"He’s your mom, Ranma." What? Ranma turned back to the crowd around the table inside the dojo, still unaware of his presence, and looked at the newcomer more closely. She had long hair, purple, but not Shampoo’s neon hue. Something darker. Red jacket over black tank top, with a silver cross pendant hanging from her neck. From the way she was laughing, he guessed that she’d been on the losing end of a fight, recently... pain showed through her features. Ryoga stepped towards the group, into the light spilling from the open doors. He waited for the laughter to die down, then cleared his throat. "Er... Misato... I’d like to introduce somebody." Ranma saw him beckoning, walked into the light to stand next to him. "Misato, this is Ranma Saotome." The woman stood up, staring at him with wide eyes. She took a few steps toward him, and he found that he was standing inside now, only inches from her face. She lunged forward, and he felt tears on his shoulder as she wrapped him in a loose hug. "I’m sorry... I’m so sorry... I never knew..." She sobbed into his shirt, then gave his ponytail a quick yank. "I didn’t even know you were alive. Let me look at you!" He let her guide him to an seat at the table, next to Akane, and sat down on his other side. Akane took his hand as he reached out to her and squeezed it, once. Ranma let his elbows drop to the table and turned back to his right. Misato was still looking at him, even if she had stopped crying. "Um... Mom?" "Yes?" She nodded happily, then jerked and rubbed her neck with one hand. "This is... a little embarrassing. Do you know..." He couldn’t bring himself to finish the sentence. She nodded again. "I heard about your curse, Ranma." She shot a dirty look at Ryoga, who was still standing at the entrance. "Though if SOMEBODY had been a little more forthcoming earlier..." Ryoga raised his hands in protest. "Hey, how was I supposed to know that he was your kid? I don’t go around telling everybody about this, you know." "This is getting a little private." Kaji coughed behind his hand and stood up. "Misato, I’ll talk to you in the morning... can you get home?" Ranma sized up Kaji’s voice and worried expression... there was something between him and Misato, probably. No telling what, though. Misato waved a hand at him. "It’ll be fine, thanks." Kaji bowed to Kasumi. "Thank you for the hospitality and tea, and I apologize for the intrusion of my... comrades." He quirked an eyebrow at Asuka and Tarou. "WE really should get going, however." "Um... yeah! We’ve got to go, really, early morning and all that." Asuka grabbed Tarou by the arm (huh?) and pulled him to his feet. "Ryoga, Misato, you coming?" Misato looked up from Ranma and blinked. "Uh? What, go now? I just got here! We haven’t seen each other in fifteen YEARS!" Asuka dropped both her hands to her hips, barely allowing Tarou to disentangle his arm first, and bent over the table. "Yes, and I’m touched, really, but if an Angel attacks tomorrow and you’re here catching up on lost time, then we’ll all be ticked at you..." "OH, right!" Misato shook her head, causing several squeaks and cracks to emit from her spine. She turned to Ranma. "I’ve really got to go... but as SOON as I’m done tomorrow, I’m coming here to get you." She wrapped him in another hug, and he lifted his arms to return it. "After all, we have SO much to catch up on!" Uh... "Okay." She continued speaking over his shoulder. "Akane, you come too, okay? As an apology for earlier..." Ranma released Misato and turned around. "Earlier?" Akane’s look spelled out "I’ll tell you later", with a good amount of angry eyebrow twitch thrown in for good measure. "Okay, sure." --- Paradise Lost, part 15 Fan Fiction by Andy Kent All characters copyright Rumiko Takahashi or Gainax --- Ryoga bent slightly, more as an aid to Misato than due to her weight on his shoulder. She wasn’t really hurt, but she was going to be sore for a few days... his mouth tightened as he remembered his role in that. Again, he’d jumped to a conclusion and almost killed somebody. It didn’t matter that he’d been exactly right this time... he’d almost killed Misato. He WOULD have killed her. Asuka and Tarou were getting into Kaji’s car. Sensible. He’d brought them down, and he could drop Asuka at home. They couldn’t ALL fit in Misato’s car, anyway. A quick glance at Rei didn’t reveal much, as the only difference in her facial features was the slightly enlarged eyes. Could be confusion, could be surprise, could be shock for all he knew. He pulled Misato’s door open and watched as she climbed inside, then walked around the front of her car. Rei had opened the other door, and was easing a largish katana, sheathed, into the back seat. He wondered why she had a... of course, it was Misato’s. He fingered slashes in the left side of his shirt, deep cuts that had not scratched the skin. Closing the door behind him, Ryoga fastened his safety belt, checked it again to make sure that it was secure. "Misato, can you still drive?" "No problem! Just watch." She turned the key in the ignition and started the car. Ten seconds and five ounces of melted rubber later, they were out of sight of the dojo. Well, she could still drive... as well as she always could. Ryoga braced himself on the armrest, wrapping his fingers around the indentations that they had made on his earlier trips. Rei spoke from the back seat, startling Ryoga. "Why did you try to kill Akane, Misato?" "I... I wasn’t! Really!" Misato listened, heard no response from Rei, and continued, her smile changing into something else. "It wasn’t... I went there to find Ranma, and his father Genma, to kill THEM. Really." Ryoga nodded, remembering Ranma’s story about his father’s vow. "You went, but you didn’t know about his curse?" "Aheh... um... I didn’t know he was... a guy. Kaji poked around some, for me, and all he found was the girl." Misato’s knuckles whitened on the steering wheel. "How long did you know, Ryoga?" "Know what?" "How long did you know that he was my son? You talked about him before; I finally figured that out. The fiancées. The fight. Why didn’t you just tell me?" Ryoga scratched the back of his head with his free hand, rubbing away a large sweatdrop. "I didn’t know until you told me at the table in there." "RIGHT." Misato’s voice was heavy, dripping under the weight of sarcasm she placed on the word. "Just a coincidence, right?" "Almost. If you found him, and learned about his curse, then I thought you might figure out mine." "You should have told her earlier, you know." Rei’s voice was almost drowned out by the hum of the engine, yet Ryoga could still hear it clearly. Misato nodded. "She’s right, Ryoga. Why didn’t you tell me, anyway?" He considered a straight answer, decided against it. "Oh, I don’t know... would you have BELIEVED me if I’d told you that I turned into a little black pig whenever I touch cold water?" From Misato’s look, he had a lot of work to do on his sarcastic tone... she was taking it at face value. "How did Rei find out, then?" Misato looked into the back seat, letting the car drift over into the right lanes of the road. Rei smiled. "He ran over a sprinkler." Misato started laughing, glancing back at the road just in time to avoid an oncoming bus. "THAT must have been weird." Ryoga grimaced, thinking about that incident. He’d have been really offended, he thought, if he hadn’t been so shocked by Rei’s laughter. Even now, he couldn’t really recall her laughing at anything, besides Jusenkyo curses. Well, mostly. "It was... unexpected. And inconvenient." Okay, change the subject... "You still haven’t told me why you were trying to kill Akane, Misato." Misato shrugged, wincing at the shoulder movement. "I came in, ready to kill those two, and found her instead. She got really mad, I was already, and we started fighting. I really didn’t mean to hurt her." "Good." Ryoga felt some of the tension leave his body. "Are you okay?" "More or less... you COULD have been a little less rough, you know." "Ryoga... how