Somewhere in the darkness:

"It is time," the voice rang out.


Another dimension:
The Empire of the Five Comets:

The Seer remained seated in the stone chair that had been furnished for
her. It was unusual for her to remain in one place for so long, not that
time had any true meaning to her anymore. Unwanted immortality did that to
a  person. Whatever task awaited her next could only be decided upon after
the event took place. Alternate paths dwindled away as what was going to
happen became clearer and clearer. And if the most likely of events were to
occur, the pattern of fate would shift in a direction that would make
things difficult. When the forces involved were as powerful as these, there
were fewer paths that existed, and those handful of alternate paths would
be so insignificant that they would be nearly impossible to take.

Even as The Seer pondered where the paths would eventually go, something
happened. While she observed the entire tapestry that only she could
comprehend, the impossible occurred. There was a gray area in one of the
paths. For the first time in centuries her heart seized up. She was The
Seer. The Right Hand of Fate. There was no path that was obscured to her
vision. She was the only one, other than Fate itself, that could see all of
the possibilities at once, and yet the gray area existed. 

Something was about to happen.


Somewhere in the darkness:

"Come!"


Ranma 1/2 Presents
Shampoo 1/2
Chapter 28

First Contact


C+C always greatly appreciated.
Azatlan has given Shampoo 1/2 a home at: 
http://www.geocities.com/~azatlan/Special-Series/shampoo.html

Bloodblade has also given it a home at:
http://www.geocities.com/tokyo/towers/5920

Or you can contact me at sommer@nb.net

Standard disclaimer:

Ranma 1/2 characters are owned by The Goddess Takahashi and whomever she
sold the rights to. Other creations are owned by their various creators.

An alternate universe:
What's gone on before (or what you really need to enjoy this fic) In the
beginning the Saotomes traveled to Jusenkyou to spar, neither one realizing
Shampoo and Mousse had already begun a duel there. One mid-air collision
and bath in Spring of Young Drowned Man later there is a male Shampoo as
well as a female Ranma. (So Ranma-chan= female Ranma. Shampoo-kun= male
Shampoo. Enjoy) Shampoo elected to travel to Japan with Ranma and ended up
accidently engaged to Kasumi. After that was cleared up Ranma was engaged
to Akane. Over the months many friends and foes were made. Last chapter
Ranma was cured of thinking he was a girl and Shampoo used her memory
erasing Shampoo to eliminate the Jurian sword techniques Kunou had learned
that nearly made him invincible. In the process Ranma forgot about the fact
he figure out Shampoo's love for him and Shampoo's attempted to bludgeon it
back into him failed. Also the Amazons have sent out a hunt pack led my
Perfume to bring Shampoo back to China: Dead or Alive. Now some people are
planning to go out on dates...

<> Indicates Chinese
I am know going with the more 'classic' Xian Pu for the Chinese spelling of
the name.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx


Shampoo paced nervously back and forth across the living room. Something
was wrong. There was a feeling deep down inside her that was getting
stronger by the moment. Since the early afternoon it had made its presence
known. It took a full hour for her to even become aware of its presence,
but once she was cognizant of it there was no chance of pretending it would
go away. She had tried that for hours and had failed miserably. It was only
a matter of time before she found herself desiring to move. All attempts at
remaining motionless were useless. She tried everything: breathing
exercises, meditation, reading. Yet each one of them could not be done for
more than five minutes before she found herself moving once more. 

Eventually it got worse. She could not remain still even for a moment. She
considered that it might be simply an excess of nervous energy and offered
to spar with Ranma. That had turned out to be a mistake. Whatever was
affecting her ability to remain still was also affecting her concentration.
Her fighting was sloppy and she lost quickly. Embarrassingly quickly. After
the pitiful match she took a shower and headed back to the living room. An
attempt to watch television also failed as she rapidly found herself at the
action she was currently engaged in; pacing the floor. It had started
slowly at first, but later it picked up with an ever increasing speed as
night fell. 

The room's two other occupants, Ranma and Kasumi, watched her with a
concerned eye. Ranma inquired several times about her behavior, but Shampoo
simply told him all was perfectly fine. The protests were not reassuring to
either of the concerned pair as they watched Shampoo continue to increase
her speed. As time passed the pair began to wonder if she was going to run
a furrow through the floor. 

Kasumi decided it was time for her to try to get to the bottom of things.
If there was something bothering her friend she wanted to share the burden
of the knowledge. Shampoo's name was on her lips as she placed her hand on
the Amazon's shoulder. There was no time to speak out anymore words as
Shampoo viciously slapped the hand away, tensed up like a wild animal at
the interruption and she drew back her fist. Kasumi's expression of
surprise turned to one of hurt, which in turn caused the fierce look
Shampoo gave to turn to one of anguish itself. The emotional pain became a
physical one as Shampoo suddenly grasped her head and gave off a low moan,
then spun around and ran out of the house at top speed.

Ranma had been struck speechless at the events. The idea that Shampoo would
ever make the motion to lay a hand on Kasumi was almost inconceivable. It
was only after Shampoo ran off at top speed that he managed to shake off
the reverie and hurriedly pursued the Amazon into the night. 

He emerged out of the house and spotted Shampoo running down the street as
fast as she could. His attempts to stop her by calling out her name were
useless as the girl continued dashing through the streets. Having no other
recourse, Ranma took up the chase and tried to close the distance. He ran
as fast as he could and still found it difficult to even come close to
keeping up with the purple-haired girl, but the pace she was setting was
too fast to allow her to run very far. Even with her near inhuman endurance
Ranma knew that Shampoo would not be able to leave Nerima. 

The chase led him into the curiously deserted streets of downtown Nerima.
Ranma barely took notice of the fact that the downtown area was far too
quiet, especially for that time of night. His main concern was for Shampoo.
She was not giving any indication that she was going to be slowing down
anytime soon or that she was getting close to whatever destination she was
heading to. All of his cries continued to go unheeded as he heard the
distant rumble of thunder emanate from the black skies above. 

Shampoo ran briefly out of sight around a corner of one of the buildings
next to the main road. Just as Ranma turned the same corner he was nearly
run over. A multitude of oddly dressed people with wide low brimmed hats
and playing musical instruments nearly trampled him. He found himself spun
around, causing the world around him to blur as he was jostled, shoved and
pushed by the impromptu band as they played their instruments and made
their way around the corner of the building in the direction he had just
come from. As the last person bumped into Ranma and turned the corner to
join its compatriots Saotome at last had a clear view of the street before
him. 

Shampoo was nowhere in sight. 

Ranma's eyes scanned both sides of the street and the rooftops in an effort
to see where Shampoo had taken off to, but there was nothing. It wasn't
possible. The band hadn't disoriented him for more than a few seconds,
nowhere near enough time for Shampoo to have gotten out of sight, but there
was no sign of her. He was about to head up the street when something
occurred to him. The band had stopped playing. In fact, the music had
stopped all at once when the last one had made his way around the corner.
He rushed backward and looked around the corner only to see that there was
no band either. Another impossibility since they had been moving slower and
there were so many more of them. 

Being thoroughly confused, Ranma took a moment and thought about what had
just occurred. The situation was beyond bizarre, even by his standards.
Martial artists he could deal with. Weird bands coming out of nowhere and
disappearing in thin air was a bit much to take. Their arrival and
departure was too much to be a coincidence. Their presence had to have been
intentional. The music hadn't started until Ranma turned the corner and it
disappeared just as quickly once the last one was out of sight. And the
vanishing into thin air trick implied something else was involved, perhaps
magic. Then there was the band itself, when he tried visualizing them he
realized there was something out of place. He wasn't able to make out a
single face in the lot, but he was certain he should have had a clear view
of the faces. Then his blood ran cold as he understood why he had not been
able to remember any of them. They had been blank tablets, not even
possessing mouths, almost like they had been nothing more than animated
dressmakers' dummies.

His senses were now totally attuned to the danger. Shampoo was in terrible
jeopardy and he had no idea who the opponent was or how to deal with him. 

He was helpless.


When Kasumi's hand rested upon Shampoo's shoulder the energy exploded. She
had to get out. That was what the feeling was that had been building up all
day. It was a message that told her to move; to leave where she was and go
out into the night. And anything that dared to get in her way was going to
be sorry. The first object that tried to impede her was Kasumi, and for an
instant Shampoo was going to lash out at the thing that was trying to
prevent her from leaving to the place that she had to go. However the pain
in Kasumi's face cut through the in-built defense mechanism momentarily,
causing Shampoo to moan out in pain. She knew in that moment she had to get
out lest she harm her friend and anything else that got in her way.

