Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction ❯ Total Shock ❯ The end of the beginning... ( Chapter 13 )

I rewatched every episode of Sailor Moon and am currently looking for the second volume of the manga, which means that I can now write Senshi scenes without blatantly going on twelve year old memories of the dub's first airing and (extremely exaggerated) fandom!

 

And man did I get lucky with my Silver Millenium scenes in earlier chapters, everything matched up near perfectly and I don't feel like a fool. I am gonna have to revise some stuff, though.

 

Oh yes, please don't forget to point out errors. I know how silly they make me look.

 

 

---

 

Luna paced around in front of the door that separated the hallway from Usagi and Mamoru's room. The moon cat mumbled something under her breath, stopped pacing, and looked at the door.

 

“Usagiiii, hurry up! Everyone else is probably there already!”

 

“I'm almost ready, Luna! Stop whining already!”

 

“That's what you said five minutes ago! Come on, hurry up!”

 

“Stop rushing me, Luna! I know we're in a hurry already! At this rate you'll make me forget something!” Luna shook her head, turned and walked out of the hallway and into the apartment's living room. Mamoru was sitting on the couch with a thoughtful expression on his face.

 

“She's still getting ready?” Luna nodded and plopped down on the rug.

 

“Geez…I can't believe she's still so irresponsible at her age…” Mamoru smiled sheepishly and shrugged.

 

“Well, if she wasn't, she wouldn't be the same old Usagi.”

 

---

 

Usagi ran up the stairs and into the clearing before the Hikawa shrine, and stopped, panting. All of the other senshi, Chibi Moon included, were already there and in the midst their own little conversations. Most of them were seated on the ground or a wooden bench, with the exceptions of Haruka and Michiru, who were leaning against a tree, and Setsuna, who simply stood in place at one end of the clearing. They all looked up when she suddenly ran into their space.

 

“SorryI'mlate!”

 

“It's about time you showed up, stupid!” The pink haired girl from the future yelled.

“Hey, I had to find something! I couldn't just leave it there!” The blonde said in her defense as she plopped down on the ground next to the pink haired girl.

 

“What did you lose?” Chibi-Usa demanded.

 

“Uh..! Nothing important!” Most of the girls stared at her.

 

“Right, sure, we believe you.” Minako rolled her eyes.

 

“Please try to be better prepared for future gatherings, princess.” Michiru sighed.

 

“Yeah, you're almost half an hour late, which is bad even for you!” Rei glared at the princess in question.

 

“Yeah, yeah,” Usagi them off. “Let's just start the meeting already!”

 

“Right. Where's Luna?” Artemis asked. “She was the one who called for it.”

 

“Right here,” Luna responded. She and Mamoru walked up the stairs. “Mamoru-san and I were already discussing the situation.”

 

“The situation?” Haruka asked. “It sounds like something big has happened.”

Luna nodded.

 

“I'm sure you girls have heard of it as well. That grotesque killing spree last night,” Luna said, grim tones. “That was not the work of a human.”

 

“I had hoped not.” The woman sometimes known as Sailor Uranus spoke up. “What kind of monster did it then?”

 

“I'll take it from here,” Pluto said, looking over at Luna. The black moon cat nodded and walked over to join Artemis as Mamoru walked over to sit next to Usagi. “This was the work of a Mazoku. They are energy based beings that devour negative emotions like sorrow, anger, much the same way our princess would a plate full of sweets.” The other senshi all snickered at a blushing Usagi, whose protests went ignored.

 

“Mazoku are very powerful and cannot be hurt by ordinary means. Their physical bodies are projections from the astral plane, and only magic that attacks them there in the astral plane will deal any sort of damage to them. The weakest Mazoku in the universe could easily topple Earth's current civilization and send the world to ruins, if not for us. The more powerful ones, who are capable of changing shape to hide amongst their prey, can only be damaged by magic as pure as the Ginzuishou's power. And then there are the Mazoku Lords, who cannot be harmed, even by Eternal Sailor Moon's power.”

 

There was a nervous tension in the air after her revelation.

 

“Luckily, all Mazoku in this universe that fit into that category have either been destroyed or sealed; either by their rival mazoku, or other beings of great power. If they weren't, quite honestly, we wouldn't be standing here right now.” The nervous feeling seemed to increase and deflate at the same time. Rei frowned at the green haired woman and tilted her head.

 

“Where did these Mazoku get spawned from? Hell?”

 

“Not quite,” Setsuna said. “They're from another quadrant. The being that created them created a counterpart to them as well; the Shinzoku. It also created four different galaxies for them. Mazoku were tasked with returning those worlds to chaos, and the Shinzoku were tasked with protecting them.” Usagi and some of the other senshi blinked.

 

“Why would someone do that?” Mamoru asked.

 

“No one has been able to figure that out. The being that made them was known as “The Lord of Nightmares”… not much is known about it or its origins, but it is described as an all powerful or omnipotent being.” Most of the senshi looked surprised when she said that.

 

“You mean, like… kami-sama?” Minako asked.

 

“Yes, like kami-sama,” Setsuna said. “However, once it finished with its supposed work, it disappeared from all senses, so many people are not sure if it ever really even existed.”

 

“Sounds like every god I've ever heard of before,” Haruka snorted. With the blonde's comment, the atmosphere loosened up all at once.

 

“Right, okay, anyway. So, I'm guessing this is one of the stronger guys?” Makoto asked. Setsuna nodded again.

 

“Correct.”

 

“So do we have any plans to defeat this Mazoku creature yet?” Haruka asked. There was a dangerous edge to her voice. “I want to paste him as soon as possible.”

 

“No,” Setsuna said. “Without help, we cannot hope to stand against it. This monster is unlike any we have ever faced before. It is on a completely different level.”

 

“We've held up against those sorts of odds before,” Makoto reminded. “Just barely, but still, we have. We can do it again, I know we can.”

 

“All of the senshi together couldn't stand against a Mazoku strong enough to hold a convincing human form. Even the weaker ones who look like youma would be too much for a single senshi. Possibly, even Sailor Saturn's full power wouldn't destroy this one; it might actually be ineffective because of Mazoku nature. Sailor Moon has a good chance, but the mazoku will need to be weakened first. Since it is a creature that feeds off of fear, pain, despair, and anger, and is harmed by those emotions opposites, just being around her will damage it, but that alone won't be enough.”

 

“So, like you said, we have to wait for Ranma and his friends to awaken before we fight it.” Rei said with a frown.

 

“Ranma?” Haruka asked. “Who's that?”

 

“Prince Dai,” Setsuna explained. Haruka blinked, then grinned.

 

“That little punk? He made it through? Why didn't you tell me? Wait, does this mean that Eliza is here too?” Usagi frowned as she started to realize something.

 

“Yes, although that is a rather complicated situation…” Setsuna started.

 

“Wait, wait.” Usagi narrowed her eyes and glared at the outer senshi. “You mean, you guys knew too? You remembered everything about my past family? Why didn't you tell me?” All of the Senshi and Mamoru looked over at the outers.

 

“Past family… This is the first I've heard of this,” Mamoru muttered. Usagi glanced at him innocently.

 

“Well, they never came up,” Haruka shrugged.

 

“They never came up!?” Usagi and most of the inner senshi looked at Haruka in surprise. “How can you say something like that? Members of the past royal family were forgotten, simply because they never came up!?”

 

“Dai…Wait, you mean that idiot who hated losing?” Mamoru said suddenly. Everyone turned to look at him. “He was pretty hot headed at first, but when things started going south, he seemed to transform.” The outer senshi nodded in agreement with him, while Usagi sported a new twitch on her face.

 

“He started acting more like you,” The blonde snorted. “All prissy and uptight…” Mamoru narrowed his eyes at her.

 

“You trying to start something, Tenoh?” The blonde smirked.

 

“I'm just telling the truth. But hey, if you want to go, Chiba…”

 

“That's enough, you two.” Usagi snapped, looking from one to the other.

 

“Hmph, fine. How's our younger princess doing, then?” Haruka asked, looking at Setsuna.

 

“As I was saying… that's fairly complicated.” Haruka blinked, and Usagi sighed.

 

“Complicated is hardly the word for it. More like, `Bizarre, twisted, and so convoluted it'll tear your brain apart'.” Rei snorted.

 

“What, what is it?” Haruka asked, frowning.

 

“That'll take a while to fully explain…” Setsuna said.

 

“That's all you've said since the first time I asked about her.” Haruka said, narrowing her eyes.

 

“Did something happen?” Michiru asked. Setsuna sighed and looked down.

 

“Like I said…”

 

“They share the same body,” Usagi finally said, heaving a sigh. The outer senshi and Mamoru looked at her in surprise.

 

“And just how did that happen?” Haruka demanded. The green haired senshi of time sighed rather audibly, earning the stares of all the other senshi.

 

“Dai… screwed up the reincarnation spell Queen Serenity used… He used the Eternal Sword's magic to send his own warriors forward, since unlike the senshi, who had sailor crystals and their connections to the planets, the Astral Senshi would forget and thus lose their abilities after the reincarnation. The way he did it was very specific; the Eternal Sword forced them to live through lives that would allow them to develop similar abilities and be able to use the ones they remembered.” Setsuna explained.

