Halftime
By Aaron Ziegler
alziegle@norcia.cs.csbsju.edu
http://bingen.cs.csbsju.edu/~alziegle

Chapter 16: Passing Time

   Gradually, light returned to Ranma's world. She could feel
concrete beneath her, and her nose registered a sort of damp,
sour smell. An alley smell. Opening her eyes, she could see
featureless buildings towering on either side of her, as well as
an old wooden fence behind her. A moment's recollection reminded
her why she was lying on her back in one of Nerima's many
alleyways. She had been blasted there by the same musical attack
that had stripped her of consciousness.
   Groaning, she began to sit up. She found her efforts hindered
by some sort of weight atop her. It was Akane. Ranma panicked
momentarily, fearing that Akane might be seriously hurt.
Fortunately, a quick scan revealed that Akane was uninjured,
aside from a few cuts and bruises. She was sleeping peacefully.
   Ranma gazed at her tenderly for a moment. Akane looked so
innocent while sleeping. Ranma loved to see her this way. Oh,
even when she was violent, angry, and tomboyish, she had her
appeal (though Ranma would never admit that, even to herself).
But Akane smiling, Akane thoughtful, Akane peaceful; these were
the moments Ranma had come to live for. The moment passed, and
Ranma decided to wake her. "Akane!" she prompted softly, gently
shaking her.
   Almost immediately, Akane's eyes popped open. "Wha- Ranko!
What happened? Where are we?"
   Wincing slightly at the name "Ranko", Ranma responded, "We're
in an alley somewhere. That stupid band hit us with some powerful
technique or something. The others must've landed somewhere
else."
   Akane stood and helped Ranma to her feet. "We should find
them. We can't just let those bullies have our home!"
   Ranma nodded. Then her face fell. "But they could be
anywhere," she responded.
   "They'll probably try to find their way to someplace where
we'd be likely to meet them," decided Akane. "Probably not the
dojo. Chances are they either went to Ucchan's or the Neko
Hanten. Let's try to figure out where we are, and then go
wherever's closer."
   Emerging from the alleyway, the two of them discovered that
they had only been thrown a short distance. The street they were
on was familiar. It was the route that the two of them had often
taken to get to school.
   They each walked in silence, contemplating the battle they had
just lost. Individually, at least some of the band members were
top-notch fighters. Ranma was certain that she could defeat any
of them one-on-one, but was uncertain whether she could do it
fast enough to avoid getting cut down by the others using that
'Dischord' attack. More importantly, she needed some way to
counter that attack. There had to be something-
   Splash. Abruptly Ranma found herself soaked by cold water.
Slowly she turned. There, predictably stood a withered old lady,
obliviously ladling water from a bucket. A thought struck Ranma,
and the absurdity of it hit her like a fist. Ranma began to
laugh, and found that she couldn't stop.
   Akane's head jerked around at the haunting, ghastly sound of
Ranko's laughter. Ranko was standing in a puddle of water,
sopping wet and pointing at the little old woman Akane remembered
seeing often on their trips to school. "Ranko?-" she tentatively
began.
   "HA! It didn't work, you see!" Ranko babbled at the elderly
lady between saw-edged bouts of hilarity. "You couldn't change
me,  cause I'm not a man anymore!" The old woman was apparently
ignoring her.
   "I'm not a man anymore!" Ranko choked out again. Akane noted
with some concern that it was becoming difficult to tell whether
Ranko was laughing or sobbing. Akane set her jaw determinedly.
That settles it. Ranko's not getting any better. I'd better take
Dr. Tofu's advice and hit her. It's for her own good. Akane
grasped her mallet firmly, and prepared to swing it.
   Suddenly, Akane found that Ranko had grabbed her and forced
her against the wall of a home. "R-ranko?-" Akane began again,
mallet slipping from loosened fingers.
   "Please, Akane," Ranko was saying, eyes boring into Akane's
with feverish intensity. "Please don't marry Kunou, or Ryoga, or
Gosunguki, or anyone else. I'll find some way to fix this! I just
need time!"
   "Wha-? Marry who? Ranko, I-"
   "Please Akane! I don't want to lose you! You're my fiancee-"
abruptly, Ranko's eyes widened in horror at what she had just
said. Akane's had as well.
   "Fiancee? Ranko I'm not-"
   "NO!" Ranko shouted, almost hysterically. "Don't say it! Don't
say anything! I love you! I can't bear to be without you."
Akane's incredulous stare served to force Ranko to realize what
she had just said. With a desperate moan, Ranko released Akane
and began to run away from her.
   Akane shook herself out of the horrified stupor Ranko's
announcements had instilled in her. "Ranko, wait!" she shouted,
beginning to pursue. Her efforts were in vain, however. Leaping
from fence to rooftop, Ranko was soon out of sight.
   Slowly, Akane halted, her mind spinning. Ranko...was in love
with her? But that would mean Ranko was...was... And yet,
somehow, in some bizarre way, some part of Akane almost welcomed
the sentiment. Something deep within her remembered waiting,
hoping for the day that Ranma would finally admit-
   Who is Ranma? a voice whispered compellingly. There is no
Ranma, only Ranko. Akane shook her head. No, that wasn't right.
Ranma was-
   There is no Ranma, only Ranko, the voice insisted. Akane
grasped at her memories. She was certain she had been about to
remember something important. Where had she heard that name
before? She didn't know any Ranma. Only Ranko. And Ranko needed
help. Even if she was a...a... Even if she did l-love... She
still needed help. She was obviously not in a state of perfect
mental health.
   In another part of town, Ranma was leaning against an alley
wall, sobbing freely. Sobbing like a little girl, she tried to
admonish herself. It didn't work. The tears merely kept flowing.
She had made an utter fool of herself in front of Akane. Akane
must think that I'm some kind of pervert, she thought bitterly,
Or worse.
