Welcome to story arc #5!

Remember to write me and tell me how your day has gone at:
oddball22@hotmail.com

Find my other stories at:   www.geocities.com/kaiphantom2000


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Anyone who's lived a decent amount of time will tell you, life doesn't
exactly happen the way you want it to. You may make plans and hope they
go off the way you want them to, but inevitably, something will come
along that you didn't expect.

We call theses events, distrubances, and they can come in two types:
major or minor.

Minor ones are usually easily dealt with, while major ones can prove to
be quite an obstacle. Most of the time, it's pretty easy to tell the
difference between the two, but not always.

It's all a matter of perspective. Something major for one person, may be
minor for another. Or something comes along that you think is a major
thing, then something else comes along that makes the first disturbance
seem quite small in comparison.

Compared to what Ranma and his friends will face in the future, these
disturbances are very minor indeed.

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Ranma 1/2: New Challenges
Minor Disturbances

Chapter 1





         "I'LL KILL HIM!" came the scream from the bathroom. "I'LL MAKE
HIM SORRY HE WAS EVER BORN!"

         Five heads turned to watch the girl storm out of the bathroom
and enter the dining room. Nabiki glared at each of the people staring
at her. Each of them turned away and went back to whatever they were
doing and then she sat down at the table.

         As Kasumi served breakfast, Akane couldn't help but think green
hair didn't really work well on her sister, but then again, it probably
wasn't her fault; most likely it was Kenji's. She sighed.

         It had been a quiet couple of months since summer break ended,
but she knew that wouldn't last. True, a lot of the peacefulness had to
do with her and Ranma getting along. Also the fact that Ukyo and Shampoo
had given up and Kodachi was in a mental ward, so no one was busting
down their doors trying to get at him.

        "Nabiki, did he...?" Akane started to ask.

        "Yes!" her older sister snapped. "Somehow he did something to my
shampoo and now I have green hair!" She took a moment to calm herself.
"I don't want to talk about anymore. It's my problem, I'll deal with
it."

         Akane didn't say anymore. Neither did anyone else.

         It had all started about a week ago. Kenji apparently owed some
money to Nabiki for something, but as a joke, he had payed her with
counterfit bills. She didn't find out about it until she tried to buy
something with the money and it dissolved in her hands. Of course she
knew where those particular bills came from and went to confront the
ninja trainee.

         He apologized and tried to pay the orginial amount but, being
Nabiki, she charged him double for the little joke. Kenji refused and
said she'd see her money when she reverted back to the original amount.
It ended with an argument and vow to make the other one give in.

         That's how the month of hell started. Kenji's practical jokes
vs. Nabiki's scheming
manipulations.

         Earlier, Nabiki had borrowed some of those hypnotic mushrooms
from Shampoo and tricked Kenji into eating them. For the rest of the
day, whenever he heard a bell, he yelled out loud, "Nabiki is a
goddess!"

         And that led to the revenge of the green hair.

         And when everyone else heard of the brewing war, they made sure
to leap clear. After all, Nabiki was well known for getting exactly what
she wanted and woe to anyone who got in her way. Now there was an
upstart boy challenging her.

         Due to the middle Tendo's closeness to the affair, Nabiki's
second, Tomoe, was taking bets on how it would end and when. Most money
was thrown in on Nabiki's side of course.

         Akane sighed and grabbed Ranma as they headed off for another
fun-filled (and possibly very dangerous) day of school. Naturally,
Nabiki had already left to get an early start.

         And let the games begin...






         "Alright `niichan, what'd you do?" Yuri asked as the trio
walked to school. Kenji had snuck out earlier that morning and returned
just in time to get ready for school. He had a big smile plastered on
his face and neither she nor Ukyo could get him to talk.

        "You'll see soon enough," he replied. "Just wait `til we get to
school."

        "Tell me you didn't do somethin' to Nabiki?" Ukyo asked. "You're
just asking for trouble if you start messin' with her."

         Kenji didn't say anything, merely pointed straight ahead. Ukyo
and Yuri gasped as they neared the school gates and caught sight of the
figure waiting there.

         It was Nabiki. With green hair.

        "Kenji, you didn't..." Yuri started.

        "He did," Nabiki finished as they approached.

        "What'd I do?" the man in question asked innocently.

        "Cut the crap, Kenji-boy," Nabiki commanded. "It's been a long
time since I've had a worthy opponent, and I haven't lost yet. You can
either pay me the money you owe, or I can make your life miserable."

        "I'm more than willing to pay the orginial amount, but that's
all." Kenji grinned. "And I haven't had a worthy opponent either, so I'm
willing to go the distance."

         Nabiki grinned like a chesire cat. "In that case..." She turned
around and put a megaphone to her mouth. "Oh woe is me! Kenji-san has
ruined my beautiful hair! What shall I do?" She made a few fake sobbing
noises and Kenji was puzzled as to what she was doing.

         Absently, he noted Yuri and Ukyo were backing away from him, as
if they knew what was going to happen. Suddenly, the courtyard was
filled with angry women, cutting off all avenues of escape.

        "You ruined a girl's hair!?"

        "How dare you!"

        "A girl's hair is her life!"

        "You traumitized a poor innocent female!"

        "Prepare to die!"

         He may have been a martial artist, but he was also subject to
the laws of anime. Therefore, Kenji was rendered totally helpless as a
hundred women proceeded to beat him into submission.When they moved off,
he could hear Nabiki's voice. He couldn't see her since one eye was
swollen shut and the other was staring at the ground and he couldn't
move his head. Actually, he couldn't move anything.

        "See ya in class!" she said.

         Kenji wondered if he should've just payed her. <No, I've got my
pride and my principles on the line. I won't give up!>

        "Kenji-san, are you alright?" came Akane's voice.

        "argt hhvn iofsd," he tried to say.

        "Ranma, you better get him to the nurse's office," she said.

        "Why me?" came the reply.

        "Because, he's an enemy of women today," she said. "So I can't
help him if I want my friends to speak to me."

         Ranma sighed. "Whatever. Come on, man, let's get you patched
up."

         As Ranma picked him up, the pain became too much and Kenji,
thankfully, blacked out.





        "Hmmm, I see," Miyo said at last. Her room had been repaired
since Ranma and Akane `dropped in' and now the magic circle was meeting
once again. She turned to Ariko and Hikaru. "Your magical abilites have
changed since the soul transfer. I'm not quite sure how, but you'll have
to discover that on your own."

        "Hmmm, that would explain why my spellcasting abilities have
gone awry," Ariko said. "How's your telekinesis, Hi-chan?"

         Hikaru smiled nervously. "Well, I have a little better control,
but it's still not that strong."

        "I would suggest, that you find yourselves a master that can
help you study," Toshi suggested. "I was only able to further my
abilites because my parents trained me. They also posses my family's
gift."

         Ariko sighed. "I guess we'll have to."

        "Um, where would we find one?" Gos asked.

        "Why not summon one?" Miyo half-joked. "Now, back to the
business at hand..."







        "Are you sure it's this way, Dan?" the woman asked her husband.

        "Of course I'm not sure, Kameko" Dan replied. "Thanks to you, I
can't get anywhere anymore!"

           Kameko scowled. "Well you don't have to rub it in! You're the
one who still wanted to marry me even after I told you about..."

        "I know!" he yelled back. "That doesn't mean I like it!"

        "Why YOU BAKA!"

         Kameko promptly jumped on her husband and the two began to
fight in the middle of the dirt road. Punches and kicks were exchanged
while their traveling companion looked on and sighed.

         She looked at the map again. "Um, actually, I think Tokyo's
this way," she pointed south.

         The couple stopped fighting and the dust cloud settled. Their
arms were locked around each other's necks. They quickly let go and
smiled nervously.

        "Heh heh, sorry about that," Dan apologized. "We tend to get
carried away."

        Kameko smiled. "But I feel so much better now that I've been
able to release some of that tension. Don't you, dear?"

         He smiled back and kissed her. "I sure do, that was great!"

        "Now, why don't we let Sakura lead us since she obviously knows
the way," Kameko suggested.

         The young girl beamed at that. "I'd love to! I can't wait to
meet your son, Ryoga!"







        "I'm sorry, I thought my parents might be here, but I guess
they're still lost," Ryoga said as he sat down at the table next to his
companion in his house.

         Akari smiled at him tenderly. "That's okay Ryo-chan, we'll find
them eventually. I understand you'd like me to meet your parents before
we get married." She put her arms around him and leaned into his chest,
sighing contentedly.

         Ryoga gulped and laughed nervously, then slowly put his arm
around her too. Then it hit him. "M-married!?"

         She disengaged and looked forlornly up at him, her lower lip
quivering. "What? You don't want to marry me?"

        "N-no! That's n-not what I-I meant!" He took a deep breath. "I-I
was just caught off guard. I've never had a girl feel this way about me
before..."

         She sighed and smiled at him. "I guess I can understand. I
promised to give you time and I will." She kissed him lightly on the
lips. "Just don't keep me waiting forever."

         He nodded. "I-I promise." He frowned and looked up. "Hey,
what's that? I thought I heard the front door opening. Stay here and
I'll go check."

         He stood up and left the living room. As he stepped into the
foyer and recognized the people standing there, his jaw dropped. "DAD!?
MOM!?"

         Dan turned around. "Son!" He flew across the room and gave his
son a hug, which was soon followed by his mom.

         Ryoga's face turned blue. "Mom... dad... can't... breathe..."

         They disengaged from the titanic bear hug. (Author's note: this
move has been banned in the WWF, for excessive brutality.)

        "Sorry, son. How are you?" his mom asked.

        "I've been doing great!" he replied. "I've met so many
interesting people and seen so many places." He then happened to see the
girl standing behind his parents. "Uh, mom, dad, who is she?" He
indicated the girl in the sailor fuku.

         His father beamed. "Well, I know you have trouble with women,
so, I took the liberty of getting you a fiancee!"

         Ryoga's eyes bulged. "You WHAT!?"

        "I agree with your father, dear," his mother said, putting a
hand on his shoulder. "It's becoming time for you to find a wife and
start a family of your own. This is Sakura-san. She's also a martial
artist, so it's a perfect match!"

        "You're Ryoga-kun?" Sakura asked. Her smile grew incredibly
wide, then she mimicked his parents earlier actions and flew across the
room, glomping him in a big hug. "I'm so happy to meet you! I've heard
sooooo much about you and I just want to say I no problems being your
fiancee and I promise to also be a good wife to you and I think you're
sooo good looking!" She took a DEEP breath, then stepped back and kissed
him on the lips.

         Akari took that moment to walk in. "Ryoga-chan, what's taking
so..." She came around the corner and saw the man she loved, liplocked
with another woman. "Ryoga!"

          The man in question managed to regain his wits and break away.
"Akari, it's not what you think!" <Where have I heard that before?>





         High up above, Bob grinned and patted himself on the back. And
being a kami (even a minor one) he could do that quite well. "I am soooo
good! Well, that should go well. Now, what else can I do?"





        "Ryoga, who's this young lady?" Dan asked, confused. <Has my son
already picked up another woman?>

        "Uh, Dad, this is Akari-chan, my girlfriend," he said, then
thinking quickly (for once) added, "and fiancee."

         Akari ran up and wrapped her arms around her man. "You hear
that, hussy?" Then she looked up at Ryoga. "We'll talk about this
later!"

         Sakura fumed. "What did you call me!? You're the hussy! I've
been arranged to marry him via our parents! He's mine!"

         Akari let go and stomped up to her new rival. "I've known him
longer and he loves me! Take that!"

         Ryoga watched worridly as the two girls' battle auras grew.
"Uh, excuse me..."

        "WHAT!?" came the reply in stereo.

        "Uh, nevermind..." he said sheepishly, backing away.

        "Fine!" Sakura said. "I challenge you! Winner gets Ryoga-kun!"

        "You're on!" Akari yelled back.

        "Mom! Dad! We have to stop this!" Ryoga looked back and forth
between the two girls. Akari was pretty strong, but he could tell this
Sakura was a skilled martial artist. He really didn't know if his gir-
fiancee could beat the newcomer.

        "Actually, I think it's a great idea!" Dan said.

         His mom piped in. "I agree. Our son deserves the very best and
this will help determine it! Girls, why don't we take this outside and
have a match." The girls were too busy glaring at each other, but did
slowly head for the door.

         Outside, the two challengers stood apart and went through some
warm-up exercises. Kameko was talking to Sakura while Ryoga approached
Akari.

        "Um, Akari-chan?" he said nervously. "I-I just want to say, good
luck and I hope you win! And... I didn't know this girl. She's the one
who kissed me and..."

         Akari sighed. "It's okay Ryo-chan. When I ground that that
hussy, it'll be all over."

        "I-I know you can beat her. C-can I... well... k-k-
kissyougoodluck?"

         When she figured out what he said, she beamed and nodded. "Of
course!" He nervously leaned foreward and she met his mouth halfway and
kissed him deeply, more so than she had before.

         When they parted, Ryoga was in a daze and could only say,
"Wow!"

         Akari giggled, then turned and stuck her tongue out at a
scowling Sakura as if to say, "Take that!"

         Dan stepped between the two girls. "Alright, a friendly match
and the victor gets my son! The fight continues until someone is
unconscious or forfeits." Both girls snorted at that; no way would they
give up. "Begin!"

         Akari slowly began to approach her opponent. She knew she could
beat the hussy if she could get in close and do some grappling. After
all, she trained Katsunishki and many other sumo pigs. And from looking
at this other girl, she knew she had her beat in strength and endurance.

         Sakura surprised her by leading off with the first attack.
Dashing in, she struck multiple times with her fists and Akari was
unprepared for the speed of the attack. Ryoga winced as she hit the
ground.

         The fuku-clad girl smiled in triumph and approached her fallen
opponent, lancing out with a foot while Akari was still getting up. She
grinned as Akari took it in her stomach, then grew shocked as Akari
grabbed the foot and yanked the other girl to the ground. Jumping to her
own feet and not letting go of the foot, Akari flipped Sakura over her
head and slammed her into the ground again. Then repeated the move. And
repeated yet again. By the fifth time, Sakura had gained enough
concentration to snap her other foot into her attacker's head.

         Both girls went down and rolled, breathing steadily after
coming to a stop. Both trying to regain their strength before the other.
Akari was first, though Sakura got to her feet before Akari could reach
her.

         With a might warcry, Sakura launched into the air and delivered
a powerful jump kick to Akari's head, who just barely got her forearms
up to take the blow. Ryoga covered his eyes as his the woman he cared
for stumbled backward drunkenly. Sakura followed it up with several
lightening fast punches and kicks. Akari stumbled backwards into a tree
and tried to recover her wits.

         Sakura charged with the aim of finishing off her opponent. Her
punch should have struck the head and knocked the other girl out;
instead, Akari grabbed the fist, sidestepped, and slammed Sakura head
first into the trunk of the tree. While her opponent was dazed, Akari
spun her around, picked her up, then slammed her into the ground in a
mighty piledriver. Ryoga winced.

         The sailor fuku-clad girl kicked out with her foot, catching
Akari under the jaw and snapping her head back, forcing her to let go.
Sakura drunkenly regained her feet and managed a couple of punches to
the other girls head. For a full minute afterward, neither girl did
anything.

         Then they both collapsed.

         Ryoga was in motion before Akari hit the ground. As he reached
her side, he dropped to the ground and lifted her head into his lap,
checking her vitals. It looked like she would be okay, but she was still
out of it so he picked her up and started carrying her to the house. His
father did the same with the unconcious Sakura.

        "Hmmm, they seemed evenly matched," his mother noted. "What'll
we do know?"






         Ryoga lay another damp washcloth on Akari's head as she lay in
his bed, recovering. His dad sat near him while his mother tended to the
unconcious Sakura. Looking at her face, he felt a sharp stab of pain in
his chest, something he had never felt before. It was if a part of him
was wounded along with Akari. It was similiar to what he felt whenever
Akane was hurt or in trouble, but stronger.

        "So, what'd you think of Sakura?" his dad chimed in. "Very
skilled and a pretty good looker, too."

        "Dad! How could you do this to me!? To Akari!"

        "Now boy, a man like you has got to play the field," he
admonished. "At least consider your options."

         Ryoga bared his fangs. "I don't want options, I want Akari!" He
blinked. <Did I just say that?>

         His dad frowned. "Tell you what. We'll have a rematch in two
weeks. If Akari can beat Sakura, then your mom and I will settle the
fiancee business with Sakura. I'm sure she'll agree to another all-or-
nothing match." He stood up and headed to the door. "After all, you
deserve a strong wife, son."

         The lost boy sighed as he watched his father leave. "Fine." He
looked down at Akari's unconcious form. "I swear I'll make you strong
enough to beat Sakura."

         Akari stirred and opened her eyes. "Y-you promise?"

         Ryoga jumped. "Akari! Are you okay?"

         She smiled weakly. "I've taken worse. So, you gonna make me
strong enough to take down that hussy?"

         Ryoga slumped. "Uh, yeah. But, I don't think I'd be the best
person. I actually think there are a couple of people who could train
you better." He nervously scratched the back of his neck. "You see, I,
uh, well, the only training techniques I have work best for guys. I
think you'd be better off to be trained by women."

         She pondered that for a few minutes. "So, is it anyone I know?"

        "Yeah, and I think it'd be good to see them again." He smiled.
"When you're feeling better, you and Katsunishki can lead me to the
Tendo Dojo to see Ranma and Akane."

         She smiled. "Oh goody! Ryo-chan, you're as smart as a pig!"

         Ryoga barely fought back the wince.






        "You want me to what?"

         Nabiki sighed. "I said I'd like your help going through some
old books that belong to the Kuno family. There's a lot of strange stuff
in them and, since Cologne is gone, you're the next best thing to
dealing with them. Or so I've heard."

         Miyo blinked, then smiled slowly. "I suppose I could help you
out. If it concerns the mystical or the occult, I would be very
interested."

         Nabiki smiled back. "Great! I'll send Tatewaki-kun by your
place later with some of the volumes so you can get started." She turned
to leave.

         Something else was on Miyo's mind and she wondered how to
phrase it. "Uh, Nabiki-san, I was wondering about your hair..."

         Nabiki turned back around and leveled her eyes at the other
girl. "It's green."

         Miyo knew she didn't have to be a fortune-teller to catch the
hidden message that said, "Say any more and you won't like the results."

         "Ok then, see you later."






         From a hilltop, a lone figure glanced out over the town that
was spread out before him. This was the place, the ward of Tokyo called
Nerima. He exhaled and smiled. Yes, this would be perfect! A nice quiet
place for him and his son to do their work.

         Reaching into his shirt, he pulled out a small map with an
address on it. <Hmmm, our new home is near a Furinken High School. I
wonder if might be able to get a few of the local kids to help us? That,
and Takayoshi can probably make a few friends>

         Walking back to his van, he whistled a small tune. <Yes, I
think this will finally work for once!>



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Author's notes:
I read in a fic somewhere that an author didn't like Akari as a match
for Ryoga because it seemed too easy and convenient. Well, who says it
has to be? Of all the reasons not to like something, that's one of the
poorest I've heard. I have no problems with Ukyo as a match for Ryoga,
because they showed some interesting chemistry in the anime. In the
manga, however, it is very clear that Ukyo won't give it chance because
she's too hung up on Ranma, but Ryoga clearly gives up on Akane for
Akari.

So, I thought I'd liven things up for the pair. :)




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





Ranma 1/2: New Challenges
Minor Disturbances

Chapter 2





         Miyo tossed and turned in her sleep as yet another dream
imposed itself on her...





        "So, let me get this straight," Akara was saying. "Your ninja
buddies were some sort of test to determine if we were worthy to meet
with you!?" The woman known as Kae nodded. "Well, that's plain stupid!"

         Tenma groaned and rested his forehead in his hand. <Can she
possibly get any worse?> He glanced up at the small group of Garou
ninjas that formed the leadership and bodyguards. As long as Akiko kept
shooting her mouth off, the mission to get this group as allies was in
jeopardy. He wished Neko was with him, but he couldn't risk bringing the
big cat on this mission. That, and she seemed to like Senshin so he left
Neko in his care.

        "I assure you it was not `stupid,'" Kae retorted. "After all, if
you couldn't stand up to a few ninjas, what chance did you have against
the dark shogun?"

         That shut her up. Even Akara could see the logic in that. The
three people who functioned as the leadership, which included Kae,
conferred with each other in hushed tones for a minute before speaking
again.

        "Saotome Tenma, is it true you trained under master Satsu?" Kae
asked. Tenma nodded. "Then you can show us the proof?"

         Akara glanced at her traveling partner, confused. Tenma close
his eyes and concentrated. She watched in awe as a blue aura began to
grow around him, then it changed to red, then yellow. The aura grew and
expanded as he held his hand out. Multi-colored light gathered in his
palm as it slowly coalesced into a figure.

         Akara leaned closer and realized he was manipulating the
various colors of his aura into making a picture. For once, she was
truely stunned at the level of control one would need to do this.

         Tenma finished and opened his eyes. In his palm, was the
picture of an old man. This seemed to impress the three leaders, even as
they seemed to recognize the man. They conferred for a few more moments
as Tenma allowed the figure to dissipate. Then, Kae stepped foreward and
motioned the two back outside. Wordlessly, they followed as the female
ninja led them back into the forest.

        "It's settled," she said after a short while. "The clan will
help. We are not very big, but that works in our favor. I will accompany
you back to your army now as a liason and advisor while the clan packs
up and moves out. From now on, not even I will know where they are."

        "But, how will they help us?" Akiko asked.

        "We have our ways," Kae replied. "You must trust us as we trust
you."

         Tenma allowed himself a smile. <Maybe this will work I...> He
froze, as did his two companions while a horrible sinking feeling
assualted him.

        "That's, that's..." youngest Tendo sputtered as she pointed.

         He nodded. "I know. The camp."

         Faraway in the distance, clouds of billowy smoke rose into the
sky. And it was in the direction they were heading; back to the camp.






         Again, Miyo awoke as the dream ended. While it was still fresh
in her mind, she flipped on the nightlamp and opened the journal where
she wrote down her dreams and proceeded to add this latest chapter.

         Once satisfied she had it all, she turned off the light and
went back to sleep without a sound.






        "Hmmm, this one looks promising," Gos noted. He and Ariko had
taken Miyo's latest suggestion to heart and were pouring over their
magic books in Ariko's basement. They were looking for a spell or
something to help them find a mage to study under.

        "What've you got?" Ariko asked, walking over to look over his
shoulder. Briefly, she scanned the couple of pages. "A basic summon
spell. Wait, you want to summon a teacher?" He nodded and she thought it
over. "It might work."

         "I know it will work!" Hikaru insisted. "I know I flubbed
previous magic attempts, but I just have a feeling I can do this. It's
hard to explain, but ever since I was able to tap my magic and we had
that body switching thing, I..." he searched for the right words. "Well,
I just know I can do this."

         She smiled. "Hey, I never doubted you, Hi-chan." She looked
over the spell components. "Well, we have some of this stuff here, but
we'll need to go out and find the rest. Got any ideas?"

         He tapped his chin and nodded. "I think so. We can probably
gather all we need today if we hurry, and do the summoning tonight or
tomorrow."

         He grinned and looked at his partner. She nodded and the two
picked up their things and left. His confidence and hope had soared in
the time he had come to know her. She wasn't Akane, but she was nice,
fairly good-looking, and most of all, she seemed to like him pay
attention to him. Of course, that left a dilemma: Akane or Ariko. Akane
was a beautiful warrior goddess, while Ariko was a nice, friendly,
fellow magic user. <Arrgh! I can't decide! I must have them both!>

         He stopped and blinked. <Note to self: Stop hanging around
Kuno.>





         Kenji groaned as the last vestiges of sleep faded from his
mind. His body was still a little sore from the beating he received
yesterday. He had blacked out soon afterward, but then awoke later in
Dr. Tofu's office. It was yet another instance of his incredible talent
of awakening somewhere other than where he rembered passing out.

         After some treatment there, he was sent home to recover, which
he did for the rest of the day. His sister and Ukyo merely looked at him
in pity, but Selah took great delight in caring for him. She still had
the same silly crush on him.

         He gradually forced himself out of bed and massaged his aching
muscles. A few stretching exercises helped as well, while he planned his
counter attack. He went through several ideas in his head, throwing some
out, and keeping some for use another day. He smiled as he settled onto
a good one and headed downstairs to help with the morning crowd.

         He got Selah to cover his shift while he went out to gather his
supplies. He grinned to himself as he went over his plan in his head.
With luck, he could have it ready by lunch. He had heard the story from
Ranma, though he didn't plan to take it to such extremes so no permanent
harm would be done.






        "Hey guys!" Kenji said as he sat down to lunch under the trees
with the standard group of friends. That included: Ranma, Akane, Yuka,
Sayuri, Hiroshi, Daisuke, Kuno, Yuri, and Ukyo. He picked a spot next to
Ranma and his sister.

        "Hey, oneechan," Yuri greeted. "Where'd you go this morning?"

        "Had to pick up a few things," he replied while opening his
lunch. "But you'll see in a few moments."

         Akane looked over at him questionably. "Don't tell me you're
trying something with my sister again?"

         He grinned. "Okay, I won't. Oh, by the way, Ranma, you may want
to take a postion up in the trees." He checked his watch. "It's almost
time."

        "Why?" he asked. "Wha..."

         He stopped short as a scream echoed throughout the courtyard.
Everybody's heads popped up and tried to locate the source of the female
screaming. They soon found it as Nabiki bolted out of the equipment shed
and ran across the schoolyard and through the gates. She was draped in
something and her arms were apparently secured to her sides. A split
second later, a dozen cats came running after her.

        "That's why, Ranma," he said and turned around, but Ranma wasn't
acting that scared, merely a little nervous. "Hey, I thought you were
scared of cats?"

        "We've been working on that," Akane explained. "It takes quite a
bit to scare him now. If those cats were after him, he'd be in the
tree." She frowned. "So, aren't you going to help my sister?"

        "Naw, I left a note telling her how to get out of it."

        "How?"

         Kenji washed down his food with a drink from his thermos.
"Simple, cats can't swim, and there's the small lake in the park near
here..."

        "Oh boy," Ranma said, understanding. "You got guts, man. Too bad
Nabiki's gonna spill `em." He clapped a hand on his friend's back. "It's
been nice knowing ya."

         Kenji looked around and most everyone echoed the same
sentiments. He frowned. "Well, it's nice to see you all have some faith
in me."

         Ranma shook his head and lunch continued while the talk turned
to other matters. Just before the bell rang for lunch to end, a very wet
and angry Nabiki stormed back into school and went into the women's
locker room to change.

         When she passed Kenji in the hall later that day, she gave him
a look that promised a painful death, then went on her way without
saying a word.

         Kenji shivered and suddenly wondered if he should just try to
end this now. <Naaaah.>







         Nabiki hung up the phone and smiled, then crossed off something
on her notepad. "There, that's the last arrangement."

         Akane looked up from where she was sitting on the couch,
reading a manga. "What are you working on, oneechan?"

          She smiled evily. "Oh, just making sure a neighborhood
nuisance is dealt with. Now if you'll excuse me, I've got some more work
to do."

         Akane shrugged as Nabiki walked up the stairs. A few minutes
later, Ranma came up behind her and placed his hands over her eyes.
"Guess who?"

         Akane smiled. "Hmmm... Oh, Ryoga my love!"

         Ranma blinked. "Huh!?"

        "Or is it my other love, Tatewaki-chan!"

         Ranma facefaulted. "What!?" Akane giggled. "Stupid tomboy! And
here I was gonna take you out for dinner. Feh." He started walking away.
Kasumi was off with Tofu, and even Natsume and Kurumi were off having
some fun so dinner was Get Your Own.

         Akane stopped laughing and went after him. <He was going to ask
me out?> "Wait Ranma! I'm sorry!"

         Without warning, Ranma turned around and poked her on the
forehead. "Gotcha!"

         Akane stopped, then scowled. "Ooooh! Why you!" Ranma took off
and she ran after him. "Come back here you pervert!"

         He stuck his tongue out at her. "Nyaaaa! Come and get me,
tomboy!"

         The two ran around the yard as Akane tried to hit him, but he
always managed to dodge and stay ahead of her. Nabiki glanced out her
open window and watched the two in action. <Hmmm, it's almost like old
times. Except I can tell that neither one holds any real malice towards
the other.> She smiled. <Just like a couple of kids, playing.>

         She turned back to the folders on her desk and dove back into
making sense of Kuno's companies. She had almost worked through
straightening out all of them, only a couple remained. The ones she had
already fixed were now showing a remarkable increase in profit and
Nabiki felt she was earning the salary Kuno was paying her. She
smirked(tm) since it also helped her pride that she was outperforming
business men twice her age.

         She pulled up a file on her computer and began entering notes.






         Outside, Akane had temporarily lost track of Ranma. He had
turned a corner and then was gone. "Ranma? Where are you, Baka!" She
crept around the dojo, then thought she heard sounds coming from inside.
She focused and extended her ki. <I sense someone in there! You've been
training me too well, Ranma!>

         She snuck up to the entrance and looked inside. Nothing. Of
course, it was darkened since the lights were off. She slipped inside
and let her eyes grow accustomed to the dark. <Now where are you?>

         She felt someone land behind her, then an arm wrapped itself
around her waist and another went over her mouth. She was pulled aside
and turned around, but before she knew what was happening or who it was,
the hand was removed and a pair of lips replaced them.

        "Mmmppphhh!" was all she could get out. She smiled inwardly as
she recognized the lips and melted into the kiss. When she sensed the
arm around her weaken, she grabbed it and flipped the figure onto his
back and jumped on top of him.

        "Hey, Akane, what was that for?" Ranma cried.

         She settled on top of him, her face inches from his. "I had to
get you back, Baka. Couldn't let you think a kiss gets you out of
anything." Before he could say anything, she was kissing him
passionately, his mouth eagerly accepting her tongue.

         After a minute, Ranma realized something. He was enjoying the
kiss, and that was being reflected somewhere else. <Oh please, oh
please, don't let her notice!> he begged silently.

         She did, however. Akane broke the kiss when she realized the
same thing. Her heart was beating fast and she was becoming warm, her
face flushing with the excitement. But that was nothing compared to what
was pressing against her thigh.

        "Oh, Ranma..."

         Gulp. "Y-yeah,  Akane?"

         She bent down to whisper in his ear. "You really are a
pervert.".

         His eyes grew wide. "B-but, Akane, I can explain!" He cringed
and awaited the impending mallet strike.

         She sat up. "But I don't mind since you're my pervert. And it's
nice to know you care." She grinned at his shocked expression, then
leapt off him and ran to the door, partly because she knew if they
continued, it would lead somewhere she wasn't ready to and she could
tell he probably wasn't either.

        "I'm going to freshen up a bit and then we can go." She smiled
that cute smile he loved so much and then she was gone.

         For several minutes afterward, Ranma tried to calm himself. He
could still feel the softness of her lips on his,  and the warm breath
on his ear from when she whispered into it. When his heart and breathing
slowed, he stood up and exhaled.

         He then looked down. "Now why'd you have ta go and do that!?"






         Several minutes later they were heading out the gate together,
arm-in-arm. Ranma picked a direction and started walking that way and
Akane let herself be guided along. She didn't know where they were
headed, so she asked.

        "Nekohanten," he replied nonchalantly, causing Akane to frown.
"Haven't had a chance to talk with Mousse, Shampoo and the others since
they got back in town a week ago."

         She didn't know what to think. After the Amazon incident a
couple of months ago, Shampoo had stated that they had certain matters
to settle in Joketsuzoku.  Then a week ago, Shampoo had returned with
her two sisters, LinLin and RanRan. Mousse, of course, followed along.

         Akane had already beaten Shampoo and the Amazon had said she'd
given up her claim on Ranma, yet Akane was still worried.

        "Are you sure that's a good idea?" she asked. "What about
Shampoo?" She admitted a part of her relished the idea of showing off
the fact that Ranma was hers to one of her (former) rivals, but another
part of her wondered if the Amazon would pull some sort of trick to take
Ranma away from her.

         He shrugged, seemingly unaware of her concerns. "What about
her?"

         She scowled. Couldn't he see the danger? "Aren't you worried
that she might try something?"

         He laughed and put an arm around her shoulders. "There's no
need to worry Akane." He stopped and turned to look at her, putting his
hands on her shoulders. "Listen, if you wanna go somewhere else, I'll
understand. But you're gonna have ta face her sometime."

         She sighed. What he said was the truth and she knew it.

        "Besides, I thought my violent tomboy could take the nasty
Amazon now..."

         She growled and punch him in the stomach, before taking him by
the hand and leading the way. "Baka. You win, I'll go."

         Ranma shook his head as he let himself be pulled along.





         Shampoo looked up to see the couple enter. She felt a momentary
pang of loss in her heart at the site of her ex-airen holding hands with
Akane. <But he is my airen no longer. Akane has won Ranma's heart; it
never was mine. Who is the one for me, then?>

         She looked over to the man in the white robes working in the
kitchen. <Mousse?> Lately she didn't know what to think of the hidden
weapons master. Ever since they left after Shampoo's defeat by Akane, he
hadn't professed his love for her once. Instead, he had been quiet, even
withdrawn a bit. Above all though, he had striven to help her and be her
friend. It was a side of him that she hadn't seen since they were
children and she found herself liking it.

         She shook her head. <No, this is not Amazon thinking. Must mate
the strong with the strong...> Somehow, she didn't fully convince
herself of that, but instead went to greet the customers.

         "Nihao Ranma, Akane!" she greeted the couple as she bounded up
to them. Ranma looked happy to see her, but there seemed to be a bit of
uncertainty? distrust? in her eyes. "Welcome to Nekohanten!" She turned
slightly to call to someone behind her. "LinLin! Come seat guests!"

         One of Shampoo's little sisters approached and bowed politely
before offering to lead them to an open table. Shampoo told Ranma to go
ahead, she wanted to talk to Akane for a minute. They agreed and LinLin
led Ranma off.

        "So, what did you want to talk about, Shampoo?" Akane asked
warily.

        "Shampoo want to personally apologize for conduct over past year
and half," she said. "I let you know I no chase after Ranma anymore. I
remember you winning in fair combat, so laws that bind me to former
airen no longer in effect. Akane have Ranma's heart, not Shampoo." She
looked down. "Maybe never have."

