Project A-Ko Fan Fiction / Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction / Vampire Hunter (Darkstalkers) Fan Fiction ❯ Nabiki 1/2 (A Very Scary Thought) ❯ Senken Masters... ( Chapter 100 )

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.

"All right then," Nabiki said, "What did you two want to talk about in front of me but not in front of the others?"

"Ah yes…where to begin?" Beatrice replied as she exchanged looks with Alison, who glared back indifferently at her, which made the silver haired girl sigh and lower her eyes towards her feet, "We come before you seeking the advice of a friend who is-in some measure-privy to a recent development in our relationship, and perhaps to have you do a service for us that we can ask of no one other."

"Go on," Nabiki urged, already having some idea of the general subject for discussion.

"As you no doubt overheard yesterday in the bath house," Beatrice began once again, "Alison is pregnant…and I am-at least biologically speaking-the instrument of her condition."

"You got your girlfriend pregnant," Nabiki said dryly, "And you want to talk to me because I have some prior experience in that department?"

"No," Alison growled, "I think you did enough just putting the idea in Beiko's head in the first place."

"Now Aiko," Beatrice gently chided, "That is hardly fair. The idea for this was actually inspired by our mutual experience with the Leptons, though quite frankly the original target of my speculation at that time was our mutual love-interest, Celeste..."

"I thought we agreed we weren't going to mention Ceiko," Alison's eyes narrowed even more unpleasantly than before.

"Ah…well…it is highly unavoidable," Beatrice replied, "Given that she was the cause for us getting together in the first place…"

"Go on," Alison growled, "Tell her the rest of what you told me, Beiko."

Nabiki was not certain that she liked what she was hearing in the tone of her oddly mismatched friends. Beatrice was sounding awkward, almost hesitant in her speech, lacking the normal calm and confident manner that denoted the resident genius's cool way of evaluating even the most complex of situations. Alison was sounding much more hostile than usual, though Nabiki was unable to determine if it was anger or genuine resentment that was causing her to scowl at her nominal roommate and partner in misadventure. Either way, she sensed serious trouble in the offing. She waited for Beatrice to speak again, hoping that this would not signify an imminent break up of the star-crossed romance between her and the redhead.

"Very well," Beatrice sighed, "To get down to the point. As you by now know, Alison and I used to be enemies and rivals for the affections of a third girl, and later on-very briefly-towards a young man who held our attention during a particularly difficult time in our lives when we were completing our Sophomore year at Graviton High School, our old alma mater. During a very unpleasant exchange between ourselves and the Japanese Self-Defense Forces in the middle of a wedding, the Lepton fleet, commanded by their Queen Regina, arrived on the scene and took Celeste into their custody, claiming her as their long-lost princess, whom they needed due to a very delicate matter concerning the royal line of succession."

Nabiki nodded that they should continue, having already heard bits of this story before on prior occasions.

"The loss of our mutual friend…hit both of us rather hard, I'm afraid," Beatrice resumed, "And it forced Aiko and myself into a tentative truce so that we could pool our efforts in a misguided attempt at winning her back. This involved a three-month excursion to the stars where we started out with high hopes and borrowed Lepton spaceship technology…and wound up marooned together on a desert-like world after many wrong turns and false leads in our travels. For a brief time we earned a rudimentary living as a team of monster hunters, harvesting gargantuan brutes the likes of which are unknown on the Earth with the singular exception of the hidden government preserve known as Monster Island. Then fate played a wicked trick on both of us as Ceiko was kidnapped by a gang of interplanetary space mercenaries in the employment of a being known to us as Gail…and in the course of getting involved in these matters…I was struck by Gail with a force blast that all but pulverized my heart. I effectively died that day, and I would have stayed dead but for the intercession of an alien patrolman by the name of Marutan."

"That guy," Alison growled, "He conned me into agreeing to help him track down Gail in exchange for Beiko's life, so the little guy did something that revived her…injected her with that Nanotech-whatever that's currently swimming around inside her, making Beiko almost as tough to kill as me."

"That's a bit of an exaggeration, Aiko," Beatrice replied, "But it's true that I was restored to life by the miracle of a science that is light years ahead of our own, and it is to the Nanite colony that symbiotically is linked with my bloodstream that I owe my current existence. As such, I have developed something of a rapport with the Queen Nanite-she who is mother to the colony-and can communicate with her, after a fashion."

"Wish I could say I know what that's like," Nabiki shrugged, "But in a way I'm glad I can't. Sharing the same body with an alien race of robotic microbes must be…pretty weird even by my jaded standards."

"Weird coming from a girl who turns into a guy?" Alison sniffed, "Yeah, I guess that figures."

"It was odd for me at first, but I have…more or less adjusted," Beatrice remarked with a mild shrug of her shoulders, "I've had them as a part of me for several months now, and I've come to value the relationship that I have forged with their queen, who is the mind and heart of my symbiotes. They come in rather handy on occasion, such as when I face possible injury or even death through some act of violence. So long as the queen remains intact, I will be effectively immortal, up to and including some very traumatic forms of death with which I would much rather not be faced. For example, decapitation or burning…"

"Get on with it," Alison said in a rather testy voice.

"Ah yes…well…to the point then," Beatrice once again sighed, "The real reason why I impregnated my Aiko. You see…not too long ago the queen informed me that she was reaching a crucial part of her development cycle and needed to reproduce in order to share her stored accumulated knowledge of human physiology, as per her original programming. Nanites reproduce asexually, you see, which is rather efficient but much less fun than the way we normally do it, though I suppose it all comes down to how you…"

"Beiko," Alison rumbled dangerously.

"Ah…ahem," Beatrice said sheepishly, "Anyway, as I was saying, the queen was forced by her own programming to generate a new queen, in effect a daughter who had all of the same capacities as herself, which led to something of a major dilemma since there cannot be two queens occupying the same body. In the normal course of affairs these Queens would go up against one another to determine which was the more viable symbiote for their host…meaning myself, of course…only my queen did not want to compete against her own daughter, having learned from human experience the concept of 'Motherhood,' which denotes a protective interest in the development of one's own progeny. Instead she wanted to have me give the new Queen a fresh host in whom she could gestate, and at first I considered our friend Perfume, who could stand to benefit from longer-lasting Nanites than the temporary ones that I previously injected into her body."

