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-- Attached file included as plaintext by Listar --
-- File: gok6.txt

Goku 1/2

Chapter 6

Disclaimer:  I don't own any of the characters in this fic.  Star Wars 
specifically belongs to God; I mean George Lucas.  Sometimes I get those two 
confused.  May Jar-Jar die a horrible, horrible death, amen.

We see an empty room.  The walls have a metallic sheen on them, and are 
completely bare, except for one.  That one has a large view port encased in 
it, showing the vastness of space outside the room.  The stars twinkled, as 
if they were winking at what was about to happen in the room.  A large black 
chair lies in the middle of the room.  It is facing away from us and out the 
view port.

A voice speaks.  "A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, there was a 
man named Luke Skywalker."

[Star Wars theme starts playing]

The chair swivels around, revealing a blonde-haired man dressed entirely in 
black.  He stood up and raised his left hand.  In it was a strange type of 
gun, one that looked far more complex than away available on Earth.  The 
other hand held a metal cylinder with a switch on the end.  The man thumbed 
the switch, and the end of the cylinder shot out a green beam of light.  The 
light stopped growing once it reached a length of about a metre and a 
quarter.  The blade hummed as the man waved it around through the air.

"But unfortunately, he has nothing to do with today's story, so let's get 
him out of here."

[Star Wars theme trails off]

The man looks around him in confusion as he has no idea what is going on 
here.  His distraction proves to be his undoing, as Goku sneaks up behind 
him, and beans him over the head with the power pole.  The man slumps to the 
ground, dropping his weapons.  The 'litoseba' deactivates as soon as it 
leaves his hands.  Goku grabs the man's hand and drags him out of the room 
through a door that was conveniently not mentioned earlier.

"And now for something completely different."

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Black.  Everything was black.  Pitch black.  No.  Blacker than even that.  
It was a blackness that went far beyond what Ryouga Hibiki had ever seen 
before, and yet at the same time, it seemed strangely familiar.  He felt at 
ease, here in the darkness.  He was at peace.  Then he began to wonder why 
he was here.

The memories of the fight flooded back to him in a tidal wave of despair.  
He had failed in his mission. He had not gotten vengeance for the great 
injustices that had been done to him. Ranma Saotome still lived.  He was a 
much more worthy adversary than Ryouga had ever thought.

Ryouga Hibiki began to swim through the blackness.  He had to find 
something, anything to get him out of here, so he could claim his revenge.  
He found nothing, just blackness.  Darkness.  Despair.  Suffering.  The 
emotions Ryouga was familiar with.  The ones he had embraced to learn the 
Shi Shi Hokodan.  He found pain amongst those emotions.  Physical pain.  His 
stomach still ached from when Ranma had delivered many blows.  The pain 
reassured him; he was still alive.  He drew the feelings of pain into 
himself, then searched for the others.  Despair.  Suffering.  Anger.  One by 
one, he drew them in, making him stronger with each.

The unnatural blackness had been sucked into him too.  He knew that it was 
this blackness, this dark power, that had saved him from the blast shot at 
him by Ranma's younger brother.  He vowed to find a way out of here, to get 
both of the Saotomes, to humiliate them beyond belief before crushing their 
skulls beneath his feet. Darkness was still all Ryouga could see, but it 
wasn't as thick as it was before he sucked part of it in.  He didn't know 
how he could tell, but this darkness felt ordinary.

"Community service, my ass.  Seeing guys in comas wasn't part of the deal.  
This is an outrage!"

A voice?  An angry voice.

"Now now, Mr. Oolong.  You know you're supposed to visit any patients we ask 
you to. Your presence in the room might be able to stimulate the patient 
even if he doesn't know you.  Also, you wouldn't want the police to find out 
how well you've been repaying your debt to society, now would you?"

Another voice.  This one patronizing.

"Fine.  I'll see the stiff, but only for five minutes tops."

"Why yes, Mr. Oolong.  You can see this patient for fifteen minutes."

Footsteps walked away.  A door shut.  Muffled footsteps continued to move 
away from where he was.

"Grrrrrr.  Why you.  Bah!  It's not worth it.  So, who do we have here?  
John Doe?  Great.  Just great.  They're making me visit some bozo in a coma 
without even knowing who he is!  Well, John, it looks like you and me are 
going to be spending some time together."

Bitterness?  Hatred?  Anger?  This person possessed them all!  Finally, a 
soul who could understand him.  Ryouga's eyes flicked open.

He was left staring at a plain, white ceiling.  He lay on his back, covered 
by blankets.  The walls were bare and white, and illuminated by a single 
window letting light into the room.  Machines filled the section of the room 
the room near his head, and some were attached to him, monitoring his 
condition.  The room was obviously in a hospital.  A short figure stood next 
to the bed.

"Hello, my kindred spirit!"  Ryouga exclaimed as he sat up and greeted his 
new friend.  He stared in shock when he saw the face before him.  His new 
friend was a pink pig.  A pig wearing clothes and standing on its hind legs, 
but a pig nonetheless.  Its clothes resembled some type of uniform, as its 
shirt and pants were all dark green and had a matching beret.  Ryouga 
noticed that the pig was gripping a clipboard with a pair of hands instead 
of hooves.  He also could've sworn that he heard it talking, but that 
couldn't have been true, unless it was one of those strange beast-men he had 
heard about that were supposedly becoming more and more common these days.  
The pig had a very shocked expression on its face, as if it had seen someone 
rise from the dead.  Confusion and anger began to replace the shock.

"Kindred spirit?  What are you talking about?"

"You're a pig."  Was all Ryouga could say.

"Oh, you catch on quick.  Aren't you supposed to be in a coma?"

"I woke up.  If you're a pig, how can you talk?  When I'm a pig, I can only 
squeal."

"I've always been able to talk.  It has got something to do with my 
ancestors and the Musk Dynasty.  Wait a minute!  What do you mean by when 
you're a pig?  Shapeshifting doesn't add or take away any abilities that you 
have.  Where did learn how to anyway?  Your teacher must have really 
sucked."

"Shapeshift?  Uh.  I'm cursed to change into a pig.  I can't control it."

"Cursed?"

"Whenever I get hit with cold water, I turn into a small black pig.  If I 
get hit with hot water, I change back."

"Hmmph.  I've never heard of anyone who changes with water.  So you can't 
control what you change into either?"

"No.  I'm always a pig."

Oolong eyed the young man.  'He looks pretty strong.  If I can get him on my 
side, then I won't have to worry about the cops.'  "I can teach you how to 
shapeshift properly if you want.  I'm usually not this nice, but I like you, 
kid."

"You would?  Wow!  Thanks!  By the way, my name's Ryouga."  He extended his 
hand.

"I'm Oolong.  Pleased to meet you."

"So, when do we start?"

"First, we gotta get you outta here."

"Sounds good."  Ryouga leapt out of bed.  The darkness had healed his wounds 
and strengthened him.

Oolong covered his eyes from the sight in front of him.  "Ew, Ryouga.  Why 
don't you put some clothes on first?"

"Oops."  The only thing Ryouga was wearing was his bandanna.  He turned 
crimson and tried to cover himself with his hands.  Then he grabbed a sheet 
and wrapped it around his waist.  He searched the room for his clothes, but 
could only find some hospital gowns.  "They must have taken them.  Or they 
got blown off by that blast."

"What blast?  Do you mean the one that happened earlier this week?"

"Week?  I've been out for a week?"

"No.  The blast only happened a few days ago.  You were caught in it?"

Ryouga just nodded his head.  He was absorbed in his thoughts of how much 
time he had lost to get his revenge.

"Man, you're lucky to be alive then.  I heard that no one else who was hit 
by the blast survived."

"Enough chatter!  We have to get to Furinkan High School and get my pack.  
It's got my clothes in it.  Then you will teach me how to shapeshift, and I 
crush Ranma and his brother."  Ryouga headed for the door.

"Hey, Ryouga."  Oolong called.

"What is it?  Time is short."  Ryouga stopped at the door and turned to look 
at Oolong.

"You can't go out on the streets like that."

That brought Ryouga back to his sense.  "Oh yeah.  Uh.  So what do we do?"

"You change."

"What?"

"No one cares if an ordinary pig is naked."

"But...but...I don't want to be a pig!"

"Soon you won't have to."  Oolong grabbed a nearby vase and pulled the 
flowers out of it.  He thrust the vase at Ryouga, the end of it slashing 
water onto the Lost Boy.  He changed into a small black piglet with a 
bandanna around its neck.

"Bwee!"

"Let's go."  Oolong scooped up the piglet and headed for the elevator.  The 
nurse who had assigned him to the room was looking after another patient, 
and so didn't see him leave.  Soon, they were standing outside the hospital.

"Okay Ryouga.  Which way to Furinkan High?"

The black pig pointed its hoof down the street.

"Okay."  And so the two pigs were off to Osaka.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ranma leaned back in his chair and relaxed.  Everything was going great 
since he and Akane had became friends.  The house was a lot calmer, and he 
was a lot healthier.  They had almost completely forgotten about Ryouga.  
Everything with him happened so suddenly, it was easy to forget that it had 
happened at all.  Akane's health scare also took precedence in his mind.  
She had recovered without a problem and was now getting the exercise she was 
supposed to.

Akane's training was going very well.  Keeping his promise to Dr. Tofu, 
Ranma had joined Goku in training her.  She now participated in the morning 
sparring matches with them and Genma as another way of getting her to use 
her Chi.  She wasn't able to beat anyone yet, but she could hold her own 
against the Saotomes.  Her dosage of the herb had decreased by a lot at 
first, but now it was decreasing very gradually.  Akane wasn't sure when if 
ever she would finally be off the drug.  She was disheartened at first when 
she learned that she still had to take it, but preferred it over the seizure 
she had when she had stopped taking it before.