 

“Wait, wait, Astral Senshi?” Usagi asked.

 

“That was what Dai's group was called,” Setsuna said.

 

“What, you really can't remember them, princess?” Haruka asked, grinning at Usagi, who gave her a frustrated look.

 

“Anyway,” Setsuna continued, “When Dai did his own reincarnation, he said he wanted to be with Eliza always so that he could protect her…”

 

“And the sword took it literally.” Michiru said with a frown. Haruka had an expression of disinterest. Setsuna nodded.

 

“Dai reincarnated as a boy named Saotome Ranma. When he turned sixteen years old, he fell into a cursed spring that turned him into a female every time he was splashed with cold water. The body he takes on his twin sister's. The change is reversed by hot water.” The outer senshi and Mamoru were speechless for a few moments. Haruka finally shook her head and spoke.

 

“Now that's really messed up. Sounds like something that idiot'd do. No wonder we haven't seen Sailor Star yet.” The inner senshi all froze when they heard that.

 

“That does sound complicated.” Mamoru said with a frown.

 

“It must be very confusing for Ranma-san.” Michiru agreed.

 

“Wait, wait, hold up!” Usagi snapped. “Sailor Star?” She demanded. “You've been hiding a Sailor Senshi from me!?”

 

“Well, like I said, it's fairly complicated,” Setsuna said. “And I really didn't want to have to deal with that egotistical moron…” The older woman muttered that last bit under her breath, but everyone heard it. The inner senshi blinked and looked over at her.

 

“That's right, you said it before. He's dangerous or something?” Makoto asked.

 

“Dai was the leader of the Astral Senshi. As you may have gathered from the discussion, he was rather prideful and arrogant.” Ami started. A life sized three dimensional picture was projected from the Mercury computer. The young man had a shit-eating grin on his face and a hand on the sheathed sword on his waist. He seemed to be looking down at something. “He was a very skilled swordsman. However, Dai was not chosen to receive a sailor crystal. This filled him with some amount of jealousy, since the Sailor Senshi were far more powerful than normal people, due to our connections with our planets.” Haruka snorted.

 

“He called it cheating, the little punk.”

 

“Why not? It couldn't have been because he was male. The Starlights and Mamoru have sailor crystals. They're male.” Usagi pointed out.

 

“Mamoru isn't a traditional Sailor Senshi, and the star lights transformed into females when they used theirs, but that is beside the point.” Ami said.

 

“Dai was not selected because there were not enough noteworthy star seeds to pass out like candy drops,” Michiru explained, “Eliza received the sailor crystal of the star we orbit and was to become Sailor Star, but she never got the chance to use it even once.”

 

“I see,” Usagi said. “Anyway, could you keep going, Ami-chan?”

 

“Right. Well, Dai became a bit jealous of the Senshi, so he started going to insane lengths to become as powerful as Sailor Senshi. He trained himself day in and day out and saw vast increases in power, but was still nowhere near the sheer magical power levels of the senshi. However, because of his insane training regimen, he became more skilled than all of us. He challenged Sailor Jupiter to a fight and won.” The other inner senshi all blinked, and Makoto frowned. “Soon, he dragged his friends into his insane training sessions, and together they became a deadly force on par with the senshi, not because of power, but because of skill. He started calling his little group the `Astral Senshi'.”

 

“And as we speak, the process is repeating.” Setsuna started with a sigh. “Even though I tried to keep it from happening, it started on its own.” Everyone looked over at her.

 

“What do you mean?” Minako asked. “We haven't run into Ranma as the senshi yet.”

“Ranma has discovered the identities of Sailor Moon and Sailor Chibi Moon,” Setsuna said, to both Chibi-Usa and Usagi's surprise.

 

“You mean he knows about us?” Chibi-Usa spoke up for the first time since Usagi's arrival. “But… when?”

 

“The night you were frozen. Ranma and many others felt the energy, and a few, Ranma included, were drawn to the site of the attack. It was the first time he saw you all in person, and when you slipped up and called Small Lady by her nickname, he figured it out instantly.” Setsuna explained. The senshi all looked rather surprised at that.

 

“That little punk was watching us?” Haruka demanded, tensing up. “From where? I didn't sense anyone at all.”

 

“Ranma is already skilled enough, if not strong enough, to put down a few of you girls,” Setsuna said, facing the inner senshi. Rei, Makoto, and Minako bristled at that, but Setsuna continued before they could respond. “He can literally hide in plain sight.”

“However, he's intimidated by our sheer magical power. Unlike Dai, who grew up around magic and the Senshi, Ranma has not faced magic at our level yet. The closest any of his foes were to our level was a phoenix who was half as strong as Sailor Mars, but more skilled thanks to his immortal nature and memories. Even as confident and arrogant as Ranma is, he's wary of picking a fight with the Senshi, whereas Dai couldn't get enough of fighting you girls. Ranma will probably be like that after a few encounters, too, though. He loves fighting stronger foes so that he can prove himself.”

 

“He'll become addicted.” Ami added. The other inner senshi frowned at that. Haruka chuckled.

 

“I'll be the one to put him in his place, then, and show him just how unhealthy an addiction it is.”

 

“Hey! I think that should go to me,” Makoto said, looking at the blonde.

 

“You already lost, Kino.” Makoto scowled and opened her mouth, but Haruka continued before the younger woman could respond. “What about Eliza, though? If they're the same person, what sort of impact has she had on him?”

 

“He more or less becomes her with the change, but with Ranma's memories.”

 

“So basically, Eliza is a girl who remembers being born a male, and having been a boy most of her life.” Haruka whistled. “She must be pretty disturbed right now, huh?”

“That's one way to put it.” Setsuna nodded. Usagi wilted.

 

“How sad…” she started. “Poor Eliza…” Mamoru put an arm around her.

 

“I'm sure it can be fixed,” Mamoru said. He looked up at Setsuna. “It can be, right?” Setsuna nodded.

 

“We need to separate Ranma's female body from his male body. However, the curse itself is just a trigger for a change of sex; Ranma is in the same body no matter what sex he or she is. To do what we want, we'd have to write a new human body into existence. That's the kind of thing that's actually easiest to do if you alter history.” Usagi frowned.

 

“So it won't be easy?” The green haired senshi nodded. “That's okay. I'll do whatever it takes to fix them.” Setsuna nodded again.

 

“Right, well, anyway,” Setsuna sighed. “Back to the original purpose of this meeting. The Mazoku can only be destroyed if we combine forces with the Astral Senshi.”

“Which reminds me,” Usagi started, facing the green haired senshi. “You avoided bringing him and the other “Astral” senshi out because you didn't want to deal with his attitude?”

 

“Well, him and Astral Mars were the worst, but no. Dai had some philosophies that went against our way of life. He did not fit well into our society, and wouldn't again in Crystal Tokyo.”

 

“His desire for combat.” Ami said.

 

“That and his attitude.” Setsuna nodded. “He can be very callous, even without meaning to sometimes.”

 

“Oh ho… You all talk about me like I'm so far away.” Everyone froze. The inner senshi recognized Ranma's voice, and the others recognized Dai.

 

A completely black version of the hologram standing in front of them suddenly appeared beside it. His hair was in an incredibly long braid. Chibi-Usa's eyes widened in recognition, but she didn't say anything.

 

“Dai,” Setsuna said evenly. “What are you doing here? Why aren't you with Ranma?”

“I'm going to be fusing with Ranma tonight,” Dai said with a shrug. “Everything's going as planned. But, I decided I'd visit you guys, only to show up and find you all talking about me like some museum exhibit. I'm flattered.”

 

“Answer the question.”

 

Dai simply smirked.

 

“You ain't the boss of me.”

 

“Ranma?” Usagi asked in apparent confusion. “Are you Ranma?” Dai turned and looked at her with a smile on his face.

 

“Not exactly. I'm an apparition.” Usagi frowned.

 

“How did that happen?” Mamoru asked. Ami was already scanning the figure before them with her mercury computer.

 

“That body is a construct made from negative energy. It's rapidly deteriorating.”

“Hence my refusing with Ranma tonight.” Dai sighed. “I'd really rather not, but if I don't, we'll both die. Well, Ranma'll go crazy first, but yeah.”

 

“Dai,” Setsuna started. “Tell us why you are here and hurry about your business or leave us be. You are not a Senshi, and so do not need to be privy to our plans.”

 

“That's no way to treat the guest of honor,” Dai said with a frown. “Did you lose the garnet rod up your ass or something? You're even stiffer than usual!”

 

“Hey, asshole! That's no way to talk to a lady!” Makoto snapped.

 

“Oh, look who it is! Sailor Jupiter! How are you doing? I didn't notice you there!” The expression on his face suddenly matched the hologram beside him.

 

“You bastard!” Makoto made to attack him, but Rei and Minako held her back. She struggled against them for a moment, but stopped when Usagi spoke up.

“Dai… Why are you doing this?” Usagi asked.

 

“Yeah, you're even worse than usual,” Haruka said, standing straight. “You looking for an ass beating, kid?”

 

“The negative energy I detected in him is the cause of his behavior,” Ami said. Dai grinned at her.

 

“Negative energy?” Usagi asked.

