The disclaimer, practically every character here is NOT mine. They all belong to their respective company. I am using a lot of them, so I can't list them all. Beside, I am gonna add more series to the story later on. Don't sue me. You won't get a penny out of me. Trust me, you won't. For others, there are SOME characters I made up, but who cares? I don't. Ranma Crossover fanfic first fanfic alert!!! draft alert!!! and... Ah heck, read at your own risk. STALLION Chapter 9. < Calm before the storm... at least, they though it was calm... > Somewhere in England, just outside of London. A man was sitting on a patio table in front of a coffee shop reading a newspaper in his hands. He had long blue hair that came well below his neck and wore a blue jean with white long-sleeved shirt on top. But it wasn't the length of his hair that caught others' eyes. It was the fact that he was quite good-looking, very handsome actually. His face was well-refined and clean-cut, and had some mysterious atmosphere surrouding it which was well emphasized by color of his hair. Every women in the patio occasionally took a quick glimpse at him before gazing into space with dreaming eyes. In fact, other than the forementioned man himself, all the customers in the patio were female for an obvious reason. They kept ordering more cups of tea just so they could stay. The shop owner never made so much money in only one afternoon, nor was he as busy as now. In front of the counter, there was a long line of women who had waited for their turn to be seated, hopely near the man's table. The waitress nervously walked up to the man, with a cup of tea on her plate. "Um, sir. Your tea is here. Will that be all?" The man put down his newspaper for a moment, and gently smiled at the waitress. "Yes, for now. I am waiting for some of my friends. Thank you very much." "You, you're welcome!" The waitress answered with a blush on her face, causing every women in the shop to shoot a deep scowl at her. She could care less though. She reluctantly turned away, but not before casting a long last look at the man who now returned to his paper. The female patrons didn't seem so happy about the girl's action, but they soon returned to gaze at the man dreamily anyway. Every women in the shop tensed up when they saw the man lowering his paper. He lifted his cup and took a sip of its content. He then closed his eyes and inhaled deep, appreciating the aroma. He slowly put down his cup on the table and smiled a bit, apparently having enjoyed his tea. This made every female in the shop sigh contently. 'He's so wonderful!' Suddenly, a large shadow appeared from behind the man. Everyone looked up to see what it was, and gasped in surprise when they saw a big muscular man standing there. But the man on the table didn't even turn his head as he softly spoke. "You are early. Gaden." "So are you." Gaden answered back in simple words. Although his tone was low, everyone felt as if their cup would shatter from the force of his voice. It didn't bother them much though, since by now every women at the scene started to drool at the sight of his thick arm muscle. He was wearing a brown short and black sleeveless shirt which showed off his thick arms and legs that had not a touch of fat on them. This man was a giant, standing well about 6' 10". His face wasn't all that bad-looking either. It was flowing with masculinity, emphasized by his short dark hair. Gaden sat down next to the blue-haired man. The patio chair screamed at his weight. But the man on the table didn't seem to care, as he was still concentrating on his paper. Hurriedly the waitress ran to their table. "Um, um, would you like something to drink?" Gaden turned to the waitress, who cringed a bit under his gaze. "A cup of herbal tea." "Um, okay... is that all?" "Yes." Then he quietly turned his gaze up front. The waitress nervously bowed before leaving. Still, Gaden made no response as he silently sat with his arms across his chest. The tension in the shop was now so thick one could cut it. The women busily alternated between watching the blue-haired man dreamily and drooling at Gaden's muscular arms. Their neck started to hurt, but they paid no attention to such a minor detail. Then the mood shattered by a sultry voice of a woman. "Hello, there." The ladies in the shop frowned. In front of the two men now stood a beautiful leggy blonde, who had very seductive look on her face. Paying no heed to the envious and jealous glare of others, she spoke to Gaden with a very seductive smile. "I couldn't help but notice how strong you look. Do you work out?" "Yes." Gaden answered bluntly without even turning his head. The blue-haired one smirked a little at this. The woman seemed to be surprised a little at their reaction, but didn't seem to be discouraged. She smiled again and leaned very close to the table, showing off her 'assets' to the men. Other ladies around her fumed at this, but she casually ignored them. "How about you and your friend have some drinks with me later? There is a nice bar nearby, and we can get very... FRIENDLY afterwards." However before the men could react to her bold advance, a very cheerful voice interrupted. "You are WAY out of your league, sweety. Why don't you run along and play with your puppies?" The women blinked and turned around, just to find a tall redhead smirking down on her. The new arrival caught every man around frozen in their mid-step. She had a gorgeous figure which was accented by her long red summer dress. The dress came down just above her knees, showing her lean long legs, and had a neckline that revealed her bare shoulders. Her long hair was flaming red, emphasizing her pearl white skin. She turned to the street and winked at her audience, who almost fainted with joy. Then she ignored the stunned blonde and walked up to the men's table. "You guys are early as usual. Ack, Nova! You are drinking tea without us? That's rude. I want something to drink too! I am so thirsty. What do they have here? Did you order, Gaden? What did you order? Wait, wait, let me guess. That awful herbal juice thingy, right?" Gaden didn't even look up as he spoke. "Herbal tea." But the redhead just shrugged her shoulders as she sat down next to the big man. "Whatever. It's all the same to me. I want some coffee! Haven't had a nice cup of coffee for a while, you know? I hate those instant stuff. It tastes bad. I want one of those wholesome freshly brewed kinds!" The blue-haired man, who she called Nova, smirked a little. "You come all the way to England and drink coffee?" "Hey, I'll have whatever I want. You are so mannerless somethimes, Nova. A lady's mind is of her own. If she wants tea, she will drink tea. If she wants coffee, like me right now, she'll drink coffee! By the way, where is Tei? Aaaah! He's late again, isn't he? He's always late! I can't believe how lazy he is. He's so careless of others!" "Would you please stop talking behind my back, Ises?!" "Huh?" The redhead turned to her back, where now the last member of their group stood. Tei was a lean young man with white hair. He wore a long grey pants, and a ivory t-shirt. While his arms weren't as thick as Gaden's, they were still fairly muscular, not too thick yet not too thin. He was also quite good- looking, not in the mysterious way like Nova, but more like charming. The women in the shop smiled warmly at how cute the man looked. But the redhead, Ises, didn't seem to be affected by his charm as she smirked at him. "Actually, Tei dear, it's YOU who's talking behind MY back." "You know what I mean!" Tei snapped back at Ises before taking a seat himself. He crossed his arms with a sullen face, which still looked very attractive in the ladies' eyes. "Ooohh! You are upset! I'm vewy vewy sowwy, Sweety~. Please fowwive me~." Ises pulled Tei's head close to her with her arms like a mommy tending her child. Blushing, Tei pushed her back and angrily yelled. "Stop it! I am not a kid!" "But you are soooooooo cute!!" Everyone in the shop silently agreed to Ises' words. He was just too adorable. "Stop it!" "Good. You are all here." Just then, Nova spoke as he put down his paper on the table. The act was quiet