friend!"

"Duh, what'd you think?"

"She never acted as though she liked me as a friend! She acted like she wanted to chop off my head and kick it to Saturn!"

"Maybe she's delirious right now?" Aarthi suggested.

Amber glared at her and said,

"You're such a big help."

"Yup, now keep reading."

---------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------

Shaula tightly closed her eyes and awaited impact when she felt someone grab her hand. She opened her eyes and saw Ryoga riding a dragon while holding on to her. Shaula glanced down and saw how close she had been to near death then she directed her gaze back to Ryoga and frowned.

"What took you so long?" she asked.

"I'll tell you later. Come on Icaris, let's get outta here before Cologne decides to dissect you for her potions!" Ryoga said.

"Icaris?" Shaula said as Ryoga lifted her in front of him.

The dragon turned his head and made a small noise that sounded like a greeting then Icaris began to flap his wings at top speed and soared away from the cliff.

"So, how was your day?" Ryoga asked.

"Well, after I lost you and ran into two weirdoes that could fly, I was chased by Kodachi, Shampoo, Cologne, and Ukyo who were trying to kill me. We were running through the woods almost all day, which was until recently when I fell off the cliff. Nothing new," Shaula said dryly.

"Why were they trying to kill you?' Ryoga asked concerned.

"They think Akane and I are too strong. They want Ranma to be rid of Akane and to do that they want to be rid of me."

"Why don't you get some rest?" Ryoga suggested.

"Good idea," she said and leaned her head on his chest.

Shaula listened to his rhythmic breathing pattern and relaxed. Almost instantly she was asleep.

Ryoga was trying very hard not to get a nosebleed. He wasn't used to a girl being this close to him. Trying to take his mind off of it, he glanced her over to make sure she had nothing twisted or broken. He gasped, her body had so many cuts! How could he not have seen them? He quickly removed several of his bandanas and wrapped them over her cuts.

Poor Shaula, she meant it when she said they were going to kill her.

Ryoga then noticed that they were losing altitude.

"Icaris, what's wrong?" Ryoga asked.

Icaris mad several distressed noises. He was sweating heavily and his wings were flapping to no avail.

We're to heavy, Ryoga realized.

"Icaris, land as soon as soon as you can," Ryoga told him.

Icaris immediately began to descend. Ryoga searched for an opening or clearing where they could land.

Nothing but forest, he angrily thought. No, wait…

They were nearing a huge field, the kind farmer's used to grow stuff.

"Icaris, land there!"

Icaris got closer but he was descending to fast, at this rate they would crash.

Shaula seems destined to die from falling," Amber commented.

"Weird," Aarthi said. "Continue reading, let's see what's going to happen next."

"Icaris, pull up!" Ryoga shouted, holding tightly to Shaula.

Icaris tried but he didn't have the power. The good news was they were over the field, the bad news was they were still going to fast.

Ryoga thought of jumping off Icaris with Shaula but at the speed they were going it would be impossible. He could only hold onto her and wait.

100 feet away he saw a girl with pink hair and a girl with long blue pigtails. The pink hair stopped the blue on and made a throwing motion. He squinted and saw it was a small cube. When the cube hit the ground it began to expand.

50 ft away and the cube was now long and rectangular.

20 ft away and it was directly under them.

10 ft from the ground and they hit it.

Icaris landed with a thump and Ryoga (with Shaula still in his arms) was thrown off. Clutching Shaula close, Ryoga flipped and landed on his feet. His feet landed on the…pillow?

This is a giant pillow? he thought.

"Hey! You! Are you all right?" a voice called.

The pink hair glared up from the ground and continued to shout.

"Come on down!"

"Washu," the blue hair said gently, "don't yell. They'll be down soon enough."

"Meow!"

A cat, good thing Ranma's not here, Ryoga thought.

"Icaris, thanks for the ride. Tell Gohon we're fine."

Icaris made a concerned noise followed by one that sounded like an apology.

"Don't worry! I know you did your best, besides I need to get Shaula taken care of."

Icaris flapped over and gave Ryoga a dragon kiss (like a dog kiss `cept with more slobber). Icaris then began to fly up in the sky but before he disappeared in the clouds he did a loop-the-loop and Ryoga realized that was his goodbye.

Ryoga gave a small smile then turned to Shaula. She was slightly pale and the bandanas were bleeding through. He hopped off the pillow and turned to the pink haired girl.

