Wild Magic Chapter 14 (Chapter Finished)

[KonokoHasano]

Wild Magic

Ranma 1/2, Slayers, and any other series used in this fanfic are owned by their respective creators/publishers/whatever


"Speech"

'Thoughts'


Chapter 14


It was a small and very dimly lit bar that rested within a more secluded area of Juuban. It was the kind of place that catered to a slightly more ‘mysterious’ and ‘dangerous’ crowd. Quite a few small-time gang members, a few people of the Yakuza, and various other organizations preferred the place for its secrecy. The owner didn’t care what went on as long as it wasn’t something that would lead to damages to his precious bar. It was his precious, and he’d be damned before he would let anybody harm at least one table. The ire of this man was so great that even the small-time gangs, Yakuza, and various others feared him, and they had no clue why.

The barkeep has no true importance to this story, however -- there was an indignant ‘hey’ from said barkeep. Instead, let’s visit one of the tables in the darkest part of the room. The figure sitting with her back to the wall was nearly indiscernible of every feature, except for the fact that this figure was obviously female with long hair and an obvious figure. Nothing else could be seen very well due to the darkness of her choice of seating. There seemed to also be a slight air of boredom surrounding the woman as she took a quick drink of the contents of her glass.

Her head perked up suddenly at the feeling of a presence that had appeared through the front entrance of the bar. Her eyes watched as an oddly dressed man made his way towards her area with an almost glide in his step. A few people -- including the unimportant barkeep - another indignant ‘hey’ -- glanced up for a moment before going back to their normal business. From their experience, someone as oddly dressed as this guy was not a person to be messed with. The last oddly dressed person they messed with had -- no, it’s too horrible to tell. Let’s just say that it was a very bad thing that caused many to not be able to sleep for days.

“You’re late, Xellos.” The woman stated in a low voice. Of course, she knew that there’d be a possibility of that. The purple-haired mazouku had found a person to torment and tease.

“Well, you know. I got lost while on the road to enlightenment, and then I had to stave off a group of ravenous gummy bears who wanted to mount my head on their walls. The outcome was messy, but it was also tasty at the same time.” Xellos finished as he popped a gummy into his mouth. “You’d think the Plane of the Damned Gummies would have realized who I was by now.”

The woman shook her head. “They aren’t exactly the smartest demonic creatures in existence.” Reaching for something to the side of her, she pulled out an envelope. “I’m certain that you have been curious as to why you were put in charge of watching the Wild Horse?”

“Well, it has crossed my mind for the last few years.” The mazouku stated as he tapped his chin. “I mostly just thought I was given a little free time to bug her. I’ll admit that she is a lot more amusing to toy around with than Lina ever was.” A frown graced his features for a second. “However, her choice of revenge is not something I’m too fond off.” His ears were still slightly ringing from what happened on the bridge of Laira’s ship form. “It’s not often when one would be able to see you mingling with people. One would usually find you in your regular secluded spot.”

“Hey, even I have to be around people once in a while. Besides, I like this little bar.” The figure in shadows chuckled out. Placing the envelope onto the table, she pushed it towards the man in front of her. “This will explain what you need to know. It took a while to understand the true purpose of what our ‘friend’ is planning to do. We lost many good spies in the process. Of course, it’s still several years before it’ll come into play.”

Xellos shook his head. “He always was one for patience and biding his time.” His eyes scanned the information a little more. “Oh, it looks like they’ve started to take an interest in young Ranma as well.” How they figured it all out so fast was beyond him. “It looks like fun times will be ahead for her. I’ve heard her complain a few times that its been too boring lately.”

“You’d think she would have learned by now that whenever she thinks that, then something is bound to blow up in her face.” The woman stated as she shook her head. “Well, at least it will keep her on her toes and prepare her a little.”

Her companion gave a nod. “Well, if that’s all there is too this meeting, then I’ll be off. I have a craving for some ice cream, and I don’t want to be around when Ranma gets here. For some reason, I feel as if she might be carrying her torture with her.” Turning around, he began to walk off, but not before noticing a large man -- obviously drunk -- walking up to the seated woman.

“Say babe, would ya like to go to a nice place with me? I c’n show ya a very good time.” The alcohol on his breath caused the woman’s eyes to narrow. “Aw, c’mon babe.” He said as he reached for the woman’s arm. He didn’t anticipate her grabbing onto him and tossing him into a barstool.

“Damn it you big ape! You destroyed my precious barstool!” The barkeep yelled as he leapt over the counter and proceeded to chase the guy with a butcher knife in one hand, and a shotgun in the other. “Get back here and face your punishment like a man!”

Xellos blinked for a moment before turning towards his former sitting companion. “I can see why you enjoy this place. There does seem to be a nice bit of excitement when the right thing happens.”

“Actually, I just like the drinks this place has to offer.”

“Whatever you say, but I think we all know the truth.”

“Xellos, shut up.”

“Yes, Beastmaster Zelas.”

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

It wasn’t ‘too’ long before Ranma and Laira entered the clear morning skies above Juuban. “Lai, let’s drop off in the alley between those two buildings.” The cat-girl said as she stifled a yawn. They decided to fly slowly towards Japan to enjoy the scenery, and doing that took about five hours. It would usually be around 1AM at the Malfoy estate, but it was around mid morning here in Juuban. “I think I’m going to be feeling the effects of jet-lag.”

After landing back on the ground, Ranma -- with Laira in her arms -- exited the small alley and looked around. Spotting the small ice cream shop across the street, she made her way towards it. “Would you like any ice cream, Lai?”

“No thank you, momma. It’ll make me feel too cold in this weather.” The cabbit stated with a shiver. A small laugh escaped from the redhead as she walked into the establishment. It was a good thing she still had some yen on her.

The elderly man behind the counter spotted her and gave a large smile. “Ah, welcome back Lina. I haven’t seen you around in a while.” The redhead gave a smile towards the guy.

“Hey, old man,” she simply stated, “I haven’t been around lately because I’m going to some boarding school in the UK.” The guy had owned this little ice cream parlor since she first came here with Washu nine years ago to meet with Nodoka.

The gray-haired man gave a chuckle. “That’s sure a long ways to go for schooling, but I’m sure you manage real well. So, is this just a pleasure trip, or are you here for a little ice cream?”

A smirk played across the cat-girl’s face. “For ice cream of course.” She began to take a look at the menu. There were many flavors that she wanted to try, but one in particular had caught her eye. “I’ll have the cookies & cream, old man.”

“Coming right up.” The man said as he pulled out a large ice cream cone. Ranma watched the man fill up the cone, but became distracted when a small hand pulled on her clothes. Looking towards the source, the cat-girl saw a small girl of around eight-years-old. Her hair was blonde and done up in an odango style with pigtails.

“I like your cat ears.” The little girl stated with sparkles in her eyes. A friend of her’s had mentioned something about a cousin having cat ears and a tail, but she figured it was just a joke. “Are you Sakura Saotome’s cousin?”

The redhead had to give a small smile. Since Hogwarts, she had decided to screw the idea of trying to hide her cat features. If people reacted weird, then so be it. She had ways of making them see the light. “I take it you’re her friend I’ve heard about?”

“I’m Usagi Tsukino!” The blonde stated with a bright smile. She then blinked when a small tail with a bell on it waved in front of her face. “So cute!!” She squealed as she watched the tail move. Ranma and Laira had to refrain from laughing at the girl’s antics.

“Usagi,” a voice began, “quit bothering the nice girl and come over to eat your ice cream.” A woman with long blue hair stated called sternly towards the small girl. Ikuko was slightly put-off by the sight of the cat features on the young girl her daughter was talking to, but once she noticed that the girl seemed friendly -- and she was the cousin of her daughter’s friend -- the wariness went away. Usagi gave a pout, but ran towards her mom while waving towards the redhead.

Giving a small wave of her own hand, the cat-girl paid for her ice cream and made her way out of the parlor. Enjoying her ice cream, she stopped in her walking for a moment. As she was standing there, someone collided into her. The young martial artist/sorceress fell forward onto her hands and knees, and Laira managed to hang on due to being inside of Ranma’s shirt. Her dual-colored eyes watched as her lovely ice cream fell splat on the ground. Giving a growl, she glanced around to glare at the one responsible. The person who had just shattered her desire for ice cream was a teenager with a short hair-cut and shades. He seemed to be of Chinese descent with slightly paled skin and an air of superiority about him.

“Watch where you’re goin’, ya foo’!” The teenaged boy stated with a frown as he looked towards the downed girl. “Some people are walkin’ here. It no good fo’ you to bump into them. Now take yo’ cat butt an’ get outta here.”

The redhead jumped to her feet and glared at the boy. “You’re the one who bumped into me, you punk! You committed the ultimate sin: making me drop my ice cream.”

“Oh boo hoo. The poor little cat girl is mad over a little ice cream.” The teenager gave a flick of his finger against her ear. “What’s da kitty goin’ ta do to me?”

As Ranma was about to go into action, a little voice made itself known. “E -- Excuse me; please don’t be mean to the lady.” The two turned around to see a small girl of almost six-years-old with short black hair and purple eyes. She looked a little nervous as she held onto the hand of a woman who appeared to be her mother.

“Whatever, dis isn’t worth it. So long kitty cat.” The boy said as he began strutting off down the walkway. This left an angered redhead with nothing to vent her annoyance on, and so she swore that if she ever met him again, he’d pay.

“Your hand is bleeding.” The little girl timidly stated while pointing to the aforementioned hand. Looking towards her hand, Ranma gave a small smile and used a recovery spell to heal it. Her blue/red eyes then watched as the girl’s purple ones lit up in awe. “You can heal ouchies as well?” The almost six-year-old girl asked.

“See Hotaru?” The girl’s mother stated with a smile. “You’re not so different. There are other people with special talents.” Keiko smiled at the sudden happiness that seemed to swell up within her daughter. The girl was always shy due to her healing ability causing people to look at her oddly.

The young girl nodded vigorously before she ran up to the cat-girl and grabbed her hand. “My name’s Hotaru Tomoe! What is your name, cat-lady?” She was positively excited that there were other people who were just as different -- if not more -- than her.

Ranma tapped her chin for a second before giving a wide smile. Getting down to one knee, she whispered into the girl’s ear. “My name is Ranma, but that is ultra top secret information. If the wrong people knew that, then I’d be in trouble. Can you keep that information completely secret?” Purple eyes narrowed in determination as the younger girl nodded. The thought of being trusted with something so secret made her feel happy. “That’s good to know, Hotaru-chan. Now, the not-so-secret name you can refer to me as is Lina Malfoy. That is my codename. Just think of me as a kind of spy or ninja working for the greater good.”

The young raven-haired girl’s purple eyes began to sparkle. “You can count on me, Lina-neechan!” The cat-girl blinked at the ‘neechan’ part, but she decided to shake it off. There was something about this girl that she liked. “Can you come and play some games with me, Lina-neechan?!”

“Not right now, but I promise that I’ll come back sometime later.” She saw the look of sadness in the younger girl’s eyes. Giving a small smile, she reached into a pocket and pulled out a gold galleon. The child’s eyes widened at the pretty golden object that Ranma had put into her hands. “Take very good care of that, Hotaru-chan. If you are ever in serious trouble, I’ll know, and I’ll come and help you.” The little girl closed her hand over it and nodded.

“Could you help me with the bullies, Lina-neechan?” Hotaru asked with a hopeful look in her eyes. “People are always picking on me.”

“Then they’re just a bunch of idiots then.” The cat-girl stated with a frown. “Picking on such an adorable little girl should be a crime. I bet you’ll grow up and knock their socks off, Hotaru-chan.” A slight blush appeared on the raven-haired child’s cheeks at the compliment. “If they pick on you, then they shouldn’t be worth your time. You have one friend right here, and I’m probably better than all of them combined.” Laira rolled her eyes at the slight ego of her ‘mother’, and Hotaru giggled at what was just said. “See, that happiness right there is what makes you cute. Don’t let a bunch of idiots get to you. You hear me?”

The young girl nodded vigorously. “I think I know what you’re talking about, Lina-neechan.” There was another look of determination in her purple eyes as she clutched the galleon in her hand. “I can do it, and I’ll make you proud of me!” She didn’t know if she could do it, but she could try.

Ranma gave a smile. “I have to leave now, but I’ll see you again soon, Hotaru-chan.” The redhead shocked the young girl and her mother by disappearing into thin air.

“Wow, she really is a ninja!” Hotaru shouted with wide eyes as she tried to look around for wherever the cat-girl went. “That was so cool!” Not finding any traces of her new friend, she looked slightly disappointed, but brightened before turning around and getting back to her mother. As the two walked off, they didn’t notice a pair of dual-colored eyes watching them from the top of a building.