and gentle, yet it caused everyone on the table to stop what they were doing and focus their attention on him. He looked up to his friends. "Now, you all know why I called you here." All of them kept their silence. Their faces also turned very serious at Nova's voice. They intently looked at him, waiting for his next words. But before Nova could speak again, Gaden raised his hand. "Wait." "Huh?" Ises and Tei turned their heads towards Gaden. Gaden rarely spoke, much less interrupted others. They quietly stared at Gaden, curious what could possibly make him speak. Suddenly the waitress appeared beside them with a cup in her hand. "Here is your herbal tea, sir." "Thank you." Gaden received the cup, took a sip, and put it down on the table. Then he looked up to his friends and spoke. "Continue." BAM! Ises and Tei grudgingly pulled themselves up after a rather hard facefault. But Nova wasn't affected at all, and gently smiled at his big friend. However, his tone turned serious again as soon as the other two sat back down. "I assume all of you have sensed what I sensed yesterday. Am I right?" At Nova's words, Ises turned her gaze away and Tei scratched his head, while Gaden stayed quiet. Seeing that his friends did not deny his inquiry, Nova closed his eyes and continued to speak. "Then you all know why we are here. We have to decide what to do about this." Tei snorted at his blue-haired friend. "Feh. You talk as if you didn't know. We knew all along this was gonna happen sooner or later." Ises added. "What more can we do? We did what we had to do last time he screwed up. There is no point in interfering any more, is there?" "......" Gaden just kept quiet. Nova spoke. "I am not talking about what we should do about HIM. I am talking about what we should do about the matter itself. Should we intervene, or just watch? There are some dire consequences on the side, actually. Although it's not as serious as our previous problems, it has a potential to be. We had to make our decision, NOW." Silence again rested on the table, as all three listeners went into their own deep thoughts. It didn't take long for them to come to a conclusion though. The first to speak was Tei. "I say we just watch. I am sure he can take care of it by himself." Ises nodded. "Tei's right. After all, he was one of us, and is STILL one of us. He might have caused some problems before, but his heart was always in the right place. I see no reason for us to intervene." Nova quietly listened the first two. Then he turned to Gaden, who still kept his silence. "What do you think, Gaden? You agree with them?" "Yes." Gaden opened his mouth briefy to sprout one word, then closed it shut. Nova smirked. As always, his big friend kept was always a man of very few words. Actually, it was one of his good points. He never wasted any time in expressing his opinion. Others might think he was too blunt, but his friends were used to it. Gaden was Gaden. They had accepted very, very long time ago. Ises then stood up abruptly. "Now then! It's settled. We are on a vacation! Yay!" "Yay!" Tei also stood up, raising his hand triumphantly. "Yay." Gaden followed up, before quietly taking another sip from his teacup. Nova shook his head with a smirk on his face before buring his head with his newspaper again. "*yawn* Boy, that was a good sleep." Minagi stretched her body as she walked down the stairs. She had slept in Kasumi's room last night. While she could have teleported back home, it would have been quiet rude since Mr. Tendo specifically invited her and her friends into his house. Also, for some reason she couldn't say no to the offer of the eldest Tendo daughter. Besides there was nothing much for her to do at the Masaki Mansion anyway. Although she was at someone else's house, last night's sleep had been quite a pleasant one. In fact, Minagi hadn't had a peaceful sleep like that since, well, ever. There was something about that Kasumi girl that gave complete sense of peace and tranquility to people around her. She didn't know how the Tendo girl did that, but she had no complaint. When Minagi reached the downstair, she could smell delicious aroma in the air. No doubt Kasumi and Nodoka already started to prepare breakfast. Minagi loved Earth's food.(1) The two ladies of the Tendo Dojo proved themselves as the quite competent cooks last night. In fact, their cooking was one of the best the space-pirate ever had in her life, easitly up there in top five along with Sasami's. She couldn't wait for another wonderful homecooked meal. Minagi stepped into the living room, where she found Soun and Genma already sitting around the table. Soun was reading a newspaper, while Genma was silently thinking of something. "Good morning, Miss. Did you sleep well last night?" Noticing Minagi, the head of the house lowered his paper to greet his guest. "Yes, Tendo-san. Thank you again for your hospitality." Minagi bowed at Soun with a bright smile on her face. Soun just smiled back at her, before going back to his paper. Genma looked up hearing their conversation, and nodded to Minagi briefly as a greeting. Before she could say her greeting, however, he went back to his solitude. Minagi blinked at the serious look on his face. 'What's eating him?' Before she could think further on the matter, she heard a noise from behind. Minagi turned her head and saw Sasami and Akane coming, chatting happily with each other. "Good morning, Sasami-chan. Good morning, Akane-san." "Ah! Minagi-neesan! Good morning!" "Good morning, Minagi-san. Please, just Akane is fine." Minagi smiled at the short-haired girl, and put out one of her hands. "Fine, as long as you call me just Minagi, too." Akane also put out her hand and gladly shook Minagi's hand. "Deal." Just then Kasumi entered with a rice pot in her hands. "Breakfast is ready!" "Eeh?! Already? I wanted to help out a bit..." Sasami was disappointed. She helped out with dinner last night, and rather enjoyed cooking with the ladies. They were knowledgable and quite well-skilled. "Now, now, Sasami-chan. You are a guest. It wouldn't be very proper if we made you do any work. Just sit and enjoy this time. You can help us cook next time." Nodoka spoke to the pouting girl as she followed Kasumi carrying dishes. Sasami cheered up when she heard Nodoka. "Really?" The Saotome matriach smiled gently at the expecting face of the girl. "Of course. We wouldn't have any other way. Isn't that right, Kasumi?" "Why yes. She's such a nice girl. I'd love to have her company." Kasumi answered back cheerfully. She never lied. The blue-haired girl was a real joy to be around, not to mention quite a skilled cook. Sasami smiled as she sat next to Akane, who sat next to her father. Nabiki also appeared, but spoke to no one. She only nodded to each person as her greeting. Apparently she was still too tired to even open her mouth. Soon people sat around the table, and Kasumi began to scoop out rice for each of them. She noted something different though. "By the way, where are Ranma and Masaki-kun? Are they still sleeping?" As if her voice was a signal, the two forementioned boys entered the room. "Hey, breakfast! Alright!" Ranma said, as he sat next to his father. It was a very good timing. He was very hungry this morning. He couldn't wait to get his hands on the food. Tenchi also sat down with a smile, right between Sasami and Minagi. "Let's eat!" With exclamation, Ranma started to dig in very eagerly. While the guests didn't seem to be bothered by his appetite, it drew attention of the Tendo family memebers who blinked in surprise. It had been a while since Ranma showed such enthusiasm in front of the dinner table. Apparently being united with his cousin brightened his mood somehow. They all smiled approvingly at Ranma, who kept putting food into his mouth as fast as he used to. Genma also busily moved his chopsticks so he wouldn't lose any food to Ranma. But occasionally he took a nervous glance at his son, who still happily ate his portion. While he seemed glad to see his son back in old shape, he was still worried about something. This didn't go unnoticed by Nabiki though,(2) who grinned with understanding. 