"I assume you offered this to Perfume?" Nabiki asked with raised eyebrows.

"I most certainly did," Beatrice replied, "But was reluctantly refused…"

"Say what?" Nabiki blinked her eyes.

"Your friend and fellow iinazuke explained to me that she was grateful for the service I had done for her in helping to save her life," Beatrice replied, "But she also voiced the concern that a more permanent resolution to her hyper-sensitivity problem might negatively impact upon her abilities as a Sentinel. All of her life she has been susceptible to even the slightest measure of pain, but thanks to the repairs worked on her nervous system her pain threshold has been raised considerably…not all the way to what we would consider normal, but enough that she can now withstand more damage than before the inclusion of those Nanites. Perfume seems to feel that her training and experience in adapting to a low pain threshold makes her the quality of fighter that she is, but that if she lost her vulnerability in that area it might throw her off of her regimen and force her to have to completely retrain to a different style of fighting…"

"Oh, for the love of the Kami…" Nabiki growled, "I should have talked some sense into that girl! She could have at least confided in Ukyo, let alone told me, that you were giving her this option."

"Agreed," Beatrice replied, "But as such I was-reluctantly I might add-compelled to respect her wishes in this matter…which is where I then considered Aiko…but the queen informed me that her unusual physiology might not be as compatible as my own to successfully hosting a queen. That was when I hit upon the third most logical option…"

"Logical," Alison scoffed, "You gave Perfume the right to refuse but you didn't think to offer the same thing to me?"

"I did consider that," Beatrice said reluctantly, "But…you might have refused…and time was critical. The new queen could not last more than a few days inside my body, and so…I took preemptive action and used the excuse of one of our lovemaking sessions to briefly cut open a finger, which I then inserted into you, and by this means transferred the loci of my own genetic material, which the new Queen then used to fertilize one of your ova, which was itself already in motion in one of your fallopian tubes. The queen merged with the now-fertilized egg and rode with it to its eventual implantation in the wall of your uterus a few days later, and yesterday it conveyed to me through chemical transmission that it had succeeded in its objective of modifying the host egg so that it will grow to be the perfect new host…our daughter in every sense, but also that of the Queen Mother. Our child will have the best that is in both of us and grow to be even stronger and healthier than you…"

"I don't care if you had the best of intentions for doing this, Bei!" Alison suddenly barked out, "YOU HAD NO RIGHT MAKING THIS DECISIONS FOR ME WITHOUT EVEN OBTAINING MY CONSENT! Do you have any idea how violated that makes me feel? I trusted you-the gods only know why! I knew you were drawing me in and conning me into accepting you into my life…but THIS…"

"I know," Beatrice bowed her head, "It was wrong of me, and for that I am sorry. I should have trusted you more with the full details in advance, but…I didn't think you would agree without more preparation. I fully accept that I have betrayed you, Aiko, and I know that by every right you should have reason to condemn me…"

"Get on with what we're here for," Alison growled, slumping to the floor as she folded her legs up in front of her and glared off into the distance.

Beatrice sighed, "Very well…the reason why we have come to you here and now with our personal problem…"

"OUR problem?" Alison asked archly.

"Like it or not, I am responsible for everything that has happened," Beatrice replied sadly, "I talked you into coming with me on that misguided quest to find Celeste…I was there with you when she told us that she was staying with her people…that it was important for her to accept her role as their princess, and that she felt glad to be doing something so meaningful with her life. I know how much those words hurt you, Alison…you were even closer to her than I…just as I know that I have made many presumptions on you during our time together…and this present case is but the latest and most extreme imposition…"

"You're not getting out of this one by sweet talking me, Beiko," Alison growled, "You're damned right that you're responsible, which is why you're going to do everything in your power to make things right, understand me?"

"I…yes…" the genius replied sadly.

"Make things right?" Nabiki asked, looking from one girl to the other, "Does that mean you plan on terminating the pregnancy?"

"No," Alison answered for her, very clear and precise, "It means I'm keeping our baby."

Nabiki blinked her eyes, "Excuse me? Did I hear that right?"

"You did," Alison replied, then heaved a sigh that seemed to relieve a good deal of her pent-up anger, "I was furious with Beiko…at first…but…well…I can understand what she was going through when she made this decision for the both of us. It isn't fair to totally slough the blame off onto her…even if she is a conniving, two-faced back-stabbing little weasel…"

"Ouch," Beatrice remarked with a pained expression.

"The fact remains…" Alison sighed again, "That she's right…I would have said no before this happened…but now that I have the kid…that it's growing inside me…it's a life, a new life…something that's a part of me and a part of Beiko…something I never thought we could have being two girls who seem pretty much stuck with each other, though what I ever did to deserve being partnered with a certifiable loon like you…"

"Karma," Beatrice shrugged, "It must have been in a previous life, and it probably was a doozy."

"Yeah, that's what I figured," Alison groused before she continued, "All of my life, ever since I was a little girl, I've dreamed of doing normal girl-stuff, like dating and wearing pretty dresses and flirting with the guys…but that's the one thing I just never can seem to do right, it's anything 'normal'. I'm a meta-human…I've got the blood of gods and aliens in my genes, I can dead lift a whole building, outrace a bullet train, leap a whole football field in a single bound, and if I don't watch my strength around normal people…well…it ain't pretty."

"That does seem to impose considerable limits for a normal physical relationship," Nabiki sagely noted.

"Tell me about it," Alison sniffed, "Dad tells me that he used to have that problem in reverse with his first wife, who passed away long before my time. He said that he mastered the reflex of toning down his power whenever he was around normal humans, but it took him an entire lifetime to learn that trick, and in the heat of real passion…well…he could sort-of lose it accidentally. That's why he built a special bed that had an artificial red-sun lamp overhead that could tone down his superpowers…well…anyway, that's how I wound up having an older brother named Clark Junior and a sister named Martha. Mom had pretty much the same problem on her side, only she had this divine grant that allowed her to lose a portion of her super-strength whenever she was bound by a man…so you can guess she and her first husband did a great deal of bondage before they produced my big sister, Lyta. When my folks had me, however, they didn't need to hold anything back. They were perfect for each other, so I was born the normal way…or as normal as you can get when your parents create a sonic boom every time they climax…"

"Er…right," Nabiki decided that she DID NOT want to press for too many details.

