Mirrors Multiplied

Part Fifteen

A Wish or Two
or
Dark Reflection

by Jared Ornstead

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Disclaimer:
    Anything you read here is a figment of your own imagination. We
officially deny that it exists.

=====

Universe C, Jusenkyo Springs

    Shampoo was still clinging close to her hero's side when Dowel rose,
bearing one of the energy rifles Mandarin had distributed to his willing
servants among the amazons.
    Shampoo flared, literally.
    Ranma leapt squeaking from her curvaceous side as Shampoo lit up
with celestial burnings. Her hair rose on end and became living purple
flame as her body became enveloped in an aura of white fire which became
a blazing egg that burned for long moments before shattering into
thousands of sparkling motes, revealing Shampoo in a white mask and
one-piece, boots and gauntlets emblazoned with blue and yellow flames.
    Dowel was an amazon. She got off seven shots with the energy blaster
during that time.
    Shampoo raised an arm even more shapely than before and shot forth a
stream of white fire that left a scar across the entire floor of the
valley, incidentally incinerating the former amazon and servant of
Mandarin in the process.
    Azure and some of Shampoo's other friends began poking about
wondering which of the pools might have splashed her, and if there might
be another use left in it.
    Shampoo calmed and her blazing aura faded away.
    Ranma chuckled and rubbed at his burns, looking at the woman now as
pale skinned as he was and noticing that, like him, she was now somewhat
taller and better formed. "Um, I guess I didn't get you away from all
that water in time, did I?"
    *Glomp!*
    "Shampoo no mind!"