         Akane's expression softened a bit. "Shampoo, it's nice to hear
you say that, but time will tell if I will ever fully trust you again.
Although I do forgive you if you really mean it."

         Shampoo looked up with a ghost of a smile on her lips. "Shampoo
willing to work to earn trust again." She leaned close. "But Akane
better hold onto her airen or else!"

         Akane nodded and smiled. "You better believe after all we've
been through I'm not ever going to let him go."

        "Is good, then. Come, Akane join date now." Shampoo led her to
the corner booth Ranma sat in and Akane slid in next to him. They placed
their orders and she left.

        "What'd Shampoo wanna talk to you about?" Ranma asked curiously.

         She turned and smiled at him, taking his hand in hers. "That's
between her and I. But, I think I can start to trust her again. Time
will tell."

         He seemed to accept this. "Ya know, I'm glad things are working
out. I'd really like all of you to get along. That was one of the
reasons I never did choose back then. No matter who I picked, I had at
least three other girls who would be out for not only my blood, but also
of the girl I chose. I didn't want to hurt anybody's feelings, just
wanted everyone to be friends. Never had much of `em."

        "And here I thought it was easy, just pick one and be done with
it," She looked down. "I always thought you were a womanizer to have all
these girls chase after you. I'm sorry, Ranma."

         He put her his arm around her and squeezed. "Ah, I forgive ya,
Akane. I'd like ta think that's behind us now." He happened to notice
Shampoo looking at him with a faint smile on her face. She gave him a
wink and went back to whatever she was doing.

         Akane looked up at him with a smile. "I liked the way you said
that, Ranma."

         LinLin came up then and delvering two orders of pork ramen for
Ranma and a single helping of chicken ramen for Akane. Ranma began to
inhale his but a swat from from Akane slowed him down to a more
reasonable pace.

         Halfway through the meal, Hikaru came in and, after gathering
his courage, went back to ask Shampoo for some ginger root and bat
wings. She shrugged, but got him what he wanted. While he waited, he
happened to glance across and see Akane laughing, smiling, and
apparently getting along well with... with... Ranma? He watched as they
finished the meal and Ranma whispered something in her ear. She laughed,
elbowed him, then kissed his cheek.

         Shampoo returned with his ginger root and he absently took it
and ran out of the restaurant, muttering a "Thanks." She shrugged and
went back to preparing some more ramen.

         Hikaru ran through the streets with tears forming in his eyes.
He had good reason to be upset, for his goddess had actually fallen to
Saotomes charms. And even after he defended her against a more powerful
wizard!

         He slowed down to a walking pace and thought. <Yes, that's the
reason I went into magic, to win Akane. Now that Ariko's come, my spells
are beginning to work. There must be something I could use against the
demon that enslaved my love's heart. And when I find it, Akane will see
me, Gosunkugi Hikaru, as the better man and come to me!>

         So wrapped up in his thoughts, he didn't look where he was
going. He collided with something and fell down onto his butt.
Nervously, he looked up at the big man he had run into and the big man
looked down at him.

        "Hey guys," the big man said. "Look at the punk that tried to
attack me."

         Two others, a short fat boy and a tall skinny boy stepped up to
either side of him. The tall, skinney one spoke. "Hey Hiro, I know him.
Goes to Furinken. He's a freak kid named Gosunkugi."

         Hikaru found his voice. "I-I'm t-t-terribly sorry. I d-didn't
mean to..." All powerful wizards were one thing, but somewhere in his
mind, the fear of bullies still lurked.

         The one called Hiro grabbed Gos by the collar and lifted him
off the ground. "Well, I know how you can make it up to me, then. Give
me all your money!"

        "Bu-but I don't have anything..." Hikaru tried to protest.

         Hiro then tossed the smaller boy to the ground where he landed
in a small pile of trash against a wall. "Search him boys! And feel free
to rough him up first."

         Gos cringed as the two boys approched him. He tried to plead
with them to stop, but they wouldn't listen. Something inside of him
snapped again. Reflexively, his hands went into motion, pointing out
from his body. He then shouted something.

        "Flare Arrow!"

         A small reddish-yellowish arrow appeared and shot into the fat
boy. He ran around and screamed as his clothes caught fire. Hikaru
stared down at his hands and wondered how he did that.

        "Don't come near me!" he yelled in his best threatening voice.
It didn't seem to faze Hiro who advanced on him while skinny tried to
help fat boy.

         Hiro cracked his knuckles. "You're gonna pay for that, runt."

         Hikaru tried to duplicate the motions. "Flare Arrow!" A smaller
arrow appeared, but fizzled as it hit it's target.

        "Ha! Looks like you're runnin' outta juice, freak!"

         Gos suddenly recognized that spell. He'd seen it in one of the
books. He also remembered another spell. <I hope this works!> His hands
went into the motion of holding a bow and cocked arrow. "Flare Bit!"

         Half a dozen small balls of light appeared and spread toward
Hiro. They impacted all of his body and the same thing happened to him
that happened to fat boy. His clothes caught fire, sending him running
around and screaming. Skinney boy had just put out the fire on fat boy,
when he saw his leader turn tail and run. Skinny boy and fat boy ran
after him.

         Hikaru just stood there and glared at his hands and wondered
just how the hell he did that. Then he turned and ran himself.





         At the restaurant, the couple had finished and were getting
ready to leave when Mousse stopped them and asked if he could talk with
them a bit. They nodded.

        "What can we do for ya, Mousse?" Ranma asked.

         He hesitated. "First of all, I would thank you, Saotome, for
not pursuing Shampoo and I would congratulate you two on finally getting
together. I was wondering, seeing as you are now a couple, if you would
help me with Shampoo. I followed your advice, Akane, and became her
friend, but so far nothing else has happened besides she no longer
mistreats me."

         Ranma looked at his fiancee and she smiled at him before
turning back to Mousse. "You've already taken the first steps. I do
believe she does care for you deep down, you just have to give her time
to realize it. The more you push her, though, the more she'll push you
away. I know if Ranma and I had started as friends, we probably would've
gotten together a long time ago."

         He squeezed her hand and nodded as confirmation of that. "Yeah,
I think so, too. Listen Mousse, I consider ya a friend despite past
actions. Akane and I would be glad to help you."

         The myopic Amazon eyed him warily. All his past encounters with
Ranma, and his pride, were shouting at him to forget Ranma. But his love
for Shampoo was telling him that maybe, just maybe, he could use a
little help.

         "I guess I would appreciate that," he said carefully and
evenly.

         The two bid Mousse goodnight. The lovestruck Amazon watched
them go, then turned and gazed at the person of his affection.

         <Shampoo, I hope I can prove myself worthy to you.>


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

Author's notes:
Mousse and Shampoo, another hotly debated couple. Will I? Won't I? Who
can say for sure. One thing that is very clear in both the manga and
anime, is that Mousse loves Shampoo. In the anime more than in the
manga, Shampoo is shown to at least care about Mousse a little and maybe
even show a little possessiveness, but she doesn't seem to like the
obssessive way he pursues her (as I said before, Shampoo pursues Ranma
the same way Mousse pursues her). And it's also kinda shown they were
friends as kids. Therefore, if he were to back off a little and maybe
return to being just a friend...




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




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Ranma 1/2: New Challenges
Minor Disturbances

Chapter 3





        "Tendo Kurumi, it's Saturday morning and time to get up," Tendo
Natsume said while nudging her sister.

        "Awww, can't a sleep a little more?" Kurumi mumbled into the
pillow.

        "This is our home now we need to take care of it." She stood up.
"Or would you rather go back to traveling on the road?"

         The younger sister was up instantly. "No! I wanna stay here!
Please don't make me leave!"

         Natsume smiled. "I won't, we have a home now and a dojo. Isn't
that what I promised? We also have a family."

         Kurumi finished getting her clothes and hugged her sister. "I'm
happy, oneechan." They left their room and headed to the bathroom.

         Kasumi was already in and soaking in the furo, but she motioned
her two new sisters in anyway. This wasn't the first morning they had
met like this since Natsume and Kurumi proved to be as early a risers as
Kasumi.

         The eldest Tendo rose the earliest so she could cook breakfast,
and now the two new girls were learning to gradually take over her
chores, so the Tendo household would survive when Kasumi left. After
all, Ranma and Akane had school and then possibly college, and neither
Nabiki nor Soun did much around the house. Well, Nabiki helped by
managing the the few investments that kept the Tendo house and dojo
afloat.

         Kasumi left the furo to get breakfast ready as her two new
sisters finished washing and slipped into the furo. Akane came in little
later and greeted the girls as she took a stool and began soaping up.

        "So, how are you finding life in a stable home?" she asked as
she scrubbed down.

        "I love it!" Kurumi exclaimed.

         Natsume smiled at her younger sister. "I'll admit it is nice to
have to a roof over our heads and warm meals. Though life on the road
can be interesting." She frowned. "I was wondering though, why the dojo
does not have any students?"

         Akane sighed. "Well, neither Ranma or I have time to teach, and
daddy hasn't really felt like teaching since mom died." She dumped a
bucket of cold water over her to wash the suds off then slipped into the
furo with her newly aquired sisters. "Actually, daddy should be
teaching. I think he's put it off long enough and doing this would
probably be good for him."

        "I was thinking that maybe Kurumi and I could take on a few
students and teach a basic self-defense course," Natsume suggested. "I
feel we should do more to help out around here and this would bring some
extra income in."

        "That's a great idea!" Akane said. "It would also give you guys
time to work with dad and get to know him better. What do you think
Kurumi-imoutochan?" The girl in question grinned wildly. It was clear
she like the idea. "Great! Then we'll set it up. I'd also like to spar
with you two later to see how far you've come and I think Ranma would as
well."

         The two girls agreed and got out of the furo to get dressed and
do their chores.







         Natsume and Kurumi watched as Ranma fought with his father
after breakfast. Genma had made it a habit visit the dojo to test his
son once a week, making sure his heir hadn't gone soft. It was something
everyone else had grown used to, but the two sisters had only seen it a
few times and they were impressed. Ranma and his father weren't just
sparring, they were going almost all out and the sight was incredible.
Mid-air leaps and attacks were common, as well as rapid series of blows
that moved so fast they blurred. It was clear Ranma was better, but his
father wasn't far behind.

         In fact, the only reason Genma could last against his son, was
that he knew the styles and knew how his son fought. He also used
several dirty tricks to gain the upper hand. The match ended with a
downward thrust kick from Ranma that landed his father in the pond. The
splash caught him as well, turning him into his redheaded alter ego.

         The two girls watching this were still amazed at the
transformation, even though it had all been explained to them. What was
more amazing, was that Ranma didn't even seem winded.

        "Feh, you're the one whose been gettin' soft, Oyaji," she said.
"You didn't last ten minutes."

         The panda dragged himself out of the pond. [I was just going
easy on you, boy!]

        "Yeah right. Akane provides a better challenge than you. You
hear that? SHE could beat you easily."

         His iinazuke had just walked out so she heard that last comment
and smiled with pride. "You think so, Ranma-chan?"

         She shrugged. "Sure. These past coupla months you've gotten a
whole lot better. I'd say you're `bout as good as I was when I first
arrived." Ranma found herself surprised to say that, though it was the
truth.

         Akane had gotten a whole lot better. Once Ranma got it into his
mind to train her, and train her hard, she began showing major
improvements. It didn't surprise him too much though, since he had a
strong feeling she had a lot of untapped potential.

         Just looking at her now, he could see the change in her. Baby
fat was gone, replaced by lean muscle. She had even grown an inch.
Together with the skin-tight, yellow tank top and jean shorts she wore,
Ranma thought she looked absolutely incredible.

         Clearing her thoughts, onna-Ranma smirked. "'Course, I've
gotten way better since then, so ya still gotta long ways ta go!"

        "Baka!" Akane launched herself into a jumpkick at her fiancee
but with no real anger behind it. Ranma swung out of the way, however.
"Just for that, you're meeting me in the dojo afterward! Oh, and we've
got a match against against Natsume and Kurumi later today as well."

        "Is that so? I've been lookin' for some new challenges. Let me
just get dried off." Ranma removed her shirt and wrung it out.

         Akane rolled her eyes. "Get your shirt back on Ranma! How many
times do I have to tell you not to take off your shirt when you're a
girl?" Ranma smirked, but put her shirt back on and Akane hook her head.
"Let me get changed and we can get started."

         When she left, Ranma turned to the other two girls. "Why don't
we see what you've learned while we wait for Akane? Both of you against
me."

        "Are you sure about this?" Kurumi asked.

        "My sister's right," Natsume agreed. "You are good, but do you
think you can take both of us?"

         Ranma cracked her knuckles. "Won't know unless I try. Let's
go!"






         Akane quickly changed into the outfit she had asked Kasumi to
make for her and grinned evily. Ranma hadn't seen it yet and she
couldn't wait to see his expression. As expected, it felt good on her.
When she had worn something similiar before, she had reveled in the
freedom of movement and power she had felt and she had longed to feel
that way again.

         When Ranma began to train her, she wanted something she could
fight in. She had been wearing Chinese outfits like Ranma wore all the
time, and she understood why he did. They were comfortable to wear and
fight in; and with Ranma's life, he needed to be ready to fight anytime.
However, she wanted something special for her, especially if she fought
in a tournament or a duel.

         After checking herself in a mirror to make sure everything was
alright, she rushed downstairs to find onna-Ranma already in combat with
Natsume and Kurumi. Akane scowled as she watched Ranma dodge most the
attacks sent her way and block the rest.

        "You Baka!" she yelled. "Why aren't you attacking back?"

         Ranma leapt out of the way of a ribbon attack and ducked under
a staff swing before responding. "What, don't you *jump* know? I thought
I taught you to *dodge* gauge an opponent before *block* you commit to
an attack." The two girls redoubled their attacks. "Like... this!"

         Ranma swept in past Natsume's defenses, grabbed her rugbeater
staff and flipped her. While she was in the air, Ranma grabbed the
ribbon and yanked Kurumi forward since she was no match for onna-Ranma's
strength. She quickly tied the younger girl up with her own ribbon.

         Natsume hit the ground and wound up a small whirlwind attack
that Ranma countered with a small Hiryuu Shoten Ha, then closed the
distance. Ranma was careful to take the staff strikes in her bracers,
since Natsume had channeled cold ki into it. Seeing an opening, she
slipped in and, with a twist of a wrist, disarmed her opponent and
flipped her to the ground. When Natsume opened her eyes, she saw Ranma's
fist hovering above her eyes.

         She blinked. "You ARE much better than you were when we first
came here. I would be honored if you would teach us as it seems we have
much to learn."

         Ranma turned the fist into an open palm and pulled Natsume to
her feet. Akane untied the younger sister and helped her up.

         It was then that Ranma turned around and saw what she was
wearing. "What the...!?"

         When Akane noticed Ranma finally notice her, she grinned.
"Alright Ranma, you're mine! Come on, Do-chan!" And she leapt to the
attack while Natsume and Kurumi making their way off to the side.

         Ranma's mind went in circles as he backed away from Akane's
attacks. "What? How? I thought it was destroyed!" <That's the cursed
battle dogi! How'd she get it back?>

         But Akane wouldn't say anything as she stepped up her attacks,
punching and kicking while Ranma went on the defensive. He was hard
pressed at first to keep up, but that was mainly because he had just
fought a match with his father and then the two girls and he was
starting to feel a bit winded. Akane was coming in fresh.

         Then he realized he was holding his own. <That means it can't
be the battle dogi, since she was much better while wearing it.> He
grinned. "Nice replica," he said nonchalantly.

         Akane grimaced. <He figured it out!> "Maybe... Why don't you
fight back, Ranma? Kachu Tenshin Amaguriken!"

         Her fists blurred with chestnut speed and onna-Ranma countered
with her own. Akane's wasn't as fast as Ranma so she ended up taking
several hits in return, but she had counted on that. Without missing a
beat, she slipped down and swept Ranma's feet out from under her and
sent the redhead to the ground. Her fist followed the motion and Ranma
threw up her forearms to block, but still grunted from the hit.

         She flipped back to her feet to see Akane standing there,
laughing. "Oh, you should have see the look in your eyes when you
thought you were really up against Do-chan!"

        "I don't get it," Natsume said from the sidelines.

         Ranma growled. "Akane had an enchanted battle dougi just like
that once. It made her nearly invincible; even I couldn't beat her. But
I hit it's weak spot and it was destroyed."

         Akane twirled around. "So, how do you like it? Kasumi made it
for me. I figure I could use it in tournaments and duels and such. It
looks good and feels nice."

         Ranma snorted. "An outfit ain't everything. Most of the time
you have to fight, your enemy won't give you a chance to change."

        "I think it looks kawaii!" Kurumi said. "I like it!"

        "I do, too," came another female voice. Everyone turned to see a
bandanna clad boy and girl.

        "Ryoga!" Ranma exclaimed. "How ya been! Haven't seen ya in,
what, a couple of months?"

         Ryoga grinned, showing his fangs. "I was thinking of greeting
you with, `Ranma, prepare to die!', but Akari-chan talked me out of it."

         A round of greetings and introductions took place and Ryoga
explained his reason for their visit. When he mention the arranged
fiancee, Ranma couldn't help but roll on the ground laughing.

        "Raaannnmaaa," Ryoga growled.

        "HAHAHAHA, I'm sorry, HAHAHA, that's just rich! Now you know how
I feel. HAHAHAHA, mmmph!"

         Akane removed her hand from Ranma's face. "That wasn't very
nice Ranma, quit picking on Ryoga-kun! Why do you fight with him
anyway?"

         Ranma calmed down. "Heh, we're martial artists. How're we gonna
get better if we don't fight?" He grinned. "Ryoga'n me had some good
fights." Akane's face slowly changed as she got it and Ranma nodded.

        "Ranma-san speaks the truth," Natsume spoke up. "Just like
painters and muscians who improve by pushing their skills to the limits,
combat helps us redefine our edge and make us better."

        "Wow," Akane breathed. "I've never looked at it quite that way.
To me, the Art has always been something we use to defend ourselves."
She smiled. "Well, who shall fight who now?"

        Ranma thought about it for a second. "Well, let's have Akane go
against Natsume and Kurumi for now, then I'll gauge Akari's abilities in
a sparring match."

         That sounded good to all present and they reconvened inside the
dojo. Akane took up one side with the newest Tendo girls on the other,
each preparing for the match. Ryoga and Akari sat down to watch while
Ranma walked over to Akane. She noticed his approach and spoke quietly
so that only he could hear.

        "You really think I can take both of them?" she asked.

        "I think you can," he replied. "Or am I wrong?"

         Fierce determination replaced the mild doubt as the primary
emotion on her face. "No, I know I can do this!"

         Ranma smiled and nodded, then lightly grabbed her arm and
pulled her closer. "And remember, nothing special. No Tora Dokiken or
other special moves. Remember what I taught you."

         Akane nodded in understanding. "'Never let them see everything
you've got.' Yeah I remember."

         He released her then and approached the center. He then spoke
so everyone could hear. "Okay, is everybody ready?" All three girls
nodded. "Then let the match begin!" As soon as he stepped clear, the
match was on.

         Akane charged, hoping to seize the intiative. Kurumi met her
opponent's charge with one of her own, while Natsume worked her way to
the side. As the two girls met in the center, they exchanged a rapid
series of strikes and counterattacks, but Kurumi was unprepared for just
how much Akane had improved since their last encounter. All of her
attacks were blocked or dodged, yet Akane still managed to land quite a
few of her own.

         A last kick by Akane sent Kurumi flying away just in time, but
she managed to twist in mid-air to land on her feet. It was at that
moment that Natsume struck, sending a mini-tornado flying in. The battle
dougi-clad girl dove to the side just in time to avoid it, but then
Natsume was on her. Jumping to her feet, Akane prepared to meet her
opponent when a ribbon snaked out and wrapped itself around her arm. So
trapped, she could only block as Natsume brought her rugbeater staff
into play with several strikes along her opponent's body.

         Akane could feel the ice cold sting of each strike, but she
could do little to retaliate while Kurumi's ribbon was keeping her off
balance. Ignoring the staff for the moment, Akane tugged hard on the
ribbon and dashed to meet the oncoming girl at the other end. Unable to
stop herself, Kurumi instead leapt into the air. Akane grinned and leapt
after her, her powerful legs sending her up faster than her opponent.
Kurumi's eyes widened in surprise as Akane zoomed past her in the air
and rebounded off the ceiling. She was again unprepared for the angle of
the attack as Akane lashed out with a few strikes, then grabbed and
tossed Kurumi at her sister.

         On the sidelines, Ranma smiled with pride. Aerial attacks were
a specialty of the Saotome school and Akane had just demonstrated how
far she had come in that area.

          Natsume caught her sister and lightly tossed her away, knowing
Kurumi would land on her feet. Unfortunately, that left her open to an
attack from the still airborne Akane as she came down. Natsume twisted
and took the flying kick to her arm. Grunting with the pain, she was
forced back and to the ground. Akane was unable to follow up as Kurumi
was attacking a second later.

         The ribbon lashed out again and Akane barely managed to dodge
in time, but then something strange happened. The ribbon that had past
her turned around and lashed into her backside. Akane gasped as a hot
flash of pain burned it's way into her back. She realized Kurumi must be
charging it with her own special brand of fire ki, but the controlling
of the ribbon was a new thing. As the pain faded, she belatedly realized
Natsume had sent another mini-tornado at Akane, and this one she
couldn't dodge.

         The cold winds slashed into her and sent her tumbling
backwards. Desperately trying to regain her feet, she had barely
succeeded when the ribbon came flying in and she brought her forearms up
to block. The burning sensations hit again and she fought back the
scream, knowing how Ranma would react. She could already see his face
and she knew how much he wanted to jump in. <I have to do this on my
own!>

         When her arms came down, Natsume was there and attacking madly.
Akane realized that in order to stop these two, she needed to take away
their weapons. As she evaded and and counterattacked with the elder
sister, she activated a small amount of the Tora Dokiken and fed it into
her arm. On the next swing of the staff, Akane caught it.

         Ranma frowned.

         Natsume gasped. "How...?"

         Akane grinned and yanked. Hard. The staff left the girl's hands
and Akane brought it up to block the incoming ribbon strike. The ribbon
wound itself around the weapon as Akane kicked out with a roundhouse,
backing Natsume away. She then closed on the ribbon girl once more,
wrapping more of the ribbon around the staff. Kurumi dropped her hold on
her ribbon and leapt away, knowing she couldn't match Akane up close.

         Akane allowed herself a vicious grin as she tossed the weapons
away and turned to confront Natsume.

        "Don't think you've won, just because we no longer have our
weapons," Natsume intoned. "We are still formidable fighters without
them."

        "Then come show me!" Akane taunted.

         Natsume did. Akane hadn't actually fought Natsume without her
staff before, so she really didn't know what the girl was capable of.
Still, she could see the basic Anything-Goes styles in her attacks, so
she could deal with them. At least until Kurumi joined the melee.

         Now facing two different attackers up close, Akane was hard
pressed to defend herself. Punches and kicks were getting through and
she was delivering less hits. If this kept up, she might not win. She
was tempted to use the Tora Dokiken again, when she heard Ranma's voice.

        "Remember the school yard boys!" he yelled.

         And Akane suddenly understood. She had always been good against
multiple opponents, having LOTS of practicing fending off the boys each
morning. It was one-on-one fights that Ranma was trying to help her deal
with. But now she remembered how she dealt with them.

         She shifted her stance and moved between the two girls, as they
were both in front of her. As they struck in unions, Akane kept moving
and let their strikes continue past her and into each other. Natsume's
punch struck the yonger sister and Kurumi's kick lanced into the other's
stomach.

         Akane grinned as the her plan worked. <Let your attackers hit
each other!> That was something she had learned in those early morning
fights of long ago. Now, she flowed foreward again and grabbed Natsume's
arm while striking up Kurumi's body with her leg. Like Ranma had once
done with Kuno, she had struck multiple vital points with her foot
almost faster than could be seen.

         Kurumi stumbled back and collapsed while Akane tossed her other
opponent into the wall. Natsume rebounded and managed a few weak
attacks, but after seeing her sister go down, she knew it was over.

         Several solid body strikes later, Natsume went down and
yielded.

         Only then did Akane realized how exhausted and spent she felt
and collapsed to her knees as well. Instantly Ranma was there,
proclaiming the victor and holding her up.






         An hour later saw the fighters somewhat rested and recovered.
Onna-Ranma had begun to spar with Akari, to feel out her abilites. When
Akane had recovered enough, Ranma let her take over Akari's training.

         Akane had been delighted at the fact that Ranma had felt she
was ready to train someone. He didn't tell her it was because he still
had problems hitting girls and Akari just seemed too sweet to attack. He
did tell her it was because Akane could better understand where Akari
was coming from since she was pretty strong, but lacking in speed.

         Natsume and Kurumi rotated in to help as well, until Akari felt
she had couldn't take anymore several hours later. Then, the Natsume
decided to spar with Ryoga, since he hadn't been doing much throughout
the training sessions. It was going well and they seemed evenly matched
since Ryoga didn't really want to hit girl's either so he wasn't at his
best. Then the fight went outside, but Ranma didn't realize the danger
until it was too late.

         A mini-tornado sped by Ryoga and into the koi pond, sucking up
water and spraying it everywhere. Everyone froze as Ryoga disappeared
and a little black piglet wiggled out of the remaining clothes.

        "Let me guess, he's Jusenkyo cursed too?" Kurumi asked

         Ranma quickly grabbed a kettle and upended the contents over
the piglet, and Natsume and Kurumi looked away while the naked lost boy
dressed. Then both Ranma and Ryoga nervously glanced at Akane.

         For several moments, nothing was said and no emotion could be
seen on Akane's face. Ranma was unsure what to do. Then, without
warning, she sped into action and struck Ryoga, plastering him into the
outside wall.

        "You PIG!" she screamed. "HOW COULD YOU DO THAT TO ME! Why
didn't you tell me you were my pet!? You've heard my deepest secrets and
slept in my bed! I though you were an honorable man. RYOGA NO HENTAI!"
She struck him over and over again with her fists, before Ranma got
there and held her back. "LET ME GO!"

        Ranma shook his head. "No, I can't let you do this to yourself."

        "No! He LIED to me! You lied to me! You had to have known about
this! How could you!?" She looked up at him, accusation in her eyes,
then she punched him into the same wall as Ryoga.

        "Neither one meant to lie to you," Akari said softly.

         Akane looked horrified. "Y-you knew, too!?"

        "I only found out recently," she said sadly.

        "Who else knew this!?" She looked around and suddenly felt very
uncomfortable, so she took off.

         Leaping to the wall, and then the rooftops, she let her feet
carry her, not caring where she was going. <Baka, baka, baka, baka! All
of them! Ranma and Ryoga especially! Why did they use me like that?  It
must've been some cruel joke they were playing on me. Let's get a good
laugh at dumb Akane's expense!>

         She finally stopped and and realized where she was. <Underneath
the bridge.> She collapsed as the tears flew down her face. <Why didn't
Ranma say anything? If he loved me, why?> Images came to her of Ranma
and P-chan. Of P-chan attacking Ranma and Ranma attacking P-chan. Of
Ranma seemingly jealous of a pig. Of a male Ranma sneaking into her room
at night with a kettle.

         That last thought brought a revelation with it. <He was male,
so why the kettle? Obviously to transform P-chan and get him out.>

         She calmed down some. <No, now I see now how he tried to
protect me. All those times he snuck into my room to get him away from
me and I called him a pervert. And P-chan attacked him, or Ranma got
Ryoga lost so he wouldn't show up.> She closed her eyes. <And that
bandanna, that damned bandanna. I should've seen it, especially after
that tattoo incident. Kami, I'm no smarter than Kuno.> She began to cry
again.

        "It was my fault he was cursed," came a voice.

         Akane looked up. "What?"

        "It was shortly after I got cursed," Ranma said softly. "I was
so pissed I was chasin' Oyaji around the pools and I sorta bumped into
him and knocked him into the spring. I didn't realize `til later who he
was and what I'd done." He closed his eyes. "I wanted to tell you, but I
couldn't. When I found out, he looked so upset that I promised I
wouldn't tell anyone. Shortly afterward, you kissed his pig form and
took him to bed. I-I think that's when he began to love you, since he
had never been shown any affection before."

        "So why didn't you tell me!" her voice came in, full of
accusation.

        "I made a promise!" Ranma retorted. "If I broke my word, I'd be
no better than pop, who broke his word whenever it seemed convenient."
He sighed. "Actually, I should've told you. You're honor is more
important than mine. All I can say is I'm sorry."

         Akane stared at him and desperatly wanted to yell and scream at
him some more. But even through her flood of emotions, she could see how
he had tried to protect her. She stood up slowly and regarded him.

         Ranma avoided her gaze by looking down. Twiddling his fingers,
he asked, "So, am I forgiven? Or do ya want me to go away?" He turned
his back to her.

         She sighed. "No. You're not getting off that easy. You're going
to make this up to me when I figure out exactly how." She walked
foreward and studied his face, as if trying to determine something.
"Your honor is one of the things I love about you, so I guess I can't
really blame you for trying to keep it."

         He slowly pulled away and turned around to face her, surprise
on his face. "You mean it? You don't blame me?" <She always thought
everything was my fault before...>

         Akane sighed noisily and crossed her arms over her chest. "Oh
no. You've still got some of the blame." She turned around.

        "So, will you still help train Akari? She didn't know `bout any
of this until recently, and she still accepts Ryoga."

         She threw her hands up. "Why? I don't understand. Why would he
become my pet and why would Akari accept him?"

         "I guess `cause she loves him. And..." Ranma paused. <I guess I
better be totally honest with her. "Ryoga loved you."

         She turned back around to face him and blinked. "Ryoga... loved
me?"

         He nodded. "That's another reason why we always fought. He kept
trying to get me away from you and I... I became jealous everytime you
were nice to him or he became close to you." He closed his eyes. "I'm
sorry."

         Akane was slight shocked at this, but then realized how jealous
she became of Ranma's other fiancees and her expression softened. She
reached up her hand to his cheek. "I... I think we've both done things
we regret. I know I've done a lot I feel horrible for. I abused you and
blamed you for things that weren't your fault. I... I guess we can try
starting over." Her eyes turned serious for a bit. "Provided you aren't
keeping any more secrets from me."

        He waved his hands. "Nothin' else! There may be things about me
you don't know yet, but there ain't nothin' I'm deliberately keepin'
from you."

        "Good." Her face became gentle again and she leaned into him.

         "Now, what are you going to do about Ryoga?" Ranma asked
hesitantly after putting his arms around her.

         She frowned. "I don't know. If I see him again I just might
kill him."

        "You should forgive him."

         Akane scowled. "Why?"

        "Because he's our friend; he's helped us numorous times when he
didn't have ta," Ranma replied.

        "He didn't have to sleep with me either." She sighed. "I don't
know, but... I'll try. How can you be so supporting of him after what he
did to you and what he made me think of you?"

         Ranma shrugged. "Because I can. Life's too short to hold a
grudge. And like I said, Ryoga's a friend and I haven't had too many of
those. He was also one of the few people who could give me a good
fight."

         Akane sighed and settled her head against his chest again. "I
may not forgive him just yet, but I'll help Akari. She does need our
help."

         He rested his cheek on her hair. "That's good enough for now."






        "Are you sure you're alright?" Akari asked.

         Ryoga laughed nervously. "I've taken worse form Ranma."

         Akari punched him lightly. "I'm not talking about your physical
health, I know you're built like a tank. How are you feeling inside?"

         The lost boy sighed and looked down. "Part of me feels relieved
that I got that out. The rest feels hurt that Akane-san hates me, though
I know I deserve it."

        "I don't really hate you," Akane said.

         Ryoga and Akari looked up to see Ranma and Akane approaching,
with Ranma walking slightly behind her.

         "Akane-san, I-"

         She waved a hand and cut him off. "I'm still not happy with
you, but Ranma's explained some things and I think I know why you did
what you did. That still doesn't make it right."

        "Can we still be friends?" Ryoga asked meekly, hoping against
hope.

        "Maybe. You'll have to work to earn my trust again, if you ever
do. But I won't attack you." She turned to the other girl. "And I'll
still help you Akari-chan. I know what annoyances additional fiancees
can be."

        "Thank you, Akane-chan," she replied. "I wasn't happy with what
Ryoga-chan did, but I only learned of it after he had promised Ranma he
wouldn't do it anymore."

         Ranma spoke up next. "I think we should put this behind us for
now and get some rest. I don't think any additional trainin' will help
today."

         That seemed to be accepted by all, and they went their seperate
ways.







         Satsu sat back in his run-down loft as he read the note he had
received form Oka via carrier pigeon.  He then curled it up and thought
about it and what it could mean. Looking outside, he could see storm
clouds appear on the horizon and couldn't help but think of it as an
omen. He uncurled the paper and read it again.


Satsu,

        Have gone over our scrolls and manuscripts. Not much remains,
but is clear the time is coming. Saotome and Tendo names do appear, but
what role they played in event of 1000 years ago is unclear. Should be
several events and signs which herald the return. Sign of wolf is one.
There are others. Passage I wrote down on second paper only clue.
Suggest you question Saotome-san and his friends to see what they know.
Will send more info as it becomes available.

Oka



         He inwardly wondered if that was a good idea. Oh sure, he could
make discreet inquires, but if the portents were there, then he couldn't
risk drawing attention to himself just yet.

         He stroked his goatee, then reached for the other piece of
paper. The passage she had inscribed was vague at beast and he had no
idea what it meant, save for the one about Kenji. And even that was
iffy.




The dark one is sealed, but curses abound;
He's sworn to return when the time counts down.

End of days, the chosen shall burn,
Death is fortold when curses return.

Shadows are needed when the wolf is come,
Warriors must fight until the battle be done.

End to madness, End to wandering;
End to the line that is currently floundering.

The final seal is undone, dragonfire burns all,
Evil must be vanquished, yet darkness shall fall.

Death shall abound and humanity is through,
unless two become one and one becomes two.



         Satsu tore up the first note and burned it. The second he hid
in his pocket. Looking at his schedule, he saw it was time to train both
his students as one now. They had advanced much, learning the arts of
the clan, but it was now time to train them to fight as a team.