“She’s a cute kid.” The 11-year-old stated. “It’s a shame about her being bullied though.” Hopefully the little speech would have at least ‘some’ effect on the girl, but she wasn’t holding her breath.

Laira poked her head out of the cat-girl’s shirt. “Can we hurry up and get going to the Masaki home now, mama?” She hated having to stay hidden within the martial artist/sorceress’s clothing. It would get too cold if she got out, but it was too cramped on the inside of the clothing as well.

Ranma rolled her eyes at the impatience, but nodded her head. “Alright, let’s go.” A moment later, the top of the building was once again vacant.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Ranma and Laira appeared outside the Masaki home a few seconds later. Looking around, they noticed it was a bit on the calm side, which was kind of unusual in itself. Since usually you could hear the small sounds of chaos. Ayeka and Ryoko constantly arguing -- you’d think they’d realize that was the reason why Tenchi hadn’t picked anybody yet, Washu’s inventions going crazy, Mihoshi causing problems, various extraterrestrial beings coming and going for various reason. No, it was unusually calm at the moment. “It’s good to see you again, Ranma.” A voice stated from nearby. Turning her head, the redhead gave a small smile at a familiar face.

“Hey, Katsuhito.” She greeted with a wave. “So how’s the senile old Shinto priest of the Masaki shrine doing lately?” The redhead asked with a smirk. She knew the guy was far from being old or senile.

The man put a hand to his head. “Oh, I’m getting on in years, Ranma, and my mind isn’t what it used to be. I’m not even sure what I came out here for.”

“That’s what happens when you are over 700-years-old. The first thing to go is the mind, although maybe that was already long gone.” The cat-girl received a small whack upside the head. “Well it sure isn’t your strength that’s dwindled over the years.”

A chuckle escaped from the pony-tailed priest. “Enough of this banter against a poor old man in his golden years. Laira had already sent a message a couple days ago about you arriving.” That statement caused Ranma to glance down at the cabbit.

“You really were excited about leaving then, weren’t you?” A blush appeared on the aforementioned cabbit’s face as she nodded. “So that means everyone is expecting me, doesn’t it?” At Katsuhito’s nod, she gave a small curse. “And I wanted to surprise them all too.” With a slight grumble, the redhead walked up to the door of the Masaki home and gave a small knock.

After a small wait, the door slowly opened to reveal Sasami. In nine years, the blue-haired girl had gained a few inches and was now around 5’1”, although it seemed that once she hit around 18, her aging process slowed. “Good morning Ranma-chan. It’s good to see you again.” The older girl said with a smile. “Please come on in.” The younger princess stepped away from the door so the cat-girl could enter.

“Thanks Sasami-chan.” Ranma stated back with a smile of her own. “How’s the merging with Tsunami going?” For the past couple of years, the Juraian princess’s merging with the goddess was working in overtime. The merging process was slow for one reason: There was the possibility of it harming the girl if it went to fast. It would be like trying to fill a water balloon with more than it could contain.

“It’s not too bad, but I sometimes get slight headaches because of it. It’s not fun when your head suddenly starts pounding due to sudden bursts of knowledge and other certain things.” The girl finished with a hand to her head. “It’s good to know that I’m not the only one who has problems like this.”

The redhead grimaced at the thought. “Yeah, it’s not all that fun of an experience to go through.” She recalled several times in which she had to go through the same thing for obvious reasons, and she still didn’t have all the memories from Lina’s time. Shaking her head free of the thought, the cat-girl looked back towards the older girl. “It seems a little too quiet around here, Sasami.”

“That’s because most of the house is still a sleep, and please don’t jinx it. There was already a big mess two days ago due to an invention of Washu’s going on the fritz and Ayeka and Ryoko fully at each other’s throats.” She did not want to have that much excitement again for a few days. She could see the slight disappointment in the younger girl’s eyes at missing the carnage. “By the way, Ranma-chan, you have some guests here who have been waiting since yesterday for you to arrive.” At the blank look on the redhead’s face, the blue-haired girl elaborated further. “Akane, Kasumi, Nodoka, and Sakura are here to see you.”

Ranma’s eyes lit up at that small bit of information. It really did seem like a long time since she last saw any of them, and it was amazing how the secret about her being Ranma managed to still stay limited to just those four -- as well as Ryoga and Akari. Taking her first step into the Masaki home after quite a while, the young redhead followed Sasami as they made their way towards the living room. As soon as the martial artist/sorceress stepped into view, a small blur collided into her and sent her and Laira sprawling on the floor.

“RANMA-NEECHAN!” The smaller form of Sakura shouted as she clung to the currently floored cat-girl. “Can you show me some more magic tricks? Pleasepleasepleasepleaseplease?” The young raven-haired girl asked as she held her older relative tightly in a vice-like grip.

“Sakura, get off!” The girl with blue/red eyes shouted as she struggled for several moments before the younger girl finally let go. Standing up, the redhead was grabbed in another hug by Sakura. Giving a sigh, she returned the hug. “So you want to see a little magic, Sakura-chan?” At her cousin’s nod, the cat-girl held out her hand with her palm up. A moment later, a ball of wind was thrashing about within her palm. Pulling out a small piece of paper, she stuck it in her hand. The paper then began to dance around within the wind before being shot into the air and shredded by the air current. “Was that enough for now?” The younger gave another nod. “So where’s mom?”

“I’m right here.” A voice commented. Turning her head, Ranma saw the auburn-haired woman standing near the entrance to the kitchen. Nine years hadn’t affected her too much. There were a couple of visible wrinkles on her face, and there was a slightly gray tint to her hair. “Kasumi and I are helping Sasami a little in the kitchen.”

Another voice drifted from the kitchen. “I still don’t know why I can’t help. You know I’ve gotten better after all these years.” The young redhead could recognize the voice that belonged to Akane. “My cooking no longer has the effect of nuclear waste.”

A smirk found its way onto the cat-girl’s face as she walked towards the kitchen. “True, but it still has the effect of five-year-old limburger cheese. That means it’s still up in the running for the worst biological weapon award-- ow!” She shouted as a fist hit her upside the head. “Well, it’s the truth. I don’t see how you can deny that.” The dual-eyed girl looked up onto the face of her former fiancée. “Hey, nice wrinkles-- ow!”

“I DO NOT have wrinkles you little brat. Just because some of us can’t go through a second childhood…” The dark-haired woman grumbled out. The youngest daughter of Soun grew a couple more inches within the last nine-years, and her features matured a little more. She had even decided to grow her hair out again and wear it in a high pony-tail. “At least I’ve been able to mature. You are apparently still stuck as the little jerk that you used to be.”

Ranma crossed her arms as an infuriating smirk crossed her face. “Better an immature brat than an old hag of a tomboy.” She dodged another fist and stuck out her tongue. “Oh come on, don’t tell me that’s all you have these days. Whatever happened to the energetic tomboy we all knew and love?”

“Something tells me that you’ve never received enough spankings growing up around here. What say we rectify that problem right now?” The older woman asked with an evil glint in her eye as she watched the redhead back up a little.

“Nuh-uh, keep those hands away from my posterior.” The cat-girl stated with a shake of her head. “You have your own child to punish, so wait for her to do something bad. I really do hope you’ve gotten her tantrums under control, Akane.”

“Yuzuya does not throw tantrums, Ranma.” Akane stated with a frown. It was five years ago that she had actually found someone that she fell in love with. The guy -- Takuya -- had a personality that seemed to bring balance to the younger Tendo Daughter. For some reason, he seemed to always manage to calm her down whenever she let her temper get the better of her, although she wasn’t quite as short tempered and violent as she used to be. Age can often do wonders in helping someone grow up mentally.

A snort found its way out of Ranma’s nose. “Tell that to my tail. The last time I met her, she threw a massive tantrum and started pulling on my tail. I do hope we’re not going to have another ‘Akane’ in the making.” The young child was four-years-old and had a set of lungs that could make a blue whale green with envy. “It’s a miracle that my ears fully recovered.”

The dark-haired woman opened her mouth to say something, but was interrupted by her sister. “Ranma’s right, I’m afraid. You do spoil Yuzuya a little too much.” Kasumi stated with a slight frown. “You need to set a little more discipline every now and then. Just look how well behaved my children are.” The brown-haired woman said as she gave a greeting to the young cat-girl.

The difference of nine years didn’t seem to affect the oldest Tendo daughter as much as everyone else. She still looked the same, but more mature, and she still carried herself with an air of serene grace. Her hair traveled down her back in a couple of tight-woven braids, and at the end of both were a pair of small bows. “It’s hard to believe as well, considering who their father is.” Akane grumbled out.

“Yeah, I would have never figured that you would fall in love with him, Kasumi.” Ranma added with a shake of her head. “I mean, it goes against all logic that we ever knew back them.” It must have been the work of some miracle or something.

Kasumi shook her head. “Now Ranma, he only needed a step in the right direction. I also believe that I helped him remarkably in that aspect. After he got past his problem, he became a great man that I wouldn’t trade for the entire world. I swear the man has magic hands or something.” The very thought sent shivers down Ranma and Akane’s spine.

The younger sister shook her hand. “You can keep him for all I care. I just can’t believe that you and Tatewaki Kuno fell in love. Hell, I can’t believe you managed to help him get through his delusions. I can understand why he calls you his ‘Angelic Savior’.” Her sister has stated to this day that all the man ever needed was the full love of a woman to set him fully straight in mind. The man still had minor lapses into delusions, but they were mostly controllable. Kodachi also still worked on her potions and poisons, but she managed to achieve a job as a chemist, and now calls herself the ‘Black Rose of Chemistry’. It’s… quite a scary thing if you think about it.

Kasumi and Tatewaki have also been married for about eight years, and they have a pair of seven-year-old twins named Ai and Daisuke. The former could be found spending her time drawing and painting, while the latter contained an interest in learning music. He seemed especially fond of the flute.

“Say mom,” Ranma began as she turned to look at Nodoka, “How’s pops been doing. He hasn’t been a jerk or anything to Sakura, has he?” She still preferred to call the older woman ‘mom’. It was due to the fact that she still considered her to be just that.

The auburn-haired woman shook her head. “Actually, my husband has become quite over-protective of Sakura. When the fact that she has no true interest in martial arts finally hit him around two months ago, it put him into a slight funk. One day when Sakura came home with a large bruise on her face because of another kid at school, she ran straight to Genma.” A smile came to the Saotome matriarch’s face. “When Genma found out, he came out of his funk and attempted to comfort her. He then almost marched out of the house to wring the neck of the one who did it to our daughter.”

Ranma blinked at that information. “That does not sound like the old man at all. Whatever happened to the lazy and greedy panda?”

“He’s still lazy and greedy, dear. He would still prefer to stay around the house all day, take the easy way out, and jump at any chance to make a fast yen. None of that has changed at all. However, he is very protective of Sakura and loves her greatly. In fact, he told me just a month ago that he would break through the gates of Hell if it meant he had to keep her safe.” The older woman knelt down and scooped the raven-haired eight-year-old up into a hug.

The young cat-girl crossed her arms and snorted. “Feh, I wish he would have thought the same about ME when I was growing up.” Her dual-colored eyes looked down at her half-sister’s crimson ones. “You’re lucky that you don’t have to go through the same crap that I did when I was your age.” A contemplative look appeared on the martial artist/sorceress’s features. “Make that when I was your age both times. It was hell living on the road with pops, and it was also hell putting up with Washu’s crazy ideas and crackpot inventions.”

“Who’s crazy ideas and crackpot inventions?” A frosty voice asked from behind the young redhead. The aforementioned redhead stiffened and slowly turned around to see the one who she was just talking about. The half-lidded stare didn’t look too inviting at all, and the crossed arms weren’t pleasing either. “Who exactly are we talking about in this discussion, Ranma-chan?”

Ranma waved her hands in front of her as a sweat-drop appeared. “Aw c’mon Washu-chan. You know I was just joking about that. I mean, your ideas and inventions aren’t THAT crazy.” If looks could kill, she’d be six-feet-under already. “C’mon Washu-chan, is that anyway to treat your best student who has just come back after a few months away? I’m hurt.”

“My best student? You’re my ONLY student, kiddo.” Her green eyes noticed the slight pout on the young cat-girl. “You are my greatest side project though. Maybe I should make you my heir-- no, that’s a bad idea. You don’t have nearly enough common sense and maturity to make that work.” She ignored the indignant ‘hey’ from her student and put a hand on the girl’s head. “You still seem to be a little on the short side.”

