Project A-Ko Fan Fiction / Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction / Vampire Hunter (Darkstalkers) Fan Fiction ❯ Nabiki 1/2 (A Very Scary Thought) ❯ Big, Big Trouble Heading Our Way... ( Chapter 73 )

Nabiki 1/2

(A Very Scary Thought)

Written by Jim Robert Bader

Proofread by Shiva Barnwell

Based Upon the Altered Destinies Storyline

Inspired by the works of such fans as

Wade Tritshler

Richard Lawson

James Jones

And Many Others

Standard Disclaimer: This is inspired by the work of Takahashi Rumiko and is not my original creation. All characters belong to her. This is only a fanfictional work, and is not intended to compromise the rights of the original owners, distributors and publishers of the Ranma series. I have no money to spare and would very much appreciate if no one tries to sue me.

"Aiko, wait up!"

Aiko Managi paused without turning around as she left the locker rooms and in a very harsh voice said, "What do you want, Beiko?"

The silver haired Beiko Daitokuji hesitated only slightly before saying, "I just want us to talk. It's been three weeks already…"

"That's all?" Aiko slowly turned around, "Not long enough for my money…"

"By the way," the silver haired woman said before the redhead had completed the act, "It's Beatrice now. That's how I'm registered at this school."

"Oh?" Aiko's eyebrows twitched by a fraction, "Using an alias this time? No wonder I didn't catch your name on the school registry."

"Actually," Beatrice sighed, "I'm using my mother's maiden name these days, it's Beatrice Kane as I once told you. That is my legal name as given on my birth records, without the Daitokuji part."

"So," Aiko's eyes narrowed by a fraction, "You and the old man are on the outs, huh? Can't say I'm surprised, after what he pulled during our absence…"

"Please," Beatrice took a half step forward then froze when she saw the hostile look the other woman directed towards her, "I just want us to talk, that's all. Is that so much to ask…Alison?"

Aiko reacted with a sharp retort, "Don't call me that! You don't have the right, not after everything you've ever tried to pull with me, Beiko! You think I'm fooled by this nice girl pose you're using? Well, forget it! I know what you're really like, so why don't we just put aside all this and just do what comes naturally for us, right?"

The redhead dropped her schoolbooks and assumed a fighting crouch. The other girl just looked at her in faint puzzlement and said, "What are you doing, Aiko?"

"You know," Aiko snorted, "C'mon, what are you waiting for? Let's just get down to it for once without all the insults. Now fight me!"

"I don't want to fight with you, Alison," Beatrice replied, "We did enough of that last semester."

"Don't tell me you're chickening out?" the girl snarled, "And don't call me Alison!"

Two steps forward and a massive punch that froze just inches away from the other girl's face later, the Redhead shook with anger, her fist hovering in the air while Beatrice calmly folded her arms and ignored the obvious threat.

"What's wrong with you!" Aiko snarled, "Fight me!"

"I have no intention of fighting with you, Alison," Beatrice inclined her head with a slight nod, "If you want to continue that swing go right ahead, but I'm warning you, it will be murder."

Aiko backed away with a look of disbelief and said, "You're throwing a fight? You are throwing away a chance to fight with me? What's the matter with you! Why don't you change into that stupid suit of yours and come at me like you always do…"

"You mean like I used to do," the other girl said sadly, "Not anymore. I'm not even wearing the suit, Aiko. Why should I do that on my first full day here on a new campus? This isn't Graviton, you know, we just can't go around trashing places like we used to."

Aiko stepped back from her with a look of dismay, "What do you want from me, Beiko?"

"It's Beatrice these days," Beiko replied, "And I just wanted to talk with you. We haven't really talked at all, not since we got back…"

"Talk?" Aiko's hostility level was back at maximum, "What's there to talk about? You left her there! After all we went through, you made us leave her…"

"We left her," Beatrice corrected, "You and I, and it really wasn't our decision, it was hers. She made the choice to stay, we didn't make it. It never really was our decision."

"We could have tried harder!" the other girl was almost in tears as she turned away, "You're the smart one, you could have thought of something, we didn't have to leave empty handed…"

The redhead started to walk away, and then she was running, accelerating to a rate that the other girl could not hope to equal as Beiko belatedly called out to her, "Aiko!" then lowered the hand that she had raised and all but whispered, "It was her decision..."

