Prologue

Akiko Yoshida breathed a sigh of relief as she finally arrived at the
bridge. It had only taken her two days to find it since the TWPOS had set
sail from China. At least that was where she had been told they had been
since she hadn't been able to find the gangplank to get off the ship when
it landed. Now it was time to get down to business. There would be no more
aimless wandering for the ship during her absence. It was her job to see to
it they made it to their destination in all due haste, and only she could
navigate the ship to where it needed to go.

As she approached the navigational console, she paused mid-step as her eyes
fell upon a stranger who was leaning over her map covered desk. Territorial
instincts flared as she advanced upon the him. 

"What are you doing at MY station?" 

All heads turned to the speaker, then all but the man she had addressed
suddenly found things more interesting at their own stations. Such things
as coffee stains, neat switches, and the random blinking of lights on
consoles that no one knew how to operate, or even what purpose they served.

The man smirked as Aki came next to him. He stood at least a foot taller
than her and was pleasantly amused that he towered over the girl by so
much. "The captain warned me about you. You must be the little girl that
gets lost going to the bathroom. Well, I've been hired to accurately
navigate this ship. Apparently the captain feels actually heading directly
to his destination instead of drifting around aimlessly for a week before
getting there is in his, and the ship's, best interest. Now why don't you
go try to find yourself. It should only take about a week."

Every other head remained pointed downward as the bridge crew listened to
the conversation continue.

"What's this?" Aki asked.

The man raised his eyebrow at the question. She was pointing at her
forehead. "Your bandanna?"

Aki shook her head. "Nope. Get closer."

He leaned in and stared directly at the spot she was pointing. "Your
forehead?"

Aki shook her head again. "Get closer."

He did, getting so close that he could see each of the pores on her skin.
"I don't know. A pimple?"

Aki drew her head back then brought it forward, crashing her skull into
his. The man slumped to the ground, unconscious. "It was you getting
knocked out with the 'Aki Crusher'. Some navigator." She went to the
console and examined the man's calculations. As she suspected they were way
off. The path he plotted to Japan was a terrible one. It would have served
the captain right if she had left the would-be navigator at his position.
She recalculated the course and gave the new course to the helmsman. "This
is where you want to go."

The helmsman examined the course three times to make sure he understood.
"This takes us west. Isn't Japan to the east?"

The helmsman panicked as Aki's face twitched. "Excuse me, are you implying
that you are the navigator?"

"N...n...no! I'm just a helmsman, ma'am."

"First: don't call me ma'am, I work for a living. Second: since you are the
helmsman, it's your job to steer the ship using directions the navigator,
that's me by the way, provides for you. Well your navigator has given you
directions, shouldn't you follow them?"

The man watched her cross her arms and began tapping her foot, impatiently
waiting for the right answer. He agreed with her and began following the
zigzag course that had been given to him. Who cared how long it took to go
somewhere? All that mattered was getting there alive.

Aki paused before leaving the bridge. "If the guy wakes up tell him he will
do nothing but stand next to my station and learn that there is only one
navigator on this ship. And if he even breathes hard on my charts I'll come
back and really do something he'll regret. Is that understood?"

Everyone nodded their heads. 

Aki nodded in approval. "I'm going to meet the captain." As she left the
bridge she picked up a nearby boat hook and began whistling to the tune of
Chopin's 'Funeral March.'


Silk looked at the descending sun again. It was to the front of the ship,
just as she thought. They were heading in the opposite direction of Japan.
What were the idiots that ran the ship doing? Time was of the essence since
she had to get to Nerima before it was too late. Just as she was about to
make her way to the bridge the object of her ire ran from around a corner
and nearly bowled her over.

"You're just the man I wanted to see, captain."

"I can't talk to you now! There's some captainy things I need to do!"
Captain D'Amore appeared scared as he attempted to run around Silk, but
found his way blocked each and every time, the Amazon not about to allow
him to leave. 

Silk was about to speak up when Aki barreled around the corner, mad as
hell. Her first wild swing with the boat hook nearly took off both Silk and
D'Amore's heads. Silk quickly got out of the way of the lunatic girl as Aki
confronted the captain, weapon at the ready. Years of Amazon training
taught her to never get in the way of a crazed woman trying to kill a man.
It never paid off.

The captain held up his hands in a desperate, warding manner. "Aki, I have
no idea how that horrible person got on the ship and tried to take over
your job," he pleaded. "Why don't we do the same thing to this one that we
did to the last impostor. We'll throw a party. He'll walk the plank. You
can wear the eye-patch and dead parrot on your shoulder. It'll be a great
time and I guarantee you'll feel better." He narrowly ducked the swing
directed at his head.

"LIAR!!!" Aki shouted. "You hired him to take my place! You think I'm a
lousy navigator!"

"I didn't actually say that." The finger he held up to make the point
nearly got taken off with the next swing from the boat hook.

"Well I've got news for you!" Aki raged. "You're a shitty captain! Your
idea of doing 'captainy things' is getting drunk and letting everyone else
do your dirty work and run the ship! All you know how to do is give screwed
up orders and hit on every girl that gets on this piece of crap hulk!"

The captain was offended. "I never hit on the ugly chicks." 

He dodged another swing, this one aimed at his crotch.

"You lead us into trouble no matter where we go!" Aki shouted as she swung.
"You have offended almost every other seagoing vessel, sailor, and sea
animal between here and the Arctic Ocean!" Another swing. "Do you have any
idea how many ships would open fire on us if they didn't consider
this...thing not worth the effort of sinking?!"

"You're exaggerating." D'Amore defended. "I do not offend people. I am kind
and courteous to every ship that we meet."

Aki shook her head in disbelief. "You hooked up all the speakers and radios
on the ship and called Madame Lao the 'Slut of the Seven Seas' at every
port we've stopped at! Everyone in the Indian Ocean has heard it!"

"She is!" D'Amore shouted as though he had been offended by the mere
mention of his rival's name. "That floating bordello of hers is an offense
to nature! It should be sent to the bottom of the ocean!"

"You're just jealous because she refused your advances and wouldn't let you
sleep with any of the women on board!"

"I would never lower myself to that level of desperation!" D'Amore
declared, the muttered something about the 'dyke bitch'.

"Her ship's magical and heavily armed! She could sink us at will!"

"Don't be so sure of that. This ship can take anything that's thrown at it.
Just take this guardrail for example." He moved over and placed his hand on
it. "It's one of the sturdiest pieces on board this whole vessel. It can
stand up to anything!" As he placed his hand on the metal it gave way,
allowing D'Amore to stand there with a large piece of guardrail in his
hand. "I should have seen that one coming," he muttered as he examined the
metal. 

"Let's find out if you can see this one coming!" She swung again. 

This time the captain dodged and leaped up onto the top of a jutting pipe
that served no useful function, getting out of Aki's easy reach. "I just
realized something. This isn't about me hiring someone to take your place."

Aki stared at him in disbelief once more. "Of course it is!" 

"Nope." He smugly shook his head. "It's about me not hitting on you. Well
I'm sorry, Aki. It's not that you aren't attractive, I just don't want to
end up in traction like the last guy you romanced."

Silk looked on in horror as Aki stood there, face twitching and remaining
silent. She casually discarded her boat hook and went for a nearby anchor.
Easily picking it up, she advanced towards D'Amore.

"I WOULD NEVER SLEEP WITH A WALKING PIECE OF SHIT LIKE YOU!!! NOW DIE!!!"

D'Amore barely evaded her new weapon and fled to the interior of the ship.
Things could have been worse. At least she hadn't begun glowing black.
There would have been cause for a panic if that had happened. Even the
TWPOS might not be able to stand up to that level of power.

Silk observed the raging Aki pursue D'Amore to the bowels of the ship.
Maybe it would be best to wait a couple of days, or maybe a couple of weeks
before complaining about the direction the boat was taking. Silk was many
things, but suicidal was not one of them.



Ranma 1/2 Presents
Shampoo 1/2
Chapter 31

The Storm Builds


All C+C is greatly appreciated.
You can contact me at sommer@nb.net

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

For more information on the Eight Devils of Kimone Icefall has a nice page
at
http://nightfall.simplenet.com/NinjaScroll

Standard disclaimer:
All Ranma 1/2 characters are owned by the Goddess Takahashi and whomever
she sold the rights to. Various cameos are owned by their respective
creators as well. 

There are a handful of original characters here, if you want to use any of
them just ask.

An alternate universe:
What's gone on before (or what you really need to know to enjoy this fic).
The short version. In the beginning, the Saotome's traveled to Jusenkyou to
spar, not realizing Shampoo and Mousse had already begun a duel at the far
side of the pools. 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!)

Last chapter Perfume finally exerted control over her hunt pack and the
Eight Devils of Kimone, along with Herb, razed Mount Phoenix, killing the
majority of the population as well as Saffron. Back at home, lives are
going on as normally as can be expected when one lives in Nerima...


XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX


"Wow Akane! You're getting bigger!"

Akane turned to Chisa. "What's that supposed to mean?" The two were getting
ready for swimming class and in the process of dressing when Chisa made her
declaration. 

"I mean it looks like you've been working out. Look at how big your arm is
compared to mine." Chisa held it up as an example. There was no comparison.
"You really need to ease up on that, by the way."

"What are you talking about?" Akane asked, somewhat flustered. "I practice
martial arts a lot. I can't help it if I put on some mass." She had been
working out with her weights a little more often. Tarou had insisted that
she should concentrate on a power game since she liked to use brute force.
Refining her techniques to make the best use of her power was the way the
training should go.

"That's not what I meant," Chisa said, annoyed. "I'm talking about how you
always get defensive about your looks. There's no reason for it. I mean,
yeah, there are a lot of other good looking girls around here, like Ai and
Shampoo, but you are far from ugly. Especially since you started curling
your hair a little, at least on the ends. It really makes you look cute,
and I wish I were in half as good a shape as you." She poked at her stomach
for emphasis. 

"Oh, stop," Akane said, suddenly embarrassed. "You're in good shape."

"I'm in 'normal' shape. Not fat, but not as fit as you either. Lots of
girls are jealous of you."

"They are?" That was hard to believe.

"Uh huh. They know you can hold your own against anybody. Guys are
attracted to women that can stand on their own two feet. I hear lots of
guys talking about how cute you are all the time. If we weren't such good
friends I'd be jealous too."

"No they don't," Akane was really furiously blushing now.

"Sure. I mean, they know you're available since you don't want to be
engaged to Ranma and don't mind that little tramp going out with him. He
doesn't pay the slightest attention to you." Chisa's voice dropped a bit.
"I happen to know there's a guy that would love to go out with you,
tonight."

Akane moved back in shock. "Not Kunou."

"EWWWW! Of course not!" Chisa had the dignity to look horrified at the
suggestion. "It's my brother, Makato. He's a great guy and really nice.
He's a year older but I really don't think that's a problem. He talks about
you a lot of the time, not that he's obsessive or anything, but he asks how
you are and things like that. A lot of girls think he's cute too. So what
do you say? Give the guy a chance."

She wondered how to delicately get out of that one. On one hand she didn't
want to hurt her friend's feelings. On the other she had no desire to go
out with anyone other than...

She corrected the thought to she did not have enough time to see anyone
other than Ranma, and it wasn't dating, they just spent time together. Of
course explaining it would take too long and raise too many questions. So
best to fudge things, sort of. "I am seeing someone, actually. Ranma. I
mean Shampoo's brother, Ranma, not Ranma Saotome. But it's a secret so
don't tell anyone! You're the only one that knows."

Chisa smiled and slapped her on the back. "I had no idea. He's really cute.
Got yourself quite a catch there. How long have the two of you been going
out?"

"Just a little while and it isn't serious. We're just starting things out
and taking it real slow, so don't get presumptuous about what we're doing."

"That would explain the blush," Chisa smirked.

No way. She wasn't blushing. It had to be the heat or something. "We're not
that involved. Now don't tell anyone."

"I wouldn't dream of it. So how does he kiss? With tongue or without?"

It was going to be a long day.