did you do that?" Rei gestured with one hand, made a fist. "I didn’t know PEOPLE could glow like that." "I’ll have Cologne show you... though I don’t think I ever tried it THAT way before." Usually, he released the power of his anguish in the Shishi Hokodan attack. He’d never tried storing it, and DEFINITELY never tried using it to augment his strength like that. "Cologne?" Misato blinked. "You DO have a lot to catch up on, you know." --- Asuka nodded as the car stopped in front of Misato’s apartment building. "Well, here we are. Thanks, Kaji-san." She winked once, playfully, and watched him laugh and shake his head. "Come on, Tarou." The lanky man followed her as she left the car and started down the hallway to the elevator. "Remind me why I’m following you, please." "Simple... I don’t think you have anything better to be doing." She pressed the button, summoning the elevator, and then turned to him. "Besides, you never DID get back those samples you gave today." The shock that passed through Tarou’s face was hilarious. "Ahh! I had completely forgotten about that!" He frowned and looked away from her. "That’s ANOTHER one I can chalk up to fem-boy." "I don’t get it... why don’t you get along with Ranma? I mean, you both have a curse..." Asuka stepped inside the elevator, and Tarou followed, tugging at his vest. "That’s just it. I don’t MIND what Jusenkyo did to me. It’s been that way all my life. You saw that yesterday, right? It probably saved my life... and it wouldn’t have been the first time." "Yeah... what IS that, anyway?" Asuka recalled the fleeting glimpses she had, something huge and furry, wings, tentacles, nightmarish really. Tarou folded his arms across his chest, and chuckled. "It’s me, I guess. There aren’t two of them... oh, you mean what is it CALLED?" He smiled. "You said, what, yeti-riding-bull-carrying-crane-and-eel?" Asuka took a breath. "With tentacles?" "That pretty much sums it up." "Where’s the eel come into it?" "I’ve got a tail that looks like an eel." Tarou frowned. "Would have been nice if I had some kind of electric shock, too..." "Yeah, but you didn’t say that it was an electric eel." "The yeti probably couldn’t have held it, anyway. Look, don’t try splashing me inside or anything... I’m bigger than the apartment." "No problem... you going to finish answering the question?" "What, why I don’t like Ranma?" They both stepped into the hall as the elevator opened, leaving room for a young couple. Asuka could hear a "Umao-san!" before the doors closed. "Look at it this way... I use my curse as an asset. I see it as a good thing, and live my life accepting it. Does HE? Noooo. Just a lot of whining, and false bravado, and getting indignant over it. Makes me ill." Asuka opened the door to her apartment and motioned for him to go inside. "What about your OTHER curse?" "That’s why we really don’t get along. He always calls me by my full name." As she opened her mouth, he made a sharp gesture. "DON’T bother reminding me, we both know what I mean without you going and saying it. You’d think he would have some consideration, being picked on by the old pervert like he is." Asuka slumped down to a chair. "He did seem a bit rude." "AND he gets all the girls." Tarou sprawled out over the couch and folded his arms over his chest again. "The indecisive fool. He toys with their emotions, plays them off against one another, and they throw themselves at his feet. I can’t even get a decent date, not with my name." Couldn’t get a date? "What, are you THAT sensitive about it?" Asuka sighed and shook her head. "And what do you mean, he toys with women? He’s getting married, you know." Tarou cocked an eyebrow in her direction. "That surprises me more than you know. To be honest, I’m not very happy about it, either. Akane deserves better than a fem-boy." "You sound like Ryoga, saying that." "Somebody call me?" Ryoga walked into the apartment through the shattered hole in the wall. "Come on, guys, let’s get some dinner." Tarou’s face screwed up into a ball. "I don’t think I can eat the lush’s cooking twice in a row." "Don’t sweat it, Tarou. We gave her an aspirin and put her to bed. After all, she’s had a rough day." Ryoga grinned. "Always knew that you’d eventually sink to beating up on women, pig- boy. Wasn’t that... display just a little bit much?" Ryoga shrugged. "She might have hurt Akane! I just... you’re right, I got carried away. I hope she’s not mad." "Oh, no, I’m sure she nearly has her throat torn out by berserk Eva pilots every day, Ryoga." Asuka got up and headed for Misato’s kitchen, where Ryoga did most of his work. Tarou and Ryoga both followed, Tarou holding the lost boy’s shoulder to make sure that he didn’t get turned around. "So, what’s for dinner?" "Rice." Ryoga went to the stove, dished out a helping on four plates, and set them down at the table. Rei, already seated, started on hers immediately. "And?" Tarou and Ryoga both gave her a blank look. "What are we having with the rice, Ryoga?" Ryoga turned to look at Tarou. "Isn’t rice a good dinner?" Tarou snorted. "I TOLD you that civilization makes people weak." Argh! That wasn’t the reaction she wanted at all. "Hey, Rei, don’t YOU want something besides rice?" It was a last-ditch attempt, to be sure, but... "... No, not really. Why?" Asuka threw her hands up. "I don’t understand you people at all. Am I the only normal one here?" Tarou and Ryoga both nodded before starting in on their dinner. Asuka sighed, popped open the fridge, and grabbed a beer. *[Calm down! Just because THEY are a bit weird...]* Asuka was SURE that she hadn’t thought that. She shook her head, opened the beer, and went to look for snacks in the pantry. She didn’t hear the muffled squawk that came from behind the opening pantry door. --- Rei opened her eyes. Something had been missing... she threw off the covers and walked into the hallway. This place, for all that it was more convenient, was different from her old room. She still couldn’t sleep here. Well, usually. The night before, she’d slept deeply, much better than any time in the last two weeks. Something had changed last night, maybe? Pantyhose Tarou came yesterday, she thought... no, because he was still there, and it didn’t help tonight. She ran her mind over various ways to fall asleep. Counting sheep was highly regarded among various folk tales, but completely ineffective in practice. Various other remedies involved the consumption of various chemicals or the use of certain biological practices that Gendo had expressly forbidden. Exercise would be counterproductive, since it would likely just trigger an adrenal response. One option was still available... and the material necessary was most likely present in Misato’s fridge, although it would require some preparation. She stepped into the other apartment, careful not to snag her clothes on the loose splinters left from Ryoga’s handiwork. A quick glance told her that Tarou was NOT lying on the couch. That, combined with the light coming from Misato’s kitchen, told her that Tarou was quite likely awake. When she walked into the kitchen, she saw him sitting at the table, eating a chocolate bar. "You still awake? I couldn’t sleep, either." He tossed a wadded-up wrapper towards Misato’s garbage can. Rei briefly considered whether he expected an answer for that question, immediately realized that it was fairly inane, and decided to ignore it altogether. She opened up the fridge, started rooting around... beer... beer... more beer... a different brand of beer... ice... ice cream... ah, here it was. Rei pulled the carton of milk out, past two racks of beer, and placed it on the counter. Tarou snorted. "Midnight snack?" That was a valid question, she supposed... "No. I’m getting some warm milk." With any luck, it should let her sleep... that way, she’d be more aware in the morning. "Ah." Tarou bit off another chunk of chocolate. "Well, sit down and let it warm up, then." "Yes." She sat down, staring at the milk carton, idly