Insertion

Part 38: Wrath of the Goddesses

by Sean D'Anna

=====

Ranma stepped out of the Mikon Taka and sighed. His trip to America hadn't gone 
exactly as planned. "Well, it was fun at least," commented Carrot.

"Yeah. Fun," said Ranma lamely.

"We should probably head back. Chibi-Usa should be back by now," said Dan.

"Yeah, we'd better go before Pop tries to sell her or get her engaged and gets 
himself killed," said Carrot.

"Hey!" snapped Ranma.

"Piss boy sure has been quiet lately," snorted Dan.

"Well, he's still mad at us," pointed out Carrot.

"Let's just go," said Ranma.

++++++++++++

Genma sailed over the wall of the dojo and landed on the pavement at his son's 
feet. The older man groaned painfully and rolled over to look at the boy. 

"You should probably leave her alone old man," said Ranma as he looked down at 
the broken body that was sprawled out in front of him.

Genma jumped to his feet and grabbed the boy by his shoulders. "Say it isn't so 
son!"

"Huh?" muttered Ranma in confusion.

"You do have a son in the future right?" said Genma as he shook the boy 
violently.

"How the heck should I know. Why don't you ask the spore?" snorted the boy 
irritably.

"He did. Why do you think I pounded him," snorted Chibi-Usa as she walked out of 
the gates and glared at the pair.

"You! You just have to have a brother!" cried Genma.

"Well I don't!" snapped the girl angrily. "Pig! Hairball!"

"Now, as much fun as it is to beat Grandpa up, you should at least try to be 
nice and ignore the fact that he's a sexist moron," said Ranma as he looked at 
the girl.

The child blushed and turned her gaze away. "You're right, I guess."

"What are you saying boy?" said Genma.

"Nothing. I'm just saying that you think boys are better than girls," said Ranma 
as he looked at the man for a moment.

"Oh. That's all right then," said Genma with a short nod.

His son shrugged and turned to enter the home. "Is dinner almost ready yet?"

"Naw, we got like an hour," said Chibi-Usa with a slightly disappointed frown.

"We'll do a little sparring before we eat then," said Ranma.

"Great! I like kicking your ass!" chimed the girl cheerfully.

++++++++++++++

Cologne sat at the counter of the Cat Cafe, a cold frown on her face as she 
stared into the restaurant where Shampoo was working diligently. She had been 
that way since the boy had left.

"It's hereditary," said the little girl's voice in her mind.

"Indeed," she muttered as she moved for the first time in hours. "We must have 
him."

"What Great Grandmother talking?" said Shampoo.

"Child. We must have this boy," said Cologne as she turned towards the girl. "At 
any cost. If all his children are as strong as that child is. Our tribe would 
greatly benefit from such a male, even if we must be subservient to him until 
the children are old enough to put him in his place. It may take some time 
convincing some of the other elders of this, but I believe it is possible to do 
so once they find out about the truth."

"What if have boy children?" asked Shampoo.

"Very clever child," said Cologne with an impressed smirk. "The boy is cursed by 
Jusenkyo, and the spring of drowned girl. He will only be able to sire female 
children. Which makes him all the more valuable to us."

"How we get Airen to be with Shampoo? He very strong, maybe more than Great 
Grandmother even," said the girl with a small frown.

"It will not be easy, we cannot force him. Instead, we must make him see the 
advantages of taking you as a wife. We must make him want to marry you," said 
Cologne.

Shampoo blinked in surprise. The old woman had not even tried to contest the 
fact that the boy might be stronger than her.

"So, Airen marry Shampoo soon?"

"Yes child. You and many others if I have my way," said Cologne. "Perhaps not 
marry them, but he is too valuable to the tribe to keep to your own bed."

Shampoo frowned at this. She didn't argue though, she could see what the old 
woman meant. "So, is having many children then?"

"Indeed," said Cologne with a small nod. "I may be able to work something out so 
that it benefits our family more than the others. Perhaps a limit on the amount 
of children sired by him within other families. A concession to keep his wife 
happy."