'Oh-ho...' Nodoka then broke the silence as she spoke to her nephew. "Tenchi-chan, when are you going back to your place?" "Huh? Well... I plan to return by this afternoon... so probably soon after breakfast." Nodoka nodded in acknowledgement before turning to her son. "Ranma, why don't you go with your cousin." "Huh?" Ranma stopped in middle of grabbing another piece of pickle when he heard his mother. "Um, why?" "To see your grandpa, of course. If you don't remember much about him, you should really get to know him as soon as possible. He's your grandfather, after all." Ranma blinked for a while, but shrugged his shoulders afterwards. "Fine. I'll go with him." He then resumed busily shoving rice into his mouth. Nodoka smiled happily at his son. Not everyone was happy with Ranma's decision though. Tenchi froze in terror when he realized that his cousin was going to visit his home. 'How am I am going to explain the girls to Ranma?! Not to mention Washu...' Tenchi shuddered briefly at the thought of his scientist friend. He could already picture Ranma wailing, all tied up in Washu's examination table. 'I have to stop this! For the sake of me AND him!!' But when Tenchi opened his mouth to protest, he caught Nodoka's stern face. She made no sound, but kept shaping her lip trying to say something. 'I'll tell you later.' After Tenchi read her lip in his mind, he sealed his mouth. His aunt should have a very good reason to do what she did. While he was still nervous about his cousin's visit, he would have to wait for Nodoka's explanation later. He doubted his aunt would know the consequences though... 'I mean, how would she know that I am living with seven girls, one of them my OWN daughter? Boy, I don't think Ranma would be ready for that...' Just then, the gate of the Tendo Dojo burst open. "Airen! Shampoo here!" Akane's eyebrow twitched at the cheerful voice, but others just rolled their eyes before going back to their breakfast. All the guests wondered what was going on, until a purple-haired girl in Chinese dress suddenly appeared from behind Ranma and glomped on to one of his arms. "Shampoo free today! Ranma take Shampoo for a date, yes?" "Shampoo! I am eating here! Let go of my arm!" Snap! Ranma froze when he saw Akane trembling with anger, the fact emphasized by the broken chopsticks in her hand. "Why did you come here, you hussy?!" The girl, whose name now Tenchi knew to be Shampoo, scowled back at the short- haired girl. "I come see Airen, not you violent girl. Go away." "Me?! YOU are the one who should go away!" "Ranma home is Shampoo home. Airen is here, so I come here. Shampoo only come see her airen in his home." "It's NOT his home!! It's MY home!!" "Actually, Akane, the house is mine..." Soun tried to interrupt the girls, but they didn't even look at him. "What do you think you are doing anyway?! We have guests here!! Let go of Ranma, right now!!" "Shampoo no want to! Ranma mine! Shampoo like holding to Ranma!" "I said let go!" Akane ran to Ranma's side and grabbed his other arm. Then she began to pull him away from Shampoo, who in turn also pulled. "Shampoo no give airen to you, violent girl! He mine!" "Hey, don't I have a say in this? I am eating here! Both of you, let go!" Ranma tried to free himself from the clutches of the two upset girls, much to no avail. The girls didn't listen either, and pulled him apart harder. Ranma began to scream with pain. "Wait, wait! You are pulling my arms out of the sockets! Let go! Akane! Shampoo!" They didn't listen before, why would they now? Ranma scowled deeper, then he yelled out loud at the girls. "STOP IT I SAID!!!" Akane and Shampoo cringed a bit at his yell, and stopped pulling his arms. But they didn't stop their bickering nor let go of his arms, as they glared daggers at each other. "Look what you did! He's angry, thanks to you!" "You pulled first! Shampoo only tried to protect her airen!" Ranma wanted to smack his forehead if he had a third arm. Before he could settle them down though, his OTHER fiancee decided to show up. "Hi, Ranchan! I brought you some okonomiyaki! I can't wait to see... huh?" Ukyou blinked when she saw her two rivals holding onto each of her fiance's arms. She sighed. It seemed she was a bit late today. But she knew better than to join in on their fight. After all, Ranma seemed very irritated with it. This was a perfect chance for her to show him that his "cute" fiancee wasn't like other girls. With her cutest smile on her face, she sat near Ranma. "Having one of those days, huh Ranma? Well this will cheer you up. My Ranchan Special!" But the other girls didn't find it all that cheerful. "Can't you see we are already having breakfast? He doesn't need YOUR food!" "Violent girl right! Spatula girl go home! You bothering Ranma!" Ukyou wasn't affected at all though, as she bettered her eyebrows innocently. "Why, me? I just came to see my childhood friend. Nothing wrong with that, is there?" "There is a plenty wrong with that, Ukyou!" "Spatula girl go away, if she no want to get hurt!" However the angry shout of the two girls didn't scare Ukyou one bit. She just ignored them and picked up a piece of her okonomiyaki. "I see your hands are busy right now, so I will feed you, Ranchan. Say aaaaah!" Ranma hung his head in defeat. "Ukyou, you are not helping." All through this, the guests of the Tendo house had just dumbly stared at the scenes before them. Minagi spoke first, still dazed. "I've seen this movie somewhere before..." Sasami followed with a full smile on her face. "Wow, now this really feels like our home!" Tenchi blinked a few more times before muttering dumbfoundly. "Maybe it's genetic or something..." "Good morning..." "Ah, Urd. Good morn... what the?! What happened to you?!" Morisato Keiich jumped back when he saw the goddess's face. Urd was in the worst shape ever. In fact, right now she looked more like a being from hell than heaven. Her bloody eyes and spiked hair could transpire fear in everyone's mind. The normally attractive goddess was plain hideous at the moment. 'Not that I would tell her that...' Urd just waved him off before heading to the bathroom with slumping shoulders. "I dun't wanna talk'bout it..." "Eh......" Keiichi opened his mouth but couldn't speak. He still hadn't managed to get out of his child body, the task that cannot be done without Urd. But the look on her face told him that discretion was the best choice at the moment. "Urd-neesan..." Urd froze when she heard the voice of her sister. She slowly turned her head to Belldandy with sheepish grin. "Um, sorry about yesterday. I mean, I got pretty mad at that old man, so I just ran off and... But that pervert was tough, you know? I didn't get a single shot on him. That made me madder and..." The goddess of the past trailed off in mid-sentence when she saw Belldandy's grim face. "Um, Bell? What's wrong?" "Can I talk to you for a minute?" "Eh... sure..." Urd nervously followed into her sister's room. 'What's with her today?' Belldandy waited until Urd closed the door, then spoke. "Urd-neesan... you better sit down for this..." "??" The breakfast table of the Outers was never a noisy one. Today was no different. In fact, today was even quiter than usual. That was because two of the normal three occupants of the table were absent this time. Hotaru silently chewed her toast, wondering what could cause her poster parents to oversleep. When she heard footsteps from behind her back, she quickly spun around. "Good morninarrggghhh! What happened to you guys? You look like hell!" "Don't wanna talk about it..." Bloody-eyed Haruka answered in barely audible voice, whereas tired-looking Michiru just nodded in agreement. Hotaru had never seen them so out of it before. Both sat down on the table and began to dig in to the breakfast plates which Hotaru hurriedly put in front of them. They kept their silence throughout the whole time. Hotaru couldn't determine whether they were too busy eating or too embarassed to talk. When she finished her breakfast, Haruka put it in the sink and sat back down on the table. She eyed at her poster-chlid consciously, then asked in rather cheerful tone. "Well, you seem to be in a good mood today. What happened