wondering why there was somebody’s picture on the back. "Um..." Rei looked over and saw Tarou fidgeting, something she had not expected of him. "Why don’t you think my name is funny?" His facial expression, while a bit complex, looked uncomfortable. Funny? "I... don’t know why it WOULD be funny." She looked down at her hands. "Humor... I don’t understand a lot of it. The curses, they’re funny. But a name? How CAN a name be funny?" Tarou blinked, then gestured at her with a loose end of the hose around his waist. "You DO know what this stuff is, right?" "Yes, it’s called pantyhose. Feminine leg covering." Rei looked at it, but it didn’t do anything. Was THAT supposed to be funny? "Well, yes." He sighed. "You don’t think that it’s funny that a guy has the name of a feminine leg covering?" "Um... no." She couldn’t really see HOW that could be funny. She put a hand up to her head... the whole concept must be off. For some reason, Tarou started smiling. A really big smile, like when Misato had her first beer in the morning. "That’s great. You know, I’ve never MET anybody that didn’t laugh at my name. Thank you." Thank you? For not laughing? She waited a second, thinking that he might explain, but he just smiled and looked at her. "You’re... welcome." Something nagged at the back of her mind... Tarou awake... the realization hit her immediately. She stood up, walked over to the counter, and replaced the milk in the fridge. "Um... you’re supposed to DRINK the warm milk, Rei." Tarou chuckled. "I don’t need the milk." She pointed at him. "If you go to sleep, then that will be fine." "Huh? ME? Why would MY sleeping help YOU sleep?" He narrowed his eyes. "You’re not worried, are you? I would NEVER do anything like that." "Like what?" Tarou’s face shifted to... something. "Never mind what. Why?" Oh well... she decided to explain. "Where I used to... live... it was very loud, and I must have become accustomed to sleeping with loud noises. It’s quiet here... but you snore very loudly, so it makes it easier for me to sleep." "I do NOT snore." Tarou folded his arms across his chest. "Yes, you do." "No, I do NOT." Rei blinked. "How could you know if you snored?" "That’s against the point. I don’t snore." Tarou turned his head. "Do you ALWAYS sleep in your uniform like that?" "Um... yes." What did he mean by that? She’d never even considered that as a problem... were you supposed to change before going to bed? No, that would lead to a lot of wrinkled clothing... She yawned, quietly, and headed for her room. With any luck, he would start snoring soon and she could get some sleep. --- Misato slammed the now-empty beer can to the table and let out a whoop. Amazing, what a little sleep could do for somebody! She could barely feel all the injuries she’d taken the day before. Well, actually, her hip was still giving her a bit of trouble... she grabbed her second beer. Time for some painkillers. She looked up, noticed the look that passed between Ryoga and Tarou. "Is she always like that?" Tarou’s eyebrow quivered. Ryoga swallowed his last bite of fried egg and nodded. "I think so. You get used to it after a while..." "Hey, Ryoga, you’ve got duty today." Talk about her behind her back... well, in front of it, really... "I expect that you’ll be coming with us, Tarou?" "No, I’ll just be leaving those blood and tissue samples in the possession of a large secret organization. Of COURSE I’ll be coming with you." Tarou chuckled to himself. "Good, good... I do have a stop to make first. You two don’t mind, do you?" "I’ll make my OWN way, thank you. Like I said, I’m never getting in a car with you again." Misato blinked and drained her second beer. "You’d think that I wasn’t a good driver." Ryoga nodded to Tarou. "It’s all right... just let her drink a couple more and we’ll be fine." "Have you gone completely insane, pig-boy?" "Quit complaining and let’s go, guys." Misato grabbed her jacket, shrugging it on as she headed for the door. --- The car rolled to a stop outside the Tendo dojo. Ryoga frowned as Misato got out of the car and went inside. "I didn’t know she meant HERE." Tarou, sitting in the back seat, snorted derisively. "Maybe she changed her mind and she really IS going to kill fem-boy after all." "You’re such an optimist." Misato came out a minute later, towing a still-sleepy Ranma behind her. She opened her door and motioned for Tarou to make room. "Huh?" Obviously, Ranma had just awakened... he rubbed his eyes and looked at Tarou. "Oh, great, first thing in the morning, Mom drags me out of bed and now I have to ride with Pantyhose." Tarou reached out one arm, grabbing Ranma’s shirt and pulling him inside. "Watch it, fem-boy, or I’ll give you a very painful wake-up call." Ryoga started laughing, but quieted down as Misato got in the car. "Much as I’m completely indifferent to your personal safety, fem- boy, I suggest that you fasten your seat belt." "Would you lay OFF calling him fem-boy, Tarou?" Misato looked at the ceiling for a second, then started the car. Ryoga looked in the back seat... Ranma’s eyes snapped open, and he immediately braced himself. "Whoa! Wait a minute... I’m NOT flying." Ranma hurriedly grabbed for his lap belt and slammed the buckle home. "Does everybody drive like this?" Ryoga saw the puzzled look on Tarou’s face, started laughing again. "No, Ranma, it’s a family thing." Turning to Tarou, he chuckled, "I’ll tell you about it later." --- Misato flopped into her chair and absently started to rearrange the papers she’d left there from the day before. Those three...! Misato didn’t know whether she should strangle them all herself or wait for them to kill each other off. It was obvious that Tarou disliked Ranma, even more than Ryoga seemed to sometimes... And the things they talked about! From the descriptions she’d managed to wring out of Ranma, who really wasn’t reluctant to talk but was usually unable to get five words in edgewise, he’d spent an entire year or so in a bizarre mix of fighting, love triangles, and female impersonation. The last was mostly mentioned by Ryoga, although Tarou had a story or two to tell as well. It was a very good thing that Ranma was not proud of it... but Misato thought that it was still far worse than not doing such things at all. Every time she thought of the concept, she could feel herself getting sick, and that was before she considered that it was HER son changing like that. She also wondered at Genma’s sudden disappearance... almost entirely too convenient. The whole situation was his fault. Misato immediately gathered up the... incriminating pictures that Kaji had found of her... son... and threw them in the garbage. That was ANOTHER thing she’d have confront him with. --- Fuyutsuki sighed. He’d never seen Gendo with this expression on his face... "So, did you come to a decision yet?" Gendo put a gloved hand to his forehead and rested his elbow on his desk. "It’s not possible. I cannot think of any successful method at this point." "Are you sure? Remember..." "I know full well the reason we started this, Fuyutsuki. When the scenario changed, though... I’ve looked at it from as many angles as I can think of, and come up with nothing that yields even a five percent chance of success." Light played off of the surface of Gendo’s glasses as he turned to look at Fuyutsuki. "I... also see no way to succeed. Another perspective, perhaps?" Gendo waved his free hand at Fuyutsuki, dismissing the idea. "That would be worse than irresponsible at this point." "Then what? You didn’t call me here to tell me that we’ve given up." "No, I did not." A grim smile formed on Gendo’s face. "We cannot attain completion as planned, that much is obvious." Fuyutsuki blinked. "Why is that? The scenario has flaws, but is it broken yet?" "We have not obtained the item, without which completion is not possible. The rest of the scenario detailed the proper procedure for completion... but without the item, or knowledge of it’s whereabouts, continuing on our present course will lead to disaster." "Then... do you have a plan B?" Gendo started at Fuyutsuki’s joke. Of course, there was no other plan... "Yes." Gendo’s smile lost a good portion of its grimness, and something danced behind the tint of his lenses. "That I most certainly do." --- Ryoga felt the subjective change as he synchronized with the Eva. A few moments of fierce acceleration took him to the practice chamber... He stepped 01 free of the restraints and flexed its arms. Sure, they kept TELLING him that it was a huge robot and didn’t need to stretch before an exercise, but it still felt right. He looked out over the simulated cityscape, noting the position of various weapon and power structures. Naturally, he had no confidence in his ability to remember how to reach them in an actual fight... it was fairly easy to pick them out in here, though, since somebody had thoughtfully color-coded them for him. He took three steps towards the nearest weapon outlet, careful not to snag his power cord, and waited. Shigeru’s voice bled into his consciousness. \"Okay, today we’ve got a little surprise for you... here goes."