His life had settled into a routine over the past few days.  In the mornings 
Goku, Akane, Genma, and he would spar.  The winner of that sparring match 
would get the privilege of beating Kuno into the ground when they arrived at 
school.  They didn't even consider what would happen if Genma won by some 
miracle or dirty trick.  Ranma's greater speed and skill allowed him to 
dodge anything that Goku could throw at him, but Goku's strength and 
endurance meant that he could outlast his brother and that any shots that 
did get through did more damage than anything Ranma could do.  After the 
Kuno bashing, Ranma and Akane would go to class, and Goku would head to his 
side of the school, where he would meet Penny and beat Murasaki.  The school 
day itself was, for the most part, uneventful.  After school, there 
occasionally was a fight against one or both of the Kunos.  Murasaki wasn't 
nearly as aggressive as his older brother, but Goku ended up fighting him a 
lot, because he got easily fed up with the ninja gloating about his 
victories against him.  Sometimes after school Goku would visit Penny, or 
she would visit the dojo.  Genma and Fred were still finalizing the 
arrangements, and so neither child had been told about what was to come.  
Then the Saotome brothers would train Akane until dinner.  After supper, 
everyone would relax and then Genma would try and get the boys to do their 
homework.  Ranma and Akane still insulted each other, but it was kept to a 
minimum and done only when their fathers were watching.

Right now, Goku was training Akane in the dojo, while Ranma was taking a 
break.  Nabiki was in the same room watching television.  Kasumi was dusting 
the row of shelves behind him.  His father and Mr. Tendo had gone off 
together to celebrate something, but Ranma really didn't care about them 
right now.   Saturdays were just great.

Then Kasumi sneezed.  Not very surprising as she was doing a thorough job 
dusting the house.  Ranma continued to relax.

The gun that went off beside his head pretty much made that impossible.  
Ranma's hands shot to cover his ears in reflex, and he fell forward off his 
chair.  Chunks of plaster fell from the ceiling onto his head.  The air 
filled with the stench of acrid smoke.

Nabiki's eyes bulged to the size of tennis balls.  She scurried off the 
couch and fled into the kitchen, leaving Ranma alone in the room with 
Kasumi.

Ranma uncovered his ears and turned around while getting up.  In front of 
him was not Kasumi, although she had the same build as the eldest Tendo 
sister.  The most striking difference between the two was the bright blonde 
hair that this person sported.  Kasumi also never had a mean expression on 
her face like this girl had.  Ranma was sure that Kasumi had never owned or 
even knew how to use the machine gun she carried.  Smoke trailed from the 
end of the barrel, which happened to be pointed directly at Ranma's head.

"Kasumi?"  Ranma asked, dumbfounded.

"Shut up!"  She yelled and belted him across the face with the butt of the 
gun.  Ranma was still too shocked to even attempt to dodge.  He was flung to 
the ground from the blow.  Kasumi pointed the gun at him again.  "It's all 
your fault.  Why did you have to come here and ruin the happy life we had?  
I hate how you always insult Akane.  It sickens me."

"But I don't insult anymore!  We're friends now!  Wait a minute! Who are you 
and what have you done with Kasumi?  If you hurt her, I swear I'll..."

"Shut up!  You and your meddling also made her sick!  If you so much as harm 
her health, I'll ram a naplam down your throat and stuff you down Mt. Fuji!" 
  Kasumi yelled again.  She thrust her gun up Ranma's nose, and again he was 
too shocked to defend himself.  Needless to say, that hurt a lot.  Most 
people's noses weren't designed to have large weapon barrels shoved up them. 
  Goku and Akane rushed into the room, panting from their workout.  Nabiki 
was right behind them carrying a bundle of something.

"Ranma!  Kasumi stop that!"  Akane shouted.

Seeing his brother in danger, Goku leapt into action.  Quite literally in 
fact.  He launched himself into a flying kick aimed at the blonde woman's 
head.

Akane had quick enough reflexes to warn him.  "Goku!  Stop!  That's Kasumi!"

"What?"  At the last second, Goku diverted his kick away from Kasumi's head 
and into the wall behind her.  His foot broke through the wall and became 
lodged in it.  Even though this person was threatening Ranma, he, along with 
everyone else, would never hit Kasumi.  She was just too sweet and innocent, 
and even Goku knew that attacking someone like that was really wrong.

His target took one hand off her gun and placed it on his chest.  She then 
pushed down hard, body slamming Goku into the ground.  He wasn't hurt by the 
impact, but he was a bit dazed.  She refocused her attention on Ranma.

"You and your family are the cause of all the trouble we've had here.  Now 
you die for it."  She snarled.

Nabiki threw the bundle she had at Kasumi.  The blonde woman reflexively 
batted it out of the air with her free hand, causing it to break open.  The 
pepper contained within flew outwards, spraying the entire area.  Kasumi, 
Goku and Ranma began to sneeze uncontrollably.  The girl's hair changed from 
blonde to black and back again several times as her head rocked backwards 
with each sneeze.  Ranma's had sneezed the gun out of his nose, forcing 
Kasumi to drop it.

Eventually they all stopped.  Kasumi's hair was black.  Everyone breathed a 
sigh of relief.

"Oh my."

Ranma rubbed his sore nose.  "Whak vas bat abot?"  He asked.

"Well...it's a long story."  The middle Tendo daughter replied.

"We've got time."

Nabiki sighed.  "It all started soon after Mom died and Kasumi took over the 
household.  She had to take care of Akane and me all the time.  This put her 
under a lot of stress as she always had to be a caring and supportive 
person.  She had to bottle up all her anger and hate, but no one can live 
while repressing as much as she was.  To cope with it, Kasumi formed two 
personalities.  One of them harboured all her rage, and the other had all 
her kindness.  Any bad feeling she felt got sent to the hateful part, 
leaving us with the kind and sweet Kasumi we all know and love.  The other 
personality apparently wasn't satisfied with being dormant, so the two 
halves made an agreement, I guess.  Whenever the body sneezed, the minds 
would switch."  Kasumi just stood there staring at her feet during all this, 
blushing beet red.

"How does that explain the hair?"  Goku asked.

"I can't explain that.  Maybe it's just a way to distinguish between the 
two."

"Ahh...Ahhh...Ah."  Kasumi started to sneeze.

Ranma's hand shot out and clamped onto her nose, stopping Kasumi.  When she 
looked like she wasn't going to sneeze anymore, he released her and 
apologized.  "Sorry, Kasumi.  I didn't want to do that, but I also don't 
want to have a gun shoved up my nose again."

"That's okay, Ranma.  I don't like changing very much at all.  That other 
person is horrible."  Kasumi said, reassuring Ranma.

Ranma turned his attention back to Nabiki.  "So did you try to do anything 
about this?"

"Yes.  We tried various doctors.  Tofu was no help because...well, you 
know."

Ranma nodded.  He found that out the hard way once when Kasumi had brought 
him to Dr. Tofu.  His neck still ached slightly from that time.

Nabiki continued.  "All the other doctors weren't of any use either.  They 
all said that the two personalities were so much a distinct part of her that 
they couldn't be recombined.  One of them also said that the physical link 
they had to sneezing meant it would be impossible to suppress the hateful 
personality.  Others ended up in the hospital after Kasumi sneezed during 
the examination sessions.  Soon, word had been spread, and no one would 
accept her as a patient anymore.  Besides, the blond Kasumi isn't that bad.  
She can be reasoned with just like any person.  The trouble is that she is 
usually angry and likes violence."

"Didn't look like she could be reasoned with to me.  She blamed me with all 
the problems of this family.  Kasumi?  Do you hate me?"

Kasumi was taken aback by that.  "Uhh...no.  I don't think so at least.  I 
don't think I hate anyone."

"Ranma."  Nabiki interjected.  "Remember this Kasumi isn't capable of hate.  
The two sides can both see what's going on, but they don't know what each 
other is thinking.  So, yes, Kasumi does hate you, even if she doesn't know 
it."

"Oh."  There wasn't much Ranma could say to that.  He desperately wanted to 
find out exactly what made Kasumi hate him so much, but he knew he could 
only ask the half that was full of rage.

"We also don't want a cure for her."

"What?"  Goku and Ranma exclaimed.

Nabiki hurried on.  "Here me out.  How do think the dojo makes money?  Have 
you seen Daddy train any students?"

"Uh.  Come to think of it, no.  He just goes out drinking and plotting with 
Pop.  I don't know why I've never noticed it before.  I guess I just assumed 
he trained people when I was at school."  Ranma replied.

"Well, he doesn't.  The last person he trained was Akane.  Although I make a 
fair amount of money with my operations, I can't support this household with 
it, especially since your family moved in."

"So how do you get the money?"  Goku asked.

"This Kasumi's occupation is a homemaker.  The other one's job is a bank 
robber."

"Bank robber?"

"Yes, Goku.  You have heard of banks, haven't you?"

"Ummm...no."

Nabiki kept her temper in check.  "It's a place where people keep your money 
safe.  Kasumi takes the money from them."

"But that's stealing!"  Goku shouted.

"Yes, it is.  It's what she does.  Whenever we need cash, we let her loose.  
She returns with a few bags worth of money from a bank.  We worked it out 
with her that she wouldn't take too much at a time, and that she wouldn't 
rob the same bank twice."

"Twice?"  Ranma asked.  "How many times does she have to do this?"

"More than you would imagine.  We invested in a few luxury items."

"Like what?"

"Now, that is a secret.  Then we have all those doctor bills.  Some for the 
doctors' fee, some for the doctors' redecorator, and some for the doctors' 
doctor.  Now that you two our here, our food and repair bills have 
skyrocketed.  Kasumi will have to do another robbery pretty soon."

Ranma and Goku sat there and contemplated this.  Akane and Kasumi remained 
silent, embarrassed of this whole situation.  A knock on the door broke the 
silence.  Kasumi, grateful for the distraction, rushed to answer it.