"Well…the point is," Alison continued, holding up both of her arms, "I wear these arm-bracers because my normal strength threshold is about ten thousand times greater than that of a normal person. With them on I have some control over my strength, but even so it's a risk just shaking hands with some people. And there are times when having divine blood can be such a pain, like when I get really, really angry and sparks start to fly around me, and I start to remind people of my great-grandpa…"

"Indeed," Beatrice mused, "The Lord of Olympus very much shines through at such times as this," she smiled with affection that was touched with a bit of sadness.

"So, you think if you made out with a normal guy you'd probably…uh…" Nabiki froze in framing her next thought, having a very real understanding of the implications that would be experienced in her male form, which prompted her to cross her legs reflexively and go, "Eeeeeuuuuuwww…"

"Yeah…that's it in a nutshell," Alison leaned back on her hands and stretched her legs out on the floor, "So unless I meet up with some guy who's part demi-god, or a superhero, or whatever, it's not too likely that I'll ever wind up a mother…at least in the normal sense."

"So…you're keeping the baby because you think…it might be your only chance?" Nabiki concluded for her.

"You tell me," Alison replied, "I've been over this already with Beiko…she said much the same thing about why she wanted to get me preggers. Understand, what you did was tantamount to rape, Beiko, but that's all water over the dam now. I've got a new life growing inside me and I might as well accept it. I'd rather have waited a few years before going through with this…and in another few years I might even have thought of it myself, but why cry over spilled milk? Besides…this means YOU OWE ME, big time."

"I know," Beatrice replied, "And I will do anything that you will ask of me if it means making it up to you, Alison. I had no right to do what I did without asking, but I accept the responsibility that comes from being a co-parent…"

"Damned right you will," Alison turned back to Nabiki, "So…here's the problem. Bei says it may take a while before we'll know if this damned experiment will pan out or not…but she also tells me that I don't have to wait a full nine months before I have the baby. Either I can have the Queen Bee-Junior in me hold off and keep the kid dormant for a few months, or until after I graduate the full semester…or I can have things speed up a bit so that it takes only four months to have the kid. That means I should give birth sometime during the summer, when class is out, which should hide some of the embarrassment, know what I mean?"

"But still," Nabiki said, "You'll be an unmarried mother with a child born out of wedlock…oh…" her eyes got round as she finally comprehended the matter.

"Exactly," Alison said, "So…I need you to do for me what you did for Shampoo…only not have me be your wife, or anything like that. I need for you to manufacture a husband."

"Manufacture?" Nabiki blinked, "I thought Beatrice was the inventor here."

"She means create a fictional husband for her who will exist solely on paper," Beatrice replied, "With backdated files documenting the existence of a brother of mine who will be merely a figment of our creation."

"A brother?" Nabiki said, "But I thought you were an only child…"

"In a manner of speaking," Beatrice affirmed, "We'll call him Byron Daitokuji, and Alison will take on his last name. I've already worked out the specifications that will be needed…so think of him as a masculine version of me, tall, good looking, classical Eurasian features, an excellent academic record, a couple of years older than myself with an impeccable reputation as a young executive working for my father…so highly trusted that he is often away representing Daitokuji Industries in foreign nations, which conveniently explains why he is almost never in the picture…"

"In other words a surrogate father," Nabiki said, "A fictionalized male you, while you'll be the concerned sister-in-law with familial rights only slightly less than that of a husband."

"You catch on quick," Beatrice smiled, "Which is something else I've always liked about you…"

"But if you really want to pose as a husband," Nabiki said, somewhat reluctantly, "There is…one possibility you could at least potentially consider…"

"You mean Jusenkyo?" Beatrice mused, "Well…that IS at least one rather unusual possibility that I…"

"DON'T EVEN GO THERE," Alison said frostily with a glare.

"Ah…quite," Beatrice smiled sheepishly, "Well, as you say, that would be at least one possibility…"

"Ahem," Alison rumbled dangerously, "In case you've forgotten, I haven't yet forgiven you, Bei, but since we both got into this mess because I've somehow lost my mind and can't seem to get along without you, I suppose I'm going to eventually just have to get over it. I still intend to collect in spades even after our kid starts calling you Poppa…"

"You can have whatever is mine that you ask for, Alison," Beatrice replied, "And if my actions have offended you, then I will make restitution and have the next baby on me…then you can be the one who plays the role of the proud poppa."

"The next kid?" Alison blinked, "Hey! Who said anything about us having another one?"

"It is an option that I failed to consider the first time around," Beatrice replied, "After all, a child with your genes will naturally be a lot stronger than an ordinary baby, and I have a somewhat more…delicate constitution…and besides, my Nanites might treat an embryo as a foreign body without sufficient preparations. However…if the child you bear should prove to be viable, the Queen Mother will then adapt my body to make certain allowances for a second baby. Of course no such action will be undertaken without your consent. I give you my word that I will only go through with this if I have your approval."

Alison blinked her eyes as she thought that one over, and then she stared off into space and said, "Oh."

"Well…" Nabiki exhaled a breath that she had not even been aware of holding to that moment, "I guess I can do whatever is in my power to give you the protections you'll need, if I get a hold of some of my government contacts who could help arrange things to give you legal cover."

"Thanks," Alison sighed, "That means a lot to me. Now all I gotta do is figure out some way of telling my parents. You don't mind me saying so, Bei, you're gonna be in a lot more trouble when my dad finds out what you did."

"Oh, I rather imagine that I'll be facing the music, one way or the other," Beatrice rolled her eyes towards the ceiling, "After all, all you did was kick me out of bed after giving me a good spanking. I rather imagine it will be even more stressful with your mother…you tell me that she's had some rather unpleasant experiences in the past with learning about her own mother's record of deceptions."