/ Ryoga didn’t LIKE surprises. Usually they ended up getting him in even more trouble than usual... the reinforced armor plate of the building folded back, and he moved his hand without thinking to fetch the gun inside... that... wasn’t a gun. He moved the Eva’s hand over it, finding a grip, and pulled it free... The room shook from the force of 01’s sudden fall. Ryoga brought it up to a sitting position, still staring at the huge metal umbrella he held (no, the Eva held!) in his hand. It was battleship gray, and ridged with what looked like armor plate. "WOW! I really, really had wanted one of these!" He took a couple of experimental swings, feeling the weight and balance of the weapon. \"We thought that you’d like it..."/ Shigeru was laughing, and Ryoga joined him. \"Feel like a test drive?"/ Ryoga nodded, not noticing the bob of 01’s head. "I think that would be just what I needed this morning." --- Ritsuko smiled as she handed the stack of printouts to Maya. "Look at those first." Maya picked up the top two sheets, giving them a perfunctory look. "Ego barrier waveform scans. Rei’s... and Asuka’s." She shrugged and placed them in a separate pile. "I thought that you said that they weren’t good for anything besides identifying possible pilot candidates, though." Yes, that’s what Ritsuko had thought. "Take a look at this one." She pointed at the next page, which showed Ryoga’s readings. "This is... is this even possible?" Maya’s eyes widened as she looked at the bizarre, barely-substantial pattern. "Look... he doesn’t have anything in the pilot region either..." Of course she’d have noticed it, especially with the green highlighter bordering that region. "Whose is this... Ryoga?" "And here’s another one." Ritsuko pointed to the fourth and last piece of paper. "He’s the one that Misato dragged in yesterday. Heavens knows where she found him... but look!" The pattern was radically different from Ryoga’s, of course, but they both consisted of the same kind of fine lines and empty spaces, lace to the normal person’s thick terrycloth. Again, no part of the pattern intersected that segment which seemed to disqualify a normal person from piloting the Eva. Maya gasped, then broke into a smile. "He can pilot too? That’s great!" "Yes, but think for a second... WHY do these two have patterns like this? What does it mean?" Ritsuko had spent a few days of leisure time – a precious commodity these days, it seemed – in thought on those questions. "Well... I’m not sure, sempai..." Maya started typing furiously onto her keyboard, remaining hunched over the laptop for several minutes. Ritsuko waited patiently... well, her foot was tapping, and she was about to start dropping hints when Maya reversed the screen. "18.02 amu. It has something to do with 18.02 amu... and temperature extremes." "Very good." Ritsuko smiled and sat on the corner of the desk. "I have absolutely no clue WHAT that might mean, though." "Ice water?" Maya looked up from the laptop. "ICE WATER?" "Come again?" "Oh, come on, sempai! There’s only one molecule that weighs 18.02 amu... it’s water. Cold WATER." Maya smiled. "That doesn’t make any sense, though!" Ritsuko’s grin fell off, and she felt a minor tug of annoyance at her failure to recognize such a simple thing... wait a minute, if it was just cold water, then... the earlier grin was replaced with another, this one quite a bit more pronounced. "Let’s find out." "Find out? But... it could make him discorporate completely! Or set him on FIRE, for all we know!" Maya shook her head. "I can’t believe that you’d do something like that to Ryoga-kun." "Are you joking? I would NEVER do something like that to Ryoga... well, not when I have another option..." She laughed as Maya’s face went from denial to shock. "You can be such a rookie sometimes, you know." --- Ranma drummed his fingers on the side of the chair. It was nice, having his mom around and not trying to kill him... probably... but did she have to drag him out here? He was bored, couldn’t think of anything to do that wouldn’t get him in trouble, and to top things off, he had to share the boredom with Tarou. "What’s taking them so long?" Tarou banged his fist into a vending machine, one of several that lined this stretch of hallway. "How long can it take to dig out a little sample and bring it out here?" He swiveled his head and looked at Ranma. "You know, now that I’ve met your mother, I think I understand why you’re such a moron a bit better." "HEY! Take that back!" Ranma’s hands curled into fists, for perhaps the fifth time in fifteen minutes. "Look, none of this is MY fault." "For once, you’re actually right, fem-boy." Crossing his arms over his vest, Tarou leaned back against a soda machine. "This whole trip has just been a colossal waste of time." "Almost." Tarou opened his mouth, but Ranma kept talking. "We DID get to see that training thingy they put Ryoga through. Even you have to admit that it looked cool." Tarou frowned. "Not really... the thing looks like it was intended to be a mockery of the human form. Just like the rest of this place. The whole thing is cut off, artificial, sterile." Tarou’s lip curled into a sneer. "I don’t know how you can stand to be in here as well as you do." "Takes effort, believe me." Ranma resumed tapping the armrest. After another minute, Tarou reached inside his vest and pulled out a chocolate bar, which he started eating immediately. "Hey, can I have one?" "Fat chance, fem-boy. These are MINE." Tarou chuckled around a mouthful of chocolate. Ranma decided to try out his own version of the glare of death... no, still wasn’t right, Tarou was just smiling MORE now. "Mighty stingy, PANTYHOSE." " HEY! Do you WANT to start something?" "Why not? I mean, it couldn’t be more boring than this." "More boring than what?" Ryoga walked down the corridor and dropped a few coins into one of the machines, grabbing the drink that it dispensed. Ranma smiled. "Hey, Ryoga... where were you TRYING to go?" "Um... the locker room. I forgot my pack." Ryoga reached a hand up and scratched the back of his head. Tarou frowned. "That’s not like you." "You’re right... it’s starting to worry me." Ryoga sat down in the chair next to Ranma, took a sip of his juice. "It’s like I’m getting rusty. Do you know it’s been a month since I was really, properly lost?" "No way." Ranma shook his head, still smiling. "It’s unnatural for you not to be lost." "I’ll refrain from making the obvious suggestion..." Ryoga looked at Tarou. "What’s that?" "Ah, but the obvious can be subjective..." Tarou smirked at Ryoga. "Get lost." --- Maya followed Ritsuko’s path on the security cameras... first, to the lab, to get a cooler and that boy’s test samples. Really, why was he so insistent on getting them back? He couldn’t really believe in things like magic or voodoo, right? Maybe he was just being obnoxious. That had to be it... After a