“And you’re a shining example for all that you just listed?” The dual-eyed girl asked with a raised eyebrow. “That’s funny, because I’ve never noticed any real common sense when you get lost in your crazy inventions.” One could almost feel the air chill as the two redheads glared at each other as if they were sizing the other up. “For being over 20,000-years-old, you aren’t exactly a shining ray of maturity that you’re trying to make yourself out to be right now either.”

Everyone started to move slowly away from the two who seemed to almost bring the temperature of the room to a frosty -30 degrees. Washu made a move by reaching over and grabbing the young cat-girl by the collar of her top. Her green eyes hardened and stared into a pair of hard blue/red eyes. “I see that Hogwarts hasn’t robbed you of your cocky little cheek.” The voice was in a low whisper.

“Only the best for you, Washu-baasan.” There would have been a few chuckles if it wasn’t for the fact that everyone seemed to be slightly on edge from the feelings coming from the teacher and pupil. “In fact, we have a few months of catching up to do.”

An evil chuckle escaped from the scientific genius as she continued to glare coldly. “I believe we do, Ranma-chan.” The cold feeling between the two seemed to increase continually, and then all of a sudden, it vanished. “It’s been too boring around here without you to teach, Ranma!” The 20,000-year-old redhead shouted joyfully as she grabbed her student into a hug. “I never thought I’d see the day when I’d miss having your rude little ass near me.”

“What can I say? I leave that kind of impression with people, Washu-chan. I also can’t believe I missed your overbearing and eccentric behavior. Hogwarts is just too damn boring as well, and without the constant excitement that I get around here, my temper was being tested terribly.” The younger redhead finished while scratching the back of her head.

“I think I remember hearing about that during that Halloween fiasco when I locked your abilities.” Washu received an intense glare from her pupil and had the decency to look sheepish. “I’m glad the old guy decided to put his foot down and have the school handle your punishments for behavior. From what you’ve told me about what happened during that week, it would seem that Hogwarts would be too dangerous of a place to do that again.” It was easier to do around the Masaki home and whenever Washu was with the young cat-girl, but not anywhere else. The genius didn’t realize that at the time.

A snort made its way out of Ranma’s nose. “You got that right. A poltergeist, a death attempt, and several other things that could have did me in otherwise. Who could have guessed that I’d be so popular?” As the two continued to converse with each other as if they were close friends, the assembled group of people could only stare in shock. The two redheads had been ready to tear each other’s heads off one second, but became friendly and chatting up a storm the next. “Do you realize how hard it is for me to concentrate on both your studies and my studies, Washu-chan? Homework is boring enough as is, and I don’t need all those damn books piled on as well.”

The genius proceeded to pat her student on the head. “Remember what I’ve said many times: The road to learning is a road that never sleeps. Only those who work at it shall reap the rewards, and those who have the mind power can win against many opponents.” The emerald-eyed genius raised an eyebrow. “You still seem to prefer to act first and think later though.” It seemed as if no matter how many times the younger girl reads and learns something new, she never seems to try and put it to use. However, there have random moments when the former Saotome felt the need to actually invent something. The worst part of it all was that she had no clue what she was doing as she was doing it.

The cat-girl grumbled for a moment before directing her full attention back towards her teacher. “Washu-chan, I’m not going to do any studying during the first month of the summer vacation when it starts.” The redheaded extraterrestrial stared at her and started to go on about how she can’t shirk her learning just because she wants to goof off. “Washu-chan, I’m going to spend that whole month with Narcissa. The reason I was a couple days later in coming here than what I planned is because I learned of how much it hurts her to know that she hardly gets to spend time with me. And so,” the dual-eyed girl stated as she tilted her head, “I promised that we’d spend the whole first month of my summer vacation together. I even went so far to tell her that I’ll do anything that she’d want me to do. I’ll probably regret it in the end, but I couldn’t stand to see her sad.”

That caused everyone to stare at the martial artist/sorceress. “I never thought I’d see the day. The Shrimp is actually taking someone else’s feelings into complete consideration.” Ranma turned around to see Ryoko hanging upside down with a smirk on her face. “Does this mean that the great Ranma is turning into a mommy’s girl?” The masu asked in a taunting voice. This caused the younger masu’s eyes to narrow and a growl to escape from her throat. “Oh, did I strike a nerve there, Shrimp?”

A hand found its way onto the cat-girl’s shoulder. Turning around, her eyes caught sight of Washu. “You realize how much this will set our learning schedule back?” The scientific genius asked as she looked into the eyes of the shorter redhead. All she could see was a complete look of uncaring and defiance looking back at her, and that caused a smile to break out. “We’ll just have to pick it up after your little break. At least SOMEONE here is able to treat their mother with thought and respect.” Green eyes turned to glare at a certain cyan-haired ‘demon’. Said demon began to sweat a little before she teleported away.

“I always treat others with respect, Washu-chan.” Ranma stated with her eyes twinkling. She shrugged off the looks she began to receive and turned to look at her former birth mother. “Say mom, how long are you all going to be here?”

The auburn haired woman gave a sad smile. “I’m afraid we’ll be leaving to get back to Nerima tomorrow, dear.” She noticed the look on the young redhead’s face. “It was thought that you’d arrive two days ago, and so that’s when we got here.”

“Yeah, we didn’t expect you to actually find a guilty feeling about leaving Narcissa so soon. I mean, it goes against how you always were.” Akane said with a small smile to lighten her former fiancé’s mood. “Maybe a second childhood was a good thing after-all. You don’t seem to be as much as the inconsiderate jerk you used to be.” The dark-haired woman finished with a laugh as she poked the cat-girl’s nose.

“At least I won’t be growing old for quite a while, tomboy-- Hey!” She stated as she rubbed the back of her head from the small slap she received. “At least you grew out of using blunt weapons to vent your anger.” The former Saotome commented with a weak smile. Out of the corner of her eye, she watched as Tenchi started walking down the stairs. This was followed by the usual confrontation between a certain two women. ‘I still wonder why they haven’t learned to cooperate. Tenchi can take on more than one girl due to being Juraian royalty, right?’ Blue/red eyes then watched as the young Masaki’s eyes gazed a little at Sasami. ‘Those to better learn to work together, otherwise their competition may get a little fierce.’ Damn she loved this place. There was never a dull moment, and it was the closest thing she could consider home. It could do without the constant near-total destruction of the house though. She lost count how many times that it had happened in the past.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Two different masu glared at each other. One was a cat-girl with blue/red eyes and red hair, and the other was an ex-space pirate with cyan-colored hair and gold-colored eyes. Both of them were deep in concentration as they tried to defeat the other. They each had two wins, and they decided to keep going until the other couldn’t go any further. They didn’t care how long it took, because each was determined to come out victorious in the end. “Why don’t you just give up, Shrimp? You know you can’t beat me at all.”

“Feh, says you. We both know that you’re just an Old Mummy, and as an Old Mummy, you’re bound to collapse anytime soon.” Her response had the inclusion of a trademark infuriating smirk that always seemed to get under her opponent’s skin. “Just because I’ve been stuck in a castle for a few months does not mean that I have lost my edge.”

“I don’t know, Shrimp. You do seem a little rusty at this video game. I remember how you use to be lightning fast with the combinations, but now you are a wee bit slower than you used to be. It’s kind of sad, really.” The golden-eyed woman stated as she landed an incredible combo onto her opponent which knocked the character backwards. “At least I’ll be able to have a few more wins under my belt.”

She received a glare from her opponent. “We’re going to see if you improved in your physical abilities after we get done with the game. I bet you’ve only been sitting around and drinking your sake.” The two shared a look before turning their attention back to the video game they were playing. “Ha, I beat you!” Another smirk appeared on her face. “Would you like to play another round?”

“Yeah, and I’ll show you this time!” The ex-space pirate announced as she got ready. “Say Shrimp, what is that castle you’re staying at like anyway? I’ve heard something about it lacking electronics of any kind, and how the entire place runs on mostly magic.” It sounded weird to not have any technology of any kind.

A frown appeared on her opponent’s face. “The place is boring as all hell. Sure, I’ve found a few secret passages, had someone try to kill me a few times, ran into a three-headed dog, been attacked by a tree, scared an almost entire forest of monsters when I was under the influence of a cat-nip curse--”

“Wait, under the influence of a cat-nip curse? What is that supposed to mean?” A confused Ryoko asked as she had her character dodge a punch combo that would have really did her in. “Are you telling me that cat-nip works on you? How bad is the effect?”

“Remember that one time where you got so drunk on sake, and Washu completely forbid you from drinking even a drop for a month due to the outcome of it all?” She saw the older masu’s nod. “You could say it was similar to that.” The woman became slightly pale. “Now I kind of know what you must feel like when you’re drunk. I was running around the castle like a crazy cat, chasing students like they were mice, toying around with a tree that tried to squish me, talked with a slurred speech, ran into the Forbidden Forest, mentally scared several vicious monsters, and earned the nicknames Drunken Kitty -- by the students -- and Nightmare of the Forest -- by the centaurs, giant spiders, and several other beasts. It’s all a little hazy, but I think I gave met and gave a werewolf a run for its money.”

“Damn Shrimp,” Ryoko began with a whistle, “remind everyone around here to never bring cat-nip anywhere around you. It’s amazing that we never even found this out. What was the outcome at the castle with the cat-nip?”

A catty grin met her question. “The Cat-nip curse and cat-nip itself is absolutely, and without question, forbidden. If anybody brings even an ounce of cat-nip into the school, they will get a 30 day detention for the first offense. For the second offense, they receive and automatic expulsion. Of course, they can try and appeal it, and if it was an accident that they had it, then the charges would be dropped. Charges dropped for new students who didn’t know of the rule as well.” It was amusing how Dumbledore said that he would add that rule to the list of things that would need to be addressed at the beginning of the new school years. It’s not everyday that somebody gets to be immortalized in something like that.

“I really wish I could have been there to see it.” A grin of her own appeared on Ryoko’s face. “Hey, maybe we could have some fun here and--”

“Try it, and I’ll slice off more than just your hand. You’ll find your innards on the outside instead of the inside.” The cat-girl threatened with an even glare towards her companion. “The headache I received from that cat-nip episode was not something I’d like to experience again.”

The ex-space pirate glanced at the younger masu for a moment. Finally, she gave a smirk. “Alright, I’ll help you keep away from cat-nip from now on, Shrimp. I may be missing something amusing, but I can tell that it’s something you never want to experience again.”

That slightly shocked Ranma, but she had to smile at that. “Thanks, Ryoko.”

“Anytime, Ranma.”

“Ha, I beat you again!”

“Damn you, Shrimp.”

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Ranma didn’t think it would, but playing that video game against Ryoko had taken nearly the whole day. Now, since it was late evening, she glanced around the small room that had belonged to her for almost nine years. Thanks to Washu’s ability to expand the inside of the house and create ‘portable rooms’ with just the use of ‘special pocket doors’, there was never a real shortage of rooms and guest rooms. This was a good thing when you had guests arriving at odd times from various areas of the universe. It just wouldn’t do to have a complete shortage of places to sleep.

The young redhead’s room consisted of books-- lots and lots of books. This was mostly due to Washu’s insisting on her reading about things every now and then. Of course, there weren’t just books on scientific knowledge and all that similar crap. There were books that contained magic and martial arts abilities from around the universe. There were also various manga, DVDs, music, video games, and other forms of leisure activities.

Her attention was suddenly centered on a small area of her desk. On the area, there was a photo of both Sakura and her. The younger seemed to look up to the cat-girl for some odd reason that nobody could figure out. She would always follow Ranma around whenever the two were together, and it seemed as if she would try to mimic everything except for martial arts. The raven-haired child seemed to have just a minimal interest in it, and she didn’t want to practice. The girl had an uncanny artistic ability though. The tiny stuffed doll that resembled the dual-eyed martial artist/sorceress could attest to that. The younger had made it one day during her art class, and Ranma became shocked when the information had hit her.

A sigh escaped the former Saotome as she slipped into the covers on her bed. Just like Nodoka said about Genma, she, too, was completely protective over her younger ‘sister’. There was some feeling that just screamed out for her to protect the raven-haired child, and the feeling had always been there. It started the day her ‘sister’ was born, and Ayeka went on to say that the feeling was the kind that an older sibling naturally has for the younger. There was a minor link there that connected the two, and no matter how much a pair of siblings could like or dislike each other, there was always the need to help if the other truly needed it. Sakura and she may not have been siblings in the legal sense, but they were siblings at a deeper level.

As she lay there in her bed with Laira comfortably on her chest, her ears could make out the sound of her door creaking open. Casting out her senses, she could tell that it was Sakura coming into her room. As Nodoka mentioned earlier, they would be leaving tomorrow, and so they were spending another night here. Akane and Kasumi were in one of the rooms, while Sakura and the auburn-haired woman were in the other. The only reason the raven-haired child would be coming into her room would be--

“Ranma-neechan…” The young Saotome girl called out timidly. Ranma turned her head to get a look of her ‘sister’. The crimson-eyed eight-year-old was dragging a teddy bear in one hand, and rubbing sleep out of her eye with the other. From what the cat-girl’s senses could tell, the girl was slightly scared and nervous.