yesterday?" "Eh? Oh, me? Heheheh." Hotaru smiled. Although this smile confused Haruka and Michiru a little, they were happy to see the girl looking so happy. Indeed she was. Hotaru had enjoyed her visit to the Tendo Dojo very much. She made a new friend in Sasami, and got an almost- brother figure in Ranma. For the one who had spent the most of her life alone, it was a very exciting event. She couldn't wait to tell her guardians about it. "Well, you see..." Hotaru went on explaining about how she met Ranma, how he had protected her from the monsters, how welcoming his family was to her, etc and etc. Haruka and Michiru quietly listened to the girl's words, nodding occasionally to show that they were still interested in her story. It was very interesting actually. It was nice to hear that Hotaru made some friends outside of her usual limited circle of acquaintances. They kept nodding off approvingly, their minds elsewhere, thinking how happy Hotaru looked today and how that began to brighten their day... "Uh-huh. Uh-huh..." "Oh yeah, and remember that boy at the ice cream shop? He was there too. He was Ranma-san's cousin. And get this! That lady who was with that boy? She's an alien!" "Uh-huh. Uh-huh..." Outside their home, silence lasted only a moment, as it was soon broken up by a upset scream of a short-haired senshi. "SHE'S WHAT?!?!?!?!?!!!!!" "...huh?" Tenchi blinked. He just felt the sense of dread running through his body. He looked around his surrounding in confusion. 'No sign of Ryoko... check. No sign of Ayeka-san... check. No sign of Washu(briefly shuddered)... check. No Mihoshi, no Kiyone-san, no grandpa or old man... Not a trace of any intergalactic criminal after me...' Tenchi wondered what could possibly have caused him to feel so scared. There was nothing around him that remotely resembed a disaster.(3) Right now he was inside the train going to his town. Sasami was sitting on the other side of the train from him and Minagi sat next to her. Ranma sat beside Akane, who sat across Minagi. His martial artist cousin was currently busy telling the little girl some crazy tale about an island full of only men. Tenchi never knew that his cousin could be so imaginative, creating all those unbeliveable stories.(4) 'Well, at least Sasami seems very interested.' "...then he flashed his sword at me, and next thing I know, BOOM! I was surrounded by flames!" "Wow!! *gulp* So what did you do, Ranma-niichan?" 'Well, Sasami-chan is really into it. Gotta give Ranma credit. I've never seen her so excited by a story before.' Tenchi warlmy glanced at the excited girl. She seemed to have forgotten all about yesterday when she almost faced the moment of her death. He was glad to see her so cheerful after such a traumatic experience. He did notice that her cheefulness seemed to be due to his pigtailed cousin. Apparently Ranma had that kind of effect on people, making them forget about their current problem or crisis. He somehow suspected that the Tendos' nonchalance towards Minagi's identity might have come from living with the young Saotome.(5) Then the Juraian prince took a moment and thought back to when he was about to leave the Tendo Dojo... "Tenchi-chan." Tenchi turned around to see his aunt smiling at him. "Yes?" "Can I talk you for a minute? In private, I mean." "Um, sure." Tenchi wondered. 'Now, what could she possibly want?' He couldn't come up with any guess, even when he entered the dojo with Nodoka. He sat across Nodoka, who patiently waited until he settled down. "Tenchi-chan, I know you are a little worried about Ranma coming with you, especially with Ryoko roaming around there..." 'You have no idea... It surprises me to say, but Ryoko is the least of the problem... Washu, on the other hand...' Tenchi shuddered briefly. Fortunately, Nodoka didn't notice it as she continued her talk. "...you did notice something wrong with Ranma, right? I mean, he can't remember his own grandpa, nor his aunt! After all those times he spent with them! There is definitely something wrong with him. I am deeply worried..." "Aunt Nodoka..." Tenchi took a sad glance at his aunt. He knew how much she had worried about her son during his 10 years training trip. She had every right to be concerned about Ranma. "So, please, Tenchi-chan Take Ranma to the shrine. Father might know what to do. Or maybe... he could get the sacred tree to help. It always had some mysterious power." "Well..." "Please, Tenchi-chan. We don't know how serious Ranma's condition is. If it just stops at memory loss, we might be able to deal with it... But if it doesn't... oh, I wouldn't know what to do if I lost him... again..." Nodoka's eyes began to water and her fingers started to tremble slightly, making Tenchi slowly nod his head sympatheticly. "I'll see what I can..." '*sigh* But what can I do? I doubt the sacred tree can help, and grandpa really isn't much of an expert about this sort of thing. Well... Washu can help... but... I really don't know which is worse, Ranma having a problem or Ranma being treated by Washu...' Tenchi again sighed deeply. The last two days had been really difficult for him. Sure, he had faced villains of galaxian magnitude once in a while, but he rarely had to deal with such a delicate situation. In some ways, the task in his hand right now was harder than anything else he had encountered so far. 'Maybe I can ask Tsunami or something...' "Urd!!" "Huh? Whatcha want, Keiichi..." Urd couldn't finish her sentence when she saw Keiichi burst into her room. It wasn't his angry voice or upset scowl that made her stop though. It was the fact that currently Keiichi was small AND female. She nervously scratched her head. "Eh... I guess the antidote didn't work, huh?" "Darn right it didn't! I have to go to work tomorrow, or Chihiro-sempai will eat me alive! You got to turn me back to normal, quickly!" "Alright, alright. I will try again. I don't know what went wrong though... I was sure I used the right formula..." Urd read through her chart again to find her mistake. "Well, just do it right this time... This is already the fourth time you screwed up. You don't usually make this many mistakes." 'You only screw up the first one, really really bad...' "Okay... Come back in an hour..." "?" Keiichi blinked. For some reason Urd seemed less cheerful and playful. Normally she would joke a bit about Keiichi's predicament before going back to work. But instead of being a smart mouth like she always did, she quietly went back to her work. Although it was relief to see her serious about his, eh, her cure, somehow Keiichi was beginning to feel uneasy about this. Not noticing the worried look on Keiichi's face, Urd put a glass filled with dark liquid over her burner. "Well, I heat up this potion... and then I'll put that capsule... Wait. Where is it?" Urd began to shuffle through her desk looking for something. "Ah ha! There it is. Now, I put this in this potion... there you go..." "Um, Urd?" "Yes?" "You are not heating up the potion. That's your coffee." Urd looked down to see that Keiichi was indeed right. Unfortunately, the capsule had a specific chemical that would react with caffeine and form a substance that would... Boom!! ...explode in intense heat. "......" "Eh, Urd. Are you okay?" "...fine. I'm going for a walk. I'll make you a cure after I come back..." Urd headed out towards the door. "Eh, okay..." Truefully, Keiichi didn't want to stay in the current form not a minute longer. But seeing Urd so out of herself made him, eh, her unable to object. The goddess was very upset about something, and was doing her best not to show it. It would be best for both Keiichi and her to let her lose some steam. 'Or there is no telling what she might put in the potion. *shudder* I might turn into something worse than a girl...' Keiichi paused briefly, before stepping out of Urd's room to see the back of the goddess as she walked off. Keiichi had never seen her so look helpless. 'I am worried...' "Keiichi-san?" "Huh? Ah, Belldandy." Keiichi smiled at the goddess who now stood behind him... eh her. A brief question popped up in her head though. 