As Akane made her way to catch up to Ranma-chan, she silently thought about
her 'revelation'. How deep did her feelings for her fiancé go? Was she
simply using him as an excuse to avoid dating, or did she really think
something might happen between them? Was the potential there for anything
real or would they just tolerate one another long enough to get out of the
engagement? The last time he had tried to break it off, when he thought he
was a girl, hurt her badly. Way too badly for someone who claimed they
didn't care. So maybe it was time to find out for real if it was going to
lead to something. 

Akane was more than a little happy that Shampoo-kun wasn't present.
"Where's Shampoo?"

"Kunou dropped by, Shampoo whacked him before I could, and Miss Hinako gave
them both detention. She's going to be a bit late."

Perfect! No chance of interference from the purple-haired bimbo. "There's a
chorus show after school I wanted..." All of her sudden her voice tightened
up."...to know if you wanted to..." it happened again and her heart was
racing. "...ah...that is....ah...I wanted to know if you...ah." 

At that point Ranma-chan gave her a light tap to her forehead. "Spit it
out."

Anger cut through the problems that had suddenly occurred. "I wanted to
know if you want to go with me to it."

"Sure," she shrugged.

"As a guy," Akane added. 

Ranma-chan looked curiously at her. "Sounds like your asking me out on a
date."

"I AM NOT ASKING YOU OUT ON A DATE!!!"

That caught the attention of everyone within two miles. All eyes turned
towards Akane and Ranma-chan. Almost instantly words of 'Akane's dating
Shampoo,' and 'she's just like Ai and Ukyou,' broke out among the
spectators.

Akane looked on, horrified. As per her reflex she turned to Ranma-chan with
an accusatory glare. Quietly she whispered, "This is all your fault. Go
along with what I'm about to say," then started calling out quite loudly.
"You've misunderstood! I was asking your BROTHER out, not you!"

"Then you are asking me...errr him in a date," Ranma-chan said. 

"I have to," Akane whispered back. "People will think I like girls if we
don't go out now."

Ranma-chan sighed. Akane was correct. Gossips around Furinkan really got
everything wrong. Some people had her and Shampoo-kun as having spent the
night in a love hotel and getting arrested. Others said she was pregnant
with his child, as though something like that would happen.

"I'm sure he'd love to, Akane!" Ranma-chan announced to the world.

As soon as they sprung up the words of 'Akane's a lesbian' switched to
'when do you think her and Ranma are going to get hitched?'

One of the windows in the second floor burst open. "What unbelievable words
do I hear from the lips of the masses below? Did I hear the words that the
beauteous Akane Tendo is once again in the grasp of the Fiend Saotome?!"
Without waiting for an answer Kunou went back into the room and curses of
'die, forsaken scum!' were heard, followed by the din of battle. That, in
turn, was followed by, 'you delinquents!' and the sound of Miss Hinako
unleashing her draining attack.

Akane couldn't help but smile. Shampoo-kun was going to be occupied for a
very long time. There would be no interference from him today.


The two went home to get changed. As usual those plans were somewhat
delayed. This time it was by the visitor the Tendo Dojo had just received;
a visitor searching for one Ranma Saotome. 

Kasumi politely greeted the returning students and indicated to Ranma-chan
that everyone was expecting her in the dojo. After getting out of Kasumi
that it wasn't yet another in the seeming unending string of fiancees,
Ranma-chan collected some hot water and changed sexes before meeting the
visitor. Upon entering the dojo he and Akane saw a large Caucasian
gentleman in his twenties with bib overalls, straw hat, and long brown
beard. 

"Ranma," Genma began. "Meet our guest."

He introduced himself with a thick German accent. "I am Boris Borising
Borisoff. Am master of Amish Martial Arts. Have come to fight Ranma
Saotome."

Ranma looked the man over for almost a full minute before responding. "No."

Genma was on him in a flash, the large man attaining a speed usually
reserved for meals. "What are you saying, son? You can't back down from a
challenge!"

"NO!!!" Ranma shouted out. "I have had it! In my time here I have fought
martial arts skaters, martial arts gymnasts, martial arts mimes, and
martial arts basketweavers. Well that all ends today! No more! I absolutely
draw the line at Amish martial artists!"

"Don't underestimate Amish martial arts, boy!" Genma warned.

"What the hell can an Amish martial artist do to me, pop?"

In response Ranma saw nothing but a blur suddenly run around him and
everything went black. Before he could even react he had his arms pinned to
his sides and was hemmed in while he was upright. It was almost as though
someone had put him in a tight coffin.

"He'll build a barn around your butt faster than you can blink," Genma told
his son through the tiny man-sized barn that was just large enough to
contain Ranma.

"Am disappointed," Boris complained. "Was expecting much stronger
opponent."

Akane placed her hands on her hips and announced in a loud voice. "If
you're looking for a challenge, I'll provide you with one. I'm a martial
artist too!"

The man looked Akane over and nodded, impressed. "You would make a good
wife," he stated.

"I would?" Somewhere in the back of her mind she knew something was
horribly wrong.

"Yes," Boris said. "Your hips look very good for childbirthing. Make many
good babies with those hips."

Akane flared blue in rage. 


Ranma at last summoned enough chi energy to blast open the tiny barn he had
been imprisoned in. 

"I'm ready to take you on Boris Badinoff or whatever your name is!"

"It's over, boy," Genma informed him.

Ranma looked around. Sure enough Boris was laying face down in the ground,
literally in the ground since his face was buried in it by about five
inches. Ranma recognized the battle damage as belonging to only one person.

"How'd Akane do it?"

"It was a most impressive display." Soun explained. "She attacked him
quickly and he couldn't do more than defend himself. He never even had a
chance, the poor man. She's at long last learning to harness her anger. I
congratulate you in your training of her, son."

As much as Ranma was resentful for Akane stealing his thunder and getting
his revenge on the foreigner, he was impressed by her handiwork. She really
had gotten a lot better, and the amount of time it took for her to defeat
her opponent had to have been next to nothing. Silently he wondered how she
had improved in such a short amount of time. He didn't think he was
training her that fast or that she was learning all that quickly.

As Ranma left he made the mistake of informing Genma and Soun that the two
of them were going out. The two fathers pulled 'going out together' party
banners and began talking about a possible exchange of rings.

Ranma and Akane left as quickly as they could in avoiding the two men. Once
underway they made good time, managing to avoid both martial artists and
water. For a change of pace they arrived at the choir session unmolested,
in normal health, and without a single cross word said between the two of
them. Both silently thanked the kami for the peace. 

Since they arrived on time the two got good seats, and Akane talked with
several of her classmates. Ranma was a bit annoyed by having to treat
people he knew and saw every day as relative strangers, but 'just Ranma'
could not demonstrate intimate knowledge of the people he knew so well yet
had supposedly never met.

The choir show began without any problems. Even The Director, who was
leading the recital, was well behaved and not electrocuting anyone, though
he did conduct the show with a cattle prod instead of the normal
conductor's wand. As the show progressed Akane finally started to relax.
Could she possible have a date with Ranma and not have it broken up by
someone or something? It seemed too good to be true, yet nothing was
happening. Such peaceful bliss in an otherwise chaotic world was too rare
not to be enjoyed. Even Ranma was on his best behavior, and she had thought
he did not even like choirs. She turned to Ranma to get his reaction to the
whole thing, then learned why he was being so pleasant. He was asleep. 

A tight pinch on his arm awakened him. "I'm not sleeping, Miss Hinako!"

A whole auditorium shushed him quite. He shook his head and reoriented
himself to the world, managing to stay awake until the end. 

The damage had already been done as far as Akane was concerned. She
remained silent until the recital was finished, then headed out as quickly
as she could and walked in the direction of the dojo.

"Where're we going next?" Ranma asked.

"Home," she replied tersely. "Obviously you are having a miserable time if
you're just going to fall asleep on your date."

He let out an exasperated sigh. "No, Akane. It ain't like that at all. It
wasn't you, it was the singing. That choir stuff ain't my sort of thing.
You should know that by now."

"Then why did you go?"

She was doing it to him again. "Because you wanted to go and I didn't want
to spoil your mood."

Akane stared at him curiously. "You're saying you went out of your way for
me?"

"I guess so."

This was a new event. Ranma openly admitted he did something he didn't like
for her benefit. How exceptionally considerate. It took her several moments
to decide how to go about with the new bit of information.

"It's your date too," she said. "We should do something you want to do."

Ranma waved it off. "Nah! You asked me out. You decide."

"I'm deciding that you should choose."

Ranma gave up and tried thinking of where to go and what to do. "An
amusement park opened up near here a while back. Want to hit it?"

Even Ranma was taken off guard by the smile Akane gave him. He felt heat
rush to his cheeks and gulped. She really did look cute when she smiled.
His confidence suddenly took a drop as he began to have a hard time
thinking things through. Why did she have to be so confusing?

The two walked off towards the amusement park. No one stalked them. No one
picked a fight with them. There was nothing to prevent them from having a
good time.

And nothing did.


Shampoo returned home just in time to see the two fathers whooping up a
storm. There were only two things that could make them that joyful, and
only one of them would make her happy.

"Did the little perverted master die?" she asked.

"No," Genma got out as he continued to laugh. "Akane and Ranma went on a
date. Without us encouraging them even. Another drink, Tendo?"

"Of course, Saotome," Soun accepted the offered bottle of saki. He raised
it for a toast. "To our two families, united at last!"

"Hear! Hear!" Genma clinked another bottle of his own. "Why don't you join
us in celebration, Shampoo?" He turned to see she had already disappeared.
His concern as to where the girl had gotten off to lasted only for a moment
before he went back to celebrating.


Shampoo had run out of the house, hell following at her side. The lout! The
insensitive jerk! The traitorous, manipulative bastard had dumped her yet
again for the bitch, Akane. Oh, he was willing to act like he had a good
time with Shampoo on their date, but instead of asking her out again, like
he had implied he was going to, he went out with HER instead. The brutal,
ugly, unattractive, kitchen destroyer that he claimed he didn't even want
to be engaged to. What was he doing anyway? Time sharing the two of them?
Go out with one and then another? Did he think he was Kunou? If so he was
going to find out some very unpleasant facts of life, like no one played
with Shampoo's heart and got away with it.

Her anger rapidly began to dissipate. Curse Ranma! She should have been
able to maintain her fury for an entire day the way he had gotten her
upset, and justifiably so. Shampoo did consider trying to run the two of
them down and ruining the date, but even if she could figure out where they
were there was a problem. Akane had not tried to ruin her date with Ranma.
She did something to make him jealous, but that had not appeared to work,
at least Ranma seemed to have a good time with Shampoo that night, but
maybe it really had gotten to him. At any rate she would let the two of
them have a good time. She could have a good time on her own, and she
wasn't going to be low enough to ask Kasumi out just so she could irritate
Ranma. Kasumi didn't deserve to be used that way and Ranma probably would
just encourage Shampoo.

So she strolled around the streets in a generally bad mood. She was so
distracted that she failed to sense the presence of someone stalking her.
At least she was unaware until she felt the tap on the back of her neck and
her muscles locked up. All muscle control was lost, though consciousness
was maintained. Her body, which had already been in forward motion, went
crashing into the ground. A pressure point hit. She cursed herself for
being so careless and letting her attention wander like it had. Even a
three year old could have evaded the attack better. She cursed Ranma as
well for the frustration he caused her, distracting her so much that she'd
easily fallen into the ambush. 

When the attack had come, Shampoo had been walking on a side street that
was little more than an alleyway. Once down there she had seen no one and
been seen by no one. No sounds emanated forth from the darkened buildings
of that narrow avenue. Rescue was a fantasy she was not likely to receive. 

Her head was facing slightly to the left in the position she had fallen.
All she could see was the bright red and dull gray texture of the building
she had fallen next to. Nothing could help her there. She was steeling
herself for the worst when an altogether too familiar figure made itself
known. Shampoo would have uttered 'Great Grandmother' in shock, but her
vocal cords had been affected as well.

Cologne began speaking. "If you promise not to call out for help or scream
I'll allow you to talk. Move your eyes up and down if you agree."