"I need to get her to a doctor," Ryoga said anxiously.

The pink haired girl, Washu, looked over Shaula before saying,

"You're right, she has lost some blood but those bandages have helped. Sasami, go ahead and tell Tenchi we need some bandages. I'll take her to my lab and clean the wounds," Washu told her.

Sasami ran off and a little brown and white creature jumped off her shoulder. It began to mew at Washu. It took Ryoga a minute to realize that this creature had made the cat sound he heard earlier.

"She'll be fine Ryo-oki," Washu said. "Come on… what's your name?"

"Ryoga, this is Shaula."

"Well Ryoga, let's go. We have to get her to my lab as quickly as possible."

A computer made out of light appeared and Washu typed something in it. The field faded away and was replaced by a huge room filled with machines and gadgets.

"Lay her here," Washu said, motioning to a capsule type bed.

Ryoga did as he was bid and gazed at Shaula. His heart hurt just seeing her so still and pale. Washu glanced over from a control pad.

"Don't worry, she'll be fine. She needs plenty of rest though," Washu told him.

Washu pushed a button and a glass cover slipped over the capsule.

"Come on," Washu said, tugging his hand. "The capsule will speed up her healing process, there is nothing you can do for now."

"Miss Washu, I have the bandages you asked for," said a man entering through a door that appeared out of nowhere.

"Thank you Tenchi, but I don't think they are necessary for now," Washu said, heading for the door. "I'll be back later, I have work to do."

"Oh, hi!" Tenchi said and bowed to Ryoga.

"Uh, hi," Ryoga said and bowed back.

"I'm so glad you're not another girl from outer space!" Tenchi said happily.

"Uh," Ryoga couldn't think of anything to say to that.

"Let me explain," Tenchi said and told Ryoga of his problem with attracting girls from outer space.

Ryoga learned that Washu was a genius (more or less) and Sasami was a princess of Jurai. He heard about Ryoko the space pirate, Ayeka the ruling princess of Jurai, also Mihoshi and Kiyone who were members of the Galaxy Police. Not to mention that they all had a crush on him, whether it was big or small.

"Don't you like it?" Ryoga asked.

Tenchi shook his head and said,

"They never get along except for Sasami. They all drive me nuts sometimes."

Maybe this is how Ranma feels, Ryoga thought and for the first time understood a Ranma's girl problems.

"Tenchi!" called a voice.

A light blue haired lady appeared floating above Tenchi's head.

"How are you?" she asked lovingly.

"Fine Ryoko, same as I was 10 minutes ago."

"RYOKO!" a voice angerly shouted.

"Uh-oh," Ryoko said.

A girl with purple pigtails came barging in through the door.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" she shouted.

"I was talking to Tenchi," Ryoko said, wrapping her arms around Tenchi's neck.

"RYOKO GET YOUR HANDS OFF OF HIM!" the other girl screeched.

"Make me princess!" Ryoko taunted.

That must be Ayeka, Ryoga thought.

"Girls!" Tenchi scolded, "We've got company."

The two girls looked around in surprise and their eyes fell on Ryoga.

"I'm terribly sorry for Ryoko's bad behavior," Ayeka apologized. "She's a space pirate who has no manners."

"You're a princess so you don't have an excuse!" Ryoko countered.

"Now you listen here you-," Ayeka began.

"No, you listen! Tenchi and I were perfectly fine before you got here so you can go!" Ryoko interrupted.

Ayeka turned red with anger.

"Azaka! Kamadake! To me!" she shouted.

Two logs came out of the door, one with a blue mark and the other with a red.

"Yes princess, what do you wish?" one asked.

"Get that vixen away from my Tenchi!" Ayeka ordered.

"Yes princess," the other said.

"Um, is Washu here?" a blond girl asked, entering through the door.

"No Mihoshi," Ryoko growled and focused on the two logs.

"But I need her to fix our ship!" Mihoshi began to cry.

"Mihoshi," said another girl stepping through," don't cry. She's probably outside."

"Kiyone," Mihoshi sniffed," are you sure?"

"Yes, come on Mihoshi," Kiyone sighed.

"Okay!" said Mihoshi, perking up.

They left while Ryoko and the logs were fighting.

"HEY!" Washu cried entering through the door. "Go fight outside!"

Ryoko and the logs continued fighting oblivious to her.