         He was also intrigued by that male kunoichi that worked with
them. Apparently he knew the owner and he belonged to no clan. The old
master sensed something in him, and wondered if he could be the genius
kunoichi that appeared once every 100 years. <Maybe I can get him to
join our clan. We could certainly use the help.>

         He leaned back in his chair. <Yes, I have much to think
about...>




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




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DISCLAIMER:


Ranma 1/2: New Challenges
Minor Disturbances

Chapter 4





         Ranma was sleeping. This wouldn't be a bad thing if he was at
home and it was night. It would be a bad thing if he was in class.

         Currently, he was in class. Actually, it was study period so he
got away with it. This time he felt he was justified in sleeping because
of the heavy workouts and training her went through all weekend.
Natsume, Kurumi, and Akari were put through their paces, and he even
spent some more time working on his teamwork with Akane. He had begun to
teach her aura control, and then to use that to feel an ally's movements
and read them.

         Sunday night ended with a battle royal. Ranma and Akane vs.
Ryoga, Akari, Natsume, AND Kurumi. The fight lasted over an hour, and
the dynamic duo pulled out a win by the barest of margins, mostly
because the quartet had trouble timing their attacks so they woudn't hit
their own teamates. Ranma's plan was simple: Wear down the girls, then
team up on Ryoga.

         It was simple and it worked. Which was why Akane was also
sleeping in class. Fortunately, a wake-up call was soon forthcoming.

        "AAAAAALLLLLOOOOOHHHHHAAAA!"

         Ranma was now clinging to the ceiling. Akane had almost
duplicated the motion, but some part of her realized she was wearing her
school dress and it might not be a good idea. They returned to their
seats and the student body settled down to listen to the rest of
Principal Kuno's speech over the intercom.

        "Da big Kahuna got a big surprise for all you keiki's and
wahini's!" he announced. "While I be enjoyin' the islands, me come
across amercian holiday called Halloween. It be end of da month, so da
big kahuna be throwin' major costume party and dance for all good
keiki's. Be sure to bring date! Details be followin' later, yeah!"

         The annoucement ended and the school began to talk excitedly
among themselves. A costumed dance party at the end of the month!

         Looking at a calender in her notebook, Akane determined that is
was in two weeks, on a Saturday night. <Ranma better want to go with
me,> she thought to herself. <Or I'll have to pound him.>

         Ranma was thinking along slightly different lines. It was
unusual for the principal to do something this nice for the school
without throwing in some sort of catch; usually a haircut. Of course,
they had vanquished Galfgar, so maybe the principal was coming around?
He shook his head and decided to think on that later. Somehow he sensed
something else was more important, but he couldn't figure out what.

         The bell rang and the class erupted into conversation. Ranma
caught the gist of some of the conversations and they seemed to revolve
around who was asking who to the dance. *Ding!* He suddenly remembered
what was important and turned around to see Akane looking at him.

        "Uh, Akane?"

        "Yes?" she replied ever-so-sweetly.

         He swallowed. Why was this so difficult even though their
feelings were known? "You, uh, wanna go to the dance? With me, I mean?"

         She smiled. "I'd love to, Ranma. We'll have to find some good
costumes." She brightened, then smiled mischievously. "And I have the
perfect idea! Just leave them to me!"

         Ranma groaned. "As long as you don't plan on makin' them, since
we know you can't sew."

         Akane sighed and smiled. If he could revert to old habits, so
could she. "Ranma no Baka," she said softly. *Wham!*

         The class quieted down and looked at the quarrelling couple.
Apparently some things never change, though the mallet in Ranma's head
wasn't delivered at full force and only drove his head into the desk, as
opposed to the floor.

         Ranma's head came up. "What'd you do that for?"

        "You still have to make it up to me for hiding P-chan's secret
from me. This will be the perfect revenge." She then smiled and started
to giggle, then broke out laughing and Ranma joined her. The class
collectively shook their heads and went back to their own conversations.

         Then again, maybe things do change.

         Ukyo had watched the exchange with amusement on her face, and
wishfully wondered if she would ever have someone who looked at her the
way Ranma looked at Akane. She turned to the side to look at an empty
desk a few seats over and wondered where Kenji was. He said he was going
to catch up to them right after he finished closing up following the
breakfast rush, yet he never showed.

        "Heya, Ucchan, who ya going with?" Ranma asked.

         Ukyo turned around. "Huh? Oh, I don't know. Do you know where
Kenji-kun is?"

         Ranma shook his head. "Haven't seen him. Doesn't he walk to
school with his sister and you?"

        "Yeah, but we left a little earlier this morning. I just gotta
bad feelin' about this."

         He shrugged. "Well, he ain't exactly on Nabiki's nice list, but
I think he can handle anything she throws his way."

         She sighed. "Yeah, I suppose you're right."






         As a matter of fact, Kenji was not alright. He was currently a
wolf and running from the expert Nerima animal control department, who
was in hot pursuit. <Nabiki! You're gonna pay for this!> Somehow, he
knew she was responsible.

         He had started his walk to school when the water hit him. That
was the only way to describe it as it came from all sides, ensuring a
thorough soaking. After shaking himself out of his clothes, a van pulled
up and several people piled out with nets and other devices and began to
assault him with the intent to capture.

         As they closed on him, Kenji recalled learning a special
technique from Ranma that would help in this situation. What was it
called? Oh yeah, the Saotome Secret Technique.

         In other words, he ran.

         He flew down the street as fast as his little wolf legs could
carry him, belted around a corner, and continued running. <Good thing
I'm faster in this form,> he thought. Ducking into an alley, he left the
vaunted animal control people in the dust. He took a breather while he
listened for any sounds of his pursuers.

        "Where did he go?"

        "I think he went this way!"

        "We'll split up, but be careful. Nabiki-san said this dog was
dangerous."

        <Dangerous indeed! I'll show you dangerous Tendo Nabiki!> He
looked down the alley and noticed it ended in a high fence. <Just great,
of course this would have to a dead end.> He was about to trot out the
way he came in when a couple burly men blocked the way.

        "Nice doggy," one said. "We're just gonna take you somewhere
better."

        "You think he believes that?" the second one asked.

        "Naw, better get the tranq gun."

         The ninja boy trainee-turned-wolf growled in fear as one of the
men pulled out a tranquilizer rifle and pointed it at him. He resisted
the urge to attack, since these guys were only doing their job, but one
or two shots with that rifle and he was a goner. <Only way to go is up,
I suppose.>

         He sprang to the side to avoid the first dart, then jumped
again to the top of a garbage can to dodge the second shot.

        "How does he do that? He's fast!"

         He couldn't fly in this form, but he still had limited control
of his wind abilities. Utilizing a wind boost, he sprang to the wall.
Upon contact, he used another boost to propel him upwards to the other
wall as he continued to triangular jump up the alley.

         The two men watched in shock as their prey disappeared onto the
roof above them, then looked at each other.

        "Uh, I won't say anything if you won't."

        "Agreed."






         Up above, Kenji continued to roof hop as he went in search of
hot water. Another part of his mind wondered at what the best way to get
back at Nabiki would be, but most of his mind was taken with finding hot
water. <Well, I was almost to school when I was attacked, maybe Ranma or
Ukyo can help me.> Leaping back down to the street, he galloped rapidly
back toward Furinken.

         "There he is!"

         Kenji risked a look backwards to see a white van approaching
from behind. A woman was leaning out the passenger side with a nasty
looking stick that had... sparks? crackling from one end. <Great, how do
I tell her I'm not into electroshock therapy?>

         He poured on the speed and the school gradually appeared in the
distance, but the van was still closing. <Come on, just a little
farther!> The wolf grinned. <Let's see if you can handle this!> He
changed course suddenly veering off to the side, yet the van stayed with
him.  Just as he was about to leap the wall into the school yard,
something made contact with his wolfish behind.

        "Awwwoo!" he cried as several thousand volts assisted his leap
over the wall.

         The van wasn't so lucky. The driver slammed on the brakes, but
it was too late. As Kenji hit the ground on the other side and rolled in
pain, he could hear the impact the van made with the wall. Lazily he
forced himself to regain his feet. The aftereffects of the shock were
fading, but his butt still felt somewhat numb and tingly.

         He shook his head and trotted off to find some hot water, or
someone who could get him some. The courtyard was empty of students, but
he'd barely gone a few feet when two more men in white appeared with a
net and a tranq gun. <Oh come on! Don't I get a break?> They shouted,
pointed in his direction, and the chase resumed.

         Dashing through an open side door in the school building, he
ran down the empty hall. <Classes must be in session. My classroom is on
the second floor, same as Ukyo, Ranma, and Akane. Just got to get up the
stairs... Yipe!> Two more men appeared at the end of the hall before he
could reach the stairs.

         He stopped and turned around, but the two men who were chasing
him blocked off his escape route. <Oh boy, what now?> As they slowly
advanced on him, Kenji growled lightly. <Alright, enought of this. I'm
not just a wolf, I'm a ninja wolf! Time to show these turkeys who's
boss.>

         He turned and leapt at the the two men behind him. The net came
down, but Kenji grabbed the shaft in his mouth and swung it around,
whacking the one holding the tranq gun. He couldn't put that much force
into into it, but it was enough to send his target stumbling back.

        "Did you see that?"

        "That dog just attacked him with a net! Auugh!"

        "Are you sure this is a normal animal? This is Nerima..."

        "You heard what Nabiki said! We HAVE to get this wolf or else
those pictures get out!"

         Kenji wasted no time and ran as fast as his legs could carry
him, back the way he came. <So, she is responsible for this. Grrr. I'll
get you for this, Nabiki!> The door was still open and he sprung through
it, the Animal Control men right behind him. In a few seconds, he had
crossed the courtyard and was back out into the streets. <The school is
a bust for now, where else can I get hot water?>

         He suddenly realized he had slowed while looking for a place to
change back, and he paid for the mistake when a dart hit his already
tender behind. That sped him into action as he ducked into a nearby
public bath. <Yes! I can change back here!>

         In his haste, he failed to notice he entered the wrong side.

        *Splash!*

         Unfortunately, the bath was only mostly empty at the moment.

        "Yes, I made it!" the now nude boy exclaimed. That's when he
noticed the towel clad females looking at him rather... nasty. "Ulp!"

         The blood loss from his nose incapacitated him enough for the
standard `Pervert in the bath!' beating to commence. It ended with a
flight over to the men's side.

         Being half-concicous from the beating, he was unable to do
anything as he flew through a cold water splash (of course). His
impromptu flight ended when he hit the ground and slid out of the the
public bathouse altogether.

         Dragging his beaten and soaked body out of the garbage, the
unhappy wolf once again trotted down the street. <Got to... get home...>
he repeated over and over again as a mantra. It was then that the
effects of the tranq drug began to overwhelm his adrenaline. He suddenly
felt very tired. <Can't... go... to... sleep...>

         Taking a detour through the park, he stumbled into the forest
and collapsed under a thicket of bushes. In a matter of seconds, he was
out like a light.







         They were just getting out of school when the next major even
occured. Ranma, Akane, Ukyo, and Yuri were walking to the school gates
when it appeared (Kenji never did get to school that day). It crashed
through the cement wall and continued toward the school.

        "What is that!?" Yuri exclaimed as an eight foot tall, thing,
came lumbering toward them.

        "I think it's... a robot?" Akane answered.

         And it was. Vaguely human shaped, bi-pedal, and covered in
slivery-grey shades of metal.

         Ranma voiced the next question."Well, where did it come from?
And what's it doin'?" They watched as students scattered before it. It
seemed to be moving in a straight line towards the school.

        "Stop delinquent!"

         Akane gasped. "Oh no, Hinako-sensei's going to try to take it
on!"

         The young girl stood before the automaton and brandished her
coin. "This is your last warning." No response. "Happo Five-Yen Satsu!"
Nothing. "Grrr.. Try this! Happo Fifty-Yen Satsu!" Nothing. "Hmmm, I
need some energy." She turned a nearby group of onlookers and sucked
them dry, gowing into her adult form.

         Ranma and co. were on their way when she unleashed her return
attack.

        "Happo No-Yen Coin Return!" The blast of stored ki energy struck
the robot and pushed it back a few feet, but didn't seem to stop it.
Instead, the robot's chest opened up and a missile launched back at the
diminutive teacher. "Eep!"

         Ranma put on a burst of speed and picked up the teacher,
carrying her to safety while Akane lanched her own ki blast to destroy
the projectile. Everyone hit the dirt as the explosion tossed up a dust
cloud.

         Yuri looked up. "Is it gone?"

         The dust settled to show the robot still advancing. "Not a
chance, sugar," Ukyo said while drawing her battle spat. "We gotta stop
that thing before someone gets hurt!"

         Ranma disengaged himself from Hinako who was torn between
thanking him profusely and crying at why her attack didn't work. "I'm
with ya, Ucchan. Let's go, Akane!"

         Ranma and the two girls leapt at their target, which stopped
and lifted both arms. They failed to dodge the electric zaps it unloaded
on them, and they hit the ground well short of the robot.

        "What did... it hit... us with?" Ranma sputtered. He looked up
to see Akane still writhing from the attack. "A-kane!" He focused his
strength and forced himself to his feet, working his way over to his
fiancee.

         Ukyo was a little better off since the shock had struck her
spatula and managed to travel up her right arm before she dropped it.
Now it lay limp and numb at her side, while she held several throwing
spatulas in her other hand. Charging them with her ki energy, they took
on a shade of green and she launched them. They exploded upon contact,
and this time the robot showed some damage, thought not much.

        "Akane, say something!" Ranma had made it over to his now still
fiancee and held her head in his lap.

         She lazily opened her eyes and looked up at him. "Ran...ma?"

         Concern was written heavily all over his face. "Hey tomboy, are
you okay?"

         She smiled. "Yeah, just a little shaken from that attack. I'll
be okay. Go get it for me, okay?"

         He forced a smile back at her. "Sure, I'll turn it inta scrap."
He carried her off to the side and gently laid her down, before turning
back to the metal monstrosity.

         Ukyo enagaged the thing, tossing spatulas and dodging the
return electric attacks while Yuri snuck up on it from behind with her
wakizashu drawn. While it was distracted, Yuri plunged the 14 inch blade
into it's back, then flew backward as another shock traveled along the
metal object and into her. Both the ninja girl and the sword landed some
distance away.

        Ranma decided to get it's attention. "Moko Takabisha!" The ki
ball slammed into the target the same time as Ukyo's spatula's, sending
it off balance.

         Ukyo used the oppurtunity to regain her battle spatula while
Ranma charged in and unloaded a chestnut fist that rocked the machine.
His fists dug in, smashing metal and circuitry. When he stepped back 10
seconds later, there wasn't a spot on the robot's front that wasn't
undamaged. Everyone watched as the machine slowly toppled backward and
Ranma bounced away holding his hand in pain.

        "Ow! That thing's got a tough hide!"

        "I got it, Ranchan!" Ukyo leapt into the air and charged her
battle spat, then came down blade first. The weapon bisected the robot
vertically then, following the rules of anime, it exploded. The rule
being, any metal object can and will explode regardless of if there's
anything combustible inside it.

         Ranma managed to catch his friend before she hit the ground.
After seeing that she was okay, he went back to Akane while Ukyo checked
on Yuri.

         His iinazuke had already regained her feet when Ranma got
there. "Hey, good job. Sorry I wasn't much help back there."

         He grabbed onto to her to steady her. "What are ya talkin'
about? You got that missile and saved Hinako and myself."

         She smiled. "Thanks, Ranma."

        "Let's all get to Tofu's and make sure you're okay."

         She nodded to him and didn't protest when he picked her up and
cradled her in his arms. She could walk, but she rather liked the
feeling of being in his arms.

        "Ah, there it is!" came a new voice. "What? Who broke it!?" The
remaining students turned to see a young boy checking out the remains of
the robot.

        "Is this yours, young man?" Hinako asked.

         He stood up. "Well, actually it's my father's, but I was
working on it and decided to see what it could do! My name is Fuchida
Takayoshi, and I'm the world's greatest scientist, next to my father of
course. We just moved in nearby."

        "Well, I'm Ninomiya Hinako, and I say you're a delinquent for
causing so much damage. Prepare to be punished!" She brandished her
coin.

         Takayoshi laughed. "Oh yeah? What are you gonna do little
girl?"

        "Think we should do something?" Akane asked.

         Ranma shook his head. "Naw, for once she's got the right
target."

        "Happo Fifty-Yen Satsu!"

        "Urp!"





        "Well, physically you're okay, you just need some rest to
recover from the shocks you've received," said Dr. Tofu as he finished
his examination of Akane. "And that goes for the rest of you. Tomorrw
your ki balances will be back to normal, but today they're a little
mixed up. You may have some trouble doing more complex things like your
martial arts."

        "Thanks Dr. Tofu," Akane replied. "I am feeling better now." She
got down off the table and looked at her companions. Ukyo had her arm in
a sling as it was still pretty numb, but that would wear off by
tomorrow. Yuri had received the biggest shock and was looking pretty
ragged. Ranma, being Ranma, had shrugged most of the effects off. He
wouldn't admit it, but Akane could tell he wasn't feeling as good as he
showed. <That Baka, still has to act tough and macho.>

        "Come on sugar, let's get going," Ukyo said as she helped Yuri
up. "Thanks again Doc!" Yuri waved weakly as Ukyo guided her out.

         For the rest of the trip home, Akane chose to walk instead of
letting Ranma carry her. She did let him hold her hand, however, and
that seemed to be enough for both of them.






        "Pray tell what that was all about, Nabiki-kun," Kuno said as he
escorted her home. He had taken to being her guardian ever since she had
agreed to date him. She thought it was sweet, but it didn't mean she had
feelings for him. Nope, not all.

         Well, maybe a little.

        But what he was referring to, was that they had caught the tail-
end of the battle of the robot, but weren't in time for him to do
anything.

         "Honestly, I have no idea, Kuno-baby," she replied. "But I plan
on finding out. If today is any indication, Nerima's interesting factor
has gone up by another couple of points from the addition of a mad
scientist." She still sported her green hair, but it was starting to
fade.

        "I fear you may be right," he said with a sigh.

         She looked over at him. "Why, I thought you'd be used to the
strange stuff by now."

         He shook his head. "Actually, I took no real notice of the
`strange stuff' until now, since my mind was under the spell of that
demon."

        "Hadn't thought about like that. Ignorance must be bliss, I
guess."

        "Indeed, but I am happier this way." He cocked his head. "I have
noticed your feud with Kenji-san and I am worried. I speak with
experience when I say such grudges are unhealthy."

         She winked at him. "Ah, just havin' a little fun, Kuno-baby.
Besides, I learn from each of my `encounters', so there's no need to
worry."

        "Indeed."





         Kenji blinked his eyes a couple of times as his sleep addled
brain came online. <Where...? What happened?> The information download
began. <Oh, that's right. Got turned into wolf and chased by animal
control.> With that thought, he came fully awake and looked around.
<Well, looks like they haven't got me yet. And by the looks of the sun,
I've been asleep for most of the day.>

         He got up and stretched, wincing as the pain from the beating
made itself clear that it hadn't gone away yet. Making sure the coast
was clear, he started back towards Ucchans. <Great, I missed school, got
chased, zapped, shot, and then beat by a pack of women who thought I was
a peeping pervert. What else could go wrong?>

         He soon found out that one should never ask that question.






         Turning a corner several minutes later, his body froze as the
restaurant came into view. <Uh oh.> A couple of vans were parked near
the restaurant and several animal control officers were patrolling the
area. <I can't go in the front or back. Guess I'll have to try for a
window. Only thing is, how'd they know to look for me here?> The answer
came to him immediately. <Nabiki.>

         He stealthily leapt to the roof and padded around, looking for
an entrance. <Yes!> Looking down, he could see that the small bathroom
window was open. It was several feet off the ground so no one could peek
in. <But how to get to it?> There were two people patrolling the alley
behind the restaurant, and he wouldn't be able to get in before being
seen. <I need a distraction.>

         He looked up and focused on a pair of garbage cans down the
street. Gathering his concentration and the wind, he sent a strong gust
down the street and knocked over the cans.

        "What was that?"

        "It came from down the street, let's check it out!"

        <They took the bait! Now...> The wolf leapt down to street
level, staying in the shadows. When the officers reached the cans, he
leapt through the open window, just squeezing through. Inside, he
managed to land in the steamy furo.

         He let out a sigh of relief as he felt his natural body return.
He then stepped out of the bath. Immediately afterwards, he became aware
that he was not alone.

         A certain very nude and very angry okonomiyaki chef was staring
at him. Apparently she had just finished washing and was about to enter
the furo herself. He looked. She looked.

        One hand came up to staunch the flow of blood that threatened to
flow from a certain ninja boy's nasal cavity. "Ukyo! This isn't what it
looks like! I..."

        "KENJI NO HENTAI!"

        *CLANG!*

         Ukyo slid the door open, scooped the prone Kenji up with her
battle spatula, and tossed him out the door. As he impacted the wall, he
idly wondered where the mega spatula she hit him with, came from.

         Kenji slowly sat up. "Stupid girl! Why'd you have to do that!?"
His instincts suddenly took over and he rolled out of the way as several
mini spatula's impacted the wall where he had been sitting. He breathed
a sigh of relief when he noticed he was okay. And at least he was home
AND human. "Well, I'm glad that's over..."

        "What's over Kenji-sama?" Konatsu asked. "I thought Ukyo-sama
was in there."

        "Eeep! She is... I mean, it's not what it looks like!" Kenji
stammered.

         The kunoichi looked at him strangely, then sadly shook his head
and walked off. "I see."

         Kenji exhaled and went to change into some new clothes, then
flopped onto his futon. "At least this day is over," he grumbled to
himself.






        "Is everything ready?" Ariko asked.

        "Yes, the circle is complete," Hikaru answered. "All that
remains is the summoning spell and then we will have our magic sensei."
He hadn't told her about his run-in with the thugs and his display of
magic; mostly because he couldn't repeat the spells.

         He looked down at the circle and mystic marks they had made on
the floor of Ariko's basement. Nodding to his partner, she began to pour
the contents of the last vial in the circle while he read from one of
the books. At first, nothing happened when he finished reading, but then
light welled up in the circle.

         Wind whipped around the chamber as the light became more
intense. In a final burst, the light was gone and the wind died down.
When they opened their eyes, a short, elderly man floated a couple feet
off the ground in the middle of the circle. Clothed in a dirty robe, he
literally radiated mystery and... something else the two youths couldn't
identify, but it definitly raised their fear senses. It was if they had
awakened some great power that could kill them in an instant if they
made it mad.

         Hikaru especially felt as if they were meddling with forces
they couldn't possibly comprehend, but Ariko seemed more excited that
the summoning spell had worked, and curious about the old man.

         What hair he had left was all grey and his eyes were closed,
giving the nervous pair the impression he was asleep. For a few minutes,
nothing was said.

        "Well, aren't you going to tell me why you summoned me?" the old
man asked, eyes still closed.

        "Y-you're not asleep!?" Ariko gasped.

         The old man smiled. "No, merely blind." He `looked' back and
forth between the two teens. "So, you wish to learn magic?"

         Gos was still blinking and staring, so Ariko asked. "How did
you know?"

        "Simple, I can sense the magical auras you two have built up.
Only someone who has worked magic before would have those auras. Though
you're only at the novice level, this summon circle was well crafted."
He frowned. "Although, those same auras are `out of whack', so to speak.
You'll need to get them under control or you could hurt someone."

         The old man then reached into his robe and pulled out a small
jeweled amulet which he then tossed to Ariko, who caught it. There was a
bright flash, and when it died down, the young novice sorceresss
discovered she was holding a large book with the same jewel encrusted in
the cover. It looked extremely old, and there was a lock keeping the
book from being opened.

        "This is a spellbook you shall learn from, and the jewel that
can summon me outside of this room. Magic is best practiced in an open
space, so just rub that jewel when you're ready to start learning." He
looked up as if listening to something. "I must leave for now, but we'll
meet again later." The old man's body began to dematerialize.

        "Wait!" Ariko shouted. "Who are you?"

        "Call me, Darmondo." With a *pop*, he was gone.

         The two magicians looked uneasily at each other and wondered if
this was still a good idea.







         The two magicians forgot to do one more thing before going to
bed that night, their minds taken up in thought of their new magic
sensei. They forgot to erase the circle and remove the enchantments. So
it was, when midnight came around, that the circle flared brightly
again. When the light show died down, three small figures, no more than
a foot or two in height, were standing there.

         When they tried to leave, they were stopped by the barrier of
the circle. Growling in frustration, they attacked one segment of it and
managed to erase a section. So freed, the three little gremlins laughed
to themselves and disappeared into the night.




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




Send C&C to:  oddball22@hotmail.com

Find my stories at:  www.geocities.com/kaiphantom2000

DISCLAIMER:


Ranma 1/2: New Challenges
Minor Disturbances

Chapter 5





         Kenji rolled out of his futon and sighed. Yesterday was NOT a
good day. Because Nabiki sent animal control after him, he spent the
better part of the day running. Not only did he miss a school test, he
now had Ukyo upset at him. How?

         When he finally returned to the restaurant, he had to sneak in
the bathroom window in the back so as to avoid the animal control people
looking for him. He returned to his naked human form, just in time to
witness Ukyo about to step into the furo.

         Yuri wasn't much better. She did ask him for the truth and he
tried to explain, but still she still had a difficult time believing
him. He sighed and wondered if he could talk to anybody about this.

         He shook his head and proceeded to get dressed while planning
his revenge. There must be SOME way to top what she had done, he just
had to find it.

         Information, that's what he needed. Nabiki was the information
queen and presumably knew all about him, now he needed to know about
her.  <Maybe I should talk to her sister, Akane. Ranma might know
something as well since he lives there.>

         He shrugged, as it sounded good, and went downstairs to get
some breakfast.







        "Here's the order for table five," Mousse said, handing the
bowls of ramen to RanRan. She accepted them and went to deliver them.

         He looked for the next order, but there was none as the lunch
rush was ending. Sighing, he began to do some cleaning and inventory.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Shampoo watching him. Once upon a
time he would've taken great joy out of her attention on him and
immediately showered her with his love and gifts. Now, he was resigned
to go about his duties while she watched.

         Shampoo was confused. Mousse had been acting different ever
since Akane beat her and they went back to China. He hadn't spouted his
love for her at all and while she was grateful for that, she still
wondered what was going through his mind. He was acting like a friend
and a humble Amazon male. Part of her missed the old Mousse, and
absently thought that maybe Cologne's death had an affect on him as
well.

         She sighed quietly. He wasn't really that bad looking, and he
had been a good friend lately. Now that Ranma was lost to her, where
would she find a husband? Mousse was a strong fighter, despite his
reluctance to hit her, and he already knew how to be a proper amazon
male, something she suspected Ranma would never be.

         She shook her head. <What am I thinking!? Me with Mu Tsu?>
Anger welled up and she took it out on the object of her thoughts.

        "<Mu Tsu!>" she called in their native mandarin while walking
into the kitchen. "<Since the lunch rush is just about over, I want you
to sweep and wash all the floors. I want them done before the dinner
rush hits.>"

         He turned, looked at her blankly, and answered. "<Yes, honored
warrior.>" He left to get the necessary cleaning supplies.

         Shampoo left the kitchen for her room, strangely disturbed.
Mistreating Mousse normally gave her some satisfaction, but now, for
some reason, it didn't. And he called her `honored warrior' instead of
her real name, following the traditional and respectful address an
Amazon male would use to address a female.

         She closed the door to her room and dug out one of her great-
grandmother's ancient books, hoping to get her mind off this latest
subject. So much knowledge was contained in her great-grandmother's
small library. In fact, it was in one of her books that she learned how
to do the Megami Ha, or goddess blast, that she used against Akane.

         It was ki technique based on pride, but it didn't help much
against the youngest Tendo. Apparently, Akane had learned Ranma's ki
blast as well as another technique that made her glow gold and increase
her speed and strength to Ranma's level. It also worked as sort of a
protective barrier. Unfortunately, none of her great-grandmother's books
had any information on it.

         She sighed.  She was the best warrior of her generation, but
Cologne wouldn't teach her any of the higher level techniques. True, the
members of the tribe don't start learning them until their 25th year,
but she taught Ranma two of them and even that pig-boy one of them. Not
only were they males, but they were younger than the age requirement!
She finally found out why when she went over her great-grandmother's
journal.

         Apparently, her elder thought Ranma was extremely gifted and
the two techniques she showed him were well within his capabilities. She
taught Ryoga the mostly useless breaking point to give Ranma a suitable
sparring partner in much the same way a knife is sharpened by a
whetstone.

         What caused her the most distress, was Cologne's evaluations of
her. Shampoo was `too ruled by passion,' `not enough discipline,' and
`lacked foresight' according to the elder matriarch. That `husband
hunting after Ranma was more to teach her of the outside world instead
of just getting a man for her.'

         It was bitter medicine, but she swallowed it.

         Only now was she fully coming to grips with her attitudes and
actions. She still had much thinking and learning to do, so that's why
she took she decided to return to Nerima. Amazon warriors who had won
the annual village tournament were allowed to leave the village and
experience the outside world, and she had once again compteted and won
right before the Phoenix Mountain events. So she left, mainly to escape
the other girls.

         She may have been the best in the village, but she wasn't that
popular. Many of the other girls thought she was stuck-up and spoiled
just because her great-grandmother was a matriarch, and had trained her
well.

         When Ranma had first come to the village and beaten her, her
pride was demolished and she could hear the snickers in the background.
So, she foolishly used the kiss of death to leave the village and kill
Ranma. She failed and returned in disgrace. Her great-grandmother once
again covered for her and was able to sway the council into a Jusenkyo
curse as punishment.

         She laughed bitterly. It figures she would get turned into one
of the few things Ranma couldn't stand. It was if Jusenkyo knew what she
wanted and conspired against her.

         Now, here she was. After returning the other Amazons and Zhao
Len back home, and participating in Zhao Len's trial, she decided to
return to Nerima to learn more about herself and what her path in life
was. Only now, she was more confused than ever.

         Her mind returned to the present and she closed the book in
front of her. It was just a book on different plants and herbs and she
was in no mood to study that at the moment.  Standing up, she though she
heard a faint jingle, like a bell, but she couldn't tell where it was
coming from. Then, the room went pitch black and she heard the bell ring
again, louder this time.

        "Mousse?" she called out. No answer. "If this is joke, it no is
very funny." She cursed and wished she had that amulet on her that
helped her speak Japenese. She just wasn't very good at this multiple
language thing like Mousse was. "<Who's there?>" she called in her
native Mandarin.

         Again, no answer.

         Then, "Beeee myaaai briiiide!" was all she heard before she
passed out.





         Down stairs, Mousse was finishing the floors when Shampoo came
running down the stairs. "I'm going out for awhile, Mousse. Don't wait
up for me!" Then she was gone.

         The myopic Amazon shook his head. <I'll never figure her out.
After all this time, I thought I would, but I guess not.>






        "So, you're sure this is the place?"

        "Hai, sensei," Denoki answered his traveling companion and
master. "According to reports, this Nerima has a large percentage of
strong martial artists."

        "Good!" Denoki's sensei grinned viscously. "I've been looking
for a good challenge for awhile now, to test my supreme skills."

         Denoke fidgeted nervously. "Sensei, are you sure this is such a
good idea? I mean, you just developed this fighting style. Shouldn't you
test it out before going against the strongest martial artists?"

         He glanced at Sukebe, his sensei. His master was of average
height and build, wearing a black shirt and pants. His short, black hair
was slicked back with copious amounts of gel.

        "Nonsense!" Sukebe laughed. "I've already tested it and it's
unbeatable! I need merely perfect it and assure myself as the premier
martial artist of my generation."

        "Yeah," Denoki mumbled. "Against little kids..."

         Sukebe turned to the little man who served as his student and
servant. "Did you say something?"

        "Nothing, sensei!"

        "Very well! Let us go find some worthy opponents!" His gaze
wandered around the street they were currently strolling down. "There!
How about those two?"

         The two boys in question were walking down the other side of
the street towards them. They were wearing school uniforms of some sort
and were playfully punching and kicking each other in a mock fight.

        "Denoki, bring those two to the alley over there. There is where
I will have my first fight in Nerima!"

         The short man sighed. "As you wish, sensei."






        "Man, Daisuke, did you see Ranma level that thing yesterday?"
Hiroshi made a mock attempt at a chestnut punch at his friend.

         Daisuke suffered through the `attack.' "I don't know, it was
that cute chef who finished off." He pretended to swing a large spatula.
"Ukyo-chan sure is cute."

        "Knock it off, man!" Hiroshi whapped his friend on the head.
"You've already got a girlfriend!"

        "Yeah, Sayuri is pretty cute," Daisuke said dreamily. "But a guy
can still admire other pretty flowers!"

         Hiroshi groaned. "Whatever, man."

        "So, what's happening with you and Yuka?"

         Hiroshi quieted down. "Not much, She-"

        "Excuse me, but might I speak to you gentlemen for a moment?"

         The two boys turned to the short man who had interupted them
and blinked simultaneously.

        "Sauske-san?" Daisuke asked. "Don't you work for Kuno-sempai?"

         The little man looked positively horrified. "No! I'm Denoki!
I'm not related to... him!"

         They blinked again, and Hiroshi said, "Sorry. It's just uncanny
how you look like him. So, what do want with us?"

         Denoke cleared his throat. "My master would like to meet with
you, right over here." He indicated an alley across the street.

         Hiroshi look at Daisuke who shrugged. "Sure, I suppose we got
some time. Lead the way."

         Denoki bowed and led the two boys to his master. Across the
street, Sukebe grinned evilly.






        "Hey Saotome, can I speak to you for awhile? Alone?"

         Ranma and Akane turned from where they were walking out of
school. "Ah, sure Kenji, I suppose." He turned back to his scowling
fiancee. "Uh, see ya at home, later?"

         Akane glanced between Ranma and Kenji. "Alright," she said,
then her face brightened a bit. "But you better be home soon! I'm
cooking tonight! Don't keep him too long Kenji-kun." She walked off and
waved. "Bye!"

         Kenji could hear Ranma audibly gulp as he waved to his fiancee.
When she disappeared, the ninja boy clapped his friend on the back. "I
feel for ya, man." Indeed, he HAD sampled Akane's cooking one time, and
that one time was enough for him.