quick stop at the lab’s freezer, Ritsuko carried a small cooler through various hallways and elevators... Maya flipped over to the camera observing the lounge-hallway where... Tarou, she remembered... was waiting. Immediately, she saw him standing next to Ryoga and another boy of the same age that she didn’t recognize. From the looks of things, they were having a heated argument. She couldn’t follow the flow... Tarou and Ryoga would yell at the other, and get yelled at, and yell at each other for that matter. It was exactly the sort of chest-thumping testosterone display that she liked to avoid... All three broke off immediately as Ritsuko came down the hallway. She said something, Tarou answered, and Ritsuko set her cooler down on top of one of the garbage cans. She turned her back... opened the cooler... Maya almost winced as Ritsuko flung the improvised ice-water balloon at Tarou. It streaked toward his face... and the other kid flashed out an arm, faster than Maya could follow, and caught it... snapping the flimsy disposable lab glove and drenching all three with cold water. And the camera went out. Huh? Maya keyed up the camera network, noticed that the lounge camera was listed as "damaged", as well as several other systems in that area. She picked one a short distance down the hallway and flipped it on... Ritsuko was crawling down the hallway... no, it was more like scrabbling, arms and legs moving in an uncoordinated fashion, just trying to get away... Maya looked down the hallway and immediately swallowed her gorge. A few keys later, she convinced the camera to zoom in... she could see a small pig lying next to a ruined snack machine, and a girl in Chinese clothing, but she didn’t pay any attention to them. After all, the huge, monstrous form filling the rest of the hallway was more than enough to occupy her... Maya’s first coherent thought was that it looked remarkably like somebody’s perverted nightmare, what with the horns and tentacles and all. Then, she realized that it was real... and that it was stuck fast in the hallway. "Let’s find out, she said." Maya sniffed and shut off the monitor. Serves Ritsuko right if that thing eats her. Wait... no, that wasn’t fair... and if something REALLY were to happen... She keyed the intercom system. "Hyuuga, check camera..." She flipped the screen back on and read off a code number. "Get the Magi’s opinion, will you?" --- \"Get the Magi’s opinion, will you?"/ Hyuuga set down the latest issue of Shonen Jump and tapped certain keys, bringing up the security camera system on his terminal... He banged the monitor. "Darn things... you think we would have upgraded the systems again." --- Ranma kicked the door to the janitor’s closet open, spotting a bucket and a hot water tap with the ease of repeated practice. A few seconds later, he was again male, and Tarou and Ryoga again humans. Not very happy humans, either. Tarou, in particular, was incensed. He reached forward, placing his fist directly under Ranma’s nose, and growled, "Do you mind telling me exactly WHY you decided that it would be funny to break a water balloon in here?" "Well..." Ryoga shrugged back into his pants, and hunted around for his shirt. "Did you see the look on her face? I wish I had a camera." "That’s..." Tarou dropped his hands to his sides, his face breaking into a smile. "She looked like she was about to wet herself. Teach HER to toss around water indiscriminately." Ranma snickered. "I think she was AIMING for you, man." And, of course, Ranma knew that she had been... the angle of the throw, speed of the uneven projectile, everything had telegraphed it. He knew that both Ryoga and Tarou had seen it, as well. "All well and good..." Tarou walked over to the cooler, tearing into the contents and smashing every glass vial into a garbage can. "So much for that..." "Tarou, man, put something ON will ya?" Ranma gestured to the tattered remnants of Tarou’s pants, which took his transformations much the worse for wear. Oddly enough, that dragon scale vest never seemed to have the same problem. --- Hyuuga fell out of his chair, laughing. He motioned for Aoba to come over to his station, then waited patiently as the other bridge technician looked over the camera displays. From the choking sounds that Aoba was emitting in between bouts of laughter, Hyuuga assumed that he’d managed to get the joke, as well. He calmed himself and reopened the intercom. "Ah... I say this with ALL due respect, Ibuki-san... but they should have covered that in your anatomy classes in school." He lost his straight face and bellowed even more laughter directly into the microphone. \"But... there was a big... it was a monster!... TENTACLES, even!"/ Aoba straightened his face for a second. "I would HARDLY go that far." The two started slapping each other’s backs, in an attempt to regain some measure of control. \"MEN!"/ Hyuuga looked over Aoba’s shoulder, spotted the opening elevator doors. "COOL it! It’s the boss!" Misato’s footsteps echoed in the (almost) silent command center. "What’s so funny?" "N... nothing. Don’t worry about it." Aoba managed to stagger back to his own station and immediately busied himself with a report. "Oh?" Misato arched an eyebrow... no, it wasn’t going to work this time, he’d given up on her... "Oh well." Hey! He’d managed to hold out! "Well, then I don’t suppose you guys want to attend the party tonight..." "Party?" Aoba’s head snapped back up. "Always. When, where, why?" "My place. Seven PM... reunion party. I found my son last night." Her eyes misted over... a bit. "I’m having him and his fiancée over. What, you DO want to come?" Well, for this sort of thing, sure, why not? Hyuuga nodded his assent. Misato glanced down, looked at the still-open intercom. "How about you, Ibuki? Free tonight?" \"Your son... he wouldn’t be a boy in a red Chinese shirt, would he?"/ Misato nodded. Hyuuga was about to remind her, for the umpteenth time, that you couldn’t use gestures over the voice connection... she remembered on her own. "Yes, that’s him." Misato’s face took on a wary expression. "WHY?" \"Ah... well, either I’m going crazy... or he just turned into a girl, and back."/ Maya’s voice was still shaky. "You’re not crazy." Misato stabbed one finger down, shutting off the link. "I’ve got to go see what trouble he’s gotten himself into now... see you fellows later, then." She headed for the elevator. The moment that Hyuuga heard the doors close, he shot a look at Aoba... the two immediately started laughing again. "Turned into a girl?" Aoba chuckled, bobbing his head. "Forget it... it’s for a party. Play that tape back again." --- Mousse rubbed his head and cursed quietly in Chinese. No telling how long he’d been unconscious... not that it mattered. He made a mental note to avoid mentioning Ranma and Akane’s upcoming marriage to Shampoo. The damage had been done, though, and not just to him. It was too bad, really... Mousse never really had anything against Akane personally, and he didn’t much like the idea of marrying a murderer himself. He shrugged, awkwardly, and flapped his wings. Most of the feathers were still there... a few strokes took him into the air. Maybe he could stop whatever Shampoo was about to do. And maybe she’d thank him and marry him on the spot. Maybe they served ice cream in hell, too. That thought didn’t stop him, though, as he flew toward the Tendo dojo. --- "Why, hello, Shampoo! Are you here to see Ranma?" Kasumi set down her cup of tea and looked at Ranma’s young friend. He was lucky to have such a good friend... even if she DID occasionally forget what doors were for. After all, didn’t EVERYBODY go through a wall at some time or another, around the dojo? "Here see violent girl, not airen." "Oh. Well, they’re not here... they’re with Ranma’s mother right now." Katsuragi-san seemed nice, and she did resemble Ranma a little... well, male Ranma. "Airen’s mother? Shampoo thought... Does not matter. Where?" Kasumi thought about correcting the Amazon’s atrocious