   As if summoned by Ranma's train of thought, Ranma felt an
uncomfortable and regrettably familiar pressure clamp down on her
chest. With a twisting feeling in her gut, Ranma's anguish was
entirely converted into fury. Ranma gazed downwards to where
Happosai was nestled cozily within her ample bosom. The tiny,
withered old master martial artist turned large, lust-filled eyes
up to meet Ranma's gaze. "So, Ranko my girl, still wearing men's
underwear, eh? Don't you think that a pretty young woman like
yourself would look better in these?" Pulling a hand free,
Happosai shoved a bundle of panties, brassieres, and scandalous
lingerie into Ranma's face.
   It would be best to take a moment to describe the phenomena
known among powerful fighters as a "battle aura". A battle aura
is the visible manifestation of one's fighting spirit. While
anyone angry at anything or anyone produces a battle aura of some
kind, few have enough fighting spirit for the aura to be visible
to the unaided eye. With enough training (usually training in the
martial arts) a fighter can hone his or her fighting spirit, but
even then it rarely produces a visible aura. Some of the most
powerful fighters in the world have developed such control over
their fighting spirit that they can use it as a weapon, lashing
out at their opponents with their battle aura. Of this select
group of fighters, Happosai (though also one of the world's
premiere perverts) was one of the more powerful, especially when
angry. He was about to learn, to his chagrin, that Ranma, one of
his best students, was another.
   Miss Ninomiya Hinako, chief disciplinarian at Furinkan High
School, had a unique technique for dealing with delinquents. As a
little girl, she had been weak and sickly, suffering from an
exceptionally poor constitution. One day while she had been lying
in her hospital bed, Happosai appeared at the window and offered
to make her well. She accepted, and over the course of the next
few weeks, Happosai taught her various exercises to alter her
metabolism, as well as a supplementary technique designed to work
with her altered metabolism to draw upon the fighting spirit of
others to make up for her own lack of energy. This technique was
known as the Happo-5-Yen-Satsu, and used the circular hole in the
center of a 5-yen coin as a focus to draw an opponent's fighting
spirit into oneself. (Actually, the use of a 5-yen piece is
optional. Any circular object with a hole would suffice, though
the larger the hole, the more powerful the technique. For
example: A Happo-5-Yen-Satsu is not as powerful as a Happo-50-
Yen-Satsu, which has enough power to suck the fighting spirit
from a target who is not even angry, and neither is as powerful
as a Happo-Donut-Satsu, which in turn pales in comparison to a
Happo-Basketball-Hoop-Satsu.) It had been Happosai's hope to use
young Ninomiya to suck the energy from anyone who tried to
interfere with his frequent attempts to acquire women's underwear
from their owners. For a while, the girl cooperated with
Happosai's demented activities, not really understanding her
tutor's behavior. But after a time, the two of them finally went
their separate ways, and Ninomiya Hinako all but forgot about
Happosai. She moved on into a career in school discipline, where
she used her Happo-5-Yen-Satsu technique to drain delinquents of
their fighting spirit before they had a chance to get out of
hand.
   It wasn't until years after parting from Happosai that Miss
Hinako discovered the odd side affect of her altered metabolism.
Her body stopped growing when she was about eight years old. From
that point on, the only way she could attain a body reflecting
her true age was by using the Happo-5-Yen-Satsu technique to
drain someone's energy. Remaining stuck most of the time in an
eight-year-old body had also had an unusual effect on her mental
state. Despite her present age of twenty-four, Miss Hinako often
behaved in a frivolous, child-like manner--especially while in
child form, though occasionally also as an adult. On the other
hand, she often displayed unusual wisdom and maturity, both
appropriate to her adult form, but seeming odd coming from an
eight-year-old. At that very moment, Miss Hinako was in child-
form, dressed in her usual yellow, tube-like garment--clothing
which was obviously oversized for her, but would fit with almost
embarrassing snugness to her curvaceous adult form. (Nearly all
of Miss Hinako's wardrobe consisted of clothing that would look
decent on a little girl of eight as well as on a stunning beauty
of twenty-four. It was a difficulty the woman had to bear, though
she had to admit that she was often flattered by the looks she
drew in adult form.) Miss Hinako was skipping down an uncrowded
street, taking an occasional lick from a double-dipped triple
fudge ice-cream cone (with sprinkles), and humming the ditty the
ice-cream truck had been playing, when a tiny old man suddenly
zipped through the air in front of her to be embedded headfirst
into a telephone pole.
   The very battered-looking ancient popped free of the pole and
glanced around with feverish, terrified eyes. When his eyes fell
on a wide-eyed (and no longer humming) Miss Hinako, he sighed
with desperate relief. Raising a shaking arm, he pointed to the
alleyway behind him and croaked out a single word: "Delinquent!"
   Miss Hinako's eyes narrowed. She was always equipped to deal
with delinquents. Squaring her shoulders, Miss Hinako took a 5-
yen piece in hand (the hand unoccupied by ice-cream) and stepped
forward to look into the alley herself. What she saw caused her a
moment of such panic that the top scoop of her ice-cream fell to
the ground with a soft 'plop'. The delinquent was one with which
she was well familiar: Ranko Saotome, the only student ever to
overcome her techniques. But this time, Ranko's battle aura was
brighter than any Miss Hinako had ever seen; a blue glow
surrounding her body, almost bright enough to obscure Ranko's
features. Willing her body to stop shaking (and failing) Miss
Hinako held her 5-yen piece between the middle and index fingers
of her left hand, and pointed it at Ranko. When Ranko saw this,
the brightness of her battle aura doubled. Miss Hinako lost her
grip on her remaining ice-cream and let out a tiny, terrified
squeak.