Silence hung in the air for a long, tense moment, and then Beatrice glanced over her shoulder, "You can come out, whoever you are. I hope you liked eavesdropping on that particular conversation."

"Ah," Nabiki stepped out into plain view, "Sorry about that. It just seemed like you two were being a bit public in your outbursts, and since I was in the vicinity…"

"And since it is your school you feel entitled to know everything you can about a couple of unknowns like us," Beatrice sighed, "I suppose I can't really blame you. I'd feel the same way if our positions were reversed. The truth is…I used to run Graviton High the same way you are reputed to run Furinkan, so it is really not all that hard to imagine a change in our positions."

Nabiki hesitated before asking her next question, "What was that thing about the names anyway? You called her Alison?"

"That was the name her father and mother gave to her," Beatrice replied, "Just as my mother named me Beatrice. I used to hate that name, and I think Aiko resents hers, so we just found it easier to go by the nick-names we picked up when we were children together."

"So," Nabiki replied, "You two have known each other that long, eh?"

"Not the way you are thinking," Beatrice sighed, "The school where we met was a special kind of institute devoted to the testing of people with unusual abilities. The School administration gave me the designation of B. K. for Beatrice Kane, my first two initials, which someone got the bright idea of turning into Beiko. Alison had the same thing done to her, only her real last name is Kent. Managi is the name her parents took when they moved to Japan from America. I never quite got the full story about that, but it seems they were having a bit of trouble with the authorities in Washington DC."

"Fascinating," Nabiki said, "So this Aiko character's a special case, like you?"

"She has very unusual endowments," Beatrice said with a somewhat rueful expression, "Entirely physical, whereas mine are mental in nature. There was a third student being tested in our group…but she's no longer with us…"

"Oh," Nabiki said, "I'm sorry to hear that."

"She isn't dead," Beatrice assured her, "She went home to her real…parents. It's a very long story, and I'd rather not get into the details right now if it is all the same to you."

"No problem," Nabiki replied, "So…where are you staying at the moment?"

"I have a place in Furinkan where I am staying…pretty much by myself," Beatrice shrugged her shoulders, "I'm afraid I'm still new around here and haven't really had much opportunity to socialize…"

"Well, if you wouldn't mind some company, why don't you come around to my place?" Nabiki asked her, "I can guarantee you'll have an excellent home cooked dinner."

Beatrice raised a snowy eyebrow, "Why would you want to go to all that trouble over my account? You barely even know me."

"Maybe so," Nabiki said, "But you look like you could use a friend right now, and besides…it'll be a perfect opportunity for you to get to know my iinazuke. I'll just bet my Uncle Genma's dying to meet you."

Beatrice saw the mischievous gleam in the eyes of the other woman and had to smile at that, "I think I would like that. Thank you, Tendo-san. I feel it safe to say that this is one of the nicest things that anyone has ever offered to me of late."

"Don't mention it," Nabiki replied, "I know what it's like to feel like an outsider, and besides…I have this sneaking hunch that you and I might even be able to do some business on the side."

"Ah," Beatrice nodded sagely, "Then by all means I will have to come and meet your family. It would be so much nicer than anything else that I'd probably be doing otherwise…"

Her tone fell as she glanced back the way that the redhead had taken off, then she resolutely squared her shoulders again and said, "Well, I think I hear the bell again. Time to get onto my next class."

"And where is that?" Nabiki asked her.

"Macroeconomics 104," Beatrice replied, which elicited a surprised look from the other woman.

"You're in my class?" Nabiki blinked her eyes, "What a surprise."

"Perhaps it's destiny," Beatrice returned her look with a grin as the two of them fell into step together and headed off back towards the main school building.

"There's just one thing that bothers me," Nabiki noted as she gave her new friend a sideling scrutiny, "When she came at you just now…how did you know she was going to pull back at the last second?"

The other girl's sigh contained a weariness well beyond her tender years as she answered, "I didn't…but I know Aiko. She may hate my guts at the moment, but not enough to cause me serious injury. And if she had not pulled back, well…"

There was a very sad look in the other girls eyes, and Nabiki suddenly found she has no more interest to pursue the matter…at least until she had time to digest what she was observing. It was beginning to look as if even her off-handed comments to Ryonami were a woeful understatement as whatever there was between her friend and the redhead it was bound to be the source of much turmoil in the very near future…

In the Furinkan commercial district, there was a certain store dealing in electronic devices that was quite suddenly and unexpectedly granted a divine visitation. One of the television sets on display in the window facing the street came to life and produced a rather curious image of a woman's long and shapely feet, which same were projected out of said television, along with a matching pair of long and shapely legs, followed in turn by the rest of her svelte body, which was entirely well proportioned. In mere seconds she stood out onto the street in full, regal manifestation.