    A week later Nabiki presented her report to their fathers. "I can't
find a trace of Ranma. Whatever it is he's is doing, he's managed to
avoid leaving any sort of official record behind him. He hasn't visited
any sort of port, airport or hotel. There's been no evidence of either
of his forms in the `tubes or public transit logs. He hasn't thumbed any
transactions to his bank account, logged into a public terminal,
downloaded his schoolwork or even renewed his prescriptions."
    "Prescriptions?" Serena, presently in ditz mode, asked to preserve
her illusion.
    Nabiki rolled her eyes, long ago having given up trying to see
through the facade. She sighed. "Ranma needs alot of medication because
of what the lions did to him. Mostly painkillers, but also some pretty
fancy stuff to keep some of his organs working after the damage they
suffered. The government tracks that stuff pretty thoroughly and Ranma's
not gone after any. We've still got his old bottles in the bathroom. How
he lives with the pain I couldn't tell ya."
    Her eyes narrowed and bored into her dark-haired younger sister.
"That is, if he's not elected for a death slightly less gruesome than
what awaits him when those organs give out."
    Akane, angry for a week now at how Ranma'd spoken to her, turned her
face sharply away and continued pumping weights. Her anxiety and concern
had been building this past week, but she wasn't about to admit to them
yet.
    Nabiki decided then and there that she didn't like Akane very much.
Shrugging, she addressed their fathers. "He's gone. If it weren't for
the fact that he's about to lose some important bodily functions and
there's not a forest left in Japan I'd say he was living off the wild.
But however he's doing it, there aren't any mysterious one-armed bodies
turning up either."
    "Probably living out of a box somewhere." Akane managed to sound
annoyed.
    Nabiki gave a cool look. "There are no vagrancy reports, and you
have to admit he's pretty distinctive. Besides, this whole city was
built fresh after it was leveled by that meteor sixteen years ago. We
don't have a single alley or slum where he *could* put a refrigerator
carton. Anyway, gotta go."
    Nabiki left the room. Both Genma and Soun remained seated with
crossed arms while Akane lifted weights and Kasumi did some sewing.
Serena gave a squeak as she recalled her homework, and dashed upstairs
after Nabiki.
    There was a long moment of silence.
    "So, what do you think, Saotome? I don't think offhand that she'd
have any reason for lying."
    "No, Tendo. My own contacts bear her out. I've had a data hacker or
two checking all the logs, and the crime family *controls* all the
sources of false IDs. He's not running about with masked prints, and
everything else bears her out. It's just like the boy's up and
disappeared."
    "There are still private vehicles."
    "Yes, but who would help him? He has no friends, I've seen to that.
We've focused everything on getting the maimed idiot to *have* to accept
this engagement. He doesn't have the training or experience to hotwire a
car, without even talking about modern security measures, and from what
I'd done to his reputation I can't think of a stranger helping him. What
does that leave?"
    Both men sat in long and empty thought.
    "Hmm, not much I'm afraid. He *could* have sold those trinkets he'd
stolen from the Master. Maybe..."
    "The money would go directly into his account, Tendo, and he would
have had to make a charge off of it, just like his regular savings.
Without a pretty good false ID he couldn't have started a new account,
and I've been diligent in keeping him ignorant on how to make the
underworld work. If he'd been after a new identity, I would have heard
of it."
    Kasumi shifted her weight and adjusted the angle of her sewing
basket for her new position. Nabiki was known to both fathers as too
clever by half, and Serena had quite a loose tongue, but when neither of
them were in the room Genma and Soun would speak quite freely. Unnoticed
by either of them, Kasumi continued to monitor the transmitter hidden
amidst her sewing.
    Upstairs, and locked in her room, Nabiki slid her headset on and
listened while recording every word.
    "So what does that leave?" Soun echoed Genma's earlier statement.
    "That's pretty much it for the traditional ways, my friend."
    "There are so many places less developed than Graviton City. Perhaps
if he'd gotten out there, outside of the technological showcase they've
built here, maybe even one of the countries where they still use cash?"
    "He'd still have to get there from here, my friend. And if he can do
that it's pretty much hopeless tracking him wherever he is."
    "What!?" Akane blurted out, reminding them that they weren't alone.
"Does that mean that you're just giving up, then? You're his FATHER!
What do you mean you can't find him? Mister Saotome, you've been with
the Yakuza ever since your wife divorced you. Don't you have any
resources that you can call on?"
    "So does that mean you're agreeing to marry him?" Mr. Tendo asked.
    Akane froze and rounded angrily. "I didn't say that! I hate the
ugly, disgusting, freak. I don't care if he's sleeping in garbage and
eating lawn clippings! The freak's ugly enough that he deserves it
anyway! But I'm not about to have the whole school muttering about how
that disgusting pervert ran out on me! Do you hear me? I won't let
them!"
    Akane stomped out, the directive clear.
    "Well, Saotome?"
    "I'd hoped that it wouldn't come to this, Tendo."
    "Come to what?"
    Genma scratched his beard a moment before reaching into his sleeve
and pulling out from the green silk a small talisman on a chain. "A long
while ago our Master put someone seeking power onto the existence of
some Amazons in China, who had some valuable treasures. This arrived for
him a few weeks ago with a note of thanks."
    "Naturally he never got it."
    "Naturally. I read the instructions and apparently it grants the
user one wish. The sender said that he was satisfied with his own haul
and wanted to see what Happosai would do with this."
    Kasumi shifted her position as if to get more comfortable, covering
the fact that the video pickup in her sewing basket was now focused on
the item. Up in her room, Nabiki was watching the proceedings through
her Holoman, absently munching on a rice cracker as her mind absorbed
what was happening.
    "So how are we going to use it?" Soun asked.
    "Well, we could use it to bring my son back."
    "Hmm, good idea. But what if he left again? From what Nabiki was
saying he was pretty upset at Akane."
    Genma grinned. "No problem, Tendo. From what I read in the
instruction there are two trial wishes before you can make the real one.
They give you a few minutes to see what the results of your wish would
be like."
    "Hmm, that sounds..."
    Genma lifted one green-sleeved arm above his head, dangling the
talisman by its chain. "I wish that Ranma were forced back to us!"