   Ranko lashed out and slapped the 5-yen coin from Miss Hinako's
hand. The coin whizzed through the air until it embedded itself
in the wall of a building with a sharp 'clink'. Cringing beneath
Ranko's smouldering gaze, Miss Hinako began to wonder where she
might be able to find a hula hoop on very short notice.
   Miss Hinako didn't resist as Ranko brushed her aside. She
watched, not daring to move, as Ranko picked up the little old
man by the front of his shirt. "DIE, YOU LETCH!!!" Ranko screamed
at the dangling fellow, pulling back a fist.
   Suddenly, Miss Hinako found her courage. She wasn't about to
let this delinquent harm an innocent old man, no matter how scary
she was. Trying to ignore the butterflies in her stomach, Miss
Hinako fiercely kicked Ranko's shin, yelling, "Leave him alone,
you big meany!"
   The effect was astounding. Ranko yelped in pain and dropped
the battered little man. Her battle aura flickered and grew dim,
probably because she had been distracted from the original source
of her anger. Miss Hinako didn't wait around to find out. She
grabbed Ranko's poor victim and began to run for her life.
   Buildings and people streamed past as she ran. "Drop that
lecher, you little twerp!" Ranko was yelling behind her, "He's
mine!" Ranko was gaining, Miss Hinako could tell. She needed
longer legs, and she needed them now.
   Tucking the old man under one arm, she began fishing around in
her pockets with her free hand. She came out with a handful of
objects, but to her dismay found that she didn't have anything
circular. No change?  she thought desperately. I always have
change! Drat! What now? Then she noticed that one of the objects
she had pulled out was a stick of chewing gum. Hastily, she
popped it in her mouth and chewed for a few seconds. She pulled
out the sticky mass and moulded it into a ring shape. Ranko's too
good at dodging, Miss Hinako thought, I'd better zap one of these
pedestrians. I'll apologize later. Miss Hinako pointed the
makeshift ring at a random bystander and shouted, "Happo-Chewing-
Gum-Satsu!" The innocent man was bathed in a pale green light,
and nearly all of his energy was siphoned into Miss Hinako,
leaving him drained and withered. Miss Hinako suddenly recognized
Kunou Tatewaki, and felt a little better about draining him. A
delinquent if ever I knew one, she thought with grim
satisfaction. She popped the gum back into her mouth and kept
running.
   It is worth noting at this point, that had all gone as it
should, Miss Hinako would have easily left Ranko behind. Ranko
was still limping, and the adult Miss Hinako's long legs kept up
a respectable stride. The adult Miss Hinako, mind. Basically, if
Happosai had managed to muster any sort of restraint to speak of,
he might have escaped unscathed. Unfortunately (or fortunately,
depending on one's point of view), restraint is a characteristic
entirely foreign to Happosai. So, when the ancient pervert found
himself in the arms of a suddenly shapely Miss Hinako, the
results were, to say the least, predictable.
   "What, no brassiere here, either?" Miss Hinako screeched to a
halt. Happosai had squirmed around in her grip until he could
gaze down the disciplinarian's shirt. "What a waste of two fine
female forms! You and Ranko should be ashamed!"
   Miss Hinako grabbed Happosai and held her out at arm's length,
gazing at him with wide-eyed indignation. Ranko had caught up at
this point and was gazing at Miss Hinako with grim satisfaction.
"You pervert," the teacher whispered with barely contained fury.
   Happosai looked back at her with poorly feigned innocence.
"Oh, what a cruel world! Will no one spare a moment of indulgence
for a feeble old man on his last legs?" Happosai groped out
hungrily towards Miss Hinako's bosom with a withered arm.
   Miss Hinako glanced at Ranko and suggested, "Together?" Ranko
nodded once.
   The disciplinarian tossed Happosai into the air and quickly
formed a rough circle from her thumbs and index fingers. Glaring
through this opening, she shouted, "Happo-No-Yen-Coin-Return!"
Green energy poured forth from her hands.
   At the same time, Ranma was exercising a technique of her own.
With the words, "Mouku-Takabisha!", Ranma unleashed a torrent of
blue spiritual energy fueled by her self-confidence (which was a
considerable source, considering that her opponent was already
mostly beaten, and she had Miss Hinako's assistance besides).
Ranma had learned the 'Mouku-Takabisha' technique to counter a
technique that Ryoga had learned, known as the 'Shi-Shi-
Houkudan'. While Ranma's technique was powered by self-
confidence, Ryoga's was powered by depression. (This had the
potential of creating some rather interesting battles. Whenever
Ranma would start winning, thereby gaining self-confidence, Ryoga
would become more depressed, and both techniques would become
more powerful. Whenever Ryoga gained the upper hand, Ranma would
lose self-confidence and Ryoga would become less depressed, thus
weakening both techniques. However, it is worth noting that, of
the two techniques, Ryoga's probably has the greater potential.
When Ryoga reaches the utter depths of depression, he has the
ability to execute a 'Full Shi-Shi-Houkudan', a technique of vast
destructive potential.)
   Both beams of energy struck Happosai an instant before he
would have landed on the concrete. The old man was blasted away
like a gnat in a tornado, leaving tidy, Happosai-shaped holes in
each wall and telephone pole that intercepted him. Soon, he was
out of sight.
   The 'Happo-No-Yen-Coin-Return' technique was a way for Miss
Hinako to expel the spiritual energy she had drained in the form
of a beam of destructive energy. Of course, the loss of that
energy also had the effect of reducing Miss Hinako back to child
form. "That was a bad, bad, man," Miss Hinako muttered sternly,
glaring in the direction Happosai had been flying. She turned to
Ranko. "I'm sorry I tried to stop you, Ranko. I didn't know that
little old man was such a delinquent. I should have asked before
interfering." Miss Hinako shook her head silently. Then she
opened her eyes wide, and gave Ranko a cute grin. "Buy me an ice
cream?"