Just as the wandering pedestrians nearby were taking in the dusky-skinned, silver-haired beauty in the rather exotic looking dress, the television flared to life again, only this time a hulking male figure slid out into view, to right himself a moment later as he towered over the very tall woman, looking around with a curious expression.

"That…was interesting," said the broad shouldered man with western features and an odd accent to his Japanese, "You travel like this all the time?"

"It's my trademark," his silver haired companion replied, nodding to the city at large as she added, "Furinkan financial district in the suburb you requested, Muscles."

"So, this is the Nerima district," Hercules remarked, "Interesting place."

"Really?" Urd asked her companion, giving the area a curt glance before dismissing it with a snort, "Looks boringly typical to me. Mortals have no sense of imagination when setting these suburban areas up. I doubt this place even has a decent night life."

"I'll take boring any day over what passes for excitement in my life," Hercules assured her, "Well, we might as well get this over with. Which way to Furinkan High School?"

"Hmm," Urd pondered, "That is a good question. If my little sister were here she could probably find it with one of her devices. I'll just cast a direction spell and…"

"Ah--that won't be necessary," Hercules hastily assured her, "We'll just ask for directions. It can't be that hard to find, after all, and time is of the essence."

"What are you looking for there?" Urd wondered slyly, "You sly dog, you want to check out some of the local high schoolers?"

"What?" Hercules reacted in surprise, "I do not! I'm not like that, Urd…"

"Since when?" Urd snorted, "You are Greek, if I remember rightly, and you were raised around Sparta…"

"Ah…let's not review my misspent youth right now, shall we?" Hercules pleaded as he lowered his voice to a mere murmur, "Besides, I haven't gone in for that in centuries."

"So," Urd considered him with soft green eyes that enjoyed the contours of his body, "Fess up, Muscles, what are you looking for there? It's got to be important to drag you all the way around the world like this. What are you after?"

"Something that was lost that will be found again that is better off not found," Hercules replied.

Urd blinked, "I beg your pardon?"

"Hey, don't look at me," Hercules shrugged, "That's just what Cassandra said a few days ago at a party held for my half-brother, Dionyseus. We were all hanging around sampling his latest vintage when Cassandra just suddenly went into one of her trances and warned us that something big was about to turn up, and that it was going to happen right here in this part of Asia."

"So why did that bother your old man?" Urd asked, "If it's happening here that makes it our problem."

"Normally I would have agreed with you on that," Hercules replied, "Only Cassandra seemed to think it was important to us, so we consulted our version of the Fates and they came back with a single word that made my father's beard turn white for several seconds."

"What word?" Urd wondered.

"I don't know," Hercules shrugged, "I only know that the next thing Dad does is round on me and tell me I needed to get over here right away. Something big's supposed to happen in a few hours and he wants me to put a stop to it…"

"How big?" Urd asked.

"Big," Hercules shrugged, "Which is all I could get out of the old goat. I swear sometimes he thinks I'm his personal errand boy or something…"

"Why didn't Zeus just ask one of us to look in on it?" Urd pondered aloud, "It's not exactly polite to send you on a mission like this without at least some advanced warning, and the way you were trying to avoid getting my attention…"

"Ah," Hercules seemed to sweat a little at that point, even though gods did not need to perspire like regular humans, "Right, secret mission. I don't know his motives for that either, I just know he wanted me to be discrete about it. I mean, I'm sure Raiden or Hachiman could have handled this on their own, unless there's a whole lot more to what Dad isn't telling me than usual here…"

"So," Urd remarked, "The upshot of it is that you've come to Japan without a single clue as to what it is you're supposed to be looking for, other than the fact that it's big, and for some reason your father didn't want us to know about it. Why does this NOT inspire me with confidence all of a sudden?"

"Beats me," Hercules snorted, "But something tells me we won't be in the dark for very much longer. If there's one thing I know about my father, when he doesn't want to tell you about something, that's the time to start looking for fox holes."

"So why are you doing this again?" Urd favored him with an amused expression.