"You got that right," Alison sniffed, "Mom grew up believing a real cabbage patch fairy tale about her being created from clay when Grandma knew damned well that she'd had a fling with Grandpa during the Bronze age, and that's not including all the times Grandma messed with my mother's memories in an effort to get her to stay with her on Paradise Island. I guess when compared to that you've got a long ways to go as a master manipulator, Bei."

"A dubious honor that I shall endeavor to avoid earning in the future," Beatrice assured her.

"Why make promises you can't keep?" Alison shrugged, "I know you'll do whatever you think is necessary in the future, Bei, and…I hate to say it…but your judgement's usually better than mine."

"So…do I take it you two crazy kids plan on staying together for now?" Nabiki asked.

"That is up to Alison," Beatrice replied, "But you already know my answer."

"Hey, just as long as you pay your half of the rent," Alison sniffed, "Not to mention my half. Guess I've got nowhere else to go, unless I want to move back in with my parents. Besides…you still owe me."

Beatrice sighed, "So you will no doubt continue to remind me…"

"All right then," Nabiki smiled, "Anything else I can do for you guys?"

"There is…one thing more," Beatrice turned to look at her redheaded companion.

"We were wondering…" Alison hesitated, then continued, "Would you mind very much if we made you my kid's godfather?"

"Er…godmother," Nabiki corrected, then smiled, "Sure…I'd be honored…"

There was a gentle knocking on the door, to which Nabiki called out, "Come in."

"Airen?" Shampoo appeared at the doorframe, "Is you done with Silver-hair and strong girl?"

"Well…more or less," Nabiki glanced at her two guests before returning attention to her wife, "What can I do for you, Honey?"

To Nabiki's considerable surprise, both she and Perfume entered the room together, the latter giving an apologetic nod towards Beatrice and Alison before saying, "We need to talk…it's about our great grandmother."

"Oh?" Nabiki asked, sensing something monumentally significant was about to be revealed by her significant others…

Five Days Later…

"Hey Ryoga, you got a minute?"

"Um…sure," Ryoga turned to see his boss approaching him, "What about, Sir?"

"I understand today is your last day with us," the Supervisor began, "You signed on for a week, and the week is up today…"

"That's right," Ryoga nodded, "I want to thank you for giving me this chance…I've learned a lot from your people, and it's been a real privilege working here…"

"It's been a real experience for me too," the Supervisor snorted, "When you first got here I thought you were one of the worst screw-ups I'd ever seen. You acted like you'd never been on a building project before, and you kept messing up in ways that almost made my hair fall out. You kept running into things, hitting yourself with tools, wandering off to the wrong end of the buildings…"

"Uh…ah…" Ryoga rubbed the back of his head, feeling very foolish, "I guess I did kind of start off on the wrong foot…"

"I'll say you did," the Supervisor replied, "I thought I was gonna have to fire your ass out of here…I came damned near to doing it in the first five minutes."

"Oh?" Ryoga said, "Um…would you mind if I ask why you didn't?"

"Because I saw something in you," the Supervisor said, "Real integrity and determination, not to mention you actually seemed to be learning from your mistakes as you went along, and now you're the best man on my whole construction team. I can't believe how fast you shaped up and learned your trade, and now it almost seems like there are ten of you doing the job together. I give you an assignment, turn my back for a minute, and it's already completed. You haven't even rewired the house to the plumbing since that first day when you set things up so you'd have to use the sprinkler system to turn on the TV remote…"

"Um…about that…" Ryoga winced, "I have…a little trouble reading the directions…"

"Doesn't matter to me if you're totally illiterate, Son," the Supervisor insisted, "I need men who can take verbal instructions and learn from them by heart, which is why I want to offer you an extension to stay on this team for our next building project. Besides, I've got a son who's dyslexic, so I can sympathize with what you're going through. Just as long as you're a team player, then I want you on my team for the next one."

"Uh-really?" Ryoga blinked, "You mean…you're offering me a full time job?"

"Think it over and get back to me when you're ready, Son," the Supervisor said as he handed Ryoga an envelope, "Here's your pay for the week, you've more than earned it."

The man clapped Ryoga on the shoulder and went off to chew out some other unsuspecting employee, leaving Ryoga to blink several times before he took notice of Genma and Happosai, who had silently come along up beside him.

"It's disgusting, the state of young people these days," the little man groused, "Hard work and integrity…in my day we had more respect for traditional values like…partying and women! So, my boy, what are you going to do with your hard earned currency?"

"I don't know," Ryoga replied, "I've never had a paycheck before…I don't even know how to cash it…"

"Why not keep it and show it to Akane when we go back home, Son?" Genma asked, earning an incredulous look from his perverted old master, "She'll be mighty impressed to learn that you've become a man of means on your own right."

"Hey, whose side are you on?" Happosai demanded.

"Really?" Ryoga blinked, staring at the envelope in his hand before a foolish smile crept over his lips, "Gosh…won't Akane be impressed? I mean…it probably wouldn't look like any big deal to someone like Kodachi…but it's money in my hands…"

The young man started to wander off-albeit in the wrong way from camp-leaving Happosai to shake his head in disbelief and growl, "Now what did you put a damned fool notion like that in his head for? We could have put that money to good use…"

"Let him have it this time, Master," Genma urged, "My son deserves a little happiness, and sooner or later he's going to have to learn how to be a breadwinner when he marries his iinazuke."

"That's the trouble with your two boys," Happosai growled, "Neither he nor Ranma have a single dishonest bone in their bodies…makes me wonder if you really are their father."

"Miracles do happen, Master," Genma again hid his smile as he turned to guide Ryoga in the right direction, hoping that Ranma was faring as well after five days of intensive fireman training…

"Twenty yen for your thoughts, Saotome."

"Oh…hi," Ranma acknowledged without turning around, "If you're looking for Ryu…"

"I know where to find him," Kaoih replied with a faint smile, "I always do."

"Yeah…I figured as much," Ranma half-turned to regard the brown haired girl, "You two have gotten pretty close lately, huh? So…just how close are you?"

"Now that's none of your business," Kaoih smiled more coyly, "And a gentleman shouldn't ask a question like that of a lady."