“What is it, Sakura?” The redhead asked curiously. Glancing at her ‘sister’, the martial artist/sorceress could see that the girl was having trouble getting out what she wanted to say. “You want to know if you can sleep with me tonight, don’t you?” The cat-girl finally asked, and she could see the hopeful look in the younger’s eyes. “Well, come on. I don’t have all night you know.”

The second child of Nodoka gave a small squeal before running and jumping onto the bed next to the one she considered an older sister. Covering up with the blanket and cuddling her teddy bear close, Sakura laid her head on Ranma’s arm and pulled herself close. Looking down at the little girl, the 11-year-old turned her head and closed her eyes to catch some sleep. “Ranma-neechan,” or so she thought.

“Yes, Sakura?” Her ‘sister’ still seemed to be slightly scared and nervous. “Is there something wrong?”

The younger was silent for several moments before she started to open her mouth. “I’ve been having some scary dreams, Ranma-neechan.” That caused the cat-girl to turn her head and look down at the crimson-eyed child. “They’re just so weird and scary.” It almost looked as if there were some tears at the edge of her eyes.

The Hogwarts student stared at the girl for a few moments before responding again. “You can tell me what they are about, Sakura. I’ll listen and try to help scare the dreams away. After-all, no kind of bad dream can stand up to the great power of Ranma.” She smiled when the girl giggled a little.

“Well, I’m not really sure what the bad dreams are truly about. I know that they involve some mean woman named Luna or something.” She didn’t notice the slight wince on her bedmate’s face. “The woman is always punishing a little girl named Lina for things that don’t seem so bad. One time the little girl accidentally broke a plate, and the woman tied her up and locked her in a closet for two days.” The eight-year-old missed the pale look. “The little girl wanted to play one time and tossed water on the woman while she seemed to be busy. That woman then did some kind of water punishment afterwards.” Her crimson eyes looked towards the blue/red eyes of her ‘sibling’. “The scary thing is that I’m the woman in the dream, Ranma-neechan. I’m the one being mean and hurting that girl. I don’t want to hurt that girl anymore.” Sakura finished as she tried to cling to the older girl with tears flowing down her eyes.

Ranma could only stare in silence at her ‘sister’, and Laira was watching to see what she would do. If what the girl was saying was true, then could it mean that she was HER? That meant she herself could be in danger of going through the same thing as her past life two lives ago. Either she does that, or she try to take maters into her own hands and turn the tables. ‘No-- I can’t do something like that to Sakura. I could never bring myself to harm or fear her. She’s essentially my sister, and I swore that I’d be there for her.’ She finished as she glanced to the distraught young girl. Taking several calming breaths, she attempted to help her. “Sakura-chan, listen to me. You are not the person in your dream. The person in your dream that you think is you is just a demon from the past trying to scare you in doing what it does. You are NOT that person, and you will never act like that person. You may notice a few odd things later, but remember: You are you, and that person was that person. Those dreams may be scary, but just think of them as something to teach you how to NOT act.” The cat-girl gave a smile. “You’re my sister, and I will always be there for you.”

The young eight-year-old stared at the re-assuring smile, and she remembered that the one next to her has always seemed to be there for her. Her fearful eyes changed to eyes of hope, and then her mouth became a wide smile. “Ranma-neechan is the best.” She simply said as she snuggled closer and closed her eyes.

‘I’ve always said the exact same thing about momma.’ Laira thought with a smile as she made herself more comfy at her spot on Ranma’s chest. ‘She might be cocky, short-tempered, sometimes inconsiderate, and many other things, but her heart is in the right place.’

‘Hey, I’m not cocky and inconsiderate. Just for that, you aren’t getting carrots for a week.’

‘You’re so mean momma!!’ The cabbit whined out. ‘Ryo-ohki gets to have carrots whenever she wants.’

‘Yeah, but Ryoko sucks at taking care of her, now doesn’t she?’ The cat-girl asked with an inner chuckle. ‘She sucks at a lot of things.’

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Ranma gave her goodbyes to Sakura, Kasumi, Akane, and Nodoka as the group of four left to catch the bus that would take them on their way back to Nerima. “Don’t worry mom,” the cat-girl stated with a wave, “I’ll come and visit Nerima tomorrow. It’ll be Christmas, and I’d like to spend a little bit of that time at my old stomping ground.” A familiar smirk made itself known on the redhead. “You all still remember the cover story that we created a long time ago, don’t you?”

Akane rolled her eyes. “Of course we remember the cover story. You’re the adopted granddaughter of Katsuhito Masaki.” The amazing thing was how her former fiancé always managed to pull off an innocent, yet slightly weird, childish personality that nobody ever seemed to see through. Maybe it was because nobody ever thought to question a young child. Even one with cat-features, but then again, Nerima was still a place of oddity. “See you later, stupid brat.” The dark-haired older tomboy said with a wave.

“Yeah, and the same goes for you, old hag of a tomboy.” The two gave a mock glare at each other before smiling. They never quite got out of the habit of calling each other names, but it was considered mostly a thing of familiarity and endearment these days. “Oh, and tell Yuzuya that I’ll give her a spanking if she ever tries to come near my tail again!” Her response was a waving fist as the four women walked off out of sight. After standing there and watching for a few more moments, the dual-eyed martial artist/sorceress turned around and looked down at Laira with a Cheshire smile. “So Lai, are you ready to do a little exploration on the moon?”

The small cabbit gave a mini-salute. “I’m ready for another test flight, momma.” When they both talked about taking a small adventure to the moon to test out the little creature’s ability to do interplanetary travel, they found themselves to be completely excited at the idea.

“Wait a second; Laira can fly in ship form now?” Washu asked in surprise. When she last saw the little red-furred creature, it couldn’t even stay in the sky for more than five minutes. Now they were telling her that she could fly after a few months of being stationed in a castle? “Maybe you should take Ryo-ohki with you just in case.” As if on cue, the tiny brown cabbit jumped into Washu’s arms with a loud ‘myah’.

Ranma waved her hand. “Thanks for the concern, but I believe that Laira will be able to do the job just fine.” Her ‘daughter’ gave a great big ‘myah’ of her own. The other cabbit seemed slightly sad, but had to give a smile at the fact that the younger learned how to finally fly. “Don’t worry, Ryo-ohki. Maybe you could have some fun flying with Laira sometime later on.” That seemed to pick up the creature’s mood.

Turning around, the cat-girl commanded her ‘daughter’ to transform. With a nod, Laira leapt into the air and began to morph. A few moments later, a small cabbit ship was hovering just above the house. Giving a quick wave to the crab-haired scientist, and the residents of the house who came out to watch in curiosity, the young masu phased out of view and -- unseen by everyone else -- back into view on the bridge of the ship. “Set coordinates for the Moon, right momma?”

“You got it, Lai.” The redhead commented as she sat down on the seat that appeared in the center of the carpeted bridge. Watching outside of the windows, she watched as the ship started to slowly move. Laira then picked up speed and started to shoot towards the direction of the floating chunk of rock that orbited the Earth. It was a good thing that the cloaking device was on, otherwise they would have given the passengers of a couple planes a reason to panic. As they climbed higher and higher, Ranma watched as the scenery change from the atmosphere of the Earth, to the cold vacuum of outer space. Glancing into the rear window, the cat-girl watched as Earth in its entirety came into view. “No matter how many times I see it, it’s still amazing.” She whispered to herself as a grin began to spread on her face. “See, you did it, Lai! It’s your first successful flight into space without any problems at all.

“I told you I could do it!” The voice of the cabbit echoed from around the bridge. The redhead could sense the growing feelings of her ‘daughter’ as they continued on towards the crater-filled satellite of rock. Watching it quickly come into view caused Ranma to think of some of those outer space movies she saw many times. The thing that still surprised the cat-girl was how she had never visited the Moon before. You’d think that by living in a house that was home to some of the more powerful extraterrestrials in the universe, she would have visited the Earth’s Moon at least once. Sure she’s flown past it several times, but she never visited it. The idea of it all sounded preposterous when you thought about it.

Well, now it won’t be something that she’d never done before. Her blue-red eyes watched as Laira stopped above the large ball of rock and slowly began to descend. It didn’t take long before the ship was sitting on the ground. Standing to her feet, Ranma quickly teleported off of her the bridge of the ship. Appearing outside, she looked around at the desolate wasteland that seemed to go on for almost forever. Next, her ‘daughter’ changed back into cabbit form and hopped onto the cat-girl’s head. ‘Not exactly a happy looking paradise, is it Lai?’

The lavender-eyed creature gave a small shiver in response. ‘It’s kind of spooky when you think about it.’ Craters, impact marks, and mini mountains were all that seemed to be in this area that they never visited. The area around them was completely silent. There wasn’t even one bit of noise. Among all of this, it didn’t seem as if there was a thing of interest. It was then, however, that Ranma’s ears started to twitch a little.

‘I feel a small pull of magic coming from that direction.’ She said through their link with a point of her hand. ‘It feels old and slightly weak, but it IS a feeling of magic.’ The redhead decided to fly towards the direction she was feeling, since she didn’t want to deal with the lack of gravity at the moment. ‘I think the spot we are headed to is called The Sea of Serenity. At least it’s good to know that Washu’s teachings are coming in handy for something.’ She had to give a smirk at that as she neared the area where the feeling was the strongest. Her eyes widened at spotting actual stone pillars and ruins on the ground. ‘It’s almost as if there was something built here long ago.’

‘Hey, what’s that, momma?’ Laira asked as she pointed ahead. Following the paw, Ranma caught sight of something imbedded within the ground. Gliding up to it, she could feel the magic getting stronger. Finally on top of it, she could see that it was a large petrified sword imbedded into the stone flooring. ‘I can feel the magic coming from it as well.’ The cabbit commented

‘Then why don’t we just pull it out?’ The cat-girl asked with a grin. This was actually becoming a fun trip. Reaching out with her right hand, she grabbed hold of the hilt of the blade. Calming herself for a moment, she proceeded to pull with a large bit of ki pumped into her arm. The blade came out easily and without any true problem. ‘That seemed a little too simple.’ She thought as she examined the sword. She could feel a good bit of magic coming from under the petrified surface. ‘Maybe I could have Washu examine it. Then again, I could let you consume it, Lai. You’d be able to combine it with your energy and power reserves for later if we are in an emergency.’ It was then that her eyes noticed something forming from where she pulled the sword out. ‘I spoke too soon about it being simple. I REALLY need to shut up about things like that.’ She became interested, however, when a holographic image of a beautiful and elegant woman at about a foot tall appeared in front of her. The woman’s hair was silver in color and in an odango style with pigtails. ‘Huh, she looks a lot like that Usagi girl.’

“I never expected someone who wasn’t of Silver Millennium descent to find their way here and pull up this sword.” The woman commented with a serene look on her face. “I also never thought that said person would have a pair of cat ears and tail. Tell me; are you by any chance a Mau?” The voice was soft and gentle to the ears.

“A Mau? What’s a Mau?” She never even heard of that word before. “Sorry, I’m just a person who was trained in something called the Neko-ken. If you don’t mind me asking, who are you?”

A small giggle came from the woman. “Forgive me for my rudeness, young lady. Allow me to introduce myself. I am, well, I was, Queen Serenity of the once flourishing Moon Kingdom. It was a glorious kingdom, but it fell due to jealousy and evil intent.” The silver-haired woman seemed to become a little sad. “I had to watch many of my subjects die before me, and I wasn’t in time to stop my darling daughter from committing suicide due to the loss of her love. I did manage to send everyone forward to be resurrected, and I was able to seal the evil away. That last act ended up killing me, but with my last few breaths, I watched the people I save drift off to be reborn sometime in the future.”

Ranma knelt down next to the holographic image. “I may not truly understand anything about it, but I’m sorry for your loss.” Something else flittered through her mind. “Serenity, did your daughter have blonde hair, blue eyes, and a similar hair-style to yours?” The miniature woman looked up to her and gave a sad nod. “Well,” the redhead began with a smile, “I saw an eight-year-old girl yesterday at an ice cream shop on earth who matches that description.”

Serenity’s eyes widened as tears seem to come to them. “It really did work like I hoped then.” A wide and beautiful smile broke out across her face. “Please, could you tell me what she was like when you saw her?”