 

“Ranma's Yang,” Dai said. “You separated it from him that night Ranma was possessed by his demonic heritage. I freed realized I could free myself of him then, and hitched a ride in his demonic aspect, which was reacting pretty nastily to your magic,” Dai explained. “Ever since then, we've both slowly deteriorated. Leading me back to what I said earlier; I'm fusing with Ranma tonight.”

 

“That still doesn't answer why you're here,” Setsuna reminded.

 

“Oh that,” Dai finally said. “Uh, yeah, well, we're in Fukuoka for the week.” The senshi all stared at him. “I just wanted to warn you, if you plan on taking Xellis out soon, you're either going to have to do it without us or wait till we get back.”

 

“Xellis? You've had contact with the Mazoku?” Setsuna asked.

 

“He and I worked together for a bit. When I separated from Ranma, he found me and gave me my human form. We both took out Niflheim, and he's been helping me retrain Astral Star for fun.”

 

“You worked with a Mazoku?” Setsuna demanded, a look of disgust on her face.

 

“Hey, I was using him more or less,” Dai shrugged. “I knew there was no way I could destroy him. And he did prove useful.” Setsuna shook her head.

 

“I don't believe this. Well, now that you've explained yourself, please leave.”

“Wait!” Usagi said. “Does the fact that you're deteriorating now mean that you can't be separated from Eliza?” Usagi asked. Dai chuckled.

 

“The fact that I even exist is proof that I can be separated from her. However, the body I'm riding in is merely a construct that contains all of Ranma's negative energy,” He explained. “Thus the destabilization. Right now, Ranma is all Eliza, which has resulted in her staying in her female body for longer than normal since it feels comfortable for some reason I'm sure she can't fathom.” He chuckled again. “It's probably giving her the creeps.”

 

“One last thing,” Usagi asked. “Why are you in Fukuoka? Is it the UFO?” Dai blinked.

“I'd forgotten about that. But no, that's not why. We're in Fukuoka because the media connected Ranma and company with you guys. Haven't any of you watched TV at all today?” He asked.

 

“Well yes, but they were just running those videos through again,” Rei said. “Speaking of which, we need to talk about that too. This increased media attention could get bad for us.” Before anyone else could continue, Dai decided to end his visit.

“Anyway, I've scouted out my own boys and girls, and I can tell you right now that Ranma and three of the astral senshi: Jupiter, Uranus and Saturn are in Fukuoka. One of them, Mars, Pluto has already made contact with,” To which everyone looked at Pluto, “Astral Star is in Tokyo, so you guys can probably make contact with her. Neptune, Mercury and Venus, I did not find.” Dai looked over at Usagi and grinned. “Oh, and I'd be particularly careful if I were you, Serenity. Ranma's convinced that you're the strongest Senshi, since you're the leader. Ciao!” He waved lazily and smiled at Chibi-Usa, who glared in response, before vanishing as suddenly as he'd arrived. The senshi were silent for a moment before Minako finally spoke up.

“They're in Fukuoka! What are we going to do now?”

 

“What are we going to do about Ranma being Sailor Star as well?” Rei added.

“Geez. Every time we answer one question, we get two more!” Usagi clutched her head and groaned.

 

---

 

“Miwa invited us to go over to her laboratory tomorrow. You coming?”

 

“I don't know right now,” Nabiki said as she started walking back to the edge of the roof. “I'll probably be touring the city. It's not often we get to go other places like this.” Nabiki looked away from Ranma. `That, and Kunos and science do not mix. Ever. Even if their last names are different.'

 

“Eh, pops and I passed through here on the way to Nerima,” Ranma said with a frown on her face. “I think we were attacked by the local crazies a couple'a times, too. Some blonde girl in a weird costume…”

 

“That's not too strange for you guys. See you later, Ranma-kun.” Nabiki said as she jumped down the roof and onto the window sill.

 

“Yeah.” Ranma said, turning her head to look somewhere else. “You can come out now.”

 

Dai appeared from within Ranma's shadow.

 

“Are you ready for this, then?” Dai asked.

 

“Not really, no. I got to know the real you a little bit, and I'm more than ready to accept that guy, but the current you is also a manifestation of my current body's demonic heritage, isn't it?”

 

“You figured that out? Good,” Dai said with a smirk as his eyes turned blue with red sclera. “It's been quite an annoying thing to endure, I assure you.”

“Yeah, yeah. Come on, let's get this over with…”

 

“This isn't going to feel nice at all,” Dai said. His body blew up and became an inky black substance that towered over the red haired girl. Ranma spat to the side and crossed her arms.

 

“I ain't a stranger to pain.”

 

“Whatever,” The dark shape shot at her and engulfed her body completely. Ranma bit back a pained shout.

 

“Kgh…ugh..” The girl fell to her knees and clutched her face. “Damn it…” The black substance was absorbed into her skin. Almost immediately, Ranma's canines started to elongate and her eyes changed to the same color that Dai's had been before. “Control… Control…” The girl clenched her fists hard enough for her now sharpened claw-like nails to draw blood. “Ugh…” Ranma fell and turned on her back, panting. After a moment, her breathing regulated, and her features became more human like.

“Man,” She got out between breaths, “I really…need to find out… more about my family…”

 

 

---

 

Chapter 13: The end of the beginning...

 

---

 

 

“It's gone…” Inuyasha grunted `There was the smell of a youkai for a moment there, but it's gone…' The silver haired hanyou looked out at the elaborate garden and frowned. “We're gonna be here a whole seven days?”

 

“Yes, Inuyasha…” Kagome sighed. “I know it's dumb, but I'm hoping the well will be working when we get back.” She said.

 

“You're right, that is dumb,” Inuyasha snorted. “It's gonna just fix itself?”

 

“Actually, yes.” Both Inuyasha and Kagome turned to face their visitor.

 

“Higurashi-san?” Kagome asked, looking at the pilot of Kuno's private jet as he walked up to them.

 

“Do you believe in coincidences, Higurashi-san?” He asked, looking at Kagome with a smile. She blinked.

 

“What are you talking about?”

 

“Nevermind that,” He smiled. “Heh, I knew my long wait was over the moment I saw you in the plane.”

 

“Wait? What for?” Kagome asked. Inuyasha frowned.

 

`He smells familiar, but I can't quite figure it out…'

 

“Old friends,” Higurashi said. “Listen. Like I was saying, the well will be just fine when you get back. But I'm asking a favor of you.” Both Kagome and Inuyasha looked wary of him.

 

“Um, Higurashi-san… How do you know about the well?” Kagome asked.

 

“That's an unimportant detail. Anyway, that favor… I want you to take Saotome Ranma with you for one of your trips.”

 

“What?” Kagome frowned. “What for?” She demanded.

 

“Another unimportant detail. Listen, take it from someone who has already lived through what you will in a week's time,” He said, turning around. “If you don't, it could cause a paradox or something.”

 

“Someone who lived through…” Kagome looked up at him in surprise. “Who are you?”

 

“An old friend. See you!” There was a sudden flash of blue flame, and the man disappeared.

 

---

 

Jun sighed, closing the door behind him and kicking his shoes off to the side.

`I actually managed to stay out for a few hours…' He took his sunglasses and fedora off and set them and his trench coat on the coat rack by the door.

 

“Jun?” Jun looked up and noticed his sister was standing at a doorway. “Y-you're back?” The girl looked a bit haggard. “Oh, you're back! I thought something had happened to you!” She ran over to him and hugged him tightly. “Where were you? I was so worried!”

 

“I was checking some places out,” He said. “I'll have to go back out again tomorrow, too.”

 

“T-Tomorrow too? Oh Jun… I'm so proud of you!” The girl shuddered once and it was then that Jun noticed that she was crying.

 

“Uh, could you let me go? I have to go talk to Shinku.”

 

“Ah.. Of course! Go on! Tell her about your day! She's waiting in your room!” Nori pushed him away and started walking to another room. “I have to call mom and dad..! This is… this is…” Jun watched her bolt away and sighed.

 

`I don't like people any more than I did before.' He shook his head and started towards the stairs. When he was finally on the second floor, he walked to his room and opened the door.

 

“…normally I wouldn't interfere in these matters, but your sister can not afford to have an incompetent partner at this point in time,” Shinku finished saying as she held a steaming cup of tea to her mouth. Jun noticed another doll kneeling in front of her as she sat on his swivel chair.

 

“Oh, thank you! Thank you -desu!” The doll leapt up and tackle-hugged the other doll, who miraculously managed to not spill any of her tea.

 

“Calm yourself, Suiseiseki. Jun, come in.” Jun blinked and did just that.

 

“Who's this?” He demanded, looking at the new doll, who turned to look at him as well. “I don't have to kiss her hand too do I?”

 

“No, she already has a master. Her sister, however, is currently bound to a decrepit old man, and will not leave him out of some misplaced sense of loyalty.”

 

“What? So I have to take her sister in then?” Jun blinked. “Wait a minute. You're all sisters aren't you? Technically?”

 

“Suiseiseki has a twin,” Shinku said. The new doll looked at him. “Souseiseki.”

 

“Uh-huh. I see.” Jun looked down at Shinku. “Get out of my chair.”