"Shampoo understand," said the young girl. "How we do this?"

"Simple. What man could resist the chance to such an arrangement?" said Cologne 
with an evil sounding chuckle. "Males are simple enough to manipulate, it should 
pose no problem."

++++++++++++

Belldandy stood staring at the image in front of her. "What is all that?"

Urd turned away from the screen with an equally confused frown. "So, this is 
him?"

Skuld sighed. "No. This is the amount of dark power he was using. See that 
little black dot in the middle? That's him. All this purple is anger, the red is 
suffering, and the green is pain. It's the kind of power that the blast was 
powered by."

"What kind of demon is he?" gasped Belldandy in horror.

"A very strong one," said Skuld with a frown. "I'll pull away the energy filter 
so you can see him." She worked on a keyboard in front of the monitor for a few 
moments and an image appeared. "Now to zoom in..." said the young goddess as she 
paused for a moment and seemed to thing about something. "Oh yeah! This is 
how..."

A few moments later the screen flickered, and an image of Super Ranma appeared. 
He was in the middle of shooting off the Final Flash that had destroyed the 
Pokemon world.

"He doesn't look very scary," commented Urd with a slight blush on her face.

"Really Urd!" exclaimed Belldandy.

"Well, he's not that bad looking. I didn't say he wasn't evil," said the goddess 
as she shrugged her shoulders.

"Eww, he's all big and stuff. No way!" snorted Skuld.

"How would you know about that?" asked Urd with her eyes growing wide.

"I hate all those muscles, he's gross looking!" continued Skuld with a disgusted 
looking frown.

"Well, I suppose he is rather big looking," said Belldandy.

Urd blinked. "Oh. That..." 

"So. What happened to him?" said Urd. "Maybe he went with the Planet?"

Skuld frowned, and sped up the image a bit. It now showed Ranma falling through 
the porthole from his own blast. "No, he got away."

"Where does that go?" asked Urd as she peered at the screen for a moment.

"It goes to Earth," said Skuld.

"Oh! Oh no!" gasped Belldandy.

"So, that thing is somewhere on this planet?" said Urd with a slightly worried 
look on her face.

"We've got to do something!" gasped Belldandy.

"What? Where are we gonna find him? He's vanished," said Skuld.

"I don't know. He should have a distinct signature, but I'm having trouble 
locating it. He must have a way to hide it somehow," said Skuld.

"Well, it looks like we're going to have to do a little detective work then," 
said Urd.

"Oh! Keiichi! Are you leaving?" asked Belldandy as she turned to see the boy 
walking towards the door in a gray jumpsuit and a matching ballcap.

"Yeah. I've got to go to work," said the boy cheerfully.

"Oh. Well, I'll see you when you get back then!" said the Goddess.

"Yeah! See ya!" said the boy as he rushed out the door.

"I bet he misses his friends from the Auto club," said Belldandy with a small 
frown.

"Actually, he seems happier since he got this new job and quit," commented Urd. 
"They're paying him to go to do the same thing that Otaki and Tamiya were making 
him do for free."

+++++++++++++

"Hey, Morisato," said Ranma as he walked into the repair shop and glanced 
around.

"Oh. Hey Ranma," said the boy as he looked up and wiped his brow. He was leaning 
into the front of one of the large black cars that the MIB used as fleet cars. 
"His face was covered in grease, but he appeared to be happy."

"Got another good report," said Ranma as he put a folder in his hands. "I must 
say, I'm glad I hired you as project manager. You seem to have a way with cars." 
Keiichi was a sort of intern at the shop, working under the manager of the shop 
in a sort of administrative position.

"Well, with these mechanics, and the budget you allow on the vehicles, plus the 
parts you supply are top of the line! Anyone could do it!" said the boy 
cheerfully. "I'm surprised you hired me though. I haven't even graduated yet and 
all..."

"I've had good reports on your activities in the Auto Club at your school," said 
Ranma with a shrug. "Plus, you've had real world experience. I'm hoping I made a 
good investment that will pay off later."

"Yeah," said the boy sheepishly.