“I’d be happy to, Serenity.” The masu answered with a nod. “From the limited time I spoke with her, she seemed happy, carefree, loved ice cream, and had an air of elegance about her that no eight-year-old should normally have. She happens to also be a good friend to my little sister, and from what I’ve sensed from her current mother, she’s in very good hands.” Blue-red eyes watched as holographic tears trailed down to the dry and rocky ground.

“Then that means that everyone else must have found lives as well. I’m so glad that I could have helped them.” Her eyes glanced at the sword in the cat-girl’s hand. “Please, if there ever comes a time that the Sailor Senshi are needed, could you help them if they were in serious need of protecting my daughter? I know this may be a lot for me to ask, but--”

“A martial artist protects those who need it.” She didn’t have a clue as to what Sailor Senshi were, but decided that they must have been soldiers of some kind and protected the woman’s daughter. “If they are ever in any real danger, I will help.”

Serenity smiled as her form began to waver. “My time in this form grows short. I appreciate the small talk that we had, and I thank you for telling me about my daughter. Please, may I know your name?”

“It’s Ranma, Ranma Lina Malfoy.”

“Then I thank you from the bottom of my heart, Ranma.” As suddenly as she had appeared several moments ago, the holographic form of a once beautiful ruler of the Moon vanished. In the wake of the ghost from the past, Ranma continued to kneel down in that spot for several moments in thought. Shaking her head, she pushed herself back to her feet.

‘It’s hard to believe that scientists never discovered this stuff yet.’ She thought as she looked around. Glancing back at the sword, she gave a smile. ‘Here you go, Lai.’ She stated as she gave a small toss of the blade. With a quick motion, the young cabbit jumped at the sword and began to absorb its matter. After finishing with her ‘meal’, Laira shook her head.

‘Wow, that actually had a lot of power to it, momma.’ It almost felt as if something was starting to happen to her body. Both ‘mother’ and ‘daughter’ watched as the cabbit’s form seemed to shift and mold. After several minutes of this, the young creature’s body slowly changed. Where there was once a cute and cuddly little cabbit, there was now an extremely cute and cuddly cabbit that had the slight humanoid appearance of a four year old. ‘Wha-- what?’ Laira asked as she looked down at herself. ‘Momma! I can now turn into a humanoid form like Ryo-ohki!!’ She shouted over the link in pure joy. ‘Do you have a mirror, momma?!’

Ranma nodded dumbly and pulled out a mirror that was large enough for her ‘daughter’ to look in. Upon close examination of her new form, the cabbit noticed that she did look like a four-year-old. Well, that is if your average four-year-old had short pale-pink fur. On her head, she found long dark purple hair that flowed down to her ankles, and on top of her head were two small strands of hair that stuck straight up and curled at the end. Her now elf-like ears had also found their way onto the side of her now human-like head. Reaching up with her HANDS, she tugged a little on her ears. ‘This-- this is fantastic!!’ She shouted as she turned around-- and promptly fell flat onto her back. ‘Ok, so I need to get used to these legs. That won’t be too much of a problem.’ She raised a small fist into the air. “NO MORE BEING STUCK AS A TINY ANIMAL!!” The humanoid cabbit promptly fell onto her butt again.

Ranma could help it any longer and started to laugh until tears came to her eyes. “You don’t need to get so worked up, Laira.” She managed to get out as she calmed down. “You know, I think you are even more adorable in that form. Imagine what everyone at Hogwarts would think when they see you now.” The two shared a very devious smile at the thought. “If you keep absorbing power-soaked matter, you’ll probably be able to achieve an older form as well.” She didn’t know if she wanted her ‘daughter’ to grow up so fast though.

The physically four-year-old creature leapt into the cat-girl’s arms. “Let’s go find some more things momma. It never hurts to stock up on things.” Perhaps the moon could have even more interesting things to find. “Could there be some things underground?” She asked in eagerness.

The masu tapped her chin for a moment. “You know, there just might be. Well, why don’t we hurry and see?” At the child’s vigorous nod, Ranma held her carefully as she began phasing through the ground. If there really was a kingdom around here, then there was a possibility that they’d hide important things underground.

*Please look down at lower post for rest*

[Krysis]

The current question I have is what should Ranma refer to Nodoka as. That's the thing I'm currently trying to figure out.

You could always fall back on the tried and true "Auntie Saotome."

[borgrabbit]

You’d think the Plain of the Damned Gummies

Plane

It looks like fun time will be ahead for her

It looks like a fun time will be ahead for her

Can be hurry up and get going to the Masaki home now, mama?

Can we hurry up

Shaking her head of the thought

Shaking her head free of the thought (just seems more appropriate)

I like the truth. Nodoka is one of at least three mothers to have given birth to Ranma so—"Hi Mom!" It implies intimacy, familiarity and recognition of fact.
Ciao,
Wes

[RanmaRS]

I'm with borgrabbit.

Everyone there know who Ranma/Lina is. Calling Nodoka "auntie" doesn't feel right. They're family after all.

[Dumbledork]

She should call her mom in private and auntie when outsiders are present.

[KonokoHasano]

That's true, and the cover story that they have used for the people in Nerima and around the area could be the 'truth'. 'Lina' is daughter of a distant relative in the UK. Either that, or a story about how Katsuhito adopted her.

I was thinking about this chapter last night, and I found out that I could have probably expanded earlier chapters a little when it came to Ranma's early years at the Masakis

Ah well.

[Dumbledork]

That's true, and the cover story that they have used for the people in Nerima and around the area could be the 'truth'. 'Lina' is daughter of a distant relative in the UK. Either that, or a story about how Katsuhito adopted her.

I was thinking about this chapter last night, and I found out that I could have probably expanded earlier chapters a little when it came to Ranma's early years at the Masakis

Ah well.

Well you can always edit the chapters and add things. A lot of writers do it.

[KonokoHasano]

True, but something tells me that would interrupt the flow that's already there.

[KonokoHasano]

A little more has been added to the chapter. Still in progress, but some more has been added.

[Spokavriel]

I think Lina\Ranma should still think of Nodoka as Mom but at least try to reffer to her as Aunty in public. She still has to deal with being born in another branch of the family this encarnation afterall.

There are a few things I could nit-pick on like the greetings in the bar but it's too early for that. Please just remember to give me time and a chance to do so once the chapter is complete. Main reason for holding off is that you said you tend to forget things like that from time to time and it saves on repetes.

Oh Boy do I agree on the fact you could have expanded more on the Masaki's There's so much time there but as things are now there's a good momentum so maybe a spinnoff or side fic could cover a bit more of it. Maybe even title it "The Childhood of Ranma Inverse Malfoy".

Figures you already added more. Well reading that and adding to my comments then. Just hope you don't finish it before I post this.

Oh I really love that Frosted scene with Ranma and Lil'Washu.

When Ranma is looking arround her room There's nothing to really indicate that it's evening. I actually would have liked to have seen a bit more happen in the day. Be it a cleche fight a bit of sparring to check out how Ranma's training is holding up or even some more magic demonstrations. The environment of the Masaki home just has too much going on at any time to let a days time slip by without some more events.

So you did go and make Luna the younger sister this time. I'm not too suprised but it does make me worry if she'll ever grow into character if you catch my drift.

[Dumbledork]

I love the addition. A lot of WAFF and I'm a sucker for WAFF. At least the reincarnated Luna seems to be different in her new life.

[KonokoHasano]

*Added from first post*

The masu tapped her chin for a moment. “You know, there just might be. Well, why don’t we hurry and see?” At the child’s vigorous nod, Ranma held her carefully as she began phasing through the ground. If there really was a kingdom around here, then there was a possibility that they’d hide important things underground. Sure enough, they found themselves in a dimly lit corridor. Apparently the leftover magic seemed to still feed power to the area below the surface. “I don’t know why, but a part of me is really excited to be exploring completely unknown territory. It’s a place where nobody has ventured for thousands of years.” A Cheshire-like grin spread across her face. “I wonder how many leftover valuables there are. Maybe there are ancient and lost martial arts techniques, or maybe there are also some interesting magic skills. Hey, maybe there’s even lost treasure or magical items.” She was getting very excited, and Laira was kind of getting creeped out.

“Are you alright, momma?” The humanoid cabbit asked as she held the hand of her ‘mother’ so she could learn to walk better. She had never seen the cat-girl act like this before. She’s seen her interested in exploring and getting the lay of the land, but never obsessive to this degree. “Momma, you’re starting to scare me!”

The former Saotome snapped out of it and shook her head. “Whoa, what the hell was that? It was like I was just overcome by some weird obsession to search for all the valuables I could.” Her eyes suddenly narrowed as realization came to her. “Damn, past life backlash. Lina Inverse had a thing for exploring and scavenging almost anything of value she could find.” Apparently the thought of entering this place brought those feelings to the forefront. “You know, Inverse scares me sometimes.”

“You’re not the only one.” Laira stated with a shiver. The woman must have been a real handful in her time, and whoever was able to control her must have been a strong and great person.

“Well, let’s check this place out.” Ranma stated calmly as she lead the small cabbit child down the corridors. They didn’t know where they were going, but that was naturally half the fun of exploring unknown places. She slightly wondered if Washu had ever bothered to check this place out. ‘I might just have found out something that she never did, and it was right in front of her face.’ She could only imagine the scientific genius’s look.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Ranma and Laira continued to look around as they moved about the underground corridors. Both have been walking for about 30 minutes or so, and all they really found were debris, old bedrooms, skeletons, and an assortment of other things that usually felt at home in places like this. It wasn’t a total loss as they moved about though. Somehow the vacuumed atmosphere managed to keep a few diaries, journals, and entire books intact. Even thought the books were well over thousands of years old, they still seemed to be in mint condition. Without any air, moisture, light, and other things that usually caused things like that to be destroyed, it was likely that they would hit the jackpot a few times. Both were glad that -- due to their masu genes -- they could survive in areas with no air. If it wasn’t for that, they’d already be dead.

The journals, diaries, and books would be good to keep for learning about what was going on at the time. With such antiquity as this, it was certain that a certain crab-haired scientist would have a complete fit at the knowledge that she could learn. The sad part about it all was knowing that there had actually been people living here at one time, and that they were all wiped out. She was sure that this Moon Kingdom was probably a lovely place to live all those thousands of years ago, and if there was life on the moon, did that mean the other planets and moons in this galaxy had life at one time?

Looking down at the cabbit next to her, she couldn’t help but smile at the look of awe on the girl’s face. It was interesting how one magical sword was able to give her enough energy to gain a humanoid form. Neither even knew that it could happen, and they had to wonder if Washu knew something like that. From what they learned about Ryo-ohki, she gained her humanoid forms after merging with some escaped masu experiments or something. When Laira first saw the older cabbit’s ability to ‘go humanoid’, she was completely jealous, and wished that she could do the same. The good thing about it was that Ryo-ohki had tried to encourage Laira to figure out a way to do it. Both of the cabbits thought of each other as sisters. Something like that, however, would make the cat-girl and Ryoko seem closer. That was not an appealing thought at all. It wasn’t that she didn’t LIKE the older masu. She just thought the woman could be a little less of a… something.

The redhead was brought out of her musings when the two of them came to a set of large double doors on the left side of the hall. The size of the doors had managed to pique her curiosity considerably. Walking up to them, she started to give a hard push. To her joy, both doors began to open, and before long, the two individuals were through the doorway and looking into the room that greeted them. To say they were surprised would have been like saying that a carrot was only a little orange.

The room they were standing in was huge. Of course, a room being huge didn’t necessarily mean anything grand or special. No, it was not the size of the room that caused them to stare. It was the COMPUTER that they were both staring at. For something that was several of thousands of years old, it seemed quite advanced for its time. Computer screens seemed to litter the area, and the keyboard was easy enough to operate. How something like this could survive for thousands upon thousands of years was well beyond her. As her blue/red eyes scanned the computer itself, she could make out a name engraved on the side. ‘Eternity Main Systems’ was what the computer was called.

Her interest completely piqued by this turn of events, the redhead made her way up to the large electronic creation and began to examine it. After a few moments, she thought she found something that may have been the ‘on’ switch. Activating it, she watched as the screens began to light up one by one as the thing began humming. This discovery was absolutely amazing, and she couldn’t wait to tell Washu of what she found. ‘I’ve been around Washu for too long. I’m starting to have my own little obsessions with this stuff.’ Maybe that’s what the crab-haired scientist wanted or something. Either way, it wasn’t important at the moment. The important thing was to learn a little about what was going on here.

“ETERNITY MAIN SYSTEMS: PLEASE INPUT PASSWORD”

‘Shit, I don’t know any passwords.’ Ranma thought as she tried to think frantically. This was a great find, and she’d be damned if she’d let it slip through her fingers. ‘What the hell am I going to do?’ Pulling out a few of the diaries and journals, she began to leaf through them for any clues. ‘Password, password, password, where are you password.’ Where is a damn password when you need it? ‘It has to be somewhere.’