"Akane, some girls from school are here to see you."  She called back a 
moment later.

"Coming."  Akane got up and left the room.  She returned with three other 
girls after a minute.  She gestured to the chairs.  "Please, sit down."

The girls were dressed in gymnastic attire and had a fairly large amount of 
bandages covering their faces.  Despite this, Ranma was able to recognize 
them from his class.  Goku had no clue as to who these people were.

Ranma glanced quizzically at Akane.

She decided she had better tell him.  "These are your classmates, Ranma.  
They're here to ask for my help."

One of them nodded then spoke.  "Yes.  We're supposed to have a rhythmic 
gymnastic wrestling match against St. Bacchus."

The second girl continued.  "But we were ambushed, and now everyone on the 
team is injured."

"So we need you to take our place."  The third completed.

"Please!"  They said in chorus.

Akane sweatdropped.  "I guess I can."

"Oh!  Thank you!  Thank you!  Thank you!"  The girls rushed from their seats 
and hugged Akane.

"Ok!  Ok!  You don't have to be that grateful."  Akane said as she not too 
gently shrugged them off.  "So when's the match?"

"Next Saturday.  You've only got a week to train."  The girls started to 
panic again.

"Don't worry about it.  That's plenty of time.  Come on, Goku, Ranma.  Let's 
get back to training."  Akane got up and left the room.  She couldn't stand 
girls who were overly emotional, even though she got along with those girls 
most of the time.

Ranma and Goku quickly followed her.  They were looking for any kind of a 
distraction to take their thoughts away from Kasumi's weird transformation.

Kasumi, always a good hostess unless she sneezed, walked in and served the 
girls some snacks.

In the dojo, Akane rummaged through a weapons cabinet.  Ranma and Goku just 
stood there and watched.  They didn't have any idea what rhythmic gymnastic 
wrestling was.  After waiting for a full minute while Akane continued to 
search, Ranma asked what it was.

"Rhythmic gymnastics is a combat style."  Akane replied, still searching.  
"The combatants use blunt weapon against each other in the match.  It ends 
when one person is knocked either out of the ring or out cold.  The primary 
weapons are the ribbon, the club, the ball, and the hoop, but I think that 
others are allowed.  Ah!  Here they are!."  Akane pulled out the objects she 
had just mentioned.

She grabbed the ribbon and bounded to the middle of the room.  "Okay.  Let's 
see if can remember how to use this."

She began to spin the ribbon around while twirling her body around.  Her 
intent was unclear; the result was not.  The ribbon became tightly twisted 
around her.  She lost her balance and fell over. Goku and Ranma 
sweatdropped.

"Ahhh.  Help.  Get me out of this."  She pleaded while trying to shrug out 
of the ropes.

The Saotome boys sighed and untangled her.  They both had to tightly control 
their tongues not to insult her skill, or lack thereof.

"Let's try the hoop."  She grabbed the item in question.  After spinning it 
around her head for a bit, she decided to try and do something more complex. 
  Akane brought the hoop down around her body and tried to roll forward 
through it.  Unfortunately for both her and the hoop, she couldn't quite 
fit, and so the hoop snapped in two.

Ranma and Goku quietly removed the pieces from the middle of the floor.  
Akane glared at them, as if she was challenging them to dare to say 
something.  The boys kept their silence.

"Maybe I'll try the clubs.  They're pretty easy to use."  She picked a set 
of the blunt objects and took a few practice swings.  Then she imitated a 
move she had seen gymnasts do on TV; she threw the clubs straight up into 
the air.  When she caught them, she was shocked to see that she had somehow 
managed to flip them so she was holding the wrong end.

Ranma couldn't hold it in any longer.  He burst out laughing.  Goku just put 
his head in his hands.

"Hey, Akane."  Ranma made out in between giggles.  "Aren't you supposed to 
hold the thin end?"

"Shut up!"  Akane snarled while throwing the clubs at Ranma.  He blocked 
them without interrupting his laughing fit.  Akane picked up the ball.  "At 
least I can use this.  Take that!"  She flung the ball at Ranma.  It landed 
five feet away without even coming close to touching him.

Her inability to use even a simple ball sent Ranma into new fits of 
laughter.  Akane slumped to her knees, beginning to cry.  Then she felt a 
pressure on her shoulder.  Glancing to the side she saw a red stick resting 
against her.  Her eyes tracked up the stick and onto Goku's arm.

"Here Akane."  He said while smiling.  "You can use my power pole for the 
match.  I can teach you how to use it, and it's a lot better and easier to 
use than any of the other weapons."

Akane smiled as she took them weapon from him.  "Thanks, Goku.  Mind if I 
try it out right now?"

"Uh.  Sure."  Goku responded, not really understanding why she shouldn't.

"Thanks."  She said.  Akane, still smiling, walked over to where Ranma was 
laughing his ass off and proceeded to beat the living daylights out of him 
with the bo.  After making sure she had done a thorough job, she admired the 
power pole.  "I like this thing.  It works great.  Now, show me how to use 
this properly, please."

"Okay, but you really shouldn't have hit Ranma like that."  Goku said, as he 
gave her a disapproving frown.

"He deserved it."

Goku found that he couldn't argue with that.  It was kind of funny that 
Akane didn't know how to use any of the weapons, but not when she had a 
match next week.  Goku, as her teacher, wanted her to win, and for that she 
needed confidence.  Laughing at her wasn't the way to inspire it.

"Let's get started."  He said, changing the subject.  They began to drill in 
the use of the power pole.  When Ranma recovered, he helped train her too, 
but he was nowhere near as skilled as Goku was with the weapon.  As a 
result, he spent most of his time as a target or an attacker while Goku 
taught Akane the use of the bo.

They stopped several hours later for dinner.  Akane was completely exhausted 
by all the training.  She pleaded with Ranma and Goku to let her rest for 
the night, but they refused.  They took personal pride in making sure Akane 
would win this match as they were her teachers.  If she lost, they would 
lose too, and they just hated to lose.

They drilled her even harder after dinner.  After all, the Saotomes always 
work better with full stomachs.  They had to promise Akane that they would 
let her rest for most of Sunday to get her to keep on going.  Of course they 
weren't going to as they had their promise to Dr. Tofu to keep.  At the end 
of it, everyone was happy.  Goku and Ranma were glad that she was making 
good progress, and Akane was glad that it was over for the day.

The youngest Tendo sister practically crawled upstairs to have a bath.  
After finishing, she headed straight for her room.  The hot water had 
relaxed her tense muscles and soothed the aches she had picked during the 
training.  She felt much better overall, but she was still tired.

She stumbled into the room and plopped down face first on the bed.  Then she 
noticed the black rose that was lying on the pillow.  This immediately 
alerted her that something was not as it should be.  A faint sound, like 
that of a hand unclasping something, came from above her.  Akane's reflexes 
went into overdrive.  She may have been tired, but a surge of adrenaline and 
Chi let her move fast enough to defend herself.

A dark-haired girl wearing black tights and wielding a mallet had been 
hanging onto the rafters of her ceiling.  She had let go when Akane had 
jumped on the bed, swinging the mallet down at her.  Akane's kick caught the 
girl in her stomach before she could connect, and she was sent flying into 
the wall.  The impact shook her, forcing her to drop her mallet.

"Akane Tendo, you are good."  She said while rising to her feet and 
clutching her injured belly.

"Who are you?"  Akane shouted as she prepared to attack again.

"I am Kodachi, the Black Rose of St. Bacchus's School for Girls.  I will be 
your opponent next week, so I suggest we fight with all fairness."

"Fairness?  Is that what you call attacking me in my room?"  Akane retorted.

"OHOHOHOHOHO!  I would think that even a peasant like you would at least 
know the proper rules for playing fair.  Apparently I was mistaken."

"Who are you calling a peasant?"  Akane yelled as she kicked at Kodachi.  
The Black Rose tried to dodge, but only succeeded partially.  The blow 
caught her across the chin as she tried to jerk her head out of the way.  
She was knocked towards the window and dazed slightly.  Placing her hands on 
Akane's night table for support, she shook her head to clear it.

"I shall return, Akane Tendo."  She raised her hand in a wide sweeping 
motion.  Black roses poured out of her sleeves, creating a shower of the 
flowers.  Akane covered her head to protect herself from them, but when they 
had cleared, Kodachi had vanished through the window.  Akane slammed it 
shut, and swept the roses off her bed.  She lay on it thinking that she 
would clean up the mess Kodachi had caused in the morning.  Sleep claimed 
her easily.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The next morning at breakfast, Akane told them about Kodachi's attack.

"What?"  Ranma yelled, outraged at what happened.  "She considered ambushing 
you while you were trying to go to sleep fair?"

"Apparently."  Akane replied.

"That's not fair!  That's even dirtier than what Murasaki does.  At least he 
uses his tricks during the fight."  Goku exclaimed.  "We've got to train you 
even harder, so you'll be ready for anything Kodachi tries to pull."

"He's right.  You've got to be careful.  We're really going to have to try 
and improve your reflexes."  Ranma added.  Despite Akane's protests, the 
boys grabbed her arms and dragged her off to the dojo to train.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Monday morning was pretty typical for the Tendos and Saotomes.  Ranma won 
the sparring match after getting a few quick shots through Goku's defense 
that allowed him to throw his brother into the pond.    Genma had managed to 
best Akane, who was still worn out from all of Saturday's and Sunday's 
training, before being thrown into the pond by Ranma.

As they approached the doors to the school, Kuno stood there waiting, just 
as he did every other day.  Ranma outdistanced his companions, ready to 
fight.  This morning he was in the mood for a good match-up and so wouldn't 
just knock Kuno out with one hit like he usually did.

"Good morning, Kuno."  Ranma said cheerfully.