         They started walking. "Well, it's not that bad anymore.
Occasionally, she messes up the recipes, but most of the time it's
actually edible." He shook his head. "So, what'd ya wanna talk to me
about?"

        "Huh? Oh yeah, well, I just wondering if you noticed anything
different about Kuno-sempai recently?"

        "Not really." Ranma snorted. "Other than he hasn't glomped or
attacked me for awhile. I think he's finally started to get the
picture."

         Kenji grinned. <Maybe...> "What? You mean the pig-tailed
goddess doesn't miss her handsome Kuno-sempai?"

         Ranma made gagging motions. "Oh please, I'm glad that's over
with." He smiled. "'Course, there were several times it was fun to mess
with his head."

         Kenji laughed. "Didn't I hear about some competition you had
for him with another girl one time?"

        "Yeah," Ranma replied after a minute. "A martial arts
cheerleader named, uh, Mariko? I think. Yeah, Konjo Mariko. Real nut
case. Loved Kuno for awhile." Ranma shifted uncomfortably. "Look I kinda
don't wanna talk about that, if ya mind."

        "Oh, no problem." <Konjo Mariko, huh? That should work.> "So,
should I save you a spot at Ucchan's later, then?"

         Ranma laughed and the two talked for a awhile before splitting
up to head to their respective residences. At least, that's where Kenji
was headed at first. After a block, he switched directions.

         He had a few things to pick up and a few people to talk to
first.







        "Dang it!"

        "What's the matter, Ucchan?" Yuri asked.

        "The grill is broken again!" Ukyo kicked it. "And I just had it
fixed last week!"

         Yuri abandoned her task, which was washing the tables, and
walked over to where Ukyo was standing behind the grill. "Well, it's a
good thing we just closed."

         Ukyo ducked under the grill again, fiddling with the insides.
"Well, I guess I'm just gonna have to get it fixed before tomorrow."

        "You'll do it. I haven't seen a grill that you couldn't fix."
The ninja girl went back to her task. After a few minutes, she heard
Ukyo swear. "What is it now?"

        "It's been sabotaged!"

        "What?"

         Ukyo reappeared above the grill with a slightly blackened face
and a couple of parts in her hands. She held one of them up. "The wiring
on this... looks like it's been... chewed through!"

         Yuri took a look at it and the obvious chewing marks, then
looked back at Ukyo. "But what could bite through the protective steel
casing?"




         Somewhere out there, a gremlin sneezed... then belched.





         The scientist glanced around the room. <Now what's wrong with
this picture?> he wondered. <Ah, that's it, the robot's missing.> He
blinked. <The robot!>

        "Takayoshi!"

         The young boy cam bounding down the stairs. "Yes, papa?"

        "Where's the Mark 12?" the boy's father demanded, pointing to
the empty space.

         Takayoshi gulped. "Uh, it went out far a walk?" His father
merely narrowed his gaze and tapped his foot. "And it kinda got... blown
up?"

         Mr. Fuchida sighed. "What have I told you about messing with my
experiments!?"

         The boy twiddled his fingers. "Uh, I'm sorry, papa?"

         The man sighed again. "You bet you are. You're also grounded
for a month!"

        "Yes, papa." Takayoshi turned around and left for his room.

         Mr. Fuchida shook his head, then returned to his work. With the
mark 12 gone, he decided to work on the quantum accelerator instead. He
had picked up the plans for it a few years ago at lab where the previous
scientist who had been working on it, disappeared.

         He saw where the scientist had gone wrong, so all he needed to
do was modify the design slightly...





        "LinLin, do you know if Shampoo came home last night?" Mousse
asked while preparing the next ramen order. "I haven't seen her all
day."

         She shook her head. "Not know. She not say anything to me."

         Mousse looked thoughtful. "Come to think of it, the way she
left yesterday was rather strange."

         LinLin sat down to take a break, since the dinner rush had
ended. "Yes, I notice sister Shampoo leave." She looked across the
restaurant. "Sister! Come here for a moment!" RanRan looked up where she
was sweeping and flipped her way over to where the other two amazons
were standing. LinLin shook her head. "Show off."

         RanRan playfully stuck her tongue out. "What you want, sister?"

        "We're talking about Shampoo," Mousse repeated.

        "What about? She sleeping in bed now."

         Mousse and LinLin blinked.

        "You mean she did come home last night?" Mousse asked
incredulously.

        "Of course." RanRan grinned. "Mousse worried about sister
Shampoo?"

         The myopic Amazon sighed and mumbled under his breath, "For all
the good it does me..."

        "LinLin not understand. Thought you loved Shampoo?"

         He sighed again. "I still do. But I've been doing a lot of
thinking. I thought that once she was free of Ranma she'd be more
willing to show me some understanding, but it's almost the same old
thing." He removed his glasses and pulled out a tissue to clean them.
"She still mistreats and takes advantage of me. She'll never return the
love I have for her." He replaced his glasses and pounded the counter
with his fist. "Why!? I just don't understand."

         The twin girls each picked a shoulder and patted it
sympathetically. "Poor Mousse," they said in unison.

        "Plenty other girls out there," LinLin offered.

        "Mousse will find one for him," RanRan added.

         Mousse shook his head. "Whatever. We should finish cleaning the
restaurant for tomorrow." He went back to the kitchen to continue
cleaning.

         The two young Amazon girls knew that the matter was closed for
now, so they too headed back to their cleaning.







         As LinLin continued to clean the tables, she failed to notice
the newspaper a patron had left behind, and one particular article
specifically. Instead, it had gone straight into the trash. If she had
bothered to look at it, she might have seen the article on the first
page.

         In it, a witness reported seeing an attack taking place and he
went to help the young woman in distress. Of the attacker, he could only
say it seemed like a vicious creature that walked on two legs, but
couldn't really identify it because of the darkness. All he could say
was that it moved fast and struck like lightning.

         And as it ran away, he could almost swear it growled like some
jungle cat.



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

Author's notes:
Kudos to anybody who recognizes the name of Takayoshi Fuchida. I don't
think it will be real easy to tell where I got the name, even if you're
somewhat familiar with the universe where I got it. I'll give ya a hint,
though. His name is rarely mentioned without another guy, because they
invented something together.






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




Send C&C to:  oddball22@hotmail.com

Find my stories at:  www.geocities.com/kaiphantom2000

DISCLAIMER:


Ranma 1/2: New Challenges
Minor Disturbances

Chapter 6





         Ranma was starting to get worried.

         Ever since Akane had stated she was in charge of their
costumes, she had been in a very bubbly mood. That, and whenever she was
going to work on them, she kicked him out of the house. Just thinking of
the costumes her sewing skills could make was enough to send shudders
down his back.

         He tried to get Kasumi to understand that, but she just smiled
sweetly and said, "Now Ranma-kun, I'm sure whatever Akane-chan makes
will be just fine."

         He didn't understand; didn't she see the danger!?

         Ranma sighed and continued down the street, knowing it was
fruitless to try and get back in the house. She would somehow sense his
attempt and boot him skyward. She had already done it twice. Afterward
she made him promise not to sneak back in until she told him it was
okay. All part of the "punishment" for not telling her the truth about
P-chan.

         He almost wished she would just hit him instead and get it over
with.

         "Ranchan!"

         Ranma's head snapped up at the sound of his old friend's voice.
"Heya, Ucchan!" He hadn't even realized his wanderings had taken him
over to the okonomiyaki restaurant. Ukyo was currently outside and she
beckoned him inside, and he gladly accepted the invitation. "How's
business?"

         "See for yourself," she gestured to the slightly more packed
than usual restaurant. Ranma nodded, sat down at the counter, and turned
back to see both Ukyo and Konatsu behind the larger grill, making
okonomiyaki. Yuri was wandering the restaurant as a waitress. "Kenji-
kun's in the back washing dishes and cleaning with Selah-chan."

        "Sounds like you're doing really well for yourself," he
remarked. "I remember when you first opened your restaurant here, you
didn't have nearly as many customers as you do now." He smiled. "I
always knew you had it in you to be a great chef!"

        "Arigato, sugar," she returned. He flipped the okonomiyaki she
was making onto a plate. "Here ya go, one `Saotome Special' just the way
you like it!" She placed the plate in front of him.

        "But I didn't order..."

         She cut him off. "Oh please, ya know it's on the house,
Ranchan."

         He was about to try and refuse again, but his stomach had
started to growl as soon as he stepped in and smelled the delicious
food. Glancing across the room, he made eye contact with Yuri and she
nodded understanding.

         Back when he and Akane started becoming a real couple, she had
persuaded him not to accept any more free food from either Ukyo or
Shampoo. `That would be taking advantage of them,' she had said. Shampoo
left soon after, but he still went to Ucchan's on occasion so he had
tried to convince his old friend to take payment. She had refused, so he
had taken to paying Kenji and Yuri in secret, who would place the money
in the cash register later. This way, everyone felt good. Ukyo still
thought she gave free okonomiyaki's to Ranma, and Ranma actually paid
for them (which did make him feel better, he admitted).

         You see, there was still some part of Ukyo that hoped Ranma
would finally be hers. She had sworn off dirty tricks and destroying
things, but she could still be `cute' and nice and hope to still win him
over. After all, Ranma and Akane weren't married yet, and something
could still happen. Not that she wished anything bad on Akane, since she
had been a nicer friend to Ukyo than she deserved, considering what the
chef had done.

         Ranma took his time eating instead of inhaling it. It was
another habit Akane was trying to break him of, and Ranma could actually
manage a decent pace on occasion. While he did so, he took the time to
look around.

         Konatsu's new look still seemed a bit strange, but he figured
it was just another aspect of Nerima wierdness to overcome. The kunoichi
was actually wearing a pretty decent shirt and pants ensemble that made
him look like a rather nice guy, instead of a cute girl. The hair was
still the same, tied back in a ponytail, and Ranma noticed a few girls
actually sitting near him and admiring the view.

         Ranma chuckled to himself at the turn of events. Usually, it
was guys that admired the view.

         Of the course, the same could be said for himself. <When you
have both a great male and female body,> he added mentally. He still
thought of himself as a guy, but the curse didn't bother him as much as
it used to. Oh sure, he would probably take the chance to cure himself
if the oppurtunity presented itself, but he was content to live as is.
It was the annoying changes via water that bothered him the most.

        "Heya Ranma-kun," a familiar voice said, and Ranma detected a
note of pain in that voice.

         He turned to see his two main school buddies on their way out.
"Hiroshi? Daisuke? What happened to you two?"

         They were both arrayed in a variety of casts and bandages, and
Daisuke was using a crutch to walk. "We were... involved in a minor
scuffle," he said.

        "More like a bully beat us up!" Hiroshi countered. He turned to
Ranma. "Some new martial artist in town tested his skills on us. We
tried using some of what you showed us, but..."

         Ranma's eyes narrowed and he cracked his knuckles. Despite the
few moves he had shown them, out of fun, neither of them could be
classified as martial artists. And if there was someone beating up on
innocents... "Who did this?" he demanded.

        "Some guy named, Sukebe, I think," Hiroshi said thoughfully,
after a moment.

        "Yeah, and he had a little guy with him that looks a lot like
Sasuke," Daisuke added. "Be careful Ranma-kun. He's dangerously
powerful, even for you."

        "Heh, ain't been an opponent yet I couldn't beat." He sobered.
"Take care of yourselves guys, I'll get him for ya. Doncha worry."

         The two near-invalidates looked at each other. "Sure, Ranma-
kun," Hiroshi said. "See ya later."

         He waved the two off and returned to his meal, finishing it off
in few minutes, while Ukyo came back up to him. "What was that all
about?" she asked. He told her. "A new martial artist in town, eh? I
suppose he'll come to challenge you sooner or later, Ranchan." She
smirked. "After all, that's the way it goes around here."

         He shared a laugh with her, and then departed, after palming a
few bills into Yuri's hand as she passed.

         Yes, it actually felt good to pay honestly.






        "This is the day!" she announced to herself.

         Somehow, it didn't sound as grand when spoken in a little
girl's voice. Oh well, she would fix that later in the day. Now, she
just had to gather up her courage and do it.

         Ninomiya Hinako looked at her little girl body in the mirror
and sighed. How was she ever going to land that hunk of a man looking
like this? Besides, weren't there laws against that sort of thing? <No,>
she told herself. <I am a real woman. Soun-chan has to see that!> She
cocked her head. <Besides, it's been quite awhile since my last attempt
to win him over. Maybe he's over his wife now?> She shook her head at
her mirror image. <No, I know he loved her deeply, so he'll never be
over her.>

         She went over to the table, picked up an object and went back
to the mirror and watched as she grew into her other, voluptious, body.
She smiled. "I guess I'll just have to comfort him and make the loss of
his wife less painful for him," she decided. "And maybe this dance is
just what he needs!" She set down the rounded bowl that contained her
fighting fish and proceeded to apply a bit of make-up to her face.

         She had been selected as the head chaperone for the dance by
the principal (to keep the deliquents in line, naturally), but that also
meant she was in charge of finding other chaperones. And if she found
enough and got Soun to be one of them, she could enjoy a dance or two
with him!

         She knew it would take time to work her way into his heart, but
that was time she would be willing to spend. After all, that's what she
determined was her mistake the first time: she went too fast and his
girls strongly objected, so a change in strategy was in order. If she
could slowly and surely work her way into their lives... Plus, Nabiki
would be graduating soon and, if rumors were correct, she would be
moving out to attend college immediately afterward. That nice Tofu-
sensei was finally courting Kasumi, and even Ranma and Akane were
getting along better.

         If things kept up like they were, his girls would be gone soon
and she knew he would start to feel lonely. "Well, that's what I'm here
for! And this dance is the perfect first step on the road towards our
mutual happiness!" She giggled to herself, and that's when she realized
she had stepped too far away from the bowl and reverted to child-form.
"Aw, rats!"

         She sighed and went back to bowl, regaining her older body
almost immediately. "I also have to do something about this. He won't
want an age changing freak for a wife!" She grumbled. "This is all
Happosai's fault. He turned me into a freak just so he could have help
to steal panties. And rumor also has it he's gone now, never to return.
The one chance for my cure..." She brightened and snapped her fingers.
"That's it! He must've left behind some ancient scrolls and stuff! If I
search through them, I may find the ones that detail my condition and
list a way to stay as an adult. Or at least stay longer as an adult."
<Another reason to spend time at the Tendo Dojo with my beloved Soun.>

         She smiled to herself, picked up her fishbowl, and left her
apartment.






         One lovely walk later brought her to her beloved's house. The
appreciative looks she had gotten from guys on the way over had done
nothing but boost her confidence. She knew she had a great female body
(when she was in her her older form), but it was nice to have it
validated.

         Stepping though the gate and up to the door, she gathered her
courage and rang the doorbell. A minute later, the eldest daughter
answered the door.

        "Oh, Ninomiya-san," she said sweetly. "Welcome to our home.
Would you like to come in?"

         The teacher bowed slightly in respect. "I would love too,
Kasumi-san."

        "I'm afraid Ranma-kun is out at the moment," Kasumi supplied.
"Or were you here for Akane or Nabiki?"

         Hinako shook her head. "Neither. As a matter of fact, I was
just here to speak with your father on a school matter."

         Kasumi led her to the living room where Akane, and another
woman Hinako recognized as Ranma's mother (she had met her a couple of
times before about school matters), were seated and apparently doing
some sewing. "I'm sorry. Otousan is out with Saotome-ojisan at the
moment."

        <Rats!> Hinako thought to herself.

        "You are more than welcome to join us, dear," Ranma's mother
offered. "We were just engaged in a little girl talk, but I would love
to hear how Ranma is doing in school."

        <This might work. If I can get these women on my side, they
might help me with Soun!> "I'd love to! As a matter of fact, you might
be able help me." She ignored the dark look she got from the youngest
Tendo daughter. Nodoka urged her to continue as Kasumi sat down and
assisted Akane in her sewing. "There is a school dance coming up at the
end of the week, and I was wondering if you would like to help me
chaperone it?"

         Nodoka smiled. Truth be told, she loved it when people needed
her. For ten years, neither her son nor husband needed her, and even
now, that was the case. Genma hung around with Soun, and her son rarely
came to her for advice. She had begun to feel useless. "I'd love to! Is
that what you were going to ask Soun-san?"

         Hinako nodded nervously. "Yes, I was hoping Soun-ch, I mean,
Tendo-san would like to come."

         Nodoka caught the slip, though Akane missed it, so intent on
her sewing was she. Kasumi also missed it, she was intent on helping her
younger sister.

         Nodoka had also heard the stories of Ranma's teacher and her
attempt at marrying the Tendo patriarch. Hinako seemed like a nice
enough young woman, and anything Nodoka could do to help the process of
love along...

        "I see you fancy my husband's longtime friend?" she asked.

        "Is it that obvious?" Hinako asked back.

         The Saotome matriarch patted Hinako's shoulder. "It's nothing
to be ashamed about. Soun-san would be lucky to have someone like you to
love."

         Akane did catch this. "Satome-obasama, I don't think it's a
very good idea. Father is still not completely over mother."

        "And that's precisely why he needs someone like Hinako-san,"
Nodoka countered. "You are young, Akane-chan. When you get older you
will realize that adults long for companionship, despite the loss of a
spouse. I've seen this in Soun." Akane frowned and Nodoka turned back to
Hinako. "I'd be glad to help in any way I can, Hinako-san. I will make
sure he attends the dance as a chaperone. It will be up to you, then."
She winked.

        "Arigato, Saotome-san," Hinako offered. "I really appreciate
this."

        "No problem, dear," Nodoka replied. "You can repay me by telling
me how Ranma's doing in school..."







         Ranma was nabbed on the way home. He was almost to the Tendo
Dojo when a pair of arms grabbed him and pulled him into an alley. He
was going to resist, when he recognized the hands, or more importantly,
the ring on one of the hands.

        "Akane! What's the big immmppph..." He couldn't say anymore
since her lips were now hot on his.

         When she released him afer several moments, she smirked at the
happy-goofy expression on his face and felt proud that she could do this
to him. Then she sobered. "Ranma, we have a problem."

         He snapped out of his daze. "Huh? What?" He hadn't exactly
gotten all four gears back after that kiss.

        "Baka," Akane groaned. "Hinako-sensei is going after dad again!"

        Ranma's last gear snapped into place. "How do you figure that?"

        "She stopped by earlier today to invite him as a chaperone,"
Akane explained. "Your mother was there and got invited as well. Now
she's planning on helping Hinako-sensei!"

         Ranma sighed. He didn't really want to get involved this again.
"Akane, I don't see what the big deal is. If your dad didn't like
Hinako, it would be no problem to keep them apart. But she seems to
really like him, and your dad hasn't said one way or the other. Maybe we
should just leave them alone and see what happens?"

         Akane grabbed the front of his shirt and pulled him close. "I
willl NOT have that chi-draining vampire as a mother!" she practically
yelled. "Is that clear!?"

         Ranma gulped and nodded.

        "Now, will you help me?" she asked in a calmer tone.

         He sighed again. <Gah, I just can't say no to her anymore.>
"Alright, I suppose."

         She smiled sweetly. "Thank you, Ranma. Allow me to show you my
gratitude." She slid her arms around his neck and drew him him for
another good kiss.

        <On the other other hand,> he thought. <Their are definite
benefits to saying yes...>






         Ranma finished putting the finishing touches on her outfit and
grimaced as she looked in the mirror. <How do I let Akane talk me into
these things?> she wondered.

         Her outfit consisted of a fabulous red and black, sleevless
Chinese dress that was slit up the side to her thigh. A diamond shape
was cut out of the front of the dress, displaying a generous amount of
cleavage. Matching red pumps and earrings complemented the ensemble. Her
hair had been let out of the pig-tail now now flowed freely down her
back.

         The person in the mirror now looked completely unlike the
person Saotome Ranma used to be. And that, Akane had said, was the
point. She couldn't do it, since Hinako would recognize her. But female
Ranma could do disguises very well. The idea was to have onna-Ranma brag
to Hinako about how she had just proposed to Soun in the hopes in would
dishearten Hinako from pursuing the Tendo patriarch.

         At least that's how the plan would have gone, if not for the
timely arrival of Ranma's mother in the room.

        *Knock, knock* The door opened and Ranma froze.

        "Ranma, I was wondering if..." Nodoka also froze as she beheld
her son, now daughter, in a daring one-piece Chinese dress. "You do have
a good reason for you current state of attire?"

         Ranma gulped. "Uh, yeah! I was just... I mean.... well...
Aka... um..."

        "The truth, son."

         The red-head sighed. "Akane wanted me to help break Hinako away
from her father," Ranma said quietly.

        "I see." Nodoka sighed. "Son, you know it's not very manly to
interfere in relationships that do not concern you." She tapped the
cloth bundle she carried for emphasis.

         Ranma sweatdropped. "Um... but, it concerns Akane and she's my
fiancee so.. Plus, Oyaji and Tendo-san interefered with me an' Akane's
relationship all the time!"

         She saw her mother shake her head. "Your relationship is a
matter of giri, family honor. Tendo-san's realtionships are his own. And
Akane should have no say in those either, but she is not my daughter
yet, so it is not my place to correct her. Is this understood?"

         The red-head drooped. "Yes, momma."

        "That's better." She brightened. "Oh, but this goes along with
what I wanted to talk to you about. You see I, well... I really miss
Ranko."

        "Momma?" Ranma asked, confused.

        "I miss the times we spent together, and since it appears I
won't have any more children, I wanted you to be my... daughter, as well
as my son."

         It took all of Ranma's self-control to prevent a face-fault.
"Uh... What do you mean?"

        "Well, it appears you will have your condition for awhile, so it
stands to reason you should learn how to dress and act like a lady for
when you are female. Plus, since it seems your father has neglected your
social training, I will endeavour to correct this oversight."

         Ranma suddenly felt like firing off a Shishi Houkodan, but
managed not to with his mother in the room. "Yes, momma."

        "Now, that looks nice, but let's see what other female outfits
you have..."

        <I think I'd rather you use the katana...>






         The stars were a wonderful thing. There was almost something
magical about those many pinpoints of light that decorated the night
sky. They made you think, filled you with a sense of wonder, and pulled
your deepest wishes out of you.

         Yes, Ukyo decided, a night of star-gazing tended to give one an
enlightened perspective. Like this night where she found herself
relaxing in a lounge chair on the top of her restaurant. The cool crisp
night air breezing gently by, just enough to keep her cool, but not
enough to be really cold.

         Reflecting back, she remembered where her only wishes were that
Ranma would come to love her as she loved him, even though she could see
now that it wasn't so much love as it was an obsession or infatuation.
She was concerned about honor first and salvaging her reputation when
her fiance left her by the roadside all those years ago.

         When she met him again, she realized she couldn't hope to beat
him up as she had originially planned. Then he had to go and call her
`cute' and she thought that maybe she could save her honor by fulfilling
the engagement and marrying him. After all, it seemed that his current
fiancee didn't love him and that he didn't like her. Then it turned out
he was pursued by two other women; a voluptous Chinese Amazon and a
crazy gymnast.

         She shivered just thinking back on those days. It was her worst
nightmare come back to her. She could practically hear the taunts from
the other girls when she was younger that she was no good and that no
man would like her. She became even more determined to prove them wrong
by `winning' Ranma, almost at any cost. That if Ranma would just marry
her, than everything would be okay and her self-esteem would be
validated.

         She shook her head and realized just how wrong she was. Oh
sure, she liked the pig-tailed martial artist, but it wasn't him she
loved; she just loved the idea of being in love and having some strong,
handsome guy love her. She was too stuck on gettting her fiance, that
she missed the other decent guys around her.

         Ryoga, on the times they had worked together, she had found to
be a nice guy. She had harbored some secret feelings for him, but she
was too hung up on Ranma to give him a chance. A smile came to her face
in rememberance of the times he had helped her. Saving her from the
ghosts in the tunnel of lost love, and from the monkey man of Tokengyo
island.

         True, he was infatuated with Akane at the time, but she felt
sure he would've come around to her if Ukyo sent the right signals. It
might have been a good match since they seemed to get along well and,
after all, Akane didn't love him. But now, Akari held his heart and Ukyo
had missed her chance.

        "Ukyo-san?" a voice intruded on her thoughts.

        "What do you want, Kenji-kun?" she replied tiredly.

        <She's still calling me Kenji-kun!> He walked over to her
nervously. "You're... not mad at me, are you?"

         She chuckled. "Naw, I remember how Ranchan used to get into the
same embarassing situations and Akane clocked him for it, even though it
turned out later it wasn't really his fault." She sighed. "Guess I'm
just givin' ya the benefit of the doubt. Plus, it's not like I'm really
jealous of you and Selah."

         He sat down next to her chair. "You know the fact that she
thinks I'm her fiancee is not my fault. She's too young for me, for one
thing!"

        "It's okay," she said simply.

         Kenji nodded, lay back, and for a few minutes nothing was said.
Both were content to watch the stars and relax from the day's
activities. Finally, Kenji asked, "You do this often?"

        "Stargazing?"

        "Yeah."

         She shrugged. "I suppose."

        "Not me." There was a note of sadness in his voice.

         Ukyo turned on her side to look at him. "Really? Why not?"

         Now it was his turn to shrug. "Never really had time for it I
guess. Mom usually trained us hard during the day so me and sis usually
went to bed early. She was a merciless taskmaster. And the times I still
had energy after that, Dad tried to teach me some of his wind tricks,
when he was home. He was gone a lot. So I was either asleep or too busy
training."

         Ukyo slowly saw the ninja boy in a new light. It didn't seem
like he had much fun as a child, so he turned to humor and jokes as a
way to release. Still, it sounded better than her childhood. Though
looking at him now, with his shoulder-length black hair with the white
streak down the middle, his angular face, and his lithe athletic body,
brought new feelings forth in her.

         When she had first seen him, there was a small physical
attraction she felt for him, and she seized the impulse to try and make
a relationship. That was after Ranma had all but left her for Akane and,
deep down, she was just trying to prove to herself that she was still
attractive. It was great at first and as she threw herself into it. Then
as soon she was out of the picture in a coma, he made a date with
another woman.

         Again she felt the heartbroken twinges and rejection, and
pushed him away to cover it up. She was upset at him, but later saw that
she was being unfair and tried to make the relationship work yet again.
And that's when the little water witch showed up, widening the gulf
between them yet again.

        "I guess I can understand," she said slowly, then turned on her
back to gaze at the starry sky once more. "Most of my life was spent
training to get revenge on Ranchan." Her tone shifted. "So why did you
come up here?"

        "You really... want to know?" he asked sheepishly.

         Now she was intrigued. "Come on, spit it out, sugar."

         He sat up and turned away from her, seemingly gathering his
thoughts. "Well, I guess that day I missed, `cause I was being chased
around town by animal control," he muttered something under his breath,
but Ukyo didn't catch it. "Apparently, a... uh... costume dance was
announced..."

         Her breath caught. <Is he trying to ask me out?>

         He forged on. "And I was wondering if... well... you know, if
y-"

        "Kenji-chan!" came a high pitched, little girl's voice. "There
you are!" Selah stomped over to them and Kenji sighed. "You were
supposed to watch that movie with me tonight!"

         The former-amnesiac spared a hopeless glance at Ukyo, before
allowing Selah to drag him away by the hand. He knew if he protested,
the little girl would just throw a fit and he didn't want to upset her.
Besides, he had promised to watch movie on the TV tonight; he had just
forgotten.

         Ukyo watch him leave, and something with in her caught. So many
missed oppurtunities had already passed her by, could she afford to let
this one go?

        "Yes."

         Kenji stopped and turned around. "Huh?"

         She sat up and smiled at him. "I said yes. That's what you
wanted to hear in response to your question, ne?" Relief flooded his
face and he smiled back at her. "Now get goin', don't want to miss that
movie."

         He nodded. "Thanks Ukyo-san." And then he was gone, back down
the small ladder and into the second floor through the trapdoor.

         Ukyo laid back down, smiling to herself. Yes, an enlightning
experience gazing at the stars was.







         The three gremlins once again awoke to face the night. There
was plenty of mischief to do this night, and they had already had some
great fun the previous two nights, wrecking machinery. One of the
gremlins pointed north and declared, in the gremlin tongue, that this
was the way they should go. The other two disagreed and said they should
head south. Being overruled as such, the three gremlins headed to the
south end of the alley.

         Ain't gremlin democracy great?

         Upon reaching the south end of said alley, they glanced around
for potential targets. They could go left or right down the street, or
straight ahead into the park and ambush some late night joggers.

         This time it was decided by Junken-pow between the two gremlins
who had voted for south. The decision to enter the park was made, and
the three musket-er-gremlins continued on. They hadn't gone too far in,
when they were confronted by their their first target.

         They sprang to the attack, but were repelled by three vicious
strikes. Thus surprised, they took a moment to gauge the thing that had
hit them with lightning speed. It walked upright like a human, but was
covered in hair. A few pieces of clothing could be seen through the
hair, and it's hands ended in claws. It's visage was quite fearsome and
it didn't look happy.

         A thought managed to penetrate the three small gremlin brains,
and it was, <This is not a good thing.> So unanimously decided, they
quickly departed northward from whence they came. As they made their way
across the street and back to the alley, disaster struck again.

         The first two gremlins made it across easily enough, but the
third ran afoul of a speeding car and, very zen-like, became one with
the road.

         The two remaining gremlins left their dearly departed companion
behind and rapidly fled northward. One gremlin whapped the other and
said a few things in gremlin-speak. If you were there and were able to
translate what was said, it would've come out like this:

        "Baka! I told you we should've gone north!"


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

Author's notes:
This chapter was for the Hinako fans! And I know Nodoka wanting Ranma to
be Ranko has been done in many fics, but it just makes sense to me, so I
thought I'd spend a little time doing it in mine. There are fics that do
it better than I will, like `Girl Days', which I suggest everyone who
likes Ranma 1/2 should read! Very good stuff there.






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



Send C&C to:  oddball22@hotmail.com

Find my stories at:  www.geocities.com/kaiphantom2000

DISCLAIMER:


Ranma 1/2: New Challenges
Minor Disturbances

Chapter 7





        "Find anything?" the martial artist asked his two female
companions.

         Kae shook her head. "Nothing, Tenma-san." She continued to look
through the battlefield that was once the rebel army headed by Tendo
Senshin. It wasn't a pretty sight. Dead bodies were everywhere, mixed
with equipment, weapons, and ruins of tents. Some fires still burned
nearby.

        "By the looks of it, Tendo-san's army put one hell of a fight,"
Tenma remarked. "More than half these bodies belong to the dark shogun
army." His brow creased in thought. "But what I don't get, is the fact
that there doesn't seem to be enough bodies."

        "What?" Kae asked in surprise.

         Tenma mentally slapped himself. "I mean, there doesn't seem to
be enough bodies to account for all of Tendo-san's army." <And no sign
of Neko either...>

         Kae let out a breath. "You mean some of the army survived?"

         He nodded. "Looks like it. There's only about 200 bodies."
Tenma knew he shouldn't have been so clinical in his estimation, but he
also knew that if he allowed himself to feel too much at the moment,
he'd go numb and shut down.

         Just like Akara was now.

         He took a moment to glance over at the youngest Tendo where she
was kneeling down next to a tree stump, seemingly in a state of shock.
He tried to imagine what she must be feeling, thinking that your family
and friends were most likely dead. True, they hadn't actually found the
bodies of her father or sisters, but it didn't look too promising.

         He looked at Kae, who nodded in understanding, before deciding
to approach the obviously distraught girl. From behind, he gently put a
hand on her shoulder. "Akara, they're most likely still alive. The whole
army didn't die here."

        "This was where my father's tent was, next to this stump," she
said quietly. "And my father is a man who would fight to the death if it
would save some of the lives of his soldiers." She drew her cloak
tighter around her body and shivered.

         Tenma felt pangs of sympathy, but he knew they couldn't stay
here long. Agents of the dark shogun could still be in the area. "I
understand how you must be feeling, but-"

         She cut him off. "You understand nothing!" She turned to face
him, standing up and forcing his hand off her shoulder in the process.
Her eyes glared at him and Tenma fought the urge to recoil. "My family
is dead. DEAD! You can't possibly understand how I feel!" The eyes
narrowed. "Spies probably followed us from that inn the night I met you.
I told father it was a stupid idea to risk himself meeting a total
stranger. In the end, I `convinced' him to let me go instead, so I could
minimize the risk to him. But now, thanks to you, not only is my family
dead, but the hope for crushing the shogun is ruined!" She turned around
and started to stomp off.

        "Now wait just one minute!" Tenma yelled. "I know you're looking
for someone to blame, but make sure you blame the right person. I had
nothing to do with this and you know it!"

         She stopped walking and Tenma used the oppurtunity to continue
his vent. "As for understanding, consider this: I never knew my family.
For all I know, they could be dead. I have no idea where I came from.
The only thing I know is my name, and that's because my master found me
with the name sewn into my clothes. Be thankful you had a family growing
up. Satsu-sensei was my only family, and he's dead now."

         He saw her head drop a bit as she abosorbed this information.
<Well what do you know, maybe I am getting through to her.> He took a
breath. "The best thing we can do right now is continue on and finish
what your father had begun; that's what he would want and you know it."

         For a few minutes there was silence as neither one moved. Then,
slowly, Akara turned around and looked at him. He could still see anger
and hate in her eyes, but it was considerably less then there was
before.

        "Of course I'll continue on," she stated. "I'm not about to let
the bastards who did this get away and escape justice. You can tag along
if you wish, but I warn you not to get in my way." And then she turned
and walked off. This time, Tenma made no move to stop her.

         Suddenly, Kae materialized next to him and it startled the
martial artist. "Hey! How'd you do that? Nobody's been able to sneak up
on me like that!"

         What passed for a smirk, flited across the ninja woman's face.
"Sorry. I've searched the field, but I haven't found any survivors. As
far as I can determine, the rest of the army must've retreated
northward."

         He nodded and started walking while Kae kept up with him. "It's
a good thing that's the direction she's headed then. I doubt she'd
listen to anything else right now."

        "You may be right, but you should go easy on her," Kae advised.
"After all, the poor girl's just lost her family. She is going to be
hard to deal with for awhile."

        "You're probably right." Tenma sighed. "Still, it's going to be
a rough trip, and she'll need to keep her cool if any of us want to make
it through this war alive."