She burst through the door and followed where her instincts cried for her
to go. Somewhere in the back of her mind she heard Ranma calling out her
name, but not even he could be allowed to interfere with her course. So she
continued running on legs that had enough power to take her to the moon if
need be, or so it felt like. As she made her way through the deserted
streets of Nerima she felt a lessening of the pull, as though the closer
she got to the destination the less force the call possessed. 

Ranma's voice disappeared as Shampoo kept running. As she continued moving
and the force decreased she became more aware of her environment. The
streets were too quiet. No stores were open, no cars drove by, and not even
a stray cat made any noise. It was as though everything else in the world
had disappeared save Shampoo and the urgent pull from within. 

Eventually the pull stopped altogether as Shampoo found herself in front of
a dimly lit store. Thunder made its presence known as a storm started to
approach. There was the concern that she was going to be changed in the
upcoming deluge until her eyes fell upon an umbrella that was conveniently
sitting in the alcove of the store. Shampoo quickly picked up the timely
'gift' and opened the umbrella just in time to avoid getting drenched in
the sudden downpour. The patter of the falling rain was joined by the sound
of a car that made a turn onto the street and headed towards Shampoo. Twin
high beams shined upon her as the car pulled up next to her. 

She read the sign attached to the side of the vehicle: The Blue Turtle Cab
Company. A small, round man with rather large buck teeth rolled down the
window and looked towards Shampoo.

"Come on in, ma'am," he said pleasantly. 

Shampoo did as she was instructed. There was some unearthly quality to what
was going on, and she had a feeling that she was required to do what the
funny looking man suggested if she ever wanted to find out who had done
these things to her. She made certain not to get splashed with any water as
she opened the door and entered the cab, then closed the door as the driver
started driving the darkened streets. 

The view seemed to take on a dreamlike quality as Shampoo gazed out the
window, watching the streets go by. Her attention did not fully drift from
the scene before her as she began speaking to the driver. 

"Who are you?"

The driver spoke in his somewhat high pitched voice. "Who I am is of little
consequence tonight. Though I am important to some people, myself included.
Tonight, I am simply someone that is taking you from one place to another.
I am the driver and you are the passenger."

Oddly, Shampoo felt no anger towards the little man. It was almost as
though she knew on some instinctive level rage directed against him would
do no good. Then there was the language he was speaking. It was not Chinese
yet it seemed as easy to understand as that. It was almost like it didn't
matter what he said, it was going to be understood. That was not to mention
the fact that she was now speaking in perfect...now that she thought about
it she wasn't certain that she was speaking in Japanese. At first it was
supposed to be Japanese, but now it seemed to be something else. Exactly
what, she couldn't say.

"All of this is almost like a dream, isn't it?" the little man began. "This
situation possess all the characteristics of one. It's like the world is
some ethereal wraith that is fading from existence, as though it had never
been and you are only now awakening to understand what it is you have to
do."

Shampoo mumbled in agreement. The journey had taken on an imperceptible
timeless quality. The street lights that passed by seemed to be the same
ones over and over again as the rain splattered against the window. The
scenery was moving but to Shampoo it seemed that they were going nowhere.
It was the same monotonous thing over and over again. It seemed as though
she could have been riding for years and still nothing would change.

"I've escorted people to dreams before, though this isn't one for you. This
is reality, though you would be hard pressed to prove it. If it were in my
power to affect you tonight I would take you to where your fantasies would
come true. You have a lot of them that you would enjoy. If I could, I would
allow you to ride on the back of the turtle and have an eternity to do as
you wish. But that is not for you tonight. There is somewhere else that you
have to go to."

"Where is that?" she asked dreamily.

"Somewhere between here and there. Where nothing but everything exists, and
oblivion is only a step away to infinity. You won't get to see either of
those tonight. You have an appointment with something that wants your full
attention. It is the time of an event that is about to occur."

"You speak in riddles that make no sense. What do you mean?"

"Something wonderfully horrible is about to occur. Either that or something
horribly wonderful. In a way you get to choose."

"I still don't understand."

"All that you need to know will be explained to you. He will explain."

"Who?"

The car suddenly stopped as Shampoo came out of the dreamlike state and
snapped back to reality. "Time to get out." 

The cab driver turned around in the driver's seat and insisted she go.
Shampoo took note that it was still raining and made certain her umbrella
was open to block out the rain before emerging from the cab and taking note
of their destination. It was a dimly lit street where she could make out
little under the streetlights before her. The clouds blotted out the moon
so thoroughly that only pitch blackness was what awaited anyone who dared
to brave the world past those dimly lit lamps. 

The door closed on its own behind her as the driver waved goodbye, the car
disappearing in the night. Shampoo watched as the car's taillights faded in
the darkness. They were the last moving things, outside of the rain, that
had been left. Now she was alone, or so she thought. 

As the headlights vanished she felt a presence behind her. Turning she saw
what appeared to be a man of average height in a brown suit with a bowler
on his head and a cane in his grasp, currently pointed in the ground. The
suit might have been a bit unusual, but the man's appearance was
impossible. His skin was obsidian black, not allowing a hint of light
reflecting off the surface, save for what appeared to be two white eyes
that could just barely be seen below the hat. Looking at him, Shampoo was
somehow aware that this was the one that had sent for her, and there was
something about him that implied he could have forced her to come to
wherever she was from anywhere in the world.

There was another peculiar thing about his appearance. It took a moment for
Shampoo to figure out exactly what it was that seemed to add to his aura of
weirdness. The rain was still coming down and the water was falling on him,
but he was not getting wet despite lacking an umbrella. The water should
have been dripping off the brim of his hat, and off of his sleeves as well,
the way the rain was coming down. Yet the water was not collecting in any
way. It just seemed to be disappearing as it hit him, almost as though it
were being absorbed like the light.

"Greetings, Miss Shampoo." The man's mouth opened as he spoke to reveal
what appeared to be white teeth. Those were the only way Shampoo could have
been certain the man even had a mouth, the black lacking even the most
basic features. "You are probably wondering what you are doing here."

"Who are you?" she asked.

"You may address me as Mr. Domino." The man had a faint accent Shampoo
could not quite place. The deep resonating voice seemed to call out and
command one's attention, as though it were the only voice in the world
worth listening to.

"What do you want?"

Domino smiled. "Actually, that is the question I was going to pose to you.
You see, you are a very fortunate young lady. You have attracted the
attention of one of the great powers in the universe, and it is now going
to offer you a chance few beings ever receive."

"And what would that be?" Shampoo asked.

"It depends, what do you want?"

Shampoo shook her head. "I don't understand. What do you mean?"

Domino gave a soft sigh. "You humans, so dense. The question is
self-explanatory. What do you want?"

Shampoo still wasn't quite sure what he was getting at. Was he offering her
a wish? If that was the case why didn't he just say so? Or was he trying to
find out more about her and it was some kind of trick?

Domino shook his head once more. "Allow me to help you along. How would you
like to be cured of your condition?"

Shampoo was beginning to suspect where this was going. "In what way?"

"In a way I can provide. However it now occurs to me that I have an even
better bargaining position. I can give you a way to ensure that your fellow
Amazons will not kill you, you will not have to worry about changing sexes,
and you will be able to satisfy your loved ones."

Shampoo as taken aback. How could he know so much about her? "How can I do
that?"

"With this," Domino produced a flask from seemingly out of thin air. It was
a trick she had seen Mousse do repeatedly, but somehow she did not think it
was something as simple as a sleight-of-hand since it involved this one.
"Chuanshontsuniichaun. Twins water. If you use it now I can guarantee that
you will separate into your male and female forms with no ill side effects.
Each will be a perfectly normal version of yourself without a curse."

"Why would I want to separate myself into female and male halves?" Shampoo
asked. "Why not just offer me Nyanniichuan, which would cure me of my curse
anyway?" 

Domino gave a soft chuckle. "Because with twins water you will be able to
satisfy both Ranma and Kasumi."

Shampoo began sweating. How could he know? She told no one of her affection
of Ranma, and her feelings about Kasumi were not a matter of public
knowledge either.