***

    The door slammed open to the Tendo home and the family looked up
from their various activities as in stormed a furious redheaded female
in tight-fitting green combat fatigues.
    The redhead went straight over to Genma and picked the man up by his
beard, lifting him by his facial hair with one hand and slamming him
back up against a wall.
    "Okay, that's it. You die." She growled, drawing a knife and placing
it against Genma's exposed throat.
    "Hey! You can't just come in here and kill people!" Nabiki objected,
fingering the knob on her brooch that would set her concealed camera
running. "Who are you anyway?"
    The redhead flashed blue eyes to Nabiki and suddenly the mercenary
became *very* sure that she never in her life wanted anyone that angry
with her. With flat eyes the girl replied. "Imagine me with one less
arm."
    The eyes of the household grew round and wide as they finally
recognized the girl in green fatigues and battle webbing with pistols
strapped to both hips as Ranma's female side. A Ranko who'd somehow
corrected all the scar tissue and infirmities of her mauling so long
ago, and, indeed, now had a full set of arms.
    Ranko shook the man in the green gi by his beard. "This contemptible
waste of human life has been supplying chemical weapons through his
Yakuza contacts into the hands of the triads and the Chinese government.
And as if that wasn't bad enough he keeps pulling stunts that make that
look tame. For a year now he's been trying to get me to come back here
so he could fatten his already huge ass on my sweat. Oh, that and I
suppose make me marry one of you. This last try was a message saying
that my mom was about to die."
    Ranko turned her face back to Genma's, revealing that she was *very*
upset, just how so becoming increasingly obvious. "I got that message
during an assault on a communist airfield they'd been using to drop gas
bombs *you'd* sold them onto crop fields worked by my people! Once I'd
confirmed it, I had to press a night attack. I *hate* night attacks!
Fourteen men and amazons died taking that field who didn't have to if
I'd been able to properly prepare! All so I could come back here and
stop the men you had POISONING MY MOM!"
    Genma grinned triumphantly in spite of his position. "But now you're
here and there's nothing to stop you from getting married and taking
your bride back with you to China! Or even staying here and continuing
on after your old man, eh?"
    Ranko dropped her father and had drawn a pistol so fast the others
had trouble convincing themselves she hadn't had it in her hand all
along. "Allow me to make something *perfectly* clear, Genma. Simply
because you want something is enough reason for me to avoid it."
    She squeezed the trigger.
    Genma screamed and howled while holding his chest. Ranko stepped
back while examining her pistol. "I forgot. This is really an armor
piercing weapon, good for blowing apart brick walls or light armored
vehicles. Speed of the projectile is in excess of three thousand yards
per second at the muzzle. But in spite of all of the theories about
velocity and hydrostatic shock the simple fact of the matter is that the
needles mostly drill right through a human body without discernible
result. Oh well..."
    She grabbed Genma and pulled out her knife again.
    Kasumi whimpered, terrified.
    Ranko saw her and apologized, still holding the knife at the ready.
"I'm sorry, Kasumi. But this malformed lump of diseased humanity has got
to go. More people will die if I don't, maybe people that you care
about. He is evil and must be destroyed. But I can see that you wouldn't
want to see it done, or have the mess on your floor." She grabbed the
old man in a one-handed grip and hauled him up over her shoulder,
heading for the door.
    Genma took the opportunity to stab an ampule into her side. She
dropped him and staggered back, holding the site as the drug worked it's
way into her system. In spite of Genma's expectations Ranko managed to
throw her knife and staple his leg through the cloth of his gi to the
wooden wall behind him.
    The edge of the blade resting uncomfortably near his crotch.
    Ranko crumpled.
    Nabiki's hair had never stood on end in her life. It was now. Kasumi
had almost fainted and appeared ready to do so at any time. Serena kept
shaking her head. To say that they'd been unprepared for the abrupt and
brutal violence would be an award winning understatement. They looked
ready to flee.
    Soun's hair was brushing cobwebs from off the ceiling and had turned
white from root to tip. Akane had thankfully been away while all this
had happened. There'd have been no telling what she would have done,
only that she would have gotten involved.
    Nabiki chose to pierce the veil of unreality that hung over the
room, addressing her father in a too-lighthearted tone. "Daddy? Do you
*really* expect that we'll all live through an attempt to make Ranma
marry Akane?"
    "DADDY!?!!" Serena squealed. "Have you *really* been arming the
communists in China? How *could* you? I thought you said you'd taken
Akane's cooking to *dispose* of it! Not bomb civilians!"
    "Oh my. How do you suppose Ranma managed to fix all his scars?"
Kasumi was focusing in on the only aspect she could handle.
    Genma reached down and pried the knife from the wall, meaning he was
now free to come down off tiptoe as he no longer needed to worry about
shredding his anatomy. With a self-congratulating smirk he interrupted
the girls, who weren't going to get a reaction from their father soon
anyway. Soun had frozen completely.
    "Well, I'll have to admit, I hadn't expected the boy to be so upset.
It looks like I won't be able to use him as I'd planned."
    "Planned?" Chorused the three girls.
    Genma began stripping the holsters, battle webbing, boots and
clothes off of Ranko. "Yes, with his contacts among the freedom fighters
in China it would have been simple to sell them out to the government.
The boy wouldn't even have known what he was doing. I had all the
necessary electronics implanted in Akane when she was getting that math
neuralware she wanted. But the plan is not going to work if the boy just
wants to kill us."
    "He was after you." Nabiki corrected, huddling fearfully with her
sisters. Thinking on just how fully it had probably been justified. She
made sure the tracking pointer in her brooch kept Genma painted for the
hidden camera to target. She knew now she'd made the right decision. The
Anti-Yakuza taskforce would be getting its money worth. She NEVER wanted
to be even remotely like this man before her!
    Genma ignored her, going to dial a number. It wasn't long before
three dark suited men arrived. Two carried out the redhead's nude form
and a third spoke for a moment with Genma, handing him a small package
of something.
    "What did you do?" Serena choked out.
    Seeing that the men were gone Genma opened the package and began
counting his money. "What do you think?" He scorned. "The government's
pretty hard on whore pits when they find them, but we still run a few. I
should think that after about a year of `entertaining' and being strung
out on all the little persuasive agents they use to keep them tractable
he ought to be broken in enough to do as I say. And if not, well, then
his life is very heavily insured."
    Three girls couldn't all crowd into the bathroom at once. Some had
to elect fainting *before* they got sick. None of them were still in the
house the next morning.