'How did she know it was me?' "How is Urd-neesan?" "Um... she looks fine, but she doesn't act like it. She already screwed up her experiments a couple of times. It's so unlike her..." "...I see. I guess she's more worried about Mara than I thought..." "I guess so..." Quietly the mortal and the goddess watched down the hallway where Urd was walking off a moment ago... "*sigh* What is wrong with me? Geez..." Urd sat on a rock in the backyard of the temple. She told Keiichi that she would go out for a walk, but when she stepped out the front door, the goddess no longer felt like it. So she just walked around in the yard, until she got tired of that too. It didn't make her feel any better though. "Why should I be worried about that idiot? Heh, a first-class demon getting kidnapped. She oughtta be ashamed. How stupid do you have to be?" Urd continuously belated the missing demon. "Just like when she was young. That idiot didn't know when to get out of trouble. Feh, lots of times it was her who got ME in trouble. I can't believe I was a friend with that moron. That dumb, insensitive, clumsy..." Urd's words trailed off as a tear drop ran down on her cheek. Her mouth tried to move, but it didn't. Even her voice refused to leave the throat, and only trembling squeal came out. Urd hurriedly rubbed her eyes. "Wha, what the? Wh, why am I crying? Heh, I am not worried about that disgusting demon at all. Yeah, that's right. I am not worried. She got herself into this. Why should I rattle my head over her? I ain't got the time..." "Oh really? I am so hurt, Urd. After all I have done for you..." "Heh, what did you do for me, Mara? You've been nothing but a... AAAAARRGHHHHH!!" Urd jumped off the rock in shock. She quickly spun around when a figure launched itself on her. "Aaaaaack!!" "Oh Urd. There is nothing to be afraid of. It's just me... your best friend... let's get FRIENDLY..." "Ma, Mara??" She quickly grabbed the shoulder of the woman in her arms. 'Eh? Wait, the voice is Mara, but she isn't her. She's...' "Aaaaack!!!! Mo, mom?!" "Oh my, you called me mommy! I am so happy, my daughter!" Hild(6) tightly embraced Urd again with a full grown smile. Urd was in no condition to react as she was frozen in shock, but she quickly recovered and pushed the demon off of her. "Wha, what are you doing here?!? I got nothing to do with you! You are not supposed to come here!!" Hild put on a mock hurt look. "What? What's wrong with a mother coming to see her daughter?" "That's not the point! This is a temple! You shouldn't come here!! In fact, how did you get past all the wards?!" The high demoness snorted. "What kind of demon do you think your mother is? Those scribbles on some papers can't stop me. I am, after all, a ruler of the demon world." "Whatever! What do you want anyway?!" Urd hmphed and crossed her arms across her chest. Hild was trouble and she knew it. Urd knew that Hild sincerely cared for her, but Hild's status as the high demon prohibited her from any contact with her mother. Urd liked being a goddess and wanted to stay as one.(7) Again Hild pretended to look hurt by Urd's attitude. "Oh dear. My daughter doesn't want me around. I am so hurt." Hild wiped her eyes as if there was any tears on them. Urd knew it wasn't true, but the pretence still bugged her. She still held her ground though. "Aaah, grow up. You ain't fooling anyone." "*snicker* Oh alright. You have always acted so smart, ever since you were young." "Feh, flattery will get you nowhere." "Who said I was complimenting you?" "Hey!" "Just kidding!" "Grrr... Get out of here before I get angry! You got no business here." Urd turned around and started to walk away. "Hmmm... that's a hell of an attitude, especially to someone who is about to give you a big tip on your current problem~." Hild smirked when she saw Urd stop in mid-step. The goddess just stood for a couple of seconds more, then quickly turned to face her. "What do you mean "a big tip?" About what?" "About Mara's disappearance, of course." "Hah! Why would I care about that stuck-up arrogant demon? It's none of my business!!" Urd belated herself when she felt her eyebrow twitching. 'Damn.' Hild smirked. "Being a goddess is so much trouble. You can't lie as freely as we do. Now, if it was me, I wouldn't have a twinge of guilt of saying that, inside or outside." "I don't care! I am still not gonna hear your mumbo-jumbo!!" Urd again turned away from her mother. But before she could walk away, Hild spoke again. "Well then your loss. I am sure my minions will enjoy tearing your sisters apart." "!!" Urd quickly turned around with flames in her eyes. "You wouldn't dare!!" "Oh I would. After all, I am a high demon, or have you forgotten that?" The menacing grin on the demoness' face both upsetted and scared Urd. Hild was right. She had both power and position to destroy any goddess. Even Belldandy wouldn't stand a chance against her without removing the seal. "But the doublet system..." "So what? Unlike you goddesses, we don't care that much about our underlings. If they die because of that stupid system, then what a pity, life goes on. At least there is two less goddesses to get rid of." "You are bluffing." "Maybe, or mabye not..." Urd froze in fear as a scowl slowly formed on Hild's face. "Do you really want to risk it? If you do, I will personally chop off those wenches' heads for you... What do you say?" "Over my dead body!!" "Oh, so you will stop me? How? You are only a second-class, my sweet daughter. You wouldn't last a second against me, much less stop me. You know that, don't you?" "......" Urd clenched her teeth, but couldn't retort. She knew well about Hild's power. She wouldn't even be able to make an escape if the demoness seriously attacked her and her sisters. Hild might let go of Urd, since she was the demoness' dear daughter, but Belldandy and Skuld wouldn't be so lucky. Hild might not actually do it, since such an action would mean an all-out war between heaven and hell, but it was not a risk Urd was willing to take. Defeated, Urd quietly spoke. "...what do you want from me?" Hild hummed a little as she took some steps around her daughter, then began to speak in a very cheerful voice. "Mara was on a mission when she disappeared. She was assigned to do a little research on a certain disturbance we picked up a couple of months ago... I am sure you picked up on that too?" Urd didn't reply but the silence was an enough answer. "I was right then. Anyway, Mara couldn't figure out what was going on, even though she was one of our best information agents. So she looked through our old records to find similar occurances in the past. Apparently she found something, since she went out looking for a clue instead of being cooped up in her room. Very enthusiastic, she was. In fact, the most of the council who ordered her to do this in the first place had already forgotten about that." "Including you?" Urd asked in sarcastic tone, but Hild didn't seem to have taken offence as she just shrugged her shoulders. "Hey, do you have any idea how many documents I have to take care of everyday? Ruining human lives are not as easy as it sounds. Let's not get off topic. Well as you know, she somehow disappeared off the face of the earth, so we got on alert. I mean, how often a demoness as powerful as her just disappear?! After a small research, we the high council had concluded there was something fishy." "Geez, you think?" "Yeah yeah, you smart-mouth. There wasn't many clues left. For all we know, heaven could have snatched her to find out our secret or something." "Hey!!" "Now, now. I didn't mean it that way. It was just a hypothetical suggestion. Now back to Mara... we had discovered that just before she disappeared there were a few... abnormalities in her behaviors." "What do you mean?" "Well for starter, she stopped hanging around with Senbei. In fact, she literally kicked him out of her place." "Eh??" Urd widened her eyes in surprise. Senbei had been Mara's sidekick since... as long as she could remember! It was very unlikely for Mara to dismiss him so easily like that. "Why would she do that? Senbei was one of her best minions!" 