   Ranko chuckled, for the moment forgetting her problems. "Sure,
teach. Just a sec, okay?"
   Ranko sauntered over to where Kunou was lying crumpled and
drained on the ground. She put on the cutest expression she could
manage and said, "Oh, Kunou honey? You don't mind if I borrow a
few yen, do ya? Pretty please?" She batted her eyelashes.
   Kunou groaned, "All my wealth...is yours for the taking...my
pig-tailed one...ugh." With that, Kunou lost consciousness. Ranko
wasted no time in emptying Kunou's wallet.
   "C'mon, kiddo, let's find us an ice-cream truck."
   "I'm not a kid! I'm your elder, you know. Can I get
sprinkles?"
   "Sure."
   Meanwhile, at the Tendo's former home, the Director was
staring with frustration at the Shogi game that had been in
progress before he had evicted the occupants. Try as he might, he
couldn't seem to figure out how anyone could get into the jam one
of the two players was in. "He must have been trying to lose," he
muttered irritably.
   The Director was distracted from his ill-tempered musings by
the entrance of one of his minions. "First Bassoon Slakinov
reporting, sir!" Slakinov saluted briskly.
   "Report," commanded the Director.
   "The compound is secure, sir. Non-electronic surveillance
posts have been established at regular intervals. No one will get
in undetected."
   "And the prisoner?"
   "Under constant sonic confinement sir. Damage from the initial
break-out attempt has nearly been repaired."
   The Director nodded. "Very well. Dismissed."
   The combat bassoonist hesitated a moment. "Permission to speak
freely sir?"
   With a raised eyebrow, the Director responded, "Granted. But
make it brief."
   "Nerima has little strategic value, even if it is close to
Tokyo. Why are we here?"
   The Director grimaced. Too many had been questioning his plans
lately. "Following orders, First Bassoon Slakinov. That is all
that I am at liberty to say, at the moment."
   "But, sir-"
   "That's enough, First Bassoon. Dismissed." Slakinov saluted
again, and turned to leave. "Oh, one final thing," the Director
growled. "It seems that our discipline has become entirely too
lax. I was very disappointed in our confrontation with the enemy
yesterday. I wanted to subdue them, not scatter them all over
town! As it stands, we only took one prisoner. I want you to
organize a series of intensive harmonic drills for the entire
band. In sections, of course. I want at least six band members
sustaining the sonic prison at all times." Slakinov saluted again
and walked out.
   The Director contemplated the Shogi board again. "Following
orders," he had said. Not entirely a lie. He had, technically,
been ordered to challenge the Anything Goes Martial Arts Dojo,
and to subdue and capture the occupants. However, they had been
orders that he had requested. Requested...no, begged for was more
like it. A chance to finally prove the worth of the Kielowitz
International Martial Arts Marching Band.
   Since the day of its inception, the Director's superiors had
mocked his marching band. They called it silly. Silly! He had
never been taken seriously, and his marching band had never been
assigned any real missions. Then came the day that Ryoga Hibiki
made a mockery of the Kielowitz military. Finally, his superiors
had come to see the potential of a well-trained martial artist--
and realized that they had no less than fifty under their direct
command! Finally, they granted his request to hunt down and
subdue the most dangerous martial artists on the planet, a
mission which had led him here. Nerima. A town he had studied for
months. The concentration of high-powered martial artists here
was astounding, to say the least. There had been powerful
fighters yesterday that he had never heard of, not to mention the
unexpected bonus of Ryoga Hibiki himself! The Director had taken
great satisfaction in mentioning Hibiki's defeat in that
morning's report.
   The Director turned from the Shogi board and walked upstairs.
He wanted to verify for himself that the prisoner was secure. She
was being kept in the room formerly occupied by Soun's daughter,
Nabiki. At the moment, the girl was asleep on Nabiki's bed. Six
musicians were sitting around her, but only four were playing at
the moment. That was as it should be. Only four were required to
keep up the harmonic rhythms that formed a box of sound far
harder than steel. The other two would rest until their turn came
again. The Director chuckled. It was odd that such a confinement
was necessary. Who would have guessed that the girl was strong
enough to break through concrete with her bare hands?
   The Director studied the tall, blue-haired girl again. She was
one of the unidentified fighters, and (aside from her strength)
was totally unremarkable as a martial artist. With training,
perhaps, she would have become extremely formidable. What had she
said her name was? Oh, yes. Robo. Under the Director's
preliminary interrogation, that, and her serial number (though
the Director was uncertain what military assigned serial numbers
like R66-Y), were all the information she had been willing to
give. The Director needed to know more, but was still waiting for
authorization to use torture in his interrogations. All in due
time. Robo's serine calm gave credence to her name, but she would
crack. No one could withstand a sonic interrogation.
   The Director was just about to compliment his minions on their
flawless playing, when an object of some kind smashed through the
window and smacked into the wall. The four musicians didn't skip
a beat. An excellent performance under pressure, the Director
noted, Commendations for them all. But first, what have we here?
   There seemed to be a two-foot tall man stuck in the wall. The
Director yanked him free, and nearly dropped him. It was
Happosai, one of the most powerful of the powerful martial
artists, and the teacher of many of them, including Soun, Genma,
and Ranko herself! He needed to be contained, and quickly.
   Haste makes waste, the Director admonished himself. Besides,
Happosai looked to have had the tar beaten out of him. He was no
threat--well, not much of a threat, anyway--until he recovered.
The Director would need to establish a cell of at least ten
members, with six playing at all times, to contain Happosai.
That, along with Robo's cell, was going to put a real drain on
manpower.
   Suddenly, an idea flashed into the Director's head. An evil
grin settled upon his stony face for the briefest of moments.
Perhaps he would not need so much manpower after all. His
superiors had not yet authorized torture, but there was no
injunction against grouping prisoners more efficiently...