"You wonder how I could know so much about you," Domino answered, as though
reading her mind. "I work for someone with power beyond imagination.
Knowing what is in your true heart is simplicity itself. We know your
heart's desire, and in that ideal you wish to satisfy both of them. You are
confused about your true feelings for Kasumi. She is a woman, and you are
not attracted to women, except for her. You feel different when you're with
her. These feelings are new to you. You love the joy you experience in
being able to make her smile. She has done a great deal more for you than
anyone else ever has and all without asking anything in exchange. Now you
want to return the favor. Yet you are afraid of hurting her in the process
of coming close and not being able to give her what you believe she wants.
Such angst from one so young. You humans really are a confusing lot.

"But as great as your feelings are for Kasumi, the ones for Ranma glow even
brighter. He is the fire in which you burn. He has made you feel in ways
that no other has ever come close to. His smile sends you into an emotional
frenzy from which you can barely contain. He is the flame in your heart
that are you afraid will go out if he rejects you. Sadly, despite the fact
he is also cursed, you think he may not want someone that is part male.
After all, he is quite the prude. So you maintain your silence until you
are certain you can win his heart and he will say 'yes.'

"This is the way to both of their hearts. The solution to so many problems.
And it can be yours. All you have to do is a little favor for me."

Shampoo felt scared. At first it was because of the things he was saying;
they hit too close to home. Still there was something else too. An instinct
cried out there was something terribly wrong with the figure in front of
her. Whatever it was was not obvious. "What do you want? My soul?"

Domino's voice shifted slightly, almost as though he was offended by the
implication. "I am not affiliated with any kind of demon or devil. I work
for a different power altogether. I don't deal in souls."

"Then what is it you want?" The feeling was starting to grow.

Domino gave a sad nod of his head. "The rules maintain I cannot tell you
that until after you have accepted. I understand how this might make one
somewhat cautious in closing a deal, so allow me to assure you of one
thing: what is wanted in return is in your best self-interest. Once you
find out what it is you will probably count it among the benefits of the
deal." He straightened up slightly as he continued. "So what do you say?
It's the cure to all your problems, and you get it for agreeing to
something that you're going to want to do anyway."

The feeling of dread continued to build. Now it seemed to be coming from
all around. But if what the being before her was telling the truth then it
might solve everything. "Tell me what it is you want in return."

"I cannot."

Shampoo's suspicion grew. "I thought you were powerful. Why can't you break
the rules just this once?"

The voice changed to a darker tone. "I have more power then you can
possibly dream of. There are things I can do that would devastate worlds
beyond your imagination. But it is not a matter of power, it is the way of
things. I cannot inform you of what I want in return other than the
reassurance that it is in your best self-interest." He paused another
moment before continuing. "I see you are hesitant to accept my offer. Very
well, I shall sweeten the deal. I can make it so you will win the hearts of
Ranma Saotome and Kasumi Tendo, and guarantee that you will all have long
and wonderful lives together. How can you refuse a deal like that? Just say
yes."

He was acting desperately, even if it didn't sound like it, and the feeling
of wrongness was compounded with a sensation of great coldness. It was as
though she were slowly having the life drained out of her body from some
unknown source. It didn't feel like it was coming from the man, it seemed
to come from all around. The darkness seemed to be increasing and she was
suddenly struck with the feeling that there was nothing beyond the light
the street lamps provided. There was a certainty that all of reality now
consisted solely of what she could see before her. 

"No." The situation was strange enough, but there was even more going on
than what appeared on the surface. There was too much risk and too much was
unknown. Even thought it was as he said and the water could possibly be the
solution to all of her problems.

He shook his head sadly. "Your kind always seems to take the hard way. Very
well. Since you have not accepted the gift I can now tell you what it is I
wanted, free of any strings attached."

"What is it?"

Domino's voice took on a deeper tone that seemed to project a feeling of
incontestable truth. "If you go to Mount Phoenix you will die. You will die
before you ever hear the words you so long to hear Ranma say to you. You
will die painfully and alone in the darkness."

Shampoo tensed up. "Is that a threat?"

Domino shook his head. "No. It is your destiny. If you go to Mount
Phoenix." He turned to depart. "It is unlikely we will meet again.
Goodbye."

And with that he walked off in the opposite direction from Shampoo, his
cane making tapping noises as he gained distance from her. When his form
went beyond the boundaries of the lights everything seemed to fade for an
instant. The feeling of coldness was overwhelming, causing Shampoo to fear
that she would never be warm. It seemed to suck at her soul, trying to draw
everything she was into it so she would never be whole again. Just as it
seemed she was about to lose everything she was the feeling passed, as
though it was never there to begin with. It was almost as if someone turned
on a giant light making everything come into focus. The street lights
illuminated all things now as the rain continued to pour. She was standing
on what appeared to be the same sidewalk, next to a river, as sound
returned to the world. She was back, and the feeling of being drained was
gone, as though it had never existed. 

She knew better. It had all been real. The journey, the meeting, the
attempted deal. It was all too real, and Domino's words kept ringing
through her mind. 

"If you go to Mount Phoenix you will die."

She wandered off into the night. There were things that needed to be
thought over.


In another dimension:

The Seer felt the gray area disappear. The lines of fate had been
unaffected by whatever the interference was. Despite the seemingly normal
return of things, The Seer felt very uncomfortable.


Ghost Sweeper Minami and her two companions shivered in the night. 

"What the hell was that?" she whispered. 

Ghost Sweeper Reiko Mikami shook her head. "I don't know. I have never felt
anything like that before. It was...powerful. One of the Dark Gods
perhaps?"

Ayaka Kisagi shook her head vehemently. "Are you kidding? None of them are
that powerful. It was something much stronger. And the worst part is I
think that was just its wake. I'm pretty sure whatever it was we felt was
only the smallest fragment of its full self."

Mikami looked her companions over. She had to admit, working with her
Phantom Quest Corp. rival and the arrogant little punk that kept referring
to Mikami as an 'aging mercenary cow' had been intoxicating. 

Minami looked sheepishly at Mikami. "I may have to amend that bit about you
being old," she muttered. Mikami had saved her life back when the purple
menace threatened to kill her. The creature sure had an insidious plan for
taking over all the worlds in the multiverse. And it was such a subtle
scheme too. If Ayaka hadn't stumbled on one of the demon's essences that
had been hidden in the unassuming figures and had gone wild, the creatures
would have overrun the earth and spread out from there.

"What about the mercenary part?" Mikami asked.

Minami raised an eyebrow at that. She had swallowed her pride and gave a
partial apology and now her rival wanted more. Fine. If that was the way
she wanted it that was going to be the way she got it.

"You do realize we didn't get paid. Don't you?"

Mikami's reaction was almost instantaneous. "You're right! NOOOOOOOOOO!!!"

Ayaka joined in the tearworks as Minami shook her head and left. The
mercenary part was staying. Why couldn't people like those two work for the
benefit of mankind instead of doing it for a buck?

Minami could almost begin jumping in joy. She was at last in Japan after
getting sidetracked so many times. And she was going to help out Ukyou and
Ai, assuming Fistandantilus's information was correct. 

Her body still ached from the war she had just undergone to stop the
demonic creature that had threatened to take over the world through the
insidious way of brainwashing everyone into mindless automatons. But in the
end the trio of demon-killers fought the demonic intelligence behind it and
banished it to another realm. Its magical foothold on the world should
start to decline any day now. 

As she walked back to Nerima she found the beasts mind-numbing chant begin
to echo through her mind. There was no way she could block it out just yet,
it was going to take time. Hopefully very soon, since if she started
humming it out loud there was little doubt she would end up lynched. The
words kept recycling themselves in her mind. It really was a very insidious
chant.

"I love you. You love me..."


Akane took another flying leap kick at Tarou. He parried the kick,
frustrating Akane to the point where she immediately tried to come in low
with another kick of her own. With her level of training she should have
known better that to attempt such an attack while Tarou still had his
balance. He easily blocked the blow and threw Akane halfway across the gym.

He paused a moment to catch his breath. "That was a clumsy strike. You
should know better."

Akane picked herself up and immediately went for another attack. Tarou's
attempt to get her to hold off barely worked as she drew back her hand for
a chop.