***

    Soun's hair was still standing completely on end.
    Kasumi threw up right at Genma's feet. Clutching her stomach, she
scrambled, half-falling, to the bathroom. Sounds of retching could
already be heard from upstairs. Nabiki had managed to run all the way to
the bathroom without removing her headset, Serena (who had been tapping
that signal for years) couldn't wait that long.
    Genma lowered the pendant. "Hmm, that's not what I had in mind. I
wonder why it didn't work out?" He scratched his cheek. Maybe the
wishing pendant had rules that weren't in the instructions?
    Oh, well. He could figure them out, he was sure.
    Raising the talisman up high once again he tried. "I wish that Ranma
was more like me (so he wouldn't mind my line of work) and had not left
us!"

***

    Ranma thrust his fist up into the air, screaming. "YES!! Blood
Feud!!! Akane Tendo, you are an enemy to myself and my family clan. I
swear by all my ancestors that you shall no longer pollute the land of
the living with your vile presence! No force on this earth, nor power
beneath it, can save your life!!! And I shall accept no plea from mortal
being to spare it! You are a viper, a crawling, evil thing whose
putresence befouls. And I shall laugh aloud as I destroy you!!!!"
Lightning struck his upraised fist and illuminated his arms as he
screamed in rage.
    "Akane Tendo, Prepare to DIE!!!"
    There were no words to express the horror creeping along Akane's
spine at this announcement. It was like a river of ice suddenly jumped
its banks to overflow the tiny campfire of her rage. Hesitantly, not
having much practice, she ran up to him, venturing an apology.
    "Please Ranma."
    He backhanded her across the face with a spiked gauntlet, sending
her flying. He tossed the glove at her feet as she sat up, blood
streaming from her ruined face. "You have until ten today. After that I
shall come for you. Any who will stand in my way shall die with you. Set
your affairs in order."
    "Ranma! You can't DO THAT TO AKANE!!!!" Ryoga came screaming from
around the yard. Ranma blocked the punch and thrust a blazing chi fist
through the lost boy's chest, his fingers emerging from the other side
accompanied by ribs and gore.
    He tossed the corpse at Akane's feet.
    "Until ten."
    He stalked out completely ignoring walls and doors, blasting through
either one with impunity.

    Soun was lost in a world of horror, for once not even able to cry.
They had always counted on *Ranma* to see them through things like this,
and the corpse of his daughter's other defender lay still at her feet.
    At least the lost boy had died a man. But what of the rest of them?
    Ranma had sent out word himself of his pledge and his oath, stating
clearly in it that whoever came to the aid of the Tendo girl had earned
his undying wrath and would leave the world with her.
    Most of them had not believed it. They thought Ranma was under a
spell or something. The thought that he'd actually snapped...
    It was unthinkable.
    So the crowd had gathered, hoping to save Ranma from doing what they
all thought they knew he would regret later.
    Soun had seen the boy's face. He *knew* that Ranma wouldn't regret
it later. He'd kill her a hundred times if he had the power, then a
hundred times again and not be satisfied. Akane had finally pushed him
beyond his insanely high levels of tolerance.
    His daughter had created a man who lived to kill her.

    Nabiki sat on the monorail looking out the window in a black
despair.
    She'd warned those she could, and when that failed she'd pulled
every string she had. Police were there around the house, a SWAT team
was on standby. There were reporters on the odd chance some publicity
would slow him down.
    She'd called in every favor she had and not one bit of it was going
to make the slightest difference. And the pitiful thing about it was
that she'd seen, and watched, as her sister had earned this.
    If ever there was a woman who deserved death from Ranma it was
Akane. And Nabiki hadn't made a single bit of it better. If anything
she'd made things worse.
    Nabiki gave a heavy sigh as the `rail passed out of the city.
    Not wanting to be any kind of relative of Genma Saotome, in-laws
especially, was one thing. Taking that out on Ranma and assuming the
meek, will-not-hit-girls, easily manipulated martial artist had an
infinite battery for social embarrassment and pain...
    ...well, she supposed you could say that it had been a fatal error.