   "Attention, Robo!" the Director called.
   The prisoner stirred in her sleep, slowly waking. She blinked
groggily at the Director and asked, "What do you want?"
   "I'd like you to meet your new cellmate. He's called Happosai.
You can introduce yourself when he comes to. I'm sure that you'll
be the best of friends." With that, the Director tossed the
diminutive martial artist into the sonic cage (the harmonics
allowed nothing but air out, but anything could be tossed in).
   As Robo eyed her new companion warily, the Director instructed
the two idle musicians to find four others to bolster the cage
with. As soon as all ten were in place, the Director turned to
leave. As he did so, he heard the sound of Happosai slowly
regaining consciousness behind him. The evil grin returned and
stayed permanently fixed to the Director's face this time. He
closed the door just as a piercing shriek filled the air,
accompanied by Happosai's voice muttering, "Another braless
beauty? Oh, what is the world coming to?" Yes, Robo would be
ready to talk soon. It was only a matter of time.
   As the Director walked downstairs, he noticed an odd new
addition to the Tendo living room. A glowing blue sphere had
appeared in the center of the room, hovering about chest height
above the ground. As the Director watched, the sphere seemed to
open up into a circular hole in the air with a diameter of nearly
two meters. The hole was suffused with a shifting pattern of
blues and whites. Abruptly, a comely, sharp-nosed woman with long
blonde hair leapt out of the hole and landed on the floor on all
fours. She was wearing a simple, brown, homespun dress, as well
as a long, grey, fur scarf. She was also wearing boots and
wristbands of the same grey fur as her scarf. The woman rose to
her feet with catlike fluidity as the hole behind her collapsed
once again into the blue sphere it had been. Standing, her grey
scarf just barely brushed the ground behind her. She gazed at the
Director with hawklike intensity and asked, "Who you? Where
Crono?" She was speaking in Chinese, but barely--it was an almost
unrecognizable dialect. Fortunately, she was using very simple
words and phrases, so the Director (fluent in Chinese) was able
to follow.
   "I'm afraid that I don't know any 'Crono', my dear," he
answered in standard Chinese. He could tell that the woman was
having trouble following along, so in Japanese, he asked, "Do you
speak Japanese?"
   The woman's eyes widened almost gratefully, and she answered
in Japanese, "You not speak strange here. Is good. Me Ayla. Who
you? Where Crono?"
   "You may call me the Director. As I said, I don't know of any
Crono, but I'd be glad-"
   The woman's eyes narrowed. "Gate take Ayla to Crono. What
Director do with Crono?" Ayla began sniffing the air.
   "Calm down, my dear. As I was saying-"
   Ayla crowed triumphantly. "Yes, Crono here, less than one sun
past. He gone now. Ayla follow." Ayla began to walk towards the
door.
   The Director was through with being polite. "Intruder on the
premises!" He yelled. "Apprehend her!"
   The door Ayla was approaching slammed open to reveal several
band members. The woman hissed menacingly, suddenly realizing
that she was being hunted. She dropped to the floor again, and
leapt toward a window, crashing through and landing on the ground
beyond. The Director moved to look out the shattered window just
in time to see Ayla viciously rake the face of a second-chair
saxophonist with her clawlike fingernails. She managed to evade
all her other pursuers, scrambling away on all fours like a
predatory cat. The tail-like grey scarf trailing behind her
complemented the illusion.
   The Director realized that no one was going to be able to
catch up with her, and to try would draw undue attention to their
activities at the Tendo home. "Do not pursue!" He commanded.
"Someone get that saxophonist some first aid."
   The Director settled wearily into a chair. Today was just full
of surprises. He glanced once more at the Shogi board and came to
an abrupt realization. The only way anyone could be losing that
badly is if their opponent was cheating. The Director smirked.
No, Soun Tendo, he thought. You won't win that way. After all, in
war, there is no cheating. The Director flipped his baton at the
Shogi board, sweeping all of the pieces to the floor. I win, the
Director chuckled.
   Shampoo sat on her haunches on a street corner, unconsciously
grooming herself. Shampoo hated acting like a cat when a cat, and
would have been appalled to realize that she was licking herself
clean. However, her thoughts were on other matters. There was
some serious magic in action. Not her own unnatural physical
transformation--there were many simpler explanations for that--
but the strange mental transformation that had overcome so many.
She had met many who knew of her curse, and none had treated her
as anything but a cat. What could have happened?
   The more philosophical part of Shampoo's psyche had
entertained the possibility that she had, in fact, always been a
cat, and had only been dreaming of being human. Shampoo refused
to even consider that possibility. No, someone had cast a
powerful spell, but who? Who would want to see Shampoo reduced in
this way? The only possibilities Shampoo could think of were her
rivals, Akane, Ukyou, and Kodachi, but none of them knew magic of
this magnitude. Come to think of it, Shampoo knew of only two who
did: Great-Grandmother, who seemed as affected as anyone else,
and Happosai, but that perverted old lecher would much rather
freeze Shampoo in human form. Preferably without any clothes.
Shampoo shuddered a moment at the thought.
   "Shampoo?" Shampoo was startled by the voice. Looking up, she
saw the less-than-welcome face of Ukyou peering down at her. Had
her furry face been capable of such a maneuver, Shampoo would
have scowled. She was in no mood to be petted, especially not by
a rival for Ranma's affections. "What are you doing outside my
restaurant?" Ukyou frowned. "Waiting to spy on Ranchan?"
   Shampoo was startled. Why would Ukyou accuse an ordinary cat
of spying? "Mew?" she inquired, before remembering that she
couldn't speak.
   Ukyou sighed. "You know I can't understand you. Well, come in
then. I'll get you some warm water, and you can explain
yourself."