"Because I'm a glutton for punishment," Hercules replied with resignation, "And if I don't do it, Dad's going to send some rather embarrassing pictures of me and a certain Amazon to Dianira and not bother to tell her about when they were taken."

"Sounds like a good reason," Urd said as she took his arm in her own and leaned against him before he could think to protest, "Let's find this high school, then maybe we'll know what can make your father sweat bullets. Just keep in mind that the girls there are all underage…"

Hercules gave a weary sigh and said, "I keep telling you, Urd, I'm not like that! Who do you think I am already, that other old goat, my nephew Pan?"

"No," Urd replied reasonably, "I think you're the son of Zeus. Need I say more?"

There was a very slight pause before her companion murmured, "Good point. I withdraw the question…"

"Damn her!" a voice cried out in the wilderness, punctuated by the sound of rocks exploding.

Ryoga looked up from his campfire in surprise at hearing somebody else uttering words in such despairing tones to the accompaniment of the sounds of violence. It sufficiently piqued his curiosity that he got up from his half-cooked dinner and went wandering in the general direction of the noise, which was further punctuated by the turbulent sounds of something that was violently tearing up the landscape.

He did not have far to go, however, before self-preservation instinct caused him to duck low under a passing boulder. Straightening up and tensing, he leaped into the clearing and assumed a fighting crouch, ready to deal with whatever army or militia was practicing war games this close to city limits.

Imagine his surprise, therefore, when he found the source of the mayhem to be a young girl with flame red hair wearing a leotard that looked surprisingly familiar.

She turned an angry glare at his sudden appearance and growled, "What do you want?"

Ryoga stood where he was and glanced around, seeing shattered rock and toppled tree radiating out from the center of a circle in which the girl was presently standing. Ryoga was impressed, usually he was the only one he knew who could do this sort of damage to the local real estate.

It took him a moment to orient on her once again, fixing the girl with a puzzled look before he straightened up once again and said, "Um…sorry, I didn't know what was going on here."

The girl made a dismissive snort then looked down at her own handiwork and sighed, "I guess I kind of lost it for a minute there. I needed to blow off some steam and I took it out on the local terrain. Sorry if I startled you, buddy."

"Uh, no problem," Ryoga said curiously, "If you don't mind my asking what got you so upset?"

"Just some girl I know," the redhead again snorted, "I think she must be following me around or something. I just wish I could figure her out."

"Friend of yours?" Ryoga asked her.

"Why does everybody keep asking me that?" the redhead said with irritation, "First Akane and now you…"

"Akane?" Ryoga felt a thrill of hope and said, "You know Akane?"

"I just met her today," the redhead replied, "Why?"

"I'm her iinazuke, Hibiki Ryoga," Ryoga explained, then flushed a bright crimson before resuming, "I've been trying to find her for the better part of a week!"

The redhead blinked, "Have you tried looking her up in her home class?"

"Ah," Ryoga hesitated before continuing, "That's just it…I, um…have this little problem…I, uh, well…finding my way around. I kind of forgot the way to Furinkan High School…"

"Huh?" the redhead blinked, "You're kidding, right? It's just over that way," she pointed in the direction she had taken in vaulting off the campus.

"I wish I was," Ryoga said with a very weak smile, "Could you, um…kind of help me to get there?"

The redhead inclined her head as she studied him with soft brown eyes, "As pick up lines go that one's pretty original, but somehow I think you really mean it. Call me a sucker for a hard luck story," she sighed, "All right, just follow me. I was supposed to meet up with Akane in class, now I'll be late, thanks to Beiko…"

"Beiko's your friend?" Ryoga asked.

"She's not my friend!" the redhead stated flatly, then she calmed down again before she added, "Sorry, I just meant to say that I wish people would stop assuming that. We used to fight all of the time and ever since we met my life has been one endless series of disasters. By the way, my name's Aiko, Managi Aiko. I just enrolled in Furinkan today and was assigned to Akane's homeroom."

"Oh," Ryoga said as he fell in stride with the redhead, "Then I guess you also met Ranma and Ukyo. They're in the same class as Akane."

"Seemed like an all right couple," Aiko said before frowning, "Is it true about him having two iinazuke?"

Ryoga had to laugh at that, "It's true all right, Ucchan and Nabchan share an engagement to Ranma, not that I'd feel up to keeping the two of them happy. Akane's more than enough for me…I guess you've already seen that she's pretty nice."

Aiko favored the lost boy with an amused look, "You must like her a lot, then?"