She did. Cologne tapped a different spot on the back of Shampoo's neck with
her cane. The purple-haired Amazon found she could once more move her jaw.

"I though you could no attack me."

Cologne sighed. "I'm not attacking you. I simply needed you stationary long
enough to hear me out. The question now is, will you listen?"

"It not like I have a choice!" Shampoo snarled back.

Cologne suppressed the urge to swat her great granddaughter for taking that
tone of voice with her. The extenuating circumstances had forced Shampoo to
grow up all too fast and her anger was at least partially justified. "You
are wrong. I can speak all I want but you have the choice of simply hearing
me and disregarding everything I say, or you can listen and learn why I am
here. Now I ask you again, great granddaughter, will you listen to what I
have to say?"

Shampoo wondered what kind of a word game her great grandmother was playing
at now. She usually only used it at times when she wanted someone to lower
their guard, and this situation felt exactly like one of those occasions.
Under the circumstances she had little choice and finally agreed. 

"Excellent." Cologne's body language reflected her relief. "I am not here
to drag you back home. I am going to assist you in whatever way I can in
freeing you from this awful curse."

So it was a trap, just like Shampoo expected. "Why do I no believe you?"

Cologne shook her head. Shampoo was going to make things difficult, and she
used to be so trusting too. "I mean it, even if you don't believe me. It
took me a while, but I have become convinced that you are not meant to be
cured or taken back home. That is the only explanation I can come up with.
In the last few months I was physically bested in combat by a neophyte
child. I've come up with plans that I could only see were flawed after I
executed them and they failed, and the few that were good you managed to
evade through luck, skill, or a combination of both. I was very desperate
for a while there, but after your final encounter with Perfume I suspected
there was nothing I could do to bring you back. You have no idea how
frustrating that is to me. I haven't been thwarted that many times in the
entire last hundred years."

Shampoo could hear the disappointment in her great grandmother's voice, but
she still hadn't gotten to the point of the conversation. 

Cologne continued. "Now I just wanted to let you to know if you need help I
will do what I can to assist you. 

Shampoo felt her heart soar. She wanted to believe her. She wanted
everything to go back to the way things were with her relationship with her
great grandmother. There had been so much love there and she desperately
wanted any connection with her family. It was a piece of her that had been
missing for such a long time. But she just couldn't. There was too much
risk involved if Cologne was lying. "I can no do that, great grandmother. I
am sorry."

For the first time that she could remember, Shampoo saw the woman that had
all but raised her in the last six years of her life, the matriarch of the
Joketsuzoku and the best fighter of her generation, actually look old and
tired. Despite that Cologne managed a smile 

"Were our positions reversed I would feel the same way. My offer still
holds though, and I promise that you no longer have a need to fear me. I
will be at the Black Rose's Floral Shoppe should you have need of me." She
touched the back of Shampoo's neck allowing muscle control to return once
more. 

As Cologne prepared to hop off on her staff Shampoo spoke as she returned
to her feet. "Thank you for the offer, great grandmother."

Cologne visibly brightened at that. "I almost forgot to ask, how are you
and the boy getting along?" The matriarch was amused at the blush that rose
to Shampoo's cheeks.

"I not know what you mean, great grandmother."

"Of course not," Cologne was amused even more. Only the most oblivious
would miss the blush, the looking down at the ground, the scuffing of the
feet. "Has he challenged you for your hand yet?"

Shampoo stopped scuffing her feet. "No. He can't. His stupid father
promised him to one of the Tendo girls. He can't do anything until he gets
out of it."

Cologne nodded in understanding. "He is an outsider, you know. All you need
to do is get him to fight you once. I'm sure you can find a way to let him
win."

Shampoo furiously shook her head. "I not going to throw a fight for a
stupid boy!"

"I see. Does he at least know how you feel about him?"

Shampoo was about to answer one way when she remembered where Ranma was and
with whom. "Yes! He's an arrogant jerk that play with girls hearts and I no
care about him!" And with that declaration she stormed off, much to
Cologne's surprise.

"The boy better watch himself," Cologne muttered. "Hell really hath no fury
like an Amazon scorned." Her long dead husband could have attested to that.
It certainly had been a tumultuous courtship that spanned two years and
three continents, not that the outcome had ever been in doubt. She just
hoped Shampoo was up to the task of winning someone like Ranma. Parts of
the boy reminded her of her husband, and that wasn't necessarily a good
thing.


Mousse was looking over all the denizens in the floral shop once again,
trimming as he went along. He really had missed all if them. The return of
both him and Kodachi to the greenhouse was for the best. It felt more like
a home than the Kunou estate ever did. Even Kodachi agreed. There was no
more having to deal with the presence of the Kodachi's twisted father or
her equally thick skulled brother. It was time for some peacefulness now.
He went through the house trimming the gardenias, the rose bushes, the old
ghoul who was sitting on her staff...

*WHAM*

Mousse found himself staring up at the glass ceiling. There was a Cologne
that needed trimming? That wasn't right. The familiar figure came next to
him and hovered over his prone form. 

"Aren't you going to welcome me back? I am living here once again, you
know."

"NNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!"


Kasumi smiled as she looked in on the two fathers. They had managed to
drink themselves into unconsciousness in celebration of the 'impending
marriage' of Akane and Ranma. It was nice to see them so happy. Now that
she had cleaned up around them she was at a loss of what to do next. She
didn't want to make too much noise and rouse the passed out duo, so that
left very few things that she could do. She didn't want to go shopping
without Shampoo. The mood to watch television was all wrong. She could
always let Birdy out and watch him hunt, but she really didn't feel like
doing that either. For the first time in recent memory she had nothing to
do. Then it hit her like the proverbial ton of bricks.

She stopped to consider it for a few minutes. It was silly. She hadn't done
it in years and would be terribly out of practice. An injury could even
result and then who would cook and clean? Well, Shampoo could, but Kasumi
didn't want to inconvenience her friend that way. Yet something deep within
her almost demanded it. So she went to the laundry room and grabbed one of
Akane's freshly washed gis. Akane's was the only one in the house that
would come close to fitting her, even if it was a little short. She changed
into the gi, noticing as she put it on that the chest was a little tight
and it was a little loose at the hips. Once the belt fastened it in place
she proceeded to the dojo.

Kasumi had cleaned it up earlier in the day and knew it was in immaculate
shape. She hesitated at the doorway, a feeling that this was not the place
for her and she should leave, but she resisted the urge at the last second
and entered. As soon as she set foot in the dojo memories assailed her.
This was very peculiar since she had entered the dojo thousands of times,
but she could not remember being affected in this way. It took her a moment
to understand what the difference was. She had not entered the dojo with
the intention of practicing, it was always simply to clean. Now, for the
first time in a decade, she was preparing to take to the wooden floor and
practice her martial arts.

The memories continued to wash over her as she recalled the past. It was
true that she had basically been Mommy's little girl, but she enjoyed
spending time with her father and he always paid such close attention to
her when she practiced. It was true that she was never as excited about
them as she was about cooking, but it was fun in its own way. And it was
easy too, much easier than cooking. Her father was always amazed when she
would learn a kata so quickly. Sometimes after doing it only once or twice.
Her father always encouraged her and said she was going to become a great
martial artist someday. Little Kasumi wouldn't have minded that, just so
long as she could do other things like her mother did. Then her mother died
and everything fell apart. Martial arts were forgotten as the family did
everything it could to stay together. 

Now she found herself in the middle of the dojo, ready to use what she had
learned so long ago once again. She began by stretching out. Pulled muscles
were often a martial artist's own worst enemy. Those could lay one low
where a dozen opponents would fail, at least that was what her father had
told her. Once she had completed the warm up to her satisfaction, she stood
ready to begin with the first kata her father had taught her. It was the
most basic pattern, and thus the ideal one to start with. She effortlessly
executed it and flowed into the second. It really was like falling off a
bicycle: one never forgot how to do it. 

She went directly from the second to the third, then repeated again from
the beginning. It was all so easy for her. She went through all the ones
her father taught her from so many years ago three times before she started
to feel tired, much to her disappointment. It felt so good to move through
those old patterns. The last two sets were executed to perfection, she was
certain. Pride filled her as she knew her mastery of the art had not
disappeared with the passing of the years. Despite her fatigue she wanted
very much to continue. Then she remembered what could be done to relieve
the exhaustion. It was such a basic thing that her grandmother had taught
her that she could scarcely believe she had forgotten it. It took but a
moment of concentration to allow her chi to fill her and release the
weariness from the muscles that threatened to cut things short. New energy
filled her as she picked up where she left off. Once she completed the set
a fourth time she went to one of the ones her mother had taught her. Up
through the stages she speeded through from the first basic one to the
advanced fiftieth, and last set she learned from her mother before she was
killed. 

Now it was time to utilize the ones Kasumi had developed on her own. Even
the basic techniques were three times as complex as what she had ever been
taught by her mother. She had so wanted to master the art, and developing
effective techniques always brought her such joy, even if there were very
few that could master them. Sweat plastered her gi to her body as she
called upon her chi to once more assist her in performing the middle level
ones. Stone foot techniques were mixed with rapid mongoose hand thrusts in
what would be a devastating combination of attacks to even the highly
trained. 

Once that was completed it was time to employ the amagurikan. Ranma and
Shampoo would have probably been jealous of her, just like the elders were.
Ranma could generate approximately one hundred and thirty strikes per
second when in female form. Kasumi could more than double that without
calling upon her chi to increase the speed. And she could overcome one of
the drawbacks to the amagurikan by hitting multiple points on the body
while keeping up the speed. When one simply struck the same the same spot
repeatedly it was much easier to defend against it.

Several sets of the amagurikan were completed before she came up with
another set of techniques to use. Several levels of the elemental schools
were at her command. Of course she could have focused her studies on but
one of the schools and become a grandmistress of it, but she desired
diversity in her techniques. She was already a grandmistress of the chi.
That, combined with her other talents, made up for any lack of dominance in
any one of the elemental schools.

Her body flowed like liquid in elegant grace as she employed some of the
water school techniques. After going through several patterns of that she
switched to the opposite school, employing some of the far more aggressive
techniques of the fire school. Her ability to effortlessly shift from one
school to the other had proven the undoing of more than one opponent. The
use of earth techniques was kept to a minimum. Many of them produced far
too much noise and would disturb the neighbors. The techniques of air were
the last, the defensive nature of the school suited her temperament, though
there were certainly attacks in it was well. To demonstrate, she used the
wind fist in a series of blows ending with a quick pivot behind her and
knocking an exact eight inch diameter hole in one of the walls. Her
precision was still nearly perfect.

Deciding that was enough, Kasumi retired from the dojo and went to wash up.
It was wonderful to know that all she had learned from her mother...no,
that wasn't quite right. She learned all of her martial arts from her
father. It was odd that she would think her mother had taught her anything
involving fighting. She was a peaceful woman that knew nothing of the art
of combat. In any case it was good that she had not forgotten any of the
techniques, and her mood was so much better now. She idly grasped the
broken piece of the signet ring, a golden chain looped through it, that she
now kept around her neck. 

Hunger made its presence known by the gnawing sensation in her stomach.
After she cleaned up she would have to grab something to eat. There was a
whole watermelon in the refrigerator that might do nicely. As hungry as she
was she could probably devour the whole thing.


Nabiki entered the house in a near blind rage. Tarou had now begun taking a
cut of the action that was larger than hers. 'After all, we wouldn't want
to leave any doubts as to who was in charge, now would we?' or so the scum
had told her. Well, she would get at least some of it back. Bull balls were
a delicacy in some countries and she could get a nice price for his.

Taking a deep breath Nabiki calmed herself down. Ryonami was moving on to
some other interviews. Kaori's had been most informative, but they were
going to need more than that to knock Tarou off his high horse. Kami bless
Ryonami. If it wasn't for her Nabiki wasn't sure what she would do.

Nabiki entered the kitchen to grab a light snack; she was too upset at the
moment to eat anything more than that. The first thing she noticed as she
was about to enter it was the sound of someone clearly stuffing their face.
Odds were it was Genma. Ranma was usually a lot quieter when pigging out.
Upon entering she was shocked to see the loud noises had been coming from
Kasumi, who was sitting at the kitchen table laying into a watermelon, that
had been cut in half, like there was no tomorrow. Nabiki's jaw practically
dropped in shock. Kasumi was eating faster than either of the Saotomes ever
did. 