"Time for dinner!" Sasami said, peeking in through the door. "Come and eat!"

"Good, I'm hungry," Ryoko said, vanishing.

"I'm coming," Ayeka said. "I wonder what's for dinner."

"Even the universe's greatest scientific mind needs food," Washu said before leaving.

Azaka and Kamadake left through the door as well, leaving only Tenchi and Ryoga.

"That was…interesting," Ryoga said, with a funny expression on his face.

"It's not usually like this," Tenchi said, walking to the door.

"It's not?" Ryoga asked in disbelief.

"Nope, it's usually worse. Coming for dinner?"

"No thanks, I'll stay here," Ryoga said and turned towards the casket where Shaula lay.

"Okay," Tenchi said in an understanding voice, then he left for dinner.

Ryoga stared at Shaula's motionless body and stood, waiting for her to wake.

"Meow?"

Ryoga glanced down to see Ryo-oki at his feet. Next to her was an orange carrot. She nudged it towards him with her nose.

"For me?" Ryoga asked.

"Meeow!" Ryo-oki answered and hopped off.

---------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------

"Aarthi, the world's going to end!" Amber told her.

"Why?" Aarthi asked.

"Ryo-oki willingly gave up a carrot!"

"So…?"

"That's like me giving up my most prized possession!" Amber said.

"Which would be?"

"When I think of it I'll let you know."

---------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------

Shaula blinked and opened her eyes.

"Where am I? If I'm back in the Pokemon world, I am going to…"

"Take it easy Shaula," Ryoga said. "We are in Washu's lab."

"Who's shoes?"

"Washu's," Ryoga repeated.

"Somebody call?" asked Washu. "My, you're looking better. All those cuts and bruises are gone."

"What day is it?" Shaula asked groggily.

"The day after you fell off the cliff," Ryoga answered.

"We've got to go," Shaula said.

"But," Ryoga started.

"NO BUTS! AKANE MAY BE IN TROUBLE! WHERE'S ICARIS?" Shaula shouted.

"He left, we were to heavy for him. He was going to crash but Washu saved us," Ryoga told her.

"HOW ARE WE GOING TO GET TO THE TENDO'S NOW?" Shaula freaked out.

"That's not a problem," Washu said," but before you go, you should eat."

"All right," Shaula sighed. "We have to hurry though, who knows what Cologne's gonna do."

The three exited through the door and were greeted by Ryo-oki.

"Hey!" Ryoga greeted.

"Meow!" Ryo-oki answered.

"Good afternoon!" Sasami greeted. "I saved you some leftovers from breakfast."

"Thanks," Shaula said and sat down at the table.

Sasami gave her the food and as Shaula ate, Ryoga told her what had happened the previous day.

Shaula frowned and said,

"We have to leave here as soon as possible, they may still be after me."

"You're right," Ryoga said.

"You can leave as soon as you wish," Washu said, having a sip of tea.

"We'd better go now," Ryoga said.

The girls (except Mihoshi and Kiyone who were on patrol) and Tenchi went outside to say goodbye.

"Uh," Ryoga asked, handing Washu a map. "Do you know where this place is?"

"That's a long ways off," Washu frowned.

"Let's get walking," Shaula sighed.

"There's a faster way," Sasami peeped up.

"How?" Shaula asked.

Sasami lifted up Ryo-oki by the fur on her neck.

"Ryo-oki will take you," Sasami said.

"She's gonna take us?" Shaula said doubtfully.

"How can she do that?" Ryoga asked.

"Like this!" said Ryoko, grabbing Ryo-oki and throwing her in the air.

Before Ryoga and Shaula's eyes, the once cute and cuddly Ryo-oki turned into a giant space ship.

"Meow!" the Ryo-oki ship said.

"Whoa," Ryoga said, mouth dropped to the ground.

"Let's go," Shaula said (finally realizing these people were from another one of the anime shows Amber talked about and Shaula didn't really pay attention to).

"You aren't going anywhere," cackled a voice.

"Cologne!" Ryoga said angerly.

"Shampoo too!" Shampoo said, stepping out of her hiding spot.

"The black rose will see that you'll never walk away from this battle!" Kodachi said, appearing from a cloud of rose petals.

"Where's Ukyo?" Shaula asked, looking around.

"She left our merry little group," Cologne said, "but the three of us are more than a challenge for you!"