"Maybe I'm not really a gentleman," Ranma countered, "Ever think of that?"

"Oh, you're a gentleman all right," Kaoih remarked with a nod of her head, "You may act coarse and crude at times, but you've got a real gentle way about you, when you're of a mind to show it to others."

"Then maybe I'm just asking because I'm curious," Ranma said as he turned to stare back at the ravine before him, the scenery stretching out on pristine wilderness beauty for as far as the eye could see, "After all, ain't that what a…well…you know?"

"A brother asks of his sister?" Kaoih finished for him, "I kind of thought by now you'd figured it out. Well…I hope you don't mind me saying this…little brother…but I'm a big enough girl to make my own mind up about such things…and I'm older than you by a few months, so maybe I should be asking you about how things are going between you and Nabiki."

"Touché," Ranma conceded, "All right then, so maybe I should ask what you're doing here now…Sis."

"Now can't a sister be honestly worried about what her little brother is doing sitting by himself when I know he'd much rather be spending time with his iinazuke?" Kaoih asked as she sat down beside him, "Is the scenery here so much better than in Nerima?"

"Actually, it's not that," Ranma replied, "I was…just thinking about something that happened today...and I kind of want to be alone...no offense to you, Oneechan.""

"Well now, that does sounds secretive," Kaoih smiled, reaching into some hidden fold of her blouse to pull out a tarot card, then moved her fingers to reveal three others in the same hand, "Why don't we let the cards decide what thoughts are in your mind, little brother."

"That stuff you do you learned from your mother?" Ranma asked.

"Hey, never knock the Tarot," Kaoih smiled as she placed the cards on the ground before them, then blinked her eyes as she said, "That's odd…I wasn't expecting this particular combination…"

"What's up?" Ranma asked, "Any problems?"

"That all depends," Kaoih held up one of the cards, "This is the Magician card…the second of the Major Arcana in the Tarot deck, after the Fool Card, which is what I took you for at the beginning of this training mission."

"Gee, thanks a lot," Ranma sniffed.

"I'm serious," Kaoih persisted, "The Fool and the Magician are two sides of the same coin. In the first case you have the ordinary man stumbling along through life, blithely unaware of his surroundings or the potential that is within him. A hound-representing his lower nature-is nipping at his heels and trying to prevent him from moving forwards, while a precipice-much like this-stands right before him. The Magician, on the other hand, has taken the time to examine the pack that the fool carries over one shoulder, a pack that contains the elements of the Universe, the unlocked potential within the novice or initiate. The Magician is aware that he is a student of the higher mysteries, while the fool remains unaware and is subject to the whims of the elements of nature."

"And what about the other two cards?" Ranma asked.

"Well…this one is the Knight of Swords," Kaoih held up the second card, "But the one that really concerns me is…this…the Queen of Wands, symbolic of the element of fire. According to the way I interpret these cards, the Knight is in opposition to the Queen, implying a conflict between Air and Fire, which are normally complimentary forces. Care to explain why that is…little brother?"

"Oh…" Ranma said, "Well…there's kind of a funny story about that, Sis…happened just today, as a matter of fact…"

"Go on," she urged, "I'm listening."

"Well…" Ranma began, "It all started today when the Lieutenant at the Firehouse was training me in some pretty advanced fire rescue techniques, when…a funny thing was about to happen…"

Lieutenant Hino collapsed at the top of the stairs, breathing heavily and giving the younger man beside him an envious look that could have been used to break down doors. Ranma read that expression and set down the heavy practice dummy that had been slung across his shoulders when the two of them had raced up the practice stairwell. He knelt down beside the Lieutenant and said, "What's wrong, LT? Are we done already?"

"What are you made of, Saotome?" the Lieutenant demanded, "Don't you even tire out a little doing stuff like this? Are you even human?"

"Well, that all depends on who you ask, LT," Ranma shrugged with a smile, "But I'm just trying to learn how to work with a fire, same as everybody else here at the station…"

"Not quite like everybody else," Ikari said as he began to get his wind back, "You tackle each assignment like it was a challenge match, and the way you move is too smooth and fluid…you've had advanced training, all right, but not in fire fighting."

"Well…isn't that what I'm here for?" Ranma asked, "To get more training?"

"Not exactly," the Lieutenant replied as he sat upright, "Seems more like the kind of training I'm teaching you is slowing you down, not making you better. What is it you're really here to learn anyhow? And don't tell me you're a volunteer from the fifteenth district, I already checked and they've never even heard about you."

"Oh?" Ranma asked, "Is that a problem?"

"Frankly, yes," Ikari studied the young man's face and said, "I knew I'd seen you somewhere before…two years back at a martial arts tournament, you took home the trophy for Kempo, my son was one of those competing against you, which is why I remember."

"Oh?" Ranma repeated again, "Ah…about that…"

"You're not even eighteen, Son," Ikari frowned, "Volunteer my ass. You wormed your way onto my team using false reference, and I want to know why. You owe me that much of an answer.''

"It was my Pop's idea," Ranma answered after a slight hesitation, "He's teaching me a new technique that involves working with fire. I've been watching you and the other guys to see how you handle yourselves, and I've been learning a lot, honest."

"Maybe so," Ikari replied, "But this isn't a game, and I can't legally have you on the team until you're at least a graduate from high school. You want to get me in trouble bending the rules just to suit your needs?'

"No," Ranma lowered his expression, "I didn't mean to cause anybody trouble…how long have you known?"

"Since day one," Ikari replied, "You smelled like a complete novice, even if you performed brilliantly in that first fire. I decided to wait until I was sure, and now I am. You handled yourself well ever since that first fire, and you've learned to be a team member, to carry your own weight and not just try and grandstand in front of the rest of us."

"I never intended to grandstand in front of anybody…" Ranma started to say when the Lieutenant raised a hand to halt him.

"I understand, Son, seriously," Ikari assured the younger man, "And I'd be proud of you if you were my own boy, but I can't keep you on the team, and I doubt seriously that you can learn any more from us than you already have. This is no game for kids, what we do affects the lives of the people we're sworn to protect. You've come a long way in just a few days, but from now on you'll have to take your studies elsewhere. It's no poor reflection on you, it's department policy, you understand me?"