'Not that she had many.' Hild shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know. We only got that piece of information when we found Senbei partying away in one of the hell's bars. When we interrogated him he told us that Mara evicted him about a week ago. At first we thought maybe Senbei did away with his former employer due to his grudges, but he doesn't have power nor resources to do such a thing. He couldn't tell us anything much about Mara's wereabouts. But it wasn't a total loss. He told us that Mara's goal seemed to have derived from her original mission." "Meaning?" "Somehow she got very interested in... GINZUISHOU." "What!?! Ginzuishou?!?" Urd staggered back, her eyes widened with shock. Then she narrowed her eyes and quietly spoke. "...what's that?" Bonk! "Ouch!! What was that for?!" "Didn't you learn anything in your history class?! How can you not know about Ginzuishou!? It is one of the most powerful magical artifact in the solar system!! I didn't raise you to be such a slacker!!" Urd stared at Hild with skeptic look. "You didn't raise me at all." Bonk! "Ouch!!" "I also didn't raise you to be such a rude child!!" While Urd rubbed her sore head, Hild rolled her eyes and began to explain. "There was an ancient kingdom about ten thousand years ago. It ruled over the entire solar system absolutely, and peacefully. Needless to say, it was a pain in the ass for us hell but we couldn't do much about it. After all, messing with that kingdom would have meant a direct confrontation with heaven. The reason wasn't just that though. The Moon Kingdom had a powerful artifact that even we high demons couldn't ignore. THAT was Ginzuishou." Urd blinked. "The Moon Kingdom? There were people living on the moon?" Bonk! "Ouch!!" "Don't interrupt your mother when she's talking. Anyway, the kingdom itself was destroyed in a war with a faction called Negaverse. But the queen used Ginzuishou at the last moment to fight off the enemy. In the end, that one single crystal sealed away the entire army of the Negaverse. Even I wouldn't be able to do such a thing." "Wow! Really?" Urd was very surprised to hear this. Hild was one of the most powerful beings the goddess had ever known. If this 'crystal' had power that could do things even her mother couldn't do, it must be really powerful. Seeing Urd so interested in the story, Hild snickered at her daughter. "Not so much to be surprised. Ginzuishou is what we demons call "a White Artifact." Its power comes from white magic, such as healing, sealing evil, or protection spells. Its nature is completely opposite of demons' power so it works more effectively against opponents who use dark magic such as us. If it used the same attack, it would be more damaging to Mara than to you or your sisters. That is all. If a powerful being such as I was to go against it, it would be no contest." Urd rolled her eyes when she heard her mother's last sentence. "Geez, someone surely has a high opinion of herself." "That's rich coming from you." "What's that supposed to mean?!" "Nothing dear, ho-ho-ho." Hild put on a mock innocent look. It was quite a disturbing sight for Urd though, Hild being a demon and all. But Urd's expression turned serious again as she crossed her arms. "So what's this Ginger-ale Crystal got to do with Mara?" "Ginzuishou." "Whatever. What was Mara intending to do with it?" Hild shrugged her shoulders at her daughter's question. "We have no idea. She certainly wasn't trying to acquire it. If she did, she would have made quite a mess here on earth." "Huh? Why would she?" "Because Ginzuishou is here on earth." "Eh? Since when?" "Well before she perished, the queen of the Moon Kingdom banished the Negaverse in their little prison. She also used Ginzuishou to send some of the members of the Moon Kingdom to the future in hope of preserving her kingdom. Recently both the Negaverse and the survivors of the kingdom woke up and battled each other. The Sailor Scouts, I think that's what those brats from the Moon Kingdom was called, barely managed to win using Ginzuishou. Sure you have heard of them? They must have been on the news more than once." "...eh..." Hild sighed at seeing Urd fidgeting her fingers. "Are you still doing that dumb competetion with your younger sister over who gets to watch TV?" "It's not dumb! And how do you know about that?!" "Senbei told me." Then Hild had this very sly look on her face. "He also told me about your little... adventure when the Yggdrasil shut down briefly." Urd blinked in confusion. "Huh? What are you talking about..." Then her face hit a look of recogniton. "Ah! You mean when I shrunk..." "Oh I meant something MORE than that, my dear." Hild smiled menacingly as she produced a photo out of her pocket. "Senbei was kind enough to provide me with some... moment of truth." "What in the world are you talking about..." But when Urd saw the picture, her face paled with dreaded look on it. "Wait a minute! It's not what you think!!" Before Urd could snatch the photo, Hild quickly retrieved it and began to rub it on her cheek. "Oh you have nothing to be ashamed of, my daughter. After all, it's in your blood. Like mother, like daughter. We both have similar taste in men, you know. One who's much younger, naive, and innocent... Ohohohohoho!!"(8) "It's not what you think, I said!! Gimme that!!" Urd struggled with Hild for a while, until she finally took it off the demoness' hand. When she sighed with relief, Hild grinned slyly. "Oh you can keep that as your momento. There is a lot where it came from!" Then she produced dozens of photos which were the exact copy of the very same photo in Urd's hand. "Aaaaaaaahhhhh!!!!!!!" After a small ruckus, Hild went back to her topic while Urd glared daggers at her. "Back to the matter in hand, Mara was no longer looking for that disturbance then. Instead she was researching about the power of Ginzuishou. Why she did that, we don't know. But we formed a hypothesis after we examined all the evidences." "Which is?" "She had found something that she wanted to get her hands on." "Which is?" "We don't know." Bam! Urd got back on her feet after such a hard facefault. "What kind of hypothesis is that?!?" "Hey, don't blame us. Mara didn't leave many trails behind so there just isn't much information. There were so many guesses we came up with, but nothing seemed to be certain. All we could agree on was that it had something to do with Ginzuishou." "Oh?" Urd's eyebrow perked. "Then why don't you ask those Salad Scouts yourself?" "Sailor Scouts." "Whatever." "That's a little difficult to do. You see, it is our rule that we do not associate ourselves with the potential enemies. While the Negaverse had nothing to do with us, they had similar goal as us. So if those Sailor kids didn't like the Nega creeps, why would they like us? Besides, what good will it do? If I was to just walk up to those kids and ask to hand over their most powerful and valuable possession, do you think they will say "oh sure, beautiful young lady. Please take it, we insist!" and quietly hand it to me?" Hild even posed as a young girl in Sailor suit as she explained. Urd rolled her eyes. "Oh I think not. Especially that "beatiful young lady" part." Bonk!! While Urd held on to her head in pain, Hild went on. "Also the power radiating from Ginzuishou is very hazardous for us demons. It's not something we can touch without fear. Well, I'll be okay, but it is bound to have some effects on my health. Who knows, it might damage my porcelain-like skin." "Don't you mean porcupine-like?" Bonk!! "You are awfully rude today, my daughter." "And you are awfully violent to me today!" Urd gritted her teeth as she rubbed a bump on her forehead. "You deserved it. Anyway... since we can't do it, we figured we might ask the goddesses. But we can't officially ask heaven for assistance. I am sure you know why." Hild glanced at Urd who kept her silence. But the look on the goddess' face told the demon what she was expecting. "Good. So we need an... "unofficial" help on the side. And that is YOU." "Feh! Why should I help you?" "For the lives of your sisters." Suddenly the temperature dropped some degrees as Urd coldly glared at Hild. But the look on the demon's face was even colder as Hild looked right back at the goddess. Finally, Urd turned her gaze away in defeat. "...I understand. But... I'll be in big trouble for this..." Hild rolled her eyes. "Oh please. Since when were you so careful about the rules?" "Hey!!" "Besides, you think your FATHER doesn't know? He probably heard our entire conversation already. But don't worry. He won't do a thing. After all, it's all for the good of both heaven and hell. If this gets solved early, there will be no bloodshed between the two. He won't interfere or punish you for this one." 