         Up ahead, Akara glanced back as she left the battlefield plain
and entered the forest. Apparently, Tenma and Kae were talking,
laughing, and getting along just fine. She felt a momentary twinge as
she watched their faces; watched, as they got along.

         Forcing her gaze foreward once more, she briefly wondered where
that twinge came from. It couldn't be that she was attracted to him. Her
face darkened. <Definitely NOT! Men could not be trusted, they really
only wanted one thing. And the nerve of daddy to try and engage one of
them to him! And then her own sisters foisted him off on her!> Her fists
clenched at her sides, but she released the pressure and deflated. <And
now they're gone, leaving me to finish what they started. And I WILL
finish it.>

        "Daddy, I swear I will avenge you and my sisters," she said
quietly, but with conviction. "I will kill the dark shogun if it's the
last thing I do."





         They made camp later that night. After setting up the sleeping
mats and starting a fire, Tenma went to take a bath in a nearby stream
while Kae went off the scout the area, leaving Akara alone to poke the
fire.

         She had done much thinking that day, and had come to a nasty
conclusion when her anger cooled: she hadn't been very nice recently.
She had let her susupicion of Tenma cloud her judgement of him. Of
course it hadn't helped that the army had been sacked while they were
away.

         Her thoughts also traveled back to the talk she had with her
dad before they left to meet with the ninja glan Garou...

        "Akara," he had said when he found time to pull her away. "It
would please your father very much if you could learn to get along with
Tenma. My old friend Satsu spoke very highly of his student and it seems
the two of you would get along well."

         She couldn't believe her ears. "Daddy, how can you say that!?
You're still pushing that stupid engagement idea?"

        "Honey, listen. You're 19 now, it's time you began to look for a
husband. I may not survive this war and I don't want to die knowing
you'll be all alone..."

        <Oh great, not this speech again.> "I won't be alone, I have my
sisters. I can understand what you're trying to do, but I'm not
interested in boys."

         Her father sighed. "I'd hope to have to not tell you this, but,
I've talked it over with your sisters, and they agree with me, that
you're the one best suited for Tenma since you're both the same age and
both martial artists. When you come back from your mission, I'm making
the engagement between you two official."

         Akara was so stunned, she couldn't say anything as her father
continued.

        "I agree with Satsu that he is a fine man who will treat you
right. He also told me that is was vitally important that the Saotome
line continue. Akara, you can't go through life hating men because of
that one incident. And you have to trust that your father knows what's
best for you."

         She found her voice. "What's best for me!? No, I don't think
so! You just want to use me as a whore for that... that boy! I can't
believe this!" She turned her back and stomped off. "I hate you daddy!
I'm leaving now!"





         A tear ran down the youngest Tendo's face, and it was soon
accompianed by a few others. <My last words to my father... spoken in
anger.> "And now I won't ever see him again," she finished softly.

         She caught the sounds of footsteps and looked up, quickly
drying her tears on her sleeve. Tenma was walking into camp wearing only
pants, with a towel wrapped around his neck. Heat suddenly spiked in her
body as her gaze traveled over his muscular chest. She looked away
suddenly to hide the blush, and hoped Tenma hadn't noticed her reaction
or her tears.

         If he did, he gave no sign. Instead, he went over to his
backpack and pulled out a shirt, slipping it on before joining her at
the fire. Akara tried to banish the feelings that had built up from
seeing him shirtless, but they only remained by his continued presence
nearby.

         Akiko ignored them for the moment and pushed on to say what she
had been thinking earlier. <Even though I'm not going like it...>
"Tenma-kun?"

        "Hmm?" He didn't look up, but continued to study the fire.

        "I.. I owe you and... apology." <Ack!> "I haven't been very fair
to you since we've met. There's a lot that has to do with it, but I
can't say so right now."

         He looked up and blinked at her, then moved to put his hand on
her forehead. "Are you feeling alright? Maybe we should head to a town
and find a doctor."

         Akiko's temper flared. "I'm fine!" Her right fist came up and
pelted Tenma back. "I'm trying to apologize, you baka!"

         Tenma recoiled and felt his cheek where she hit him. "Now
that's the Akara I know!" He grinned at her and she deflated somewhat
when she realized he was joking with her. "Apology accepted. I should
also apologize, too. I may not have been as nice or as understanding as
I could have been."

         She sat back down, her anger appeased; for the moment. "I was
just wondering if, you know, you'd maybe like to start over... as
friends?" She twiddled her thumbs in her lap.

         Tenma smiled. "I think I'd like that." He held out his hand.
"Friends, then?"

         She took it. "Friends." She released his hand then, and
internally debated whether to tell him more. <Why not?> "One more thing.
You remember when you first met my dad and he tried to engage you to one
of us?" He nodded; he did. "Well, my family talked it over and he
decided to make the engagement between us official, not that I'd really
marry you or anything. But, he was going to annouce it when we got
back."

         Tenma looked surprised at this, and wondered briefly if Satsu
had some hand in this as well. Back when he was still training with his
sensei, Satsu had dropped several hints that Tenma should marry, or at
least find a girl, but the young martial artist wasn't interested in
that, only in continuing his training.

         Well, there was that one girl in the nearby village. He went
over to her restaurant to eat frequently and she had started acting all
sweet on him. She seemed nice enough, but she could be a tad possessive
and clingy. And all because he happened to offhandedly call her `cute'
once. She was a nice friend, but she wasn't what he was looking for in a
potential bride. She lacked that inner fire that he liked in a woman.
Like Akara had.

         He blinked. Where had that come from? Akara?

         Her declaration that she was going to be his fiancee had caused
him to look at her in a whole new light. She was quite attractive, in
her own way. And... just maybe, he could see... maybe... being married
to her. He sighed. She didn't seem to like him, though, so it probably
wasn't going to happen.

         Dimly he realized she was waiting for him to say something.
"Yeah, don't worry about it. It's not like it's going to happen now." He
saw her facial expression drop. <Oh, great going dummy! Remind her that
her father's dead!> "I'm sorry, Akara! I didn't mean..."

         She waved him off. "It's okay. He may not be dead, it's just
that... my last words to him were less then kind." A new tear formed in
her eye, despite her efforts otherwise. "His last memory of me is that I
hate him!" She definitely couldn't stop the tears now.

         Before either of them knew it, Tenma had his arms around her to
comfort her as she cried into his chest. To him, it seemed like the only
thing he could do to help her. After all, she was probably going to be
his fiancee.

         To Akara, who momentarily forgot herself as the day's events
finally caught up to her, she felt oddly comforted in her current
position. Her angry words, to both her father and Tenma, her loss of
family, and all the other emotions she had bottled up inside came
pouring forth in sobs that were almost painfully ripped from her.

         After ten minutes or so, Tenma noticed that she had quieted
down and had actually fallen asleep! Perplexed at this sudden change, he
decided the best thing he could do was to place her in her sleeping mat
and pull the covers over her, before returning to the fire.

         Kae silently joined him a few minutes later, but they didn't
speak much with the exception of saying good-night. His main thought was
of this strange and complex girl that could be distant and angry one
minute, then friendly and passionate the next. His other thought flowed
in a similiar vein and troubled him even more.

         Was he actually falling for her?






         Miyo awoke, gasped a huge intake of breath, and took a moment
to orient herself. She was in her bedroom and it was still dark. She sat
up shook her head, letting the world return to normal.

         That had been the longest and most realistic dream yet. She
could actually feel the anguish of Akara and the confusion of Tenma, and
her heart went out ot them, despite the fact that they had been dead for
nearly 1000 years. Kae was still a bit of an enigma to her. Where had
the kunoichi come from? And what were her feelings and motivations? The
dreams had yet to tell her that.

         Knowing she wouldn't get anymore sleep, she once again dredged
out her notebook and began to record.






        "Well, how did it go?" Mousse asked as he came down to help
prepare the Nekohanten for opening. The twin amazon girls were already
setting things up.

        "No good," LinLin replied. "I think she know I follow her. I
lose her after only three blocks."

         Mousse sighed and began to prepare the kitchen. "So we still
have no idea where she goes each night that makes her sleep all day?"
The twins shook their heads. "Maybe we should get some help on this. As
much as I don't want to admit it, maybe Ranma can..."

        "No!" came the forceful reply in stereo.

        "Ranma no good!" RanRan declared.

        "This Amazon affair, no outsiders!" LinLin added. "Besides, we
no really know where Shampoo go each night. Maybe not big problem and
big sister Shampoo go back to normal after awhile."

         Mousse looked back and forth between the two girls, but it was
clear he wouldn't be getting them to admit they needed any help dealing
with the problem. And he definitely saw it as a problem, since this was
not Shampoo's usual behavior, or anything remotely like it.

         "Maybe Shampoo's cursed form has something to do with it," the
Amazon male suggested. "After all, cats do usually go out at night and
sleep most of the day."

        "It possibility," said RanRan, tapping her chin with her
fingers.

         Mousse resumed his prepatory kitchen work and mumbled to
himself. "I just hope you know what you're doing. Shampoo's life could
depend on it."






         The magnificence of Kuno Tatewaki strolled down the street in
silent contemplation of his romantic life. Once upon a time, that would
have entailed deciding between the fearsome Tendo Akane and the fiery
pig-tailed girl (or just having them both). Now, he knew the pig-tailed
girl as Ranma and he knew Akane's true feelings for him, which were not
what he thought.

         All thanks to a demon named Galfgar.

         When his clouded mind was freed, he sought out another love and
found it in the middle Tendo sister, Nabiki. Why? Mainly it was because
she was the only one who took the time to help (usually for a fee) when
he needed it. She dragged him to the nurses station to get patched up,
furnished him with pictures and information, and was one of the few
people who actually talked with him.

         Not to mention she was quite attractive in her own way.

         So, he had made use of the Kuno fortune to attempt to win her
over. But was that the right move? After all, that approach never worked
with Akane nor the pig-tailed girl. Still, Tendo Nabiki seemed to enjoy
the attention and money he spent on her, and he enjoyed her company
immensely. She may not be a fighter, but she could fight mental battles
better than anyone he knew, as witnessed by her latest fued with
Soyokaze Kenji.

        "Excuse me?" a voice broke him out of his reverie.

         Kuno turned to see a short man standing nearby and looking up
at him. "Sasuke? What be the meaning of yon interruption?"

        `Sasuke' grew red-faced. "I'm not Sasuke! I wish everyone would
stop calling me that!"

        "Surely, thou jests," Kuno replied, chuckling. "Thou art mine
manservant, thou can be no other."

         The Sasuke look-alike visibly calmed himself. "I am not Sasuke.
My name is Denoki and I am the student and vassel of Sukebe. You are
Kuno Tatewaki, correct?" Kuno nodded slowly. "You are a fighter of some
renown and my sensei wishes to challenge you to a duel of skill. Will
you accept?"

         Kuno decided to play along. "Indeed, I do accept."

         Denoki bowed. "Then if you'll just follow me a short distance
away..."

         Kuno followed the short manservant, who looked a lot like
Sasuke, to a small empty lot nearby where he met his opponent. He
blinked as he beheld the face of his would-be advesary.

        "Kuno Tatewaki-san, it is in honor to meet you," Sukebe greeted.
"I hear you are one of this districts best fighters."

         Kuno bowed slightly. "You are too kind. The Blue Thunder is
indeed one of the mightiest samurai."

        "Ah. Then in that case, shall we begin?"

         He assumed a stance that Kuno had never seen before.
Correction, he had seen it before, or at least something similiar. And
that time he lost, badly. Quelching his nervousness, he drew his bokken
and prepared.

         Sukebe was on him almost immediately.






         He awoke sometime later. How much later, he didn't know. A
washcloth was on his head and he could detect several people were
nearby.

        "Welcome back to the land of the living, Kuno-baby," came
Nabiki's voice. To anybody else, it sounded like her normal voice. To
Kuno, it was the normal voice with a little worry etched in.

        "Where am I?" he croaked opening his eyes.

        "Wow, you used only three words," Nabiki said, somewhat
surprised now. "You must be hurt worse than we thought. But to answer
your question, your in the living room at the Tendo dojo. Kenji-chan
found you passed out in an empty lot and brought you here."

        "Could you please stop calling me that!" Kuno could detect
Kenji's annoyed voice.

         Nabiki smirked. "Why of course, Kenji-chan."

        "Argh! Now that I know your boyfriend's alright, I'm leaving!"
Kuno sat up slowly to watch Kenji stomp out.

        "He'll break soon," Nabiki commented, offhandedly. She looked
back at recently awakened kendoist. "So, you mind telling us what
happened to you?"

         Before he could answer, four girls entered the room and it was
clear they had been working out. He recognized Akane, but the other
three he had only heard about, and had yet to actually meet. Two were
supposed to be Akane's new sisters adopted by the Tendos. The last girl
he was unsure of.

        "You're getting pretty good, Akari-chan," Akane said. "A couple
more days and we'll make sure you can take that fiancee-stealer."

         <Akari? So that is her name. And what's this about a fiancee-
stealer?>

        "Arigato," Akari replied, blushing a bit. "I sure hope I'll be
ready enough to take her. She's good and I have a feeling I only got
lucky last time." Her face turned determined. "But I'm not going to let
her take Ryoga from me!"

        "That's the spirit, Akari-san," one of the other girl's said,
the one carrying the strange staff.

        <Is that Natsume? Or Kurumi? I never could quite remember which
was which.>

         The other one spoke, the one with the ribbon. "I'm gonna go see
if Kasumi-oneechan needs help in the kitchen."

        "Don't spoil your appetite!" Natsume called after her sister as
she disappeared.

        "Oh, Kuno-sempai, how're you feeling?" Akane asked, turning her
attention on him.

        "It pleases me to hear your concern for my welfare," he
returned. "But fear not, for nothing keeps Kuno Tatewaki down for long."

         Nabiki spoke back up. "We were just getting around to what put
you down in the first place. You've been out of it for several hours."

         Kuno looked downcast. "'Twas a demon in human form. The fiend
moved like lightning and I could nary land a blow on him! Since my
skills were insufficient to the task, I fear he may well be nigh
unstoppable."

        "He just hasn't run into me yet," came a highly recognizable and
haughty voice from behind.

         Kuno turned to see a pig-tailed martial artist hanging upside
from the ceiling. "I would caution thee to beware, Saotome, but sound
advice oft eludes the arrogant ones such as you."

        "Hey!" Ranma objected. "It doesn't matter what'cha say, I say I
can take him. Besides, I've been beatin' up on you for long time. It's
not such a hard thing ta do."

        "Ranma!" Akane's voice rang out. "Stop picking on Kuno-sempai!
And it would be good for you to exercise a little caution. I swear, your
ego know no limits."

         Ranma dropped down to his feet and rolled his eyes. "Whatever.
I think I'll go on a jog and see if I can find Ryoga. He only wandered
off a short time ago, so I should be able to find him before dark."

        "Baka," Akane muttered as her fiancee departed. "Sorry about
that Akari-chan."

        "No problem, Akane-chan," the pig-farmer returned. "I'm okay
with Ryoga's directional problems because I know he'll always come back
to me. And Ranma-kun only teases him because they're such good friends."

         Natsume stretched. "Well, I think I nice bath is on order.
Would you care to join us, Akari-san?"

        "That sounds great!" she replied. As they walked off, Kuno could
hear her add, "I'm as sweaty as a pig!"




---------------------------------------------
Author's note:

Real minor thing here for those who don't know. Pigs don't sweat.
Instead, to keep cool, they roll around in the mud. It's true, look it
up for yourself. :)


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



Send C&C to:  oddball22@hotmail.com

Find my stories at:  www.geocities.com/kaiphantom2000

DISCLAIMER:


Ranma 1/2: New Challenges
Minor Disturbances

Chapter 8






         Ryoga awoke.

         And immediately regretted it.

         He had spent the night in a large steel construction tube in
order to avoid the rains that had fallen that night. Needless to say,
his awakening was greeted by the pained protests of his body for the
hard surface and cramped conditions he'd been forced to endure. He was
used to sleeping on the ground, but hard steel was a tad more
uncomfortable, and the angle his body was in added to that torment.

         Of course, he wouldn't have needed to seek such living
conditions if he hadn't have been stupid enough to wander off and get
lost yesterday. Of course, that was probably because of the depression
he had sunk back into after Akane had found out about his curse. It
wasn't as bad as his previous depressions, thanks to Akari, but it was
still bad since Akane had refused to talk to him afterward. Even when he
tried to make it up to her, she consistantly ignored him.

         He never knew rejection from Akane could be so painful. Akari
helped lessen the blow, but it still hurt. He had figured out that the
happiness he got from Akari helped counteract his directional problem
somewhat, so he could find his way around some of the time, but drop
back into depression and he got lost again.

         Ryoga sighed and crawled out of the tube, careful not to step
into any of the puddles that remained. Once out, he stretched his kinked
muscles in the contruction yard where he stayed.

         "Ah, that's better," he remarked to himself. He was still a
little sore, but not as stiff as he had been. He then sat down on a
nearby pile of bricks and contemplated what he should do now.

         He supposed he should head back to the Tendo Dojo, but how
would he find it? And should he go back? Akane didn't like him, and
Akari had been a bit distant ever since that Sakura chick showed up. Was
Akari having second thoughts about him?

        <She has a right to,> he thought glumly. <I turn into a small,
helpless pork dinner when I get wet, I get lost too easily, and just
being around me seems to bring her misfortune. I can still remember how
she looked after her first fight with that stupid fiancee my parents
arranged. Someone as nice as her, doesn't deserve a lousy person like
me...>

         Unknowingly, his body had started to glow a pale yellow and
green color as his despair set in, and he instinctively brought his
hands up. "Why does this happen to me!" The blast of ki energy exploded
out of him rocketing away into the air, and if he had been paying
attention, he would have seen it was only slightly short of a Full
Shishi Houkodan.

         So drained, he collapsed back onto the pile of bricks. "The
world is a dark and lonely place..."

        "Yep, that's him sensei," he dimly heard a voice saying. "Hibiki
Ryoga. Some say he's the second best fighter in the area."

        <Second best, yep that's me. I couldn't beat Ranma for either
Akane's heart, or in combat.>

        "Hello there!" came another voice. Ryoga continued to stare at
the ground. He heard steps walk over to him and a hand waved in front of
his face. "I said, hello there!"

         Ryoga looked up into the face of the man who greeted him, and
nearly recoiled in shock. "Wh-who are you? What are you?"

         The man bowed gracefully. "I am Sukebe, and I would like to
interest you in a little match. What do you say?"

        "A fight?" Ryoga asked. "With you?" He noticed another man
slightly behind and to the left of Sukebe. "Sasuke?"

         Sukebe frowned. "Naw, that's my student, Denoki." The smile
returned. "So, what do you say? Think you got what it takes to face me?"

         Suddenly, Ryoga realized that a fight was just what he wanted.
And since Ranma wasn't immediately available, this guy would have to do.
"Yeah sure, why not?"

         Sukebe grinned evilly as the two men readied themselves. He had
found another sucker. His previous matches had been too easy, but if
what his student-servant had told him, this guy should give a good
challenge.





         Now it should be noted that, in the savage combat that took
place, Ryoga wasn't exactly at his best. He was still stiff and sore
from sleep, hungry, and he had just fired off a pretty huge Shishi
Houkodan.

         Which, incidentily, was what led Ranma to him a couple hours
later.

        "Oh man," was his first words upon seeing the battered and all
but destroyed construction site. And upon seeing the lost boy half-
buried in it.

         "What did you do, Ryoga?" he asked walking up to him. Ryoga was
out cold, so Ranma just shook his head and began to dig his lower half
out. "Well, I guess I better get you back to the dojo." He pulled a few
more heavy construction beams off him, then pulled the lost boy out. He
set him down and slapped him a few times.

        "Earth to Ryoga! You in there buddy?" Ryoga only groaned and
tossed his head a few times. "Man, you look like crap. What happened to
you?" His clothes were in tatters and he was sporting numerous cuts and
bruises. Ranma sighed and picked up the lost boy, throwing him over his
shoulder. "Well, I guess you'll have ta tell me later." He turned and
leapt out of the yard, starting for home.

        "And just think, today's your girlfriend's challenge match,
too."






         "Ryo-chan!" the girlfriend in question exclaimed. "Ranma-kun,
you found him!" She gasped as Ranma set his load down on the Tendo
living room floor. "What happened to him?"

         Ranma shook his head. "Don't know. He was half-buried in steel
when I found him. Don't worry about him though, he's tough."

         Akane nodded. "Yeah, in the meantime, you've got a match coming
up in an hour. Nabiki's already down there setting up the field and the
details." Her eyes narrowed. "We'll make sure this match is a fair one.

        "Right!" Akari said, then turned her attention to her
unconscious fiance. She gave a soft kiss on his cheek. "Wish me luck,
Ryo-chan."

        "It's time to get dressed for battle, Akari-san," Natsume
announced as she entered the room. Akari looked reluctant to leave

        "Don't worry, I'll get pig-boy down to the field as soon I get
him patched up and conscious," Ranma volunteered.

         The sumo pig farmer nodded and, with a last look at her love,
she allowed the other two girls to lead her off to get dressed.






        "This is your last chance to place bets!" Nabiki yelled through
the megaphone at the assembled crowd. "Unryuu Akari vs. Sakura. Rumor
has it their last match ended in a draw, and Akari-san has been training
at the Tendo dojo for the past week. Will it be enough to take on Sakura
for the hand of Ryoga?"

         A few more kids came forward to make bets with Nabiki's trusted
lietenants: Yuka, Sayuri, and Tomoe. She smiled, satisfied that
everything was going to plan, and handed off the megaphone to Yuka.
There was nothing like a good martial arts duel to raise money for the
Nabiki poverty fund, with a minor cut for her assistants, of course.

         She checked her watch. "4pm. Where are they?" There was a
commotion at one end of the soccer field, and Nabiki looked up to see an
older man and woman arrive with a younger girl in a sailor fuku. <Must
be Ryoga's parents and the Sakura chick. She's not bad looking. Now all
we need is Akari.>

         As if to answer her, she turned to see Akane, Natsume, and
Kurumi leading Akari onto the field. She was dressed in one of Akane's
gi's, her hair tied back into a pony tail with one of Ryoga's bandannas.
Another one of his bandannas she wore around her forehead.

         Ryoga was sitting in a chair, sporting various injuries and
bandages, with a `1st place' sign around his neck. Ranma and Katsunishki
stood nearby.

         Nabiki grinned, all was in readiness. <The players are here,
now it's time to start the show!>




        "I'm so nervous!" Akari said, trembling. "What if I lose? Ryoga-
chan will hate me..."

         Akane gripped the trembling girl's shoulders with both hands.
"No he won't! You're going to win, you've got to believe that! Just
remember what we taught you."

         Akari smiled wanely. "Thanks Akane-chan. I really appreciate
all you've done for me, despite the fact of what Ryoga-chan's done to
you..."

         Akane sighed. "It's okay. I guess I can understand why he did
it, but he still should have told me. I'll get over it in time." She
smiled at the other girl, then gave her a hug. "For luck."

         Akari nodded and left her to take her place on the field. Akane
went to stand over by Ranma and noticed the way Ranma was looking at
Sakura. She felt a momentary jealous twinge, before suppressing it
firmly. Taking another look at the stretching Sakura, she noticed what
he was doing. <He's studying her!>

        "Do you think Akari has a chance?" she asked lightly.

         Ranma let out a breath. "I don't know. Sakura is a martial
artist, and Akari has only being training sumo pigs. Akari's got good
strength, but Sakura looks to be pretty fast. From the way Ryoga
explained their last match, I'd say it was Akari only won because Sakura
didn't adapt fast enough to Akari's moves. The tricks we taught her
might help, but..." he shrugged. "I dunno. Sakura looks pretty good. You
could take her easy. Kodachi could as well if she used her gymnastics
tools."

         Akane blinked in surprise. "You know, sometimes you really
surprise me, Ranma. That was a really good assement of abilities and the
fight hasn't even started yet. You really do have a brain up there!"

         Ranma rolled his eyes. "Gah."

         Akane giggled, then settled down as Nabiki calmed the crowd.

        "This is it!" Nabiki yelled through the megaphone. "Akari vs.
Sakura. No time limit. Victory to be determined when one is unable to
continue. Are you two girls ready?" They both nodded at her. "Then,
begin!"

         With that, the battle was joined.






        "What took you so long, `nichan?" Yuri asked as her older
brother arrived, out of breath.

         Ukyo looked over at him from her okonomiyaki stand. "Yeah, we
could've used your help. My okonomiyaki has been selling like hot
cakes."

        "Sorry, had a few things to take care of," Kenji replied,
grabbing an `Ucchans' apron and an order pad.

         The chef gave him a wan smile. "Well get up up into the stands,
Kenji-kun, and start taking orders! Yuri-chan, why don't you head back
to the store and see if Konatsu and Selah need some help?"

         Yuri nodded and left. "See ya later, Ucchan, nichan!"

         Kenja waved to his sister, then started up into the stands. He
took a moment to gauge the action going on in the field, and winced when
he saw it wasn't going well.






         Akari was hard pressed. The other girl seemed to even better
then before, she was dodging every attack Akari tried. Sakura was also
managing to get a few blows through that had begun to wear the sumo pig
farm girl down.

         Sakura jumped back from Akari's latest punch and smirked. "You
really are pathetic,' she taunted. "You can't beat me with such weak
skills. I can't see why Ryoga-sama ever tolerated a pig-girl like you."

        The `pig-girl' smirked. "Thanks for the compliment, but this
fight isn't over yet. Besides, I know for a fact Ryo-chan wouldn't be
interested in a dumb-as-a-brick, small-chested bimbo schoolgirl." She
waved a hand in front of her nose. "And pig manure smells better than
you."





         On the sidelines, Ranma winced. He had learned on the road
never to get involved in an insult throwing match with a farm girl. He
knew this was gonna get nasty.






         Sakura steamed as she realized Akari did have the slightly
larger chest. "You... You... Arrrggghhh!" And she attacked, sliding
forward with a mid-level punch.

         Akari blocked the first blow, sensing it was a feint, and
grabbed the following up kick that was the real attack. She pulled the
leg foreward, sending Sakura off-balance. Then Akari grabbed her
opponent in a bear hug, pinning the fuku-clad girl's arms to her side,
before tripping her up and falling on top of her.

         There was an audible *oomph* from Sakura as her back hit the
ground with Akari on top. Despite the momentary loss of wind, Sakura
managed to kick Akari off of her and the other girl went flying to land
several yards away. She landed and rolled badly, but was able to regain
her feet at the same time as her rival.

         Akari was about to advance again when she noticed her rival
standing still and concentrating. <What is she doing?> Akari thought,
right before Skaura launch the glowing ball at her.






         Yuri stepped into the empty restaurant. <Of course, most people
are at the field watching the fight. So what use will I be here?> She
continued walking inside, back to the kitchen. <I might as well check on
Konatsu and see how he's doing. He's been acting a little down for the
past few days. I wonder why?>

         She didn't see him in the kitchen, and there was no one behind
the grill, so she surmised he must be in the bathroom. Unfortunately, he
wasn't there either. <Where is he? It's a good thing there are no
customers out front.> Walking softly upstairs, she heard a faint sound
that almost sounded like... crying?

         Tiptoeing over to the room Konatsu shared with her brother, she
put her ear to the door but heard nothing. Concerned, she knocked.

        "Konatsu-kun, are you in there?" she called.

         She heard a weak voice call for her to enter, so she opened the
door and stepped inside. The male kunoichi had his back to her and was
kneeling on his futon. He was dressed in a floral kimono.

         "Hey, are you okay?" she asked, coming behind him.

        "I-I'm fine, Yuri-sama," he replied meekly.

         She kneeled in front of him to see his eyes slightly red, and
she frowned. "No you're not. You're upset. You want to tell me why?" Up
close, she could see the tiny bit of make-up that he still wore, and a
few tears had marred it somewhat.

         He sighed. "It's... It's just... Ukyo-sama. She doesn't love
me..."

         The ninja girl had learned of the attraction Konatsu had for
Ukyo in the past couple of months, but also kinda got the feeling the
sentiment wasn't returned. "How do you know?"

        "After our date a couple of weeks back, she told me," he
sniffed. "That she only really thought of me as a friend. That she
didn't feel that way about me. I thought it would be okay, so I tried to
go back to the normal routines, but it just isn't helping..."

         Yuri couldn't resist giving him a sympathetic hug. "Oh,
Konatsu-chan, I'm sorry. But you'll find someone else. There's got to be
a special girl out there for you."

        "I thought Ukyo-sama was the one for me," he said dully.

         She pulled back to look at him. "What made you decide that in
the first place?"

         His face took on an odd look of happiness and sadness. "She was
so nice me, compared to my step-family. She gave me a place to stay with
enough food and she even paid me to work!"

         Yuri laughed lightly. "There are plenty of girls out there that
are just as nice as Ukyo-chan. But unless you try, you'll never know."
She then sat back on her shins and studied him.

         According to some other people she talked with, Konatsu used to
dress VERY feminine, and it was hard to tell he was guy since he acted
so much like a girl. But she hadn't met him until he had returned to the
restaurant a couple of months ago. While he did have several feminine
qualities, Ukyo had told her he wasn't dressing very feminine anymore.
The result was a pretty cute guy who wasn't afraid to show his emotions,
and was very respectful of others, women in particular.

         That was important, since all the men Yuri had encountered were
macho braggarts who seemed only intent on one thing. So, she had decided
that men were beneath her and a waste of time. But Konatsu was
different, and she found herself feeling a bit attracted to him.

         Konatsu hadn't missed the expressions that flitted across the
girl's face, and he was puzzled by what she was thinking. Then she half-
smiled deviously and, before he knew what was happening, leaned over and
lightly kissed him on the lips.

         He promptly fainted.

         Yuri sighed. "Well, what do ya know..." She smiled. "There may
be some hope for you after all, `Natsu-chan..."




         He knew she was losing, and there was nothing he could do about
it. His heart felt every single punch and kick she took. And then he
wondered how he could've been stupid enough to let his parents talk him
into this.

         And for the one-hundreth time, Ryoga prayed Akari would win.

        "Not long now," came the too-happy-for-Ryoga's-tastes of Dan
Hibiki, aka Ryoga's father. "Gotta admit, that pig girlfriend of yours
is tough, though." He placed a hand on his son's shoulder. "I know you
might be a but upset now, but you'll see the wisdom of your parents
decision in time."

         Ryoga whacked his dad's hand away. "Upset!? I'm way past upset,
*dad*!" He put quite a bit of distaste into the word `dad'. "I can't
believe you'd do something like this to me! And here I thought it was
Ranma's father who did stupid things like this..."

         His gaze turned back to the almost finished battle. It had been
clear for most of the match who would win. Sakura had fairly danced
around Akari, avoiding and deflecting most of her attacks. That and she
was throwing a light ki attack she called a `Hadoken.'

         While Akari had gotten some good blows in, she didn't have the
skill of her opponent. She was limping on her left leg, and Ryoga could
tell by the way she moved that her ribs were bruised.

         Then his heart stopped as he watched Sakura deliver the final
attack, a dashing multi-punch combo that seemed to go in slow motion.
With the final hit, Akari dropped to the ground. There was stunned
silence in the crowd.

         After checking to make sure her opponent was okay, Sakura leapt
up in victory, then rushed to glomp her new fiance while Akane and
Katsunishki moved out to check on Akari. Ryoga wanted to go too, but the
tight grip Sakura had on him was making it impossible for him to move.

         Out in the field, Akane was relived to see that the pig-farmer
was okay, just bruised and unconscious for the moment. She watched as
the recently-defeated girl came around under Katsunishki's nosings.

        "Uhhhmmm," Akari groaned. "Katsu-chan." She reached a hand up to
scratch her pet pig's chin, then looked at Akane. "I lost, didn't I?"

         Akane nodded slowly. "I'm sorry..."

         Akari hauled herself up to see Ryoga and Sakura embracing.
Tears leaked from her eyes as despair filled her. "No... I've lost
him..." With ease that came of familiarity, Akari climbed onto to
Katsunishiki and the sumo pig took off.

         Akane watched her go, knowing she wouldn't be able to catch up.
She hoped this was something Akari could work out on her own.

         Ryoga, who had been trying to squirm out of Sakura's glomp,
managed to catch a glimpse of Akari's tear-filled face before she
mounted the sumo pig and took off. "AKARI!" he yelled, but she either
didn't hear him, or chose not to respond.

         With a last mighty shove, Sakura ended up on the ground and
Ryoga took off after the rapidly disappearing sumo pig. Ranma tried to
stop him, but was flung aside and in moments, the lost boy lived up to
his nickname and was gone.

         Ranma picked himself up as Akane came over to him. "Man, I
really feel bad for Ryoga now. This has gotta be tough for him."

         His fiancee nodded. "Poor Akari, too. After all her hard work,
it still wasn't enough. I wish there something more we could do to help
them." She was finding herself feeling sorry for Ryoga, the first signs
of sympathy since she found out he was P-chan. Oh sure, she was still
upset at him, but Akari loved him and she had to admit they made a cute
couple.

        "Nothin' we can do," Ranma replied. "Ryoga'll be difficult to
find, and who knows where Akari is headed. Best thing is to head home
and wait to see if we hear from one of them."

         Akane nodded and the pair started for home. Behind them, Nabiki
and her cohorts collected on the various betting pools.






         Hours later, the middle Tendo sister finally arrived home. It
had been a good day, having generated a modest amount of money from the
fight. Afterwards, she had gone to celebrate with some of her friends.

         It wasn't like she didn't feel for what happened to Akari, it
was just that it wasn't really her business.

         By the time she arrived back, it was already dark and she was
feeling pretty sleepy, so she decided to call it a night. As she passed
the living room, Nabiki noted her younger sister snuggled up to the side
of her fiance on the couch, her head resting on his shoulder while they
watched the TV. For a moment she was tempted to do something about the
sickening sight, but decided she was in too good of a mood herself, so
she left them alone.

         No, it wasn't a real bad thing Ranma and Akane were getting
along, and it seemed all but assured they were going to be married. It
was just the lovey-dovey act they put on occasionally that annoyed her.
She was still too used to them fighting and arguing like they did for
the past year. This new Ranma and Akane seemed... unnatural. Oh, they
still argued and fought from time to time, but nowhere near the level
they used too. And the fights never lasted very long either.