 

“This is my chair.” The doll retorted. Jun squinted at the doll as if it were crazy, then grabbed the chair and started shaking it roughly. “Ahhh!” Shinku spilled the tea all over herself. “My dress! How dare you!”

 

“It's important,” Jun said. “I need my chair. Sorry.” He picked the doll up out of the chair and set her on the floor, then rolled his chair over to the computer, leaving a flabbergasted Shinku in his wake. “I'll wash your dress, okay? Just give me a minute,” The flustered doll stared for a moment as she struggled to decide on her next action.

 

“J-Jun! Apologize this instant!”

 

“I just did,” Jun said without bothering to look at her. “Didn't you hear me?” Shinku blinked at his response, then went over what he'd said before.

 

“I-I don't believe it! You apologized?!” Suiseiseki looked back and forth between the two, huddled behind Shinku.

 

“Yeah. I'm kind of busy now, okay? Apparently that wizard guy signed me up for some magical mailing list or something, sheesh. Mahou Net, huh… and here's one from Sailor Pluto already?” Jun shook his head.

 

“Wizard?” Shinku asked.

 

“I met a wizard,” Jun sighed. “We agreed to team up with the Sailor Senshi to destroy the creature that did that massacre from the morning news,” Jun said. Shinku blinked at that several times.

 

“You met a western magi?” The doll asked. “Interesting. Did he agree to apprentice you?” Jun turned around to look at her.

 

“No way, the guy's my age. There's no way I'd apprentice under someone that young. And besides, I don't really want to,” He said, turning back around.

 

“Um…Desu…”

 

“Ah, Suiseiseki, I'm sorry,” Shinku glanced at her older sister and then looked at Jun again. “Jun, do you know anyone who could serve as Souseiseki's master?”

 

“Huh?” Jun turned around to look at the two dolls.

 

“She's very brave and loyal-desu… She needs a good master who is very strong so that she can keep up with us-desu.” Jun blinked and glanced at her.

 

“What do you mean?”

 

“The world tree and the tree of dreams…It's very complicated, but I feel you should be able to understand at this point,” Shinku started. “It's about magic and the world as a whole.” Jun ignored her and reading the text on his computer screen.

 

“I'm sure it is. It's all over this Mahou Net thing…” Shinku blinked and looked up at the computer. “Listen, you should probably go get Nori to wash your dress.”

 

“Hmm. You're right. We'll talk later then,” Shinku turned and

 

----

 

Ranma looked up at the ceiling from her bed. The girl was lying on her back with her bed sheets and covers messily twisted around her.

 

`I thought it'd feel different…' She looked over at the digital clock on her bed stand and blinked. It was past two in the morning, but Ranma was totally awake and alert, as if she'd drank a lot of tea or something. The red head sat up and looked out the window to her right; the full moon was shining a bright silver that night. She turned and hopped off of the bed, then walked over to the window and leaned on the window sill. Ranma felt her eyes drawn to the moon again, and as she looked at it, she noticed that it seemed to be shining brighter than any time she could remember.

 

“Huh…” Ranma squinted up at the big round shape in the sky. `Man, a little while ago, I'd have never believed that there used to be people living on the moon… or any other planets for that matter…' She shook her head and smiled. “Then again, maybe I would have…” She sighed and leaned even lower. `There's so much going on recently… Finding out that I'm a reincarnated prince (ugh) and princess (ick), from an alien race that died out thousands of years ago no less… that UFO, then the time traveling and all these obscenely strong guys I keep running into…

 

`Speaking of which, how am I going to beat them? The Senshi… they're not trained martial artists anymore, and I don't think soul memory counts for muscle memory, so that shouldn't carry over at all… But since they rely on their planetary links for magic, and since they're linked to the planet's magical cores, they each have access to far more magical power than all the mages on Earth at once. Not to mention, Usagi and Chibi are part of that group, too.'

 

Ranma frowned.

 

`Touya and his brother can stop time without the usual repercussions since each emerald has infinite energy. Even without that, Touya is extremely fast, and I can only imagine his brother being just as fast or faster… Even if they're lacking in strength and defense, it just wouldn't matter. The Eternal Sword can counter a time stop, since it too has infinite energy. And that guy… Pallas… He's the closest thing to a god I've ever seen. What was he doing in the mountain, anyway? What does he have to do with anything?' Ranma shook her head. `I know he's important. But how?' The red haired girl pulled back some of her hair hanging over her face. `That weird doll, that white haired guy with the huge sword… what else am I missing?'

 

---

 

Konatsu looked up at the moon from the roof of the [i]Ucchan's[/i]. The bright light it gave off illuminated the empty streets and buildings below. The tea-house ninja was suited up in full ninja-garb, with an added ski mask and padded vest. Strapped to his legs were kunai and shuriken holsters, and a katana strap. The ninja's hands danced through a series of complicated seals before there were three puffs of smoke and seemingly out of nowhere, three exact copies of the male kunoichi appeared by his side. They all nodded at each other and leapt off of the restaurant in four separate directions.

 

Down below, inside the [i]Ucchan's[/i], Cologne, Ukyo and Shampoo were seated around one of the tables.

 

“Konatsu has started his rounds.” Mousse announced as he walked into the room. Cologne nodded at him in thanks and he pulled a chair out to join them.

 

“Now all we need to do is wait for Happi to show up,” the old crone said.

 

“Is all this really necessary?” Ukyo asked. The three amazons appeared to be taking this… whatever it was, very seriously. Whoever Konatsu had run into had sent the great grandmother of one of her competitors into red alert; so much so as to supply Konatsu with real ninja equipment and send him out to look for signs of them again. “I mean, can't we just get Ran-chan to take care of it?”

 

“Do you know where Ranma is?” Cologne asked, raising a brow. Ukyo winced - she really, honestly had no clue as to where Ranma or his father was, or when her fiancé had left. Add to it that her other main rival, Tendo Akane, and her family were also missing, left Ukyo feeling a little nervous.

 

“No, I don't.” She admitted.

 

“Then chances are he won't be able to `take care of this for us' at the moment. And seeing as how a Mazoku and Saffron are on two totally different levels, Ranma alone wouldn't be enough for it anyway.” Ukyo turned in her chair, folding her arms.

 

“I don't see what you're worried about. Ran-chan hasn't really ever lost a major fight before. If it's really important, he'll win.” She said defiantly.

 

“Stupid spatula girl should think before talk,” Shampoo snorted. Ukyo glared at her purple haired rival.

 

“Look who's talking, sugar.” Shampoo stuttered for a moment and returned her glare twofold before saying something in Chinese that caused Mousse to blush. Cologne quickly smacked the purple haired girl with her cane.

 

“Watch your mouth.” She snapped.

 

“What?” Ukyo looked between the three of them. “What did she call me?”

 

“Forget about it.” Cologne said. “Like she was saying, though, child, try to take this a bit more seriously. You don't know the capability of a Mazoku, and yet you immediately assume that it can be easily defeated by son-in-law just because of his track record. Tell me child, would a white belt martial artist be capable of defeating a black belt because they took down a yellow belt?” Ukyo blinked at the analogy.

 

“I don't think so…” She admitted. “Is there really that big of a difference?”

 

“More than you can imagine,” The older woman nodded. “Mazoku are immensely powerful. If left unchecked, a single Mazoku could topple this world easily.” Ukyo frowned.

 

“Surely they can't be that strong,” She insisted, “I mean, the world's armies could hurt them, couldn't they?”

 

“Mazoku are not harmed by physical damage. A nuclear bomb would do naught but devastate the countryside around one.” The owner of the restaurant they were in paled at that particular revelation.

 

“Then how do you kill them?” She demanded. “A monster that strong…”

 

“They can be hurt by spells, chi attacks, or reiki attacks that target them in the astral plane.” Cologne sighed. Ukyo blinked at her.

 

“And you can do that, right? And you're gonna teach Ran-chan how to do it too?” The old woman nodded at that.

 

“There are a few chi techniques that I know that are capable of attacking enemies through the astral plane. They have other uses than killing Mazoku, of course, so people continue to practice them.”

 

“Uh-huh. So, why isn't Ran-chan just going to fight this thing and just barely win once you teach him the technique, like in the past?”

 

“Do you not understand that the difference in power is just that much?” Cologned demanded.

 

“Hasn't that been said before?”

 

“This time is very different from what you know!” Cologne snapped. Ukyo cringed at bit at the ancient woman's tone, but didn't say anything. “The fact that I'm willing to work with Happosai alone should tell you how serious this is.”

 

“Aww, what's that supposed to mean? Am I so unpleasant to be around?” Everyone turned to look at the hunched over old man standing at the restaurant's entrance. “How cruel of you, Ko-chan! It brings a tear to my eye to know that my presence has become so repugnant to a girl who once loved me!” Cologne gave him a half-lidded stare.

 

“Your presence has always been repugnant to me, you twisted little gnome. If it hadn't been for the village's laws, I wouldn't have even looked at you twice.”

 

“Oh Cologne-chan!” Happosai managed to squeeze out more crocodile tears at her words. “Your lack of devotion to your one true love because of his age is heart wrenching! How cruel this world is to an old man!” The ancient martial arts master walked over to the table, wiping the tears from his eyes. When he next looked up, his face was radiant and there were no signs of the previous tears. “So, I hear the great amazon tribe has need of my strength once again! Something about a demon, yes?” Cologne rolled her eyes.