"Let's take a break." He approached and placed his hand atop her shoulder,
trying to ease her mind and get her used to his touch. She gave a narrow
look at the hand then gently ran her hand over his. The happiness Tarou
felt was momentary as the gentle touch quickly turned into a body toss
which left him on his back and staring at the ceiling.

"What's gotten into you?!" he shouted as he returned to a vertical base. If
it had been anyone else that had dared to do that they would have ended up
spitting out teeth.

Akane gave him a satisfied smirk. "I need to get better."

"You are."

Desperation was in her voice. "Faster. I need to get a lot better a lot
faster and I don't want to horse around. I don't have that much time to be
here, you know. Chisa can only cover for me for so long before someone
realizes I'm not at her house."

Tarou's irritation was beginning to get to him. "Why are you doing that
anyway? I thought you said you didn't care what Ranma thought."

"I don't!" she snapped back. "It's not Ranma I'm keeping this secret from."

Tarou's eyebrows shot up at that. Akane was keeping secrets from someone
other than Ranma. "Is it Nabiki?"

"No. Why would you think that?"

Now was a golden opportunity to plant some seeds of distrust of Nabiki in
Akane. There was always the possibility Nabiki would try to inform her of
what Tarou was doing behind her back. He had covered his tracks well, and
had fake alibis for a lot of his whereabouts during events he could be
accused of wrongdoings, but the middle Tendo was unusually savvy and might
cook up some scheme to inconvenience him. Best to cover all the bases. 

"I like taking care of my own problems."

Akane became concerned. "What sort of problem? It doesn't have anything to
do with Nabiki, does it?"

"I'm not sure..." He allowed it to trail off just enough to make it sound
as though he wanted to tell but just needed a little push to make him spit
it out.

"Tarou. I'm here to help you the way you help me. Now spit it out."

He had her. Just one more thing. "Promise me you won't tell anyone."

She reluctantly agreed to it. It was all in place. "I spotted someone
following me. When I confronted him about it I found out Nabiki had put him
on me."

Akane's eyes grew wide. "Why would she do that?"

Tarou put on an expression of pain. "I think I know why. Remember, the
first time I popped up I was tricked into attacking Ranma and Shampoo. I
bet they told her stuff about me and now she thinks I'm bad news. She was
probably just looking out for your welfare."

"I can take care of myself," Akane replied indignantly. "She doesn't have
to do that. She just doesn't understand you."

Tarou smiled to himself. It was working.

"I'll have to talk to her. Don't worry. I'll get things straightened out,"
Akane said

OOPS. That wouldn't do. "No! I take care of my own problems. Besides, it
would just make her resent me all the more. I'll just have a pleasant
conversation with her and ask her not to do anything. I know how much she
means to you and I want to try to get on her good side."

Akane nodded her head. "Well, she can be manipulative sometimes, so try to
keep that in mind when you're dealing with her. And if she gives you any
further trouble you can come to me and I'll straighten her out. Sometimes
she just doesn't know when to quit. Now, let's get back to practicing."

Tarou smiled and went back into his guard position, ready to continue. Now
that he had gone a long way in covering his butt, things were really
starting to go his way. Once he figured out who Akane was keeping her
training from he might even be able to help her again.

"We'll go over using kicks into the legs. Just remember that if you're
going to take your opponent out, don't do it half-assed. Go for something
that will leave him crying in pain hours on end."


Ryonami was a little uneasy about meeting Nabiki at the place she
requested. It was not the sort of locale she wished to meet anyone, and
love hotels that charged by the hour were definitely on the off list when
meeting other girls. No matter how much Ryonami liked her newfound idol and
mentor, she was not like Ai and did not enjoy the company of women. If
Nabiki was going to come onto her Ryonami was going to have to think of a
way to let her down gently. Maybe she was a little fawning when it came to
her boss, but she honestly did not believe she was giving off any signals
which would make Nabiki think she was coming onto her. 

Ryonami paid for the room at the appointed time and left off the fake name
Nabiki had told her to use. She headed up and eased herself onto the bed,
mentally playing a thousand different speeches in her mind as to how to let
her boss down easily. As she played each one in her head she found herself
losing courage over the whole idea. Maybe she should go ahead and give in.
It wasn't as though a lot of the guys came on to skinny, plain-looking
girls like her.

Just as she decided on a final plan the door slowly opened. Ryonami laid
back on the bed and spread out, loudly saying. "All right! I'll give myself
to you!"

When there was no response forthcoming. Ryonami looked up to see a man with
long black hair, a longer trenchcoat, and sunglasses enter the bedchamber
and draw back, surprised. After a moment the figure composed itself and
began speaking. 

"Good idea." It drew the door behind it closed and entered the room.
"Remember to moan out every now and then so people think we really are
getting it on."

Ryonami at last placed the voice as the figure started to take off its
coat. "Boss?"

"Who were you expecting?" Nabiki said as she took off her disguise and
gently laid it on the bed. 

"Ahh. No one." She then quickly corrected. "I mean your disguise is so good
that it surprised even me. Why are you dressed like a guy, by the way?"

Nabiki smiled at the compliment and began to explain. "We can't have anyone
seeing us together. I have a job that needs to be done, Ryo-chan, and you
are the only one I can trust."

Ryonami blushed at the compliment. Oh how her sempai could make her feel
like a million yen. If Nabiki was going to proposition her she would give
in. "Whatever it is, I'll do it. But why me? You've only known me for a
little over a month."

"You were the only one that managed to get word to me about Tarou and you
don't seem to have any resentment towards me, like some of the people I
work with," she reluctantly admitted. "Now this might be a bit dangerous.
As you know, good old Pantyhose has weaseled his way into my network. What
you don't know is he has threatened me too."

Ryonami cringed. "That's scary. What are you going to do?"

"We are going to rip his fucking balls off and feed them to him." Nabiki
watched Ryonami pale. "Not literally, just figuratively. Now what I need is
for you to have a nice, big public fight with me so no one thinks the two
of us are getting along. Then you're going to leave my organization and get
out of Tarou's line of sight. That way you can move freely and get me the
information I need to take him down. I'll get into contact with you
secretly here, then the two of us will exchange information and I can give
you orders. Is that okay with you?"

Ryonami agreed to everything.

"All right. Jump up and down on the bed and make some noise, just in case
someone's listening. Moan a lot," Nabiki said as Ryonami raised a small
ruckus that would leave the casual listener any doubt as to what was going
on in the room.


Two nights later:

Ranma walked through the nighttime streets alone. Lately he had felt more
alone than he had in a long time. It had nothing to do with the emotional
roller coaster he had gone through when he had truly thought he was a girl;
well, that was part of it since bits and pieces of errant memories made
their presence known. And not all of them were coming back as part of the
prodding others were giving to him. The problem was that with each memory
he became more and more revolted with his behavior. The Ryouga ones were
the worst so far. It was no wonder when Ranma had insisted Ryouga spill his
guts about what he did with him while he was deranged, Ryouga went into
'Ranma prepare to die' mode. Were their positions reversed he would have
probably done the same thing.

The first memory he had recovered was the bra and panties display he had
done for the lost one. If that wasn't bad enough the worst part about it
was he remembered the feelings he had when he confronted Ryouga just like
they were his own. As a female he WANTED Ryouga to like her as a girl. It
was so bad that when the recollection hit, Ranma had to go to the bathroom
and concentrate to keep from losing his lunch. He regarded any feelings for
Ryouga along those lines as quite nauseating and tried to keep any other
memories from surfacing by pushing them out of his mind when they
threatened to come to the forefront. Fortunately they were few and far
between, though there was still a slow trickle that seeped through every
now and then. 

As to the other parts of the loneliness, Shampoo and Akane were to blame
for those. Akane had begun spending more time with her friends and less
time with Ranma. At first he thought his behavior as a girl might have
alienated her, especially since she wouldn't talk about what the two of
them did, but when he confronted Akane about it she had said she was just
glad he was back and that he had actually been a pretty nice guy, for a
girl. The state of confusion that left him was horrible enough that he
decided to let things go and not hassle her about where she was spending
her evenings. 

Shampoo was even more confusing. He was really worried about her since that
night she had disappeared with no explanation. She had returned in the
middle of the night and insisted to the wide awake Ranma that nothing was
wrong and she had just been feeling a little odd. Her eyes told a different
story. There was a haunted look to them that he had only seen on her when
they first encountered one another at Jusenkyou, and that scared him. He
remembered the deep depression she had been in, one that had mirrored his
own, and if she was now in a similar state of mind that could only mean
trouble of the worst kind. 