Laira looked away from the cat-girl’s vigorous search and examined the computer. Her eyes scanned the room for any signs of a possible clue. She heard about things like this being completely obvious. ‘Hey, what’s that?’ She thought as she stood up and walked clumsily over to the base of the computer. There was a small tablet on the ground, and it caught her eye. Picking it up, she glanced at the pad. A moment later, a sweat-drop found its way onto her head. ‘Momma, I think I found the password.’

The redhead’s head whipped around quickly. ‘Really? What’s the password, Lai?’ It was hard to believe that something that she wanted to find so badly would just be lying there on the floor for anybody to find it.

“The password is… ice cream.”

“PASSWORD ACCEPTED-- WELCOME TO ETERNITY MAIN SYSTEMS, QUEEN SERENITY”

Both ‘mother’ and ‘daughter’ blinked for a few minutes before staring at each other. They then proceeded to stare back at the computer. As they shared a sweat-drop, they both thought the same thing. ‘You’ve got to be kidding me.’

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

After gaining access of the mainframe via an… interesting password choice that, Ranma proceeded to check out the archives that were stored on the aged hard-drive. What shocked her most was that if she read the history right, then the Moon Kingdom had been around for about 30,000 years, and that the entire kingdom fell about 10,000 years ago. It also seemed that she was right in thinking that there used to be life on the other planets in the solar system. In fact, it looked like there were computers that also orbited Saturn, Neptune, Uranus, and Pluto. All this information could prove to be interesting to learn, but she couldn’t stay here and learn about it. She had to take the information with her.

Doing that would be a simple matter. All she had to do was use the mini-computer that Washu got her a few years ago. She never bothered to use it much unless the scientific genius had her do something that required the use of it, but she did have a basic understanding of what to do. She remembered her teacher tell her that the cat-girl’s mini-computer had enough space as one of her own mini-computers, and that was a lot. So seeing as how she had never put it to any real use except wasting time playing computer games, she decided to try it out now.

Pulling it out, she had to grimace. ‘It always seems to be cat-stuff with me.’ The computer itself had a large blue yarn-ball design. The case even had the texture of a yarn-ball. ‘I guess it’s similar to Washu and her crab designs. I just wonder why I have to be known for yarn-balls and fish.’ Throwing the thought out of her mind, she proceeded to plug the mini-computer into the Eternity Systems. Once that was finished, she proceeded to see if she could copy the entire hard-drive onto her mini-computer. She actually hoped she was doing it right, since she never did anything like this before. ‘I’m going to be annoyed if I’m doing it wrong.’ She thought with a frown.

Finished setting everything up, she proceeded to download everything onto her mini-comp. “I can’t wait to see Washu’s face when I show her this. She’s going to completely flip.” The cat-girl may not have been a genius, but she wasn’t stupid. You don’t spend nine damn years with the greatest scientific genius in the universe without learning a thing or two. Just because she had a habit of acting before thinking, often lacked common sense, and could sometimes insert her foot into her mouth, it didn’t mean she was stupid. “I’m getting a little hungry.” She said to herself. Reaching into her Hidden Weapons, she pulled out a few bags of potato chips and some sweet buns. “Want a sweet bun or some potato chips, Lai?” She handed the young cabbit some when Laira nodded.

Ranma wasn’t aware of how long it actually took to download the whole mess, but in the process she finished off eight large bags of potato chips and seven sweet buns. “Maybe when we finish up with exploring this place, we can see if everyone wants to order out for pizza or something.” She ignored the giggle from the cabbit child and looked down at her mini-computer. “Finally, it’s done. That’s the last time I ever do something like that again. Damn long as hell information dump.” Unhooking her mini-computer, she put it away and moved back over to the Eternity Systems and shut it down. Scooping up the young cabbit, the cat-girl proceeded to walk out of the room and continue exploring the underground area of the kingdom. Both didn’t realize that they had actually taken the small notepad with the password with them.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

“It seems like there’s not really much here but crap.” Ranma commented as Laira and she looked around an area that appeared to be a vault of some kind. They did find some gold and jewels in their search, but they also found some half-assed magical items. One of the items was some kind of cloak that allowed a person to use telekinetic abilities. The only problem with that was that the target had to be at least three feet away, and using the ability was somewhat taxing. After trying to use it, the cat-girl felt slightly tired. She ended up handing it to Laira to consume. The young cabbit could use every bit of magic and energy she could get.

Next up was a magic ring that was just as half-assed. Apparently how it worked was that you thought of a certain person, and the ring would make said person sneeze. The only true problem with that was that the person could only be within a mile radius of the caster, and the person would also learn the identity of the person who did it. That item, too, went to Laira. The cabbit went on to say that it actually had a slight sour taste to it, but it was tasty none-the-less.

What Ranma found next had actually filled her whole mind with complete and utter dread. While she was feeling her hands around in the rubble for more items, her left hand brushed against some kind of pen item. The next thing she knew, a weird light enveloped her. A second later, she found herself standing in the freakiest outfit imaginable. It was like some… cheerleader schoolgirl outfit gone horribly wrong, and it was pink and purple. Her mind nearly shut-down when the whole thing happened, but it didn’t, and she found herself running around the place like a chicken with its head cut off.

It took about 15 minutes for her to calm down, and another 10 minutes before she figured out how to get out of IT. After getting out of IT, she decided to not give it to Laira to eat. Now, she decided to introduce it to a fireball. She had the crazed satisfaction of blasting the freakish thing until it was nothing but a bunch of dust on the ground. Then she proceeded to blast a little more. Then, for good measure, slam a rock onto the dust. She was not going to risk THAT coming back to haunt her. Something told her that if she didn’t destroy it, it WOULD come back to haunt her in the future. Well, good riddance to bad rubbish.

The redhead did find something of interest a few minutes later though. It was obviously some kind of technique, but she didn’t know if it was martial or magical. All she knew was that it apparently had the same function as a certain ass-poking technique from a certain ninja anime. How the Moon Kingdom had that lying around was completely beyond her, but why should she just let it lay around. It could provide a bit of amusement in the future. The question would be WHO would be the first to experience the wonders of this technique. It was a hard choice between Happosai, Xellos, Ryoko, Nashigi, and a few other people. Hell, maybe Fred and George could find some use in a technique like that.

Upon finding various other scrolls of interesting or completely pointless skills and information, Ranma and Laira found an odd little key lying on the ground. It was a beautiful key, but it felt as if there was some strange magic coming from it. Both of them looked at each other before picking up the small little golden object. No sooner had they picked it up, than did they feel an odd pull on their very beings. They tried to drop it, but weren’t in time before they were sucked into somewhere--

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

--and spit back out into an even odder place all-together. “Ow, what the hell was that?” Ranma asked as she rubbed her tail that she had landed on. Next to her, Laira was rubbing her own butt due to the fall. Raising her head, the cat-girl could only blink at seeing where they were. The entire place was shrouded in an odd mist for almost miles to see. It almost seemed as if there was no end to the plane itself. “Great, what trouble did I get us into now?” She grumbled out in annoyance as she stood up.

The cabbit child did the same as her ‘mother’ and looked around. Through the mist, she spotted a lone pair of double doors. “I see something over there, momma.” The older girl stopped in her cursing long enough to see the exact same thing. “You think that’s the way out?”

“If it’s not, then at least it’ll lead somewhere.” If they managed to get out of this place, she decided they were headed home. They had enough adventure to last the rest of the holiday break. “C’mon, let’s go and check it out.” The humanoid cabbit gave a nod and followed through the mist. Anything was better than standing around in this place and doing nothing.

“Stop!” A voice shouted from somewhere in the area. Both people looked around for whoever the voice belonged to, but they couldn’t spot anything. “You may not pass beyond this point!” Two pairs of eyes looked around again, and this time they saw something. It was a tall and dark-skinned woman with long green hair in an outfit that Ranma remembered from when she… went a little crazy earlier. The strange woman also had a staff that was in the shape of a giant key. “I hold the key to the Fourth Dimension, Guardian of the Underworld, Sailor Pluto.”

“Well somebody is sure full of their self today.” The 11-year-old redhead stated sarcastically. Jeez she hated people with long titles. It reminded her so much of Kuno that it wasn’t funny. The guy may have gotten better with age, but he was still annoying. “Look, you see, we--”

“Those who break the taboo of entering this area uninvited… must die.” The mysterious woman calling herself Sailor Pluto swung her staff around and pointed it at the two who had accidentally found their way there.

Ranma put her hands up in front of here. “Hey, we came here by accident, and we’re only trying to find a way-- Laira, look out!” She shouted as she grabbed her ‘daughter’ and jumped out of the way of some strange blast of magic. Turning around, she sent a glare to the oddly dressed woman. “Will you listen to me for just one-- DAMN IT!” She shouted again as she grabbed the cabbit girl and jumped out of the way off another blast. “Ok, you are really starting to piss me off, lady.” The cat-girl growled out as her eyes became crimson. ‘It’s always the goofs that love to use the ‘kill first, ask question later’ mentality.’

“You broke the law and entered this area without permission. It is my duty to execute yo--” Sailor Pluto getting get a chance to finish before a pair of crimson-eyes appeared in her line of vision, and a punch found its way to her face. The punch sent her flying backwards, but she managed to straighten herself up. ‘I could have dodged that if I was expecting it. Well, she won’t catch me next time.’

The cat-girl was standing with her arms folded in front of her. “Well, are you ready to just listen to us, or are you going to-- SHIT!” Dodging another blast, she shot her hands forward. “Double Mouko Takabisha!” From both outstretched hands shot a pair of identical ki blasts. This act surprised the Senshi of Time, but she managed to dodge. She wasn’t expecting it to be a diversion, and for her opponent to be ready to punch her as she dodged away from the blasts. Luckily for her, she managed to block the punch with her staff, but a kick to the side of her shoulder sent her flying.

Pluto managed to land on her feet -- much to the annoyance of her redheaded opponent -- and cast a glare towards the crimson-eyed 11-year-old. The girl was an annoying little pest, and she had some skill too. However, the guardian of the underworld didn’t want to spend any longer on these two-- wait, there’s still two of them here. Turning her head, the green-haired woman caught sight of the smaller one who came here with the cat-girl. She had no clue what the smaller creature was, but she seemed like the easiest one to eliminate. It was nothing personal. She just had a job to do. Whispering her signature attack, she let it fly for the young creature.

Ranma cursed big-time when she saw where the blast was going this time. Wasting no time at all, she teleported to her daughter and picked her up. She then proceeded to teleport out of the range of the blast. The fact that she could teleport completely surprised the Senshi of Pluto, and the crimson-eyed glare she was currently receiving was only worsened by the sight of a red aura coursing around the girl’s body. ‘She looks like some crimson-eyed devil girl now.’ The woman thought in slight nervousness.

If that wasn’t enough, then the animalistic growl that accompanied the girl’s voice was a sure-fire thing of fright. “You tried to kill my daughter, you fracking bitch. How could you try and kill a child, let alone two people who are lost and were trying to figure their way out?!” The air almost seemed to get heavy. “I don’t care if you are the guardian of shit! There is no reason for attacking two people like that. You want to play with spells? Well fine, well PLAY.

“Darkness beyond twilight, crimson beyond blood that flows.” The chant of the spell began draining all color from the Senshi of Time’s face. “Buried in the flow of time, that is where your power grows. In thy great name, I pledge myself to darkness.” Now Pluto was feeling desperate. She could fire off a blast while the girl was in the middle of the spell, but since she had the ability to seemingly teleport without any real effort. “Let the fools who stand before us be destroyed, by the power--”

“WAIT!” The spell could completely destroy the Gates of Time. If that happened, she’d be in BIG trouble. “I’m sorry for attacking the both of you, and I’m sorry for trying to kill your daughter. I’m only doing the job that I’ve been doing for thousands of years. If anybody comes here with intention of going through the gates without permission, I’m supposed to execute them.” A sigh of relief escaped when the girl canceled the spell, but it turned to pain when she fount a fist in her gut.

“You stupid bitch.” The redhead growled out. “We didn’t come here to go through your damn gates. We came here by accident because of some stupid golden key lying around in the damn rubble. We were a couple of lost travelers when you attacked us. If you would have just waited instead of going all trigger happy, this whole thing could have been explained. Did you wait to listen to us? Hell no! You just decided that you were Kami-sama himself and that since we were here, we must have been up to no good with your precious gates. Jeez, what are you? Related to that creature with the obsession for that stupid ring from that one movie? I’m getting tired of people like you who always attack first without trying to talk it over!”