         She still thought her sister could do better than Ranma, but as
long as Akane wanted him and was happy, Nabiki had to accept it.

         She smiled as she heard them start up another argument about
what TV program to watch. It seemed Ranma wanted to watch an old Bruce
Lee movie, and Akane wanted to watch a magical girl anime. Nabiki waited
at the bottom of the stairs for the conclusion.

        *Crash!* It was decided to watch the anime.

         Nabiki peeked back into the room to see the same situation as
before, only with a bump now displayed on Ranma's head. She shook her
own head and headed to her room, falling asleep in her bed an hour
later.





         She awoke some time later to a strange noise, almost like air
being let out of a balloon. Opening her eyes, she decided to see what
time it was, and that's when she realized she couldn't see anything. Her
room was pitch black and their was an odd scent in the air. Logically,
she realized there should be at least some light from her window, or
even her digital alarm clock by her bed.

         She sat up slowly, and detected a chill in the air that caused
her to wrap her blankets tightly around her body. "Alright, what's going
on here?" she asked herself in a whisper.

        "Naaabiiiiikiiiii...." came a very distorted whispered reply.

        "Who's there?" she demanded.

        "Naaabiiiiikiiiii..." came the voice again, a little louder this
time. "Yoooouuuu've beeeen baaaad...." A hideous cackling sound followed
that. "I liiiike yooouuuu..."

         For the life of her, Nabiki couldn't tell who that voice
belonged to. "I'm giving you just three seconds to get to the point or
get lost!"

         A louder cackling sound resounded, and she noticed the wind
currents begin pick up. They were cold enough to make her shiver and
form goosebumps on her skin. Unconsciously, her teeth began to chatter.

        "I'v cooome... for youuuuuu, Teeeendoooo Naaabiiiikiiii..." the
voice intoned. "Your souuulll is miiiiiiine!"

         The middle Tendo decided she had had enough of this, and
fumbled around for the lamp on her nightstand, but couldn't find it.
"Where's my nightstand!?" she gasped, surprised.

        "Youuu are in myyyy world, Naaabiiiikiiii....heheheheheh!
Because of your ruuuuthless treeeatment of people in the pursuuuiit of
moneeeeyyy, I welcome youuu into Hell!"

        "Well, you're in my room!" Nabiki yelled back, her voice
somewhat shaken. She decided to see if she could make it to the light
switch across the room. No sooner then she shifted her legs to the side
of her bed, then a very hot blast of wind hit her in the face.

        "Gooooiing somewhereee?"

         Nabiki trembled. "Who are you!?" She woudn't have admitted it,
but she was... a little scared at the moment.

        "I shall shoooow youuuu!"

         In the next instant, a glowing red face appeared in front of
her. It was a cracked and bleeding skull covered by a hood. "I am
Death!" A scythe came up to rest under her chin. "It's time to
goooo....!"

         Nabiki's eyes rolled up into the back of her head and she
collapsed on the bed.

        `Death' took off it's mask, exhaled, and grinned. Then he
uncovered the Nabiki's window and moved her nightstand back. Taking a
last look around the room, Kenji smiled, then leapt out the window.





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





Send C&C to:  oddball22@hotmail.com

Find my stories at:  www.geocities.com/kaiphantom2000

DISCLAIMER:


Ranma 1/2: New Challenges
Minor Disturbances

Chapter 9





        Nabiki slowly gained consciousness and yawned.

        "What a crazy nightmare..." she muttered to herself. Then she
opened her eyes and groaned. Her room was a mess, with yen notes and
clothes scattered around. "It wasn't a dream." For a few seconds, Nabiki
was at a loss of what to do or think. <What was last night all about
anyway? Was it somebody's idea of a joke?>

         She shivered, still feeling the cold wind brushing her skin.
Then it clicked. <Joke. Wind.>

        "That's it, ninja boy's gonna die," she growled, standing up.
She grabbed her toiletries and headed to the bathroom. She had a lot to
do today and she wanted to get an early start. Her mind was fully awake
now, and began to feed her several ideas.

         A hungry grin appeared on her face. "And he's going to die in
the worst possible way."






        "LinLin! Sister! Come quick!"

         The young Amazon female answered and bounded up the stairs to
her sister's call. Throwing open the door to Shampoo's room, she beheld
RanRan applying a cold wash rag to Shampoo's forehead.

        "What happen to sister, Shampoo?" LinLin asked, worridly

         The purple-haired girl was lying on her futon with a flushed
face. Her eyes were closed and she was moaning and turning her head from
side to side.

        "Not know," RanRan answered. "Just find her like this, this
morning. Shampoo was out all last night again."

         The twin girls stopped as Shampoo emitted a high-pitched yowl.

        "Don't understand, Shampoo not cat now," said RanRan.

        "Curse do something we not know about?" her sister asked.

         Before RanRan could reply, Mousse burst through the doorway,
fear and worry etched on his face. "Shampoo! What's wrong with her!?"

         LinLin took the opportunity to bash him on the head with her
polearm. "Keep quiet! This not for you. We take care of Shampoo. You
take care of kitchen."

        "But..."

        "Sister right," RanRan agreed. "We-"

         She was cut off as Shampoo bolted awake and hissed. She leapt
out of bed and warily regarded the three. Her expression was a mix of
fright, curiosity, and something else that her three observers couldn't
identify.

        "Shampoo?" Mousse ventured.

         She hissed at him and hers eyes turned fierce. LinLin bonked
Mousse again as RanRan slowly approached the strangely acting Amazon.

        "Sister, what wrong?" asked.

         The response she got was not what she expected. Shampoo swiped
her hand at RanRan to back her up, then glanced rapidly around the room.
After seemingly coming to a decision, she dashed out of her room, right
through the closed window.

        "SHAMPOO!" Mousse cried, running to the broken window along with
the twins. "What's happening to her!?"

        "Her eyes," RanRan said, her voice containing not a little
amount of quavering. "They not look human."

         LinLin nodded. "Know what you mean, sister. Almost seem...
feral. Is Shampoo's body, but not Shampoo's mind."

         Mousse produced a small container from his robes. "That's it!
I'm going after her."

        "No!" came the twins command.

        "We go after her," LinLin continued. "You stay here!"

         Mousse's final restraint snapped. "Dammit! Forget your stupid
Amazon pride for once! You can't do this alone. If you'd asked for help
in the first place, we could have helped her before it came to this!"

         With that, he unscrewd the lid and dumped the water over his
head. His robed promptly fell to the ground, leaving a duck in their
place. After giving the twins a contemptuous quack, he took to the air,
chasing after his beloved.

         The two young Amazon girls watched him go.

        "Maybe he right?" LinLin admitted after a moment.

        "Maybe," her sister answered.

         The two girls looked to each other, nodded, and dashed outside.
After closing the restaurant, of course.






         Ranma walked home from school in silence, a bit depressed. Not
that he'd admit it, but he was worried about Ryoga and Akari. Both had
disappeared after Akari's match. Inwardly he hoped those two would get
together and stay together. They seemed to be good for each other. She
knew and accepted his curse, and loved him anyway.

         There was one other issue that had him on edge. Akane had asked
him to help stop Hinako from working her charms on her father. His
mother had interrupted his first attempt, and had told him in no
uncertain terms to NOT interfere. And then she wanted him to be a
daughter as well as a son!

         He sighed. <What am I gonna do?> he asked himself. <I can't
talk to Akane about this. She wants me to stop Hinako's attempts, and
momma wants me to stay out of it.> He sighed again, a little louder this
time. He was more than on edge. He needed a release. <Man, I really wish
Ryoga would attack me, but that's not likely. Maybe Pantyhose-Taro, I
haven't seen him in awhile. Shoot, I'd even be glad to see Kuno or
Happosai.>

         There's an old saying: Be careful what you wish for, because
you just might get it. In this case, Ranma got it.

        "Saotome Ranma, I challenge you!"









        "And I'll take that one, and maybe that one as well," Nabiki
said, pointing at two new dresses.

        "Very good," the sales lady replied. "I'll wrap them up for you.
Anything else?"

        "No, that should be it." Nabiki grinned and added, "For now."

         The sales lady began to ring up the purchases. "And how will
you be paying for this?'

         Nabiki's grin grew wider and handed the lady a piece of paper.
"Charge everything to this account..."






         Ranma eyed the youth standing several yards away. "Who're you?"

         The man grinned. "Call me Sukebe. I've heard you're one of the
best martial artists around here. Though, after my past few fights, I
wonder if that means anything." He exaggerated a yawn. "The others were
hardly a challenge."

        A notion popped into Ranma's seldom used brain and he pointed
accusingly. "You're the one who beat up on Hiroshi, Daisuke, and Kuno!?"

         Sukebe laughed. "Ah yes, the martial artist wanna-bees and
bokken boy. They almost put up a fight. Though I'll have to admit that
bandanna boy gave me a good run, he fell as easy as the rest."

         Ranma blinked. "You can't tell me you're the one who beat
Ryoga?"

         Sukebe merely nodded and examined the nails on his hand.

         "Hell with that!" The past few days events had found their
release and Ranma assumed an attack stance. "I don't know what you did
to Ryoga, but you beat up those that couldn't defend themselves. If you
wanna see what a real martial artist can do, then I accept your
challenge!"

         Sukebe mirrored him. "Excellent!"

         For a few seconds, the two martial artists studied each other,
then Ranma lost patience and attacked, leading off with a jump kick that
Sukebe artfully dodged and countered with elbow to Ranma's back side.
Ranma recovered quickly and flipped away.

        "Lucky shot, " he commented. "I was a bit sloppy, so don't
expect to get another."

         Sukebe motioned with his finger. "Come try me."

         Ranma led off again and the two martial artists collided in a
flurry of attacks.






         Mousse-duck continued to fly through the sky as he followed his
beloved. It wasn't easy, since Shampoo was moving with a speed and
agility that he hadn't known she possessed. In fact, the only reasons he
could keep up with her, was the fact that she was somewhat impeded by
obstacles, such as buildings, while his flight was through the empty
sky.

         He watched as she jumped from rooftop to treetop, not letting
either really slow her down. <Oh Shampoo, where are you going? What's
happened to you?> What caused him the most distress, was the fact that
she sometimes ran on two legs, sometimes on four.

         Eventually, he followed her into Nerima park, as she pushed or
avoided the various pedestrians that happened to be in her path. She
disappeared into the forested section, and Mousse lost sight of her in
the trees. He circled a bit, while waiting to see which side of the
forest she would exit, but she never did.

         Quacking questionably to himself, Mousse descended into the
trees.






         The two martial artists parted from their latest melee brawl,
and Ranma grinned. He had only taken a single hit that time, and he had
just about all of this guy's moves figured out. While Sukebe wasn't as
strong as Ranma, he did possess an unnatural agility in close range
combat. His skills were highly trained, but Ranma knew he had the edge.

        "It ain't gonna be long now!" Ranma taunted.

        "What makes you think that?" Sukebe huffed. <I haven't had an
opponent like this for a long time. Maybe I'll fight with him some more
before I unveil my secret technique. After all, he won't last long
afterward once I do.>

        "'Cause I got ya all figured out," he replied easily.

         Sukebe frowned. "Let's see."

         He flew foreword again, bringing his right fist up from waist
level to strike at Ranma's face, only his target leaned out of the way.
He then felt an impact in his stomach. Gritting his teeth, Sukebe lanced
out with his other fist, only to have it similiarly dodged. Whipping up
his left foot, Sukebe aimed for the face once again. Ranma simply caught
it his hand, made a "uh-uh' gesture with his finger, then fell back.

         Before Sukebe knew what Ranma was doing, a pair of feet
impacted his jaw and sent him flying. He landed on his back with a
*whump*, the wind temporarily knocked out of him.

        "It's over, and you lost," Ranma said evenly. "Just give up."







         Akane sighed as she walked home from school. She wished Ranma
had waited for her so they could've walked home together. A lazy smile
appeared on her face at that thought. Lately it seemed, she desired to
spend as much time with him as she could. She was a woman in love and it
felt wonderful.

        <But I suppose I can't be with him all the time,> she thought at
last. <Like today when I had to stay and finish up that school project.
Maybe I should cook for him tonight! I have been getting better, so
maybe I should...>

         A noise interrupted her thoughts, something that sounded
incredibly familiar. <A fight. I wonder who's fighting now and if
Ranma's involved?>

         She picked up her pace, running down the street and turning a
corner as she headed in the direction the sounds were coming from.
That's where she found him.

        "Ranma!" she called. He was standing over another boy, and it
was apparent they had been fighting.

         Ranma turned to her. "Akane! It's all right. This is the guy
that beat up on Kuno and the others." He chuckled. "He really ain't that
tough."

         Akane relaxed, then tensed when she noticed the guy on the
ground start to move. "Ranma, look out!"

        "Huh?"

         Sukebe swept his foot out and tripped Ranma up, sending the
overconfident martial artist to the ground. Ranma landed on his hands,
however, and flipped away while Sukebe kippup'ed to his feet.

        "So you still wanna go for it, eh?" Ranma asked, grinning.

         His opponent didn't bother to responding. Instead, the couple
watched as Sukebe dropped to all fours.

        "Please do not interfer, miss."

         Akane turned to find... "Sasuke?"

         "My name is Denoki!" the little man yelled while jumping up and
down. "It's Denoki! Denoki! I am not Sasuke!"

         Akane blinked. "I'm sorry." She turned back to the
confrontation where Ranma was warily observing his opponent, who was now
walking on hands and legs. "What is he doing?"

        "He is finally using his best technique," Denoki replied. "He
came up with it all by himself, due to an unfortunate accident in a
supposedly legendary training ground."

         Akane blinked again. "Don't tell me... Jusenkyo?"

        "How did you know?" Denoki asked, confused. "Anyway, it's a
dreaded technique he calls the Nezumiken.

         Akane found herself blinking yet again. "Nezumiken? The rat
fist?"

         Sure enough, Sukebe was rapidly moving around the empty lot on
all fours and... squeaking? Ranma, growing frustrated at his opponent's
unusual behavior, jumped forward to attack.  Sukebe dodged the kick
easily.

        "What the...!?" he exclaimed, surprised by the quick maneuver.
He tried to rebound off the ground and attack again when a pair of feet
struck him in the back and sent him face foreward into the dirt.
Regaining his feet, Ranma warily regard his advesary.

        "He calls it the Nezumiken, Ranma!" Akane called from the
sidelines. "And he's been to Jusenkyo!"

        <The rat fist?> Ranma thought to himself. <What is that? Anyway,
if he's been to Jusenkyo, then that means...> He flipped over to a
nearby garden hose and turned it on, aiming the cold water spray toward
his opponent, but Sukebe dodged and jumped out of range.

        "You fool!" he yelled, standing back on two feet. "I am no
longer cursed, so that will not work!"

         Ranma dropped the hose. "You cured? How'd you do it?!"

         Sukebe smiled evilly. "If you really want to know, I met a man
awhile back who purged the curse from my body. But I don't know where he
is now." He brought his hands up and crouched. "Now, back to business,
shall we?"

         Sukebe sprung and kicked Ranma in the stomach. Then he
continued to move rapidly around the lot, ramming Ranma's backside
whenever he got the chance. On one particular knockdown, Sukebe sped
over to a light pole. After the quick pass, the light pole fell over and
beaned Ranma.

        <Did I just see him chew through the light pole!?> Akane
wondered. "Ranma!"

        "At last I have him!" Sukebe said, straightening.

        "Not... yet!" Ranma returned, pushing the pole off his head and
standing up.

        "How can you stand up after that!?" Sukebe demanded.

         Ranma chuckled. "After bein' pounded on by Akane, that was
nothin'."

         Sukebe growled, then dropped back onto his hands and feet.





         Mousse landed on a tree branch and looked around for any signs
of Shampoo, but detected none. <Oh, my beloved Shampoo,> Mousse thought.
<Where are you? What's happening to you?>

         He jumped down to ground level and walked along. <If only those
two girls had asked for my help instead of pushing me away, thinking me
just a lowly Amazon male.>

         A faint sense of movement was his only warning, but it wasn't
enough. Something hit and sent him tumbling along the ground, his
glasses falling away from his face. Before he could recover, two clawed
hands seized and lifted him up.

         While the world presented itself as a blur to his eyes, the
rest of his senses were active. He could definitely feel short claws on
the hands that held him, hands with fur. There was also rumbling sound,
almost like a low growling. What he sensed next was the hot breath on
his face, and for some reason felt like he was going to be dinner.

         Then his eyes focused in on a pair of eyes looking back at him.
Blue eyes. Eyes that he had memorized since he had first met her.
Shampoo. But there was a slightly different look to these eyes that
scared him, for they didn't seem to recognize him. Then they changed,
and he was thrown to the floor.

         By the time he pulled another pair of glasses out of his wings
and put them on, all he saw was something with purple hair disappear
into the brush.






         Ranma barely managed to dodge another attack by the speedy
Sukebe. Then he had to jump to avoid the collapse of another light pole.
<I can't touch him, he's too quick.>

         He landed near a brick pile and proceeded to pick them up and
toss them at his approaching advesary, but Sukebe merely chewed them to
pieces. The rat-like boy then rammed Ranma against another wall.

         The pig-tailed martial artist huffed. <That's it. There's only
one way I'm gonna be able to beat this guy.> He grimaced and inwardly
shivered at the thought, but decided he had no choice; Sukebe was too
fast.

         As he slid off the wall and onto his feet, he glanced around
the area, but didn't see what he was looking for. Barely dodging another
pass by his opponent, he decided to try another tactic.

         He took a deep breath, then removed the controls on his fear.





         Akane was watching the fight with her own fear growing inside
her. Ever since Sukebe had resorted to using this `Nezumiken', it seemed
Ranma was outmatched. Then she blinked her eyes in puzzlement as her
fiance's movements changed.

         No longer were they the moves of a martial artist, but like
someone running and hiding from a scary attacker. Ranma seemed to be
trying to avoid Sukebe's attacks by running from them, and his face
showed more fear than should be there. Her brow furrowed. <What could he
be trying to...>

         Then it hit her.

        <'Fear-based reaction', he told me.> She looked around the lot
and frowned. <No wonder, there's none of them in sight, and it's the
only way he'll be able to beat him.> She gasped as Ranma blocked an
attack and struck back with a speed only his best technique could
produce. <He did it without a cat! For a second anyway.>

         He then promptly lost it and Sukebe sent him into a pair of
trashcans with another ram/kick. When Ranma didn't get up, Sukebe
laughed in triumph.

        "Take that! I am the greatest martial artist! I-"

         His premature vicotry speech was cut short by a high-pitched
yowling. All eyes turned toward the trashcan pile where movement could
be detected. Ranma slowly stood up, then dropped to all fours.

         Akane's breath caught. On his back, was a black and white cat,
who was apparently digging it's claws into Ranma's back. He snarled and
batted the cat away.

        <It usually takes longer than that for him to go into the
Nekoken, so how did he do it?> she wondered.

        "Master!" the little man called to her right.

         Akane glanced over to where the other martial artist was
crouched in fear, seemingly still in his Nezumiken state. With a howl,
Ranma launched himself at the other boy, invisible ki claws shredding
the ground where Sukebe once was.

         She watched as the new battle unfolded, but it seemed to be
more of a chase than a fight. Nekoken pursued Nezumiken with a
vengeance, while the latter was desperately trying to escape the former.
Various objects were chewed through and shredded, leaving the lot
looking like a tornado had blown in.

         Without warning, Sukebe darted from the enclosed arena and
bolted into the street, squeaking in terror. Ranma was hot on his trail
and the chase sped down the road. Akane and Denoki called after their
charges, even as they took off running after them.

         Ranma finally caught up to his prey in an alley and knocked him
into a wall, shredding the rat-like boy's clothing in the process.
Sukebe squeaked/squealed/screamed in fear as Ranma raised another paw
and prepared to finish him.

                "Ranma!" Akane called. "Don't do it! Here kitty, kitty!"

         Ranma stopped snarling and looked up, then bounded over to her
her, rubbing against her legs. Akane, remembering what happened the last
time Ranma went into the Nekoken on their date, froze and hoped he
wouldn't repeat the embarrassing actions. To her relief, he didn't.

         Sukebe stirred and stood up on all fours, squeaking
questionably. Ranma looked up and yowled menacingly, preparing to strike
again. Sukebe lost it again and took off running down the street.

         Akane grabbed ahold of Ranma's shirt collar. "No Ranma! Let him
go. You've won."

         Ranma looked up and mewed at her in confusion, but her hand now
petting his hair convinced him to stay.

        "Master! Come baaaaaaaaack!"

         The two teens looked up to see Denoki disappear into the
distance, chasing after his terror-filled sensei.






        "How was your day, Kenji-kun?" Ukyo asked.

         It was his official day off, and he had spent it jogging around
the town to see all the sites. It was something that he had neglected to
do ever since he began to live here, and he had found himself wanting to
know a little about the town.

        "Enlightening," he answered after a few moments. "This is
actually a pretty nice town. Most of the people I met were friendly, and
with the exception of the minor disturbance in the park, it was pretty
quiet."

         Ukyo continued to make okonomiyaki, but raised an eyebrow.
"Quiet?" She supposed it was for the most part. "What happened in the
park?"

         Kenji took a seat by the grill. "I don't know. Some people were
saying something about a girl and a monster, but when I checked, there
was nothing there."

        "I wouldn't worry about it too much," she replied while flipping
him his dinner.

         He caught the japanese pizza/pancake on a plate and set it
down, then continued to stare at it. Ukyo looked up, expecting him to be
digging in, but instead doing nothing at all.

        "Alright, what happened?" she asked, stopping her cooking. When
he didn't respond, Ukyo went around the grill to sit beside him. "I can
tell something's bothering you. If you don't tell me, I'll beat it out
of ya."

         Kenji almost smiled at that. "I went to withdraw some money at
an ATM before coming over here. According to that, my account is down by
200,000 yen."

         "What have you been buyin'!?" Ukyo asked, shocked.

        "It wasn't me!" Kenji protested loudly. "Somebody bought a bunch
of stuff with my account!"

         Ukyo flinched back. "Ouch! Do you know who?"

         Kenji nodded. "Only one person I can think of. She got me good
this time."

         The chef sighed. "Nabiki. And knowing her, there's probably no
real evidence that points to her?" He nodded weakly. "I swear Kenji-kun,
you've gotta give this up. You aren't going to win."

         He look up and stared at her. "So you don't think I can beat
her!?"

        "That's exactly what I'm sayin'."

        "Fine then! I'll show you! I'll show everyone! I'll prove no
mere girl can stand up to Soyokaze Kenji! HAHAHAHA-" *CLANG* "Ouch!
Hey!"

        "Sorry," Ukyo said while removing her battle spatula from his
head. "Now shut up and eat."

         Kenji rubbed the goose egg sized lump on his head and glared at
the back of the chef as she went back to the grill. Though he did `shut
up and eat.' He also thought about how to get Nabiki back. Someway to
make her as unhappy as he was now.

         Then he recalled a conversation he had awhile ago and smiled.
<Bingo!>






         Akane sighed as she petted her nekofied fiance's hair. <You
just had to do this to yourself, didn't you? You really will stoop to
using almost anything to win.> She looked up. <And I doubt we'll see
Sukebe ever again. I wonder when he'll stop running. Although, I kinda
feel sorry for Denoki.>

         She pushed her iinzauke off her lap when her legs began to
protest. Ranma meowed his discontentment. "Oh, be quiet you. I can't
stay like that for long before my legs fall asleep. Come on, let's get
you home."

         Ranma meowed at her, then trotted by her side as they left for
the dojo. It soon became obvious that, with all the chasing and running
around, they had ended up actually very close to the Tendo dojo. It was
only a few minutes walk, and then they were home.

         Akane had to laugh as Ranma bounded into the house, then turned
to meow after her, almost as if he was telling her to hurry up. "I'm
coming, I'm coming," Akane replied.

         Ranma disappeared into the house, and Akane found him curled up
on some cushions in the living room. He was practically asleep already,
as he lifted his head lazily to gaze at her upon her entrance into the
room. Then he layed his head back down and went to sleep.

        "Well, I was gonna splash some water on you to snap you out of
it," she said softly. "But it looks like you really wore yourself out
today. I think I'll just let you sleep it off." She plopped down next to
him and turned the TV on, keeping the volume low.

         That's when it happened.

         Without warning, something burst through the wall, sending wood
fragments everywhere. Akane rolled away from it and Ranma stood up,
hissing. A spilt second later, he went flying and hit his head against a
wall. Then, the thing burst through another wall and was gone.

         Akane stood up. "What in the world was that!?" She wasn't even
able to get a good glimpse of it, since it moved so fast. It did seem
vaguely human, but other than that she just didn't know. Then she saw
her fiance. "Ranma!"

         She ran over to his prone form and rolled him onto his back,
but was relived to see him still breathing. He was just out cold from
hitting his head. The next thing she knew, something white flew into the
dojo and impacted her side. She `oofed', then grabbed the duck by the
neck.

        "Mousse!?" she exclaimed. "What in the world is going on?" The
duck quacked wildly at her, and tried to get away. "You're not getting
away until you tell me what's going on!" He stopped and looked up her,
quacking once. "Oh right, hot water."

         As she stood up, Mousse produced a robe and kettle from his
feathers and turned himself back to normal.

         "Okay Mousse, explain. What was that?"

         Akane was shocked at the fearful and worried expression he
wore, and he tried several times to speak. At last, with tears forming
in his eyes, he said three words.

        "It was Shampoo."




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



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DISCLAIMER:


Ranma 1/2: New Challenges
Minor Disturbances

Chapter 10





         She had just laid down to go to sleep for the night. Then,
without warning she could actually feel `it' descend upon her. She lost
all control of her body, almost as she had been paralyzed. She could
feel her senses leave her, one by one.

         She gasped and moaned, but there was no escape.

         Touch was first as her body went numb. Her sense of smell
disappeared next, followed by hearing. The world went black as her sight
left her, and all she could sense was we dry mouth, before that too,
went away.

        {You have one more sense.}

        Miyo realized she did, even as `it' took control...






        "So you think that's where they're headed?" Tenma asked.

         Akara nodded. "The fallback point was recently changed to the
Kuno estate, if we were ever seperated. If any of the army survived,
they would gather there." She looked up at him. Ever since that one
night, things had been easier between them, but by no means were all the
issues resolved.

        <What's going on?> Miyo asked in fright. If they heard, they
didn't show it.

        "Then we should make haste," Kae agreed. "The House of Kuno is
still three day's
travel northward from here."

         The three travelers had been on the move for a couple of days
already, ever since leaving the battlefield that once was the camp of
Senshin's army. They had pushed themselves hard ever since then, trying
to stay ahead of the Dark Shogun's army. Chances were that it was
somewhere in the area and they didn't want to risk discovery. Their
advantage was that three people could move a whole lot faster than an
army, so they hoped to make the Kuno Estate in time to warn them.

         For most of the trip, they worked in silence, more intent on
making good time then idle conversation. Kae had vanished several times,
supposedly to recon the area around them, leaving Tenma and Akara alone
for long periods at a time. This usually when they talked. In the past
few days they had talked a little of themselves, and getting to know
each other.

         Tenma wished he could go faster, but Akara was holding him back
some. While in top physical shape and a good martial artist, her
endurance wasn't as great as Tenma's, and seemingly Kae's as well.

         The kunoichi was a mystery. She said little, and refused to
open up at all to Akara's probes. The youngest Tendo began to wonder
what kind of secrets Kae held. <Come to think of it, they did join up
with us pretty fast. Daddy and Nayrumi had intially communicated with
the clan. I wonder what they said?>

         She kept these thoughts to herself, however.





         <I don't understand,> Miyo thought, worridly. But in truth, she
did. She understood all of what was happening, except how she could be
here.

         Glancing down revealed her hands and the rest of her body, but
it was translucent. It was almost like being a ghost, floating in mid-
air. She had control of herself, but was unable to control where she
floated. It was more like some sort of virtual-reality she was watching.

         But she wasn't wearing any sort of VR gear now. Instead, she
was forced to watch as the three travelers made their way north.





         Akara scanned the map. "There's a town in that direction." She
pointed east. "I remember being there two weeks ago. We could probably
barter for some horses and make better time."

        "Maybe, but it would take several hours to get there," Kae
observed.

        "But we could be there by this time tomorrow if we got some
horses!" Akara countered. She turned towards the single male member of
the group. "What do you think, Tenma?" Her look said he'd better say
yes.

         Tenma gulped. "Well, I suppose it could be worth a shot." He
looked up. "At the very least we lose a few hours. I estimate we're at
least a day ahead of the army as it is. But we can gain a full day if do
get a few horses."

         Akara smiled. "Thank you, Tenma."

         Tenma laughed nervously, disarmed by her gaze. "Uh sure, no
problem." <What's the matter with me!?>

         Kae frowned. "Very well, if that is your decision, I suggest we
get moving. If we're lucky, we can make the town before nightfall."





        <This isn't a normal vision,> Miyo thought to herself, her fear
diminishing some and logical thought returning. <But it's too real to be
a dream. This all is supposed to have happened one thousand years ago,
so why am I able to see all of this with such clarity?>

        {Just watch}

         Miyo was was so stunned by the voice, she didn't reply.






         In fact, they did make the town just as the sun disappeared
over the horizon. But their hopes were dashed when it looked like the
town was deserted. Nobody could be seen and many of the wooden buildings
had their windows boarded up.

         The three walked down what was obviously once the main dirt
road through town.

        "Well, this was a waste," Kae said evenly.

         Akara was aghast. "I don't get it. This town was lively with
people a couple of weeks ago."

        "Obviously, the townsfolk got scared of the Dark Shogun's army
and left," the kunoichi explained. "Quite understandable."

         Akara's facial features darkened. "The Dark Shogun again! He
doesn't even have to show up to cause misery!" With a mighty kick, Akara
lashed out at a wooden fence post and snapped in half.

        "Feel better?" Tenma asked.

        "No!" she retorted, then stomped off. She stopped after a few
yards and sighed noisly. Then she turned back around. "Okay, I'll be
better, but we better get going."

        "We should make camp for the night," Kae suggested. "We've had a
long day of travel and we need to rest and regain our strength. We'll
leave again at first light."

         Tenma sighed. "Good idea." He nodded towards a barn-like
structure. "I suppose we could stay in that tonight."

         The kunoichi nodded. "I'll meet you there later. I want to
reconnoiter the area." She leapt to the top of a nearby building without
waiting for a response, and then was gone.

        "Coming?" Akara asked, sarcastically. "Or are you going after
her?"

         Tenma noticed his gaze had lingered to where the ninja woman
had gone. He quickly turned back to Akara and walked towards the barn.
"Whatever. If I didn't know better I'd swear you were jealous."

         She joined him and they walked to the barn, crossing her arms
over her chest. "Me? Jealous of a pervert like you!? HA!"

         Tenma sighed. "Don't even bring that up again! I told you it
was an accident, I didn't mean to walk in on you in that stream!"

         She rolled her eyes. "Oh sure. You just wanted a good look,
like every other man!"

        "Jeez, you can be so uncute!"

        "What did you say!?" She stopped, noticing some activity from
the top of the barn. "Tenma, look out!"

         He stopped, too. "What?"

         He then sensed something approaching from above and
instinctively flipped out of the way. A figure was attacking from above
and had struck the ground right where Tenma was standing moment before.
There was a small explosion when the figure landed, and the dirt flew
up, obscuring who it was.

         Nobody moved for the next few seconds, then the figure emerged
from the dust cloud yelling.

        "Saotome Tenma, Prepare to Die!"




        <Why am I here?> Miyo asked. <Why am I witnessing this?> But
there was no answer from whatever spoke to her before. Instead, she
watched helplessly as the man in the yellow shirt and headband attacked
Tenma.





        "Ryo!" Tenma exclaimed, while dodging the slash from the guy's
weapon. "Long time no see, buddy! How ya been?"

        "How have I been!?" Ryo yelled back. "Is that all you can say to
me!?"

         Akara was aghast yet again as Ryo attacked Tenma with an...
umbrella? "Tenma? You know this guy?"

         The pair exchanged a flurry of attacks. Well, Ryo launched a
flurry of attacks and Tenma dodged them. "Sure! Hibiki Ryo, meet Tendo
Akara!"

         Ryo missed yet again with an umbrella swipe. "Quit trying to
distract me!"

        "So why are you trying to kill Tenma?" Akara asked, still
somewhat confused but recovering rapidly.

         Ryo ignored her, but stopped attacking and pointed his umbrella
at Tenma. "Why are you here? Did Satsu finally kick your sorry butt
out?"

        "Chill, pig-boy," Tenma said, sobering. "He died." He turned
away.

         Ryo holstered his umbrella on top of the backpack he wore, his
face solemn. "He's dead?" Tenma nodded and Ryo snorted. "Figures. I
thought you'd be the death of him."

        "I had nothing to do with it!" Tenma yelled. "There was an
earthquake and a rockslide buried him! I... I couldn't get to him in
time."

         Ryo turned back around and headed for the barn. "I won't kill
you today, Saotome. In honor of the memory of Satsu." He reached the
barn doors. "Oh, you can stay in here for the night if you want." Then
he disappeared inside.

         Akara walked up to Tenma. "Who was that and how do you know
him?"

        "Like I said, his name is Hibiki Ryo. He and I trained under
Satsu for awhile together." Tenma sighed. "He was one of my only friends
until he left."

        "Why did he leave?"

        He shook his head. "I don't really know. He just seemed to grow
increasingly unhappy. He said he'd prove himself to both Satsu and I,
and then left."

         Akara didn't say anymore as they entered the barn, and Tenma
didn't volunteer any additional information. With the exception of a
dark look sent Tenma's way, Ryo was quiet as well while the bed mats
were unrolled. Kae didn't say anything either when she returned.

         Yep, there was a whole lot of silence going on.







         Akara's mostly asleep mind felt something. Her hand
unconciously tried to bat it away, which only worked for a few seconds
before the sensation returned. As her brain ascended out of the layer of
dramland and into reality, she realized what the sensation was.

         A tongue was licking her face.

         So she screamed.

         The tongue disappeared, so she opened her eyes and saw Tenma
sleeping face. Naturally, she came to one conclusion.

        "TENMA NO HENTAI!"

        *WHAM!*

        "What'd you do that for!?" Tenma yelled from the other side of
the hole in the barn wall. By this time, the other two occupants of the
barn had woken up.