"Kasumi!" she finally got out. "What are you doing?!"

Kasumi broke of her assault on the produce long enough to answer. "I was
suddenly very hungry and had a craving for some watermelon." 

"Some watermelon?!" Nabiki almost shouted. "You've eaten the whole thing!"
She indicated the half Kasumi had just finished and the other half which
sat to the right of her, the green rounded end pointing towards Nabiki.

"Oh no!" Kasumi declared as she saw Nabiki's eyes lock on the half that was
next to Kasumi. "I didn't touch that one. That's Birdy's."

Hearing his name, Birdy crawled into view from the inside of his half of
the watermelon and scowled at Nabiki.

"I'm certain if you want some, Birdy wouldn't mind sharing."

Nabiki recoiled in disgust. "I would never touch food that foul little
thing came into contact with." As the last word of condemnation left her
mouth she suddenly found herself under assault by a machine gun-like stream
of watermelon seeds that were being shot out from Birdy's mouth.

"BIRDY! Stop that at once!" Kasumi chastised the miniature pterodactyl, who
immediately broke off the assault and appeared shamefaced. 

Off to the side, Nabiki smirked at Birdy. At last Kasumi had taken her side
over the pet's. 

"That's better," Kasumi's voice softened. "You were getting seeds all over
the floor."

Nabiki facefaulted.


Ryonami continued walking around, searching for the next interviewee. The
last one she had, with Kaori, had gone well, though for some odd reason the
girl insisted she had never heard the name of Ryu Kumon, despite the fact
she had been married to him for several months. Silently she gave up that
line of thought. Kaori's selective amnesia was irrelevant to the task at
hand: locating Ryu Kumon.

As Ryonami made her way through a park her mind replayed the events of the
last few days. Everything was falling apart and it was all Tarou's fault.
Originally, when Nabiki had been the one in charge, her 'organization' had
been simple. There were basically three types of people that worked with
and for Nabiki. Those that enjoyed it and were basically Nabiki's friends.
You could always tell those ones because they would hang around together
and basically had a good time. Those that were in it for the money and
didn't care about anything else. Very few of them hung around together.
Then there were the individuals Nabiki 'recruited' for their talents.
Recruitment usually involved getting some kind of leverage against them so
they would at least work part-time for her and employ those 'talents' for
her benefit. Those ones disliked Nabiki intensely and rarely hung around
any of the others. 

With the advent of Tarou things had changed, and not for the better. He
initially intimidated his way into the upper ranks and took control. It
probably would not have lasted if it hadn't been for the fact he began
courting the favors of the greedy ones and those that were being
blackmailed. The former didn't give a damn about who ran things just so
long as they got paid. The latter sucked up to Tarou so they could get a
piece of Nabiki. Now everything was falling apart. Nabiki's real friends
were slowly quitting one by one and leaving nothing but the creeps and
scumbags behind. 

Ryonami was almost out of the park when a hand fell on her shoulder. She
turned to see the hand belonged to one Michi Yoshinari, one of the worst
scumbags around. 

"Hi, Ryo."

His greeting failed to warm her heart. "What do you want?"

"Hey! That's no way to talk to someone who's trying to help you out."

Ryonami noticed the 'more smarmy than usual' look he was giving her. He
only did that when he thought he knew something others didn't. By the kami,
how she hated that look . "And just how do you plan to help me out?" She
noticed the look got even worse. If she was a more physical person she
would have simply smacked him.

"I couldn't help but notice you've been visiting a lot of people. People
that don't owe us money, inform us of stuff, or that have any connection to
our outfit. Now I asked myself 'why would a cute girl like Ryonami be
visiting all these people?'"

Ryonami felt bile rise to her throat from the suggestion she would be
desperate enough to want attention from a guy like him. "What did you come
up with?"

He held up his finger indicating she should wait a moment before he would
tell her. After his 'dramatic pause' he explained. "It took me a while but
I figured out what it was. Y'see, I remember you were real tight with that
bitch, Nabiki, when you first came here."

Ryonami felt fear and anger at the same time. Anger that he dared call her
sempai a bitch. Fear that he had somehow discovered the truth. 

"Now I know you had a falling out with her, but I'm willing to bet she told
you something only you would know. Like maybe a second list of people that
owe her money."

Ryonami could barely conceal her relief.

Michi continued. "Now we both know Tarou would never approve of you
freelancing on his turf, so the way I see it you're in a whole world of
trouble if this gets out."

Ryonami felt the fear return. Tarou would indeed flatten her if he thought
she was working some people on the side. But if she told him the truth he
would hurt her even worse. "What do you want?" she finally asked. 

"A cut of the action. Say about fifty percent for my silence."

Ryonami had no choice but to agree, though Michi was going to be
disappointed when he learned there was no money involved. She'd probably
have to throw him a little bit to keep him occupied.

Once their business was concluded Ryonami headed back to her original plan.
As she left the park her luck took a turn for the better: she caught sight
of Ryu. He was attracting a bit of attention with the company he was
keeping, specifically that of a huge razorback. 

Cautiously she approached the youth and what she figured was his pet. Her
ears perked up as she got closer and heard him talking to the pig. What was
even weirder was that he was apologizing to it for taking it on a date at a
waterslide amusement park. She hoped the guy wasn't a total headcase,
though curiously it almost seemed the pig understood what he was saying by
responding with grunts and squeals. 

"Excuse me." She caught Ryu's attention. "Allow me to introduce myself. My
name is Ryonami Nagata." She smiled as warmly as she could at Ryu. He was a
rather handsome fellow. As it was she missed the scowl the razorback
leveled at that smile. Ryonami did become aware of its displeasure when it
moved itself between her and Ryu. 

"Hey! What's the big idea?!" Ryonami shouted as close to half a ton of
razorback pushed her to the side. 

"Akari!" Ryu snapped. "Just because our date got ruined is no reason to
take your anger out on this girl!" His voice softened somewhat. "I'll make
it up to you. We'll go out on a date later."

Ryonami was amazed at what was unmistakably squeals of delight from the
razorback. A light pain filled her head as she realized that the handsome
Ryu was a pervert into bestiality. It would be best if she got the
information quickly, before he thought she looked like a woodchuck or
something. "I wanted to know if you have any information on someone named
Pantyhose Tarou."

A scowl developed on Ryu's features as he began telling everything he knew
about Pantyhose to Ryonami, who made certain to record the conversation. It
was even more damning evidence to add to the total she now had. If only the
validity of the story could be maintained by keeping Ryu's fetish under
wraps. Should his tastes become public knowledge, his credibility would be
shot to hell. 


Akane found it difficult to make her way down the street with all the
prizes Ranma had won for her. There were more stuffed animals than she
could carry. In fact, she had Ranma carry a lot of them as well. Too bad
she had to give up the pink cat though. Ranma practically went into his
neko-ken at the mere sight of it, and it had been so cute too. She even had
a name picked out for it: C-Chan.

But if that was the only thing that had gone wrong then the rest of the
night had been perfect. It went beyond simply not being accosted by a new
enemy or one of Ranma's old ones. It went beyond no imbeciles, like Kunou,
trying to hit on her. There had been no cutting or sarcastic remarks out of
Ranma. No jibes or hurtful things. He was every inch the pleasant date, and
there was no blow to the head to trigger his courteousness this time (at
least none that she knew of.)

They had ridden practically all of the rides, Akane hiding behind Ranma
when they went in the haunted house. She would have sworn he was going to
say something caustic the first time she cowered behind him, but he said
nothing more than, "you're with me. So you ain't got anything to worry
about." There was more than a little arrogance in the proclamation, but
rather than feel angry about his protective behavior she found
herself...well not swooning exactly, but something sort of similar.

Later the duo went to grab a shake at one of the dining places on the park
grounds. Akane gave in to the suggestion of the counterperson that they get
the 'two for one' Shake. At first Ranma was delighted at the idea of
getting two shakes for one, then learned that it was 'two straws for one'
in a pink heart shaped glass. Naturally 'Mr. Romance' missed out on the
fact it was the sort of thing that only couples were supposed to get, but
somehow Akane could not quite bring herself to explain it to him, and
instead convinced the two of them to share the drink. To her amazement when
Ranma left his hand on the table she had to suppress the urge to grab it
and hold it in hers. Several times actually.

After Ranma won a couple dozen of the fluffy animals for her, the two of
them at last departed and headed home. They were no more than halfway there
when Ranma's greatest enemy, water, made an appearance as a storm cloud
came out of nowhere and began a torrential downpour. The duo had just
enough time to make it under a tiny open air park shelter before the rain
actually hit. They placed their stuffed animals on the ground towards the
back of the shelter and watched the rain fall down.

The wind drove the rain hard causing the two to move closer in an effort to
avoid the increasingly close droplets. Even as they moved further away from
the edge Ranma put his arm around her shoulder. She looked at his face as
he scowled at the rain, it was obvious that the motion was one of
protection rather than one of affection. Despite that Akane moved her body
closer to his, almost snuggling against his chest. Her movement did manage
to snare his attention, and she caught out of the corner of her eye his
blush as she made herself more comfortable in his embrace. 

It was then the rain passed as quickly as it came, much to her
disappointment, and the two continued on their way back home. The rest of
the journey went without incident. In many ways that made the trip a little
discouraging, she didn't want it to end. But end it did as the two arrived
outside the gates of the dojo. Ranma stopped just outside the door and told
Akane to wait for a moment.

"Why?" she asked.

"I'm just trying to think of where they'll be."

"Who?"

"You know," Ranma suddenly managed to bring out a banner identical to the
one the fathers had used earlier. The one loudly proclaiming the duo's
date.

"Oh. Good question." Akane smiled at that. "I bet they'll be waiting inside
the house. Nabiki will be the bushes next to the house with a camera
waiting to get everything on tape."

"Let's play a little game with them." 

Akane couldn't help but notice the mischievous gleam Ranma got in his eye.
"What kind of a game?"

"Let's give them something to talk about." 

Akane listened to the plan. It was wicked, yet somehow appropriate,
considering what the fathers had done to them in the past.


Their guesses had been on the mark as the two fathers hid beneath an open
window near the front door when Akane and Ranma approached. Nabiki watched
everything from the bushes, camera set on record. All were anxious as the
couple advanced to the house. 

The two stopped on the porch, then held one another by the waist as they
looked dreamily in each one's eyes. 

"Ranma, thank you for the most wonderful night of my life."

"I feel the same way," he answered. 

Akane slipped out of his embrace and turned away, pain filling her voice as
she spoke. "There's something you should know about me before we allow our
relationship to go on any longer."

Ranma's acting lessons came to the forefront without the benefit of
electricity. "I don't care what it is Akane. Nothing you could do would
ever hurt me."

"When you hear what I have to say, you may change your mind."

Ranma moved to hold Akane from behind. "Tell me."

"I," she gave a dramatic pause. "I'm not a virgin."

Ranma remained where he was while continuing to look sympathetic. "Who?" 

"It was," she made her voice catch as she pretended to remove a tear from
her eye. "It was Ryouga."

Ranma paused for a moment. "It doesn't matter to me. I care about you for
who you are, not what you've done. I'm glad you told me who you slept
with." He moved his body closer to her.

She pulled out of the embrace. "Oh, he wasn't the only one I slept with."

Ranma drew back himself. "Who else was there?"

"There was also Kunou."

Ranma looked even more lovingly to her. "I meant what I said. It doesn't
matter to me. Thank you for you hones--"

"I'm not finished yet," she interrupted. "There was also Tarou."

"I see. Wel-"

"And Mousse."

"Okay."

"And Tsubasa."

"I like a girl with a little experience."

"And Mikado."

"Make that a lot of experience."

"And Ukyou."

"Everyone needs a little variation in their diet."

"While Ai helped out."

"The more the merrier."

Akane stared at him tearfully. "How can you be so forgiving?"