"I think so," Ranma said with reluctance.

"Good," Ikari replied, "Part of being a good fireman is like being a good soldier and learning to take orders from your unit leaders. If you don't understand that, then you don't understand squat about firefighting…"

"Lieutenant!" a voice called from six stories down as one of the lower ranking team members, "They got a fire down by the warehouses…a chemical fire, Code Red!"

The alarm went off and Ikari visibly paled. Ranma saw his expression and asked, "What's wrong, LT?"

"Chemical fire…the worst kind," Ikari answered, "Those things can be really dicey, you can't fight them with water, and they have a nasty tendency to go off in pretty spectacular and unpredictable ways. Still…I've gotta get out there, mobilize the team. You're sitting this one out, and count yourself lucky."

"Sure, LT," Ranma said, "Whatever you say…"

"You lied to him about that?" Kaoih asked.

"I never lied about nothing," Ranma replied, "I just…decided to follow along. I knew I could get there ahead of the truck, and I wanted to see if there was anything more I had to learn about firefighting. Despite what the Lieutenant said, I was sure I hadn't fully mastered every nuance of what I needed to create the Honosenken…"

Ranma stood on the rooftop of a neighboring building and saw the smoke pouring out of the warehouse, which gave him a sudden sense of what Lieutenant Hino had been telling him before about this sort of emergency. Instinctively he knew better than to stand downwind of the smoke, knowing it probably contained elements that were bound to be toxic. The fire itself he could not yet truly discern, but some sense within him cautioned that the monster was building up strength within the structure and would soon burst out into full force and fury.

This concerned him greatly because his recent experiences in firefighting had taught him that there was a lot more to the ART than just knowing how to use a firehose. There was something almost palpably mystical about a fire…the way it behaved, the unpredictable manner in which it could leap from one point to another, or turn on you with unexpected ferocity. In truth, he had been studying fire almost as much as he had the methods used to combat it, and he felt as if he were on the verge of an apotheosis. He almost understood what the Lieutenant had been trying to drum into his head about the very nature of a fire moving through a building, and as he had been committing everything to memory, so too had he been working out the details of the Honosenken.

In truth, Ranma had created as much as ninety percent of the new art and had been practicing these new moves during his off-hours. One half of what he had forged was an imitation of fire and the way it could move about a building, the other half was a combination of moves used to avoid those flames and a means by which to battle and extinguish it…both offensive and defensive maneuvers…but still he had yet to create a finishing move as powerful as the Yamasenken's Demon Deep Sea Chasm. Without that element he felt his system was incomplete, and thus he had not fully mastered the Honosenken.

The most important thing that he had learned in combating fire was that human lives mattered more than property damage, which was a good thing since staving off a fire in an entire building was a lot more complex a demand than getting innocent people removed from harms way. Understanding the directions in which a fire was likely to move was a critical step in this process, for fire was unpredictable by its very nature and could turn on you without a moments prior notice. That was why even a conventional fire was a danger to even men of experience like the Lieutenant, who had the scars to prove that he had survived many an encounter on that front. Ranma had little doubt that the man had an instinctive intimacy with flames that had helped him to survive in situations where so many others would not have persevered, and the man's dedication to his work was nothing less than inspirational. Ranma had never seen such a dedicated public servant willing to risk his life on the line before, and in terms of pure risk taking the Lieutenant was without equal.

Not so for Ranma, who knew his abilities and could act with a surety that even few martial arts practitioners could hope to equal. In the single week-plus that he had been on this training assignment-since leaving Nabiki's side, as a matter of fact-he had come farther than he had even dreamed of accomplishing at home or in the dojo. Life on the open road was certainly a demanding experience that brought you closer to the edge of your abilities, and for the very first time he almost felt like he truly understood what Nabiki must have endured in ten years of wandering and training. That thought alone could motivate him to work harder when he felt even his resources start to wane and falter.

Nabiki…what was she doing right now? That thought kept distracting him at odd hours as almost anything now could set his mind off to wandering back home to the place that was reserved for his safe homecoming. He could still picture her smile at odd moments when she chanced to lower her guard and let the mask slip that she normally used to conceal her emotions. No doubt she would be very angry with him for all the risks that he had been taking in his travels, and he could imagine a scolding lecture from her that would burn his ears off if she caught word of what he was doing at the moment…

He forced his thoughts away from that subject, knowing he had to stay focused on the moment at hand, even as he saw the fire truck with his team pulling up alongside the warehouse. He watched the men file out wearing extra-heavy protective gear, looking almost like a yellow-clad Hazardous Waste Disposal team about to make an unscheduled pick-up, and the weight of their suits greatly diminished their movements. Ranma had no problem understanding why they were going to such extraordinary means in order to protect themselves. He remembered a time in Chemistry lab when he had accidentally spilled acid on his hand and burned it so bad that he had to go to the nurse's office, and another time when he mistakenly inhaled the gaseous by-product of one of Akane's attempts at cooking. If even a little toxin could have such devastating results, just imagine the effect created by gaseous flames belching out chemical smoke in all directions!

The question in his mind was how the Lieutenant was going to coordinate the containment of the blaze with the two other fire units that he saw joining them outside the building. A man wearing no protective gear was helped from the side-door of the warehouse and treated by paramedics while the Lieutenant (as Ranma could recognize Ikari Hino even through his protective suit) questioned the fellow about what he no doubt knew about the fire. Obtaining information of what the team was likely to encounter was just the sort of thing that made Ikari the kind of unit leader that he was, and Ranma found himself experiencing an inexplicable sense of pride in the lieutenant, as though he were still a member of that unit. Apparently, the man told Ikari something useful because the Lieutenant started barking out orders and making hand-signs that Ranma had no trouble reading from where he stood perched atop another building. The unit teams then divided up into smaller groups and set about various tasks that Ranma studied like a battle plan, gradually picking up hints on how a firefighting unit could battle a blaze without resorting to the use of water hoses.