grammar, fleetingly, then dismissed the idea. She was an immigrant, and her accent would improve without the embarrassment of having it pointed out to her. "She left me an address and directions..." --- Fuyutsuki considered knocking on the door to the apartment, but considering the noise from inside and the large "party, don’t bother to knock" sign, it wasn’t likely that it would be either necessary or effective. He punched the panel to open the door, and it drew back into the wall. He reeled from the sound of what had to be a very expensive sound system, judging by the volume and bass. To be expected, really, and now why did Misato keep bothering him about her salary if she had stuff like THAT? It’s not like he was paid well, himself. He removed his shoes in the entry and stepped inside the apartment. Crowded. That was the first real impression he had of Misato’s apartment... crowded and messy. It looked as if a token effort had been made to tidy up before everybody had arrived, and also that said effort had failed miserably. Discarded papers and books, wrappers for instant food and chocolate bars, and piles of clothing lurked around the corners of the room. Ritsuko and Misato were both at the table in the kitchen, talking and drinking. From Ritsuko’s expression, she was trying to match Misato drink for drink, which bordered on suicidal. He walked in, waving for the two to keep their seats, and opened a fridge. Finding nothing but what was perhaps the living quarters for the resident penguin, he guessed that the OTHER fridge was more likely to contain beer. Still, this had no effect on his astonishment at the sheer quantity of alcohol that Misato kept on hand. He reached in, taking a single can of Yebisu (always his favorite brand) and sat down across from Ritsuko. "I... didn’t expect to see you here, you know." Ritsuko took a long slug of her beer, and exhaled. He could SEE the vapor on her breath. "Yeah, you’re not exactly Mr. Sociable most of the time..." Misato, visibly drunk, punched him lightly on the arm. "Well, I could hardly miss this occasion. Though," and he let the smile drop from both his face and voice, "you certainly did your best to occupy me. It’s going to be difficult to repair that hallway." "You... saw it?" Ritsuko’s drink slopped over the sides of the glass as her hands shook. He hadn’t exactly been calm when he’d seen the tape of that... thing... even knowing what to expect. She had been there, and it had been a total surprise... She downed the rest of the beer, and Misato poured another before she could ask. "I... it’s... completely idiotic. I should have known better." "Should have KNOWN better?" Misato laughed. "How COULD you have known better? If he hadn’t told me himself, then I wouldn’t have believed it either." "No... you don’t understand... he DID tell me." Fuyutsuki coughed into his drink. "Excuse me?" "On the medical release form, under the section "other", he clearly wrote, ‘I turn into a large minotaur-like monster with wings, an eel tail, and tentacles when I come into contact with cold water.’" Ritsuko banged the heel of her free hand against her forehead. "I feel stupid." "On that note, where is the young lad?" Fuyutsuki turned to Misato. "And on THAT note, what about YOUR young lad?" "Oh, they’re in the other room... said it was a bit noisy for them." She threw her hands up in exasperation. "The younger generation these days... don’t they know how to rile their elders?" "So, what do you think? Is he what you expected?" "You obviously didn’t hear the story yet, Fuyutsuki. Go and take a look for yourself." She was laughing softly to herself. "I still don’t know what to make of the whole thing... it’s so strange... but he’s my SON. You know how it is?" He shrugged. "Er, no, not at all. But I do expect that you just need a little time to get used to him." "Oh, one more thing." Misato’s face brightened. "He brought his fiancée along with him. Be nice, okay?" "Am I ever NOT nice?" He put on his ‘openly shocked’ face, and it seemed to work fairly well, from how the two women started laughing. Playing innocent was tricky, but so much fun once one got used to it. He stood up and excused himself, leaving the two women to their drinks. Entering the living room, he tried to reconcile the sight of Hyuuga dressed in what appeared to be a karate gi and large blond wig with the quiet, self-effacing technician he knew from NERV. "Hyuuga-kun... what in the Nine Hells is that supposed to be?" Aoba strummed a chord on his guitar in counterpoint to his laugh, although the effect was almost lost to the cacophony of modern music. "Seems nobody bothered to tell him that it wasn’t a costume party." "You could have warned me, you know." Hyuuga let his head drop to his chin, which forced both Aoba and Fuyutsuki to move their drinks, lest they be absorbed in the spiky wig. "I think it looks cute. Sort of." Maya smiled from the couch across the room. "Not that I’ve forgiven you two, yet." "Forgiven?" The normal quirked eyebrow expression failed to elicit an instant response. Fuyutsuki decided that it must be some private manner, and not really important. "Never mind. Where are the children?" "Other room." Hyuuga, head still down, jerked a thumb down the hallway, indicating a gaping hole in the masonry. Fuyutsuki followed the gesture, careful not to scrape the arms of his jacket on any ragged points, and entered the other apartment. Immediately, the sound level was quieter... no. The MUSIC was quieter, but the occupants were more than making up for the difference. He stuck his head around the corner... "What are you talking about? Take that back!" "Oh, is fem-boy gonna throw a tantrum now?" "Damn it, you two, this is MY HOUSE you’re fighting in!" "As if that ever stopped you before, P-chan!" "I told you, quit picking on Ryoga, Ranma!" "Now, now... everybody calm down..." "No way, Kaji-san... don’t stop it. Watching them is fun." "Yeah. I’ve got five bucks on the girly one. Touji?" "Five on Ryoga." "You can’t bet on an argument like that! REALLY!" Fuyutsuki slid along the far wall of the room, somehow managing to escape notice, and sat next to Rei. "Quite a crowd, eh, Ayanami?" "They’re noisy." He grunted assent and waited for the fuss to settle down. After twenty seconds or so, one of the girls, the one with short hair, clobbered the other girl with a ten-pound sledgehammer. Immediately, Ryoga and the other boy stopped bickering, and watched as the first girl dragged the second by her pigtail to one of the chairs. The rest of the antagonists drifted to various places around the table. Good time to make one’s presence known, he thought. "Hello, everybody." Ryoga’s head snapped around. "Oh, hello, Fuyutsuki-san." The other boy... Tarou, was it? Yes, Tarou... leaned back against one of the walls and folded his arms over a rather nice-looking scale vest. "Sorry about that... fem-boy just got a little carried away." Fuyutsuki briefly wondered how that boy had managed to procure such a large piece of dragon hide intact, and also how somebody with bishonen looks and earrings could justify calling somebody ELSE ‘fem-boy’. "Do you think that you could STOP calling me that for one night? I mean, I haven’t even called you..." The redhead cut off as the other girl slapped a hand over her mouth. Fuyutsuki coughed, twice, and then harrumphed loudly enough to draw the attention of everybody in the room. "Let me introduce myself... my name is Fuyutsuki, and I’m employed at NERV with the others. I know Rei, Asuka, Ryoga, and of course Kaji already." He swept his gaze over to the still-smiling boy. "I believe your name is Tarou, and it might do you well to apologize to the doctor next door." Tarou grinned and chuckled evilly. "You are correct, my name is Tarou, and she DID have fair warning." Smiling, Fuyutsuki continued. "Indeed. I remember YOU two dimly, of which you are no doubt grateful." He pointed at Ryoga’s two young classmates, both of which had almost died of terminal stupidity