"It's easy." Ranma said with a smile. "I've slept with all those people
too."

Nabiki had enough time to let the camera slip from her suddenly limp hands
while the front door exploded and a demon-headed Soun and chi enhanced
forty foot version of Genma confronted the duo.

"WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS?!!!" Soun-demon raged.

"ANSWER ME NOW, BOY!!!" Genma shouted in agreement.

Ranma and Akane remained unusually calm in the face of such power, going so
far as to look disdainfully at the fathers. Ranma spoke first. "So, you
were eavesdropping on a private conversation. You're just as bad as that
peeping old goat that taught you."

"Really, Dad. It serves you right. If you two would stop butting in we'd
get along better, but instead we always step on you two underfoot and it
messes everything up."

Both men shrunk down to their normal sizes as the truth began to settle in.
Soun spoke first for the duo. "You mean everything you said was a lie?"

Ranma and Akane nodded in agreement.

"I knew it all the time, boy. You're too much of a man among men to do such
things." Thank you, Genma silently said to kami above.

Very loud cursing came from Nabiki's direction as she complained out loud
about her gullibility. Soun and Genma went inside, followed by Ranma and
then Akane a step behind him. She and Ranma said good night as the two went
to bed. Akane lay on her back, staring at the ceiling. She had started the
day wondering what her fiancé meant to her and if there was any chance of
something real going on between them. After today she finally had her
answer. The only thing left now was how he felt on the matter. Not an easy
question, but one which was going to be answered soon if Akane had anything
to say about it.


Ukyou listened to the sound of water running as she wondered how things had
come to this point. The day had started innocently enough. She and Ai had
arrived at school, together, without Kyoko and Ryouga tagging along. During
the entire jaunt over to the school Ai had behaved like a perfectly normal
human being, a rare thing in Nerima, to be sure. There was no glomping, no
attempts at seduction, nothing but a friendly conversation with one
another. Something Ukyou had not done with another girl, ever. Upon
arriving at the school Ai's pleasant demeanor was brought short as Megumi,
Kaede, and Ayeka, dressed in their cheerleader combat gear, lined up
expectantly, as though waiting for Ai. Kaede took the forward spot and
spoke first with her carefully rehearsed speech.

"Ai. We have come to a decision. It's time for new leadership for the
cheerleader squad. You have done nothing for the last few months except
mope and let us go soft. Now it is time for someone else to assume power.
It is time for me to take over as head cheerleader  and guide us to victory
over all of our foes!"

Ukyou saw a familiar look return to Ai's eyes. 

"Give me your baton," Ai ordered Kaede, hand out and at the ready.

Kaede looked confusedly at her, then shrugged and handed Ai the baton.

*WHAMWHAMWHAMWHAMWHAMWHAMWHAMWHAM*

"Is there anyone else that wishes to usurp my role as leader?" Ai offered
as she twisted her foot on Kaede's unconscious form.

Megumi and Ayeka simply shook their heads. At last their leader was back.

"I'm glad you see things my way, but Kaede was correct. I have been lax in
my duties as the head cheerleader around here. You guys have had it too
easy for a while. I'll make up for that starting right now! RUN AROUND THE
SCHOOL FORTY TIMES AND PRAY THAT IT'S FAST ENOUGH FOR ME OR YOU'LL DO IT
AGAIN!!! THAT MEANS YOU TOO, KYOKO!!!"

Kyoko had just arrived at the school grounds, arm locked with Ryouga, and
dropped her jaw in shock. Instincts took over as she moved to obey,
grabbing the prone form of Kaede as she ran.

"It's good to be the queen," Ai said as she admired the running girls. She
allowed herself the luxury of command for only a few moments before turning
to Ukyou. "I'm going to correct something that should have been done a long
time ago."

"What's that?" Ukyou asked. Ai was unpredictable it was enough to make her
head swim.

Ai just gave her a blithe little smile and turned to the rest of the
Furinkan population. Using one of her martial arts cheerleader abilities,
she increased the volume of her voice until it sounded as clamorous as a
loudspeaker.

"ATTENTION ALL STUDENTS! THERE IS A RUMOR GOING AROUND SCHOOL THAT UKYOU
AND I ARE A COUPLE! WE ARE NOT NOW NOR EVER WERE! IF I CATCH ANYONE
SPREADING SUCH VICIOUS RUMORS I WILL DO SOMETHING UNPLEASANT TO THEM."

A din rose as the students began talking amongst themselves. Most of them
in disbelief at the proclamation. 

Ai sadly shook her head and decided to make an example out of one of them,
throwing Kaede's baton at the back of a student's head and knocking him
out. "NOW DOES EVERYONE GET IT?!!!"

A chorus of agreement met her declaration this time.

"Thanks, Ai." Ukyou was genuinely pleased at her dispelling the rumors like
that. Things would hopefully get a little easier now with the rumors
somewhat tempered.

Ai gave a dynamic little smile at that. "I have a little favor to ask. How
would you like to have a sleep over?"

Ukyou's mood shifted as she began sweating bullets. "Ai, just because I'm
not rejecting you out of hand doesn't mean I'm interested in that sort of
thing."

"That's not why I'm doing it," she said in a reassuring tone. "I haven't
felt comfortable enough to have someone sleep over in a long time, but
you're different. Look, I'll promise not to hit on you or try to seduce you
at all. We can just spend time together as friends."

Ukyou still had her doubts. "It still seems weird."

"Girls have sleep-overs all the time." As Ai finished saying those words
the realization dawned on her. "You've never been to a sleep-over before,
have you?"

Ukyou looked down in the ground in embarrassment. "I never really had an
opportunity to. It's not like I could sleep over at anyone's house without
my little secret coming out."

Ai was practically bubbling with joy. "You'll love it! It'll be great. If
you're too uncomfortable doing it at my place we can use yours."

Having the home field advantage reassured Ukyou a little. She supposed that
if Ai got out of hand she could always throw her out. Besides, it just
might prove fun after all. She agreed and was once again warmed by the
genuine smile Ai gave her. This time she smiled just as warmly back and
watched in amusement as Ai appeared a little stunned at the reaction.

Ai came over after business hours bearing a bag full of sleep-over
equipment in hand. The two of them talked pleasantly about school and
various other matters as they settled in. Ukyou felt more and more at ease
until it started to get late and they decided to hit the sack, though she
once again made Ai promise not to hit on her since they were going to be
sharing the same bed. Ai had agreed to take the floor, but Ukyou didn't
feel comfortable making her sleep on the futon on the floor. Ukyou showered
first and let Ai go second, Ukyou silently thanking that Ai had not
suggested that the two of them share it together.


Ryouga made his way back into Uk-Chan's in a really annoyed mood. It all
started when Ai had first come over, much to the lost one's irritation, and
proceeded to make herself at home, much to his further irritation. He
really had intended to stay the entire time, but Kyoko showed up right
after work and dragged him to her place. She claimed they had to decide
what introduction music to play for their upcoming match against Flex and
the Brute. For someone that claimed she didn't even like wrestling she
certainly was taking the rematch seriously. All of his protests were for
naught as she slowly dragged him all the way to her home and played music
over her mother's karioke machine until they settled on a tune to herald
their entrance to the ring. He settled on 'Wherever I May Roam,' by
Metallica, which seemed oddly appropriate, for some reason. After that
Ryouga quickly excused himself, over Kyoko's protests, and changed to a bat
to find his way home. 

After knocking over the steaming kettle Ukyou left laying around for him he
felt rather grubby and elected to grab a quick shower before bed. He
unerringly made his way up the stairs and made a beeline for the shower.
Just as he was about to open the door it did so on its own. Surprised at
the move he looked up to see Ai, obviously just having finished a shower of
her own, wearing a towel wrapped around her hair and nothing else. It was
with a great deal of pride that Ryouga lost consciousness. He realized that
he lasted an entire one point five seconds longer than the last time saw Ai
naked before passing out.

Ai simply looked down contemptuously at his prone form and walked over him,
making certain her foot landed on his midsection, while avoiding the
copious amount of blood from his nose, and muttered about what a stupid
buffoon he was. She continued drying her hair as she entered Ukyou's
bedroom.

"Your boarder passed out on the floor. Want me to dispose of the body?"

Ukyou gave Ai an irritated stare. "If you had put some clothes on that
wouldn't have happened!"

Ai looked offended. "I always sleep in the nude." 

Ukyou couldn't decide if she was telling the truth or trying to hit on her
despite the promise. "Not if you're sleeping here you're not! Get something
on. I think there's some extra things of Ryouga's that will fit you." Ukyou
started to get up when Ai rushed over to stop her. 

"Don't go through all that inconvenience for me. I'll just grab this." 

Ai snatched a long shirt that from a nearby basket of newly cleaned clothes
and threw it on, the shirt barely managing to reach the bottom of her rear
end. Ukyou felt a pang of jealousy once more as the girl before her filled
out the nightshirt in ways that she could only dream of doing. 

Ai turned on the television and plopped herself down next to Ukyou on the
bed. Now was a time of tension for the okonomiyaki chef. She knew Ai was
interested in her and she was willingly allowing the cheerleader to sit
next to her. Sleep next to her, actually. Ukyou believed Ai when she
claimed she wasn't going to hit on her, but it was still an uncomfortable
situation. 

As Ukyou sat there she looked over to Ai and saw something that wasn't
there before. It was her face. Somehow it had changed from the usual, and
admittedly sensuous, appearance it had borne. Instead there was a sort of
feeling of relaxation that her features now had. 

Ai became aware of the scrutiny she was now receiving. "What is it?"

Ukyou shook her head. "You may think I'm crazy, but you look a little
different."

Ai primped her hair a little at that. "Good different or bad different."

"Good different. You look a lot happier. I guess that's the best word for
it."

"Of course I'm happier. I'm with you."

Ukyou was taken aback from the girlish smile Ai gave at that point. This
was no seductress before her, just an ordinary girl that was having a good
time. Things were a little disconcerting. Ai's current appearance was just
so different from the facade she presented. And as time passed it became
more and more obvious that was just what it was, a facade. What was before
her now was the 'real' Ai, and as near as Ukyou could tell, it was someone
that hadn't put in an appearance in a long time. 

It was hard to believe she didn't notice the difficulties Ai had before.
There was such a difference between how she presented herself to everyone
else and how she acted around Ukyou. The barrier Ai had erected to shield
herself from the world was let down for one person only: Ukyou, and that
feeling was more than a little overwhelming. Much of Ukyou's nervousness
passed as she now understood what Ai had meant when she spoke of having
power over someone else. But in Ukyou, any desire for control was easily
overridden by a desire to protect the girl who had willingly opened herself
to her.

"I promise I won't ever hurt you." Ukyou said sincerely.

Ai maintained her smile. "I know. If it's any consolation, I won't hurt you
either. Now relax! We're supposed to be having fun."

"Right." This time Ukyou relaxed a bit more and watched a little television
while still looking at Ai from out of the corner of her eye. The whole
situation was just so weird for her. There was nothing to compare it to and
the strangeness of the new situation left her feeling more than a little
uneasy. 

The uneasiness disappeared as Ai went for something in her bag. Ukyou
observed Ai bring out some tissues and began placing them between her toes.
Once she was finished she pulled out a bottle of bright red nail polish and
prepared to do her toenails. Right before she started with the first one
she once again noticed the attention she was receiving. 

"What is it?" Ai asked.

Ukyou snapped out of her reverie. "Nothing."

"You don't give a look like that and say its nothing. Haven't you ever
painted your toenails before?"

Ukyou hesitated a moment before answering sheepishly. "No. Not really."

The reaction was almost instantaneous as Ai gave a happy squeal and took
the tissue from between her toes. She repositioned herself at the foot of
the bed and patted her hand right next to Ukyou's covered legs. "Give me
your feet," Ai practically commanded.

"No." 

"C'mon. It's long past time for you to do something like this."

Ukyou refused again. "Forget it! I don't want to."

Ai placed her hands on her hips and gave Ukyou a cross expression. "You
always go around having doubts about your femininity and say you feel like
a guy. Well this is going to go a long way to curing that, my dear. This is
practically the one thing that will make you feel like a woman."