 

“It's a Mazoku, not some common evil spirit or oni,” She corrected. Happosai blinked at that.

 

“A Mazoku you say? I see…” The old man vanished suddenly, and everyone turned to see him at the door. He had a big travel pack that was three times the size of his own body. “I'm going to spend my last days in Miami! You guys do whatever you want! Oh, and tell Ranma it was fun, would you? Ta-ta!” The old man opened the door and hopped out.

 

“You fool! Come back here!” Cologne hopped out of her chair and after the old man.

 

“Aiyah, old man run away, just like Shampoo thought.” The purple haired amazon shook her head.

 

-

 

“And next time you try to run, I'll neuter you,” The old woman snapped. Happosai was lying under her cane.

 

“Ha ha! I was only joking!”

 

“You'd better be, you foul little man.” The old woman pogoed off and into her chair, and Happosai was there at the table again almost instantly. The three teenagers stared at them for a moment.

 

“So! What's the plan?” Happosai asked, getting out a pipe. He lit it with chi and put it in his mouth. “Since this is a Mazoku we're talking about, I'm sure you've called for help to your sisters already.” Cologne nodded. “So, when are they getting here?”

 

“Two days at the latest.” Cologne said. “Happi. I need you to start seriously training your heir. That playing around you do will not suffice for something so momentous.”

 

“Oh?” Happosai frowned and crossed his arms. “Well, okay, but… Ranma and everyone are in Fukuoka for the week. I can't train him from all the way over here!”

 

“You can cross that distance in as much time as it takes for my sisters to get here,” She snapped. “Don't try to fool me. For once, you old coot, take this seriously!”

 

“Hmph, you say that, but are you going to be stepping up your own heir's training at all?” He demanded. “Why should I put in extra work that you won't?”

 

“Of course I am!” she snapped. Shampoo blinked, and both of the other teens looked over at her.

 

“Great grandmother? What you mean? Already learned Katchu Tenshin Amaguriken and Hiryu Shoten Ha. Figured out Bakusai Tenketsu too, too fast.”

 

“I will explain it to you later, child,” Cologne said. “Suffice it to say that you'll be learning powerful Amazon techniques that even Ranma doesn't know.” Shampoo blinked at that, and Cologne turned her attention on Happosai again.

 

“That's nice, but what are we going to do with these losers?” Happosai asked, gesturing Ukyo and Mousse.

 

“Hey! Who are you calling a loser!?” Ukyo demanded, standing up. Happosai merely gave her a look that said `You must be kidding, little girl. You can't take me. I'll tear you apart so fast you won't know your ass from your mouth.' Ukyo cringed and drew back a little bit.

 

“Well, I like girls with spunk, but spunk will only take you so far,” The old man said, leaning back. “You could probably do well to learn from that Ninja boy you have working for you. And the blind fool…. Hmm…” Happosai looked over at the quiet hidden weapons master critically. “Huh?” He leapt up to the table and walked over to Mousse, looking him over. In a blur, he snatched the boy's glasses away, revealing Mousse's closed eyes. “He fell asleep. But still, he can be useful to us. I'm sure you'll figure something out for him, he is your charge after all,” He said in a gleeful tone. He slapped the side of Mousse's head, and the teen fell off of the side of his chair, but continued sleeping.

 

“All right then,” Happosai said, looking at Cologne again. “But as soon as this is over, I expect a few favors!”

 

“Your life should be thanks enough,” the old woman snapped.

 

“You know you girls can't beat me,” He said, puffing himself up. Shampoo growled and glared at the perverted old master, but didn't move, while Cologne failed to react in at all. “Hmph. I'll be on my way then. See you later!” He bounded off of the table and out of the restaurant. Cologne sighed.

 

“Perhaps we should have asked the Mazoku to get rid of him for us, not the other way around.”

 

---

In another plane of existence, Xellis and Aiko stood atop one of many jagged stone platforms that floated on a dark, motionless sea. The only sound in the space around them was that of dripping water. Each drop was accompanied by a lasting echo. The sea and platforms expanded in every direction.

“Aqua Labyrinth…” He smirked and opened his eyes. “Interesting. Perhaps there's more to be had here than cheap thrills.”

“Xellis…” Aiko sighed. “You're probably in over your head this time.”

“Aww, come on,” The purple haired Mazoku whined. “Aren't you supposed to be pumping up my ego at this point? Making me feel big and strong?”

“Oh please.” The ninja woman rolled her eyes. “You look too scrawny for anyone to take seriously.”

“Well, that may be true, but... I'm the most powerful guy on Earth! Can't you at least acknowledge that?”

“No.” Aiko sniffed. “Why are we even wasting time here anyway? Do you have an understanding of how the Eternal sword works yet?”

“It'll be easier to take it than make something similar,” Xellis said. “We lack the materials for it, for one. If we were back home, it'd be easy.”

“Hmph. Well, still…”

“Come on. You can't have any complaints left.”

“This place is dull,” Aiko whined. “Can't you think of anything better to do?”

“I thought you wanted me to stop terrorizing people?”

“Besides that!”

“Besides that?” The mazoku frowned. “Hmm…” He tilted his head and folded his arms. “Besides that…”

Aiko waited for a whole minute.

Xellis tilted his head in the other direction.

Aiko started tapping her foot impatiently and started growling, when Xellis finally held up a finger.

“We could… no, wait. Hmm…”

Aiko shook her head.

“Whatever. I give up. Let's just go already…” The purple haired mazoku smiled.

“I'm glad you see things my way! Let's go then!”

-----

Ranma suddenly opened her eyes and blinked several times. The room was brighter than it had been minutes ago… much brighter. She turned to face the window and looked outside. It was just barely dawn.

“Huh. Guess I fell asleep.” The girl sat up, stretching and yawning at the same time. Her mind was fuzzy, like it sometimes was right after waking up. “Man, I almost forgot we were back here in the present!” She turned and hopped off of the bed and started towards the door. “First things first, gotta get some hot water… can't believe I forgot it last night!”

Ranma walked into the hallway and stopped when she noticed Nabiki walking towards her.

“Oh, there you are. Hey, Ranma.” The white haired Tendo waved at him. She was already all dressed up, wearing a white t-shirt and short-shorts.

“You know where the bathroom is? I forgot to check last night.”

“Down the hall, to your right,” Nabiki pointed behind the redhead.

“Eh, thanks. Hey, isn't it kind of early for you to be up?” The girl asked. She hadn't seen a clock, but she was sure it was early when she had woken up from the lighting through the window. For a second, the other girl's eyes narrowed and she had a cold look on her face, but it was gone in a second and Ranma wondered if she'd imagine it.

“I just woke up all of a sudden for no reason and couldn't go back to sleep.” Nabiki said. Ranma shrugged, turned around and started running down the hall. She turned around and waved.

“Maybe we can get in a light workout before I go see Miwa's lab, then!”

“That sounds fun,” The other girl agreed with an even bigger smile. “I'll be waiting for you.”

Ranma stopped at the end of the hall and opened the door. Immediately upon opening the door, she was blasted with an overpowering stench.

“Pig-tailed girl! Please do not seek to meet with me like this in my cousin's house! It is uncouth!”

Ranma slammed the door shut. She backed away from the door and started turning green in the face.

“Oh yes, if I were you, I'd put a shirt on,” Nabiki called from down the hall, as if suddenly remembering something. “We're not the only ones up!” The red head only continued to back away from the door, her eyes opened wide and her face a nice shade of greenish white. “Oh dear, it looks like she's going to be sick. I guess we won't be training then.” The white haired girl started whistling and walked away from the scene.

---

“Are you sure you're feeling up to this?” Nabiki asked with a disappointed expression. She and a very male, very clothed Ranma were standing across from each other on the mansion's roof. “I mean, the sight of Kuno-chan like that… and the smell of his roses…”

“Shut up! I'm fine!” Ranma snapped, although his face had lost a bit of the color it had finally managed to regain. “Come on, let's go already.” Nabiki frowned.

“What about all those people down below? Don't you think we'll wake them up?”

“Nah,” Ranma said, suddenly leaping at her. The white haired girl frowned and dodged or parried the pig-tailed boy's sudden, quick strikes. Their limbs would have appeared to be nothing more than a discolored blur to the untrained eye. “You seem to be fully awake. Let's crank it up then, huh?”

“No, let's not. This is just fine,” Nabiki said. Ranma blinked, but was only mildly surprised by the comment. The girl's defiant attitude had been persistent all through their month of training; this was nothing new.

“I wasn't asking, Nabiki-chan,” The teen smiled as he upped his speed. Nabiki scowled and started struggling to block his strikes. “Come on, can't you do better than this? This is pathetic!”

“I didn't want to do this in the first place,” The girl snapped. “But you dragged me out here anyway…” A light punch got through to her stomach and she jumped back, moving with the force of the blow. Ranma merely followed after her in a jump kick that she managed to deflect and counter with a punch aimed at his face. He easily weaved around the blow and tapped her forehead with his index finger in a blur. Nabiki growled and slapped his hand away from her, and he backflipped away from her.