Trying to get her to open up was an exercise in futility. She maintained
nothing was wrong and thanked Ranma for being so concerned about her
welfare. It wasn't as though he could beat the information out of her, so
he decided to let it go for a couple of days and try again later. Maybe
Shampoo's tongue would loosen up once she realized there were friends for
her all around.

As he wandered the streets it began to rain. Predictable, since he lacked
an umbrella to keep it off. The rain started to come down heavily as the
now female Ranma-chan continued her slow pace. Depression was really
starting to weigh her down and was showing itself through her physical
actions. Most of the people abandoned the sidewalk as they sought cover
under awnings and alcoves to get out of the pouring deluge. Ranma-chan
passed a rather large man that was obscured under a heavy rain slicker as
he too walked slowly, though in the opposite direction of the girl.


Gemma was walking the rain drenched streets at a slow yet steady pace. He
was less than half an hour away from arriving at the soon to be abandoned
base of operations the Shogun of the Dark had been using. Events were at
last coming to a head. It would just be a little more time before the
Shogun's plan would reach fruition and Gemma would at last have that which
he so desperately wanted: total control over Japan. 

It had been his obsession since his birth to a poor dirt farmer centuries
ago. The early part of his existence had been just that, an existence. His
life amounted to nothing and never would. He was going to grow up as an
equally poor dirt farmer like his parents, assuming disease or some natural
disaster did not catch up to him first.

Fate took a hand in his future then. His parents died in poverty at the
hands of one of the local diayamos for no other reason than they had been
in the path of his horses. Other boys would have sworn revenge against the
daiyamo for cutting down one's family when they were in the spring of their
youth. Gemma was different. Had there been anyone around to ask him what he
would do to the daiyamo for his actions, Gemma would have told them he
would make the man a general in his army. The man had opened Gemma's eyes
by showing him life's most important lessons. The weak deserved one of two
fates: serve or die. How unfortunate the daiyamo had died of syphilis five
years later and missed his opportunity for greatness. 

At that point Gemma decided nothing less than the total subjugation of his
homeland would satisfy him. He attained immortality and organized the Eight
Devils of Kimone to serve him in schemes that would eventually lead to his
goal. He even made the mistake of betraying the Shogun of the Dark when he
saw an opportunity to take control of Japan for himself. In a way it was
fortunate that Jubei sealed him in his 'Golden Hell' for several hundred
years. Now that he understood what the Shogun truly represented he knew
there were fates worse than being entombed alive while retaining
consciousness. Much worse fates. But now he had been given a second chance.
He served the Shogun once again, and this time it would be with unwavering
loyalty.

The hood of his slicker remained wrapped tightly around his head. The rain
was little more than a minor annoyance, but he still disliked getting wet.
He passed a short red-haired girl as he made his way up the nearly deserted
sidewalk.


The hackles rose on the back of Ranma-chan's neck. She paused, and almost
as though some outside force were controlling her, and slowly turned to
look behind her.


Gemma paused. Some intuition told him to turn around and look behind him.


Each figures saw the other one slowly turn around and stare at the other. 


Ranma-chan stared at the large man and suddenly had what could only be
described as an odd feeling. It was something she couldn't quite put her
finger on. It was simply an urge to look in the man's eyes.


Gemma stared at the diminutive girl before him. Outside of red hair there
was nothing remarkable about her appearance, yet he suddenly had what could
only be described as an odd feeling. It was something he couldn't quite put
his finger on. It was simply an urge to look in the girl's eyes. 


There was something about his eyes Ranma-chan didn't like. Something
dangerous about them as well as the man himself. He wasn't familiar, she
was certain she would remember meeting someone that huge. Despite her
feelings that he might be dangerous, the man did nothing other than stare
back at her. She could hardly remain standing in the middle of the rain,
unprotected and staring at a man she had never met before, so she forced
herself to turn and leave.


There was something about her eyes Gemma didn't like. Something that made
him feel threatened, though what danger a little girl still in her teens
could do to someone like him was beyond his ability to grasp. She wasn't
familiar, he was certain he would remember meeting someone that made him
feel that way. Despite his feelings that she might be a threat, the girl
did nothing other than stare back at him. He could hardly remain standing
in the middle of the rain and stare at a girl that he had never met before,
and couldn't kill in the middle of the city, so he forced himself to turn
and leave.


Each of the figures would push the encounter to the back of their minds.
There were more important things to do than worry about peculiar meetings
with strangers that they were never going to see again.


Gemma arrived at the base a half hour later. Times had changed and the
Shogun had changed with them, using a modern warehouse as his base of
operations. The modern aspects of it were offset by the elaborate magic
devices that were strewn about the place. Helms, rings, magic sigils, and
alchemy reagents were all about, disorganized. The majority of them were
going to have to be rounded up and prepared for overseas travel to China.
It was all coming together at last. Japan would be his in no more than two
months. A person with less control than he would undoubtedly laugh
maniacally, but then self-control was what Gemma was all about.

He loudly announced his return and awaited the remaining Devils to flock to
his call. It was much to his irritation that only his right hand man,
Yurimaru and the blind swordsman, Ututsu Mujuru were present.

Yurimaru knew what was going on through Gemma's mind and answered before he
could ask the question. "Tessai wanted to go out to the city again. He was
most insistent and I would have had to use force to keep him here. I opted
instead to make him promise not to cause trouble," Yurimaru explained in
his soft, feminine voice.

Gemma's face was like a block of stone, the expression never changing. "And
where is Benisato?" 

"She went out a little while ago to make sure Tessai stays out of trouble."


It was several moments before Gemma spoke again. "I am...displeased."  As
he finished his statement he moved to go back outside.

"Allow me to accompany you." Yurimaru offered.

"No. Benisato will be more than enough to assist me if the need arises,"
Gemma said in an even voice, still not betraying a sign of emotion. "Pack
up everything. I want it ready to move when I return." And with that he
headed once more into the night, taking note that at least the rain had
stopped. He also made a silent vow that if Tessai botched things up he
would die again, and this time it would be a lot more painful than simply
having his skull sliced through by his own blade.

Inside, Yurimaru gazed forlornly at where Gemma had been. 

"So, he still hasn't accepted you back into his bed yet," Mujuru said
amusedly.

Yurimaru glanced irritatedly at the blind swordsman. In an instant a wire
shot out from his hand headed for Mujuru's throat. The wire never arrived
at its destination as Mujuru's sword was out in an even quicker move and
severed the metal in mid-air.

"Do not seek to snare me, or else you will not have to worry about what the
Shogun will do to you for causing a disruption in his plans," Mujuru
warned. "I only speak the truth. And if you try to slide that other wire
along the floor any closer we shall see who is quicker indeed. And somehow
I do not believe Lord Gemma would be enthusiastic about one of us killing
the other. Aside from that you know what the Shogun said. I for one wish to
enjoy existence without never-ending agony."

Yurimaru sniffed as he allowed the other wire to flow back into his sleeve.
He had forgotten just how acute Mujuru's hearing was. "Let us pack the
belongings then. We should not keep Lord Gemma waiting."


Tessai carelessly sorted through the compact disk shelves, knocking several
of the disks down as he searched for that one elusive title he had heard
one of the street punks speak of the other day. How could he resist a band
with the name of 'Johnny Death and the Rapists'? 

Since their collective resurrection all of the Devils were given a crash
course in what had happened over the ensuing centuries. In truth the Shogun
force fed information of those years into each of the Devils minds in a
very painful magical process. Tessai hated the pain, but was not foolish
enough to risk what the Shogun would do to him if he showed even the
faintest sign of rebellion. The cowled man made certain they understood
that by inflicting what he called only the tiniest amount of pain on each
of them, save Gemma. That 'tiny amount' turned each one of them into
drooling buckets of inarticulate flesh for the better part of a day. Even
if he was bluffing, Tessai wanted no part of that agony again.

So the lot of them strove to understand what the brave new world was like.
Of all of them Tessai was the first to adapt to the world. He had seen the
changes and liked them. Liked them a lot! Debauchery and bloodshed was
rampant throughout the world. Everything that had been hidden behind closed
doors in the past was now open. Women showed off their flesh in public and
the standards of beauty had been raised considerably. How ironic that in
the 'good old days' a woman could be considered attractive if she didn't
have warts. 