"It looks to me like I've made the right choice. Seeing you actually working on 
one of my cars is a definite plus," said the pigtailed boy with a shrug. "The 
mechanics all like you as well."

"Thanks," said the boy sheepishly.

"So, where is everybody?" asked Ranma as he glanced around.

"On break," said Keiichi. "It's lunch time."

"Is it?" asked Ranma in confusion as he glanced at his watch. "So it is. 
Weekends always throw me off. I'm used to being in school myself."

Keiichi blinked and looked at him. "I didn't know you were going to college."

Ranma smirked at him. "I'm not."

"Huh? But you just said..." started the boy.

"Don't worry about it. You hungry?" said Ranma.

+++++++++++

"Wow," muttered Keiichi.

Ranma smirked at him. "Well, I'm usually not into places like this myself, but 
it was close by."

"This is nice," said Keiichi.

The stuffy looking man who stood in front of a small podium just inside the door 
scoffed at the pair. He was about to open his mouth about Keiichi's clothes when 
Ranma walked up to him. "Saotome. Two." He handed the man a business card, which 
was immediately recognized.

The man stared at him for a moment. "Oh, welcome Mr. Saotome. This way please."

"I never thought they'd let me in," muttered Keiichi as he followed.

"I dunno why, but having money makes people like that guy like you," said Ranma 
with a small shrug. "Order what you like, it's on me."

"Um...right," said the boy as he looked at the menu and almost passed out from 
the prices. It was some sort of Italian place, very classy and expensive.

"Nephrite said this place was good. He likes to hold business meetings here," 
said Ranma casually. "I've been wanting to see what he meant."

"Sir, is there a reason you asked me here?" asked Keiichi nervously.

"Sure," said Ranma with a small smile on his face. "I've got a proposition for 
you."

"Huh?" said Keiichi dumbly.

"I want to keep you," said Ranma with a small shrug.

"Keep me?"

"You're working out very well. I'm going to give you a raise, and I'd like for 
you to continue working for us."

"You mean full time?" said Keiichi as he stared at the table.

"Yes," said Ranma.

"But...but..." said the boy dumbly.

"I like you Keiichi. You're a rare find. The employees like you, you've worked 
out well. You're thorough, you do good work, and you always put your all into 
what you do."

"I'd like to take your offer, but I'd like to finish school..." said the boy as 
he stared at Ranma in awe.

"Go ahead then," replied Ranma with a shrug.

"Huh?" stammered Keiichi dumbly.

"I'm not going to stop you from going to school. In fact, I'd like it if you did 
finish. I just want you to stay on after you're finished."

"Th-thank you!" 

"Well, shall we order?" asked Ranma.

+++++++++++

Nabiki sat in her room mulling over her problem. She had a cell phone in her 
hand and was staring at a laptop that no one in the home knew she owned. Or so 
she believed. It was password protected of course, and she kept a lot of her 
records on it. Everything from information, to her personal finances. "So, do I 
do this?" she asked herself.

There was an E-mail message on the screen, it seemed to be the safest way to 
move the information out of the home without Ranma knowing. She sent E-mail a 
lot, and it wouldn't look suspicious for her to be sending it at this time of 
day. "The biggest secret in the world. I could make ten million-yen in one shot. 
Or I can make it a somewhat longer lasting investment." She smirked and typed 
her entry into the address box. The Ami girl was the only one with an E-mail 
account. "Let's see how badly you girls want to keep your secret, shall we?"

She paused and frowned at the screen for a moment. "Or perhaps...I wonder..." 
She deleted her message and began to type another one. "Maybe I can use this 
differently..."

She sent the message.

++++++++++++

Akane lowered her headphones and frowned. She was sitting in her own room. "Damn 
you Ranma," she muttered as she closed her eyes. She pushed the button on the 
side of her watch. "Message sent."

"We've got it. It's been intercepted and scrambled," said Nephrite calmly. 

"I'm going to go and take care of her now," said Akane as she stood up from her 
bed.

"Hold on a moment," said Nephrite. "Well, this is certainly interesting."