Ukyou laughed nervously at that. It was a total fabrication. It had to be.
"No way. How can something as silly as painting your toenails make you feel
more like a woman?"

"Give me your feet and find out for yourself."

The stare Ai was giving her made her feel even more uncomfortable than the
idea of doing her toenails. Ukyou decided to give in to the girl. After
all, if Ai was wrong the worst thing that would happen was Ukyou would feel
a little silly and remove it. 

Slowly she brought her feet out and tentatively surrendered them to Ai,
hoping the whole thing wasn't a plot because the blonde had a foot fetish
or something. Once she extended them fully Ai placed them in her lap and
began putting tissue between the toes. "So you don't get paint on
everything before it dries," Ai explained.

Ai began with Ukyou's little toe as she began talking to the chef, making
certain her eyes never left Ukyou's feet. "You see. Painting one's toenails
is a sign of being a woman. There is no way any normal guys are going to go
for that sort of thing, and the few men that do generally want to feel more
like a woman, if you know what I mean." she paused upon completing the
first toe, winked at Ukyou, then went to the next one. 

"With men you're lucky if they even clean their toes, but us women, well
now that's a different story. Looks are everything, and we know it. I
realize its a societal idea or some such, but things like painting your
toenails have been around for so long, they're now identified as a sort of
behavior that belongs exclusively to US women." The emphasis on the word
was intentional. Sometimes Ai was afraid her dear chef thought of her as
being more like a man because of her tastes. "Now, when you do this sort of
thing you are shouting out to the world you are a woman and damn proud of
it."

"I find that hard to believe," Ukyou responded. "It sounds to me like
you're stretching things a bit."

Ai finished the next toe and continued. "I might be overstating it, but its
basically true. When you do this sort of thing it somehow makes you feel
like a woman. I can't explain it. It's just a feeling. You have beautiful
feet, by the way."

"Thanks." Ukyou felt a little uneasy about the compliment. She was still on
pins and needles when Ai complimented her, uncertain of the motivation
behind the words. She shifted her foot a little bit from the nervousness.

"Damn!" Ai grumbled. "Don't move like that! It made me mess up." She got
out another tissue and wiped some of the polish from Ukyou's toe. 

"Sorry," Even Ukyou was surprised at the discomfort she felt at Ai's
reprimand. In spite of her disbelief at the 'femininity' involved with the
whole matter, she found herself wanting Ai to continue with the polishing.

Ai finished cleaning off Ukyou's toe and completed the nail before going
on. "I don't like mine, myself. It's the one part of me I think I would
change." Ai concentrated on making certain she didn't get any more of the
polish on Ukyou.

"I think your feet look fine," Ukyou said. 

Ai paused for a moment to smile at the compliment. "Starting to check me
out, eh?"

"I am not!"

Ai sighed as Ukyou shifted again. It was a good thing she had waited before
continuing. "I'm just kidding. Lighten up." Once she was certain Ukyou was
mollified she continued upon 'the quest.' Ukyou was going to get her
toenails painted if it took all night. The fourth one was done and she
moved to the last one on the foot. Almost halfway done.

"Like I was saying. My feet are just a little big and make my ankles look
way too skinny, but there really isn't a way to make ankles appear big, is
there?"

"I guess not." Ukyou watched as Ai completed the last toe and prepared to
move on to the next. She began to wiggle her toes, causing Ai to grab her
foot and force it motionless. 

"You're going to mess it up. Let it dry first." Ai warned. 

Ukyou settled down again and just looked at her foot. The whole thing was a
pointless exercise. She had no idea why she would get worked up about it.
Though it was sort of neat.

Ai began the next foot. "Are you really that uncertain of your femininity?"

Ukyou felt a bit reserved about the direction the conversation had suddenly
taken. It was a hard choice of whether or not to open up to Ai the way the
cheerleader had opened up to her, but had Ukyou not wanted someone to talk
to? Just because Ryouga did not meet the requirements, as she had hoped he
would, was no reason to shut Ai out.

Ukyou took a deep breath and began talking. "It's just that I spent so much
time acting like a guy sometimes I guess I don't feel like a girl. I know I
am, but I look in the mirror and have to wonder. I don't dress like a girl.
Don't act much like one. I just act..."

"Like yourself?" Ai offered as she finished yet another toe.

Ukyou considered that. "Well, I guess. There's all of that and a little
problem I have with..." she trailed off. Maybe she wouldn't reveal
everything after all.

"...guys." Ai finished for her.

Ukyou was shocked. There was no way Ai could have figured it out. "How'd
you know?" 

"Because there isn't a woman alive that doesn't have them. You aren't the
only one."

"You seem to be pretty easy going around them," Ukyou said. "You know how
to play them and wrap them around your finger so they'll do anything you
want."

Ai stopped painting and looked up at her in shock, then began laughing. 

"What's so damned funny!" Ukyou had a feeling the amusement was at her
expense. 

"Oh, my dear, sweet Ukyou. Are you trying to use me as a stick to measure
by?" Ai could barely contain her laughter. "That's terrible. I hardly have
a perfect record. There were some guys that rejected my advances, like
Ranma, and some women too."

"But most of them were at your beck and call."

Ai considered that. "Maybe, but then again what did I ever do once I got
them? My interests were hedonistic, and the way I went about going after my
prey hardly left any doubts about my goals. The way I went about getting
dates was not the sort of thing you do to build a lasting relationship,
unless you want to look for cheap thrills. Is that what you want?" She went
back to painting toenails as she waited for Ukyou's response.

Ukyou thought about it. "No. I want something that will last."

"So do I, now." She noticed Ukyou blush at that and went on before she made
the chef uncomfortable again. "I can help you act more 'girlish,' if you
want." Ai completed the toenail and went to the next. Almost done.

"But I don't think that's the sort of thing for me." Ukyou protested. "I
can't picture myself wearing dresses and acting like that little tart,
Kyoko."

"You can do all of that, but it won't make you feel like a girl." Ai
informed her.

"It won't?" Ukyou asked curiously.

"Nope." Ai looked up. "It would just be like you said: an act. Being a
woman doesn't involve dressing like those little adorable darlings you see
acting all cute and cheery. It comes from here." Ai leaned forward and
gently pressed a finger above Ukyou's left breast, not in a move of
seduction, just a simple gesture to her heart. She then sat back and
returned to painting. "Clichéd, I know, but true nonetheless. That's what
determines how you feel."

The longer the conversation continued the more fascinated Ukyou became of
Ai. This was a side she didn't even suspect existed. "So what do I do?" 

"Nothing."

Ukyou would have facefaulted were it not for the fact she didn't want to
interrupt Ai once more. "If I don't do anything then how will I feel more
feminine?"

Ai gave a sigh and paused once more. She was never going to get done at
this rate. "You are already feminine. Every bit of you is one hundred
percent woman. Anyone that says otherwise is, as you would put it, a
'jackass'."

"That's nice of you to say but-"

"No buts!" Ai went back to work as she continued talking. She was going to
take a risk here. If Ukyou didn't answer correctly her heart was going to
break. "Do you think I'm feminine?"

"Of course," Ukyou said. "I only wish I was half as good-looking as you."

"Thank you." Ai was glad her head was turned downward as she blushed.
Imagine, her acting embarrassed. If only Ukyou meant what she said. "But
what I meant was do I act like a girl?"

"Aside from coming on to girls and being violent, yes."

Ai scowled as she finished another nail. A mild anger started to build in
her at the suggestion. As long as Ukyou didn't try to order her around she
was going to be able to maintain it, but if Ukyou didn't there was a
genuine fear that she was going to become submissive again and lose the
anger. If there was a time she was going to prove to herself that willingly
letting her guard down wasn't a mistake, now was it. 

She allowed the faintest bit of irritation in her voice. "Just because I
like girls does not make me unfeminine. I am a woman no matter how I
behave. That's what I'm trying to tell you but you aren't listening. I
don't have to wear a dress and make-up to be a woman. I can wear baggy
sweats and tomorrow morning you're going to see just how skanky I can look
when I wake up in the morning. But through it all I am a woman."

Ukyou was slightly taken aback by the anger in Ai's voice. Apparently she
had hit a nerve. "I didn't mean it quite the way it sounded."

"Yes, you did." And it hurt, but Ai wasn't going to admit to that. Ukyou
was apologetic, not angry with her, and that made her feel good. "I am not
afraid of what I am. I may like having sex with women, but that doesn't
make me any less of a woman. Surely you don't think you need a man to
fulfill that part of you. That's a myth, one I would be more than happy to
dispel if I hadn't already promised not to try that with you. Tonight
anyway." She returned to the painting, finishing and moving on to the last
one. 

Ukyou felt a little shaken by the conversation. She had to admit, most of
her ideas of how women should behave had been through the eyes of men.
First her father, then through the other boys at her school. In all her
years of being raised by men or acting like one, she never really had a
female role model, or even any real female friends. At last she was getting
the female perspective of things. Not that she should be taking everything
Ai said as fact since the cheerleader could be wrong, but a lot of what she
said felt right somehow. "You seem to have a pretty firm grasp on what
makes a woman what she is."

"Of course," Ai said. "You think I haven't been accused of that sort of
thing? With my preferences? I had to think about it and it took me a long
while, but I think I can state a pretty good case. And at any rate I don't
believe what they say. I know in my heart that am a woman and damn proud of
it. And I know that you are one too. After all, who would understand better
than someone that knows from personal experience the grass is not greener
on the other side?"

Ukyou found herself laughing at the comparison. Ai joined in, but continued
painting. 

Ukyou finally stopped. "You've given me a lot to think about. Thank you,
Ai."

Ai felt her heartbeat pick up speed at the compliment. This was now more
than simply allowing Ukyou control over her. It must have been love. Only
that could make one feel so panicked at feeling so good. "Thank you for
listening."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Ai continued looking down at her work and avoided eye contact. She wasn't
certain if she could control herself. "I'm not exactly considered genius
material. Not too many people pay attention to what a 'sex kitten' like
myself would have to say. Not that I talk like this to anyone."

"Hey! Listening is one of my specialties. I hear people talk all day while
I cook." Ukyou found herself enjoying Ai's presence more and more. "I'll
always listen to what you have to say."

Ai hoped when she sighed it wasn't audible. The reactions she was having to
the little things Ukyou was doing to her were unbelievable. She gained some
control of her emotions before answering. "Well, I'll always be willing to
paint your toenails whenever you want to have them done. And speaking of
which I am done. Take a look." Ai released Ukyou's feet and allowed her to
examine them. 

Ukyou stared at them in fascination. Just staring at those toes and their
unusual color did make her feel something inside. Somehow something as
simple, and basically pointless, as that made her feel more confident in
herself. Maybe she could take what Ai said to heart. 

Ai caught the smile Ukyou had as she looked at her toes. Maybe what she
said was sinking in. The very idea that her Ukyou was less than a
consummate woman really was ludicrous. Nothing less than perfection could
make Ai fall so hard so fast.

She returned to lying next to Ukyou while the two of them watched
television until the nails dried. Once that was done, Ai got up and shut
off the television and crawled next to Ukyou. Just as she was about to
relax she took a chance and leaned over to kiss her sweet chef lightly on
the cheek. 

"Good night," she said lightning quick as she rolled over away from Ukyou.
She waited several moments for the chef to get angry and throw her out, but
the feared response never came. Rather, Ukyou returned the good night and
rolled in the opposite direction of Ai. It didn't matter at all to Ai that
they did nothing else that night. Surely that was a sign of love, that just
sleeping next to someone was enough to put your soul at ease and your heart
to soar. 

As the evening wore on Ai discovered there were just two drawbacks to
sleeping in the same bed with Ukyou. The first was that she was a kicker.
Her feet may have been attractive, but they were ice cold when they struck
Ai's shins. The second was she mumbled a lot in her sleep, awakening Ai
twice, not that she minded. It gave her a chance to look at her beloved's
face as she slept. And on the bright side at one point Ukyou's hand groped
Ai's chest. Now that was good feeling, even if it didn't remain there for
very long. Even though Ai didn't get very much sleep, it was still the most
restful night of her life.