"Of course," Ryoga replied with a slightly wistful expression, "I'd do anything for Akane. She's the one person in the whole world who makes my life have meaning."

"Then we'd better get you two back together," Aiko remarked with tolerant amusement before her own expression became slightly pained as she added, "Must be nice to be needed by somebody."

"Huh?" Ryoga looked at his companion oddly, "Don't you have somebody important in your life?"

"I used to," Aiko said faintly, "A million light years ago. I don't really want to talk about it."

"Okay," Ryoga shrugged, seeing the outskirts of the campus loom before them as he made out the Furinken High School building in the background. His heart began to soar with hope and he forgot the sad look in his companion's expression.

As Aiko led the way from the clearing, however, a pair of stealthy eyes gleamed and a slight smile appeared on the face of a purple eyed woman…

"Ease up, Ranchan!" Ukyo called out as she paused to catch her breath, "Let me catch my wind for a minute, will you?"

"Sure thing," Ranma slowed down to a running trot as he saw Ukyo sit down on a log to retie her jogging shoelaces. Ranma studied her profile with concern before coming up alongside his iinazuke and hesitantly asking, "Are you feeling all right?"

"Just a bit short of breath this time," Ukyo smiled, "I'm not used to all these weird discomforts and changes my body's going through. It's like those cravings I get at the oddest times, and waking up some mornings wanting to puke my guts out."

Ranma gave Ukyo a concerned look before he sat down beside her and said, "I can't imagine what it's like for you, but I guess it's normal, and Shampoo went through the same thing a few months back…"

"And now it's my turn, is that it?" Ukyo favored him with a wry expression, "I know it must be weird for you, Ranchan. Everybody thinks you're the one responsible for my condition, and I know you'd like to be…"

"Ah," Ranma colored and looked away, "Yeah, well…the way it happened…"

"You don't hold it against Perfume, do you?"

"Of course not!" Ranma protested, "You two only did what you…um…had to do to get out of that mess. If I blamed anybody it'd be that Lao person."

"She set the whole thing up," Ukyo corrected, "But it was a conscious choice on our part to do what we did, knowing the risks and everything. I think Lao did something to my menstrual cycle to make me especially fertile…I don't know how she worked it with Per-chan, but it sure increased the odds of the two of us being this successful on the first try…" her soft chuckle contained much irony at this statement.

"Ah…yeah," Ranma folded his arms with a thoughtful look, "I've kind of given it some thought, and you know how Lao could control water and all? And those kids we saw in her nursery? What if she's had…practice doing stuff like that, making girls ovulate or something. It's supposed to be controlled by the lunar currents, right?"

"You mean our menstrual cycles?" Ukyo said wonderingly, "You think she's that powerful?"

"Hey, she can walk on water without getting wet or trigger her Jusenkyo curse," Ranma shrugged, "I'm no Med student, but it seems to me that speeding up your fertility ought to be a cakewalk."

"If you have time to perfect the art, like she has," Ukyo said thoughtfully, "Extending the logic of that statement, she probably did something to increase the sperm count in Per-chan while she was in male form. Otherwise Nab-chan thinks it would take a full day to generate enough Sperm to get a girl like me pregnant, just like she got Sham-chan pregnant a day after she received her Jusenkyo curse. It all makes sense…that's brilliant thinking, Ranchan."

"Yeah, well…" he shrugged with a slightly smile, "I have my moments."

"You do at that," Ukyo said fondly, "So…Lao set us up all right, but it was still up to Perfume and me to do the dirty deed…"

"After Lao did that nerve things to make you both super-horny," Ranma reminded.

"Why are you being so understanding, Ranma?" Ukyo asked him seriously, "I know it's got to hurt your male pride somewhere that both of your iinazuke have had children by someone other than you."

Ranma took a long moment before he answered that, "Yeah…it bothers me sometimes, but when I think about it I'm really not that upset. Nabiki didn't plan on getting Shampoo pregnant, and I'm glad she decided to stick by her and not abandon her duties. With you…you're someone special to me too, Ucchan. I feel different about you than the way I feel around Nabiki. With her, it's like we mesh because we're so different, we compliment each other, you know what I mean? With you…it's like we've got so much more in common, we're a lot alike where it counts, and I feel really, really comfortable about that."

"Ranchan," Ukyo smiled, "Are you saying I'm just like a sister?"