"What is it?" asked the girl as she frowned.

"I'm going to have to ask Ranma about this one. Don't do anything just yet." 

"What did she do?" said Akane with a small frown forming on her face.

"I'm bringing you here," said Nephrite.

Akane nodded and was teleported out of her room.

++++++++++

"Well, I hope I've managed to keep you around," said Ranma cheerfully as he 
stood next to his car with Keiichi. They were just outside the auto shop.

"Yes sir!" said Keiichi.

"Call me Ranma," said the pigtailed boy as he pat the older boy on his back and 
smirked. He paused and noticed the blonde woman sitting on a park bench nearby. 
"Sorry to leave you this way, but it seems I've got some business to take care 
of."

"Um, right," said Keiichi as he smiled dumbly and wandered back to work.

+++++++++++

"Well, funny seeing you here," said Tochi as she smirked at the boy.

"What are you doing here?" asked Ranma as he sat down next to her.

"Keeping an eye on things," said the woman with a small shrug. "You aren't just 
watching us you know."

"So it seems," said the boy as he frowned at her.

"Come on now. We are fighting a war you know," snorted the woman casually. She 
touched his shoulder slightly and smirked. 

"Fraternizing with the other side?" said the boy with a smirk.

"Recruitment drive," said the woman as she leaned foreword and smiled at him 
seductively. "You're not as different from us as you imagine. You should join 
us."

"What makes you think I would," said Ranma with a small frown. "At the moment, I 
seem to be winning this little war of yours."

"Hardly, our plans are moving foreword quite nicely," replied the woman with a 
shrug. "Takibi served his purpose quite nicely."

"Oh? You've been relatively quiet lately. Not many deaths, no reports of energy 
draining..." Ranma arched his eyebrow at her.

"What makes you think we're even trying?" asked the woman coolly. "There's more 
to this than you imagine."

"Is there?" snorted Ranma.

Tochi leaned in and put her head directly next to his. He watched her 
cautiously.

"We want to prevent Metallia's awakening as much as you do," she said quietly.

Ranma turned to stare at her for a moment. "What?"

"Beryl is a fool. She'll be destroyed by that thing as soon as it has finished 
with her."

"Biting the hand that feeds you?" snorted Ranma.

"Protecting our interests," replied Tochi calmly. "Metallia created us to aid in 
her resurrection. Once she's finished, we all go back where we came from. I for 
one don't wish to return."

"Oh?" asked Ranma. "Seems a bit odd, coming from a youma."

"Metallia made us too independent. We all have the ability to think and act on 
our own. We're also made for self-preservation. Betraying her is a direct result 
of that." 

"Made her perfect soldiers a little too perfect so to speak?" said Ranma as he 
smirked at her.

"You could say that," answered Tochi calmly. "You should join us. You've got 
more darkness inside of you than you realize boy. We could use you."

Ranma stood up and shook his head. "No thanks. I like where I'm at right now. I 
don't need your help."

"Rejecting me?" said the woman with a slightly surprised smirk.

"You could say that," replied Ranma calmly. "You might not be trying to 
resurrect Metallia, but you're still up to something. I'm going to stop you."

"Are you?" asked the woman with an amused chuckle.

"You're overestimating your abilities, and underestimating mine," he replied 
calmly as he put his shades on and frowned at her.

"The same could be said of you," said Tochi calmly as she stood up and looked 
him dead in the face.

"If your doubting me, we could find out now," said Ranma. His aura flared and he 
transformed in front of her.

"I'm in no hurry," she replied as she turned and walked away. "I haven't done 
anything yet, so there's no need to be hostile."

Ranma frowned as she left, but did not say anything more. He turned away and 
started back towards his car.

++++++++++++

"I've found him!" said Skuld as she jumped up from her computer. The other 
goddesses were in the room in an instant. 

"Where?" asked Belldandy.

"It's a park, in Tokyo," said Skuld. "Come on!"

"You're staying here!" snapped Urd. "Come on Sis."

"Right," agreed Belldandy.

"Hey! This is near where Keiichi works," commented Skuld as she realized it 
suddenly.