    Kasumi stayed in her room. She'd gone to get Dr. Tofu, and he'd
come, but was not capable of dealing with what was about to happen.
    Serena was not to be found anywhere.
    Akane cried bitterly and squeezed her eyes shut as the shouts and
screams began outside the house. It began raining bodies precisely at
ten.

***

    Genma lowered the talisman again, looking at it. "That can't be
right. Here let me try again."
    "OH, NO YOU DON'T!!!" Soun's demon head practically swallowed him
whole. "I'M NOT GOING TO LET YOU DESTROY MY FAMILY!!!" Soun Tendo
grabbed at the chain as the bearded man scurried away.
    "AAAAaaaaagghhh!! Calm DOWN, Tendo! It's not like I'm *trying* to
wish for some terrible tragedy! We need Ranma back, don't we?!"
    Both men stopped their struggling as the amulet still held in his
hands began twittering with insane giggling.
    Both began seriously to wonder if amulets could distinguish phrases
like `it's not' or would it merely start with `I'm trying'?

    Ranko caught her returning shield. The Musk had fallen, and good
riddance.
    The last of Mandarin's minions had been very helpful in identifying
which pools had been cursed by Mandarin's foes. So they had released
him, according to their word.
    The minion had gone straight to the Musk, calling upon their loyalty
to Mandarin to launch an attack while the amazons were still debating
what to do.
    They'd stopped the assault with a battery of water cannons.
    Ranko looked down on the field below her, filled with minks,
rabbits, otters and steppe ponies. The only hot springs in the area
would now be under heavy guard, and it was the Mandarin himself who'd
closed off the valley of Jusenkyo, subject to a key that now hung around
Cologne's neck.
    Shampoo landed to congratulate her soon-to-be-husband on his
forethought on preparing the water cannons even on the eve of their
wedding when he vanished from before her eyes.

    When Ranko appeared in the Tendo living room, Soun and Genma saw her
and went completely berserk. Between the demon head, surprise, and Genma
flinging bags of white power into her face when she was trying to
breathe Ranko dropped her guard long enough for them to beat her
senseless.
    The sisters came in while the white powder was still drifting out of
the air. Serena and Akane rushed in, eyes wide, to stop at the door
staring, while Nabiki and Kasumi came in, both quite sick.
    "Now, girls. We've got this all figured out." Genma stood tall and
adjusted his glasses, straddling the body. "Your father and I can take
care of this."
    Seeing their father, who looked terrified enough to be dangerous,
they couldn't help but wonder. Serena followed her father's terrified
stare. "Hey! Where'd Ranma get both his arms back? And where're the
scars? Hey! Cool Outfit! Did he go full sesh at the mall or something?"
    Akane started to enter the room, but staggered back out, holding her
nose. All the girls seemed to suddenly become aware that it was raining
drugs in there, and that Genma still held empty plastic bags in both
hands.
    Noting Ranko's altered appearance, Nabiki and her elder sister
shared a look. Kasumi went to get a mop bucket, while Nabiki fingered
her brooch. Her hidden camera began to discretely pan over the room,
before focusing in on Genma.
    She was almost waiting for him to make that phone call.
    Genma had been spending this whole while thinking fruitlessly.
    The Master hopped in the window. "What's the matter, boys? Hey! What
do you mean having a party like this without me!" He sniffed at the air.
"Wow! Genma, this must be your month's budget! What are we celebrating?"