And that wasn't even considering what kind of weapons that were now
prevalent. Guns had replaced bows and arrows. Explosives had become more
effective, and the damage weapons made was every bit as bloody as what was
used in the past. The only complaint he would make was that they lacked the
personal touch. There was no replacing the feeling one got when the shock
was felt through the arm of a weapon making contact with flesh. He always
got a kick out of that.

Then there was the sub-cultures that had developed while they had been
dead. The one Tessai had already fallen in love with. He was now adorned in
the raiment of those ones. A leather outfit, custom made for his seven foot
six hundred pound frame, was worn out in the open now. It felt so much
better than the rags he once wore. Everyone agreed that the clothing was
made better. And then there was the series of tattoos he had up and down
each arm. Oh, the tattoo artist appeared so startled when Tessai informed
him of the number and kinds of body artwork he wanted on his arms. There
was nothing like painting the entrails of an eviscerated man in a human
canvas. That was among other images of horror that joined the first one
that night. The artist was shocked that Tessai could withstand that much
pain in one sitting, but he had done his job well enough that Tessai even
gave him a big tip. It was a good thing for the artist that Tessai enjoyed
the work; the man would not have liked the response if he hadn't.

But the thing that excited him the most wasn't the weaponry. It wasn't the
clothing. It was the music. There was nothing from his time period that
could compare with the cacophony of noise that had been created during his
death. The first time he had heard the symphonic clash of heavy metal music
he knew he had found home. For the first time in his life he was moved to
tears. Even his first kill could not compare to the emotions he felt when
he heard the music.

Some of the Devils expressed reservations about the world they were in.
Those ones were fools. The world had not advanced past the Eight Devils of
Kimone .

It had caught up to them.

Tessai at last found the CD he was looking for and purchased it. It was
with an amused grin that he noticed the store clerk looked greatly relieved
at his departure. Time had not made people more stupid, at least in that
respect.

As he walked out of the store he realized he was in an exquisite mood.
Everything was just perfect, perhaps the first time since his rebirth.

Then the boy ran into him. 

It was a particularly powerful jostle for one so small. The boy mumbled
something about being sorry and continued on. From what Tessai could make
out, the bandanna-clad youth was in a deep state of depression. He wasn't
going to have to worry about it much longer, Tessai would see to that. The
little fool had disrupted the large man's mood. He quickly discarded the
promise he had made to Yurimaru about keeping out of trouble. Besides, how
much difficulty could it be to kill one short, rude teenager?


Ryouga was feeling exceptionally depressed on this particular evening. That
should have been an unusual feeling for the boy who had everything he
wanted. A girlfriend. A good friend. A job. A roof over his head. That was
all he needed to make him happy. Or that was what he had told himself for
so many years. Now that he at last had everything, save revenge on Ranma,
he should have been pleased. But he wasn't, and he thought he knew why.
Ukyou. She had been acknowledging him less and less, almost as though she
no longer liked him. He had tried on three separate occasions to get her to
talk about anything, even the lousy weather, but all she would do was give
short answers and go back to petting her rabbit while she watched TV. After
the third attempt Ryouga could take it no longer and headed outside,
grabbing his umbrella to fend off the pouring rain. He spared one last
glance at Ukyou, who he could have sworn was moving her head back from
staring at him, and headed out into the night. 

He managed to avoid getting wet until the rain stopped, but did get lost.
Hardly a surprise there. He was overdue for a bout of aimless wandering in
circles. He was so lost in misery at the idea he had done something to
offend his friend that he barely registered the impact into the huge man
coming out of the music store. A muttered, distracted apology was all he
could muster as he continued on his aimless way.

His path took him to a deserted park. It was here that he finally broke
down and raged at the skies above. If everything he wanted wasn't enough to
make him happy, what was going to be? 

He looked up to the heavens above. "WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS TO ME? WHEN WILL
THIS MISERY END?!!!"  

"Now."

Ryouga looked up in confusion until he realized the voice had not come from
above, but from behind him. He heard the whistling of an object hurtling
towards him and looked back just in time to see a huge spinning weapon
heading directly towards him. Reflexes took over as he leaped out of its
path with less than half a second to spare. The thing flew on to a small
cluster of trees and cut through them effortlessly as it continued its
circular course back to its original direction. The weapon was snagged in
mid-air by a hand that was attached to a giant of a man. Now that the
object had stopped, Ryouga had a chance to stare at the missile weapon in
amazement. It was a gigantic blade that appeared to be two giant swords
stuck together. Combined they were as long as Ryouga and appeared to weigh
close to two hundred pounds. Even Ryouga would have found it as least
mildly uncomfortable to lug it around.

"What are you, crazy?!" Ryouga shouted. "You could have killed me."

"That was the idea," Tessai grunted. "You're rather spry. Looks like I'm
actually going to have to try hard to carve you up." 

He placed the weapon behind his back and it disappeared as though it were
magic. Ryouga picked up on the posture of the huge man and prepared to vent
some of his own frustrations at the man who had done the wrong thing, to
the wrong guy, at the wrong time.


Benisato wandered the streets looking for the wayward Devil. Tessai was
getting more like a loose cannon every day and it was going to cost the lot
of them. It wasn't that she gave a damn about the man personally. He could
go back to rotting in Hell as far as she was concerned, but like Gemma she
desired a piece of the world to do with as she pleased. Her depredations
were nowhere near the level of Tessai's or Mushizo's, but she knew she was
unquestionably what the modern day doctors referred to as sociopathic. Not
that that mattered to her. She was what she was without apology, just like
the rest of the Devils. But she lacked the desire to do anything so
depraved as ripping off the limbs of her victims and drinking their blood.
Tessai really had developed some unusual habits over time.

Just as she was about to start searching yet another section of the town
she heard the sounds of battle nearby.

"Tessai," she mumbled under her breath.


Tessai found himself thrown back into a wall again. It was really getting
absurd. His opponent was a mere youth that should have been destroyed in a
matter of moments, yet not only was he holding his own, he was actually
winning the fight. The boy had a great deal of skill and was incredibly
strong, and the combination was giving Tessai fits. 

A right hook caught Tessai's opponent squarely on the jaw. It was a blow
that would have decapitated a normal man. The boy just shook his head and
nailed Tessai in the chest once more. Tessai decided it was time to pull
out all of the stops. Since he was bound to attract attention anyway, he
revealed his own supernatural ability, which he had kept hidden as per Lord
Gemma's request. Not that revealing it made a bit of difference to him.
There was only a couple of months left for the world anyway, assuming the
Shogun's plan worked at all. Besides, if changing didn't work he could
always resort to using the sword once more.

Ryouga was startled to see his opponent grin at him and stand still. Maybe
he had hit the man too hard and addled his brain. That would be a surprise
considering how much punishment the man had already absorbed and that he
appeared ready for more. And his strength was great too, almost as much as
the Dojo Destroyer. Though this big man had a lot more maneuverability. 

Sensing the fight was almost over, Ryouga decided to pull his punch so as
not to inflict any fatal damage on the man. Even if the guy had used lethal
force at the beginning of the battle that did not mean the lost one was
eager to kill him. 

Ryouga drew back his fist and aimed for the huge man's solar plexus. Just
as it was about to connect the shape of the man changed. Before Ryouga
could react the man had grown close to another foot and his skin changed to
that of stone. Very hard stone, as Ryouga could now attest to as his hand
slammed into it rather painfully.

"Nice fight. Good bye!" 

Tessai brought his fist down on top of Ryouga's head, the blow driving
Ryouga three inches into the ground. Tessai's joy at the blow was cut short
as he realized that Ryouga had not only survived it, but picked himself up
and punched back, a lot harder this time as Tessai felt the impact of the
blow, even through his stone-covered skin. Once more he backed up and this
time drew his giant twin-sword blade, intent on splitting the lost one in
twain.

The resuming of the duel was halted as a soft feminine voice spoke up.

"Now, now boys. There's no need to fight."

Ryouga looked up to see a beautiful woman standing on one of the newly
half-demolished walls that surrounded the park. What little clothing she
wore left very little to the imagination. And there was something almost
hypnotic about her eyes. 

"Stay out of this, Benisato," Tessai warned. "It's my fight. The little
puke is about to die."