“What the hell did you do this time?” She demanded.

“Go look in a mirror and see,” Ranma teased. The white haired girl snarled and rubbed the very painful spots on her forehead.

`You bastard, I'll get you for this,' The girl noticed something off to the side behind Ranma and blinked.

“Oh! Look, it's Saotome Oji-san and daddy!” Nabiki said, pointing to the side. Ranma blinked and turned to the side, where indeed, both of their fathers were watching them. They both looked surprised, having attention called to them. Nabiki leapt at the distracted Ranma with a fist cocked back.

“Huh? What'd you guys want?” Ranma asked. The pig-tailed teen lazily redirected Nabiki's strike and blocked subsequent others without bothering to look at her. “Can't you see we're busy?”

“Don't mind us, boy, we're just here for the show,” Genma said.

“Hmph. Well whatever,” Ranma said, jumping up and around Nabiki's attacks. The Tendo girl became increasingly frustrated with her lack of success and started growling as an angry red battle aura began to form around her.

“Be careful with the place, Ranma,” Soun said. “Remember that we're staying with guests. You can't go treating the place the way you do my house!”

“Yeah, yeah,” Ranma said. He looked at Nabiki. “You heard that right?”

“Yeah, I heard him, you asshole!” She snapped. “Take a hit already!”

“Nabiki! Watch your language!” Nabiki stopped trying to fight Ranma and started growling. “It's not his fault that you can't hit him.”

“I'd like to see you come and have at it,” She snapped. “When was the last time you bothered training?” Everyone looked at Soun, who was frowning at his daughter. The mustached man visibly struggled to respond.

“Girl, you will treat your father with more respect.” Nabiki crossed her arms and scowled at him.

“Come earn that respect then,” she snapped. Ranma glanced over at Nabiki, who still had a glowing red battle aura.

“Geez, what crawled up your panties and died?” The teen asked.

“Boy! Stay out of this!” Genma commanded. He looked over at Soun, who barely managed to keep his composure. “Tendo-kun, don't just stand there!” The other man turned to look his portly friend in the eyes. `Just like we talked about!' Soun nodded and with a look of determination, started walking towards his delinquent daughter.

“Ranma-kun, I'm going to have to ask you to step aside.” Nabiki rolled her eyes and Ranma looked from father to daughter, then nodded and walked over to join Genma. “It's really too bad that we have to be considerate of the landscape.” Soun took up a stance and fixed a stern stare upon his daughter. Nabiki's aura cooled down to being barely visible and she glared back. “Anytime you're ready.”

The two waited like that for almost thirty seconds before Nabiki suddenly leapt at her father.

“What's this all of a sudden?” Ranma asked his own father as the two fought it out.

“Just watch, boy.”

Soun's blocks and deflects were clumsy, half of them totally missing, and the man was quick to start sweating in exertion. Two very condemning pieces of evidence that he had truly not practiced the art for years. It was hard to watch the older man get pummeled by his daughter, and Ranma cringed at a few of the strikes she got in. Nabiki was seriously letting her father have it; she was channeling all of her frustration at not being able to even touch Ranma into her strikes to much effect. The two jumped around the roof, Nabiki landing blow after blow while Soun only barely managed to keep up a sparse defense. It soon became obvious who the victor would be when Nabiki started getting in more hits than were blocked.

Finally, Nabiki let loose a vicious punch that connected right between her father's eyes, knocking him clear off of his feet. Ranma looked at the downed Soun, who showed no signs of getting up soon, and the white haired teenage girl, who stood there, panting. Ranma saw the contempt and disappointment on her face for what it was.

`She's ashamed of him.' Ranma blinked as his father, stoic as could be, walked over to his downed friend and knelt over.

“Soun, my friend, can you hear me?” He asked. After a moment:

“I can.” Genma held up three fingers over the man's face.

“How many fingers am I holding up?”

“Six.” Soun frowned. “Wait, you can't have six fingers on one hand…”

Genma shook his head.

“Hmph, pathetic. That's what you get for being so damn lazy,” Nabiki crossed her arms. Ranma glared at the other teen.

“Don't have to add insult to injury…” The white haired teen glared at Ranma.

“You…” She shook her head. `Hypocritical bastard!' “Shut up, Saotome, I've had enough of you,” She snapped.

“What?” Ranma demanded. “If you want to fight, I'm here twenty four seven. Any time, any place,” He said.

“Hmph.” Nabiki turned away. “Just leave me the hell alone. We're already back in our world. I shouldn't even still be doing this.”

“You don't know what could happen,” Ranma insisted.

“It's okay, Ranma-kun,” Soun said. “Let her be.”

“But..!”

“Ranma, respect the man's wishes,” Genma said. Ranma looked like he still wanted to argue but Genma shook his head.

“Nabiki-chan,” Soun started.

“What?” She demanded, looking down at her beaten father. There was a nasty bruise forming over his cheekbone, and his face was all red.

“This isn't over. I want to have a rematch in a week, before we leave.”

Nabiki frowned.

“No. Challenge denied,” She turned away. “I'm through with this crap. Again.”

“That was not a request,” The man said.

“You don't have the right to order me around.” Nabiki snorted. “I'm done here. Don't bother me with this ever again.” With that, the white haired girl leapt off of the roof of the mansion in one great leap.

Neither of the remaining three moved for a few seconds. The first to recover was Genma, who looked over at his son and spoke.

“Ranma, leave us.” The younger Saotome glanced at the two of them and nodded, following his fiance's sister off the roof.

---

Back in Nerima, Ukyo was already up and serving the early breakfast rush in her restaurant. Konatsu ran back and forth from the counter, taking ready orders to and empty plates from the bustling tables. Ucchan's Okonomiyaki really was the best, or so Konatsu liked to believe, and everyone in the neighborhood knew this. The faux kunoichi smiled at every customer he passed, which earned a few blushes from the mostly male customers, and some of the females.

`It's probably best they don't know I'm male,' He thought as he took some plates in to the back and added them to the queued up plates piling up in the bubbling sink.

When their first break came in the form of a dramatic decrease in patrons, the first lull of the morning, Konatsu set to washing the dishes piled up dishes while Ukyo herself served the patrons their meals.

In just five minutes, the kunoichi finished washing all of the plates and just as he was about to grab all five stacks, his danger sense went off. Konatsu instantly knew who his attacker was by the feel of her chi, and though he was confused as to why Ukyo would attack him, he reflexively pulled a kunai from inside his kimono and blocked all of the mini-spatulas in a blur. All eight of them were easily stopped, and they all clanged down to the ground harmlessly. He looked over at Ukyo, and noticed the disappointed look on her face.

“Dang… Not even one?”

“Ukyo-Sama? What are you doing?”

His question went ignored, as Ukyo turned and walked away, mumbling to herself. Shrugging, Konatsu picked up all of the spatulas, turned around, grabbed a rag, and started washing them.

---

Shampoo trailed behind her ancient great-grandmother up a mountain path. The purple haired girl looked around at all of the greenery covering the cliffsides and roc faces as they climbed. On the distant ground down below, there was a quiet, peaceful lake that had a small outlet from the mountain as its source. The young Chinese girl frowned and looked down at her grandmother, who lead her at a very sedate pace. The path had yet to be come treacherous; it was still over a meter wide and it didn't look like it'd end any time soon.

“Great Grandmother, how far do we have to go?” Shampoo frowned and looked down at grandmother.

“Here.” Cologne said, stopping suddenly. Shampoo blinked and stopped a second later. She looked around in confusion.

“What do… you mean, Grandmother?” Shampoo said. She tilted her head and nodded; she'd said it right.

“We still have a mountain to climb, girl,” The old woman snorted.

“Shampoo no understand.”

“Shampoo… try harder,” Cologne said. Shampoo frowned; she'd said it wrong? Wait, now that she thought about it, the wording did seem a little off.

“Shampoo don't understand.” She said, girl nodding with a look of satisfaction on her face.

The old woman clocked her with her staff.

“Not what I meant, and you still got it wrong.” Shampoo winced and frowned at her ancestor, rubbing the spot where she'd been hit.

“What?” Cologne sighed.

“The wording was better that time, but you should have said used either `boku' or `watashi', not your name. That's for small children and bubbly headed idiots.”

“Is good for making people underestimate me, no?” Shampoo said, shrugging. “Why do… I have to learn so much Japanese?”

“You sound genuinely stupid,” Cologne said, causing the younger girl to frown. “And I've gotten to know muko-dono very well. One thing I know about him is that he will not return to China with us. Your only chance is to stay here in Japan with him.” Shampoo's eyes widened in surprise for a moment, but it quickly vanished.

“I thought so…” The purple haired girl said in her home language.

“Japanese, girl.”

“But great grandmother,” Shampoo continued, “I… I don't like Japanese. It's so stupid! The country is totally backwards, too! They treat women with such little respect!” Cologne snapped her cane across the girl's forehead.

“Japanese! And that is going to change soon. The whole world is going to change in a matter of days. Japan, and the rest of the world for that matter, will no longer even be able to continue as it has. And you still have a mountain to climb!” she snapped.