    Soun's hair was still standing so much on end that it swept the
ceiling. He pointed at Ranko, stammering. "That... that... he tried to
kill..."
    "Hmm, still upset is he?" Happosai hopped over and exclaimed in glee
when he discovered Ranko's changes. "Whee!!! Whoopee!! Lookit this! Why,
he's gotten so cute this way! We may have to keep him like this for a
little while. I may need some occasional nuzzling to forgive him what
he's done to me."
    Kasumi returned with a mop and a wet cloth tied around her face, and
another over her hair. She entered the room and began to clean up the
mess she'd made earlier.
    "B... but he..." Soun stammered.
    Happosai had an annoyed glance. "I heard yah the first time. So he's
still upset, is he? No problem! I've still got some herbs I brought with
me long ago from China. It shouldn't be the work of a minute to make the
kid forget the last few weeks."
    Soun's hair lost some of its terror charge and came down about
halfway, puddling about his shoulders instead of straight up or down. He
suddenly found hope. "That's right! When Ranma comes to if he'll be
unable to remember his fight with us, or even why he left us, everything
will be back to normal and our future will be secured!"
    Nabiki held her breath long enough to take two steps into the room
and kick one, small object across the wood floor into the puddle Kasumi
was cleaning. The eldest Tendo girl calmly swept the item into her
bucket with the same sweep she'd been using to clean the rest of the
mess.
    Serena grew cross. "DAD! Do you want to explain this `business' you
had going with your friend Genma? And why our living room is floating
with drugs? Eeep!" She held her nose and hurried to stand by an open
window.
    Nabiki turned on the fire sprinklers to prevent a drug overdose from
killing half her family. Then watched as the nasty stuff began to drain
away.
    Woozily, Akane left and sought the garden and fresh air.
    "Excuse me." Kasumi got up to leave the room, clothes wet and the
puddle of her mess gone. "I think that I'd better visit the bathroom."
    "I'll go help you, sis." Nabiki got up and followed after her elder
sister, Serena screaming at both their elders behind them. Nabiki
provided assistance as Kasumi was messily sick in the bathroom. Then
both washed thoroughly, themselves and their clothes.
    Later, in Kasumi's bedroom with the door safely shut behind them,
Nabiki asked. "Little sis has got spunk, but she's not going to make Mr.
Saotome change his ways, and it looks like daddy's in this alot more
than I suspected. So what do we do?"
    Kasumi sat down on the edge of her bed, looking a little pale. "I'd
like to think that father wouldn't go along with it." She sighed. "But
after seeing him I don't know that I can trust him not to."
    Nabiki bit her lip as her eldest sister bent over in pain that the
frequent vomiting had aggravated in her tummy. "Yeah. Mr. Saotome's rich
and daddy *really* wants to get ahold of his friend's wealth." Seeing
her sister's pain she offered. "Look, Kasumi. A doctor really isn't that
much. I'm sure I can con the money out of..."
    "Please don't, Nabiki. I don't want to owe Mr. Saotome any more than
our family already does."
    Thinking about the man downstairs who had drugged his son, maybe
poisoned his ex-wife, smuggled, stolen and actually thrown his own
offspring into a cage of lions to be mauled and *then* condemned him as
a cripple for half his life, she couldn't find the heart to disagree.

    Serena stormed out the back porch and left the yard by the side gate
in a huff. As she passed under her window her cat, Luna, leapt down from
the ledge onto her shoulder.
    "What's the matter, Serena?"
    "Oh, I just found out my father is a lying criminal, that's all."
Serena felt like crying.
    "I thought he was merely coerced by that houseguest of his?"
    Serena sniffed, then leaned against a wall. "Houseguests leave,
Luna." Tears appeared ready to leap from her eyes, and she puddled
herself at the base of the wall in misery. "He's stayed with us
*forever* and now I find that my father's willing to sell banned weapons
to the commies!" She wailed.
    "Keep it down, Serena." The cat whispered in concern, looking around
fearfully. "We don't want that kind of secret to get out. It might draw
attention that would hamper our own activities."
    Serena stared for a moment in shock, then moved decisively. "C'mon,
Luna! To the Moon Cave!"
    The girl rushed over to a photo booth that no one ever seemed to
use, twisted a ridiculously obvious secret button, and both girl and cat
reached behind themselves to slide down poles that had appeared out of a
false wall...
    ...To appear in full costume at the base of the poles. Serena was
wearing a full, flowing cape and a cute little utility belt over her
while sailor fuku. Both girl and cat were masked with yellow moon
crescents upon their foreheads.
    Cool and decisive, Moon Girl strode into the top secret Moon Cave,
where her ever faithful nerd and sidekick waited.
    "Melvin, is the Moonmobile ready?" The blond-haired girl asked.
    "Just as you ordered ma'am." The grease covered nerd saluted her
with a wrench. "I took out the Hearts of Longing machinegun loads and
replaced it with a mix of Silvery Moon Stars and high-explosive
incendiary."
    Moon Girl put her hands on petite hips. "MELVIN! You know how I hate
that stupid normal-bullet stuff!"
    Luna was already in her spot in the pink and white Moonmobile.
"C'mon, Moon Girl! Our enemies are *waiting!*"
    Moon Girl landed in the driver's seat with a bounce, then revved the
engine. "First we take on Fury. Then we go after Secula. Then we cruise
by Graviton Asylum to see if any of our *old* enemies escaped recently.
And if *that* doesn't cool me down we can see if I've got the guts to
arrest my own father."
    Serena wiped a tear away from under her Moon Mask and they sped off,
Luna wisely saying nothing.