"What?" gasped Belldandy.

++++++++++++

Ranma was about to suppress his aura and split again, when something stopped 
him. 

"Hold it right there, demon!"

"Huh?" he muttered as he turned to see a familiar looking woman standing in 
front of him in a dramatic pose. 

"Hey, it's Urd," he muttered to himself.

"I won't let you!" said Belldandy as she appeared on the other side of him.

"Won't let me what?" said Ranma as he looked at her and blinked. "What do you 
want?"

"You've come to destroy this world!" said Belldandy.
"No I haven't," he replied dumbly as he looked at them. They both looked angry 
with him. "Uh-oh."

"Why are you here demon?" asked Urd as she frowned at him.

"I live here," he answered dumbly. "Look, if this is about that planet...I can 
explain that..."

"So, it was you," said Belldandy as she began to build power in her palms.

"Wait a minute! Can't we talk about this?" said Ranma nervously. Fighting youma 
was one thing, but pissing off the gods was something completely different.

"Die monster!" cried Urd as she shot something at him.

Ranma jumped away, dodging the energy and rolled across the ground. "Hey! Wait a 
minute!"

"Urd, if we can talk to him..." started Belldandy.

"He's a demon, we can't trust him, sis," said Urd as she glared at him.

"I am not a demon!" snapped Ranma.

"See, he's lying already," snorted Urd.

"I really don't want to get into a fight right now..." said Ranma as he looked 
at them. "Maybe we can work something out?"

"Work something out?" asked Belldandy. "You murdered billions! Just go back to 
hell where you belong!"

"But I..." started Ranma as he backed away. 

"I've got something to help make the trip easier," said Urd as she smirked at 
him.

"Oh shit. We're gonna have to fight them," said Ranma as his face hardened. 
"Look. I'm warning you..."

"Holy spirits, return this demon from whence he came! Holy Father, I beseech 
thee! Take him to the realm of fire and darkness!" chanted Belldandy as she 
readied a spell.

Ranma jumped up into the air as the runes began to form under his feet. They 
blasted into a pillar of light and he narrowly avoided the blast as he moved 
aside. "Holy shit!"

"No way! He dodged it!" cried Urd in shock.

"Only the most powerful demons would be able too even step out of that circle!" 
gasped Belldandy.

"He's a Hell Lord!" said Urd as her eyes went wide.

"We may need some help!" said Belldandy as she backed away.

"Will you quit it! I said I don't want to fight damn it!" snapped Ranma as he 
glared down at the two goddesses from his place in the sky. 

"Together!" said Urd as she nodded towards her sister. "Maybe we can trap him!"

Belldandy nodded and readied another blast.

Ranma landed on the ground, near a grove of trees and growled. "No choice! I'm 
gonna have to force em back..." He cupped his hands and glared at the two 
goddesses. A ball of light began to form in his palms and he nervously edged 
foreword.

"Retribution!" cried Urd.

"Holy Exorcism!" called Belldandy.

"Mokou Takabishi!" countered Ranma.

The magical blasts passed through his attack and moved towards him. He gasped in 
shock, unable to move in time because of the attack he had just made. "No!" 
There was a violent jerking, and he found himself lying in the bushes, the 
ground where he had been standing was smoking.

"Did we get him?" asked Urd as she staggered foreword.

"He's gone!" said Belldandy as she saw the smoking patch of ground.

Both goddesses passed out on the ground.

+++++++++++

"Whoa! What the heck was that?" said one of the mechanics as he saw the 
lightshow in the sky. The park was a short distance away from the shop, but was 
blocked by a line of trees and traffic.

"No!" said Keiichi as he rushed outside.

"Hey! Where are you going?" muttered one of the men dumbly.

The boy rushed across the busy street, dodging cars that honked at him angrily 
and pushing through the brush on the other side. He gasped when he found the two 
goddesses lying on the ground. "What happened? What are they doing here?" He 
noticed the smoking patch of ground and frowned. "Something is up! Oh man, not 
again!" He moved over next to the goddesses and gently put them next to each 
other. "Great. How am I supposed to get them both home?"