   Shampoo nearly leapt with joy. Finally, someone who knew who
she was! Shampoo scampered after Ukyou.
   Inside the restaurant, Ukyou ushered Shampoo to a back room,
and soon returned with a change of clothes and a pot of hot
water. "You can use one of my spare outfits until we get you back
to your restaurant. It wouldn't be very nice to make you run home
naked." A momentary grin informed Shampoo that Ukyou might have
liked to see that, whatever she said.
   Shampoo mewed sadly. She knew that she wasn't going to need an
outfit anytime soon. She was a bit unnerved by Ukyou's
generosity. Shampoo would have preferred to humiliate her enemy,
had their roles been reversed.
   Ukyou poured the water. Shampoo would have rather have avoided
getting wet again, but she could think of no way to tell Ukyou of
her problem without a demonstration. The warm water (not too hot,
this time), trickled between her ears and down her back, soaking
her white and pink fur once again. When Ukyou was finished,
Shampoo shook involuntarily and mewed sadly once more.
   Ukyou dropped the kettle in shock. "You are Shampoo, aren't
you?" Shampoo nodded her head. "What happened to you?" Shampoo
mewed again, and then growled at herself in irritation. She kept
forgetting that she couldn't talk. "Of course you can't tell me.
Does Cologne know?" Shampoo nodded. "And she won't do anything?
Why not?" Shampoo tried to grimace. As a demonstration, she
rubbed against Ukyou's leg and purred, hating every second of it.
Ukyou looked at her in confusion. "You acted like a cat? Or she
treated you like a cat?" Shampoo nodded vigorously at the second
guess. "That's weird. Is she punishing you, or something?"
Shampoo shrugged, another gesture she could manage. "What about
Mousse? Couldn't he help you?" Shampoo purred again, and
shrugged. "Mousse treated you like a cat, too? Now that's hard to
believe. Are they under some kind of spell?" Shampoo nodded.
Ukyou was quick to catch on, there was no doubt about that.
   "Ucchan!" Ranma's feminine voice suddenly called from the
lobby of Ukyou's restaurant.
   "Ranchan!" Ukyou gasped delightedly. Shampoo's face also lit
up. Then she slumped and mewed pitifully. Ukyou looked at her
with some pity, and said, "You're right, Shampoo. You'd best stay
here. We don't want to scare Ranma away before she has a chance
to help you out."
   Besides, Ukyou thought devilishly, this way, I'll have Ranma
all to myself. For a little while, anyway. Sounds like she'll
need some hot water, too.
   Ukyou stepped out of the back room and was slightly
disappointed to see that Ranma was not alone. For some reason,
Miss Hinako was with him, and they were both eating ice cream.
"Hey, Ucchan!" Ranma smiled. "Say, has any of our friends come by
lately? I was thinking they might have gathered here."
   Ukyou hesitated. She didn't want to reveal Shampoo's problem
just yet. If Ranma found out that there was a cat even in the
same building as her, she might leave. "Sorry, Ranchan, I haven't
seen anyone. You look like you could use some hot water."
   "Oh, that's too bad," Ranma said distractedly. "Don't bother
on the water. I'm stuck-" Abruptly, her eyes widened. "You
remember?" Ranma leapt over the counter to where Ukyou was
standing, and grabbed her by the shoulders. "You remember?"
   "Er, remember what, sugar?" Ukyou asked uncomfortably.
   "That my name is Ranma! That I'm really a guy, and not a girl!
Please tell me that you remember!"
   "Well, yes, of course. Why would I-"
   Abruptly Ranma threw her arms around Ukyou in a bear hug. "Oh,
thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou! You don't know what it's been
like! Everyone's gone nuts except you!"
   Ukyou was rather enjoying Ranma's embrace (though she would
have preferred her fiancee to have been in male form), but she
wanted the whole story. She gently disengaged herself from her
misgendered fiancee. "C'mon now, Ranchan. Tell me what this is
all about."


<Continued from Chapter 16a>

   Ranma hesitated, and then said, "Let me show you. Miss
Hinako!"
   The diminutive disciplinarian looked up. She had been totally
absorbed in her ice cream, and had been paying no attention. Miss
Hinako quickly licked away the triple fudge chocolate moustache
(with sprinkles) she had cultivated and answered, "Yes, Ranko?"
   Ranko? thought Ukyou in bemusement. Ranma continued, "Would
you do me a favor, and tell Ucchan who I am?"
   Miss Hinako looked at Ranma dubiously. "It looks like she
already knows you pretty well." Ranma insisted. "Well, all right.
You did buy me ice cream. You're Ranko Saotome, my toughest
disciplinary case."
   "And what gender am I?"
   Miss Hinako giggled for a moment. "Don't be silly, Ranko.
You're a girl. Anyone can see."
   Ukyou spoke up. "What if I were to tell you that Ranko is not
her real name? That her name is Ranma, and he's actually a boy,
cursed by a magic spring to turn into a girl whenever splashed
with cold water, and back to a boy with hot water?"
   Miss Hinako considered that for a moment. Now, where have I
heard the name 'Ranma', she pondered. No sooner had the thought
crossed her mind, a compelling second voice echoed through her
brain, There is no Ranma, only Ranko. Of course, agreed Miss
Hinako uncertainly. "I'd say that you were fibbing, and a
delinquent besides," Miss Hinako answered Ukyou, a dangerous
glint appearing in her eye. Then she giggled again. "Besides,
that's the stupidest story I've ever heard. Ranko's always been a
girl." Then her eyes widened. "Of course if it were true, I'd
love to see you change..."
   "I'm kinda, er, stuck right now," Ranma responded, a little
embarrassed.
   "Thought so!" Miss Hinako chuckled.
   "You see, Ucchan, everyone's just like Miss Hinako, except for
you and me. And I'm stuck as a girl besides."