during the battle against the fourth Angel. His finger moved to the young girl next to the taller of the two. "I take it that you are a friend of theirs?" And more than that... she looked like she was about to fall over the young man. And, of course, he was totally oblivious. It figured. She bowed from her seat on the floor. "I am Hikari Horaki. Pleased to meet you." He returned the bow, not quite as deeply. "And that leaves you two." He regarded the other two girls. The redhead sat up against the foot of the room’s recliner, while the other sat down in it. He would have called both of them cute, if he had been thirty years younger. "My name is Akane Tendo." She looked down, nudging the other girl. "Yeah... I’m Ranma Saotome." Fuyutsuki erupted into a fit of coughing as a swallow of beer tried to go down his windpipe. "You’re... um... what?" Come to think of it, there WAS a girl on that tape he’d been shown by Aoba... not that you noticed her, what with the horrible monster filling the hall behind her... Ranma turned to look at Akane. "Is he deaf?" "No, you’re just stupid." Akane rolled her eyes, and Ryoga reached over the table. Why did he have a hot water kettle on a hot plate... Ryoga unceremoniously poured the contents onto the redhead, who... it really wasn’t good to watch reality twist like that on an empty stomach, he thought. In the redhead’s place now sat a muscular boy, taller, and with black hair, though he retained the ponytail. He looked over at Rei, who nodded. "You get used to it." He was momentarily shocked to see her smile. "I think I understand." Fuyutsuki smiled, and took another sip of his beer. "Don’t YOU owe an apology to poor Ritsuko too?" Everybody present blinked. "Apology? She splashed ME, you know." "I was referring to the night of the fifth Angel’s attack." Ranma’s expression instantly shifted from confused to guilty. "Ah ha. You do remember bouncing off of her face, then?" "So that’s where you went... idiot. You could have told me." Ryoga half-reached his arm out to Akane. "He... had a good reason not to." His gaze, almost fogged over, sharpened and heated when looking at Ranma. "And you DO know that you have a bad habit of doing that sort of thing." "Um... sorry?" "I think that we’re not the people that you should be apologizing to." He looked over and caught Kaji’s smile... --- Misato handed another drink to Ritsuko. "There ya go. Drink up... it’ll make you feel better. Ritsuko wrapped the glass in both hands. "I just looked at it, and I kept on thinking... you remember all of those idiots in college, the ones who were worshipping that Chthulu thing? I just couldn’t think anything but that they were right..." --- Asuka walked out of the elevator, savoring the night air from the roof. A lone figure perched at the edge of the eaves, looking out over the lights of the city. "I thought you’d be out here..." "I couldn’t stay in there any longer, not without doing something that I probably wouldn’t regret later." Tarou turned, looking at Asuka with an angry expression. "Every time I find some peace, he snatches it from me. Every time I find an answer, he interferes and changes the problem. I loathe that fem-boy, I really do." "What is it with you and that word? Do you find some sort of sick pleasure in teasing him?" Asuka sat next to him on the rail. "It’s what he IS. Just like Ryoga’s a pig-boy." She stuck her tongue out at him. "You weren’t calling Ryoga a pig-boy all night in front of Akane." "Of course not." He answered reflexively, then looked as if he’d have liked to have the words back. "Well... it would be pointless cruelty, that’s why. Akane would never forgive him that." "She doesn’t know?" Asuka blinked in surprise. "How could you... for that long, and not know?" Tarou shook his head. I’m not sure. Maybe it’s just fate, maybe it’s chance. Maybe she does know, and just doesn’t want to admit it." "You lost me." Tarou looked... almost uncomfortable, but he was laughing. "Well... P-chan, or rather pig-boy in his other form... is Akane’s dear pet." Asuka lost her balance, falling backwards from the rail to the roof. "That’s horrible! Why doesn’t somebody..." How could he degrade himself like that? She thought about Ryoga’s piggy self oinking and cuddling and debasing himself for Akane, like some kind of plush toy... the thought was thoroughly revolting, and not just from Akane’s perspective. "Tell her?" He snorted. "Fem-boy can’t... gave his word, and for once in his miserable life, he’s intent on keeping it. I won’t either." "Well, then I will!" Asuka got to her feet, turned around, and took a step towards the elevator... only to feel a hand on her shoulder. She looked over her shoulder at him, but he just stood there. "YOU won’t either!" Tarou took a deep breath, and she could see him gathering himself. "Pig-boy, fem-boy, they have what they have coming to them. Not her." She infused her voice with scorn and sarcasm, tilting her head back to address him. "So, now you’re the judge of who has what coming from whom, are you?" "Don’t be silly." A malicious smile crept onto her face. "Or maybe you just ride Ranma because you’re afraid of the same thing." She saw his face convulse, and she kept going. "After all, HE just has some lousy curse, right? I didn’t see him wearing earrings." "Stop." She laughed, loudly enough to hurt her throat. "After all, maybe it’s YOUR manhood that you’re not so sure about." She reached her arm back and flipped the end of the undergarment tied around his waist. "Shouldn’t you have these ON?" "ENOUGH!" He tensed, and Asuka felt his grip on her arm become a vise... he pulled her off of her feet and toward the side... and stopped. She gasped as he set her back down, roughly, and let go of her arm. She’d have a bruise there tomorrow. "Damn you, that’s enough. Go crawl back in your hole, you flat-chested little strudel girl." She whirled, stepping into the elevator without looking back. Where did he get off, calling her that! She looked down at herself and shuddered. "I’m not a little girl," she whispered to herself. --- Shampoo walked up to the door that corresponded to the address that Kasumi had given her... stupid woman. Giving her the tools needed to kill her own sister. As if she hadn’t even noticed the sword. Then again, maybe she hadn’t... that woman had never quite seemed all there to Shampoo. She looked, finding no doorknob, and decided that it really didn’t matter anyway. The first kick crumpled the flimsy door and the second tore it away from the wall. She rushed inside... with airen here, she had to work quickly, and present him with a finished act. How DARE Akane try to marry her husband? Just because he hadn’t quite come around yet... the insult would have been unforgivable in her homeland. Here, she had to make some allowances for the fact that Akane was not of the tribe. Thus, she would have the honor of dying by the sword, instead of a shameful death by poisoning. Shampoo took two steps past the entry... panning from left to right, she noticed two women drinking in the kitchen, another woman listening to a man play a guitar in the living room, and a hallway to her right. From the sound, mixed with some kind of tasteless music, Shampoo guessed that Akane and the others would both be down the hallway. She turned and stalked down the hall, sword leading and bobbing. Empty room on the left... Room on the right, almost empty... she briefly wondered why the doors of the rooms were open. Something white flashed from another doorway to her left... she brought the sword to bear, and froze. The warrior walked out of the bathroom, not noticing her presence, and stretched... She felt her nose start to bleed from the impact of his elbow. Whatever he was, he had to be an incredible martial artist to have launched that attack without betraying any sign of knowledge of her presence... somebody, most likely that Kasumi woman, had given warning to her prey, and here was a guard to stop her. She smiled. He was unarmed, and