Kodachi sent a storm of rose petals at Ryoga and Shaula. Fearing the others would be hit, they stood their ground and blasted them to dust.

"All right!" Ryoko shouted. "Time for battle!"

A light beam made of red energy appeared in Ryoko's hand.

"You might have hurt Sasami or Tenchi! I won't allow that! AZAKA! KAMADAKE!" Ayeka shouted.

The two logs once more appeared.

"Let's do it!" Shaula shouted.

"Ryoko get Shampoo, Ayeka deal with the `black rose'. Shaula you and I will take Cologne," Ryoga ordered.

"Yaa!" shouted Ryoko as she leapt at Shampoo.

Shampoo brought up her ki bonbori and blocked Ryoko's sword. The two began to furiously fight and neither one seemed willing to retreat.

"AZAKA! KAMADAKE! ENILATE HER!" Ayeka yelled.

Both guardian logs began to fire missiles that Kodachi easily evaded. Kodachi leaped up and kicked Azaka. He was sent flying and had a large dent in his side. Kamadake still tired to shoot her but she dodged all he sent at her.

"Kamadake, stand down! She's mine!" Ayeka ordered.

Ayeka attacked Kodachi head on and the two girls began to duke it out.

While Ryoko and Ayeka fought their opponents, Ryoga and Shaula stood facing Cologne.

"You can't beat me," the hag said.

"Are you sure? Maybe today's our lucky day," Ryoga said.

Cologne began to glow.

"Do you feel lucky? Well, do ya?" she cackled.

"Yes," Shaula glowed and grabbed Ryoga's hand.

"Yeah," Ryoga said and gave her hand a squeeze.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~

Ryo-oki (still a ship) meowed to Washu who glanced in the sky.

"Oh dear," she said. "Ryo-oki, move out of the way. Sasami and Tenchi, come with me."

Washu, Tenchi, and Sasami moved away from the lake and closer to the woods. The battlers continued to fight and seemed to be moving closer to the lake, not noticing the two shapes in the sky gradually falling closer.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~

Ryoga and Shaula were doing okay against Cologne but both knew she was holding back. Ryoko and Ayeka were struggling not to be beaten. They were all doing their best but it seemed that their best might not be enough.

Then they all heard a loud noise. The fighters glanced up and saw two red space ships falling towards them. They tried to move out of the way but were unable to as the ships landed with a mighty "SPLASH!!" in the lake. The waves swept the fighters up and they were scattered.

Kiyone popped out of one of the ships.

"MIHOSHI I THOUGHT YOU FILLED UP THE GAS TANK!"

A man with red hair appeared through the hatch of the other ship.

"WHAT KIND OF GALIZY POLICE ARE YOU?" he shouted.

"Gene, chill," said a young boy who came up next to him.

"Jim, we are not supposta be here!" Gene yelled.

"Gene be reasonable," Jim said.

"About WHAT?" Gene continued to yell.

"Gilliam is still in one piece and should be able to fly. Besides, I'm sure the police will forgive you for speeding now," Jim answered calmly.

"I was trying to get to the plant Yabna to do the job!"

"The job can wait! We have to get this fixed first!"

"I'm hungry," said a brown furry woman with long white hair.

"She kinda looks like Ryo-oki in human form," Sasami whispered to Washu.

The lady turned in their direction and said,

"I am Aisha Clan-Clan from the proud race of the Gataru-Gataru. Where is the one who looks like me?"

"Incredible," Washu said in amazement. "How'd you hear her?'

"These ears aren't just for good looks!" Aisha said. "Now, where is the one that looks like me?"

Ryo-oki the space ship floated over and switched to her (somewhat) human form.

"Me-ow!" she said and waved.

"I can see the resemblance," said another lady from the ship.

From up in the tree, where she had been washed to, Shaula saw that the woman had a wooden bokken. Shaula jumped down from the tree and walked to the edge of the pond.

"What an incredible bokken!" she exclaimed.

"Thank you," the lady said.

"Suzuka, what is going on?" another lady said appearing from the hatch.

"Apparently the police ship that was attached to ours ran out of gas. Gilliam couldn't support both himself and the police ship so we crashed. How long should it take us to get there with this delay, Melfina?" Suzuka asked.

"I'm not sure really," Melfina told her.

"Ahem," came a cough from nearby.

Cologne and Kodachi once more appeared. A purple cat was next to them, sulking.

"We were in the middle of something," Cologne fumed.