'At least until you finish it, but I am not telling you that.' Urd quietly stood. After a few minutes, she looked up. "Okay. I'll do it. But you owe me one!!" Hild gazed kindly at her daughter. "Of course." The goddess paused for a while before turning around and running away. Hild silently watched the retreating form of her daughter. When Urd finally turned the corner and disappeared from the sight, she sighed rather contently. "You were being a little harsh on her earlier." Hild didn't even flinch when she head a voice from behind her back. "Couldn't help it. Motherly love aside, this is business, a very important one at that. Besides, you don't oppose to my idea, do you Peorth?" Hild turned around. It was indeed Peorth who stood there. "It doesn't matter whether I approve or not. HE has the authority, not me." "Like I told Urd, her FATHER probably knows. And like I said, HE won't do anything to stop her. This will be good for all of us." "I see... But I don't understand why you did this on your own, or why Urd had to be the one. Surely you know some OTHER goddesses who is more... qualified for your request." "Hah! Such as yourselves? No thank you. I really don't like associating myself with you goddesses. I only helped you in the past because of Urd.(9) Simple as that." "......" "Hey, don't look so hurt. After all, we are on the different side of a coin. It's only natural for me to despise you." "Geez, thanks. That helps a lot." Peorth sacastic thank didn't seem to get to the demoness though. "No prob. Don't mention it." "...still I don't understand why you volunteer to solve the problem peacefully. I mean, the Hell Council wouldn't have been so easy to persuade..." Peorth's words trailed off as she realized something. "...they don't know, do they? This is all your idea. Hell had nothing to do with this." Hild didn't answer back, but the look on her face was louder than her words. "Why? If they found out about this, you will be in trouble! You might even lose your position as high demon, not to mention being banished from hell forever!" "......" "Why, Hild? Why?" "*snicker* Why are you so worried? I am a demon, remember? You shouldn't be worried about me." "But, but you helped me and, and..." "*snicker* Like I said, I only did it for Urd. It's troublesome for you goddesses, huh? Being so caring and all. What a dumb concept, I always said." "Hey!" "Can't help it. It's really not that a smart thing to do, sacrificing yourself for the others. What good does that do to you?" "But..." Before Peorth could argue back, Hild turned around, with her back now facing the goddess. "Well, I guess I got no right to say that. After all, I became a MOTHER..." Peorth froze in shock. 'What, what did she say?' "Um, what do you mean?" Hild paused briefly, before she spoke again. "There are a lot of demons who are jealous of my position. As you probably know, the only way you can get ahead in hell is to blackmail and bad-mouth each other. Urd had been quite an inconvienience to me over the years. They always criticize me or talk behind my back about the fact that I have a daughter in heaven. It would have been, no, it WILL be easier for me and my future if I just got rid of Urd... permanently." "But...!" "Don't worry. I am not intending to do so. In fact, I will never let anything hurt my daughter, let it be a demon, or the entire hell itself..." "..." Peorth was speechless. She had never expected to hear such words out of a demon's mouth. Although Hild was a demon, the goddess couldn't help but believe the demoness' words. "...if there was to be a war between heaven and hell now, one of hell's first targets would surely be Urd. What better chance for them to mess with my mind than assassinating my own precious daughter in heaven? Her death would feed the morale of demons, while crush my heart like no other. If I may be so bold, this kidnapping of Mara is even a more dangerous situation for Urd than the victim herself. I only did what I had to do, both for me... and my daughter..." "Um..." "*sigh* What am I doing? Telling you all this. You got nothing to do with it." "Hey, I have plenty to do with this!" Hild shrugged her shoulders as a dark flame erupted around her body. "Whatever. I gotta go. There is probably tons of documents waiting for me to sign back in my office. I got no time for chit-chat. Bye." Peorth quietly watched as the flame enguled Hild and then disappeared, leaving nothing behind. She could only stand in silence as she saw the worried mother leave. "Hild... Your daughter will be alright..." "Over there! That's our house! Come on, come on! Let's hurry, Ranma-niichan!" "Okay, okay. Stop pulling my arm, willya?" Tenchi smiled as he watched his martial artist cousin being manhandled by a 8 years-old girl. He had been worried about Ranma meeting his "friends" at home ever since leaving the Tendo Dojo, but right now it didn't bother him much. Watching Sasami so happy and cheerful always gave him sense of peace and tranquility. Akane and Minagi seemed to feel the same as they also smiled at the young girl's affectionate attitude. "Ranma-niichan! Hurry up! Come on, come on!" "Alright, alright! I am coming." Ranma wasn't all that comfortable much but he was definitely enjoying the moment. Sasami was too much to handle even for himself, he barely admitted to himself, but he rather liked the girl's attention. For someone who never had a sibling Ranma was an excellent big brother, and also Sasami was an adorable little sister. When the group reached the front yard of the house, the door suddenly burst open. Everyone took a startled step back as a pink blur speeded out towards them, only to land right in front of Ranma. "WelcomehomeTenchi-donoandSasami-chanandwhodowehavehereyoumustbeTenchi- dono'scousinrighthowareyoudoingwouldyoubemyguineapigpleasepleaseplease?!?" "Huh?" Ranma blinked in confusion when he saw a young girl with spiked pink hair staring at him with puppy eyes. 'What in the world did she say?' "Um, what did you say?" "Ohdon'tbemeanandbemytestsubjectIpromiseitwon'thurtTOOmuchImeanitpleasepleaseple ase?!?" "Eh..." Ranma blinked some more. All he could understand was a lot of "please" at the end of her sentence. 'She apparently wants something from me. But what? We haven't even met before! Well, I guess I can't say no since she seems so eager. Besides, what harm could a 12 years-old could possibly do?' "Um, o, oka..." "DON'T!!!!" "Eh?" Ranma blinked again when Tenchi dashed up to him and covered his mouth. His cousin had this dreaded look on. "Don't say it." "Huh?" "Don't say yes. You don't want to do this." "But..." "Trust me, you don't." "Eh..." The conversation of two cousins was cut off as the pink-haired girl budged her hair between them. "OhTenchi- donohowcouldyoudoyouhaveanyideawhatyouaredoingtomeIneedhiminmylabrightnownownow! !!" "Eh..." Tenchi blinked. Washu was acting mighty desparate even for her. He was expecting her to try to drag Ranma into her lab but not to this extent. He was going to have to calm her down first. "Listen, Washu-ch..." Shweeeeeeeeeeee... "...an..." Tenchi trailed off as his face went dead white. Slowly he looked up to the sky, praying to heaven in hope not to see the thing he was sure he was going to see. But alas, his hope was crushed, just like always, when he saw the descending form of the ever-familar space shuttle. "DUCK!!" As if Sasami's shout was the signal, all the present residents of Masaki home ducked down, leaving two confused guests dumbly standing. They also looked up to the sky, just in time to see a space shuttle crashing down on to the lake at incredible speed. Inside the shuttle. - *Beep* The shuttle is about to crash. The time left till the crash is 15 seconds. 