The tan-skinned Senshi stared into a pair of glowing crimson eyes and thought about what the young girl just said. True, she did attack them attempting to see why they were here in the first place. But being stuck in isolation without human contact for thousands of years tends to put you on edge for when you DO finally see someone. There’s also the fact that the first two people she met in thousands of years that she tried to do away with were just children. The redhead may have some skill and powerful magic, but she’s still a child. “I can’t apologize for what I’m supposed to do for my job, but I can apologize for not checking out why you came.”

“Well, at least it’s something.” Ranma said as she scratched the back of her head. The woman did apologize, and that was something in itself. Usually the person would either hold a grudge, or they would keep on attacking several more times until the point got across. “So who are you anyway?”

“My name is Sailor Pluto. I am the Senshi of Time, Guardian of the Underworld, and the Princess of Pluto. My job is to guard the Gates of Time from outside interference. If something is of direct threat to the time-stream, then it is my job to deal with it.” She noticed the slight disinterested look on the 11-year-old and four-year-old whatever. ‘Well, at least it seems that they have no interest in the thought of traveling through time.’

“I’m glad it’s not my job. I’ve experienced time travel a few times before, and it’s more trouble than its worth.” The redhead stated as she thought about a certain pocket mirror, a couple of Washu’s inventions, and one or two times back in Lina’s time. “Anyway, how do we get out of this place? I’m hungry, and I want to get back home so I can eat something.”

Pluto blinked at the statement of her experiencing time travel before. Now she knew why the redhead wasn’t interest to know about the Time Gates. A slight smile came to the woman. “You said in your rant a few moments ago that you found a small golden key, did you not?” At the nod from her two guests, she went on. “You can use that to go back from where you came from. All you have to do is think of the spot and hold the key above your head. It’ll then teleport you to your destination.”

“See! This whole mess could have been solved without needing to fight!” Ranma announced with an accusing finger to the green-haired Senshi. “You’re lucky that my physical abilities still aren’t at the point that they used to be. Otherwise I would have pounded you into the ground faster than you could think!”

The Guardian of the Gates actually let out a giggle. “I highly doubt that you’d be able to beat me in a full fight even with all of your physical abilities at where they were. I may not know how good you really are, but I doubt someone as young as you could keep up with someone who’s been around for thousands of years.” She forgot how good it was to talk to another human being. “By the way, what’s your name?”

“That’s what you think. You’ll be eating those words the next time we fight.” The question the Senshi asked filtered through to her mind. “Ranma Lina Malfoy: Greatest martial artist and sorceress.” The older woman raised an eyebrow. “Alright, fine, there are at least two people out there who are better than me, but I am one of the best! I can also safely say that I AM the greatest sorceress ever. Well, I have met people on other planets who could out-do me in magic-- damn it to hell.” Before she continued to ramble on, she put a hand on Laira’s head. “And this is my daughter, Laira. Well, I actually hatched her from an egg that my teacher created through the use of some of my cells and DNA-- why the hell am I rambling?”

“It’s because you got flustered over the thought of not being the best, momma.” The humanoid cabbit stated with a giggle at the reddening of the cat-girl’s face. This also caused the Senshi of Pluto to get caught up in her own giggling.

“I haven’t had any enjoyment like this in a long time.” The green-haired woman commented as she held out a gloved hand. “It’s been a pleasure to meet you, Ranma-- except for the confrontation we had when you first got here.” She finished with a tinge of pink on her cheeks at the glare she received for mentioning that. “Maybe we’ll see each other again?”

The cat-girl gave a shrug. “It’s a possibility. As long as you don’t try to attack me out of the blue again, that is.” The glare vanished. “Have fun with your… job. All I can say is that I don’t envy you at all.” With a small smirk, she picked up Laira and raised the key above her head. “Take me back to the surface of the Moon.” With a nearly blinding flash, the two individuals vanished from the area of mist. This left the Senshi of Pluto to continue to do the job that she had for almost forever.

“I wonder if that was a sign that interesting things are going to be happening soon.” Pluto wondered as she looked around the virtual wasteland that was her home. “I really hate this job.”

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

After appearing back on the Moon’s surface, Ranma had Laira to transform into her ship form so that they could get back home. The redhead didn’t know how long they had been gone, but the young cabbit suggested that it was about six hours. The cat-girl had to whistle at that. She had no idea since time seemed to almost fly by while they were exploring the place. Tossing the thought out of her mind for that moments, she watched as they entered the Earth’s atmosphere and continued on towards the Masaki household. Ranma slightly wondered just how the people on the jet they past would have acted if they saw a space ship barreling passed them.

They finally found themselves back at the Masaki house and hovering above the house. Of course their presence caused everyone to charge out of the house. Once the inhabitants of the house saw who it was though, they calmed down. “It looks like the Shrimp was able to make it alright.” Ryoko stated in a bored tone. She was kind of hoping that Ranma would have problems and would need help. Then she would have been able to rub it into the cat-girl’s face.

“You were expecting me to have trouble, Old Mummy?” The redhead asked as she appeared on the ground. A moment later, Laira transformed out of her ship form and landed onto the cat-girl’s head. The shocked looks on everyone’s face caused Ranma to smirk. “Yeah, Laira ate a petrified magic sword that we found up there. Apparently it had enough power within it to give her the ability to transform into a child form.”

“Yep!” The little cabbit shouted as she jumped off of her mother’s head and landed onto her feet. Looking up, she smiled as Ryo-ohki -- in her own child form -- ran up to her. The purple-haired cabbit gave a smile and a victory sign. “I’m no longer stuck as a small animal!” She blinked when her cabbit sister grabbed her into a hug.

“Great!” Ryo-ohki managed to get out before she began shouting myah’s of joy. The older creature could get out words every now and then, but she was more comfortable with giving a myah. “Play!” The brown-furred child-like creature shouted as she began pulling the other along with her.

Ranma would have laughed at the sight if it wasn’t for the small whack upside her head that she received from Washu. “I probably could have examined that sword and found a few things of interest, you know.” The genius was slightly peeved that her student didn’t even think of her. “It could have been a clue to learn a little more about this Solar System.”

The cat-girl hid a smirk that threatened to break loose. “You mean that you never examined the moon and this Solar System before? I thought you ran scans and all that stuff.” Oh, this was going to be so sweet.

“I’ve attempted to run scans before, but they have never revealed anything of interest on the Moon, nor have I seen anything of real interest in the rest of this backwater Solar System.” Emerald-green eyes noticed a catty grin on her student. “What’s with the look, Ranma?”

A chuckle escaped the martial artist/sorceress. “Well Washu-chan, I ended up exploring the inside of the moon, and a little of the outside. I found the ruins of an old castle, and I found the ruins of bed chambers, training facilities, treasure vaults, and a highly advanced computer called the Eternity Main Systems. In fact,” she pulled out her mini-computer, “I copied all of the data from that computer onto here. 30,000 years worth of information and history on something that was around 10,000 years ago called the Moon Kingdom and Silver Millennium. Not only was there life on the moon, but life on all the other planets in this Solar System. There are also other computers on hidden castles that circle Pluto, Saturn, Neptune, and Uranus.”

Washu could only stare at her young student as her hand reached out shakily and grabbed hold of the mini-computer. There was a little bit of drool on the side of her mouth as she examined the information. Over 30,000 years worth of knowledge and history about this backwater Solar System. This backwater system also used to have a highly advanced computer that allowed life to exist. ‘Kami-sama… this is fantastic. Ranma actually discovered a treasure trove of knowledge that was sitting right under my nose.’ For the first time in several years, the greatest scientific genius in the universe was rendered speechless by her own student.

“I’ve also found loads of diaries, journals, and books, Washu-chan.” The younger redhead commented as she held out a large box filled with it all. “They’re books that contain the inner thoughts and ideas of the rulers of the Moon during those times. Everything kept mostly intact due to the atmosphere being a virtual vacuum with no air, moisture, or sunlight to corrode away the paper.” Of everything that she was expecting to happen, she wasn’t expecting her teacher to tightly grab hold of her shoulders and stare at her.

Washu’s emerald-green eyes stared right at her student for the past nine years. The girl had just surprised her greatly not long ago with valuable information worth more than gold itself to the genius. Her mind was still in a state of complete and utter shock and joy at this discovery. If the girl thought that all this would completely throw her for a loop, then she was absolutely correct. As she held her student in place, Washu: The Greatest Scientific Genius in the Universe could only think of one thing to say that could sum up her whole shock, joy, pride, and everything else.

“Marry me,” The eccentric 20,000-year-old genius simply said in an almost distant voice.

“Wha-- what the hell are you talking about?” Ranma asked while she -- and everyone else -- blinked. That was the most random thing that she had ever heard from her teacher. Soon, she found an arm draped around her shoulder.

“Think of it Ranma,” the older redhead started, “two redheaded geniuses who could explore the mysteries of the universe together and solve everything there is to solve.” There was a kind of odd look in her eyes. “We would make such a perfect couple, don’t you think so, Ranma-chan?”

The cat-girl managed to pull herself away and wave her arms in a warding gesture. “Now calm down a moment Washu-chan. You’re only a little delirious because of the information overload I just gave to you. Besides, I’m only 11-years-old--”

“I believe you’ve learned of quite a few planets out there where an 11-year-old would be able to marry.” The genius interrupted with a smirk as the younger redhead seemed to be getting nervous. “I think it could be fun and enjoyable, Ranma-chan.”

“Now wait a--” The dual eye-colored girl’s eyes widened when her teacher transformed into her adult form. “Damn it, will you cut that out, Washu-cha--” She suddenly found a finger pressed against her lips as her teacher bent over to look her right in the eyes.

“If you’re unable to ever find yourself a girl of your own, Ranma-chan, I’ll always be here. Besides, I think you deserve a girl who happens to be mature, youthful, playful, intelligent, witty, long lived…” As the eccentric woman listed each off, her face inched closer and closer to the younger girl -- who happened to be completely petrified at the moment due to what was going on.

Just as Washu’s lips were about to brush against Ranma’s, both redhead’s were pushed apart by a slightly red-faced Tenchi. “Ranma’s right, Washu-chan. She is only 11-years-old. There’s no reason to do things like that to her right now.” The young man was glad that he was able to help his friend in time. The cat-girl almost seemed about ready to faint, and it was hard to believe that the mad scienti-- scientific genius swung that way. He saw the pout on the 20,000-year-old genius’s face, but was relieved when she turned and walked away. For a moment there, he thought he was going to be used as a guinea pig again. “You okay there, Ran…ma?” The Masaki man could only blink.

The young redhead still seemed to be completely petrified as her wide eyes looked on in shock. Humorously, there was a small trail of blood leaking out of her nose, and her whole face was as red as a tomato. Standing around the girl was Sasami, Ayeka, Ryoko, and Mihoshi, and all four were trying to get the girl out of her shock. The blonde Galaxy Police officer was giving the cat-girl a series of pokes, and Sasami was trying to shake her shoulders. Ayeka was toying with the cat-ears, and Ryoko-- the former space pirate floated in front of the girl and gave a small blow of her breath. They all watched as the petrified cat-girl slowly fell over and onto her back.

“HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!” Ryoko laughed out at the sight that she saw before her.

“WAAAAHHHH!!! Something’s wrong with Ranma-chan!” Mihoshi cried out as tears streamed from her eyes.

“Poor Ranma-chan.” Sasami stated with worry in her eyes.

“RYOKO! Your mother broke Ranma!” Ayeka screamed as her face centered onto the cyan-haired masu.

“Hey, it’s not Washu’s fault that the Shrimp is frail when it comes to things like that. I haven’t seen a reaction like that in forever!” The ex-space pirate yelled as she continued to laugh her ass off.

‘It’s just one of those days.’ Tenchi thought with a sigh as he walked over to the downed girl and picked her up onto his shoulder. He then turned around and proceeded to take his friend to her room. ’11-years-old is too young to have female problems.’ The man thought with a chuckle. He hoped more than anything that Washu was just kidding, but knowing the eccentric woman as well as he did…

‘Be strong, Ranma.’

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Ranma’s eyes flittered open slowly. Glancing around, she noticed that she was in her bed in her room. She was also able to tell from looking out the window that it was the next morning. Racking her brain, she attempted to try and figure out what had happened the day before. When she finally remembered, her face took on a full shade of crimson. ‘I REALLY hope she was just kidding.’ It wasn’t too likely, but there was always a rare instance. The memory was still completely fresh in her mind to this very moment.