Ranma already knew from his aforementioned chemistry classes that the way to battle a chemical blaze was through better chemistry, and he also recalled a lecture by his mother about kitchen safety in which the Saotome matriarch had stressed the need to use baking soda to extinguish a grease fire. The principle was no doubt the same here but on a much larger scale as trucks pulled up containing sacks of chemicals that were passed off to the firefighters. The men then strapped chemical extinguisher tanks onto their backs and fanned into the building at certain key points while other men mounted their ladders and attempted to spray chemical foam over areas that were on the edge of the flames, hoping no doubt to head them off before they could consume more of the building.

Ranma settled in to watch, wondering automatically if there were any people trapped inside by the fire, or had the place been successfully abandoned before hand? He knew this fight would be a race against time as warehouses often contained odd mixtures that did not react well to the presence of a flame. It was likely that the Lieutenant had already checked a list of potentially hazardous materials that could complicate or even endanger any firefighting efforts, and one wrong calculation in knowing where to go to head off the flames could well result in total disaster. So far their team had been lucky not to lose a man to injury or worse (Ranma felt a modicum of pride in knowing he had contributed greatly to this success record), but no one's luck held true forever. It could well be that the fates would turn on them this time around, in which case Ranma thought that he ought to be on guard, just in case he was…

For a moment he found himself knocked off his feet and momentarily airborne, and then his back hit the tarred roofing and helped skid him to a halt as though he had landed on sandpaper. His ears were ringing in his head as his body reflexively moved to cushion the jolt, and then he was on his feet once again, crouching down in a stance that was a defensive move created by the Honosenken. His instinctive reaction had served him well in this stead, but now he was left with the aftermath of wondering what had caused him to be knocked almost sprawling. It had felt like a great wave had reached out to strike him without warning, almost like…

Like an explosion!

He was back to the edge of the roof and staring in horror at a mushroom-like burst of smoke that shot forth from a new hole created in one side of the building (thankfully away from where the teams had made their entrance). Apparently the fire had gotten to something very explosive, but the blast was so intense and unexpected that it had collapsed a good portion of the warehouse and knocked the various firefighting teams for a loop. One could only imagine in horror what this would mean to the men who had been trapped inside of the building…

Ranma was in motion before the thought had even fully formed in his mind, leaping from the safety of his rooftop perch and charging at the warehouse before the thought had even registered that the Lieutenant and their team might be in a very bad shape. He snagged a breathing unit and protective suit on the run with a speed that was purely Umisenken and was diving in through a new hole that gaped in the absence of what had formerly been an office window. He sought an area clear of flames and crouched down, allowing himself a moment to reorient as he adjusted his senses to the blazing inferno that raged all around him.

At once he was glad that the mask he wore protected his eyes as well as face from the fumes because his skin was tingling in those areas not covered by yellow material, a sure sign of caustic chemistry at work. A normal man would have been overcome in seconds by the noxious fumes burning his eyes, nose and lungs, but the supply of O2 he carried in his tank insured that he would have at least twenty minutes of clean air to service him, more than enough for any rescue maneuvers he might attempt in this inferno. Flames were licking walls and racing everywhere without inhibition, further fueled by the occasional explosion of a chemical drum reacting to the flames. It was nightmare scene from the worst scenarios ever given in one of the Lieutenant's lectures, and there was no way of determining in which direction he should turn to help the men most in danger.

And then he saw a figure huddled beneath a burning beam that held him pinned in the spot, and like a shot Ranma was scrabbling along the floor like a human crab, feeling the incredible heat on his skin even through his flame suit. A quick estimation of position was all it took for him to determine the beam's weak spot, and then he launched a horizontal kick that knocked the beam aside and sent it tumbling back into the worst of the flames. One second later he was crouched over the injured body of his Lieutenant.

"LT…are you all right?" he asked, his voice only partially filtered out by the mask that he was wearing.

He saw the Lieutenant's eyes flicker from beneath his own mask, and then a weak grunt as the man seemed to say, "What the hell are you doing here, kid…I told you to stay out of this…"

"Chew me out for it later," Ranma glanced around, "I'm getting you out of here, fast!"

"No can do…" the man faintly coughed, "I think my ribs are cracked…might have punctured a lung…moving ain't a real option…"

"Neither is staying here and frying!" Ranma shot back.

"You…got a point there," the man coughed again, "I'm…open to suggestions…"

Ranma thought fast. The Lieutenant was hurt bad and needed immediate medical treatment, but the very act of moving him was likely to make his injuries far worse, and there was no way that the paramedics could even get near him in this inferno. Added to that the probability that other members of their team were both injured and scattered all around the building, and no telling in what shape they would be. Even if he moved faster than the flames there was no chance that he could get to all of them and remove them from harms way, and from the way things were going there was no telling if there might be more explosions. The fire blocked off every possible avenue for routine escape and daunted his best efforts to come up with a plan of rescue, therefore his tactical mind immediately focused on his chief adversary being the fire itself, which somehow he had to extinguish in the next few seconds.

At another time he might have marveled at the idea that came out of desperation, but his mind was racing faster than the adrenaline currently pumping through his system. The fire was the enemy, therefore he had to overcome the fire, but what could he use that was powerful enough to extinguish so much flame in one maneuver? Obviously something similar to the Mako Takabishi or the Demon Deep Sea Canyon was called for…

And like that, the idea gelled into his mind, a perfect plan for overcoming the inferno. Again he would have marveled at the ingenious simplicity of it all, but there was no time at all to think, only to act if he was to avoid being trapped by the flames with the rest of his unit. Like flipping some sort of internal switch, the combat genius within Ranma came to the foreground, and with an inspiration that would have left Nabiki gasping he concentrated his internal Chi, then sought out something in his immediate environment with which to tap into…some elemental lines of force that surrounded him in the room, a force that his mind instantly latched onto, and with that he drew this force into his body, churning it from his feet on the ground as he stood up and summoned it up into his chest and then up further through his spine to his head, and from there he formed a ball between the space of his outstretched hands, creating a shield of Chi-force that expanded to surround him.