+++++++++++++

Ranma sat up, his hair black once again. He was sitting in the middle of some 
bushes and glancing around.

"What are you stupid?" snapped a feminine voice. He blinked and looked up to see 
a tall platinum blonde woman glaring at him. She was dressed in a leather 
bikini, and had a long black cape on.

"Mara?" he muttered dumbly.

"I've never seen you around hell before," snorted the demoness as she glared at 
him for a moment. "You're a real idiot. Taking on a First Class Goddess on your 
own? Never mind two goddesses."

"Hell?" he said dumbly.

"What are you doing up here?" she said as she eyed him for a moment. "You're a 
new face, I don't recognize you. I would have been informed of any new demons 
coming here."

"Demon?" he said as he blinked at her. "I am not a demon!"

Mara blinked. "What?"

"Look. I don't know what the hell I did to get those two so pissed off at me... 
Well, okay, so I do know, but I'm still not a demon."

"A mortal?" said Mara as she looked at him.

"Look. I appreciate your help and all, even if you didn't mean to save me. I'm 
sure it was an accident." 

"You look different," said Mara as she narrowed her eyes at him for a moment.

"Yeah. So?" he snorted.

"Humans can't transform," she said as she glared at him.

"Yeah, well I can. That doesn't make me a demon," he snorted.

"What are you then?" she said as she glared at him for a moment.

"I'm a Saiyan," he answered after a moment of thought. He had decided against 
trying to convince her he was human.

Mara frowned, "There's no way..."

"Look lady, can I go now?"

"Where is your tail?" she said as she looked at him for a moment.

"Huh? What tail?" he replied dumbly.

"Saiyans have tails," said Mara with an evil looking grin.

"I don't remember ever having one," said Ranma with a small shrug.

Mara frowned and pat him on the back. "Well, we've always had a good working 
relationship with your kind. In fact, we were quite upset when you all died 
out."

"Huh?" said Ranma as he stared at her for a moment with his jaw hanging down.

"You were all so brutish, and greedy, and violent. It really was one of our 
better moments when we corrupted your entire race that way. Why, even the gods 
had a hard time getting rid of you all. Apparently a harder time than we'd 
thought." She smirked at him. "This explains why they're trying to kill you now. 
None of them ever managed to actually transform that way before though. The gods 
killed them all off before they managed it."

Ranma shook his head and turned away. "I'll just be going now."

"Good luck! Don't get yourself killed!" called Mara. "At least not until you 
have some kids or something! We'll have a special place for you when you're 
done!"

"Right," grumbled Ranma as he hung his head and walked off dejectedly.

Mara vanished into the shadows.

Ranma looked back at her and paused when he saw the two goddesses lying in the 
middle of the park with Keiichi standing over them. "Hey. What's up?" he said as 
he looked down at the boy.

"Gah! I'm sorry! I know I should be at work right now...but..."

"Huh? Oh, that. Don't worry about it. These are your friends right?"

Keiichi nodded and looked up at the boy. "Um, yeah..."

"Well, I suppose we can't just leave them here. Come on, I'll give you a ride 
home." Ranma hefted Urd up into his arms and started walking towards where he'd 
parked.

"Yessir!" said Keiichi as he lifted Belldandy into his arms. He paused and 
looked down as his boss walked out. "Um, sir?"

"Huh?" asked Ranma as he looked back and blinked.

"You've got a stick or something hanging out the back of your pants...it's 
moving..."

Ranma put Urd down and twisted as he tried to see whatever the boy was talking 
about. He grabbed something that was hanging out from the back of his pants and 
blinked. "What the?" It was fuzzy and it hurt when he squeezed it. He went pale 
and quickly stuffed it inside his pants. He then turned to look at Keiichi and 
frowned. "You saw nothing."

"Right, sir," said the boy with a short nod. He looked very nervous.

++++++++++

"Where are we?" gasped Belldandy as she sat up. She looked around and found 
herself resting in her room.

Urd walked into the room and sat down next to her. "So, you're finally up."