        "What's going on?" Ryo asked sleepily.

         Akara was on her feet by now, and fuming. "You were... you
were... You were licking my face!"

         Tenma was back up as well, and back inside the barn. "I was
what!? I was asleep! I didn't do nothin'!"

        "I don't care if you think you are my fiance," Akara said. "That
doesn't give you the right to try and take advantage of me!"

        "Tenma!" Ryo shouted, getting into the conversation/yelling
contest. "How dare you try and take advantage of an innocent girl!"

        "Stay out this!" Tenma and Akara shouted at him in unison.

         Kae sighed and shook her head. <Kids.> Then she looked up and
saw something "Excuse me, but since it seem Tenma-san was asleep at the
time, so maybe this is what licked Akara-san."

         The three teens stopped and glanced at the light brown horse
Kae was pointing at. The next sound was of six eyes blinking.

         "Ah, geez," Tenma grumbled as he proceeded to pack his sleeping
mat. "Stupid uncute tomboy."

         Akara hmmph'ed and walked over to the horse, who tried to once
again lick her face. This time, Akara let it. She giggled as it tickled
her nose.

         Ryo laughed. "I guess he likes you. Normally he doesn't like
anybody but me."

        "He's yours?" Akara asked. "Why didn't we see him last night?"

        "Gaijin doesn't like to be confined, so I let him roam while I
sleep. He always comes back in the mornings."

         Kae blinked. "You named your horse, `foreigner'?"

         Ryo chuckled. "Yeah. Just because he's not like other horses."

        "Come on," Tenma said at last, his backpack packed. "We're
wasting time, we should go."

        "Where?" Ryo asked. The gist of the situation was explained to
him. "Well, if you need to get to the Kuno castle fast, I could take
Akara-san on Gaijin."

         The youngest Tendo smiled at him. "Thank you, Ryo-kun. You're
so nice!"

         Ryo chuckled nervously. "No problem!"

         Something unpleasant passed through Tenma's stomach. "That's
not a good idea."

        "Tenma-san is right," Kae agreed. "I doubt your horse has the
stamina to carry two people the distance we need to travel. However, if
Akara-san could borrow Gaijin and they went full speed, she could make
the Kuno estate by nightfall."

        "But Gaijin won't let anybody else ride..." Ryo stopped as Akara
mounted Gaijin barebacked. "Well I'll be..."

        "A pig's uncle?" Tenma suggested.

        "Shut up, Tenma!" Ryo snarled. He turned back to Akara and
Gaijin. "I guess." He petted Gaijin's nose. "You'll take care of her,
boy?" The horse snorted. "Alright, be careful, Akara-san."

        "I will," she replied, nodding. "Thanks again, Ryo-kun." She
trotted up to Tenma. "Thanks for all your help, Tenma, and... I'm sorry
about this morning."

         Tenma sighed and waved her off. "It's ok, Akara. I've gotten
hit worse. And I should arrive at the Kuno estate by tomorrow evening,
so, I'll see you later."

        "Okay." For a few seconds, her eyes met his, and it seemed as if
a multitude of ideas and feelings passed between them. Then it was over
and Akara was giddying Gaijin into action.

         The trio watched as woman and horse disappeared northward.





        <What is the point to this?> Miyo asked yet again. <Why am I
here?> But again, there was no answer. <I seem to be watching this story
in segments. Some parts were obviously left out, but enough remain for
me to at least partiall understand what's going on.>

         The scenery blurred once again, and Miyo's ghostly body was
dragged somewhere else.






         "I still don't think a jerk like you deserves her," Ryo was
saying as they traveled northward.

         Tenma sighed. "That's the 50th time you've said that in the
last two hours."

        "Why is she with you anyway?"

        "I told you. Satsu sent me to meet with Tendo Senshin, and now
I've been roped into helping him. The two old men seemed to have
conspired to engage me to Akara."

         Ryo grumbled. <How dare that jerk gets a nice girl like Akara.>
He thought back to their last meeting. `Thank you, Ryo-kun. You're so
nice!' <She had a face like an angel, and she seemed to like me!>

        "Yo, bacon-breath, snap out of it!" Tenma commanded, waving his
hand in front of Ryo's face. "Don't tell me you're falling for the
tomboy."

        "Shut up, Tenma!" Ryo yelled back. "It's none of your business!"
He looked around. "Say, where'd that ninja woman go?"

         Tenma shrugged. "Don't know. She likes to scout around." As if
on cue, Kae leapt from a nearby tree and landed on the dirt road beside
the two men. "Find anything?"

        "I think so," she replied, but before she could say more,
several dozen men in black samurai armor stormed out of the surrounding
forest. The trio found themselves with no where to go.

        "Who are these clowns?" Ryo asked, drawing his battle umbrella.

        "Ryo, meet the Dark Shogun's army," Tenma offered. "Or at least
a large scouting party."

        "Actually, they're my personal troops," A new voice proclaimed.
The man who belonged to the voice stepped out between his troops and
presented himself. His he wore less black armor than his troops, and a
black cape flowed from his neck. He also wore no mask. "It's good to
finally meet you Saotome Tenma."

        "Who're you?" the pig-tailed martial artist asked.

        "Allow me to introduce myself," the man said. "I am Genshi, one
of the Dark Shogun's generals. You're capture and detainment has been
ordered, so I shall carry it out."

        "Why me?" Tenma asked, surprise.

         Genshi shrugged. "The Dark Shogun has his reasons. Now, will
you surrender quietly, or do we have to play a little first?"

         Tenma cracked his knuckles and grinned. "Just try me." He could
sense Ryo taking a similar stance to his right.

        "Very well, if that's the way you want it. Kae, do it now."

         A split second of surprise was all they had, as the ninja woman
lanced out with both hands and struck their necks. The two boys crumpled
to the ground.

        "Very good, kunoichi," Genshi said, coming up to her. "Keep this
up and you will have a home in the Dark Shogun's realm."

        "I live to serve," Kae intoned, her eyes glinting dangerously.






         Miyo watched in shock as the bodies of the two boys were hauled
off. <I just don't get it. I can honestly say I didn't expect that. Why
did she do it?>

        {Watch and learn}

        <Why am I here!? Who are you!?> But the voice didn't reply.

         The scenery blurred yet again.







         Again, night was beginning to fall as Akara reached her
destination. She had to take a couple of breaks to let Gaijin rest, but
there were no interruptions and the journey was made smoothly. She began
to relax when the high walls of the Kuno castle came into view.

         Situated on a large plateau and surrounded by high walls, the
Kuno Estate was a formidable fortress. Only a few small paths led up to
the main gates that enclosed a small city within, making sieges
difficult at best. Which was good, considering the Kuno army was
relatively small.

         The desire of the people in within to remain free and their
belief in their safety from any threat are what pursuaded the Kuno
family to ally against the Dark Shogun. It was with in this walled
estate, that Akara hoped to find the rest of her father's army, and
maybe her family as well.

         She rode up to the closed gate, and was told to halt by the
guards standing at the top of the gate's spires. "State your business!"

        "I'm Tendo Akara, daughter of Tendo Senshin. I demand to be let
in!"

        "Do you have proof of your identity?" one of the guards called.

        "Of course not!" She yelled back. <Great, I won't get in unless
I can prove I'm who I say I am. How do I do that? One chance...> "If
father or sisters are in there, get them to come. They will be able to
recognize me!"

         The guards took a moment to confer amonst themselves. Then one
took off. The other looked back down. "We will shall if you are who you
claim to be. In the meantime, you will wait where you are."

         Akara sighed, but jumped off of Gaijin. <It looks like I have
little choice.> She settled down to wait while Gaijin grazed on the
grass.

         It was almost an hour later when the gate was finally opened.
Akara walked Gaijin in, but stopped when she saw who was waiting for her
on the other side.

        "Sister!" Akara hugged the older girl. "Kimiko! I thought I'd
never see you again after..." Her voice dropped off as a few tears
stained her cheeks.

        "It's alright, imoutochan," Kimiko soothed while the gates were
closed and locked again. Gaijin nosed Akara. "And it looks like you've
brought a friend with you."

         Akara pulled herself out of the hug. "Yeah, this is Gaijin, a
horse that belongs to one of Tenma's friends."

         Gaijin whinny'ed happily while Kimiko stroked his head. "Well
he certainly seems friendly."

         Worry crossed Akara's features. "What about Dad and Nayrumi?"

         Kimiko started to walk down the stone streets and Akara went
with her. Gaijin seemed content to follow behind the two girls.

        "They're fine," she said, but something that flitted across the
older girl's face told Akara that something wasn't fine. "They're
waiting in Lord Kuno's mansion in the center of town. I suggest you save
your other questions for when we arrive. Father and Nayrumi can explain
best."

         Akara knew she wouldn't get anything else out of her older
sister, so she let her self be led along wile losing herself to her
thoughts. <Kimiko's upset about something, but she won't say anything. I
guess I'll just have to see for myself.>

         She sighed, and tried to banish the dark feeling she had gotten
during her journey here. She looked up at the darkening sky. <Please be
safe, Tenma.>





         A short walk later brought the pair to the mansion, and Akara
turned Gaijin loose to roam with the rest of the horses. Then they were
ushered into the throne room. As they entered, Akara beheld the older
man, who was obviously Lord Kuno, sitting on his throne. Her father and
other sister were standing off to the left and  there was another boy
standing off to the right that she didn't recognize.

         A short man, dessed in dark royal clothes, stopped them midway
across the floor towards the thrown. "Who approaches Lord Kuno?"

        "I am Tendo Kimiko and I bring my sister, Tendo Akara," Kimiko
stated.

         The little man nodded then stepped aside, allowing the two
girls to continue. They stopped in front of the throne. Kimiko dropped
to one knee and bowed her head. Akara, not knowing what else to do,
mimicked the motion.

        "You may rise," Lord Kuno said, speaking for the first time. The
two women stood up, to be joined by their father and other sister.
"Indeed Senshin-san, she is most beautiful. What do you think Tateyama?"

         The boy dressed in a blue hakama standing off to the right,
walked a few paces forward. His gaze traveled over Kimiko's gentle
features, passed Nayrumi's intellectual gaze, and settled on Akara's
face. He smiled and nodded. "Indeed, they are all beautiful, father."

        "Have you decided then?" the father asked. Akara had a sudden
sick feeling in her stomach.

        "Yes," Tateyama Kuno said at last. "I pick Tendo Akara to be my
bride." The sick feeling was confirmed.

         Lord Kuno nodded. "Very well! The wedding will be held in two
days time!"

        "WHAT!?" Akara screeched, finally finding her voice through the
disbelief. "What's going on?"

        "Mind your manners, woman," Lord Kuno commanded. "In order to
gain our help, I have decreed that Tateyam may pick one of Senshin-san's
daughters for a bride if he wanted." He chuckled lightly. "I'm afraid
the women around here are not my son's type."

        "I am NOT getting married!" Akara said forcfully.

         Tateyama reached up to caress Akara's face, only to find it
slapped away. "How dare you touch me like that!"

        "Do you think she may be too much for you son?" Lord Kuno asked.
"After, yo may pick another if you choose."

         His son's frown slowly turned into smile. "No. I like my women
feisty. I shall wed this fierce tigress!"

         Lord Kuno clapped his hands. "So it shall be! Let us make ready
for the celebration!"

         Akara was suddenly surrounded by several more women clothed in
beautiful kimonos, and they started to drag her away. As she left the
royal court, she could make our the faces of her family, and they all
seemed to echo the same sentiment. It was strongest on her father's
face.

         They all seemed to say, "I'm sorry."




         Miyo floated there, awaiting the next scene, but it didn't
come. Instead, blackness descended. There was a flash, and she suddenly
found herself back in her bed. She felt drained of all her strength, and
yet was still unable to move.

         She took several long breaths, while she waited for her
strength to return and her heart to slow down from it's rapid beating.
<I'm back.> She blinked and looked around at her room. <I'm really back.
Yet it looks like I never left. Strange, since that's what it felt
like.>

         She did know she was due for another one of those dreams, but
she never expected anything like this. She got about two a month, but
she didn't have any last month. Then two of the most vivid dream
experiences she had ever had, hit her this month, but she was at a loss
as to explain why the change occured.

         One thing was for certain, someone or something was behind
this, but she didn't know who or why. All she could do, is hope to
weather the experience and record what she learned.

         Though she'd record this latest experience in her book, she
couldn't do it now. She was tired and it was 1 am in the morning.
Something told her she'd be missing the dance tonight.



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



Send C&C to:  oddball22@hotmail.com

Find my stories at:  www.geocities.com/kaiphantom2000

DISCLAIMER:


Ranma 1/2: New Challenges
Minor Disturbances

Chapter 11





        "Excuse me, can I speak to you for a second?"

        "Like, what do you want?" the girl asked. "I'm like, so busy,
right now."

         The man smiled. "Ah, but I believe I have some information you
might want to know. It concerns a certain boy you like." He flashed a
picture.

         The girl studied it. "Like, I'm so over him. He was like,
really in love with another girl."

         The man's smiled increased, even as he fought to contain his
laughter. "What if I told you that he was longer in with her? That, in
fact, if you were to make the right moves now, you could have him?"

         The girl sighed, then remembered how kind the man she had loved
had been to her. Maybe, if there was a chance... "Like, whatever. Why
not? What did you have in mind?"

         If possible, the man's grin increased.






        "Shampoo?!"

         Mousse nodded. "Something is happening to her. I-I don't know
what, but I have to save her!" He glanced toward the second hole in the
wall Shampoo had made upon her exit. "I'm sorry, I have to go after
her!"

         "Mousse, wait!" Akane called, but it was too late. He had
already doused himself with cold water and flew out the hole after the
woman he loved. Akane glanced at her unconcious iinzuke and sighed.
"Great. You're out cold, so I guess that means I'm on my own."

         Akane quickly deposited Ranma in his room, then took off after
Mousse. Leaping to a rooftop, she easily spotted the duck flying in the
sky and went to follow him. As she began to catch up to the rapidly
flying duck, she noted with some pride that a year ago she would never
have been able to move this fast.

         A smile flitted onto her face as she ran and jumped from roof
to roof. Rarily had she had to time to really open like this and it felt
great. She had always loved physical sports because of the rush it gave
her whenever she performed at her best and pushed her body to the
limits.

         Now, she was thankful for the speed training Ranma had given
her, as it allowed her to catch up to Mousse. Still, it took her nearly
five minutes to do so, and in that time she had discovered where they
had ended up: The Nerima Zoo.

         Akane leapt to the ground inside the gates and cautiously
approached the small forested park where Mousse was circling. She
wondered why he didn't land, then discovered the reason. The ticket of
trees was home to the zoo's tiger exhibit.

         She entered the viewing area and looked down into the large
pit. At first she didn't see anything through the trees and bushes, but
then she began to make out a few sleeping forms near a rock formation.

        <Tigers,> Akane thought disgustedly. <Why does it have to be
tigers?> She looked some more. <But where is Shampoo?>

         A quacking beside her got her attention. "Mousse?"

         The duck produched a hot water kettle and a set of robes, and
once more Mousse was human. He went to the railing and scanned the
interior for himself.

        "Mousse?" Akane asked again, walking up beside.

        "She's in there, I know it," he said softly. "I saw her go in
there."

         Akane sighed. "Are you sure, Mousse? You don't exactly have the
best eyesight you know."

        "I know that!" he turned and yelled at her. "I know I'm a
useless, blind idiot! But I just know Shampoo is in there!"

         Akane took a step back from his vicious outburst. "O-okay.
Well, there's nothing we can do now, except wait for her to come out."

         Mousse angrily swept his gaze away from her and back to the
tiger pit. "No. I'm going in there. She needs my help and I am not going
to let her down!" He leapt off the railing.

        "Mousse!" Akane cried. "Get back here! You'll get torn to pieces
in there!"

         But he ignored her as he searched the grove. Akane half-sighed,
half-growled in frustration as she debated whether or not to go after
him. On one hand, her last encounter with a tiger nearly killed her. On
the other, she knew she had to do everything in her power to help, even
if she knew Shampoo wouldn't likely do the same for her.

         And then there was Mousse. Poor, blind Mousse. Shampoo had
rejected him time and again, yet he never gave up. He would do literally
do anything for her, even if if cost him his life.

        <Just like Ranma would for me,> Akane realized suddenly. <And
how I would for Ranma. Mousse may be obnoxious at times, but he truely
does try to make Shampoo happy, even if his efforts are misguided and
cause trouble.>

         Akane sighed... and jumped into the pit.





        <What's... happening... to me? What's... going on?> The
distraught girl clutched her head. <So hard... to think.>

         Her eyes snapped open when she felt her ears. They were larger
than normal, furry and pointed. In fact, the entire side of her face
felt furry, as well as her hands. She brought them up looked at them.

        <No...> She could scarely believe what she saw. Her hands were
covered in dark bluish-purpish hair, her fingers ending in sharp claws.
"No..."

         She looked down her body, and was horrified to discover that it
was covered in the same dark bluish-purplish hair. The tattered remains
of her clothes covered only barely covered her chest and groin.

        "What... happpening... to... Shampoo..."

         Her body shaking with fear, she spotted a small lake not far
away and crawled over to it, gazing into the still waters. She barely
managed to avoid recoiling in shock as the unknown visage stared back at
her.

        <No... it is me... but...>

         Her mane of purple hair was still there, but darker hair had
lightly covered her face. Her sharp ears pointed out of her hair. A
small set of fangs protruded from her open mouth, and tears streamed
down her face.

        <What... have I... become...> She covered her face with her
hands, sobbing into them.

        (We will soon be together.)

         Feral-Shampoo looked up. "Who... say that?" But no one could be
seen. That's when her face dropped again, coming back to rest upon the
crystal-clear waters. This time, she did recoil in shock, as the face
that appeared was not her own, but another she had come to hate.

        "You!" She pointed to the pool. "Mao Mao Lin! Ghost cat!" Her
initial shock and fear changed into anger, an easier emotion to deal
with. "You do this to me!"

        (Correct, my lovely Shampoo,) the voice echoed inside her head,
she realized. (We belong together, don't you see? You are perfect for
me, since Jusenkyo has marked you with a feline curse.)

        "NO!" she hissed. "You... never have... Shampoo!"

         A low rumbling sounded behind her, and she turned and leapt
just as a huge black and yellow striped tiger tried to pounce on her.
She landed in a crouch, hissing back at the attacking tiger, even as it
continued to growl at her. Somehow, she knew that it had only come to
defend it's territory against another feline, but now was trying to kill
her for food.

         She screamed and pounced, the animal rage within her burning
out any concious thoughts. Only the need to kill the tiger in front of
her burned in her feral blood.

         The tiger met her half-way with it's own attack, but Shampoo
easily slashed it's paws aside with one clawed hand, and slashed it's
face with another. The tiger went down, but she was on it a second
later, vicously biting and clawing.

         She halted the ravaging attack and looked up, sensing more
movement around her. Several more tigers had emerged from the green, and
she was now surrounded. The pack growled at her as they closed in.
Somehow she knew she would not escape this, but her animal instinct was
raging beyond the control of any logical thoughts.

         Shampoo assumed a crouching four-legged stance and prepared to
defend her kill, hissing and growling. Eventually, one of the tigers
sprung to attack, but the feral girl lanced out with her claws, stopping
the attack in much the same way as she did with the other tiger now dead
at her feet.

         However, while she was occupied with this, several more tigers
attacked. One slashed her side, while another bit her leg when she went
down. Shampoo screamed and lashed out with her claws, detaching the one
on her leg. She managed to roll away and leap to her feet, though she
stumbled when she attempted to put weight on her now-injured left leg.

         The tigers circled closer and prepared to attack again. It was
clear to all present, that she wouldn't last another attack.

        "SHAMPOO!"

         Several chains flew out of the sky and grabbed two of the
tigers. A yank on the chains sent the two big cats sprawling along the
ground to crash into each other. Mousse landed where the tigers once
stood, flinging a couple boomerangs out of his sleeves. They impacted
the head of another tiger, sending it dazedly to the ground.

         One of the big cats leapt at him from the right, and Mousse
barely managed to put up a large shield out of his robe to block the
attack. Still, the force of the impact knocked him to the ground, even
as he disgarded the shield and tossed a wire bola that tied his
attacker's legs up.

         Another of the beasts was on him a second later, it's mouth
aiming for his neck. Mousse quickly pulled out the only thing he could
think of at the moment, a wooden bo staff, and forced it into the
tiger's mouth. The tiger bit down hard on it and the staff began to
crack under the pressure.

         The Amazon male knew his life was over if the staff broke.

        "Tora Dokiken!"

         Akane's golden jump-kick knocked the tiger away from Mousse.
She flipped off the cat and came to her feet, charging back into the
fray to ward off the last two beasts; the one who had recovered from the
boomerang attack, and the one that had chewed through Mousse's bolas.

         She kept the Tiger's Wrath Attack up, knowing that if she
dropped it, she was dead. Still, she really didn't want to kill the
tigers, since this wasn't really their fault. She dodged several claws
and jumping bites, managing a hit or two after each pass. The tigers
were persistant creatures, but eventually they gave up and ran away when
they sensed it was a losing fight.

         Akane allowed the golden aura to vanish, even as she dropped to
her knees, exhausted.

         Shampoo, however, wasn't finished. The smell of blood was in
the air and the animal instinct was still dictating her actions. She
sniffed the air, then growled as she paced back and forth.

         Mousse sat up. "Shampoo? Are you alright?"

         The feral Amazon girl turned and pounced on Mousse, knocking
him back onto the ground. She stood on all fours above him, growling
deep in her throat. She then then moved her face down and prepared to
crush his neck with her jaw. Mousse, unwilling to hurt the woman he
loved, simply lay there.

        "Shampoo, don't!" Akane called, dragging herself to her feet and
breathing heavily.

         Shampoo turned to hiss at her, as if warning her to back off.

        "No, Akane, it's alright," Mousse said from the ground. "If you
really want to kill me Shampoo, then go do it. To stop you, I would have
to hurt you, and that's something I won't do anymore."

         He could feel her teeth on his neck, her warm breath on his
chin, and he anticipated the crushing blow that would end his life, but
it never came. Shampoo slowly raised her head, then sniffed him.

         Both Akane and Mousse were puzzled by this behavior and
wondered what she was up to. Her attitude seemed to change.

         And then she licked his cheek.

         Mousse froze, unsure of what to do. The next move was
Shampoo's, however, as she backed off of him, the change intensifying.
She slowly stood up on two legs and Akane noticed the glimmer of
intelligence return to her eyes. The feral Amazon glanced disbelievingly
at her hands, then shared that gaze between Akane, Mousse, and the dead
tiger.

         She backed up even more, coming to rest against the rock
formation.

        "Shampoo?" Mousse asked again.

        "Stay... back," she commanded, fear evident on her face.

         Akane took a step foreward. "Are you alright? How did this
happen to you?"

         Shampoo shook her head slighty. "Not... know."

        "What's the last thing you remember?" Akane prodded, trying to
get Shampoo to calm down.

         The feral Amazon girl paused for a moment while she thought,
though it was tough to think on anything at this moment. What had
happened to her? Didn't she remember asking herself that before? And
what had been her answer?

         Shampoo's head came up in realization. "Bake... neko."

         Mousse blinked. "The ghost cat? He's back?" His visage turned
angry. "I'll kill him for what's he'd done to you! I swear it!" He
looked around, brandishing twin claws on his hands. "Now where is he!?
Come out, you coward!!!"

         The cat-girl's body began to tremble, even as Shampoo
remembered something else. <The.. pool. I look in water... and see
ghost-cat face.> The trembling increased.

        "Shampoo, what is it?" Akane asked, seeing the increased fear.

         Shampoo raised a shaky, clawed hand, and pointed a finger at
herself. "Here."

         Akane gasped. "He's inside you!?"

        "That's riiiight!" a familiar voice echoed. "I've modified the
New Year's eve curse. When Shampoo's transformation is complete, she
will become my bride!"

        "Shampoo!" Mousse cried. "No! Get out of her, you monster! Face
me, if you dare!"

        "Uh uh!" the Bake-Neko's voice echoed. "I can't defeat you, but
I've read Shampoo's mind, and I know you won't dare hurt Shampoo. So
there's nothing you can do."

        Mousse snarled loudly and slashed a nearby tree with his right
claw in anger, cutting the large pine tree down.

         Akane smiled. "Mousse may not be able to hit you, but I can!"
She walked slowly foreward. "One good punch and you're out of there!"

         Shampoo recoiled and hissed at her.

        "Oh really?" the ghost cat taunted. "Do you think Mousse will
stand by and let you hit his love?"

        "I did it before!" Akane countered. "If you've read Shampoo's
mind, you should know that!"

        "But that time was a matter of Amazon law," Bake-Neko retorted.
"Now, there is no such law protecting you!"

         Akane stopped and turned to look at Mousse, who was clearly
fighting some internal battle. Then he straightened and took a position
between the two girls.

        "Akane, he's right," he said at last. "I... can't let you do
it."

        "Mousse, listen to me!" Akane pleaded. "If I don't do this,
we'll lose Shampoo! Don't you see? It's either I hit her, or the Bake-
Neko marries her and takes her away!"

         Mousse stiffened, then slowly turned around to face the woman
he loved, who was still crouched in a menacing defensive pose. "Shampoo,
please fight it! I know you're stronger than this! You're stronger than
a stupid ghost!"

         Shampoo's eyes changed slighty for a moment, back to the ones
he recognized. "Am... trying...  So hard... Sorry... Mousse..." The eyes
changed back to the more feline ones.

         The mypoic Amazon growled in frustration, then spoke in a low
voice to the person behind him. "Do it."

         Akane nodded slowly, knowing just what it must've cost Mousse
to give his okay for what she was about to do. "I just need to hit her
once."

         Shampoo hissed some more, claws brandishing menacingly, while
Akane struck with lightening speed. The rock face cratered with her
punch, but Akane's target had leapt away.

        "Fool!" the ghost-cat's voice called. "What makes you think you
can touch me? I control Shampoo's body!"

         Akane sprung forward again, aiming a jump kick at her target.
Shampoo leapt aside as Akane expected, so she sent a series of
incredibly kicks to her right as soon as she landed. Shampoo dodged them
all, then struck back with her own kick to Akane's midsection. The
youngest Tendo grunted, then rolled away.

        "Mousse, Shampoo, help me!" Akane commanded. "I can't do this
alone!"

        "I can't, Akane!" Mousse cried. He remembered the only time he
had attacked her, when Zhoa Len had been manipulating her. That time,
Shampoo was distracted and he was able to just chain her up without
attacking her directly. Still, it had torn him up to do that much. "I'm
sorry, I just can't hurt Shampoo!"

         Shampoo's anger increased, as her eyes changed back. "Stupid...
Mousse! Stupid, weak... Mousse! You pitiful excuse... for Amazon. You
never... never fight Shampoo! Never win! Mousse is only... weak male.
Shampoo never want weak Mousse! Stupid!"

         Mousse was speechless. While he had heard those words, in one
form or another, from her before, there was more venom and disgust this
time, and it tore at his very soul. "...Shampoo... I love-"

        "Shut up!" Shampoo screamed. "Shampoo.. no love Mousse! Is
stupid... and weak!"

         Akane took the oppurtunity to attack again, but Shampoo was
simply too fast. She decided she just might have to risk using the Tora
Dokiken again, when Mousse exploded.

        "WEAK!" he yelled. "Don't you get it! I just don't want to hurt
you! What's stupid and weak are those Amazon rules and pride! Why can't
you just let that go!?"

        "Amazon rules is no weak!" Shampoo yelled back. "They make
Joketsuzoku strong for three-thousand year! You weak! You no learn this!
You never have Shampoo!"

         Akane stopped, astonished by the heated exchange the two
Amazons were having. Shampoo's face was contorted with anger and
loathing. Akane could see Mousse's head was down, his hands trembling, a
vein throbbing on his forehead.

         For years, frustration had built up inside the myopic Amazon,
ever since Shampoo first rejected him. With every subsequent rejection,
that frustration had steadily turned into anger that Mousse kept bottled
inside, with no release. A temporary release was found when her followed
Shampoo to Japan and fought Ranma, but that didn't help the source of
his frustration and anger, and he hadn't fought with Ranma in awhile.

         Now, together with the fear and anxiety that came from
Shampoo's predicament and hate-filled outburst, those emotions were
passing the boiling point. They began to spill out, bypassing the `I
don't want to hurt Shampoo' directive, fueling his rage.

        "FINE THEN!" Mousse screamed, flinging his arms up and sending
weighted chains at the feral girl.






        "Like, this better work," the girl said.

        "It will," the man replied. "Just follow the directions on the
note."

         The girl nodded, then rang the doorbell, as the man faded back
into the shadows. In no time, a little man dressed in black answered the
door.

        "Yes, who is it?" Sasuke asked.

        "Like, I'm here to see Kuno Tatewaki!" Mariko Konjo answered,
with a big smile on her face.

         Sasuke's eyes grew wide. "Uh, this way, Konjo-san."

         From the shadows, Kenji watched with a grin as Mariko entered
the Kuno estate.






         Akane's jaw dropped as she beheld Mousse actually attack
Shampoo. The feral girl still managed to dodge the chains, but more
followed and Shampoo was forced to weave through them with as much
agility as he could muster. When the distance was closed, Shampoo
attacked with her claws at close range.

         Mousse brought up his own steel claws to block. There was a
flurry of movement, then one of Mousse's claws went flying away. Shampoo
raised her hand to strike again, when Mousse pulled a staff out of his
robes and thrust it foreward. The feral Amazon doubled over as the
strike impacted her midsection. Rage still burning through him, he
brought the end of the staff up and clocked her chin, snapping her head
back.

         Shampoo managed a fierce three kick return to Mousse's own
midsection, but the blows were lessened by the chain mail he was
wearing. He knocked her leg away with the staff then twirled it around,
hitting stomach, shoulder, and head all in turn. He then dopped low and
swung the staff around, sweeping Shampoo's legs out from underneath her.

         With a *whump*, she hit the ground on her back, while Mousse
pointed the staff at her throat.

        "How about that!" Mousse yelled. "This weak Amazon beat you! I
could always beat you! I just never wanted to..." All the color drained
from Mousse's face, and he continued in a small voice. "...hurt you..."

         He dropped the staff as if it was burning hot, while Shampoo
stared up at him in disbelief.

        "What have I done?"





        "What's going on here?" Nabiki demanded as she entered the
foyer.

         In the middle of the room, a girl she remembered as Mariko
Konjo was liplocked with Tatewaki Kuno. Her arms were around him and her
head was tilted back. He was holding her tenderly and kissing her
upturned lips.

A few minutes earlier...

         Kuno had just entered the room to see what Mariko wanted, but
found out when she glomped onto his arm and blinked her eyes prettily at
him.

        "Remember me, Tatewaki-chan?" she asked in a sultry voice. "I
once said that I loved you and that you could have your way with me."
She licked her lips. "It's still true and that offer still stands..."

        Kuno gulped, even as he felt his heart start to pound. He
remembered the kendo match, and how great he felt when both Mariko and
the pig-tailed girl fought over him. He did have some feelings for her,
until she left and he went back to Akane and the `pig-tailed girl'. "I
believe I also said I would reward your noble spirit with a kiss."

         A small sound was buzzing in his brain, saying something about
this was wrong. But the willing girl in his arms, her pretty face, and
her red, luscious lips, helped drown that little voice out.

         She smiled, turned her lovely lips up and closed her eyes.
Excitement and tension building within him, Kuno bent his head down and
began to kiss her, but that was when Nabiki had walked in.

        Suddenly the little buzzing made sense.

         Mariko released Kuno's lips. "Like, who is this little tramp,
Tatewaki-chan?"

         A vein throbbed once on Nabiki's forehead. <TRAMP!?> "Look
who's talking."

        "Like, whatever. What's your problem?"

        "Nabiki-kun!" Kuno finally managed, dropping Mariko. "This is
not what it appears to be!"

         Nabiki took a deep breath, fought down the feeling of betrayal,
and half-smiled. "It's okay, Kuno-baby, really. Apparently I've
interrupted you at a bad time. We can discuss accounts another time."
She turned around. "Enjoy yourself." With that, she walked out the door.

         Kuno tried to go after him but Mariko was attached to his leg.
"Nabiki-kun! Pray tally here but a moment longer!" .

        "Tatewaki-chan..." the cheerleader complained. "I like, totally
thought you weren't dating anyone? Who was she?"

        "You are mistaken," Kuno told her. "I am dating with Tendo
Nabiki. Please do not refer to me as `Tatewaki-chan'."

         Mariko was aghast. "But..." Her face turned from shock to
anger. "Oooh, that boy! He like, totally told me you were not interested
in that pig-tailed girl anymore!"

         Something that passed as a grimace, flitted across the
upperclassman's face. "That is correct, but I am dating Tendo Nabiki.
Now please leave."

         The cheerleader stood up and angrily stalked to the door. "If I
ever see that boy again..." She fixed Kuno with an angry gaze. "And you!
Leading me on like that! I am like, so totally through with you!" She
turned and stomped out of the house.

        Kuno sighed and called for Sasuke. Something told him he'd be
needing a large amount of flora for a certain short, brown-haired Tendo.





         On the ground Shampoo's eyes were wide. Then she convulsed and
screamed, part in fear, and part in pain. A white glow coalesed around
her, then floated out of her to land a few feet behind her. Akane, still
frozen in utter disbelief, watched as it materialized into the Bake-
Neko.

         He was holding his nose and stomach. "Ow ow ow! Why'd you have
to go and do that? I was almost there! Now I'll never find a bride!"

         A question implanted itself in Akane's otherwise empty mind at
the moment. "Why do you want to be married anyway?"

         The ghost cat looked up at her with a sad face. "I can't break
the curse and move on until a woman consents to be miyah bride." He
looked down again. "Miyah late wife cursed me 500 years ago. She trapped
me in that bell, where I waited, until you let me out last year."

         Akane spared a glance at the two Amazons, but they hadn't
budged an inch from where they were standing. Both seemed to be in
complete shock from what had just happened. Mousse was standing over
Shampoo, his body trembling slightly. She was still on the ground, her
physical body still unchanged.

        "Hey!" Akane exclaimed. "How about changing her back now!"