Benisato snickered at Tessai show of bravado. "You promised to behave and
look what you've done. I can't wait to see what Gemma's going to do to you,
after I take you back." With that she undid the clasp on the back of her
nearly nonexistent dress. The garment fell to the ground, leaving her
covered in nothing save a number of tattoos of long green snakes that
adorned her body. 

Ryouga wasn't able to begin his typical nosebleed. The woman's eyes seemed
to bore into his soul. He could just make out Tessai say something when the
large man's own voice dropped to almost nothing. It was then Ryouga noticed
that the snake tattoos were now moving of their own volition. The effect
was totally hypnotic as Ryouga suddenly lost the will to do anything other
than watch the woman allow the serpents to move. 

Benisato watched with an amused glance as the two men stared at her, caught
up in the pattern of snakes. With both of them completely under her control
she hopped down to the ground and recovered her clothing. Tessai was going
to come with her, but she now had the problem of what to do with Ryouga.
They were supposed to keep a low profile while still in Japan. If she
killed him he might be missed, and the last thing they needed was some sort
of investigation launched into their direction. If she left him alive then
he might report them to the police. But would they believe him when he said
that he had fought a man who turned to stone? Of course not. They would
just assume the boy had been mugged and was confused about the nature of
his attackers. With her course of action decided upon she left Ryouga where
he was and headed back to the base with the compliant Tessai in tow. Gemma
was going to have a field day with Tessai's actions today. It would serve
the ass right if he was killed for his incompetence.


Tessai woke up to see Gemma in front of him. He did not waste words on
excuses. He was not weak and Gemma would not listen anyway.

"I'll give you a choice. You may accept punishment from me instead the
Shogun.

That was no choice at all. "I'm all yours," Tessai informed him.

The beating was almost enjoyable compared to what the Shogun had done to
him when he first awakened. Tessai would be able to walk within hours after
his punishment. Gemma must have been in an awful good mood to go so easy on
him. Probably glad he dodged the bullet, so to speak. Tessai swore to
himself if the he ever found the boy again he was going to break every bone
in his body, then rip off his head and drink all of the blood that flowed
from the headless stump.


Ryouga recovered after a couple of hours. It was much to his irritation
that no one had even attempted to snap him out of the trance. From what he
heard from the passers-by everyone seemed to have assumed it was some kind
of performance piece. But the worst part about it was that every pigeon in
the park must have used him for target practice. 

If he ever laid eyes upon the stone guy again he was really going to give
him a piece of his mind.


Shampoo-kun decided it would be best to have the upcoming conversation as a
male. Kasumi was always responsive, but under these conditions it was
probably a necessary tool to get his point across. Now that the two of them
were alone in the house they could have the conversation without the risk
of being overheard by anyone other than Birdy, and he wasn't going to be
telling anyone.

He entered the kitchen and approached Kasumi. The actual amount of time she
spent in there or cleaning up the house was extraordinary. How anyone could
spend so much time doing the same thing over and over again was amazing.
And yet she seemed so happy all the time. If he didn't know her so well he
would probably have assumed that was all she was interested in. But he knew
better, or so he thought. She had other, perfectly normal desires, she just
kept them bottled up or pretended they weren't there. The impulses might
not have been as strong in her as others, but they were there. Every now
and then she would open up just a little around him, usually when he was
male but sometimes when he was a girl, and he began to suspect there were
other things going on inside.

The conversation he had with Nabiki several weeks ago about the situation
came back to mind. She said Kasumi had actually been less open before his
arrival. It was difficult for him to believe that, but it somehow felt as
though those words were true. Nabiki had even gone out of her way to
provide some subtle encouragement in that direction, almost as a de facto
mother for Kasumi in a way, or at least as a sister looking out for another
one's welfare. 

"Kasumi," he intoned softly.

She turned from washing the dishes and smiled. An errant thought occurred
to him. She always seemed to smile, but never laugh. He couldn't think of
the last time she had really given a hearty laugh, or even a small one. He
wanted to hear her laugh, even if it was only once. He wanted to hear what
that voice would sound like as it roared with laughter.

"What is it?" Kasumi asked.

He gave a shake of his head. His thoughts were so focused on Kasumi that he
had forgotten where he was. No time should be wasted. He wanted to cut
through the chase and get to the point. Something about the meeting with
Domino still disturbed him since nightmares of that mysterious rendezvous
still plague his sleep.

"What if I could make you happy?" There. It was out.

"I am happy."

He should have anticipated the response. "No. I mean 'happy'." He made
certain to emphasize the last word.

"I am 'happy,'" she placed an equal amount of emphasis on the word while
continuing to appear as though she did not understand what point he was
trying to get across. It was so difficult to tell when she really
understood and feigned obliviousness and when she really was in the dark as
to what was going on.

He walked over to her and placed his hands on her hips, drawing her closer
to him. "No. I mean 'happy'." 

"Oh, 'happy.'" At last she understood as she suddenly became nervous in his
embrace. Then another thought struck her. "Is something wrong? Did
grandfather Happosai find some of that Water of Permanency and splash you
with it?"

He shook his head. Leave it to Kasumi to think something was wrong with him
when he tried to have a heart to heart discussion. "No. I just want to know
what you would feel if I was able to make you happy."

Surprisingly, Kasumi eased her way out of his grasp. "I don't like
answering things like 'what if' questions. If it isn't going to happen then
it's pointless to ask."

He pressed on. Something inside him needed to know. "Please answer."

Kasumi responded with a question of her own. "Do you want to be a boy?"

"Not really," he answered. And it was true, but if there were a chance that
he could be separated into two opposites sexes as the price of removing the
curse he might be able to go through with it.

"Exactly. If you weren't happy then I couldn't be either. So enough of this
talk. I could use help in cleaning up."

Shampoo-kun went to cleaning the dishes, not feeling like talking any more.
That discussion had solved next to nothing and did nothing to ease his mind
at all. It was all probably nonsensical thoughts anyway. There probably
wasn't any twins water in all of Japan.



Joketsuzoku, China

Perfume walked with a slow pace to the appointed meeting place. At last Be
Dea felt that Cologne had enough of a head start that it would not appear
too suspicious to send Perfume onto Shampoo's trail. Perfume was filled
with trepidation at the task given to her. At first she thought up many
different ways of getting out of it. Yes, she wanted to prove herself to
everyone, she was not over that particular obsession and might not ever rid
herself of it, but hunting down Shampoo and dragging her to her death felt
terribly wrong. While it was true she owed Shampoo nothing, the longtime
burning hatred was completely gone, replaced by the desire to have the best
friend she had ever made back at her side where Shampoo belonged. 

Before she had been assigned the task she expected Shampoo to return to the
village, cured and ready to fall back into the role of champion of the
Amazons. Several times Perfume considered returning to Jusenkyou and
getting some Nyanniichuan herself, but each time she even thought about it
the memory of being a sloth returned and her courage quickly faltered. She
would never go back to that terrible place. Never. Shampoo was going to
have to discover her own cure.

Perfume had finally settled on a plan to avoid going out on the hunt. The
surest way was for her to break a leg. Just as she was in the process of
getting the materials to do it something occurred to her. If she didn't go
someone else would. Naturally whoever was assigned the task would fail, but
they could possibly stumble onto Shampoo's curse. Then Shampoo would go
from simply being recalled to being branded a fugitive from justice. Given
the stigma still attached to the Nanniichuan curse there was little doubt
the council would demand her immediate return by force, or worse, pass
sentence on the fugitive without her being present and order an execution
squad instead. So Perfume decided to accept the task with a smile on her
face. After all, who said she couldn't take her time in bringing Shampoo
back? Actually, no one even knew where Shampoo was located, so no one would
question how long it took to track her down. 

With her spirits uplifted she at last arrived at the rendezvous where Be
Dea waited for her.  The two exchanged greetings as Be Dea began to happily
inform Perfume of her final instructions. 

"" 

"" Perfume patted her light backpack and hefted hhe new
titanium alloy naginta. No one would slice her new weapon in half this
time. 

"" Be Dea was shocked to discover
that most of them made a great deal of sense. Perfume really was amazing.

"" Perfume kept her real opinion to herself. Of course
they made sense. She would not have done them if they didn't.

Be Dea was practically bubbling with excitement. "" 

Perfume felt her throat constrict. ""

Be Dea continued bouncing around like a woman one quarter of her age. ""

"" Perfume could only pray that her protest would be
enough. There was no other leverage with which to employ. If there were any
others around her plans were going to be all for naught. 