"Saotome.  On this day I, Upperclassman Kuno, shall defeat thee and take the 
hand of Akane Tendo.

"I'm sure you will."  Ranma replied while waiting for Kuno to attack.

Meanwhile behind them, something was set off in Akane's mind.  She spun 
around to defend a blow from a bokken by grabbing the end of the weapon.  
The wielder of the blade was none other than Kodachi, intent on crippling 
Akane before the match.

"Yes, you are very good."  Kodachi said as she tried to push the sword down 
into Akane and failed miserably.

"Give it a rest!"  Akane snarled as she pivoted to the side, drawing the 
bokken towards her.  She ducked down and applied torque to the middle of the 
blade, sending Kodachi flying over her.

Unfortunately, that's where Ranma was waiting for his fight with Kuno to 
start.  At the last second before impact, he realized something was coming 
at his and spun around to block it.  He wasn't expecting a person to be 
flying at him, and was taken off guard enough to forget to dodge.  As a 
result, he ended up with his arms full of a girl wearing a black school 
uniform.  Ranma lost his balance, and fell backwards in a swirl of pony 
tail, pigtail, skirt and limbs.  He landed on his back with Kodachi resting 
on top of him, their faces almost touching.

Kodachi gaped and then blushed.  'Finally, after all my searching, I have 
found the man of my dreams.'  She embraced Ranma, who sat up abruptly at 
that, placing her in his lap accidentally.

"Ranma!"  Akane screamed.  "What do you think you're doing?"  She started 
stomping forward towards them, a red aura forming around her.

"Uh..."  Ranma said, not knowing how he got into this mess.

Kuno stared at the sight before him.  The lovely Akane Tendo was bearing 
down on the foul wretch Saotome and his sister.  His facial expressions went 
from confusion to anger and then to joy as his brain sorted things out.  'It 
would appear that my sister has taken an affection to Saotome.  If she gets 
him, then Akane would be free to date with me.  And of course she will 
agree.  Indeed, how could she not?  It is only Saotome that prevented her 
from falling lovingly into my arms.'

Deciding on his course on action, Kuno walked to the two before Akane could 
reach them and slapped them on the back.  "I approve your choice, sister."  
He said triumphantly.

"Thank you, brother."  Kodachi replied.

Ranma finally grew panicked enough to act.  He flailed his limbs while 
getting up, dumping Kodachi to the floor.  He leapt away, did a flip in the 
air, and landed facing the two Kunos.

"Now hold on!"  He protested.  "What are you talking..."  He was interrupted 
by Akane's fist smashing into the back of his head, sending him face first 
into the ground.

Goku sighed.  'I was sure they'd get along better than this.'

"You pervert!  What were you doing with Kodachi in your lap?"  She shouted.

Ranma removed his head from the pavement.  "Hold on, Akane!  It was an 
accident!  I didn't mean to..."  He was interrupted again, this time by 
Kodachi.

"How dare you hit my true love, peasant?"  She said while launching herself 
at Akane, who deftly dodged.

Goku blinked, trying to understand what was going on.  Failing miserably, he 
hoped for the best and went to find Penny.

"He's my fiancee!"  Akane retorted.  That took Kodachi aback.

"Oh.  Is that so?"  She said, menacingly before smirking.  "Well then, shall 
we wager for Ranma in our match on Saturday?"

"What are you talking about?"  Both Akane and Ranma shouted at once.

"Tis an excellent idea.  The winner of the match shall get Saotome.  That 
way, fair Akane, you need only to lose to be free of him.  That way you will 
be free to date with me."  Kuno said as he tried to hug Akane, who belted 
him, sending him crashing into the wall.

"Hey!  That's not fair, Akane."  Ranma said in protest.  "I won the sparring 
match, so it was my turn to beat Kuno."

"Sorry, Ranma, but he was bugging me.  Besides, you wasted your time fooling 
around with her."  Akane shouted, thrusting a finger at Kodachi.

"You were the one who threw her at me!"

"So?  You didn't have to cuddle with her!"

"That was her doing it, not me!"

"Yeah right, you pervert!"

"Excuse me?"  Kodachi shouted.  "Ranma, you shall be mine this Saturday."

"What?  Are you still here?"  Ranma snarled, angry at being distracted from 
his argument, before continuing it.  "Now look, Akane, just because she 
grabbed me doesn't mean that I wanted her to."

Kodachi facefaulted.  After recovering herself, she found that Ranma and 
Akane were deeply engrossed in their arguing.  Deciding that Ranma was as 
good as hers, she ran off laughing maniacally.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A week passed.  Akane became very proficient in using the power pole, and 
tolerably well in using the other weapons.  Except for the ribbon.  Akane 
couldn't use that to save her life, and would have to rely on the other 
weapons as back ups to the bo.  Kodachi had left them alone for the rest of 
that week, and they assumed she was training just as Akane was.  Akane's 
power was also  still growing as the Chi-suppressant continued to be 
decreased.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Oolong sat impatiently, waiting for Ryouga to get back.  The Lost Boy had 
been very willing to learn how to shapeshift, but was only interested in 
turning into his human form.  He had mastered that and a few other shapes, 
but he seemed unable to improvise forms he hadn't seen before.  As a result, 
most monster forms were beyond his grasp, and he also couldn't maintain 
anything beyond 5 minutes, just like most other shapeshifters.

"I knew I shouldn't have let him go to the bathroom by himself!"  Oolong 
cried, exasperated.  Then he looked around at the mess that was his house.  
"I need to get someone to clean this up."

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Akane, Ranma, and Goku arrived at St. Bacchus with plenty of time before the 
match started.  The girls from Furinkan that Akane replaced met her there, 
and they chatted.  Ranma and Goku were bored stiff until Penny, Hiroshi and 
Daisuke arrived.  Ranma talked to his friends, while Penny took Goku aside.

"Goku!  My daddy told me the news this morning."  She said, jumping up and 
down and clapping her hands together.  "I'm so happy.  How come you didn't 
tell me before?"

Goku sweatdropped.   "What are you talking about?"  He said, in genuine 
confusion.  "What news?"

"We're engaged, silly.  We'll get married when we turn eighteen.  Hasn't 
your dad told you yet?"

Goku blinked.  Then comprehension dawned on him, and his features disfigured 
into a scowl.  "Excuse me a minute, Penny.  Ranma!  We need to talk about 
Pop."

Ranma looked away from where he was talking to Hiroshi.  "What's wrong, 
Goku?"  He said, concern showing when he noticed how angry Goku seemed.

"Pop engaged me to Penny."  Goku said flatly.

"Well, Penny's a sweet kid."  Ranma started, but then it hit him.  "Engaged? 
  He engaged you to her?  Like me and Akane?"  His expression turned from 
shock to anger in less than .753 seconds.

"Uh-huh."  Goku growled.

"Damn!"  Ranma slammed his fist into a wall, putting a rather large hole it 
in.  "How could he do this?  Is he dense or something?  Didn't he realize 
how much it pissed me off to be engaged to Akane?"

"I guess not."  Goku muttered.

"Save it for later.  Akane needs our support for the match.  We'll deal with 
Pop after."  Ranma said while cracking his knuckles.

"Yeah."  Goku agreed, brightening at the thought of pounding a certain panda 
into the ground.

Penny approached them, concern visible on her features.  "Goku?  What's 
wrong?  You look upset. "

"Well, it's because..."  Goku began, still angry.

"Because he's worried about how well Akane will do the match."  Ranma 
interjected before Goku could say something stupid to Penny.

"Oh.  Cheer up, Goku.  I'm sure she'll do fine."  Penny said, smiling 
happily.

"Hello, my darling Ranma."  A new voice said.  Ranma turned to see that a 
familiar girl had attached herself to his shoulder.  Distaste flashed across 
his face before being replaced by anger.

"Kodachi, let go of me."  Ranma said as he gently pushed her away.

"As you wish, my darling."  Kodachi said while smirking confidently.  "Soon 
you shall be mine.  I can wait until then."

"Don't count on it.  Akane can take you anytime."

"Of course, I can."  Akane said adamantly.  She had stopped talking with the 
other girls when she had seen Kodachi arrive and go after Ranma.

"We'll see about that."  Kodachi said with that same superior smirk.  She 
extended her hand to Akane.  "May the best girl win."

"Really?"  Akane said sarcastically as she grabbed her wrist and twisted, 
forcing Kodachi's hand to face palm up.  This revealed the multitude of 
tacks held between her fingers.

"Now how did those get there?"  Kodachi exclaimed in mock surprise.  
Everyone narrowed their eyes at her.  Taking this as her cue to leave, she 
bounded down the hall laughing.

"I'm going to beat her so badly."  Akane vowed between clenched teeth.  She 
addressed the girls she replaced.  "Let's get ready."

All the girls, including Penny, left to help her get ready.  Ranma, Goku, 
Hiroshi, and Daisuke headed to the ring, discussing the likely outcome of 
the battle.

In the changing room, there was a strange bouquet.  Akane picked it up, 
curiously.

"Don't smell it!"  Penny said urgently.

"How do you know?  I don't trust because Kodachi probably put them here, but 
how are you sure?"

"My dad is a gardener, so I've picked up a few tricks on identifying 
flowers.  Those ones will put you to sleep.  Remember that Kodachi and 
Murasaki are brother and sister, and I've seen how dirty he fights."  Penny 
said as she plucked a flower from the bouquet.  She put it in a nearby 
aquarium.  The fish immediately stopped moving and floated to the surface.

"It's a sleeping potion."  Akane commented, amazed that the girl was right.  
"Wait a minute.  What's an aquarium doing in the dressing room?"

All the girls sweatdropped, having no idea why anyone would choose something 
like that as a decoration for a changing room.

"I guess she does play fair after all."  Penny said with a thoughtful 
expression on her face.  "She just plays by different rules."