It was like the Mako Takabishi, only this force was pushed outward to form a globe of stillness that drove the fiery air away in all directions. A beam fell from overhead and struck this globe, only to be repelled by it as Ranma pushed the air away from his body, sustained by the Manna that flooded into him just as his own oxygen needs were fueled by his facemask. The bubble of force he created shoved the flames further away until he encountered some manner of resistance that was pushing against him.

He opened his eyes, still imagining the force-ball surrounding him, and saw the flames congeal about the globe, licking at it like a coiling serpent head…and then-to his utter amazement-they formed into a face that looked remarkably like that of a dragon! Said dragon coiled and looked down upon him with eyes full of contempt and hate, and for a moment he felt transfixed by their power as though an ancient intelligence was gazing down upon him from a great distance. For an instant his determination almost wavered, but then he fought down this sensation and redoubled his effort, drawing more Chi from the ground into his body and out through his hands into the force ball. For a few more seconds he continued to expand it while the dragon-shape lashed and roared against this barrier, then at last he found himself at the limits of where he dared to stretch things, and with a single effort he let go, collapsing the ball with a rush that created an immediate air vacuum.

All at once the air within the warehouse was sucked back into the gulf with a rush that created a loud popping noise, and suddenly flames died all around the building for lack of oxygen, extinguished as effectively as if they had been blown out like a massive candle. Like that the warehouse fire was all but totally doused out, the sole remaining exception being a flame that yet burned with intensity in the space directly before Saotome Ranma.

The last remaining flames coiled and congealed into the towering serpent as Ranma began to sag, feeling his strength momentarily leave him. He saw the face roaring at him, saw its jaws widen as if in an effort to swallow him, then saw the creature descend in a strike, and without warning Ranma threw up his hands and instinctively blocked the maneuver with his arms, at the last minute, summoning his remaining Chi in a barrier intended to ward off the attacking creature.

The maneuver seemed to take the dragon by surprise as it met the Chi-shield and was momentarily repulsed. It persisted a moment longer as Ranma found himself staring up into the eyes of the inhuman monster…but then something incredible happened and the creature seemed to be diminishing, in size, losing strength even as Ranma's own strength had seemed to be failing. All at once something entered his body, and before he knew it he had absorbed a new type of Chi into his chakra centers, a force that momentarily raced through his veins and set his pulse on ablaze, threatening to sear his entire nervous system before he instinctively fought back and mastered this impulse, gradually containing it through sheer force of will and effort.

The silence that followed his success was as loud and deafening as the previous explosions. The warehouse was no longer ablaze, instead it seemed like a charred and smoldering wreck with a few lingering fumes to denote the previous inferno.

And then a voice coughed and said, "W-What the hell…was that…?"

"I…don't really know," Ranma said, feeling strange and somehow different than before, as though something was coiling inside him like a worm he had somehow swallowed, "Sure felt weird, though…"

"I'll…bet…" the Lieutenant managed a very weak chuckle, then lay back on his side, the effort clearly having taxed him.

That brought Ranma back around to the present circumstances, and as he looked around he saw one or two yellow-covered masked heads peering up from positions of concealment as though to wonder what kind of a miracle had just spared their lives. The sight also called him back to the discipline of his recent Fireman training, and Ranma called out to whomever could hear him, risking uncovering his face from the mask so that his voice could be heard more loudly, "MAN DOWN! CODE BLUE! GET A RESCUE TEAM HERE ON THE DOUBLE…!!!"

"Wow," Kaoih remarked as Ranma finished relating his adventure, "That means you're a hero, little Bro. I'm so proud of you for doing all that…but…exactly how was it that you defeated what sounded like a Fire Elemental?"

"I don't really know," Ranma shrugged, "I don't think I really defeated it so much as found a way of containing it…but I'm pretty sure it's still here inside me…and don't ask me how I could swallow something that big!"

"From your description, it sounded like a Salamander," Kaoih divined, "One of the ancient race of elemental spirits of Flame that sages and philosophers talk about in their writing. You mean to say that you actually captured one inside your body?"

"I guess," Ranma blinked, "Is that what I did? It felt…really weird…"

"So I'd imagine," Kaoih sniffed, "And what about your lieutenant? Did he make it?"

"Oh sure," Ranma said, "Turns out he wasn't as badly hurt as he thought he was…a few bruised ribs and a lot of other stuff, but nothing life-threatening. He told me later that he wants to see me again in a year, after I graduate from high school. He thinks I can be a big help to the department in other ways than just being a Fireman…like teaching his men some of my techniques for avoiding injury in a fire."

"That sounds wonderful," Kaoih grinned, "That's right up your alley!"

"Yeah," Ranma paused before he continued, "He…ah…also wanted to fix me up with a niece of his who's a Shrine Maiden in the Jubaan district…but I had to take a pass on that. I think as it is I've got more than enough girlfriends."

"Too bad, her loss," Kaoih smiled, "I'm proud of the way you handled yourself, little Brother…so…does this mean that you've finished creating and mastering the Honosenken?"

"Almost…" Ranma looked disquieted, "I think I still have one more technique to master…that's why I came out here…I…I want to establish…some kind of contact with…this thing that's inside me…I…feel it churning around right now, trying to break out…and I don't want any distractions. I mean…it might try to come after you if it gets loose or…"

"Say no more," Kaoih stood up, "I can see you've got everything in hand…"

"Ah…almost…" Ranma replied, and suddenly he seemed to break out in a sweat all over.

"Huh?" Kaoih knelt down and put her hand against his forehead, "Hey! You're got a fever! You're breaking out all over…"

"Ah…I…think maybe it's…it's…" all at once Ranma turned his face away from her, and without warning he spat flame…vomited it, more like, as a jet of plasma escaped from him and coiled in the air above the chasm, gradually filling out and expanding until it reached Cyclopean proportions.

"Oh shit!" said two teenagers as they stared up at the thing, Kaoih looking no less pale than Ranma.

"FREE-FREE AT LAST!!!" the creature roared with a distinctively feminine voice, "FREE TO TAKE MY REVENGE ON YOU, LITTLE MAN…AND ALL WHO DARE TO CALL YOU BROTHER!!!"

"Uh oh," Ranma swallowed, and-unseen at his side-the Tarot Card for the Queen of Wands began to burn along the edges…

Continued

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