"No!" Ranma protested, "I mean, I don't feel like that at all! You're…oh…uh…" he saw her smile and realized that she was being facetious, so he colored slightly before saying, "Akane's like my sister, you're somebody I really enjoy being with…you're like a buddy, only special."

"How special?" Ukyo asked him with eyes glittering with emotion.

"Well…" Ranma glanced down by reflex at Ukyo's still smooth stomach and said, "I guess special in a way that means I want the next one you have to be mine special. Perfume can have this one...I think that's being generous on my part."

Ukyo laughed at that and said, "Ranma…you are one in a million. I think just about any other guy on the planet would be really angry with me because everyone blames you for what Perfume and me did. I never wanted to hurt your pride by having somebody else's baby before I had yours…"

"You also never meant to get married to another woman if I remember right," Ranma added.

"Don't change the subject," Ukyo sniffed, "I just want you to know that I'm actually glad that I'm carrying Per-chan's baby. I really want to have yours, but since you insist on waiting until after we're married…" she arched her tone and gave him a look that implied mild impatience, "And since I promised Nab-chan that we'd share the unofficial duties as co-wives, it looks like it'll be a while before we get the chance to have our kid."

"I know," Ranma sighed, rolling his eyes at the familiar complaint shared by both Ukyo and Nabiki, which he had to admit was starting to bother him more than a little as well, "But I promised my mother I'd wait until I was married and out of high school so I could support you all like a husband should. You think you guys have it bad? You both have somebody to share your beds…I sleep alone in my room--not counting Ryoga, and he snores--while you've got an entire restaurant."

"Well," Ukyo grinned lasciviously, "If you're lonely at nights, there's always a cure for that…"

Now it was his turn to laugh, "Yeah, like I'm ready to share a bed with four other women at the same time! Just what kind of stamina do you think I have?"

"Doesn't have to be all at once," Ukyo said practically, "We could take turns on alternate nights, and Per-chan's assured me she's willing to go without on those occasions when we do sleep together…"

"I'm not brave enough to test that theory," he chuckled, "Finding one of her axes next to my bed is about the last thing I want to wake up to. I guess we'll work it all out by the time we do have that honeymoon we keep talking about, after we both graduate…"

"But that's so long!" Ukyo complained plaintively, "Nab-chan will be in college next year and Shampoo will have her baby…"

"And you'll have Perfume's baby," Ranma nodded, "That should help clear things out for me. And just for the record that's a long time for me too, you know. You think it's easy being around great looking women like you and keeping my distance? I'm not made of stone, you know."

"No," Ukyo's tone became even more mischievous than before, "But you'd better be rock-hard in the right places when the time comes to do your duties to me as my husband."

Ranma smiled at that then stood up and offered her his hand, "I think we'd better finish jogging. The coach will be mad at us if we're not back in the next five minutes."

"Normally I'd tell the old guy to wait," Ukyo said as she allowed Ranma to lift her to her feet, not wishing to concede how much she needed the assistance with the cramps she had been feeling, "He's so clueless he hasn't even cottoned onto the fact that I'm a girl, just because I registered as a guy when I started the semester."

"Imagine that," Ranma said as he looked his iinazuke over, privately thinking that Ukyo was hard to mistake as anything but a beautiful young girl now that she no longer taped down her breasts and was wearing a loose sweat-shirt that did little to conceal her figure. He had to control his thoughts at that point, knowing that a nosebleed would be the least of his troubles if Ukyo caught on to the way her nearness was affecting him.

It was almost as bad as the way he was feeling around Nabiki these days…a good feeling to be sure, but one that was making it hard to concentrate when either girl was in his presence. He had not been deceiving Ukyo when he spoke about having needs and the thought that everyone believed he had bedded the Okonomiyaki chef already. It was hard being accused of something you wanted to do but couldn't yet do because of a promise.

"I guess I'm feeling a lot better now," Ukyo assured him, reluctant to surrender his hand as she enjoyed any excuse for contact with the handsome boy beside her, "In fact I'll race you."

"Let's just take it easy for now," Ranma said, not wanting to risk her straining herself again, even if Ukyo wouldn't admit to how hard it was to walk at the moment. They started off at a leisurely trot and soon were pacing along around a bend in the trail…only to come up short when they caught sight of a scene of absolute carnage.

"What the hell?" Ukyo voiced crudely, once more reminding Ranma of a guy in the way she spoke without the restraint of other women, "What happened here?"