    Ranko woke to a splitting head and Kasumi sitting by her bedside
looking ill.
    Ranko sat up, her mind cataloging scenery and facts and filling in
blanks on technology, status, Kasumi's illness and appearance, and where
the heck was she anyway? She held her head, which felt like someone had
been making mince meat out of it.
    "Morning Kasumi. What's up?"
    The eldest Tendo frowned slightly. What wasn't? It was she who had
been given the job of making Ranma comfortable after... after what their
fathers had done. When she'd undressed him to find traditional girl's
underclothing... then she'd splashed him with hot water...
    Kasumi wasn't quite ready to let her family know what Ranma now
looked like when he was male, which is why he'd woken up in girl form.
    She smiled wanly. "We all have school today, Ranma."
    Every kind of alarm and warning was going off in Ranko's mind. She
looked askance at the wane girl.
    "Are you alright, Kasumi?"
    The eldest Tendo found the question startling, but did nothing about
it. "You had a head injury, Ranma. That's all. Breakfast is downstairs.
Seeing as how you aren't hurt anymore, I doubt the school would let you
continue to break dress code, so I got you a uniform and put it in the
closet. We'll all be ready to go in about half an hour, so you can take
your time getting ready."
    She got up and left the room.
    Ranko hopped out of bed, then nearly fell back down. Someone had
made a *really* botched attempt to chemically alter her mind. She sat
down for a moment and set her healing abilities in to work on it. Slow
and gentle was the way. It felt like she'd get everything back in a week
or so. Probably all in a rush, too.
    Come to think of it, probing a little deeper she could sense several
*excellent* mind-wipes done on her. The extent of the loss was
unguessable, but she felt like she was missing alot.
    Ranko sighed. Kasumi'd been treating her like she *knew* about the
mind-wipe. But for the moment she had no other data to go on. She
literally could *not* remember this reality at all. Sparing a glance for
the floating chair though, she realized that it was at least one that
operated on a comfortable tech level.
    Opening the closet she found a girl's school uniform. Sighing, she
slipped it on.

    "Do you think Serena's alright?" Kasumi asked of her younger sister
down in the kitchen. "She didn't come home last night."
    Nabiki chewed, considering. "Probably not a problem, sis. She's
always sleeping over with her friends anyway. If she's not home later we
can call Mina or Amy's house, and if she's not there she'll be at Rae or
Lita's." She took another bite. "I wish *I* had friends like that. I
wouldn't have minded skipping out on Mr. Saotome's scheme concerning
Ranma."
    Kasumi looked into her cup and asked something that had been
worrying her. "Nabiki. Do you think... when Ranma left us... he'd been
talking about finding another girlfriend, and he'd changed... Could he
have gotten a one during the week he's been away?"
    Nabiki munched. "You worried that maybe he'll be cheating on a
relationship he doesn't remember? I wish I could say I didn't think so,
sis. But he was a nice guy even when he was all scarred up. And he had
to have gotten fixed up somehow, that implies connections, even better
than the ones Mr. Saotome's got. I just hope Dad isn't buying us a whole
load of trouble when some new girlfriend show up."
    Ranko hopped down the stairs from where she'd been listening.

    Akane gloated openly, trying not to be too obvious about how
satisfied and smug she was feeling about having Ranma back, even if the
jerk insisted on staying a girl.
    Ranko was trying hard to puzzle out why Serena, Kasumi and Nabiki
all had on different school uniforms than herself and Akane. Finally she
decided that it was safe enough to ask.
    "Excuse me, but why aren't we dressed all the same?"
    Nabiki and Kasumi shared a look, while Serena didn't, just stating
it right out, with a glare at Akane, her next-oldest sibling.
    "It's because we don't all go to the same school. We three go to an
all girl's school, while you and maggot-face go to Furinkan High. This
next intersection is where we split."
    Ranko found herself wishing she'd *really* spent more than ten
minutes trying to break the security codes on Nabiki's console. It
hadn't seemed worth it at the time, but things were looking more
critical than she'd suspected.
    "I'll go with you." She volunteered.
    Akane stopped swinging at Serena for the maggot-face jibe. "You
*can't* you idiot! You turn into a guy half the time! You're not dressed
to go to Graviton! Besides, why do you think I'm going to Furinkan in
the first place? Our parents insisted that I spend time with you, that's
why! Anyway, I'd much rather spend time with my sisters than with
*you!*"
    Serena stuck out her tongue. "You're not going to Graviton High
because your grades are lousy, *that's* why! Don't blame Ranma. It's not
*his* fault you couldn't pass the entrance exams."
    "Grrrr!!!! Come *back* here, you ponytail-brain!" Akane took off,
swinging her bookbag and seriously trying to maim her younger sister.
The two oldest girls looked apologetically at Ranko, only to find that
she'd somehow changed into a regulation Graviton uniform in the seconds
they'd not been looking.
    She cocked her head happily, then took off. "C'mon! `Rena's given us
a *great* distraction, and I'm not sure that it wasn't on purpose." She
ran off, already calculating how best to return the favor.
    "But your records!?" Nabiki called, trying to run after and
discovering that she wasn't good at it. Kasumi said nothing, merely
shared worried looks with Nabiki while keeping pace alongside her.
    Serena rejoined them only a block or so away, only slightly
disheveled and thoroughly happy with herself.
    "I got maggot-face to her school. And right now she's probably
tearing up the walls looking for me." The blond singsonged gleefully by
way of announcement. She cracked a cheery smile complete with laughing
blue twinkling eyes. "So it'll be *hours* before she runs outta `Rage'
mode and notices you aren't there."
    Ranko laughed and gave Serena a hug. "Thanks, `Rena. I owe you one."