Ukyou woke up the next morning to a bright and shiny Ai announcing it was
time to get up. She barely had time to rub her eyes and sit up when Ai
plopped down a tray full of breakfast for her. Immediately Ukyou felt
guilty. 

"You didn't have to do all of this."

"I know," Ai smiled happily as she plopped herself down next to Ukyou. "I
wanted to. I'm an early morning person."

"I'm not," Ukyou grumbled, but the scent of the food was going a long way
to waking her up.

"Oh, I'm sorry, but I just had to get some croissants from that French
whore next door. She may be a total bitch, but she knows how to make great
pastries." Ai said, smiling expectantly as Ukyou began to devour the food.
It felt wonderful serving her woman. "She still thinks we're sleeping
together. I didn't have the time to correct her."

"Mmm." Ukyou mumbled as she ate some of the croissants. "Don't worry about
it. She's so deluded she still thinks I tried to come on to her. You're
really a good cook." She took a bite into some of the eggs that Ai had
prepared.

"Nowhere near as good as you," Ai stated, still grinning widely. "I'm
afraid Hibiki passed out again."

Ukyou stopped eating. "What happened this time?"

"I was bent over the stove when he came in."

"So."

Ai indicated the short nightshirt she still wore. "I wasn't wearing
underwear. You know, he's probably seen me naked more often than you have."
She batted her eyelashes at that. "I can fix that if you like."

Ukyou was about to say something when Ai stopped her. "It was just a joke.
I meant what I said about not hitting on you. I'm going to clean up and
grab a shower. If you want you can wash my back. I promise to keep my hands
to myself."

Ukyou politely passed on that. Ai was certainly pleasant, and the night was
fun, but there was just no way she was going to risk taking a shower with
her. Things needed to be taken one step at a time, and that was more like a
leap into the lion's den. No matter how their relationship turned out, it
needed to go slowly, and she knew for a fact she wasn't ready to go
anywhere near that far with anyone, man or woman. 

Ukyou was about to finish her food when she looked down at her toenails and
smiled. The color really was pretty, but next time she might use purple.
That was a good color, and maybe she would let Ai help then too. "I guess I
really am feminine. Heh."


The next day:
Mount Phoenix
China.

The Shogun of the Dark strode through the now empty halls of Mount Phoenix.
The Devils had emptied out the caverns of all the bodies, but the scent of
death still clung to the air. It wasn't as though he minded such things; he
had been responsible for the deaths of thousands over the centuries. What
were a few hundred more? Most of the deaths were through others, like the
Devils, but he would sully his own hands every now and then. The odds were
that this was only the beginning. In the birth of a new age there would
always be those that that did not survive the change. It would just be a
matter of how many would fall. Thousands? Millions? A billion perhaps?
There were so many more people now than ever before. That was both a good
and bad thing. 

Gemma caught up to the Shogun as the cowled man made his way further up
into the mountain, heading ever so slowly to the top. 

"The bodies?" the Shogun asked.

"Stored inside the main cavern at the bottom. It won't be long before the
scent of decay fills this entire mountain. I could have Zakura cremate
them. She seems to enjoy using napalm."

The Shogun shook his head. "Leave them where they are and as they are. They
still may serve a purpose. Will the smell bother you?"

Gemma snorted derisively at that. "I was entombed alive on the bottom of
the ocean for several centuries. The odor of feces is pleasant to me now."

The Shogun switched topics. "The children?"

"Sealed in a cave with a hole just large enough to allow enough air in.
Benisato has also commanded two hundred of her snakes to stand guard. Those
children will go nowhere."

The Shogun continued to show interest in their welfare. "You are taking
care of them, aren't you? They're being fed regularly and not being allowed
to wallow in their excrement, are they?" 

Gemma was amazed at the concern the Shogun showed, not that he allowed the
surprise to show. The Shogun never demonstrated the least bit of caring
towards anything save his plans. "Of course, my lord. May I ask a
question?"

"You may."

"Why did you spare some of the children?"

The Shogun paused in his walk. "I require a sacrifice. I'd rather have a
young healthy child then a more able-bodied older person that would do
something foolishly heroic, like try to kill themselves or attack me."

Gemma should have known. The Shogun had a heart of ice, just like him. 

"What of Herb and his army?" the Shogun asked.

"He reassured me they will be in position by this time tomorrow."

"Excellent."

It was near the top of the mountain, in the last large cavern, that the
Shogun stopped before a huge stone wall and waited expectantly. "Can you
see it?" he asked of his companion.

Gemma's eyes scanned the cavern, trying to see what the Shogun was talking
about. The only thing that stood out was a huge twenty foot diameter hole
near where the duo had stopped. Gemma went to the edge and gazed downward.
The bottom was lost in the darkness below as a faint wind drifted up,
producing a hollow noise that indicated just how deep the pit went. 

"There is something alluring about the abyss," Gemma mumbled as he stared
into the inky black depths. 

"There is an attunement between it and us," the Shogun informed him. "It
matches the dark pits of our souls. Not just ours, but all of humanity. Men
like us can admit to ourselves the reason for our attraction, but most
would deny it." The Shogun turned from the hole. "Come, Gemma. Let us
provide humanity with what they truly want. Let us give them an abyss that
all may gaze into."

The Shogun moved to the stone wall which they had originally stopped at.
With a mere wave of his hand the rock shifted and flowed away, like liquid,
 and left behind two huge ornate golden doors, each reaching thirty feet
high and towards the ceiling.

"It's been undiscovered for over four millennia. Even if someone had
stumbled upon it they still would never have had the chance to reveal it to
anyone else. Gemma," he turned to the large man, "Open the doors."

Gemma moved to obey. The moment his hand settled upon the door he felt a
surge of magical energy flow into him, shooting him with enough pain to
kill a dozen ordinary men and sent him hurtling into the far wall over
fifty feet away. His bones broke on impact as he was embedded in the wall. 

It took close to eight seconds for the damage to heal. 

While Gemma peeled himself out of the wall the Shogun remained staring at
the doors in fascination. "The wards are still intact. Excellent."

Gemma kept his commentary to himself. Being used as a guinea pig was
beneath him, but the Shogun got irritated very easily.

Several intricate gestures were made by the Shogun before the door. Within
moments Gemma saw a flash of light and the doors soundlessly opened. A
motion of the hand indicated Gemma should follow. Both men made their way
down a small yet long stone corridor and to a large cave nearly a hundred
feet wide and at least twenty feet tall. For all the elaborate decoration
of the doors, the room was the exact opposite. There was nothing in it but
rough stone hewn from the rock. 

The reaction the Shogun displayed was the exact opposite of what Gemma
expected. The sound of awe in his voice was the first time the leader of
the Devils ever heard such emotion from his master. 

"It is just as I remember it. All is here. Soon the final stages will be
complete." He turned to Gemma. "This is the one place in the world where
the spell can be cast. It was here that I first cast it. And it is here
that it shall be cast again. I will require the blood we have stored up
here. The patterns I will have to make must be perfect and I can afford no
interruptions. But first it is time to use some of my true power."

Gemma watched as the Shogun's hands glowed blue and he gestured to the air.
A nimbus of blue energy formed around the Shogun's head and moved outward,
growing with each passing second. It moved past, and through, Gemma's head
with no noticeable side effects. Likewise as it moved outward it went
through the walls as though they didn't exist. After a minute the Shogun
spoke once more.

"There. Now I will be aware of the presence of any sentient creature within
a twenty mile radius. I will alert you to their presence, but it will fall
to you to deal with them. All of my concentration and power must be focused
in this room and what I have to do in the upcoming weeks." His voice
deepened as he conveyed the importance of what was about to happen. "I will
be extremely vulnerable at this time. You must keep all away from this
chamber and from disturbing my work. Otherwise the spell will fail, and I
do not believe I can afford to wait another five thousand years for this
opportunity to come again. Get me my blood, Gemma. There is work for me to
do."

Gemma bowed before leaving. So it was all coming true. The end of the
months long quest was on the horizon. 

Soon.


The Musk Fortress:
China:


""

Mint looked towards Lime while he played with the rounded piece of metal at
the end of his arm. He hated blasted thing, but at least it covered the
stump where his hand used to be. Why on earth did the big man think Mint
knew any more than him? Herb wasn't sharing much with anyone nowadays. He
even left the fortress without telling anyone why a few nights ago and
returned looking the worse for wear. Actually, Herb had left and returned
as a girl. It had been weeks since anyone had seen the prince of the Musk
in anything other than his cursed form.

The hour was getting late and the army that had been left outside was
growing impatient. Herb had hired another five hundred mercenaries to
bolster the already large army he had built up over the last three years.
But mercenaries didn't come cheap, and the royal accountants informed Herb
that he could hire them for no more than two weeks before the coffers would
run dry. Surprisingly Herb did not seem to care, claiming that money would
become irrelevant within one week of work. 

Now Herb had ordered the troops to wait for him to come out and address
them. That was four hours ago and many of them were growing faint under the
searing heat if they had to remain in their bulky dragonstyle armor under
the sun much longer. Both Lime and Mint decided enough time had passed to
see if there was something wrong with Herb. The duo headed to the last
place they had seen him. The throne room.

They arrived before the closed twin bronze doors and noticed two of Herb's
bodyguards present and positioned on each side of the door. As the two went
to open the doors the guards blocked the entry with crossed halberds.

"" Lime bellowed.

"" one of the guards spoke up. ""

Lime smiled at that. ""

"" Mint quickly added.

The other one spoke up. ""

"" Lime protested.

"" 

""

""

"" Lime pointed out. 

Both guards looked at Lime in confusion. ""

Lime shook his head sadly at the guards, they really were quite stupid. It
was a testament to the quality of help nowadays. ""

Both guards shook their heads no.

Lime cracked his knuckles. ""

Both guard's jaws nearly hit the floor. ""
the first one shouted.

""
the other one joined in.

""

"" Mint applauded his partners deductive
reasoning.

Lime smiled at the compliment and continued. ""

Lime was about to force his way to the doors when Mint stopped him. ""

"" Lime agreed. ""

"" Mint reassured him.

*KNOCK*

*KNOCK*

There was no answer, so Lime opened the doors, discarding the two guards
whose skulls he used to knock on the door. Lime began to wonder if Herb was
really hiring quality thugs. Those two so-called guards crumpled under just
the slightest bit of force.

Both of the members of the Musk entered the darkened room to see there was
no Herb present. Just as they were about to call out his name, two red eyes
appeared in the darkness and a voice spoke from off to the right. 

""

Lime and Mint drew back as the owner of the two red eyes moved into the
light. "" Mint gasped.

""

Mint stared more closely. ""

""

Lime and Mint covered their ears as they were nearly deafened by the loud
blast of sound that came from Herb's laughs. If he did it much harder, Herb
was going to bring the roof down. 

Herb stopped in his bellows and turned towards his friends. ""

Mint was gone and back in a flash, bearing a water kettle in his good hand.
Herb took the kettle, concentrated for a moment, then threw the water on
himself. There was no change.

"" Herb bellowed. ""

Mint repeated everything. This time when Herb used the water his new form
changed to that of the girl the duo recognized.

"" Herb-chan trailed off as Mint and Lime began poking at her
breasts. 

"" Mint said.

""

Lime didn't get a chance to finish as he ended up driven into a wall with
his partner. Herb-chan donned a set of her traditional dragonscale armor
and cape, finishing as the duo dug themselves out of the wall.

"" Herb-chan smiled as she led her cohorts to
the main balcony that overlooked the main courtyard. She felt a rush as she
saw the group of two thousand plus men at her command. And they only
represented the beginning.

Herb-chan stood atop the balcony so that all could witness her imperial
majesty. ""

"" A voice from the crowd shouted.

""

Another voice spoke up. ""

A third shouted out as well. ""

Herb-chan pointed a finger and casually loosed a bright blue beam of energy
at the speaker, not even bothering to call out the name of the attack. All
of the flesh of the man was burned off in less than two seconds, leaving
only a bleach white skeleton. " she
called out to the bones. ""

There were no takers. Having her mood broken, Herb-chan simply elected to
order the troops to set forth to the positions the Shogun of the Dark
ordered her to take. She could practically feel the billion or so of her
countrymen calling out her name in ecstasy. Soon now. 