         The Bake-Neko looked over at Shampoo with a confused expression
on his face. "I... don't know how."

         Akane blinked then stomped up to the ghost cat and grabbed a
handful of fur. "WHAT!?"

        "AH! Don't hurt me! I just don't know! The man who helped me
with the new curse didn't say how to reverse it and I didn't ask! His
name is Dor-something." He closed his eyes. "I don't remember!"

        *POW* The ghost cat ended up in a tree.

        "Shampoo... stuck like this?" she asked quietly, her eyes
shimmering with both fear and sadness.

        "I... I... I'm sorry," was all the Bake-Neko could say.

         That's when Shampoo began to laugh.





        "Nice night, eh?"

         The voice caught Nabiki off-guard, but she recognized it and
continued to walk. "Leave me alone, Soyokaze. I'm not in the mood."

         Kenji pushed off the wall from where he had been leaning and
began to follow Nabiki from a few feet behind her. "What's wrong?"

        Nabiki laughed, once. "As if you didn't know." She half-smiled.
<It was fun while it lasted.> "Nice one, by the way." The smile
disappeared. "Now get lost."

         Kenji stopped and watched Nabiki walk away. He had done it, or
at least that's what it looked like.

         So why did he feel so bad?





         Akane blinked, not really expecting that reaction.

        "Ha Ha, Mousse... beat Shampoo! She stuck... like monster!
Mousse win monster, not proud Amazon warrior!"

        "Shampoo..." Mousse said quietly.

         The maniacal laughter faded, even as she turned on him. "Shut
up! This all... Mousse fault!"

        "But..."

         Shampoo yowled in anger, then sprung up, knocking him down in
the process. Akane brought her arms up just in time to block, but was
still hit hard by the charging feral Amazon and landed on her back,
hard. Shampoo leapt out of the pit, then was gone.

        "Shampoo!" Mousse stood up and went after her.

         Akane tried to follow, but with the wind temporarily knocked
out of her, she couldn't get up. By the time she was able, she didn't
bother, knowing they were long gone. She glanced over to see the ghost-
cat still sitting against the tree.

        "What are you still doing here?" Akane asked disgustingly. "Or
aren't you though srewing up people's lives?"

        "I just wanted someone to love me..." he said in a weak voice.

        "Well that's not the way you go about it," Akane told the
spirit.

        "I deserve to be cursed..."

         Akane sighed. <I might as well ask.> "What did you do to be
cursed anyway?"

        "I... cheated on my wife."

         She crossed her arms over her chest and rolled her eyes. "Why
doesn't that surprise me?" She looked at the pathetic picture the Bake-
Neko was currently presenting and sighed. "Well, I suppose if I were to
help you break this curse, you would stop making trouble?"

         The ghost-cat looked up, hope on it's face. "You'd become miyah
bride?"

         Akane frowned. "I am NOT marrying you! I have a fiance I love
already!"

        "You wouldn't have to actually marry me," he said slowly. "Just
be miyah bride!"

         She blinked, realization setting in. "Wait a minute. Just what
does being your bride entail?"

         The bake-neko eagerly brought out a small bell and tossed it to
Akane, who caught it. "Just accept that bell and kiss me!"

        "Then what?" Akane asked nervously.

        "That's it."

         Akane blinked. "That's it?"

        "That's all that was required for couples to be engaged in miyah
old village," the ghost cat explained. "The actual marriage ceremony was
also short. A priest would just declare two people to be miyah-arried,
but we don't need one if you're just going to be miyah bride." He
paused. "Then I should be able to pass on."

         Akane debated with herself for a moment, then looked at the
eager look on the spirit's face. "Then after you're gone, I don't have
to do anything else? Nothing happens to me and I'm not cursed or
anything?"

         The ghost cat eagerly shook it's head. "For awhile I wanted
someone to love me, but if I can at least end this curse, that's good
enough."

         Akane took a deep breath. Truth be told, she had always kinda
felt sorry for him. And if she could end his curse, it would be the
right thing to do. <And it's not like I'm cheating on Ranma or anything,
I'm just helping a friend.> "Then I accept this bell."

         Gathering her courage, she took two steps over to the ghost cat
and kissed him lightly, then took a step back. For a moment, nothing
happened.

        "MAO MAO LIN NO BAKA!" a Chinese female voice yelled in
Japanese.

        *WHAM!*

         Akane blinked at the glowing mallet embedded in the ghost cat's
skull, as well as the beautiful, white glowing woman holding it.

        "It's about time!" the woman exclaimed, removing the mallet. "I
was getting bored, waiting for you."

        "I'm sorry it took so long, dear," the ghost cat replied, only
it wasn't a ghost cat anymore. The image had disolved to be replaced by
a glowing, handsome man with short dark hair.

         The woman turned to Akane. "Thank you. My husband has redeemed
himself by earning your kiss of compassion." Her face darkened. "But if
you think you're getting anything else from him..." She hefted her
mallet.

         Akane waved her arms in fron of her. "No! That's okay! I'm
already engaged to someone else! You can trust me!"

         The woman chuckled. "Sorry, just joking with you. I'll be
returning to the afterlife now, and taking my husband with me. He has
1000 years to make up to me."

         The former ghost cat looked down. "Yes, dear."

         She grabbed his ear, then waved at Akane. "Thanks you again! As
for you, I hope your fiance will be faithful to you. Give him that bell
when you two are married, and happiness will be yours." The two forms
began to dematerialize.

        "Thank you, Akane..." the man known as both the Bake-Neko and
Mao Mao Lin said as he disappeared.

         Akane sighed, looked at the bell in her hand, then started for
home.





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



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DISCLAIMER:


Ranma 1/2: New Challenges
Minor Disturbances

Chapter 12





         Kenji was feeling pretty low.

         He realized now he had made a minor mistake. <No, I made a
MAJOR mistake,> he amended. His desire for revenge and to `one-up'
Nabiki had caused him to split her and Kuno Tatewaki up, shamelessly
using a cheerleader in the process. Now both his sister and Ukyo weren't
speaking to him. Neither was Akane, and even Ranma seemed to showing him
some mild displeasure.

         Selah was a different matter. She kinda understood what he did,
but she still treated him more or less the same. Still, even she was
somewhat disappointed in him.

         He absently kicked a loose rock down the street he was walking.
The costume dance was going on right now, but with Ukyo giving him the
cold shoulder, he didn't feel like going. He suspected his reception
wouldn't be exactly favorable, since by now the word had spread of what
he had done.

         The young ninja boy sighed. <I didn't think it would turn out
this bad! I didn't really want to hurt anyone; I was just having some
fun...> He scoffed to himself. Fun. That's all he was concerned with and
now neither Tatewaki nor Nabiki were having much fun. He got what he
wanted, right? So why did he feel so bad?

         Because it wasn't right.

         Of course, he realized he would have to rectify the situation;
put it back right. "Yes, that's it!" he exclaimed to himself, stopping
and smacking his palm with his fist. "I just have to apologize to them,
and then get them back together!"

         A surge of hope flooded him with the prospect of doing the
right thing and getting the two back together. He reached into his
pocket and drew out the sum of money he owed Nabiki. Then he drew out
four times as much, figuring that was what it would take to placate the
middle Tendo sister.

         He looked up and smiled when he realized where he was; the
front gate of the Tendo dojo. By pure chance, his aimless wanderings had
brought him to this place. <Is this how Ryoga feels?>

         He shook his head and took this as a sign of what he should do
first. After all, rumor had it Nabiki wasn't going to be attending the
costume dance. This would be the perfect time to start the make-up
process with her!

         He took a step inside the gate and looked around. The lights
were out and no movement could be seen. <Maybe she went after all,> he
thought to himself. <Or she's already asleep or something. I remember
Kasumi and Tendo-san were going to be chaperoning the dance, and with
Ranma, Akane, Natsume, and Kurumi attending, that should have left her
home by herself.> He sighed and turned around. <Well, maybe tomorrow
then.>

         He began to walk away, mourning the lost opportunity, when he
heard the scream.






         Nabiki lounged back on the pile of pillows as she absentmindly
flipped through channels on the remote. Everyone else had gone to the
costume dance at the school, but she had declined, deciding instead to
spend the night with the house to herself. Since her relationship to
Tatewaki had gone back to purely business, she had concluded that boys
were just too much trouble. For that reason, she didn't want to go to
the dance and see all the happy couples; that would just remind her of
things she would now like buried.

         Maybe she should thank Kenji. He may have actually done her a
favor by finding out exactly what Kuno was like. Oh sure, she should
have realized he was a playboy; his dual pursuit of Akane and `the pig-
tailed girl' was proof of that. She should have known it was a matter of
time before he went for more than one girl. It just happened to be that
bimbo, air-headed cheerleader.

         Not that she cared, of course. Kuno was mildy entertaining and
charming now that Galfgar's influence was gone, and he was also turning
out to have a somewhat of a keen mind. She might have been intrigued by
the possibility of where the relationship could go, but that was over
now.

         As the channels cycled back around again, Nabiki discovered
that there was really nothing on she wanted to watch. <Maybe I'll just
go up and work on some accounts before bed,> she thought to herself.

         Having set upon a course of action, she stood up and stretched,
flicking off the TV via remote in the process. As soon as she did so,
the lights went out as well. <Oh great, probably blew a fuse.>

         She froze. <Wait a minute, fuses only blow when something gets
turned on, not off. Power went off?> A quick glance across the street
showed other lights on in the neighboring houses, causing Nabiki to
became even more confused. <Did someone turn the lights off?>

         "Hello?" she called out tentatively. She distinctly heard some
movement a ways off. "Who's there?" No answer. "Well, whoever you are,
you are obviously aren't very bright, or you just moved into the
neighborhood. I will find out who you are and make your life a living
hell unless you cut this nonsense out." A pause, and she thought she
heard some light... laughter? "In any case, Ranma won't take too kindly
to someone messing with his future sister-in-law. <That out to work.
Everyone seems to know who Ranma is.>

         Still, nodody rose to her queries and Nabiki suddenly became
ever so slightly nervous. Not afraid, just nervous, since the mighty Ice
Queen didn't know fear. A small patter of feet sounded near her and
bumped the table, but in the dark, she couldn't see anything. She then
became slightly more nervous, and decided vacating the premises was a
wiser course of action than staying.

         However, as soon as she took a step, something small latched
onto her chest and she screamed.

         When she recovered her wits enough to bat it away, she yelled,
"Happosai!" then froze. While it was small and had attached itself to
her chest, the appendages that grabbed her were not hands. They felt
more like... claws.

         Now Nabiki would almost admit to feeling a little fear. At the
very least, she decided it was time to go. Fast.

         Sprinting out of the room, she headed for the front door. While
she could barely see, she knew her way around since she lived in the
house all of her life. Reaching the door, she flung it open and ran
outside. Or tried to.

         Something crashed into her that was on it's way in and sent her
backwards onto her butt. She looked up and immediatly recognized the
silhouette.

        "Kenji!" "Nabiki!" they said in unison.

         Nabiki got to her feet. "So, this is your doing is it!?" she
pointed an accusing finger at him.

         "What's my fault? I just heard a scream and came to
investigate!"

         She snorted and crossed her arms. "Oh sure, just like when you
rigged my room with all that ghost stuff. Well I'm not finding it very
amusing, so knock it off!"

         "Hey!" Kenji yelled. "I just came here to apologize! I haven't
done anything else!"

         Nabiki was angry, but she was also perceptive when someone was
lying and, as much as she wished it was otherwise, Kenji was telling the
truth. "Then who's in there?"

         Kenji became confused and let it show. "Who? Where?" He
suddenly sensed movement and dove to the ground, taking Nabiki with him.
A series of *thunks* sounded above them.

        "What's the big idea?" Nabiki yelled. "I..." she stopped and her
eyes went wide. Kenji looked up and saw what she saw. Several sharp
knives imbedded in the wood frame of the door. "They're trying to kill
me!"

         "Who, Nabiki?" Kenji asked. "Who's here?"

         She pushed him off her and caustiously stood up. "I don't know!
But I don't think it's human!"

        "Well let's not wait around to find out," he offered. He grabbed
her arm and started out the door, but suddenly pushed her out of the
way, diving with her as several more knives came flying in from
somewhere outside. Kenji stood up quickly and shut the door."Well, I
guess we can't leave just yet. Whoever's out there can cut us down
before we get two steps out the door. Now who throws knives and wants
you dead?"

        "Mousse?" Nabiki said suddenly, then dismissed it immediately.
"No, he has no reason to attack me. Unless someone is controlling him
somehow."

        "He's the hidden weapons master, correct?" Kenji asked.

         Nabiki stood up slowly, shivering somewhat, and nodded. "So now
what?"

          Kenji snapped his fingers. "Weapons. I need some weapons and I
might be able to fight whatever is or whoever is in here. If it is
Mousse, I will need weapons of my own to match him." He might've been
able to defeat their unknown foe without them, being used to fighting in
darkness. But he had to consider Nabiki's welfare first.

         "All the weapons we have are in the dojo," Nabiki said slowly.
"And that means crossing the small open space between the house and
there. There is some cover, but not much."

         He nodded. "Let's go."

         Kenji followed Nabiki, their personal quarrel momentarily
forgotten by the mutual attack they found themselves under. A few light
switches were flicked, but nothing happened, so Nabiki grabbed a
flashlight on the way, but left it off as their eyes were slowly
becoming adjusted to the dark and using the flashlight would give their
location away.

         More sounds of laughter could be heard, but not from any
direction. Kenji was especially puzzled because his extended ki senses
couldn't pin down anything specific, just `shadow' images that he
couldn't trace.

         They reached the doors leading to the dojo and caustiously
glanced outside. Nabiki looked to her unlikely comrade-in-arms and he
nodded to her.

        "Looks clear, but I know he's out there," Kenji whispered,
looking out.

        "So, got any bright ideas, ninja boy?" Nabiki asked, her
confidence and sense of mind coming back to her.

          Kenji inhaled slowly, then exhaled just as slowly and turned
to her. "Just one. Hang on."

         Nabiki only had a second to look confused before Kenji grabbed
her and shot horizontally out the door on a low-to-the-ground flight.
She fought back a scream, but made a mental note to kill him later as he
held her head to his chest and ducked his own head.

         Another second later and they were slamming headfirst through
the opposite doors and crash rolling into the dojo. They seperated as
they rolled, coming to a stop a few feet apart.

         For a few moments, they didn't move. Then, Kenji slowly stirred
and sat up, Nabiki following afterward.

         She shot him a venomous glare, somewhat lessened by the dark.
"Next time, warn me before doing something like that!"

        "Uh, sorry?" he offered.

         Her glare abated a bit. "Well, we got out of the house and away
from that... thing." She stood up and walked over to a side door that
lead to the equipment closet. "Now come on, Mr. martial artist and get
your weapons." She opened the door as Kenji walked over and began
sifting through the equipment. She couldn't help chuckling quietly. "You
know, Ranma-kun never did need any weapons, and he never used them much.
If he were here, he could deal with this easily."

         Kenji looked up while holding a wooded bo staff. "Well,
excuuuuse me. Maybe if you practiced martial arts at all, you wouldn't
need me and could take care of this yourself." He grinned. "Maybe I
should leave and let you fend for yourself?"

         "You wouldn't dare!" she hissed. "You have a duty as a martial
artist to defend people like me!"

         He sighed, knowing she was correct and Nabiki grinned in
triumph. "But that doesn't mean I have to like it," he countered weakly.
He turned his back on her and went back to his weapon collecting,
eventually selecting both the staff and a sheathed katana mounted on the
back wall. Not much else was useful to him, being either practice
equipment like a shinai, or weapons he wasn't trained well in in, like a
naginata.

        "Hurry up!" she whispered fiercely. "I think those things are
right outside!"

        "I'm done," he whispered back, strapping the katana to his back
and readying the staff. Cautiously, he stepped out of the closet and
froze, with Nabiki right behind him. The sound of small padded feet
echoed in the almost pitch black dojo. "Stay here. I'll draw them off
and you make a run for it."

         Nabiki only nodded, while Kenji stalked foreward in a low,
almost crouching postion. Again he concentrated his ki-enhanced senses
outward, and again he could make out only vague readings that said a
couple somethings were there, but unknown as to what and where they
were.

         That's about when one of those somethings dropped onto his
head.

         A small clawed hand grabbed his ear and Kenji yelled in pain,
but managed to knock it off with the staff. It landed and went
scampering away, only to be replaced by another something biting on his
ankle. He grunted, louder this time, but brought his leg up and smashed
whatever was attached there into the ground under his calf. It let go
and disappeared.

         Kenji dabbed the side of his face with the sleeve of his shirt
as he sat there, and winced. It didn't feel that bad and there wasn't
much blood, but it still stung. His right ankle was in slightly more
pain from the razor sharp teeth that bit into it.

         Nabiki wanted to call out and ask him how he was, but didn't
for fear of attracting whatever was in with them. Still, her heart was
softened a bit by the fact that he was taking that punishment that could
have been hers if he hadn't shown up. All she could do, however, is sit
very still and pray.

         Both human occupants of the dojo froze at the sound of a
chainsaw being started up.

         Kenji only had a spilt second before that chainsaw was upon
him, instinctively bringing the staff up in front of his face to block.
For the first time he could see what they were upgainst as a two foot
gremlin forced him to his back and began to cut through the hardened
staff.

         It indeed did have sharp teeth and pointed ears. No hair, but
it was scaly green from head to toe. The two small arms held the
chainsaw as it grinned and laughed above him.

         From the corner, Nabiki heard the chainsaw going and Kenji's
grunting and yelling and could only imagaine the horror that was
happening. <Oh kami, he's getting chopped to pieces! And it's all
because of me! I-I have to do something to help him!> Her hand swept
sideways and grasped the flashlight

         On the ground a few feet away, Kenji watched in despair and
horror as the last of his staff was cut through. And a part of him
realized he was about to die, done in by a two foot tall gremlin.

         That's when the beam of light hit them.

         The gremlin squealed in a growly voice as it fell away, taking
the chainsaw with it as the staff broke. It dropped the chainsaw, which
promptly shut off, and scampered away.

         When Nabiki switched the light on, she wasn't prepared for what
she saw. There was a vicous little... thing.. atop Kenji, attempting to
cut him open with a chainsaw. There was a little blood on the ninja
boy's face and, from her angle, the chainsaw almost looked like it was
cutting into him. She promptly dropped the light in horror, sinking back
onto the floor as her suddenly weak legs gave out. The flashlight went
out as it hit the ground.

         "Kuso, now we know why the lights don't work," Kenji said.
"They don't like bright lights. Nabiki-san, turn that flashlight back
on!" He tossed away the broken halves of the staff and stood up. He then
pulled the katana free of the it's sheath and steadied himself.

         That's when he noticed it was still dark.

         "Turn on the light, Tendo!" he commanded. Still nothing.
<Great, either she's scared stiff or they got her.> "Alright you horny
toads, you want me, you come get me!"

         For almost a minute, nothing happened and Kenji thought they
might've left. Then the wind direction changed and Kenji whirled and
struck on instinct. He could swear he connected with something, but the
other gremlin latched onto his swordarm and began to bite and claw.
Kenji yelled in pain as the katana was forced away, but rapidly brought
his other fist down on the offending gremlin, connecting solidly on it's
head and knocking it to the floor.

         Something latched onto his back immediately afterward, pushing
him forward and onto his knees. Another something joined it on his
shoulder and forced him to the floor in pain. This time, he knew he was
dead unless he could get these leeches off him.

         Kenji's pained yells shocked Nabiki enough for her to return to
the present. The katana bumping her foot also helped. Reaching down
hesitantly, she felt the cool metal of the blade and followed it until
she found the handle.

         Now, she knew may not be a major martial artist like the rest
of the Nerima wrecking crew, but she did have a couple years martial
arts training in the years before her mother died. She had practiced a
bit with a bokken, but this was the first time she had ever wielded a
real katana.

         But as she grabbed the handle and hefted the blade, a cool
feeling came over her and she stood confidently, raising the sword high.
"Let him go!"

         The three combatants locked in a savage struggle, stopped. And
it wasn't because of Nabiki's commanding voice, nor was it because the
temperature in the room lowered by several degrees. No, it was because
the sword Nabiki was holding was glowing white in color and lighting the
room softly.

         The expressions on the gremlins faces went from gleeful
savagery, to snarling; almost as if they recognized what was going on.
Kenji had no time to ponder this as one of the gremlins lept from his
back towards Nabiki. He was helpless to watch at the vicious creature
descended, claw first, towards the Tendo woman.

         However, Nabiki had other ideas. With speed and skill she
didn't know she possesed, she swung the katana around and impaled the
gremlin on the blade. Immediately, the gremlin began squealing as the
white glowing intensified. Kenji watched in fascination as the gremlin
slowly ceased struggling and, quite literally, froze.

         When it became a solid block of ice, Nabiki tweaked the blade
and the gremlin shattered, falling in pieces to the floor. The other
gremlin screamed at the loss of it's companion and tried a hasty retreat
out the dojo, but he wasn't fast enough.

         Nabiki pointed the blade at the retreating figure and spoke
again. "Begone!"

         What looked like a small horizontal snowstorm blew forth from
the blade and engulfed the escapee. It only managed a few more steps
before it too froze solid and crumbled like it's companion.

         The sword immediately stopped glowing and Nabiki dropped it,
before she too collapsed. Groaning, Kenji hauled his aching body to it's
feet and located the flashlight in the dark. Flicking it on, he found
the girl laying down next to the sword.

         After checking her out to make sure she was okay, Kenji glanced
at the katana. <I don't get it? Why didn't the sword do anything for me?
Does Nabiki have some special ability no one knows about? And come to
think of it, didn't Kuno have a magical sword, too? Only his fired
lightning bolts...> He shook his head as he sat down against the wall
next to the fallen girl. <So many questions. Maybe I should ask Satsu-
sensei about all of this.>

         He suddenly felt very weary and decided a short nap was in
order.






         Nabiki slowly awakened and moaned. For some reason, she felt as
if she had just run a marathon and collapsed at the finish line. She
rubbed her eyes and blinked them open, then realized she was in the dojo
and not her room. Why was she here? <Oh yeah, Soyokaze and I retreated
here to escape the gremlins.>

         She blinked as the full impact of that statement settled in.
<The gremlins!> She quickly backed against the wall, before realizing
the gremlins were gone. <Oh that's right, I killed them using a magic
sword.>

         She blinked again, then pinched herself. "Ouch! Okay, it's not
a dream."

         She noticed the sword nearby and reached out for it. A few
inches from contact however, she stopped, scared of what might happen
should she touched it. She swallowed once, then marshalled her courage
to reach out and pick up the weapon.

         Nothing happened. She carefully swung it around and willed it
to do something, but nothing did. It just seemed like a normal sword,
except it was quite cold to the touch. "What's going on? It was doing
some funky freezing stuff when I saved Soyokaze from the... Oh no,
Kenji!"

         She looked around frantically for him, and found him lying
against the wall nearby and unconcious. Setting the katana down, Nabiki
rushed over to him, checking him over. She was horrified to find his
face and clothes spotted with blood. Shaking him provoked no response.
<Oh no, he's dead!> She forced herself to remain calm, then checked his
pulse. Good, he had one. And he was breathing. She sighed in relief as
she realized he WAS still alive.

         "Soyokaze! Wake up!" She shook him again. "Come on you baka!"

         The baka in question groaned and rolled onto his back. "Come
on... Ukyo-chan... `nother five minutes..."

         <Ukyo-chan!?> Nabiki grinned. <Does ninja boy still has the
hots for the chef?> She got an idea and leaned close to his face,
whispering, "Come now, Kenji-chan. It's time for you to open the
restaurant, my love."

         Kenji smiled goofily, then his arms went up and wrapped
themselves around Nabiki, pulling the flailing girl on top of him.
"Mmmm... love ya Ukyo-chan." He nuzzled her face. Nabiki blinked herself
out of her shock and whapped him. "Ow!"

         That woke him up, and he took stock of his position. <Lying on
back. Check. Nabiki on top of me. Check. I'm holding her tight. Check.
Her face is red and angry. Check. I'm dead.> He quickly let her go and
crawled away. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!"

        "Oh spare me the crouch of the wild tiger," she commanded,
naming Genma's infamous technique for dealing with the master.

         Kenji quite apologizing. "Hey, wait a minute, what do I got to
be apologizing for? I saved your butt!"

         Nabiki tsked. "More like I saved your butt." She hefted the
katana and pointed it at him. "Remember this?"

         He did, and instinctively backed away. Clearing his throat, he
commented, "So, you didn't tell me you had a magic sword. What gives and
how do you get it to work?"

         Nabiki shrugged, then sat down against the wall next to him,
too exhausted to argue much. She layed the weapon on her lap where they
could both examine it. "Don't know. I didn't know we had a magic
freezing katana either. All I know is a funny feeling came over me when
I picked it up before. It was like I instinctively knew how to use it."
She shook her head. "But nothing happens now when I touch it."

         She was struck with a sense of deja vu, and tried to figure out
why. That's when the words came back to her. <Kuno said almost the same
thing when I asked him about his sword. Wierd. Wonder what it means.>
She looked over to the man sitting next to her to ask him something, but
stopped, and instead became worried.

         It looked like he was asleep again, but she also noticed
something else in the glow of the flashlight. He was also somewhat pale.
That's when the state of his clothes hit her. <He must have lost quite a
bit of blood! That moron, why didn't he say something?> "Idiot. You dumb
martial artists are gonna get yourselves killed over your stupid pride.
Looks like it's up to me again."

         She set the sword down and dashed back into the house, looking
for the first-aid kit. She grabbed it from the kitchen and ran back out
to the dojo where Kenji was still in the same position. Laying him down
on his back, Nabiki suddenly realized she would have to strip him to get
to his wounds. A faint smile crossed her face as she dove into her task.

         Nabiki started by pulling off his grey shirt slowly and gently,
as some of the dried blood caused the shirt to stick to the wounds. Once
that was done, she took a deep breath, then slowly pulled down his
pants, after removing his shoes. <Nice pikachu print boxers,> she mused,
leaving that article of clothing on.

         She then got a look at the rest of him and winced. She would
have admired the view more if it wasn't for the addition of several
long, bloody cuts and bite marks. Sighing, she went to work at her task,
cleaning and bandaging all the wounds.

         When she finished, she realized she would have to dress him
again, but she didn't want to put his own bloody clothes back on him.
Thinking quickly, she ran up to Ranma's room and grabbed a red Chinese
shirt and black drawstring pant combo. <They're almost the same size, so
this should work.>

         Back in the dojo, she dressed him carefully. "Kenji, m'boy,
you're gonna owe me big time for this," she said as she finished with
the shirt.

         "So you mean I'm still not forgiven?"

         Nabiki blinked. "How long have you been awake?"

         Kenji yawned. "Just woke up now. So, about how much I owe
you...?"

         She chuckled. "I forgive you for the Mariko incident. I should
have known what kind of man Kuno was, I was bound to be reminded sooner
or later. No, you just owe me the originial money amount, and several
huge favors that only a jusenkyo-cursed martial artist can provide."

         Kenji chuckled bitterly. "I should've known. But I don't turn
into a busty redhead, so I doubt you could sell my cursed form pics."

        "No, but there are some girls who would pay handsomely for some
pics of male-you, and since you're currently un-attached, I could even
set up some dates for a nominal fee."

         "It's always money with you, isn't it?" he asked.

         She shrugged. "Money doesn't let you down."

        "It can't buy happiness, either," he countered.

         She smiled weakly. "Who says I'm not happy?"

         But her face proved otherwise, and Kenji saw it. <I guess I do
owe you, Nabiki. And I will help you, whether you want it or not.> He
reached into his pants pocket and withdrew some bills, slapping them
into her hand.

         She accepted them and stood up, indicating the current
conversation was over. "Well, let's get going."

         Kenji blinked, then slowly got up as well. "Where are we
going?" he asked cautiously.

        "You're gonna be my escort to the costume dance," she said,
walking out of the dojo. Kenji followed. "There's still an hour-and-a
half left before the dance ends at midnight."

        "But what about costumes?" he asked, incredously.

         She stopped and turned around, giving him along look up and
down. "I think you're fine... Ranma-kun." She grinned. "We just need to
fix your hair, and I've got a perfect idea for my costume."

         Her tone told him he had no choice in the matter, so he decided
to just go along with it. Besides, he felt guilty enough as it is for
what he'd done.






         A half hour later saw the `couple' almost to the school gym.
After cleaning up the dojo, Nabiki tied his shoulder length hair into a
pigtail, then she left and and came back in white practice gi, similiar
to what Akane wore, complete with the headband.

         After that, `Ranma and Akane' left for the dance.

         Their entrance into the gymnasium instantly started several
rumors, and someone had already mistaken them for Nerima's most well-
known couple. With the exception of his trademark white streak down the
middle of his hair, Kenji looked like Ranma from a distance. And with
the exception of her brown hair, Nabiki almost looked like Akane. Only a
few people noticed them at first, but whispers traveled quickly around
the gym and soon everyone knew they were there.

         The real Ranma and Akane soon found them and Nabiki couldn't
hold back the laughter. For that matter, neither could Kenji.

        "Stop laughin'!" Ranma demanded. "It ain't funny!"

        "I believe getting you to wear that is better than any revenge I
could do to you, Saotome," Kenji chuckled.

        "Gomen, Ranma-kun," Nabiki said, finally getting her laughter
under control. "But you do look kawaii. And it helps that you match."
<And it appears Akane's sewing technique helps the costumes more that
hurts them.>

         You see, Mrs. Tendo's father had once gone to America and, upon
his return, had presented each of his three granddaughters with a
present. Akane's gift was a pair of dolls that she used to sleep with,
and in fact, still had.

        "Thank you, Nabiki," Akane said. "I was going through my closet
when I found my old Raggedy-Ann and Raggedy-Andy dolls."

         And that's how they were dressed. Red raggedy hair and raggedy
patchwork clothes. They were a matching pair of life-size dolls.

        "I still don't know how you got me into this," Ranma grumbled.

        "Oh, I don't know, something about a secret you kept from me?"
Akane reminded him. "Now, how about another dance? There's a nice fast
song coming up."

         Ranma sighed and took her hand. <The things I do for a certain
tomboy.>

        "Alright ninja boy," Nabik said, turning to her escort. "The
first dance is mine, and then we start hiring you out." The abacus in
her head began to total up the money she would make. She knew there were
several girls who would pay to dance with a pretty good-looking martial
artist.

         Kenji hung his head. "Yes, Nabiki-san."

         The night went smoothly after that. Ranma threatened anyone who
made jokes about his costume, but inside he secretly began to like it.
Akane enjoyed the chance for a normal night, after the events of the
previous night.

         Konatsu and Yuri were the other surprise pair of the evening,
dressed as the Dirty Pai-Ah, Lovely Angels. It seemed Yuri didn't mind
Konatsu crossdressing, once in awhile anyway.

         Hinako, who looked quite attractive in her `60s Star Trek
uniform skirt (who knew she was a closet trekkie?), managed to get a
couple of dances with Soun. Which made sense, considering he was
currently an alien, complete with green tentacles and antennae.

         Kasumi and Tofu were a pair of clowns. Literally.

         And yes, Nabiki did manage to make quite a bit of money off
selling dances with Kenji. For the most part, the former-amnesiac was
starting to enjoy himself, especially near the end of the dance, when he
found the next girl who paid for him to be a certain okonomiyaki chef,
who currently looked like batgirl.

         He was expecting her to punish him in some way, but actually
she told him she wasn't mad at him anymore. Oh sure, he had manipulated
people to achieve his own goals, but Ukyo had to admit she had done the
same thing. She also figured the way Nabiki was exploiting him to be
enough punishment.

         And during the walk home that night, he was pleasantly
surprised when she slipped her hand into his.






        "Is all this really necessary?" the short, old man asked his
companion while he gazed into the reflecting pool, pulling his white
robe tighter around his frail body.

         The tall, beautiful woman, who appeared to be in her early 30's
nodded. "Yes. It all must come to pass. It has been forseen." She
adjusted the folds of her all-blue kimono.

        "But they are all so young!" he protested. "How can we do this
to them? They have been through so much already..."

         She sighed. "I, too, wish there was another way old friend. But
they must be ready to face what is ahead. You know the consequences
should they fail."

         There was silence again as they both turned their attention to
the pool, and the image reflected therein. In it, a half-cat, half-human
girl slept on the forest floor as white duck kept a vigil nearby.

         "But there has to be another way," the caretaker said at last.
"If we go this route, it means that you..."

         She nodded in understanding. "I will die, yes. I have known
this for far longer than you have been alive. My death was foretold as
well. I would wish that I would remain alive, for it would stave off the
darkness. But if he can be stopped for good..." She trailed off, then
chuckled bitterly. "I am almost glad for this. Immortality gets boring
after the first 200 years or so."

         He shook his head. "I can only imagine what you must've been
through. I'm just approaching 65, and I feel as if I've seen enough for
two lifetimes."

         She smiled tenderly. "They will have until the new year, then
we can wait no more. We shall take a more active role."

        "And what of the dreams you send to the fortune-teller? Shall
they continue?"

        "Yes, the tale must be told and passed on," the lady replied.
"Though, the spells to create them are long and complicated, especially
that last one, they must be done. I feel we have enough time for a few
more. The Lila plant will bloom but twice more. Three if we are lucky.
That's the best we can hope for." She sighed. "Now come, we have much
work to do."

        "Yes, milady."




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

Author's notes:
Hello again! This arc was written mainly as a `breather' for the Ranma
cast, but kinda spiralled out of control with the Shampoo thing. I was
planning nothing major until the next arc by throwing a bunch of small
stuff together. I also think I'm starting to get too many things going
at once. What do you think?

Coming in the next story arc, Trials:
The woman in blue and her caretaker, revealed!
Ukyo reunites with her father!
The return of Kodachi!
Another favorite character will make his entrance! (hopefully)
Miyo makes a startling discovery!
Even more secrets revealed as the plot thickens!

Now I just hope I can manage all that.

Now on to the Thanking section.

I thank everybody. There, that about covers it. :)

Especially, Takahashi-sama, Alex Lindeke-sama, the readers who actually
sent me comments, and the many fabulous Ranma fanfiction writers out
there!

Rememder to send C&C to:   oddball22@hotmail.com

And find my other stuff at my site:   www.geocities.com/kaiphantom