"Did we...?" asked Belldandy.

Urd shook her head. "Skuld was monitoring the battle. Mara was there, she saved 
him at the last minute. We missed."

"Oh! Oh no," said Belldandy in horror.

"They both vanished after that," said Urd as she hung her head. "We've got to 
wait until he appears again."

"This isn't good," said Belldandy with a worried looking frown.

"No, it isn't," said Urd.

"How did we get back here?" asked Belldandy as she glanced around.

"Keiichi found us, he said his boss gave us a ride home," said Urd with a small 
smile. "He really likes the guy apparently."

"Oh, that's good I suppose," said Belldandy with a smile on her face. "I'm so 
glad he's happy with his new job."

"Apparently he's been hired on at the company. They're even letting him finish 
school," said Urd with a light smirk on her face. "Lover boy seems to have 
gotten lucky."

"Yes," said Belldandy. 

++++++++++++

"Where the hell did it come from?" asked Nephrite as he peered at the tail for a 
moment. They were in a sort of medical room, Ranma was staring at the new 
appendage with his generals standing around him. Most of them were chuckling to 
themselves at his new predicament.

"I..." Ranma paused and looked at them for a moment. "I'm not sure..." He didn't 
feel like getting into an explanation at the moment.

"Weird," said Jadeite.

"It looks natural," said Kunzite.

"You just want an excuse to stare at my ass!" snapped Ranma as he shot the man a 
dirty look.

"Well, you've caught us," said Zocite in an amused tone.

"Damn it," grumbled Ranma irritably. "As if I wasn't already weird enough."

"Well, I don't see it causing any problems. It's easily hidden. We could 
probably remove it if you really wanted it gone," said Nephrite. "The real 
question is, how the hell did you manage to grow a tail?"

"Last I heard, humans didn't have tails," agreed Jadeite.

"I think I know, but I'm not sure," groused the boy as he sat down, and then 
promptly jumped up from his seat. "Ouch! Damn it!"

"Well, in any case. We can ignore it for now," said Jadeite. "We've got a report 
on Nabiki."

"Oh?" said Ranma.

"She sent an E-mail to Ami," said Nephrite as he handed the boy a printout. 
"Naturally we intercepted and destroyed it."

"Good work," said Ranma. "Blackmail is it?"

"Read it," said Nephrite calmly.

"Huh?" the boy looked down at the page. "Hey. This is unexpected..."

"She's trying to stab you in the back," said Kunzite.

"It says that she knows their identities, and needs their help to get rid of 
someone..." muttered Ranma. "Someone who also knows their identities, and might 
use them for evil purposes..." He looked up at them. "What is this?"

"She's asking the Senshi to help kill you," said Kunzite.

Ranma blinked and looked at it again. "Well, this is a new twist."

"What should we do?" asked Kunzite.

"Let's let Ami talk with her, find out what the hell this is about," said Ranma 
with a smirk. "We'll decide from there."

"Well, the game is afoot then," said Kunzite with a small chuckle.

Ranma used his hands to wrap the tail around his waist. It stayed and he walked 
out.

Akane was waiting outside, with a smirk on her face. "So, Kakarotto..."

"Not one more word," he said as he glared at her.

"Sorry, you have to admit it explains a lot about you," said Akane. "Here I 
thought it was just some cartoon show."

Ranma blinked and looked at her. "Huh? Oh, never mind. I've got a job for you."

Akane arched her eyebrow.

"We're going to set up a meeting between Nabiki and Ami. Then we're going to 
find out what she's planning, and act from there."

"You set up my sister," said Akane.

"Your sister was digging. Sooner or later she was going to find something. This 
way we can keep it controlled, and maybe derail it before we have to take 
drastic action," he replied calmly.

"Right," said Akane as she looked away from him. It made sense, as much as she 
disliked it.

"We'll set it up tomorrow," said Ranma. "Then we'll let her sweat for a while."

+++++++++++++

Nabiki blinked as she looked at her screen. She had received a reply from the 
Senshi.

"Nabiki Tendo," it started.