Very soon.


Two days later:
Joketsuzoku, China

Li Fhall waited yet another minute for her husband to speak to her. He was
already coming close to making her late.

"" he warned yet again for the fourth time.

""

"" her husband said for the fourth time.

Li laughed at that. "" she
poked at his stomach. ""

He glanced self consciously at his stomach. 

Li tried to lighten things a little. ""

""

Li shook her head at that. " She grabbed his
hand and embraced it in her own. "" She heard several other members of her party call out for
her. Everyone was anxious to leave.

"" he said, maintaining the grip.

""


Mount Phoenix:

It was three nights later when Gemma received the Shogun's mental command.
There were eleven intruders within the twenty mile perimeter. Yurimaru was
given command of Tessai and Shujima. Silent death and brute force along
with a modicum of intelligence. The fools deserved to die once more if they
should fail.

It was four hours later when the trio returned, Tessai bearing a dead body
over his shoulder. Gemma had been concerned something had happened to them
since they had taken far too long. Something had occurred. Shujima had a
huge gash along his real arm and Yurimaru was bleeding from a cut on his
cheek.

"These ones actually put up a fight," Tessai commented. 

"That red-haired one cut me good!" Shujima complained as he indicated the
body of the woman draped over Tessai. 

Yurimaru waved off Shujima. "They were highly skilled indeed, but no match
for us. We got all eleven of them. I believe they are part of the Amazon
tribe that Herb seems to have so much respect for," Yurimaru said dryly. 
"How did he put it? Ah, yes, 'I will raze their pitiful village to the
ground for the atrocities committed against my people'."

Gemma nodded in agreement, much to Yurimaru's delight. 

"Send the body back with the usual message and let Herb know he screwed up.
Tell him to expect trouble from them in the future and to watch the Amazons
much more closely. I don't want any more breaches of security like this."
Gemma thought a moment longer. "We'll use the Musk's army for leverage.
Here's what you'll have her say..."

Shujima listened intently, memorizing it word for word. It was precise, yet
to the point, and almost certain to keep the Amazons distracted until they
were irrelevant. He left with the body, intent on delivering the message by
the next day.


Joketsuzoku: 

River stood anxiously on guard at one of the borders of the village. Kar
Wong had said she was only going to take a minute to relieve herself, which
had been ten minutes ago. River would have been worried save for the fact
she had spotted Kar's boyfriend, Yun, pass by only moments before and give
an odd hand signal to her. Those two were something else. River would never
have stood for such a lax in duty save for the fact this was one of the few
times the two could meet. Their families were bitter rivals and there was a
special hatred between the duo's mothers. If either one had caught wind of
the rendezvous their children were having it would probably ignite a blood
feud just like the one in that video of that Japanese play she had seen
when she was last in Chuige Gauage, the one with the really cute male lead
in it. It took her a moment to remember the name of that play, 'Romano and
Juliard.' 

She was remembering the handsome features of the lead when the red-haired
woman came into sight, walking slowly yet steadily towards the village.
Recognition dawned on River immediately as pulled out her broadsword. 

"" 

River saw Kar emerge from some bushes and move at top speed while yelling
to Yun to get some help. Kar arrived at River's side within seconds, spiked
bucklers at the ready.

Kar watched as Li approached the two of them. ""

Both warriors stood at the ready as Li approached, stopping within ten feet
of them. It wasn't until a moment later that the elder Talcum arrived, that
Li began to speak.

"" she announced in a quiet voice.
""

With her declaration finished the dead body of Li Fhall, controlled by
Shujima from the shadows, fell over, at last allowed to rest in peace. Li
had kept her word. Not even death had stopped her from returning to her
husband and her home.


China:
The Scars of Blood:

Drakosh the Enchanter stumbled into the crypt, his hand desperately trying
to keep his entrails in his body. The pink-haired bitch had cut him deeply
with her naginta, practically disemboweled him. And now he was dying, at
the hands of an Amazon no less. Oh, the indignity of it all. He was one of
the greatest mages the Cult of the Serpent Men ever had, but all it took
was one lucky warrior to end his life. Or so it would if she had not erred.
He was now at the doorstep of the goal he had been after. His remaining men
could hold the girl just long enough for him to recover the artifact. Once
he donned it, the power would flow into him and he would destroy those
pitiful girls for daring to interfere with his plans. All he needed to do
was find it.

As he stumbled around in search of the object he thought back to the events
of the past few days. It really was foolish. He had assumed the presence of
the Amazons meant they were there to stop him, but ironically they had been
unaware of the cult. The group would have gone by, never knowing how close
Drakosh and his men were if he had not attacked them in the hopes of wiping
them out. But he had failed, not one of the Amazons had been killed and he
had lost all of his men.

His thoughts were interrupted as he spotted it at last, sitting in the
middle of the floor on a stone pedestal. He staggered to the middle of the
room, trailing blood the entire way as his vision began to go dark. He
would not die like some melodramatic movie villain just inches from his
goal. He would make it. His force of will was all that kept him conscious
as he summoned every erg of strength he had to make it to the stone
pedestal that sat like some finger, beckoning him ever onward. At last he
stumbled next to it, resting his forehead against the cold gray stone. His
free hand fumbled for the key to unlock the mechanism and deactivate the
magical traps. Then it would be his. 

He inserted the key and heard nothing. His vision began to go dark again as
the stone did not move one inch. He examined the locking mechanism more
closely. 

No! It could not be! He moved his hand to the piece of stone that covered
the object he so desperately wanted. It moved easily despite the millennium
old hinges it rested on and allowed him to see inside.


Perfume heard the scream of denial from within the interior of the crypt as
she dispatched the last swordsman. Most of the men serving the Cult were
mediocre at best, though one or two had proven to be difficult to kill. But
for having such a reputation among the history of the Amazons she had
expected better. Of course perhaps not having any actual serpent men
present helped things a lot. 

Turning quickly to the sound, she rushed as fast as she could to the inside
of the chamber. Allowing that foolish mage to escape was not an option. He
had almost killed her and he was going to pay. She followed the trail of
dark red blood, now understanding that her blow had cut very deep, to the
main chamber in the center of the crypt. There she saw the fallen body of
Drakosh, the pool of blood beneath him growing, next to the stone pedestal.
As Perfume entered the room she saw  five of her Amazon sisters had caught
up and were looking for more opponents to kill.

"" she informed the others, ""

"" Shi Fan
said.

Perfume said she understood and went deeper into the room. Why had Drakoth
been so determined to reach this chamber? He was dying and had to know it.
There was no logical reason to fight so hard just to die in a crypt. There
had to be something more. Perhaps the secret lay in the stone pedestal in
the middle of the room. 

Perfume examined Drakoth's body, making certain it was dead, then examined
the pedestal. Blood covered it in certain spots, no doubt where the mage
had touched it. A closer examination revealed a key in a locking mechanism
and a little door in the pedestal that had been covering something. As she
examined the door and looked inside she spotted nothing. An examination of
Drakoth had produced nothing either, which meant whatever he had been
looking for was not there. Perfume gave a closer inspection of the door and
produced several runes on the stone surface. 

Runes were beyond her knowledge. ""

Rei Za stepped forward. "" She squatted next to
the series of marks and spent close to half an hour thinking out loud as to
what they runes could mean. Right at the twenty minute mark everyone saw
Rei Za go pale.

She got up with a wild look on her eye. "" she hissed.
""

Perfume grabbed her by the shoulders, trying to calm her down. The others
in the room had begun to finger their weapons, the girl's fright triggering
their own. 

Once Perfume thought she had Rei Za calmed down enough to answer she began
grilling her. ""

Rei Za gulped loudly as she tried to bring her fear under control long
enough to answer. ""

Everyone looked at each other in disbelief. They were hundreds of miles
farther than the influence of the Amazons had ever reached, even in their
greatest days.

"" Cabinet asked.

""

" Soap asked.

""

Realization began to dawn on Perfume as she spoke in growing horror. ""

"< --Scars of Blood,>" Rei Za finished. "" 

"" Foam asked fearfully.

"" Rei Za said. ""

Perfume felt her blood chill as she looked at the empty pedestal. It had
been hidden there, there was no doubt about it. But now it was gone. And
Drakoth had not taken it. There was only one way out of the room and
Perfume would have noticed anyone passing her by when she got there. ""

All the Amazons rushed out in fear, not one ashamed of their actions. One
didn't fight with legends. Perfume collected the others that remained
outside and ordered them to run as fast as they could until the tomb was
left behind. Once she was away from the place and could thing clearly she
planned things out.

Perfume sent one of the girls back to the village while the rest of the
hunt pack continued on its mission. There was no telling how long ago the
item had been missing, though the dust on the floor of that room indicated
whoever took it had to have been gone for several years. Wherever the item
was, it was probably not an immediate danger. Just something for all to
watch out for. It was common knowledge that Hu Chiang had fought her
singular most dangerous opponent at this place. Legend had it the Blood
Weeper was an abomination that desired to kill every human being it came
into contact with and that his power increased with every life it took. He
made such a menace of himself Hu Chiang actually hunted him down and the
two fought in several battles, the last of which formed the Scars of Blood.
In the end Hu Chiang had destroyed the Blood Weeper's body, but not the
mask he wore. Legend had it that was the source of his unholy power and
that it was buried near the final battleground. Now the mask of the Blood
Weeper was gone, and the gods only knew what that meant.

That was not what was important now. There was still a mission to complete,
and the Cult of the Serpent Men had delayed Perfume and her pack long
enough for Silk to do what had to be done. There would be practically no
risk in going to Japan now. Shampoo had to have been long gone, and perhaps
that was going to buy Shampoo enough time to get a cure before the hunt
pack ran her to ground. Perfume gave the order to move out, the tomb was
left behind, but not forgotten.


Epilogue

Shampoo-kun practically felt his back breaking under the weight of the
groceries he was now carrying. It wouldn't have been so bad if the fat man
next to him was doing his part of the job. 

"You know, you could help out, Pop!"

"I am, boy." He bit into the apple he was carrying. How dare the Amazon
imply he wasn't helping out. Each item Genma ate made Shampoo-kun's burden
lighter. 

"Don't call me boy!" Shampoo-kun said as the groceries threatened to fall
over again. The only reason he didn't simply toss everything to the ground
was that it was all being done for Kasumi's benefit. She was busy preparing
a delicate dish and needed to watch everything as it cooked. When Genma
found out some additional ingredients were needed, he had volunteered the
Amazon for the job. Shampoo-kun had managed to drag the fat man along with
him. At least Genma wasn't on his butt getting fatter. He was on his feet
doing it.

Shampoo-kun passed a woman as he spoke once again to his companion. "This
kind of heavy, Pop."

Genma shrugged the complaint off as he chomped into the apple again. "Just
think of it as training, boy."

The sound of something hitting the ground behind Shampoo-kun caught his
attention. He turned to see an attractive older woman, about in her
mid-thirties, staring wide eyed at both he and Genma. The item that she had
dropped appeared to be a long, thin object wrapped in some kind of cloth.
Shampoo-kun turned his head slightly and was surprised to see Genma with a
similar look of shock on his face.

At last the strange woman spoke up. "It is you, isn't it Genma?" 

The most Genma could get out was, "N...n....n...n..."

The woman continued on, oblivious to his reaction. "And he called you Pop.
That means he's..."

Shampoo-kun looked on, horribly confused.

"...RANMA!!!" 

Shampoo-kun found himself in a near backbreaking embrace by the now crying
woman, the bags falling to the ground. He looked confusedly over at Genma,
who finally managed to complete his own word. 

"Nodoka."


XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX



Madame Lao and Ryonami are from 'A Very Scary Thought' and were created by
James Robert Bader. 

Special Thanks to:

Ryan Anderson
James Robert Bader
Bloodblade
Gary Kleppe
Jason Liao
Lord Talon
Miashara
Dr. Wade Tritschler

    Source: geocities.com/tokyo/towers/5920