"Hi!" Mihoshi waved to Cologne. "Who are you?"

"It doesn't matter," Cologne said angerly. "What matters is we're going to kill Shaula."

"We are?" Mihoshi said, somewhat confused.

"Not us! Them!" Kiyone shouted at Mihoshi.

"Oh, well as a member of the Galaxy Police, I place you under arrest."

"Mihoshi, you can't arrest them! This planet's beings are excepted from being arrested by Galaxy Police members!"

"Your squabble grows weary," Cologne said and pointed at their ship.

"GET OUT OF THE WAY!" Shaula warned as Cologne sent a blast of ki at the ship.

The people on the ships barely got away as Mihoshi and Kiyone's ship blew sky high. Gilliam's shields protected him from most of the damage but Gene was enraged.

"You witch! You almost destroyed my ship!" Gene roared and pulled out his castor gun.

"Gene you can't shoot her!" Jim protested.

"Why not!" Gene yelled.

"Because that's not honorable," Suzuka replied.

"I say we make her pay!" Aisha growled.

"We're with you!" Kiyone said angerly.

Ryoko and Ayeka came forward looking very ticked off.

"Hag, stand down," Shaula said. "The odds are against you."

"Are they?" Cologne said, holding up a squealing P-chan.

"Ryoga!" Shaula whispered.

"So what? It's just a dumb pig!" Gene said.

"Shaula, if you or your friends take a step forward I'll ensure he never squeals again," Cologne said menacingly.

"Nobody move," Shaula ordered.

"But," Gene protested.

"Nobody move!" Shaula shouted.

"Very good," Cologne smiled. "Now, come to me."

Shaula slowly began to walk forward and kept her eyes on Ryoga. He was shaking his head and tears formed in his eyes. He knew what Cologne would do once Shaula got close enough.

Cologne would kill her.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~

Honestly, she's willing to sacrifice her life for a pig, Ryoko thought.

"Princess," she whispered so only Ayeka could hear her. "Cover Shaula, I need a distraction too."

"Ryoko, I can't do both," Ayeka whispered back.

Both didn't take into account Aisha's good hearing. Aisha began to focus on he earth's moon. Although there was only one, it was decent in size and should provide the energy she needed.

Aisha roared and began to transform.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~

At the sound of her roar, all eyes looked her way (even Shaula's).

Aisha's body began to shift until it became a new creature. The creature looked similar to a white tiger but its ears were to long and pointy.

Aisha (in creature form) roared again and bared her fangs.

"Stay back! I'll kill the pig!" Cologne threatened, holding up P-chan.

"No don't!" Shaula pleaded.

"Go ahead," Ryoko said. "Kinda hard to kill something that's not alive though."

"What do you mean?" Cologne asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Look at your pig," Ryoko answered.

Cologne looked at it and threw it down in anger. It was nothing but a stuffed toy!

"Now look at mine," Ryoko continued.

She pulled her hands out from behind her back and reveled P-chan.

"You!" Cologne growled. "How?"

"Teleported," Ryoko said, sticking her tongue out. "You don't know everything hag!"

"Not everything, but enough!" Cologne shouted and sent a huge amount of ki at Shaula.

Shaula couldn't dodge it in time, the blast struck home.

---------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------

"What happened next?" Aarthi asked, impatiently.

"I don't know," Amber said crossly, "I'm hungry."

"AMBER HOW CAN YOU THINK OF FOOD?" Aarthi yelled.

"Do you really want to know or should I just go get some?" Amber asked.

"Go get some," Aarthi told her. "I'm gonna read ahead."

"You want anything?"

"A pop, please."

Aarthi listened as Amber raced up the stairs then she continued to read.

---------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------

Shaula stared from within a force field that Ayeka was generating. It had held up against Cologne's attack but Shaula knew Cologne could easily destroy it if she wanted to. Right now Cologne was eyeing the group. They greatly outnumbered her but she had more power.

"Leave Cologne!" Shaula yelled. "You won't win this one!"

"You are wrong, young one. I shall remain triumphant!" Cologne answered.

Cologne fired of multiple ki attacks that everyone tried to avoid. Following her example, Kodachi began throwing black roses. The group tried to evade both the roses and the ki blasts but at some point they would be hit.

"We can't keep this up forever," Gene shouted.

"Let's attack!" Kiyone called.

"ALL TOGETHER!" Shaula yelled.