“Aah…” Shampoo frowned, then finally started speaking the language of her husband's people. “What grandmother mean then?” Cologne sighed and shook her head, then pointed at the cliff wall beside them.

“Up there.”

“But path…” Shampoo said, confused.

“That will take you further than this path will,” Cologne said.

“Me? Not us?”

“Someone will be waiting for you up there,” Cologne said.

“Who could train Shampoo better than great grandmother?” The purple haired girl demanded.

“Probably no one, but that person does have something to teach you,” Cologne said. “Now get going! Get!” She started hitting the teen with her staff.

“Aiyaaah! Okay okay! Shampoo going!” The purple haired girl said as looked up the cliff wall. It extended very high; much higher than it had seemed to from the ground. “What..?” The cliff wall extended up into the clouds, with no immediately visible foot holds. She'd have to climb the whole way up. She looked down at her grandmother, who looked impatient as ever, then at the cliff face again.

“Girl, if you don't start in five… four…”

“Aiyah! Shampoo climbing already!”

---

The outer senshi Uranus and Neptune were sitting across from each other in an okonomiyaki restaurant in Nerima. Both of their plates were empty of food. Their waitress, a pretty girl dressed in a pink kimono with floral designs, approached them with a smile on her face.

 

“Are you two done for today?”

 

“Yes, thank you,” Haruka said with a smile.

 

“Okay then!” The girl reached into her Kimono and took out a piece of paper. “Let's see… ah, that'll be… hmm… one hundred yen!” Both of the inner senshi blinked at the price. The waitress looked at them, a look of confusion and worry on her face. “Oh, did I add it up wrong? Is it too expensive? Perhaps I should go get Ukyo-sama, I'm no good at this…”

 

“No! It's er, it's not too expensive. It's just, it seems a little… inexpensive,” Haruka said awkwardly. “Maybe you should go get your boss.”

 

“Oh, if it's not too much, then there's no problem!” She gave them a winning smile.

 

“A-ah…” The blonde looked over at her partner, who turned to look out the window with an innocent smile. “Well, er, if you're sure…” Haruka said, standing up and reaching into her pocket. She fetched out three hundred yen coins and smiled, handing them over to the waitress. “That should cover it then, right?”

 

“Oh yes! Thank you!” The waitress pocketed the change and bowed. “Please come again!”

 

“Oh, we will, if we're in the area,” Haruka smiled at her, then turned to look at her partner as she walked away. Michiru looked up at her when the blonde held her hand out. She took it and stood, then pinched the other woman's arm and started walking away.

“What was that for?” Haruka asked her green haired companion with a wince.

“Smiling at that pretty waitress like that,” Michiru said, opening the door with a smile. “Let's get going. We're still looking for Astral Mercury, remember? Both Mars gave us the description of a sickly young man with dark rings under his eyes. Astral Mars gave us that neat drawing and Sailor Mars a location. Two fortune tellers can't be wrong,”

 

“Yeah, yeah. I'm coming.” The blonde smiled and followed her comrade and lover out of the establishment. `I can't wait to see how the nerdy little punk reacts to us.'

---

Ranma walked into the big foyer of Kuno's cousin's mansion.

`I should probably go learn the guy's name.' He looked around again at the grandiose architecture of the place and found its awe-inspiring effect wearing thin. `I've seen better. Lived in better, too,' he snorted. He shoved his hands in his pockets and looked at the wall to his righ. Most of the hallways and such had walls painted an off-white color; this one was no different. Both sides of the hall were lined with portraits of members of Kuno's extended family.

One of them had the principal of Furinkan high on it, though the man's skin was very pale and he dressed in very traditional Japanese clothing as opposed to the very Hawaiian approach he had taken ever since Ranma'd known him, and Ranma had to double check to make sure it was him.

The front door opened suddenly, and a very busty woman walked into the mansion. Ranma turned and

“Oh, hello there!” Ranma turned and saw Miwa Shiouji walk into the room. She noticed what he was looking at and smiled. “Oh yes, Kochou-chan, my eldest cousin. He's always been rather dedicated to pursuing various arts and cultures,” She said. “You're Saotome-san, correct?”

“Uhh, yeah,” Ranma said, bowing. “We met yesterday.”

“Yes, yes, I remember,” The woman said, waving a hand. She smiled at him again. “Are you ready to meet my adorable son? He and his little friends have just been so excited, waiting to meet you!”

“Er,” Ranma winced. `She's definitely related to the Kunos.' “Yeah, sure, why not?”

“Great!” The woman clasped her hands together and her smile brightened. “I'll see who else is coming and we can leave right away!” With a cheery hum, she walked through the foyer, past Ranma and into the main hall of the mansion. The pigtailed teen shrugged and turned to face the paintings again.

-

“But I want you to teach me those crazy attacks!” Ryouga groaned and covered his face with his hands.

“How many times have I told you no already? Three? Four? You can't learn all that advanced stuff without having a full understanding of the Iron Cloth technique! It's part of the family style!” Ryouga walked around his younger sister and out of his room. “Now where's Ranma…”

“But I wanna learn that other stuff!” Rie whined. Ryouga stopped just outside the door and sighed. “I'm good enough at that already!”

“You can't even keep twelve scarves on at once, how can you say you're good at it?”

“I can make them sharp!”

“What use is it if you run out of cloth?” Ryouga demanded.

“I'll just hang on to them!”

“What if you have to throw one, and you can't get it back?”

“I'll have the other ten!”

Ryouga shook his head and crossed his arms.

“You'll be surprised how fast those can get used up in a serious fight. Until you can carry a hundred at a time, I'm not going to bother teaching you anything else, let alone the Shishi Hokodan.” Ryouga watched his younger sister.

“But that'll take forever!”

“I had it mastered when I was your age, you can do it too! Now stop bothering me about it!”

“Hmph! Fine! I hope you get lost or something!” The girl stomped away from him down the hall and he shook his head.

“Stubborn brat…”

“Yo, Ryouga!” The fanged martial artist turned and noticed Ranma walking towards him from the opposite side of the hall. “What was that all about?”

“She's just angry because I won't teach her the Shishi Hokodan.” Ryouga sighed. “She's gotta learn the family art first.” Ranma grinned at his rival.

“That silly cloth technique? Figured. How many bandanas can you carry anyway?”

“Two thousand, five hundred sixty three,” Ryouga said, looking down the hall in the direction his sister was walking. She turned around the corner and vanished from sight.

“Uh, okay,” Ranma blinked, honestly surprised by the number. “How the hell does that work?”

“Family secret.”

“…Right,” Ranma nodded. “Well, you might want to go get her. We're about to leave.”

“Huh?”

“Kuno's Aunt's lab, remember?” The young man said.

“Oh! Right. I'll be right back.” Ryouga ran down the hall after his sister, and Ranma turned and walked away.

-

“Huh, who else was going…” Ranma said, starting to walk up the stairs. The staircase was in a big hall in the center of the mansion, and the stairs went around the entire room in a circle.

“Ranma!” The pig-tailed teen looked up at the female voice. At the of the stairs top stood Akane, wearing a pale yellow and white striped sundress. She was smiling and waving at him. “There you are! I've been looking for you!”

“Oh? Akane?” Ranma blinked. “What's up?” He continued walking up the stairs until he was level with her.

“Oh, Ranma… I was just wondering…” She scooted close to him and fixed a nasty glare on him. “What the hell did you do to my sister?”

“Huh? I haven't seen Kasumi yet today,” Ranma said.

“I mean my other sister, Nabiki. You did something to her!”

“No I didn't. I mean, I sparred with her, and she got really pissed off at your dad, but I didn't do anything to her,” He said, puffing himself up. Akane blinked at him several times, the glare melting away.

“What?”

“I said, she got pissed off at your dad, not me,” He crossed his arms that time. `Although… she did seem a bit angry before he told her to mind her language…'

“No, before that.”

“Sparred with her?” Ranma asked.

“Yes, that.” Akane closed her eyes and took a step back, sighing. “I think I get it now.”

“What? What's going on?”

“She hates martial arts, Ranma,” Akane opened her eyes. “I was wondering why she'd gotten over that for the… trip, to the moon, but I guess it was because she realized her life was in danger.”

“Actually, it was because we didn't give her a choice,” Ranma said, holding up a finger. “Ryouga and I, err… forced her to train.” Akane raised an eyebrow at that.

“And just what is that supposed to mean?”

“Uh… eheheh…” Ranma blushed. `We did get a bit carried away, didn't we?' Images of Ranma holding Nabiki upside down by the legs while Ryouga pelted her with pinecones, or times where they ate all the food before she could even grab any, leaving her staring, confused, at where her share of the food had been sitting, swooping in and poking her in various places while they walked, and then finally tossing her into every single bit of water they wandered past, all until she started to fight back, very violently, bled into his mind and he laughed nervously. “Nothing too serious, we just uh, refused to take her anywhere unless she was training in some way.”

Akane stared at him for a moment, then shrugged.

“Well, you say you sparred with her today, right?” Akane said. Ranma nodded and she continued. “Well, seeing as we're back, she's probably starting to get it in her mind that she doesn't have to continue anymore.”