"I dunno," Ranma looked around at the toppled trees and shattered boulders, "Maybe Ryoga-kun had another one of his fits or something. Looks pretty recent whatever caused this."

"Must have been Ryoga," Ukyo sniffed as she took a few steps forward, "Got lost again and started to despair, the baka. I swear we ought to attach a location beacon to his wrist or something."

"Might not be a bad idea," Ranma frowned, seeing a hole in the ground that was shaped like a bowl, which implied to his battle-sense that an object the size of a boulder had been pulled out of the soil. He looked and found a rock matching the bowl in size, only it was a hundred meters away to the side of a toppled tree stump, as though someone had thrown it.

That made him frown more deeply. Even Ryoga was not that powerful. It was as if someone of even more prodigious strength had done all this destruction, but who in Nerima could possibly fit that description?

Ukyo strayed off the trail a few steps as she turned around and said, "I don't see Ryoga anywhere, but he's probably still in the neighborhood, only a few hundred yards from his goal and…AWP!"

"Huh?" Ranma whirled around, just in time to see Ukyo begin to vanish into a hole that suddenly opened up to swallow her, which cause him to react with lightning reflexes, "Ucchan!"

He was just a fraction of a second too slow in grabbing her outstretched hand before she slipped out of reach into the pit that opened up to receive her. He fell flat on the edge to brace himself and looked down into the gap crying out, "UCCHAN!"

"Ow!" Ukyo's voice carried up from surprisingly close underneath him, "That hurt!"

"Are you all right down there?" Ranma shaded his eyes to better make her out in the darkness of the pit, finding to his relief that she was no more than twelve feet below him.

"Aside from a sore butt, I'm just fine, Ranchan," Ukyo replied, making the effort to get back up again, "And mad as hell at Ryoga! When I see that baka I'm going to give him such a piece of my mind…"

"I, uh…don't think he's the guilty party this time," Ranma called down, "I'll explain when you're back up here. Can you see where you are?"

"It's dark, Ranma," Ukyo replied in irritation, "I don't see any exit or anything like that. Actually…now that you mention it this does look a little like a cave, or maybe a volcanic pit or something. I'm not geologist, but I…hold it!"

"What's wrong?" Ranma asked.

Ukyo was staring at something directly in front of her and her voice was a bit odd, "I…don't really know, Ranchan. There's an object here with me…I can't make out what it is, but it looks like a boulder or something."

"A boulder?" Ranma strained his eyes to make out a dark grey pillar that was somewhat oval shaped that Ukyo was staring at, and he asked, "What is that?"

"I don't know yet," Ukyo put a hand forward to feel the things surface, then she reacted in alarm, "It's warm!"

"Warm?" Ranma blinked, "What do you mean warm?"

"Warm and smooth…" Ukyo suddenly gasped and withdrew her hand as something flared to life in front of her. With a start she read flame-bright symbols on the side of the thing and said, "Typhon?"

"Typhon?" Ranma repeated.

"That's what it…" Ukyo started to say when the flame-red symbols vanished, "Uh…I mean…that's what it did say for a moment there. Did you see that?"

"The bright light?" Ranma asked, "Kind of hard to miss…"

"Nihao!"

Perfume's voice startled Ranma so that he half scrambled onto his back before checking the impulse, altering his surprise to brief anger, "Don't do that! Can't you at least give me some advanced warning?"

"Sorry, Ranchan," Perfume replied, "I'm looking for Ukyo…have you seen…"

"Per-chan!" Ukyo called out, "Down here!"

"Airen?" Perfume moved closer to the edge of the pit and said, "What are you doing down there? Are you all right?"

"I'm just fine," Ukyo sniffed, "Would you mind helping get me out of here? There's something really weird down here in this pit with me."

"Weird?" Perfume looked down, having an easier time of adjusting her eyes to the contrast in light, then she blinked, "What is that?"

"I have no idea," Ukyo touched the surface of the thing again, but the peculiar flaring of light did not repeat itself, "It's warm and smooth, that's all I can tell. Maybe it's a volcanic rock or something."

"Better not touch it," Perfume said as she reached into her sleeve and produced a rope from somewhere, flicking her wrist as an axe appeared in one hand, which same she used to bury it in the soil near to her foot before tying one end of the rope about the handle, then smiling at Ranma as she said, "Could you see this doesn't slip, Ranchan? I'm going down there."