    "Hey! Only *boys* get to call me `Rena!"
    "And only if they're cute." Nabiki added, finally joining them.
    "Why did you want to go with us?" Kasumi inquired, also joining them
and wanting to settle one of her worries.
    Ranko spun in place, but stopped when hit by the question. She
opened her mouth and closed it, then set off walking, mumbling
something.
    "What was that?" Nabiki pressed.
    "Hey! Let her alone! Maybe she just doesn't want to talk about it
right now."
    To herself, Serena flipped on her Moon Communicator and
subvocalized. "Hey, Luna? We got a major problem here. Ranma's been
mumbling about how being killed by Akane isn't a good way to start the
day, and that he'd at least like to live past lunch. I think this plan
of our dads' is going to bust *majorly* wide open and I'd rather not
have Ranma running amuck when that happens, okay?"
    Luna replied something through the subdermal receiver.
    "Um, actually, you're totally right." Serena agreed. "After what we
saw last night I think I *could* live with him capping his dad. Just so
long as he stay's paws-off *my* father. Okay? I'm still not sure he'd
deserve that."


To Be Continued...

************************************************
************************************************

Author's Notes:

    (pulling down eyelid) Nyah!

    Yup, it's dark. Don't bug me. It came out this way and there wasn't
anything in the whole world that I could do to change it.

    Remember Ranma once being confused about Serena and the Sailor
Scouts? Well, as I've hinted strongly (ahem, read: stated outright - no,
shush! they'll hear you!) our ever-lovable Senshi are not always
moon-crystal-weilding youma stompers.
    And Ranma knows that.

Some Cast Members:

    Secula - The world's only atheist vampire. Has the interesting quirk
that *any* symbol holy to any religion is anathema to him. Moon Girl
once had a fight with him where she was losing and began quoting
scripture to the effect of `I have all things as a witness to me that
there is a God.'
    She then proceeded to present a turnip to him forcefully and he ran
away. Hasn't been much of a threat since.

    Serena - Has anyone actually picked up on the fact that this girl is
considerably smarter than canon?

    Akane - Worse than canon. Yes, I'll admit it. However, if you'll
follow my reasoning, the Ranma she's been paired with wasn't quite the
stud-muffin she denied ever loving in the anime or the manga.

    Nabiki - If you can't figure out some of her changes why do I
bother? She's smarter, kinder, closer to Kasumi and fooled by Serena's
ditz act.

    Genma - Yes, not much cute lil' panda left is there? Yes, he is
mean, lowly and despicable, dirty, rotten and scumlike, rather than
merely selfish and self-serving. But I remember promising someone that
I'll come up with another universe where he isn't that much of a bad
guy.
    Casting him as a good one doesn't sit well with me. I find little to
no humor in this guy who reminds me *so* strongly of my own pop.

    It's my fic, my grudge. Don't read it if you don't like it. But you
really ought to know what an excellent therapy this is.

    And, on a more practical note, every story needs a bad guy.
Takahashi makes use of Genma herself in that role, I'm just exaberrating
the evil a bit because I've got a more noble Ranma.
    Well, and a more powerful one.

    As for making this dark, George Lucas once said regarding Empire
Strikes Back "You don't have a happy, upbeat middle of a play. You put
your characters in this situation where they can't possibly get out, and
then in the third act they get out."

    Besides (smirk) you are getting *exactly* what you are paying for!