12. 11. 10... - "How, Mihoshi?!? How?!? I set it on the automatic mode this time!! All you had to do was to push one freaking button!! How can you screw THAT up!?!" "Waaaaahhhh!! I am sorry!!" - ...4. 3. 2. 1. 0. - SPLOOOOSH!!! The contact was loud and clear, and it produced a large tide that went up high, and came down hard on the people. It was a second too late either to dodge or to run. All Ranma and Akane could do was to stare at the large amount of water descending down on them. SPLASH!! After the water retreated, Tenchi grudgingly stood up. "Geez... I guess it's my fault. I should have known that it was about the time Mihoshi and Kiyone come back from their patrol... I am sorry, Akane-san, Ran......" "Eww... I am so wet... Tenchi-niichan? What's wro......" Sasami blinked when she saw a redhead girl standing on the spot where Ranma was standing a minute ago. "Wow, Mihoshi-san still does that? It's a wonder that she is still alive..." Minagi couldn't finish her sentence either as she was now also staring at the mysterious girl in their company. Besides him Akane, smacked her forehead. 'So much for keeping the curse secret...' Ranma sweatdropped, as he, or rather she right now, scratched her head. "Um... I can explain..." Tenchi dumbly stared at the his now wet-and-female cousin. 'Ranma's red shirt? Check. Ranma's chinese pants? Check. The pigtail? Check. The breast? Check. The conclusion? This person is Ranma. But Ranma is a boy. She is a girl. So Ranma is a girl. But he is a boy, or at least he was until a minute ago. So he must be a boy. But a boy doesn't have a breast...' His brain tried to work out his current situation, with no avail. So it did the next best thing. It shut down. Thud! "Eeeh?!? Tenchi-niichan!!" "Tenchi-san!!" "Ma, Masaki-kun?!?" Three worried females rushed to the now unconscious prince. Minagi picked him up and ran into the house, with Sasami and Akane not far behind. Soon, there were only Ranma and Washu left on the yard. Missing her chance to explain the curse, Ranma nervously scratched her cheek and turned to the pink-haired girl. "I, I can explain. Really..." Ranma trailed in mid-sentence as she gulped rather loudly. The pink-haired girl was now staring at him with a weird look on her face. She slowly advanced towards Ranma, who tried to back away. But the martial artist couldn't get away in time, as she grabbed and clasped the redhead's hands. She slowly looked right into the eyes of Ranma, and gently spoke. "I love you." "Eh?" Inside a nurse office of a school. "Getting hurt so early in the morning, really! Didn't I tell you not to run so fast in the hallway?" "Heheh, sorry, Setsuna-sensei." "No need to be sorry, just don't do it again. There! All patched up. Try not to overexert your force on that knee." "Thank you, sensei!" "No problem. Please be careful from now on, okay?" "Okay, I promise! Bye-bye!" "Bye~." After waving to a little boy who just ran out the door, Meiou Setsuna quitely took a sip from her coffee mug. She still had her left arm in cast although the healing was already finished, a courtesy of her Senshi power. It was a precaution on her part not to look suspicious. After all, a normal human being wouldn't be able to heal a broken arm overnight. But she had something other than her broken arm to worry about right now. In fact, she didn't get a decent sleep last night, thinking about the story that Hotaru had told her. 'Disturbance in the timeline. A boy with unaccountable power. Three women with face markings. The sudden appearance of youmas in the park. An alien girl. And a mysterious "Knight" who can use the Death Scream... what is the connection?' But even the agonizing hours of self-debate and concern didn't gave her an answer. Despite all the lost time spent on thinking about the situation, Setsuna couldn't come up with an acceptable conclusion. The most upsetting thing was this "Knight" character, at least for now. 'Who is this man? Where did he come from? How was he able to cast the Death Scream? And the most important question of all... which side is he on?' Setsuna couldn't answer any one of them. She sighed in defeat. Even without this man, there was already a problem concerning the identity of the pony-tailed boy. 'I guess I will have to pay a visit to Yosho for this one. He might know something. If he can tell me who that alien lady friend of that boy, I might be able to find out more about him.' Setsuna looked up at the clock planted on the wall of her office. It was still too early in the morning, but her destination was Okayama. Now without the Time Gate, she would need a ride for her to get to her old friend's place. 'I will leave when Haruka comes here. She will definitely rush down here as soon as she hears it from Hotaru. She should be arriving here right about...' SCREEEEEEECH!! CRASH!! "Haruka! What the hell were you thinking, driving over 100km/h?! There are children here!!" "I don't care!! I got to talk to Setsuna about this!! She has gone too far this time!!" "Mommy..." '...now.' "Aaaargh!!! No, Washu!! Not that!! Please!! Anything but that!!" "I can't help it!! I have to do this!! It's too tempting!!" "No!! You mustn't!! Please!! Don't..." Splash! "Glah! Coldcoldcold!!" Splash! "Glah!! Hothothothothot!!!!" Right now Ranma was tied up on a chair. The chair was supported by a giant robot arm just above two tanks full of water, one freezing cold and one boiling hot. He also had these sensors on each limb of his body, which was connected to the control panel in front of Washu. "Amazing! The shape-shifting. The weight reduction! The chemical change and the hormone production! The internal organ also differs from a second ago! All these in less than a blink of an eyes!! And he can also return to his original shape by splashing him with hot water!" "...you... you mean DUNKING me INTO the boiling water, don't you?" "Tsk, tsk. Details, details. Let's do it again!" "No, no more..." Splash! "Gah! Cold! Brrrrrr..." Splash! "Feh! Hothothot!!!" "This... this is incredible!! I love it!! I have never seen a specimen such as this!! This is a challenge given by heaven to test my intellect!! This is so great!! I haven't had a fun like this for twenty thousand years of my life!!" "Huk, huk... Wait a minute!! You mean you are 20,000 years-old!?! I thought you were a 12 years-old!!" "Details, details! Let's do it again!" "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!" Chapter 9 ends. (1) Hey, if you ate Sasami's cooking everyday, you'd love it too. (2) Nabiki Radar worked 24-7. Nothing much escaped her eyes. At least the profitable ones, anyway. (3) Actually, he didn't know that he was in the presence of "the human chaos" that was Ranma... (4) Yes, Tenchi. That's absurd. Just like the story about you living with six aliens, and your daughter who was created by another alien...... -.-;; (5) Well... that's the idea... but... not... exactly... what you think... (6) Well, she hasn't made an appearance on either manga or anime yet. But I got the info about her from Ah! Megami-sama Universe(at http://www.crosswinds.net/~yuris/megami/index.html), and I couldn't resist! I had to use her at least once! Um, I still don't know much about her, so her personality isn't very accurate... but who cares!? Besides it can't be that much off, since I based her personality on no other than Urd herself. (7) Although her occasional "mishaps" say otherwise... (8) If you don't know what she's talking about, Hild is talking about the time when Urd was locked in her child form(due to the energy cut-off from Yggradsil). She met a little boy who seemed to have a crush on young Urd. She played with him for some times, before she got back to her oldself. When the boy heard the heart-breaking news of his new "friend" was gone, Urd consoled him with a small kiss on his forehead. Photo is showing right that moment... ^^;; (9) In future story of manga, Hild helps Peorth when the goddess couldn't get out of her child form curse given by Velsper. This was done as a contract between Hild and Urd though. For the previous chapters, go to Phu's Anime Page! At http://members.xoom.com/phu_lam/