Be Dea took on a serious demeanor. "" She began to take a more reassuring tone. ""

Perfume nodded her head in agreement. She had come to those same
conclusions when she returned from her absence. 

""

"" That came out almost as a whisper. 

"" Be Dea said. "" Be Dea commanded as all of the girls quieted down and listened
to the elder. ""

Perfume saw a few smiles grow at that and made a mental note of them.
Shampoo had made more than a few enemies in Perfume's absence, and some of
them would need little provocation to try to take Shampoo down if an
opportunity presented itself. And given what shape Shampoo had been in when
she last saw her, there was little doubt she would not be compliant and a
bloodbath would follow.

""

Perfume silently cursed. That meant some of the girls would be waiting for
an opportunity to knock Perfume from her perch should she appear to shield
Shampoo in any way. It was getting just better and better.

""

Mumbles of 'Jusenkyou' emanated from the warriors. Things were now worse
than ever for Perfume. The girls were now motivated by a common goal and a
threat of punishment. There would be no way of taking them off of their
desire to accomplish the mission now. The only thing Perfume had going was
that no one knew where Shampoo was.

"" Be Dea said as someone had at last
arrived. 

Perfume turned to see that Silk had arrived. That made little sense. She
was a friend of Cologne's and would provide little assistance in helping to
track down Shampoo.

Many of the warriors warmly greeted Silk as she arrived, while she looked
suspiciously at the group before her. ""

""

Silk looked quizzically at Be Dea. ""

Be Dea didn't answer, but rather turned to Perfume. ""

Perfume looked confusedly at Be Dea. Julep was coming along? As a girl sat
up from a crouched position in the back Perfume saw that the wild looking,
raven-haired Julep was indeed part of the party. The girl must have been
hidden towards the back in order for Perfume to miss her. 

Julep was an unusual case. She was one of the rare children that had been
born of the bloodline of the Musk Dynasty while not being an actual member
of it. From what Perfume had heard, Julep's grandmother had been defeated
by an exiled member of the Wolf Line of the Musk (Mint's grandfather, if
the rumors were true), and had one child with her: Julep's mother. The
rumors among the older folk who remembered the man seemed to universally
agree that he was little more than a berzerker that was bad news wherever
he went. When he died in a tragic 'accident' in which he was apparently
stabbed, drowned, and poisoned, no one wept for his loss. 

The mother took after Julep's grandmother and had very little in the way of
the wolf attributes that her father possessed. But when Julep came along
the wolf in her showed. It was widely regarded that she was even more feral
than her grandfather had been. She possessed slitted eyes which always
seemed to have a wild gleam to them. She was incredibly quick and also very
independent minded, getting along with few others. On the outside she
preferred to appear as though she had just gotten out of bed all the time.
After she hit the age of twelve she had moved out on her own to the hills
surrounding the village. Few ever saw her, save the occasional times she
would wander into Joketsuzoku for supplies. There was also one other
attribute Perfume had almost forgotten. Her sense of smell was so great she
could track people with it.

Perfume's suspicions were confirmed when Be Dea announced that Julep would
be able to track down Shampoo with ease. Perfume was about to mention
something to the elder when she realized Julep was looking her over, even
going so far as to sniff the air in front of Perfume. After apparently
coming to a decision, she nodded he head. 

"" Julep said, then turned and
rejoined the group of girls.

"" Be Dea muttered. " She shifted her attention to
the rest of the unit. ""

Perfume bowed as Be Dea departed with Silk in tow. 

Silk looked concerned towards Be Dea. ""

"" Be Dea gazed
suspiciously at Silk. ""

"" Silk smiled happily, all the
while trying to decide what to do. 


Perfume was in an uproar. Too much was happening too quickly and it
appeared, at least initially, that she was going to have to bring Shampoo
back after all. Curses were thought about why she had to be stupid enough
not to go with the broken leg plan. As the myriad of thoughts overwhelmed
her senses one of the warriors approached her. Perfume shifted her
attention to the large and heavily muscled girl. It was one whom she had
not fought against since her return. A quick visual inspection told her in
moments who the girl was.

"" 

Cabinet prostrated herself before Perfume. ""

Perfume looked quickly around to see she had suddenly become the center of
attention. She grabbed the prone Amazon before her and practically dragged
her away from the rest of the group. Once out of sight she took the time to
finally talk to the girl. ""

The large girl went to her knees. ""

Perfume was not the sort of person that was easily surprised. Her life had
the blessing/curse of 'living in interesting times'. She knew unexpected
things occurred frequently, so she went into life expecting the unusual.
But this was a bit much. The girl before her bore no resemblance to the
bully who liked to ambush those that dared to defeat her. 

""

Cabinet seemed greatly relieved by the acceptance and explained. ""

""

Cabinet hesitated, then chose to go on. ""

The seed of an idea was forming in Perfume's mind. ""

Cabinet nodded.

""

"" she said without a hint
of bravado.

Perfume's instincts told her the change was from within, and was backed by
strength, as opposed to weakness that was inflicted by others. The girl was
telling the truth. Perfume would take the chance. ""

Cabinet nearly cried out in joy. ""

Perfume gave her a genuine smile. With the right words here and there she
had little doubt that she would soon have someone who just might see things
her way. Now all she had to do was convince seventeen others that she was a
leader that could take them to hell and back.

And maybe she could get them to do it with a smile on their faces.


Epilogue

The next day:

Ai was putting the finishing touches on her make-up when she heard her
sister shout out that one of her girlfriends was visiting. The comment was
followed by a strange noise and then a howl. 

Ai happily got up to greet her arrival, and if it was Ukyou the greeting
would be a hug and a kiss. It was much to Ai's disappointment that it was
only Minami, who was accompanied by a small dog, in the hallway. The ghost
sweeper appeared as though she was angry at the little creature. 

"That'll teach you to call me someone's 'girlfriend,'" she grumbled at the
dog, who scurried away in fright.

"Where's Mariko?" Ai asked.

"Probably peeing on one of your carpets."

Ai understood immediately and smiled. Hopefully Minami could make the
change permanent. Ai couldn't wait to 'housebreak' her sister. 

"Are you the guest my sister was talking about?" Minami nodded, causing Ai
to frown. "Darn! I hoped my true love had finally come over."

Minami gave a wicked grin. "You aren't going to have to worry about that
anymore."

Ai grabbed Minami by the collar. "What have you done to my Ukyou?"

"Didn't do a thing. She's not my type," she quickly, and nervously,
answered. 

Ai released the hold and continued to scowl evilly at Minami. The ghost
sweeper picked up on this and paused to reconsider her actions. Ai wasn't
likely to take to a 'cure' that would threaten her relationship with Ukyou,
so she was going to have to go about it the sneaky way.

"I have a gift for you." Minami brought out the pair of earrings with
pearls in them, one of them being the magical one that would hopefully
disrupt the magical influence Ai was under.

Ai shook her head. "I cannot accept gifts from you. My interest is only in
Ukyou. Besides, you aren't very attractive."

Minami's face began to twitch. She had done too much and taken spent a
great deal of time trying to get the cure and Ai was going to take it if it
was the last thing on Earth she did. Minami placed her hand on Ai's
shoulder.

"Don't be so familiar with me," Ai warned.

"It's not from me," Minami lied. "It's from Ukyou. She was too embarrassed
to give it to you herself."

Ai gave a squeal of delight and snatched the earrings out of Minami's hand.
When her hand came into contact with them she froze.

"How do you feel?" Minami asked.

Ai did not answer right away. Instead she began shaking, then turned red.
Minami noticed a very familiar look return to those eyes. It was then
Minami saw the smile start to widen on Ai's face, and began to wonder if
maybe Ukyou had made a mistake. Most demons looked more pleasant then the
girl before her.

Ai suddenly stopped all the shaking and gave Minami a level gaze.

"Kuonji's dead!"


XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Special thanks to:

Yes. The opening traveling sequence was inspired by Urusei Yatsera Movie 2
Beautiful Dreamer

James Robert Bader, who created Ryonami

And :
Ryan Anderson
James Robert Bader (Shadowmane)
Gary Kleppe
Jason Liao
Lord Talon
Dr. Wade Tritschler

    Source: geocities.com/tokyo/towers/5920