"I guess so."  Akane frowned.  "I'm still going to have to teach her a 
lesson."

"Right."

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Damn!  I'm late!  I'm late!  I'm late!"  Nabiki yelled as she ran around 
trying to organize her things.

This was a side of her sister that Kasumi rarely saw.  "Late for what, 
Nabiki?"  She asked sweetly.

"I'm supposed to cover the bets for the fight between Kodachi and Sis, but I 
slept in!  And now I've lost some of the betting slips I collected earlier 
this week."  Nabiki replied, without even slowing down her frantic search.  
Finally seeing the desired papers, she shout out in joy.  "Yes!  Here they 
are.  I'm out of here.  Bye, Kasumi."

Nabiki tucked the papers into her bag and raced to the door.  She opened it 
up and ran through, bumping into a large and unusual object.  It was a 
giant, fat, red devil minus the tail and pitchfork.

"What the..."  She mumbled, dumbfounded.

"What's the matter, Nabiki?"  Kasumi called as she came to see for herself.

"There's...a...a..."  Nabiki was still too shocked to finish a sentence, and 
she was still trying to when Kasumi looked out the front door.

"Oh my!"  She exclaimed in surprise, clapping a hand to her cheek.

Oolong grinned.  He had these girls right where he wanted them.  Now all he 
had to do is pick them up and take them home, so they could clean up his 
house.  As Oolong began to reach down at them, he completely forgot the 
disadvantages of the form he was in.

SMACK!

Oolong bumped his head into the overhang of the roof.  "Ow!"  He bellowed 
while rubbing his forehead.

"Oh dear, I hope that didn't hurt too much."  Kasumi said sympathetically.

This was enough to break Nabiki's trance, as she burst out laughing.  "What 
kind of idiotic monster are you?"  She made out in between giggles.

"Shut up!  I'll have you know I'm the meanest, most impolite monster ever!  
Now get in the car!"  He raved while gesturing towards an automobile parked 
in front of the dojo.

"What?  You're not going to carry us away to your faraway castle?  We have 
to drive there?  Boy, times do change.  Hey, Kasumi!  Where are you going?"

The eldest Tendo sister was in the process of getting in the car.  "I'm 
doing what the nice monster says.  You do know we're being kidnapped?"  She 
asked sweetly.

Nabiki sweat-dropped.  "But he's a joke!  He couldn't do anything to us."

"Oh yeah!"  Oolong said as he towered over her.  "I'll show you."

"Well?"  Nabiki said defiantly, still standing there staring at him.  
Neither one moved.

"I...uh...that is."  Oolong started to panic while looking for a believable 
excuse.  "You girls are too delicate.  I'm so strong I could probably hurt 
you just by pushing you to the car."  He finished, grinning at his own 
cleverness.

"Really?"  Nabiki said in a deadpan tone.  "Alright, you've convinced me."  
She said in a much lighter voice.

"I have?"  Oolong asked, puzzled.

"Yes.  You're obviously a very powerful, fearsome creature that I would be 
foolish to try and resist, so I might as well go along willingly."  She said 
in a very convincing manner as she got into the car."

A huge smile played over Oolong's face.  "Well, alright then.  I'm glad we 
understand each other."  He said while nodding.  The monster closed the door 
for her and walked over to the driver's side.  Oolong concentrated for a 
second, and then exploded with a loud boom sound.  When the smoke cleared, a 
pig about half the height of a human was left wearing a green suit of 
clothes including a beret.  He got into the car, started it, and drove off.

"I was wondering how you were going to drive as that huge monster."  Nabiki 
commented, intrigued by this ability.  "You didn't need water to do that, 
did you?"

"Water?  Does everyone in this town know about this Jusenkyo place but me?"  
Oolong said, bitterly as if it was insult to his intelligence.

"Oh.  You know about Jusenkyo too?"  Nabiki said.  She was very intrigued 
now.  "How did you find out about it?"

"Well, there was the guy that I met in the hospital and...wait a minute!  
Why should I tell you?  You're the captive.  You tell me how you know about 
it."

"I don't want to."  Nabiki said, a smile tugging at the edge of her lips.

"I don't care!  Tell me!"  Oolong snarled, getting upset again.

"Make me."  Nabiki said challengingly.

"AAARRRRRRGGGHHH!"  Oolong screamed before calming down.  "I'll make you 
tell later when we get there."

Nabiki smiled.  This was going to be fun.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The match at St. Bacchus was just about to begin.  The ring was very 
ordinary, nothing too special about it.  The crowd was divided into a 
Furinkan section and a St. Bacchus one.  The St. Bacchus students commented 
on how fine Kodachi's big brother was, while the Furinkans commented on the 
sanity of the St. Bacchusians.  Murasaki and Kuno were in the front row, 
ready to shout encouragement to their sister.  Kuno thought about how Akane 
would be his when the match was over, and Murasaki thought about the dirty 
tricks he could see Kodachi use and then learn.

Kodachi herself was in her corner, discussing some final things with her 
second.  Akane was standing outside the ring, getting last minute 
instructions from Goku and Ranma, who would act as her seconds.  The referee 
was in the middle of the ring, announcing the combatants.  A panel of judges 
and an announcer sat at a table beside where Kuno and Murasaki were seated 
in the bleachers.

"In this corner..."  The referee said loudly through her mike.  "...from St. 
Bacchus School for Girls, Kodachiiiii Kunnoooooo!"  The girl named stepped 
forward to cheers and waved to her fans.  "And in the other corner, from 
Furinkan High, Akannnneeeee Tendoooooo!"

Akane entered the ring and waved.  Cheers resounded from the Furinkan 
section.  She walked up to Kodachi and faced her.

"Now shake hands."  The referee ordered.  Akane extended her arm, as did 
Kodachi, but suddenly pointed to something behind Akane.

"Look there."

Akane and the referee fell for the trick and looked.  Kodachi produced a 
ball and chain from somewhere and lunged at Akane's outstretched arm.  
However, Akane's reflexes were better than the Black Rose's and she withdrew 
her hand before Kodachi could grab it.  The manacle snapped shut on thin 
air.

Akane gave her a triumphant smirk.  "Nice try, but how stupid do you think I 
am?"  She said, venom dripping from her words.

"Hmmph."  Kodachi said while discarding the chain.  "You aren't easily 
tricked.  That's good.  It will make my victory much more satisfying."

The announcer choose this moment to clarify the rules of the match.  "No 
bare handed blows are allowed.  The match will end by knockout or 
elimination.  Now begin!"

Akane spun the power pole in front of her.  "Alright, let's go!"  She yelled 
while charging forward, still spinning the weapon.

Kodachi shot her ribbon out at her, but although she didn't know how to use 
it, Akane knew how to dodge it.  She jumped over the attack and swung 
downwards with the bo.  Kodachi danced backwards to dodge and countered with 
several ribbon snaps, which Akane avoided by back flipping to the other side 
of the ring.

The combatants stood still, evaluating each other.  Kodachi decided to use 
her range advantage by shooting out her ribbon at her foe, who neatly jumped 
over it and rushed forward.  Akane swung the power pole sideways trying to 
hit Kodachi, who ducked under the blow.  Akane continued the movement by 
pivoting on her left foot.  This let her right foot with a club gripped in 
her toes come in with a roundhouse kick that struck lower than where the bo 
passed, connecting with Kodachi's head.  She was knocked down, but as she 
was falling, she snapped her ribbon back to her side.  The ribbon caught 
Akane's left leg as it returned, spilling her onto the ground.

Both fighters leapt to their feet and got into ready positions.  Akane was 
fine, but Kodachi was a bit dazed from the blow.  The announcer was 
continuing to describe the events as they unfolded, and the crowd cheered 
support for the two girls.

Kodachi snapped her ribbon at Akane again, but this time was ready to dodge 
any counterattack.  She was amazed when Akane chose not to avoid it, letting 
the ribbon wrap around the power pole.  Kodachi smiled at her opponent's 
mistake and pulled on the ribbon, expecting the bo to be ripped out of her 
hands.  This didn't happen as Akane was far stronger than the Black Rose.  
She swung the power pole to the side, sending Kodachi flying into the ropes 
as her ribbon pulled her along.  The Black Rose almost went straight through 
them, but managed to snag the top rope before being sent out.  She was 
jerked to a stop, wrenching her arm, and had to release her ribbon before 
Akane could throw her again.

Kodachi pulled out a set of clubs as she climbed into the ring, and Akane 
took the ribbon off the power pole.  This time it was Kodachi who charged, 
striking with the clubs.  Akane parried one shot aimed at her head, the club 
resting perpendicular to her bo.  Suddenly spikes thrust out from the end of 
it, almost puncturing Akane's eyes, but she was able to move out of the way 
in time.  Ranma started to protest to the referee, but the spikes snapped 
back inside the club.  Murasaki wrote something down on a notepad.

"Now face my secret technique.  The Blow of a Thousand Hands at Full 
Frenzy!"  Kodachi shouted as her hands became a blur.  The blows rained down 
on Akane, slipping by her defenses and striking home.  Ranma and Goku had 
trained Akane well, but they didn't use the kind of speed and ferocity that 
the Black Rose was using now.  Murasaki was scribbling furiously on his 
notepad.

Akane dropped to one knee under the onslaught of attacks.  In desperation, 
she abandoned her defense and thrust upwards with the power pole.  Kodachi 
was caught completely off guard, as no one had been able to counter her 
secret technique, and the attack struck her underneath the chin, throwing 
her backwards.  She dropped the twenty clubs she was using onto the ground 
as she continued to stumble back.  Smoke began to rise from Murasaki's 
pencil.

Kodachi rubbed her chin while watching her opponent rise to her feet.  "I am 
very impressed.  No one had been able to withstand the Blow of a Thousand 
Hands, but nevertheless, I will win Ranma."  She shouted while throwing a 
hoop with a razor edge at Akane, who leapt over it.  The hoop went straight 
through the ropes and into the crowd.  Fortunately, it headed straight for 
Kuno, who calmly batted it out of the air with a swat of his bokken.  
Murasaki's pencil burst into flames.