Shaking her head, the cat-girl tossed the covers off and hopped out of bed. She just remembered that it was Christmas, and she was going to go and visit Nerima later. ‘Anything to get my mind off of what happened.’ She thought with a shiver as she made her way out of her room and down the hall. Coming to the staircase, she proceeded to walk down, and she almost crashed into Washu as she came to the bottom step. “Good morning, Washu-chan.” She said while trying to hide a frown. “You-- weren’t serious about all the stuff you said yesterday, were you?”

The scientific genius’s emerald eyes twinkled as a wide smile appeared on her face. “You KNOW I don’t joke around about things as serious as that, Ranma-chan.” She put an arm around her student’s shoulder. “C’mon, can you honestly tell me that you would not like to spend the rest of your life with me? Think of all the fun and excitement we could have.” She shook her head at the red-faced reply. “You are still a little too immature when it comes to things like that, Ranma-chan. Maybe it will all finally catch up to you in a few years, and I’ll be waiting for it as well.”

‘I really hope this is just an after-affect of handing her all that information I got. I don’t think I could handle it if she really was in her right mind.’ Ranma felt something thrust into her hands. Looking down, she noticed that it was her mini-computer. Looking to the older redhead, she noticed the woman was slipping into teacher mode. It was something that filled her with relief.

“My assignment for you, my little student, is to learn all you can about the information that you gathered. There were other things on the agenda, but I feel that you can take it easy for quite some time to come. All you have to do is casually read and study the info until you are finished. I honestly don’t care how long it takes, but I will give you other assignments in the future.” The emerald-eyed genius patted the cat-girl on the head. “You have no idea of just how proud I am of you, student. You have completely went beyond my expectations.”

Ranma didn’t really know how to handle the praise she was receiving. Sure, Washu praised her before in doing something that seemed incredibly difficult, but never to this magnitude. It felt… really good. “Thank you, Washu-sensei!” She managed out with a large smile. A large roar suddenly made itself known, and caused the younger redhead to put a hand on her stomach. “Damn, I missed eating yesterday because of what you did to me!”

Her teacher had the decency to look embarrassed. “Sorry about that, Ranma-chan. Come on, let’s go get some breakfast before you get hungry enough to eat us out of house and home.”

“Hey!”

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Breakfast was even more enjoyable on a completely empty stomach, and everyone had to suppress a sweat-drop at the sight of a cat-girl eating twice as much as she usually did. Even after nine years, they could never figure out where the food went. Although Washu did decide that the food gets stored SOMEWHERE for energy, and that even as she eats, Ranma burns energy. That is the reason why the younger redhead always ate more than it seems that one her size should be able to eat. At least, that’s what Washu thought. Ayeka decided that the girl must have some kind of mini black hole in her stomach that gets rid of everything.

After her meal, the dual eye-colored martial artist/sorceress decided to open the presents that the Malfoys got for her. As she unwrapped the presents, she took stock on what she received from her parents in this life. What she received was: A couple books on magical spells, a couple dresses and outfits -- three guesses who from --, some spending money, and a set of Wizard’s Chess. The books and spending money were the most interesting of the gifts.

Laira became positively elated when Ranma gave her all the outfits the cat-girl had when she was four. She didn’t know why she still had the clothing from the time, but found that they would have better use if her daughter had them. The young cabbit didn’t care if they were old outfits, and all she could think was about how it was a gift for her new form. The response the cat-girl got from the cabbit was a massive glomp that carried behind it an amount of strength that one wouldn’t expect the diminutive creature to have.

As the former Saotome went to reach for another present to open from one of her ‘extended family’ in the Masaki house, the telephone began to ring. Ranma watched as Sasami left the room to answer it and thought nothing of it. “RANMA!” The blue-haired woman shouted as she came back. The shout caused everyone to jump and turn around to see a wide-eyed and fearful Juraian Princess.

This caused the redhead to feel worried. “Sasami, what’s wro--”

“That was Nodoka that just called. Someone just broke into their home, knocked her and Genma out of the way, and kidnapped Sakura!” There was a moment of complete silence around the room before she suddenly found a pair of crimson eyes just inches from her face and staring into her own pink eyes with serious intensity.

“Who, damn it?! Did mom know anything about the person who did it?!” Who the hell could be strong enough to just knock Genma out of the way so easily, and why the hell would someone take an innocent child such as Sakura. “Whoever the damn bastard is, they’re going to--” She stopped in her tirade when she -- as well as the other occupants of the house -- felt some kind of odd energy nearby.

“Yo,” a loud and low voice called out, “I’m here for the reborn Lina Inverse. I’d like to have a few words with her!” Everyone was silent at the shout from whoever it was that just appeared. “C’mon already! If you don’t hurry up, I might have to rough up this little kid a little until you decide to show!”

That was all the incentive that Ranma needed. With movement quicker than anyone could track, the young cat-girl shot out of the room and towards the front door. Without even hesitation or slowing down, she burst through the now demolished door and stepped outside. Her eyes narrowed when she caught sight of the person who had called her out. Said person was obviously male at about 6’3” with shoulder-length blonde hair. His skin had a deep tan, and his humor-filled eyes were a deep orange color. His outfit consisted of a normal long-sleeve sweater and thick woolen pants that were attached by a large chain belt. What really caused the dual-eyed girl who stare was the bundle in the man’s left hand. “Sakura…” She said softly as she looked upon her sister. The younger girl was tied up so she couldn’t move, and over her mouth was a large piece of tape to prevent her from speaking. The worst of all was the obvious black eye that the girl was sporting.

“Ah yes, I guess I already did rough her up a little. The girl just wouldn’t stop screaming, and so I had to do that as I was tying her up. Even threats of harming her even more wouldn’t shut her up. So, I had to put the tape over her mouth. She’s a cute kid, but she really needs to respect adults more.” The man smiled and showed off his sharp teeth. “I do wonder how well you scream though, Lina. Then again, maybe I should be calling you RANMA. That is, seeing how you like to go by that name around here.” His orange eyes began to twinkle at the red aura that spring up around the 11-year-old. “Oooo, this could get very interesting. Tell you what, Kitty. If you can rescue this girl in five minutes, I’ll leave her alone. If you can’t, then I’ll just have the pleasure of killing--”

“BASTARD!!” Ranma shouted as she shot forward. She ignored the people in the house telling her to wait, and she ignored the laughing of the odd man in front of her. All that was going through her mind was saving her sister. Barreling towards her opponent, she attempted to punch the guy with a quick punch. To her shock, and anger, the man teleported out of the way and reappeared a few feet away.

The strange man waved his finger in the air. “My, you have quite the temper there, child. It may feel incredibly tasty, but it can lead to a quick death for you.” His smirk turned into a frown when the redhead split into two people. The information never said anything about that. His frown turned into shock when both cat-girls teleported from his vision. The information never mentioned anything about that as well. “Where did you go, Kitten?” His response came when one of the doubles appeared above his hand and gave a quick -- but very painful -- bite. The bite caused him to drop his cargo, and he watched as the other cat-girl appeared and grabbed the raven-haired captive. Both redheads vanished again and reappeared near the house. Both of them then fused back together. ‘Interesting indeed.’

“Sakura, are you alright?” Ranma asked after she untied her sister. Her response was a pair of tear-filled eyes and a slow nod. “Don’t worry about a thing, Sakura. Didn’t I tell you that’d I’d always be here for you? I won’t allow that bastard to hurt you ever again.” She shouldn’t have even gotten a black-eye to begin with.

The youngest child of Nodoka leapt up and grabbed hold of her sibling. “Ranma-neechan! I knew you’d save me. You’re the best in the whole world, after-all!” She didn’t care if anybody said otherwise. To her, the cat-girl was the greatest ever.

“Take your time with the emotional reunion.” The strange man said as he ate a piece of cake. “This gives me some time to enjoy the cake that I bought yesterday.” He licked his lips of the frosting that had been there. “You know, you should really try this.”

Growling at the blonde man for what he just did, the crimson-eyed 11-year-old gently handed Sakura over to Washu and the others. “Watch after her. This guy’s going to pay for what he did.” Standing up, she continued to ignore everyone telling her to wait as she turned around and centered her vision onto the guy who seemed to be finished with his cake. “Who the hell are you?” She finally growled out.

The smirk on the man sent a feeling of loathing down her spine. “Razzlof, simply Razzlof. It’s nothing personal, but I’m just here to rough you up a little. If I kill you, then that’s your problem, isn’t it?” The way that he just casually said that caused Ranma to feel even more annoyance, but she managed to smirk through her anger.

“Gee, I wonder how many times I’ve heard people talk about killing me. You realize how old that gets?” Now that she was starting to feel on familiar ground, her anger began to drift away. She was still angry, but she wasn’t clouded by it. “I take it whoever sent you was too cowardly to even come himself. C’mon, what did I ever do to the person? Is it because of some petty rivalry? Someone promise something that can’t be done? Oh, I know! This person is just a stupid and cowardly power-hungry bastard who feels threatened by an 11-year-old girl.” Oh yeah, her opponent was starting to get angry now himself.

“How dare you disrespect Lord D--” Razzlof slapped his hand over his mouth before he said the name. He then began to chuckle, and that chuckle turned into a full belly laugh. “I see what you’re trying to do now.”

“Huh?” What was she trying to do?

The tanned man waved a finger. “You’re trying to get me to reveal the name of my lord. Well, that won’t happen. I’m onto you, you little witch!” He shouted as he pointed to the redhead and began to laugh again. “I’m too smart for your mind games. You shall never get me to tell you about D--” He slapped his hand over his mouth again. “Oh, you are GOOD.”

Ranma -- and the members of the Masaki household -- could only stare with while sharing a sweat-drop. “Yeah… I guess I am.” The cat-girl managed to let out as she kept wondering just what the hell was going on. She suddenly found herself blocking a punch that was aimed for her head. With her eyes narrowed, the former Saotome sent out a quick kick that managed to catch the guy in the stomach and knock him back a few feet. She then proceeded to rush forward and give him a knee to the chin before he recovered. Crimson eyes watched as the blonde man went sailing back a little ways. Not wasting any time, she called a stronger fireball into her hand and shot it forward. A smile came to her when she saw that it hit the man dead-on. That should leave a nice mark on his face.

Then again, seeing him walking out of the blast while clapping his hands without even a scratch wasn’t good. “That had a nice bit of power behind it, but it was a little weak, Ranma.” The man stated before calling a little bit of magic of his own into his hands. This actually startled the redheaded martial artist/sorceress, and it allowed her opponent to toss the ball of electricity into her. There was nothing like the feeling of several hundred volts of electricity coursing through your body to make you feel the need to get serious in the whole thing.

“This might be interesting.” The cat-girl stated as she sat there on one knee to get the feeling back into her body. It has been a couple years since she had a true fight like this, and she was ready. As she got back to both feet, a catty grin found its way onto her face. “Alright Razzy, let’s have a little fun. I’m going to kick your face in and force you to apologize to Sakura.”

“Sounds like you have an ALMOST solid plan there, Kitty Cat.”

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

‘Hmm… so Ranma’s already starting to have a little fun.’ Xellos thought to himself as he watched the scene from one of the trees surrounding the area. ‘I might as well make myself comfy and watch.’ The purple-haired mazouku was interested to see how well the cat-girl could do against an opponent such as the one she was currently facing. ‘Hopefully with so many powerful people in this area, I won’t have to interfere. I really do hate that.’

Due to the Priest of Zelas being busy watching the scene in front of him, he didn’t notice a small robotic sphere float next to his ear. What he DID notice was the horror and mind-bending torture that came out of it. As he sat there and clutched his head, the dreaded ‘Cuppy Cake’ son continued to play next to his ear. “After all these years, you still have this trap set out for me, Washu.” He groaned out as he ran away. Listening to that was a fate worse than death.

xxA.Nxx
Dang this was a long chapter to do, but it’s finally been finished.

[borgrabbit]

Really good chapter. Really liked the bit about the computer download hitting Washu like an aphrodisiac. I have to wash my brain with soap at the thought of two apparent eleven year old girls making out.
Wes

Ranma turned her head to get a look of her ‘sister’.

a look at her ‘sister’.

cat-girl’s mini-computer had enough space as one of her own mini-computers

had as much space as

‘Cuppy Cake’ son continued to play

‘Cuppy Cake’ song continued to play

[KonokoHasano]

The whole thought crossed my mind last night as I was laying in bed thinking of the chapter. When I thought about it, I almost started to laugh.

I guess not doing a chapter as soon as I can allows for more ideas to flow. There are a few things within this chapter that I would not have thought about putting in if I went and did the chapter a few weeks ago.

[Dumbledork]

Bravo. This is really brilliant. I loved the scene where Ranma was destroying the henshin stick. Wouldn't it be fun if even after that act the transformation magic would still be a part of her and due to the destruction of the artifact the fuku would appear at the worst possible moments. This could lead to a lot of good slapstick moments.