"I didn't leave my name on that note..." she said dumbly. In fact, she was 
pretty sure that her real name wasn't anywhere on the E-mail account. It was for 
her own security, especially considering some of the things she used it for.

"We know about Ranma Saotome, and his knowledge of us. He is a very powerful and 
evil man. He is an evil murderous psychopath. He's killed countless people, and 
controls much of the government. We think he may even be the source of those 
monster attacks that we face on numerous occasions. He is completely insane, 
with several personalities. However, he somehow manages to avoid detection. With 
your help, we may finally be able to get to him. I will meet you in one week, in 
the park in the middle of Nerima, at midnight. If you are not there, I cannot 
risk meeting you again."

Nabiki went pale as she closed the screen of the laptop and simply stared 
foreword in horror. It was much worse than she imagined.

She jumped when a knock sounded on her door. "Who is it?" she said weakly.

"Hey. It's me you crazy chick," snorted Ranma from the other side. "Time to eat. 
Hurry up, before my fat ass daughter eats it all."

"Hey! I'll kill you!" snapped Chibi-Usa's voice from nearby.

"Wait until after we eat Spore!"

"You stupid son of a..."

Nabiki opened her door and found the pair locked in light combat. The little 
girl was trying to choke him, while he pushed at her forehead with his arm 
cocked back.

"Boy! What have I told you about fighting your daughter in the house!" snapped 
Genma.

"Indeed! I can't afford to buy a new home!" wailed Soun.

"Oh, Sorry," said Ranma sheepishly as he broke off. He turned to see Nabiki 
staring at him coolly. "So, you coming or not? More for us if you don't."

Nabiki tried her best not to shy away from him. He was actually dressed 
casually. His T-shirt had the phrase "I used to be schizophrenic, but we're fine 
now," written on it.

"I'm not hungry," she replied as she closed her door and went back into the 
room.

"Hey! Nabiki's not hungry! Dibs on her plate!" cried Ranma as he jumped over the 
rail.

"Hey! You'd better share!" cried Chibi-Usa as she followed.

"We'll see who can eat the fastest!" cried Ranma.

They both transformed and started wolfing down their plates. It didn't last very 
long of course.

Genma looked on in shock. "What the...?"

"My table!" cried Soun as he saw the edges begin to smolder.

"Idiots!" snapped Akane.

"Oh my!" exclaimed Kasumi.

Ranma and his daughter paused and looked at everyone. 

"Whrt?" said Ranma through a mouthful of food.

"Swallow pig!" snapped the little girl as she smacked him in the back of his 
head.

"Boy! You discovered another technique?" gasped Genma.

"Huh? Oh, you mean this?" said the boy as he looked at him. "It's just a more 
advanced version of that other one. Nothing new."

Genma blinked and looked at the little girl. "You taught it to your daughter? I 
demand that you share this knowledge boy!" snapped Genma.

"Huh? Why should I?" replied the boy irritably.

"If you do, I shall give you...ten yen!" Genma held out the coin.

Soun gasped. "Saotome!" His face was one of complete awe.

"I can't teach you old man. She can do it because she's my daughter," said Ranma 
flatly. "You have to have something special, and it's related to my curse. 
Remember?"

Genma sighed and nodded his head. "Very well boy, hold out on your father! I 
shall never teach you the secret techniques I created!"

"What, you mean that Umisenken crap?" said Ranma as he looked at the man.

Genma's jaw dropped. "How did...?"

"Mom gave me that scroll weeks ago, I mastered those techniques in a few hours," 
said the boy as he snorted at the man.

"Boy..." said Genma in horror.

"Really, Pop, they're pretty useless for someone like me anyway," said Ranma 
sagely. 

"Oaf!" snorted Chibi-Usa irritably. She quickly finished her plate and grabbed 
Nabiki's share. "Ha! I win!"

"Hey! That's cheating!" cried Ranma.

"Deal with it you slow bastard!"

Kasumi sighed as she watched the display. Luckily, she had a little left in the 
kitchen. Otherwise Nabiki would have gone hungry.

++++++++++++

TBC...