"Now for MY secret technique!"  Akane shouted while rushing forward at 
Kodachi. She executed a slide kick with a club at the Black Rose, who jumped 
into the air to avoid it.  Akane pointed her bo straight at her airborne 
opponent.  "POWER POLE EXTEND!"

The stick glowed bright red as the command words were spoken and then grew 
in length.  The end shot out towards Kodachi and nailed her in the stomach.  
It kept on growing, carrying her with it until it stopped, flinging her off 
the end.  Kodachi was falling well outside the ring and had no chance of 
getting back in.  She pulled out a whistle and blew.

Akane was knocked off her feet as the entire ring shook.  It then began to 
slide rapidly towards where Kodachi was falling, and only stopped when the 
Black Rose was able to land gracefully in the ring.

"I cannot be knocked out!"  She laughed triumphantly.  "Now you pay for your 
foolishness!"  Kodachi pulled out a ribbon and shot it outside the ring and 
grabbed a bell with it.  She snapped the ribbon, flinging the bell at Akane, 
who caught the object.

Akane, more concerned with her opponent than with why the ring moved, rushed 
towards Kodachi and threw the bell at her, which the Black Rose intercepted 
with her ribbon.  However, this left her open to Akane's real attack, which 
was a flying kick improvised with a ball placed on the bottom of her foot.  
The blow caught her the side of the face, spinning her around.  Akane used 
the momentum and motion of the kick to swing the power pole to sweep out 
Kodachi's legs, who had no choice but to fall over.

Akane followed the sweep with a thrust straight down at Kodachi's head with 
the pole, which Kodachi dodged by rolling to the side.  The bo went through 
the material of the ring and hit something underneath it.  A cry of pain 
came up from the ring.

Puzzled, Akane grabbed the torn material and leapt onto the ring post, 
ripping up the surface of the ring.  Kodachi had recovered enough to jump 
onto another post.  The girls of the St. Bacchus gymnastic team were 
revealed to be providing the movement for the ring.  Being exposed, they 
crawled out and left the arena.  Murasaki's pen disintegrated.

"Now the combatants can only stand on the ropes or the posts."  The 
announcer said, and this time the two fighters listened.  They were standing 
on opposite corners of the ring, and they both were hurt and tired.  Akane 
decided that she could use the pole's superior reach to win.

"POWER POLE EXTEND!"  She shouted again, thrusting the bo at Kodachi, who 
jumped to avoid it in a straddle style leap.  Akane grinned as she pulled 
the pole upwards, hitting Kodachi and carrying her further into the air.  
When she had finished the motion, Kodachi was, once again, heading far away 
from the ring.  The Black Rose snapped her ribbon around a ceiling rafter 
and was able to swing to the post next to Akane's.

Akane swung the still extended pole sideways, hoping to catch Kodachi's as 
she was still regaining her balance or at least force her into the air 
again.  Kodachi wasn't willing to play Akane's game and just let the bo hit 
her arm while she attacked using the other.  The pole's length made it 
easier for Kodachi to take the blow and still connect with hers.  The ribbon 
wrapped itself around Akane's ankle, and when Kodachi pulled, Akane was sent 
tumbling head first off the ring post.

Not having the power pole in a position to try and vault onto something, 
Akane stuck her feet forward, catching the top rope.  This left her hanging 
upside down on the ropes, but still in the ring.  Laughing, Kodachi snapped 
her ribbon upwards, lifting Akane off the ropes and sending her into the 
air.  Akane was still holding her bo, and so got it underneath her.  When it 
touched the ground, she swung downwards into the ropes opposite Kodachi.  
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Ranma gesturing at Kodachi and yelling 
"The post!"  Understanding, Akane ricocheted off the ropes, sending herself 
straight at Kodachi with a flying kick.

"You don't have a weapon."  Kodachi laughed while throwing clubs at her, 
which Akane used her hands to ward off.  The Black Rose just stood there, 
laughing, as Akane's pole was not in a striking position, and it looked like 
she was going to try a bare handed attack.  When Akane's kick hit the post 
Kodachi was standing on and took it out from underneath her, expressions of 
horror and shock went over her face as she fell forward.

When the dust settled, Kodachi was laying on the floor, still in shock, 
while Akane clung for dear life onto the upright remains of the post.

"Akane Tendo is the winner!"  The announcer declared.  The crowd began to 
cheer and applaud for the winner.  Ranma and Goku rushed to Akane and hugged 
her.

"Good work, Akane"  Ranma said with a huge smile plastered on his face when 
they released her.

"Yeah, you did great."  Goku added, also smiling brightly.

"Thanks, you two.  Thank you for training and supporting me."   She said 
while wiping tears of joy from her eyes.  She reached over and hugged Ranma 
tightly.  "And thank you, Ranma, for telling me how to win there."

Ranma started to turn red.  "Uh...it...it was nothin' Akane."  He stuttered, 
unsure what to do.

"Come on."  She said after releasing him a moment later.  "Let's go back 
home and celebrate."

That sounded good to everyone.  Kodachi was helped away by her brothers.  
She weeped in sorrow because she had lost.  Kuno weeped with sorrow because 
Akane was still not his yet.  Mursaki weeped with joy at all the new 
techniques he observed and would be able to use.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Oolong, Nabiki, and Kasumi entered Oolong's home.  It was a pigsty.  (Not 
literally, reader no baka!)  The house was a complete disaster area.  Beer 
cans, magazines, and assorted trash were littered across the floor.  There 
was a couch on one end of the room and a small TV on the other.  Any other 
furnishing could be mistaken as a particularly large clump of garbage.

"Now, I want you to clean all this up."  Oolong ordered in his most 
authoritative voice.

"My this place is messy."  Kasumi commented as she pulled a garbage bag from 
the subspace pocket and began throwing trash into it.

"Kasumi, stop!"  Nabiki exclaimed, not believing her sister was doing this.

"But, Nabiki!"  She protested.  "Look out how messy this place is.  I can't 
let someone live in a place like this."

"Just hold on for a bit, okay?"  Nabiki returned her attention to the pig.  
"Now, if you expect to get any work out of house, you're going to have to do 
things for us first.  See that TV?  That thing is puny.  Go out and get a 
bigger and better one, and while you're at it, get a good stereo system and 
VCR.  Then get us some nice clothes, just pick anything.  If we don't like 
them, we'll just send you back out again.  Now go."  She said while shoving 
him roughly out the door.  She slammed it shut behind him and locked it.

Oolong stood outside in shock.  He starting scratching the back of his head 
and blinking repeatedly.  This wasn't going according to plan.  They were 
supposed to be working for free as his slaves.  He turned around and tried 
to open the door.  Seeing how it was locked, he pulled out his keys, only to 
find out that Nabiki had taken his house keys.  He was locked out.  Oolong 
knocked loudly.

"We'll let you back in when you get that stuff."  Nabiki called.

"Why you!"  Oolong growled, before sighing in resignation.  He got into his 
car and drove off to get the stuff.

Inside, Nabiki was laughing her ass off.  "I can't believe he fell for that. 
  What a moron.  Well, I guess he is smarter than the average pig, and he's 
got opposable thumbs.  Kasumi!  Why are you cleaning again?  Oh, never 
mind."

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A large group of Furinkan students, which includes very familiar faces, made 
their way to the Tendo dojo.  Akane steered the group into the dojo itself, 
figuring that there wouldn't be enough room in the house for all of them.  
Then she went to get Kasumi to tell her they had guests.  Searching the 
entire house, she found no one.  Worriedly, she returned to the dojo.

"Ranma, something's wrong."  She said when she walked up to him.

Ranma tore himself away from his conversation with Hiroshi.  "What's that?"  
He said without apparent concern.

"Kasumi's missing."

"So?"  Ranma said, still not concerned.  "Maybe she went for an errand or 
two?"

"There's no note saying she did."

"So?  Maybe she forgot to write one?"

"Kasumi never forgets to write notes for other people.  She always puts 
herself second to helping others."

Ranma was starting to get a little worried now.  He could see that Kasumi 
missing was a big deal for Akane, and that she wanted something done about 
it.  He decided to try one last attempt at reasoning with her.  "Maybe she 
left before Nabiki did so didn't need to write a note?"

"But Nabiki left before we did.  We didn't see her in the morning, so she 
must have left when we were sparring."

Ranma digested this before nodding.  "Alright.  So, what do you want us to 
do about it?  If Kasumi left or was taken, how are we going to find her?"

Akane smirked.  "That's easy.  We use this."  She pulled out a small 
electronic device.  "It tells us where Kasumi is at all times.  There's a 
tracking device in her ribbon that she doesn't know about."

"What?"  Ranma said, now very confused.

"Look.  See this blip.  It's telling me that she's across Nerima from here.  
With any luck, Kasumi will be there and not in trouble."

"Oh."  Ranma said, partially understanding how the technology worked.  "But, 
Akane, why is it so important to find Kasumi?  I'm sure she's not in 
danger."

"Ranma, do you have any idea as to what would happen if Kasumi sneezed when 
she was alone in public and we didn't know where she was?"

Ranma really began to worry now.  "Damn!  We gotta find her.  Goku!  Me and 
Akane are going to find Kasumi.  Mind the guests would ya?"

"Who?  Me?"  Goku protested from where he was.

"Just make sure they don't get into trouble."  He called back then grabbed 
Akane's arm.  "Let's go."