She tossed the other end of the rope down to Ukyo, then vaulted down into the pit at the side of her beloved Airen. Ranma sniffed as he muttered, "Showoff."

Perfume turned to see the thing in front of Ukyo and looked up and down with her greater than normal perceptions. The first thing she was aware of was a peculiar stench that made her wince slightly, followed in turn by a taste like acid in her mouth as her eyes widened their focus to take in more than the ordinary range of visual perceptions.

She moved closer to the object and extended a hand, intending to brush its surface as Ukyo had before her.

She snatched her hand back even more suddenly than her beloved, gasping at the slight tingle along her nerves as if she had encountered an unseen energy field surrounding this object. She adjusted her vision to take in the Chi-force it was radiating and almost recoiled at the intensity. Backing away on instinct she reached out her hand and drew Ukyo with her.

"What's wrong?" Ukyo asked her.

"It's bad!" Perfume replied, "The thing is magical, Ucchan. I don't know what it is, but we have to stay far away from it, and we'd better find Great Grandmother."

"How bad?" Ranma called down as he watched everything from the edge.

"I don't know and I don't want to find out," Perfume said, "Ukyo, listen carefully, we have to get out of here. A strange woman said that I had to find you and protect you form some kind of danger, and I guess this is what she meant."

"A strange woman?" Ukyo asked her Amazon wife, "Did she give you a name?"

"Kishijoten" Perfume replied then saw her beloved react to the name, "You know her?"

"Kishijoten?" Ukyo repeated, "Are you sure?"

"Yes," Perfume said, "Who is she?"

"I'll explain later," Ukyo said, "After we get out of here. Mind helping me out?"

"Try stopping me," Perfume replied, "Ranma, help us with the rope. I'll boost Ucchan up to you, you pull her the rest of the way."

"Sure thing," Ranma called down, privately thinking to himself that the Amazon was being a bit more high handed than usual, and he was finding this slightly grating.

"I can handle myself, guys," Ukyo said as she took the rope in her hands and tried to brace her feet against the wall of the cave, only to feel her cramps start up again, making her wince as she said, "On second thought…"

"Get on my shoulders," Perfume urged as she knelt down, "Get ready up there, Ranma."

"Sure thing," Ranma said as he gripped the rope in both hands, watching as Ukyo climbed up on the Amazon's back until her feet were perched on Perfume's shoulders, then he watched as Perfume stood straight up and he started tugging on the rope to help keep Ukyo balanced.

A few seconds later he had pulled her up far enough to reach out with one hand and clasp her own as she reached up to him, and from there it was a simple matter of bracing himself with the other end of the rope firmly anchored where he had planted the axe, pulling on the part he was holding as he swung Ukyo up to the ledge, then the two of them straightened out as Ranma called down, "Okay, your turn!"

"Why are you shouting?" Perfume asked from directly behind him, causing Ranma to go "URK!" as he whirled about to see her standing there. He could not help glancing back into the now-vacant pit while Perfume turned to Ukyo and said, "Whatever that thing is we had better give it wide berth. It can only mean trouble that we don't need, which is why we'd better leave this to Great Grandmother."

"Right," Ukyo agreed, "Couldn't agree with you more. We'd better head back to the Gym before the coach comes looking for us, Ranchan. Somebody better warn people to stay away from here, don't want anybody else falling in there like I did."

"Right," Ranma said as he turned to Perfume, "I guess you'd better make yourself scarce when we get to the Gym, huh?"

To his consternation the Amazon shook her head and replied, "No, I'm staying close to Ucchan until I'm sure that she's in no danger. That woman with the purple eyes didn't specify what kind of danger she's in, and until I'm sure it's past…"

"You really don't have to stay that close by me, Per-chan," Ukyo said sweetly, "But it is a nice gesture. Now…what was that about her having purple eyes?"

"Oddest thing," Perfume said as she and Ukyo fell in step together, "In fact the whole thing was odd. I had the strangest feeling when I was in her presence…"

"Yeah," Ukyo said nervously, "If it's the same lady that I'm thinking of then I understand you completely…"

Ranma frowned as he watched the two go off together, waiting until he was certain that even Perfume's super-sharp hearing couldn't pick up his words, then softly murmured to himself, "I take back what I said about not minding you, lady…"

Unbeknownst to him, down in the pit, a tiny sound could be heard as the surface of the boulder-like object started cracking…

Continued

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