Shaula and Ryoko sent two massive ki attacks just as Mihoshi, Kiyone, and Gene fired their guns (energy blaster for the girls, Gene used his castor). The huge amount of energy headed for Cologne while Kodachi received three powerful hits from Ayeka, Aisha (still beast), and Suzuka. Kodachi was knocked out and lay where she fell. Cologne on the other hand…

---------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------

"Here's your pop!" Amber said cheerfully.

"Thanks," Aarthi said, turning away from the monitor.

"What happened?"

"Cologne and Kodachi got their butts kicked."

"That's all? Then what?"

"Read for yourself, Amber."

---------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------

Cologne stood up and stared at her enemies amazed faces. She pointed a finger at Shaula and whispered in a barely audible voice,

"You haven't won yet! I will see that Shampoo marries Ranma! Don't get in my way!"

A dark cloud engulfed Cologne and when it cleared she was gone.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~

"Bye!" Mihoshi said cheerfully, waving to the Outlaw Star crewmembers.

"Bye!" they said, waving back.

The Outlaw Star members boarded their ship and after a few minutes it began to rise out of the water. With a sputter, the ship took off into the sky.

"Well, that was fun," Washu said dryly.

"Hey Washu," Shaula started, "a friend of mine says you like to experiment on things."

"That is true," Washu nodded. "Why?"

"Seeing as you're the greatest scientist in the universe, I'd like to ask a favor."

"What is it?" Washu asked cautiously.

"That girl there," Shaula said, motioning to Kodachi's fallen form, "needs some help. She's not right in the head and I think only you can help her."

"I don't know," Washu said, closing her eyes and crossing her arms.

"Miss Washu, as the greatest scientist anywhere, you can do anything," Tenchi told her. "Surely you can do this minor task."

"ALL RIGHT I'LL DO IT!" Washu shouted happily, "Then my genus will be known everywhere!"

While Washu was laughing hysterically and imagining all her fame, Shaula thanked Tenchi for talking Washu into keeping Kodachi.

There's one less girl for Ranma to worry about, she thought.

"We should be going now," Shaula said to them.

"Hey!" Ryoko exclaimed, "Where's Ryoga?"

"That's right," Ayeka said, glancing around. "I haven't seen him since the ships crashed."

"Oh, he, uh, must have started home," Shaula said. "Don't worry about him! He'll be fine! P-chan and I will go on the ship and meet him at home."

"Meow!" Ryo-oki said (back in animal form).

Ryo-oki jumped in the air, did a flip, and transformed into her space ship form.

"So long!" Shaula said, "Thanks for the hospitality."

"No problem! Stop by again!" Ryoko said.

"Ryoko, it's not your place to invite her back!" Ayeka scolded.

"So you don't want her to come back?"

"That's not it at all!"

The two began to argue fiercely and Shaula finished the rest of her goodbyes. She picked up P-chan and began to wonder how they were going to get in the ship. Suddenly, they were covered in a bright light and the two felt themselves being lifted up. Then they found themselves inside the ship.

Shaula and Ryoga (still pig) glanced around.

Ryo-oki started off and the two gazed through the window and watched the land go by.

End of Aarthi's Story

A tale of the future

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~

"What Amber! That's it?"

"Shaula, Aarthi's Story is too long!"

"No it's not!"

"Yes it is!"

"You can't leave it there!"

"I wasn't planning to. Here's the title for the next chapter:

Amber's Story II

A tale in closing

"Uh, no."

"Why not?"

"Because, I should have the next chapter. I'm in it more than you two. It'll be called:

Shaula's Story II

A tale of the End (?)

"Uh, no."

"I wrote the story! It should be my chapter!"

"Uh, no. I proofread and read all your stuff so it should be mine. I can see it now:

Aarthi's Story II

A tale of what happens next

"No."

"For once, I agree with you Amber."

"I won't write a chapter without a name."

"I won't be in the story if I can't have my title!"

"I won't proofread!"

"So we have come to a stalemate."

"We're all so stubborn, this could take a while."

(10 years later…)

"Can't we do one we all like?"

"Like what?"

"How `bout this one?"

A Combined Story

A tale of Concluding

"Aarthi?"

"It's okay."

"We'll Amber, looks like you actually had a good idea!"

"Yeah! Hey, wait a minute. SHAULA!!"

"GO WRITE THE STORY AMBER!"

"Oh fine!"