   "You, me, and Shampoo," Ukyou corrected.
   "Huh?"
   "You see, Ranchan," Ukyou began hesitantly. "Shampoo...well,
Shampoo has the same problem you do."
   Ranma looked confused. "What do you mean-" suddenly Ranma
blanched. "You mean, she's stuck as a c-c-c-c... a ca-ca-ca-" At
Ukyou's nod, Ranma shuddered.
   Miss Hinako smiled brightly. "Shampoo? You mean that cute
little kitty at the Neko Hanten? So what does she turn into,
then. A giraffe?" She giggled uncontrollably for a second, and
then looked thoughtful. "If you two really believe all this,
maybe you should see a doctor."
   "I've already been to see Dr. Tofu, thanks," Ranma muttered.
   The teacher persisted. "Really. You said yourself that no one
in town believes your little fairy tale. Isn't it more likely
that you two are...er, crazy, instead of the whole town?"
   Ukyou pondered that a moment. "Maybe I can convince you. I'll
show you that Shampoo's not just a dumb cat."
   Ranma's eyes became as wide as saucers. "SHE'S HERE?!?"
   Ukyou sighed. "Pull yourself together, Ranchan. I won't let
her anywhere near you. You don't even have to see her. She's in
the back room-" no sooner had the words left her lips, Ranma had
wedged herself into a corner at the front of the restaurant,
trying to look in every direction at once with a hunted look in
her eyes. "Er, just stay there, Ranchan. We'll be right back.
Miss Hinako?"
   "This is silly." Miss Hinako muttered, but followed Ukyou
anyway. When she spied Shampoo on the floor in the back room, she
said, "Yep, that's Shampoo. You didn't kidnap her, did you?"
   Ignoring her for the moment, Ukyou addressed the transformed
cat. "Shampoo, you remember Miss Hinako, don't you?" Shampoo
nodded, and meowed. She cut the meow short, and seemed to regard
herself crossly. "She thinks you've always been a cat. But you're
not a cat, are you?" Shampoo shook her head vigorously. "You're a
Chinese girl who's been transformed." Shampoo nodded.
   Miss Hinako scoffed. "You practiced this, didn't you. I'm
impressed. It's not easy to train a cat."
   "You tell her to do something, then," Ukyou challenged.
   "Change into a Chinese girl," the teacher suggested
impatiently.
   "Something you think she's capable of doing," sighed Ukyou.
   "Fine. Sit down and clap your paws."
   Shampoo looked at Ukyou and meowed indignantly. Miss Hinako
began to smirk. "Just do it, Shampoo," Ukyou sighed. "We need to
convince her."
   Miss Hinako's smirk faded as Shampoo reluctantly plopped down
on her haunches and tapped her front paws together. Miss Hinako
frowned, and said, "Stand on your head." Shampoo looked at her
reproachfully, "Even if you can't, try."
   After another angry stare, Shampoo futilely attempted to push
her body into the air. She could never quite get her proper
balance, though, and finally collapsed with a squeak.
   Miss Hinako stared at the spectacle in disbelief. Could it be
that Ukyou's absurd story was true. Might Shampoo actually be-
   Shampoo is nothing but a cat, asserted a vaguely familiar
voice in her mind. But those tricks, no one could have trained a
mere cat-
   Shampoo is nothing but a cat. Miss Hinako was furious. "Don't
try to trick me! Shampoo is just a cat, you...you...delinquent!"
Miss Hinako jammed her hand into her pocket, searching for some
change. After a moment, her anger faded, to be replaced by
embarrassment. "Do you, er, have change for a 1000 Yen bill?" she
asked sheepishly, holding out a crumpled piece of currency.
Shampoo and Ukyou both collapsed in disbelief.
   A moment later, Ukyou and Miss Hinako returned to stand before
Ranma (after stopping a moment at the cash register to get the
disciplinarian her change, on the condition that she not use it
on Ukyou). "Sorry, Ranchan," Ukyou told him. "It must be some
kind of spell. Even proof wouldn't change her mind."
   Miss Hinako harumphed. "I didn't see any proof. Just parlor
tricks."
   Ranma merely stared at them both in blank terror.
   "Oh, come on outside, Ranchan. I'll explain once you stop
gibbering."
   Ranma was only too glad to comply. Once she was safely
outside, and far, far away from Shampoo, Ukyou explained again,
to Miss Hinako's irritation. "I still think you're both crazy,"
she complained. "But I promised Ranko I'd help her deal with all
the delinquents that stole Mr. Tendo's house, and I will."
   "Thanks, Miss Hinako. I owe ya big time," said Ranma. "Let's
get to the Neko Hanten. I'm sure the others are there by now."
Even Akane, Ranma thought uneasily.
   On the rooftops above, two figures silently followed Ranma.
One was Shampoo, who was following out of sight at Ukyou's
request. She was as unaware of the second stalker as the trio on
the ground below.
   Magus slipped invisibly from shadow to shadow, carefully
watching the four he followed. Unseen, he grimaced. He had hoped
that Shampoo would not have thought of consulting Ukyou--the two
were rivals, after all. Still, it might not make any difference.
As the dark sorcerer had planned, Ukyou had become Ranma's sole
link to sanity. Ranma would stay close to Ukyou, her one true
friend, and the only one who would believe her 'wild' stories
about her true identity. Better still, he would stay far away
from Ukyou's rivals; Kodachi because she was ill, Shampoo because
she was a cat, and Akane because of their...embarrassing
confrontation a few hours before. Given time, Ranma would come to
love Ukyou, and even if she didn't, she would choose her out of
gratitude for the hardships they had endured together. When Magus
was certain that Ranma would choose Ukyou, then, and only then,
he would invoke the proper counterspells, and all would
'miraculously' return to normal. And if Shampoo did try to cause
trouble, well, Magus would deal with that problem when it arose.