“But she does! With all that's been happ-”

“Shh!” Akane looked around and covered up his mouth. “I know. I want her to continue too, but she really hates doing martial arts.” Ranma blinked and she took her hands away from his mouth. “Yesterday, we were talking about what to do about our new situation. Kasumi said she wanted to learn magic, if you guys could teach us, but Nabiki said she didn't care one way or the other. When Kasumi said she wanted to start martial arts again, Nabiki said she was being stupid and should just do something that takes less effort.”

“Huh…” Ranma frowned. “Why does she hate martial arts so much?”

“I think it's because of Mom,” Akane said, casting her gaze towards the ground. Ranma winced.

“Huh… I see…”

“We've got to figure out what to do with her.” Akane said.

`You have no idea,' Ranma thought, remembering the way the middle Tendo had treated her own father that morning. “We'll talk more later. I was just coming to get you and Kasumi because we're going to Kuno's aunt's place,” He said.

“What about Nabiki?”

“She said she wanted to go sightseeing alone,” He shrugged and Akane sighed.

“She's growing so distant from us…”

“Well, I was never all that close to her in the first place,” Ranma said with a frown.

“I meant me and Kasumi, idiot,” Akane replied with a roll of her eyes.

“I knew that! And you didn't have to call me an idiot… thunder thighs!” Akane reeled back as if she'd been slapped and Ranma turned around and waved a hand behind him. “You go tell Kasumi that we're leaving. I'm gonna go see if Ryouga managed to find his sister.” Just as he started walking, down the stairs, the youngest Tendo suddenly reached out and pushed him forward. “Hey! What the- Ow! Ouch! Augh! Ahh!”

-

“Stupid tomboy Akane…” Ranma grumbled and dusted himself off. `I'll get her back for that…'

“Hey! Ranma!” The pig-tailed teenager blinked and turned, recognizing Ryouga's voice immediately. The lost boy ran up to him and “You haven't found her either?”

“You mean Rie?” Ranma asked.

“Yeah!” The fanged boy looked panicked. “I think she's gotten lost!” Ranma blinked and cocked his head, as if suddenly remembering something.

“Oh yeah. Your family tends to do that.”

“Grr… Shut up, Ranma.”

“Hey, hey, just sayin'.” Ranma sighed. “I guess we'll see her again in a week or two.”

“No! You don't get it!” The fanged martial artist's eyes began to water and he clenched his fists. “It's hard for us find other people, like you said… but the chances of us running into each other again are almost zero!” Ranma blinked and then scratched his head as if realizing something.

“That's right. You didn't even know you had a sister, did you?” The lost boy had a look of anguish on his face. “Wow. How old is she again? Ten? Eleven? That's a looooong time.” Ryouga burst into tears right beside his rival, but Ranma didn't stop there. “Man, that's gotta suck. Not knowing where your little sister is, wondering if she's even safe, or hell, maybe you have other siblings too, who you still haven't met!” Ryouga glared at his sometimes friend through his tears.

“Ranma! Shut up!”

Ranma rolled his eyes.

“Dude, calm down.” The moment those words left his mouth, Ryouga looked like he wanted to strangle the other teen. “You've survived pretty much on your own for what, seventeen years now? And she couldn't have been too much better, either. She's already lasted this long, a few days… weeks… months… okay, maybe years… by herself… won't kill her, man.” Ryouga looked down at the ground.

“Sniff… I guess you're right…”

“Oh, there you are.” Both Ranma and Ryouga froze and turned to face the source of the voice. Rie and Nabiki were both standing there; Rie with a frown on her face, and Nabiki looking bored as ever. “I heard from Miwa-onee-san that we were leaving, so I had Nabiki-onee-san take me to my room to get ready, and we've been looking all over the place for you since! You had me thinking you'd finally gotten lost again or something!”

Ryouga just stared at her. Ranma coughed and patted his friend on the back.

“See! I told you it'd work out!”

“Whatever the case, I'm done playing chaperone,” Nabiki said, looking at her nails. “Don't expect me back until nightfall.” The teenager walked out of the room, but stopped at the door. She turned to look at Ryouga and opened her mouth, as if to say something, but closed it. After a moment, she opened it again. “Don't expect me to do anything like this again. Next time, I'll let her find her own way wherever she's going.” The three of them watched her leave the main hall and then looked at each other.

“She seems a little upset,” Ryouga said, looking at his rival. “You wouldn't happen to know anything..?”

“Got no clue,” Ranma said, shrugging.

---

Across town, one particular scientist yawned, lifted his glasses and rubbed his eyes. They stung quite a bit, like they sometimes did when he went long periods without sleep. He replaced his glasses so that he could see the readout on the screen before him and almost sighed. Gojyou looked over his shoulder at a red-haired girl who was wearing an indecent sailor uniform - like the ones those high school girls wore, only worse. It even had cute feathery wings on the back, and a golden skirt with two separate maroon and navy extensions sown on. After staring for a moment, he remembered what he'd meant to do.

“Umi-kun. Some tea, please.”

“Um… right, professor!” The co-splaying servant, for lack of a better term, ran from the room.

“Umi! How many times have I told you not to run in the lab!”

“Sorry professor!” The young woman called back… as she kept running, from the sound of her footsteps.

“Ugh… She's only an intern… only an intern…”

“Isn't she your cousin too?” Gojyou jumped over when Ryoko poked her face through the monitor of his computer.

“Damn it! Haven't I told you not to do that?!” He snapped, only to get an innocent grin in response. “And yes, she is a cousin… from mother's side, of course.”

“Yeah, I figured,” The cyan haired alien said as she flew through the screen and hovered over his shoulder. “What'cha workin on?” The professor sighed and looked up at his screen.

“I'm still trying to locate Ropponmatsu,” He said. Ryoko blinked and looked at him.

“Isn't your Nishiki defragging in the other room?” She asked.

“The other Ropponmatsu,” He clarified. “The one my father made.”

“Oh, right. The superior one.” She smirked at him.

“Tch…” Gojyou gave her a sideways glance in annoyance. “What do you want?”

“Your mom called,” She said, casually. “She's on her way with those kids. Oh yeah, Iwata fell off a skyscraper.”

Gojyou stared at her.

“Fell off a skyscraper.”

“Yep.” After a moment, the man gave a long suffering sigh and took his glasses off to rub his eyes again.

“Go gather him up and put him in his room,” He said.

“Already did.”

“Hm. Did you try anything on your own?”

“I uh… I tried to reassemble the part that contains his brain.” Gojyou stared at her for a moment again.

“You mean his head?”

“Yeah. Anyway, I managed to save his brain.”

“Where is it now?”

“In one of those storage capsules that Thomas guy gave you,” She said.

“That's good enough, I guess.” Gojyou yawned again and leaned over in his chair, looking at the door. “Umi! That tea!”

“Oh, sorry professor! I forgot!” The slightly feminine looking scientist sighed and mussed his hair. Just then, a blonde woman wearing a lab coat walked into the room. “Oh. Teriha. What is it?”

“Um, your mother called to ask if you cleaned your room.” The woman said, holding up a cordless phone. The light on it showed that it was on and Miwa was probably waiting on the other side.

“Give me that.” He held out his right hand and the blonde woman walked over and handed him the phone, then stood there and waited. As soon as Gojyou had it, he pushed the button to hang it up, and gave it back to the blonde woman. “Don't answer it if she calls again.” The woman nodded and exited the room.

“Well. She's rather polite for an amnesiac escaped convict that your cousin found in the rain, isn't she?” Ryoko asked.

“She has her uses,” Gojyou agreed. He turned to face the door again and yelled out. “Umi! Tea! Now!”

---

“That's odd. The phone went dead.” Miwa said. She, Ranma, Ryouga, Rie, Akane, Kasumi, Kodachi, Tatewaki, Kagome, Inuyasha and Shinshige were all standing in front of the latter's mansion beside two limousines. Ranma and Rie were both ogling the expensive looking white cars, while most of the others simply waited and listened. “Oh well. We'll just have to show up whether or not my adorable son is ready.”

“From what I remember of my eldest cousin, he is the type to keep a clean house,” Kuno said. “I'm sure it'll be fine.”

`Ugh… I just hope he leaves that little girl alone.' Shinshige thought, glancing at Rie. `Ironic that a normal guy like me, born into this family, ends up being the weird one…'

“I haven't seen him in almost six years already.” Kagome said, looking up at her aunt. “Mom said he's got a well paying job, but what exactly does he do?”

“Oh, he works for the city, doing research projects and what not,” the woman said, waving it off.

“Hey, is it really all right to go like this?” Ranma asked, looking over at Miwa. “Ain't it a bit expensive to rent limos?” The busty woman burst out laughing at his question as if he had said one of the funniest things she'd ever heard.

“Silly boy! I own these!” Ranma blinked and then looked down at the limo he was hovering over and whistled.

“I guess it's not as much as I thought then,” He said with a shrug. Akane winced at the way he'd worded it, but Miwa merely walked over and gave the boy a pat on the shoulder.

“Exactly! Now let's go! An adventure in science awaits us!”

---

Not too far away, Nabiki looked up into the mostly sunny sky with a brand new pair of sunglasses.

“I hope it rains.”

 

---

 

END OF PART ONE