They ran out of the dojo and called for the Flying Nimbus.  The yellow cloud 
scooped them up and carried them off.  Despite her worry, Akane marveled 
once again at this cloud that could carry people.  Ranma had introduced it 
to her family soon after they had gotten there, and it turned out that she 
and Kasumi were pure enough to ride it.  She hadn't flown on it very much, 
as Ranma and Goku liked to keep the cloud a secret, but she knew how to 
maneuver the thing.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Okay, here's the stuff."  Oolong said as he lugged the last box into the 
house.  "There, are you happy now?"

"No.  Here's a list of everything else we want."  She said while passing him 
a stack of paper.

"What?  This is an outrage!  I admit you did a good job cleaning this room, 
but I could just hire someone to do it for less than what its cost me!  
You're my prisoners, so you..."

"Atchoo!"

"...do what I tell you to.  And...wait...Wasn't her hair black before?"  He 
said, pointing a stubby pink finger at Kasumi.

"That's right, little piggy."   Kasumi said in a cheerful voice.  "I think 
I'll cook a meal for you.  How does pork chops sound?"  She pulled a huge 
knife from subspace and started towards Oolong.

"AAAAHHHHH!"  He screamed and fled from the house.  He may be the meanest, 
most impolite monster on the face of the Earth, but he was no match for 
someone with a knife and a taste for pork chops.

Nabiki started laughing again.  "Good work, sis!  I can't believe that pig 
thought he could kidnap people and force housework on them."

"It's too bad he ran away.  I'm hungry."  Kasumi said with a trace of 
bitterness towards the pig.  Since she had no targets in sight, she was a 
fairly normal, if not aggressive, person.  "Oh yes, Nabiki.  There's been 
something I want to show you.  My other half has always kept this secret, 
but it's time you know the truth."

She pulled out a diary from somewhere and started flipping through it.  
Nabiki stared at the cover of the book.  'The Diary of Kimiko Tendo' was 
printed in neat writing along it.

"M-Mom's diary?"  She asked in shock.  This was the fabled book she had 
heard about but never seen with her own eyes.

"That's right, sis.  Now take a look at this.  It's something about our 
younger sister."  Kasumi said as she turned the book around and passed it to 
Nabiki.  Her finger was pointing to an entry.  Nabiki read it.

'Soun got home yesterday from his training trip.  He's leaving again in 
three days, so I don't have much time to be with him before he leaves again. 
  But on to more important things.  I found a very interesting scroll today 
when going through Soun's pack getting his clothes for the laundry.  It 
seems that he has copied something from his Master's collection that 
promises to give him unbelievable strength.  It's a receipe for a noodle 
dish called "Super Soba."  If my husband eats this, he should have no 
problem getting rid of his Master and then he'd be able to stay at home all 
the time, and we'd be a family again.  The ingredients aren't common, so 
it'll take me some time to get them.  The receipe itself is time consuming, 
but fairly simple.  Unfortunately, the effects aren't described very well.  
It looks like Soun was having trouble reading his Master's handwriting.  The 
main effect is clear though:  it grants super strength.  I hope to have it 
ready next time he comes home.'

"That's it?"  Nabiki asked.  "What's so special about this, Kasumi?"

"Keep reading."  Kasumi said, flipping the diary a couple of pages forward 
and pointing to another entry.

'A postcard arrived from Soun today.  He'll be returning for another visit 
in a week.  I bought all the ingredients for the soba today after my order 
finally came through.  It cost a lot, but I finally got the last few herbs I 
was missing.  I have to start preparing parts of it in advance and the soup 
doesn't keep it's potency for very long, so I've got to time this just 
right.  Also, I've getting sick to my stomach a lot recently.  Very much 
like I did when when I was first pregnant with Kasumi and then Nabiki.  I 
can't wait for Soun's return.  Now I have two pieces of very good news to 
tell him.'

'Damnit.  Everything is ruined.  Today is the day Soun was supposed to have 
arrived.  The Super Soba was all prepared for him.  All he had to do was get 
here, eat it, and then pound that dirty old pervert into the ground, but 
things just aren't turning out that way.  Instead of him coming here, a 
postcard came instead.  He apologizes for not being able to make it as his 
Master apparently has decided to takes him and Genma to China to train them 
there for at least half a year.  I don't know how this could have happened.  
Everything was looking so bright.  Not only could we finally be a family 
again, but also we'd have another child.  I don't know what to do.  The soup 
will lose its power in a day.  I have then until to decide.'

'I write this very carefully for I'm much different than I was yesterday.  I 
ate the soba this afternoon.  It has granted be strength beyond belief.  Too 
much strength in fact.  After eating it, I was so surprised at my own power 
that I had a little accident in the kitchen.  Unfortunately, the scroll 
containing the receipe was burned by the resulting fire.  The house itself 
is in shambles as anything I touch crumples as I'm that strong.  Even now, I 
have to hold this pen more delicately than anything I've ever held in my 
life so as not to break it.  I've already broken two other pens just by 
picking them up.  I hope this one will last until the end of this entry.  
When Soun returns, his Master will taste my wrath.  He doesn't stand a 
chance.  I'll just have to cope until then.  It's like I have no martial 
arts training or self-control.  I'll just have to be very careful from now 
on not to break things.  Taking care of Nabiki and Kasumi is quite difficult 
as I'm afraid that if I touch them, they'll get hurt.  Well, after Soun's 
Master is beaten we can try and find a cure.'

'I am more afraid now than I've ever been in my life.  For myself, for Soun, 
and for my babies.  I've started to grow...I've started to grow whiskers.  I 
don't know how or why.  It must be a side effect of the Super Soba.  It 
seems that Soun didn't finish copying all the information down or maybe it 
was in the part that was illegible.  It doesn't really matter since I can't 
check it anyway.  Shaving helps gets rid of the whiskers, but they grow back 
fairly quickly.  I've taken to shaving right before I go out to conceal this 
from everyone, but I cannot stay out for very long for fear of the whiskers 
growing back in public.  But I have to do this.  I have to be strong.  For 
Soun, for my babies, for everyone.  It will only last until Soun returns.  I 
can do it.  But what about my poor baby.  Will this affect him or her?  I 
hope not.'

Nabiki finished the entry and looked up at her sister.  "I had no idea.  I 
must've been too young when this happened.  I don't remember Mom ever having 
whiskers."

"There's still more."  Kasumi turned a bunch of pages and pointed at yet 
another entry.

'Oh God!  Oh God!  What have I done?  My poor baby.  My poor, sweet Akane.  
I had no idea that this would affect her so much.  My baby is a monster.  
She has so much power, so much Chi.  Too much.  She can't live like a normal 
child.  Her blood pressure and heart rate are way too high for her to 
survive for long.  She always has an incredibly hot fever, almost as if 
she's about to combust.  She can barely move her body, and when she does she 
destroys anything she touches.  I don't know what to do.  I had no idea.  
What have I done?  What have I done?  It's all so wrong.  And to make things 
worse, the birth has been very hard on me.  I feel weaker every day.  My 
strength that I had is fading and I don't know why.  I fear I won't be able 
to beat the Master after all.  It's pathetic.  All my work, all my 
sacrifices, all for nothing.  I'm so ashamed.  How can I ever face Soun with 
what I've done to our daughter?.'

'Soun has returned.  He said he tried to get back before the baby was born, 
but he obviously didn't make it in time.  He was horrified at first at her 
power and its effects, as well as my power and the effect of Akane's birth 
on me.  He took me and Akane immediately to a doctor.  He had the antidote 
for the Super Soba.  Taking it sapped my strength, however, and I became 
weaker than ever.  I'm not sure if I can hold on, but I must for my babies.  
My babies.  Akane.  The antidote didn't work for her.  She still has the 
same awesome and dangerous power as she did when she was born.  Her health 
is still fragile, and I fear she won't survive for too much longer.  
However, the doctor gave her some Chi-suppresant herbs.  They didn't really 
have a noticable effect, but Akane's glow did dim ever so slightly.  He says 
she'll have to continue taking it for the rest of her life or risk losing 
control of her power and possibly spontaneously combusting.  That's good 
because with my super strength gone, I'm unable to take care of her.  Soun 
can do a better job, but he has a lot of trouble too.'

'The Chi-suppressant herb is working.  Akane's Chi gets weaker each and 
every day, as does mine.  I'm much weaker than I was when I eat the Super 
Soba.  Why did things have to turn out like this?  At least, my babies are 
safe.  Akane will be a normal child soon enough, but she must take the herb 
every night or else its effects will start to wear off.  I'm glad.  She 
still can be happy and not a freak of nature who would not survive for long. 
  The doctor said they'll be some residual effects, such as slightly higher 
than average strength and aggressiveness, but not very much compared to what 
it could've been.  I'm so tired.  I think I'll turn in early tonight.'

"The rest of the entries describe Mom's life as her health continued to get 
worse and worse until she died.  You don't have to read those."

"I had no idea."  Nabiki said, partially in shock at this revelation.  "I 
don't remember Akane being abnormal when she was born, but that was a long 
time ago.  I do remember how sick and weak Mom always was though, but I 
never knew why.  So, why did you want to tell me this?"

"Akane's stopped taking the herb."

"I know.  I just never really knew what the herb did.  Everyone knows that 
she's not taking it except Daddy and Mr. Saotome."

"She could die because of this.  This would cause me and my other half much 
grief.  I don't want that."

"You other half?  Is that compassion I'm hearing from you?  I thought you 
were supposed to be made of hate and anger."

"Don't buy that psychological bullshit those doctors fed you.  I am what I 
am, and that is a person.  I may be more violent and aggressive than most 
people, but I'm a human being just like any other."

"Oh.  Sorry, sis.  So what do you want to do about Akane?"

"I don't know.  That's why I showed you the diary.  If I didn't need your 
help, I wouldn't have asked."

"Whoa.  Calm down there, sis.  Let's think rationally here.  As the 
Chi-suppresant wears off, Akane's Chi is going to get more and more 
powerful."

"Right."

"But the way to control your Chi is through martial arts, right?"