Magus chuckled mirthlessly.
   On the subject of problems, Magus did not care for Miss Hinako
one bit. The woman/girl was an enigma to a man who hated puzzles.
When Magus had first spotted her a few moments before her
altercation with Ranma, he had been shocked to discover that she
didn't have an aura. Upon closer inspection, Magus had found that
what she did have was sort of an anti-aura--an aura which drew
upon regular auras in a manner similar to the way black holes
drew on matter. All Magus's attempts to probe her negative aura
had been cut short, her aura ripping his magical probes into
nothingness and putting no small drain on the sorcerer himself.
Magus would not have been surprised if the woman could absorb any
magical attack in a similar manner, and the idea of one whom his
magic could not touch bothered him--even more so once he learned
that she could extend her anti-aura using that technique of hers.
Fortunately, her odd aura had done nothing to deter the spell
Magus had cast upon the town. That spell had depended more upon
the magical fields of the planet and of the spell components he
had utilized than on his own magical aura.
   After glancing at the foursome again, he came to a decision.
Miss Hinako was not the problem at the moment. It was time for
Magus to rejoin the others. He had been gone long enough. Any
longer might create suspicion. Besides, helping the Tendo's to
regain their home might help improve his image in the eyes of all
concerned. Wrapping his black cloak around himself, Magus soared
through the air on a straight path towards the Neko Hanten.
   So intent was Magus on the four he had been following, that he
had completely failed to detect the aura of another hidden
observer watching him from a convenient alley. Nabiki, as had
Magus, had observed everything that had occurred within the
restaurant. So, thought Nabiki, you are up to something. That's
hardly surprising. But that you'd cast a spell on Ukyou, too--now
that's a surprise. What on Earth would you have to gain by making
both Ranko and Ukyou think that Ranko is a boy? Let alone by
making them think that Shampoo is a human girl! I think it's time
to pay Gosunguki a personal visit.

Afterword:
   Some may wonder about this magical reservoir thing. Is magic
supposed to be the same as chi energy, and fighting spirit in
this story? I'd have to answer no, though they are somewhat
related. Miss Hinako's altered fighting spirit affects both,
however, though in different ways. For instance, if Crono were to
try to hit Miss Hinako with a Lightning blast, the Lightning
would be harmlessly absorbed, and Crono would be sucked dry
through the magical connection between himself and his attack,
without Miss Hinako having to lift a finger to do anything about
it. If Ranma were to attack her with a 'Mouku-Takabisha', on the
other hand, Miss Hinako would be sent flying--unless she were, at
that moment, directing a 'Happo-5-Yen-Satsu' (or a variant) at
Ranma at the same time. Then, I imagine, Ranma's chi-based attack
would be absorbed, perhaps along with Ranma's own fighting
spirit.
   So, how, exactly, are magic and chi related? I don't think
it's particularly important. (Translation: The author is too lazy
to work out a theory himself.) The only real effect is that Miss
Hinako has been rendered utterly immune to personal magical
attacks, an enviable state.

Chrono Trigger Tip #16:
   I miss Crono! How can I get him back? Lavos pulverized him!
   So you want to try to save Crono, regardless of the fact that
changing the past can have dark, disastrous consequences?
   Uh huh.
   Well, if you're gonna go mucking about in time, the best
person to talk to on the subject is Gaspar, the Guru of Time.
   Isn't he, er, dead, or something?
   Maybe. Maybe not. Regardless, he's that guy standing under the
lamppost at the End of Time.
   But didn't Magus have him banished-
   Look, I told you it'd give you headaches to try to think about
it. Yes, Gaspar was sent to the End of Time when Lavos teleported
him, the other two Gurus, and Janus into the future. Yes, Gaspar,
Janus, and the two Gurus never encountered Lavos, because Magus
(posing as a 'Prophet') banished all the Gurus from the palace.
Yes, these two histories conflict. And yes, Gaspar is,
nevertheless, waiting for you at the End of Time, where he's been
since you first met him after Robo joined your group.
   I think I'm going to be ill.
   Whatever. The point is, Gaspar has a pretty good working
knowledge of time, and he can help you out.
   How?
   After you talk to him, he'll give you a small, egg-shaped
device called a 'Chrono Trigger'. Take it to the top of the
mountain near to Belthasar's laboratory in 2300 A.D. Make sure
you have a Clone of Crono in your possession. You can find it at
Crono's house if you won it at the Millennial Fair. If you never
won one, go to the House of Horrors, and bargain with the owner.
He'll give you a second chance.
   I can't get up the mountain. It's too windy.
   Talk to Belthasar.
   But didn't Magus have him banished-
   Shut up.
   Right.
   Anyway, Belthasar definitely is dead. Fortunately, as you
discovered when he gave you the Epoch, his memories are still
alive, well, and a good deal more sane in the body of his
assistant Nu-droid. That Nu-droid'll create a number of helpful
Poyozo-units which will help you climb the mountain. Three of
them will transform into trees, which serve as wind blocks while
you're climbing. Just hide behind a tree when the wind begins to
pick up, and you'll be fine.
   Ouch. These Lavos Spawn keep killing me.
   Make sure that none of your attacks damage the spiny Lavos
Spawn shells. Those shells retaliate viciously. If you still die,
you may simply not have powerful enough characters to handle this
part of the game yet. Go find something else to do.
   I can't seem to get to the very top! I see footholds in the
rock, but they're too high to reach! And how come this Lavos
Spawn left its shell behind?
   Think about it. Slowly.
   Er, I'm supposed to shove the shell against the cliff face by
the ladder, and climb it to reach the ladder?
   Bravo!
   You know, you really are needlessly sarcastic.
   Thank you. Incidently, if you feel like witnessing a touching
moment, make sure that Marle or Lucca is in your party once you
save Crono.