wouldn’t even slow her down. He turned, face completely blank, and regarded her. She shifted the sword’s grip to her left hand and launched a horizontal swing, aiming to cleave his skull open at the temple... as soon as she started moving, his eyes bulged, and he ducked the swing. The sword scored a line in his shirt, missing his skin. She briefly wondered what kind of outlander battle cry sounded so much like a rushed apology... then she was blind, his hair had completely obscured her vision, and he was running forward, his feet landing irregularly. She couldn’t get a foot around his to stop him, and in a moment they were back in the living room. He staggered sideways, his head still down, and she fell to the floor. He recovered and looked at her, but she didn’t notice his horrified expression as her fist shot out. One move was generally prohibited among combat between Amazons and men, in deference to the weaker sex’s vulnerability, but this man had proven his worth and she had no interest in his seed. Her aim was true... and he grabbed her fist, his awkward-looking grip grating the bones in her right hand against one another. She clamped her jaw on a scream as he pulled further, trying to dislocate the wrist... She let his momentum carry her to her feet, accepting the pain to gain a momentary advantage. If she didn’t finish this one quickly, she wouldn’t be able to reach Akane before airen reacted, and she couldn’t just bull Ranma out of the way like this man. She set one of her feet firmly, pivoting the other up over her head in preparation for a devastating axe kick to the base of his skull. His left leg crumpled beneath him, in an impressive display of mental powers overcoming the physical limitations of bone and cartilage, and his entire body followed it down... including his left hand, which still clutched Shampoo’s in its painful grip. She screamed in agony as she was jerked forward, not noticing the placement of his other leg until she had stumbled over it... he released the grip, completely, and she fell through the open window. --- Aoba stared at Hyuuga. "What did you just DO?" "I... I don’t know! I got off the can, bumped into her, and I say I’m sorry, really I am... then I trip over the hem of these darned pants and bump into her again! She falls down in here, and reaches out her hand. I grab it, help her up, and then she does that weird thing with her leg, and..." Hyuuga snatched the crumpled beer can from his heel. "Who left that lying around?" "I did. Sorry." Aoba let his guitar lie in his lap, using one hand to brace himself against the table and another to close his mouth, since those muscles didn’t seem to be responding. Maya started laughing. "That has to be the best trick I’ve ever seen. Who was she?" Hyuuga scratched the back of his head with one hand as he used the other to right the planter that the strange woman had knocked over on her way out. "Frankly, I have no idea... hold on a second... where’s my wig?" --- Tarou moved swiftly, from pose to pose to pose, letting the anger fuel his motions, clearing his mind. It would have been quite effective, if he didn’t keep on putting new anger there. How could she have said that? HOW? The name wasn’t the man. The name wasn’t the man. He punched, seeing the hated Happosai’s face in the instant before every blow landed, pulverizing part of the elevator housing. Every third or fourth punch, he saw Asuka’s face instead. The name wasn’t the man. Just because he’d been saddled with a cruel name by a half-addled pervert who didn’t know any better, and was too perverse to change it willingly, it didn’t make it true. He hated how people assumed that it would be true, though. A voice flashed through his head. "But a name? HOW can that be funny?" He pulled his punch, letting the stone cool his knuckles, and stopped moving. It wasn’t the truth. SHE’D known that it wasn’t the truth, at least. She’d KNOWN. HE knew, but she’d known too. He started at a scream from below, changing from a high feminine pitch to an unearthly yowling screech. He was familiar with that particular yowl... he peered over the eaves, not conscious of having moved, and scanned the street. There... and he clutched his sides as he sat down and laughed, laughed until tears spilled down his face, at the sight of a purple cat limping away from the building with a ghastly blond wig attached to its jewelry. --- Akane heard the knock on her door through a tunnel of deafness. It had been LOUD in that little apartment, even in the one without the stereo system. "Come in." She had to repeat herself twice before Ranma got the message and opened the door. "Um... I just wanted to... er..." "Check up on me?" She favored him with a skeptical glance, and he blushed furiously. He really WAS nice, when he was trying. And good- looking. And... she felt herself begin to blush, and she looked away from him. "I’m fine, thanks." "That’s not... oh, man." Ranma came the rest of the way in, closing the door behind him, and sat down on the bed. She turned the chair of her desk around, and watched him shift uncomfortably. "Well, then, WHAT?" Ranma grimaced. "You know I’m no good at this..." She narrowed her eyes. "What did you do this time?" "NO! Really, I... heck with it! Here." He grabbed something out of his pocket and thrust it toward her, his eyes averted. "I really should have given you this a while ago, the way things are supposed to happen, but it didn’t work out that way." She grabbed the little box from his hand and pried it open... and gasped. The ring was beautiful... she slipped it onto the fourth finger of her right hand. "It’s... oh, I... don’t know what... Ranma..." He looked at her hand and blushed. "Um... it goes on the other hand." She smiled sweetly at him and mouthed, "You idiot." After shifting the ring over, she got up and sat next to him on the bed, leaning against his shoulder. He wrapped an arm around her. "Does this mean..." "Yeah, I meant it." He struggled with something, his face screwing itself up in the most hideous fashion... then smoothed out again. "I love you, Akane. I want to marry you." "Oh... Ranma..." He’d said it... well, again, as he’d said the same thing the LAST time he’d brought the subject up, but she didn’t feel like arguing over his lack of creativity. "Even though you hit me over the head in front of Mom..." She gripped his neck for a second, then let her arms drop into a hug. Every time she could wonder if he had been replaced by somebody else, he would do or say something stupid to reassure her. It didn’t matter. She rolled her eyes at the ceiling, expressively, and said, "Oh, Ranma..." in a completely different tone of voice. --- "Have fun at the party?" Gendo blinked back his fatigue. It was two in the morning, sure, but he could always sleep later. Besides, if he failed here, missed sleep would cease to be a problem altogether. "You should have been there. Her son is... an interesting fellow." "And Dr. Akagi talked with you about what she saw?" Fuyutsuki shook his head. "She was completely drunk. Ibuki knows, though, and explained it to me." "It is of no consequence. Have you notified the Second Branch yet?" "Yes, and they’re raising hell over it. Damned territorial Americans. I expect that they’d change their tune if the Angels were showing up at New York instead." "If that were happening, then their attitude would be completely justified. But it isn’t, and their opposition to us is not helping things. Can you convince them?" "Yes, given time. I don’t know how quickly, though. And, of course, Seele will know the moment that we succeed." Gendo smiled. "It cannot be helped. Do what you can to speed the transfer. We still have some time." "If the scenario holds." "It has not and need not." The light glinted off Gendo’s glasses as he pushed them back to the bridge of his nose. "We will succeed regardless." --- And I’ll end part 15 here, before the WAFF kills anybody. As usual, comments and questions should be sent to akent@pdq.net.