"Uh...yeah, I guess."

"And Akane's been training since she was young.  She knows martial arts and 
can now handle more power.  When she was born, she had no training and of 
course was a monster, but her training that she's had should be enough to 
control her Chi, especially with Ranma and Goku helping her right now.  I've 
seen what Goku can do.  I don't think Akane could have too much more power 
than him.  Besides, she hasn't completely gone off it.  She started taking 
again after she got sick, but is now slowly going off it.  But you probably 
didn't see that."

"Wait a minute!  Are you saying we do nothing?"

"Exactly.  Akane should be fine.  If she's not, then we can just get her to 
take the full dose of herb again."

"What if she won't?"

"Then we'll slip it into her food.  Akane's not bright enough to know when 
her food's being tampered with.  We'll probably have to do that too.  I 
don't think she'll take it very well if we showed her the diary.  She might 
blame herself for Mom getting sick and dying since it was her birth that 
caused it."

Kasumi paused and thought about that for a second.  "You're probably right.  
Okay, so we do nothing.  Now, let's get home."

They stepped outside, only to have a cloud screech to a halt beside them.  
Akane and Ranma were standing on top of it.

"Kasumi!  Nabiki!"  Akane cried while hugging her elder sisters.  Ranma, not 
one to show his emotions very much, stayed on the cloud.  He was also very 
nervous about the blond haired Kasumi that had tried to kill him a week ago. 
  "What happened?  Nabiki, are you all right?"

"I'm fine, Akane.  Let's get out of here."  Nabiki said.

"Wait!  What happened?  How did you get here?"  Akane said, not willing to 
leave until she found out who was responsible for doing this to her sister.

"We were kidnapped by a stinking pig."  Kasumi supplied.

"Don't they call that being arrested?"  Ranma asked.

"No, an actual pig.  It was a talking, transforming pig."

"A talking pig?"  Ranma and Akane exclaimed in unison.  Ranma's nervousness 
had disappeared when he discovered that this Kasumi was civil.

"What did he do to you?"  Akane asked urgently.

"He tried to make me do housecleaning."  Nabiki replied.

Ranma and Akane facefaulted.  "That's it?"  Ranma blurted out.

Nabiki smiled.   "Well...yes.  I don't do housework, Ranma.  You should know 
that, so Kasumi and I took care of him."

"Let me get this straight.  A talking pig kidnapped you two and tried to 
make you do housework, but you got rid of him?"

"That's what I said.  Are you dense or something?  Not that I don't already 
know the answer already, but it's always good to hear it from the source."

Ranma just shook his head.  'And I thought my life was weird.'  "Okay.  
Let's get you two home."

Akane lifted Nabiki onto her shoulders and hopped on the cloud.  Ranma 
joined her and motioned for Kasumi to join them.  She merely shook her head.

"Ranma, do you really think that I can ride that cloud like I am?  I'm not 
pure.  That's the other Kasumi's job."  She said mockingly.

"I could carry you if you promise not to kill me."  Ranma suggested.

"I don't want to kill you, Ranma.  At least not anymore.  I know what you 
did for Akane over the past week, and I think it was really sweet.  You 
won't hear too many violent, psychopaths say that.  You can go ahead and 
carry me.  I'll be good"  She finished the last with a wink.

Ranma was taken aback, but quickly recovered and swept Kasumi up in his 
arms.  He saw Akane's eye twitched once when he did that, but then she 
relaxed.  Nimbus rose into the air and shot off towards the dojo.

When they arrived, they found that Goku had things well under control.  
Penny had served some snacks, and the guests celebrated Akane's return.  She 
wanted to see if her sisters were really all right and not just faking, but 
the Furinkan students wouldn't let her be away from her victory celebration 
any longer.  Another sneeze changed Kasumi back into her nice form and she 
started serving more snacks to the guests.

The party died down when it approached dinner time, and soon all the guests 
were gone.  Akane decided that Kasumi deserved a break from her work, due to 
the events from the day and that she would cook supper instead.  Kasumi said 
she was fine, but Akane insisted.

"We could just get takeout, Akane."  Nabiki said, trying to talk her sister 
out of it.

"No, Nabiki.  It's really okay.  I don't mind at all."  Akane said while 
pulling all sorts of pots and pans from the cupboard.

"Alright.  Knock yourself out."  Nabiki said as she left the kitchen.  
Picking up the phone, she ordered takeout for one.

And thus Akane cooked.

About an hour later, a fabulous feast was laid out on the table.  Soun and 
Genma were still missing, and it was assumed they would be out all night 
drinking again.  Nabiki had already eaten, but she was still present at the 
table.  After all, this was free entertainment.

"Looks good."  Ranma commented, brandishing his knife and fork.  "Smells 
kinda funny though."

"It doesn't matter.  Let's eat."  Goku speared a chunk of meat and shoved it 
into his mouth.  An interesting expression of shock came across his face as 
he froze in place, the fork dangling from his fingers.  "I think I'm going 
to go find some tasty food."  Goku said as he got up and went to the 
kitchen.

Akane started fuming, but before she could do anything Ranma put down the 
piece of meat he was about to eat and got up.  He ran over to Goku was and 
flung him into the pool.

"What do you think you're doing?"  Ranma shouted at him.  "If I can't insult 
Akane, then you can't either, and that was downright rude.  Now come back 
here and eat your supper."

Goku started to protest, but his stomach decided that it wanted food more 
than taste, so he returned to the table, soaking wet and as a namek.  "I'm 
sorry, Akane."  He apologized while bowing before returning to his seat.

"That's better."  Ranma commented as he thrust his fork into the mouth.  His 
eyes bulged out and began to water.  Steam began to pour from his ears and 
fire from his mouth.  He grimaced, trying to conceal his pain as best as he 
could.

"Do you think it's good, Ranma?"  Akane asked cheerfully.

'I mustn't insult Akane.  I mustn't insult Akane.  I mustn't insult Akane!'

"Well?"  Akane queried.

"Uh...er...it's...I mean...uh...it's got an interesting taste, Akane."  
Ranma said, in pain because of the food, but fearing more pain from Akane's 
wrath if he trash talked her cooking.

Goku glanced at his brother questioningly before taking another bite of his 
meal.  It was his turn for his eyes to bug out, but this was for a different 
reason.

"Hey, Akane.  This stuff is really good."  Goku exclaimed, amazed at how 
good the food actually was.  Everyone except Akane stared at Goku.

"I accepted your apology, Goku.  You don't have to pretend to like it."  
Akane said, slightly offended that Goku would try something as transparent 
as that.

"No!  I'm serious.  This is really good."  Goku said as he began to shovel 
the food down his mouth.  Everyone stared in shock at this.

"Goku!  Stop or you're going to kill yourself!"  Ranma blurted urgently, 
concern for his brother written on his features.

"And what do you mean by that?"  Akane snarled at him, her temper rising.

"He'll kill himself if he eats much more of this slop."  Ranma said before 
realizing who he was talking to.  "I mean...uh...it's not safe to eat that 
fast.  He could choke."

To the amazement of Ranma and Nabiki, his lame excuse actually worked at 
calming down Akane.  "You're right."  She said.  "Goku, you should slow 
down."

"Okay, <Chomp!> Akane.  <Chomp!>  But it's just <Chomp!>  so good.  <Chomp!> 
Hey, Ranma.  <Chomp!>  You gonna eat that?"  He said while pointing to the 
contents of Ranma's plate.

"Uhh...go ahead, Goku."  Ranma said while pushing his plate towards his 
brother.

"Apparently Goku's alien physiology can handle Akane's cooking.  That's 
weird."  Nabiki commented wryly.

The meal ended with most being hungry, and Goku having had the biggest and 
best meal since...since ever.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Oolong returned to his house and peeked inside.  Seeing no one, he reclaimed 
his domicile from those psychotic girls whom he kidnapped.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Monday morning was a typical one.  In light of her victory over Kodachi, 
Ranma and Goku allowed Akane the privilege of beating up Kuno today.

As they approached the kendoist, he reached into his clothes and produced a 
newspaper and thrust it towards them.  On the cover was a picture of Ranma, 
Akane, and Goku, taken at the match on Saturday.  The caption read: "The 
winner of the Furinkan-St. Bacchus match, Akane Tendo, and her trainers, 
Ranma and Goku Saotome."

"Fair Akane."  Kuno greeted her.  "I congratulate you on your victory 
against my sister.  If you wish, you may date with me to celebrate your 
stunning performance."  He opened his arms to embrace her in a hug.

Akane wound up and punted Kuno into Low Earth Orbit.

"There."  She said with a satisfied smile on her face.  "That feels a lot 
better.  I haven't done that in ages."  She frowned and placed her hand 
above her eyes, staring at Kuno's fading form.  "I think I hit him too hard. 
  I forgot that I'm stronger than before."

"Aww, don't worry about it.  I'm sure he'll be back eventually."  Ranma 
said.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The scene is a desert.  Nothing is seen for miles except for sand, bones, 
and the occasional cliff.  Everything is calm and serene.  Nothing moves in 
this wasteland.

A high pitched whine shatters the silence.  It steadily grows in pitch and 
volume until it changes abruptly into a large thump sound.  This sound is 
due to the body of Tatewaki Kuno smashing into the desert ground face first. 
  He's knocked unconscious from the force of the impact.  A bracelet on his 
wrist flashes, sending a message to the Kuno mansion, which dispatches a 
helicopter to pick up the elder Kuno brother.

A shadow falls across Kuno's prone body.  A foot reaches out and prods him, 
rolling him over onto his back.  Hands search him, taking his wallet and the 
newspaper he's still clutching.  The picture catches the figure's eye.  It 
brings it up to its face and stares.  Recognition dawns on its features.

"So, Ranma.  After all this time, I will have my revenge on you."  The 
figure says and then strides away from Kuno.

End of Chapter



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