Hi All,

I'm back again.

Steve



*** Earth +3.182,+1.226

Ranko eyed her opponent, half hidden in the darkness of the forest they
were in. Sweat dripped down her body, droplets silently falling from
her face to the soft mulch, and her breathing was deep and even as she
waited. The night was still around them, even the cicadas quiet. The
only noises reaching her were those of her opponent breathing, in soft
gasps like her own breath now came, a sign of the intense efforts they
had made against each other so far. She had still not seen his face
clearly. Even when they engaged each other up close, his features
remained cloaked in shadow, but she knew she had to overcome him.

The boy sprang at her, one of his hands lashing out at her in a quick
punching attack. She blocked the strike and drove her knee upwards
into his belly before snaking around behind him, trying for a solid
hold. They struggled intensely, warm bodies meshed together into a
tight embrace as they battled to get leverage against each other, their
physical strength almost evenly matched. Ranko felt her opponent's
body straining against her grip, while she maneuvered her free hand to
strengthen her hold upon him. He was strong, a little stronger than
she was, and that was oddly exciting to her.

He was a few centimeters taller than she was too, she noticed, even as
she struggled as hard as she could to improve her hold and finally win
the battle raging between them. Their hot sweat mingled together as
she felt his body gathering itself for an escape. A scent tickled her
nose while she was so close to him, faintly redolent of musk. The
elbow of his free arm suddenly slammed into her ribcage, but she did
not ease up on her grip. As she quested for a better hold on him, he
tried to shake her off, and as they grappled his hand came in contact
with her breast. They both froze.

The next thing that she knew, they were both down on the ground, his
body pinned loosely beneath hers, his lips locked against her own in a
very passionate, openmouthed kiss. They still struggled, wrestling
with each other, but each now desired something other than defeat for
the other. His tongue probed into her mouth as he rolled on top of
her, setting off a firestorm of desires within her as she returned the
kiss with equal fervor. She still couldn't see his face clearly, only
a hint of a profile, a flash of dark blue eyes filled with passion to
equal her own. At some moments he wore an Academy uniform, and at
other times a Chinese-style shirt and gi pants. His hair was black and
seemed to be braided into a short queue, much like how she oftentimes
wore her own.

The deep kiss finally ended, and his lips moved down to her jaw and
then to her throat, as she felt herself gasp and sigh, softly and
lustily. Warm breath touched one of her ears as he nuzzled her there
and down her neck. She had never felt so alive before.

His lips nibbled at her earlobe. One of his hands was held fast by one
of hers, their fingers interlaced together, his palm warm against her
own. Her stroking thumb and littlest finger felt the calluses on the
edges of his hand, a clear sign of a trained martial artist. Her free
arm slowly caressed down his side, enjoying the solid musculature she
discovered there. She ran her fingers lightly through his hair as his
lips kissed her throat. Her legs were loosely wrapped around his hips.

Ranko rolled her head to one side, enjoying the pleasant feel of the
boy's lips on her neck, eliciting a sigh of pleasure from her. When
she glanced up for a moment, she noticed another figure standing
nearby, and their eyes met.

"I suppose I should be flattered you keep having this dream, Ranko,"
said Ranma Saotome dryly.


xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Quantum Destinies
A Ranma 1/2 Fanfic
By Steven Thesken (sthesken@earthlink.net)

Ranma 1/2 and its characters are owned by Rumiko Takahashi. This story
is inspired by her works and the stories from some of my fellow fanfic
authors. Among these are D.B. Sommer's "Shampoo 1/2", Jim Bader's "A
Very Scary Thought -aka- Nabiki 1/2", and John Biles' Elseworlds
series. All C&C is welcome.

Other chapters of this story may be found at this website, or you can
email the author for them:

The Quantum Destinies Homepage
http://home.earthlink.net/~sthesken/fanfics/qd.html


The list of worlds reoccurring in this chapter:
Earth 0.000,0.000 - The world of Scholar Ranma (Baseline cluster)


What has gone before in this story (or at least what will help you
understand what is going on):

On a parallel Earth that diverged from the standard Ranma timeline over
five hundred years ago, the Empire of Japan rules almost half the world
and has done so for almost a century. A young scientist named Ranma
Saotome, through a device of his invention, is now possessed of the
skills and memories of a martial artist version of himself. In the
Imperial Arena, Shampoo began integrating the memories that have been
granted her, of a life spent as a loyal soldier serving the Solnoid
Matriarchy in another timeline. After a misunderstanding, Ranma and
Kodachi shared a private moment together and exchanged a passionate but
all too brief kiss before they were interrupted. Ranma used the
resonator and visited the other Earth where his father is currently
trapped and confronted him about Project Phoenix. Kinnosuke Kashuoh
learned an unpleasant truth about himself, but it only steeled his
resolve to crush Ranma and claim Nabiki as his own. Herb and his
cronies escaped from their prison in China. Finally, Kinnosuke and his
trio of faithful catgirls battled Ranma and Nabiki, and Nabiki was
forced to unleash the Nekoken in a desperate bid for victory during the
brutal struggle against the four.


xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Chapter 21 - Yin and Yang, Part I

Romance is like a game of chess: one false move and you're mated.

- Anonymous

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx


Ranko snapped awake, the loose shirt she was wearing falling off one
shoulder a bit as she sat up quickly in bed, panting. The sounds of
the city outside drifted in through the partly open window of her hotel
room. It was a nicer one for a change, the owner of the hotel grateful
to her for helping his daughter Yuka out with some bullies, an analog
for the girl she remembered from home as one of Nabiki's cohorts. As
she sat there, she grimaced, recalling the fading bits of her recent
dream as she tried to calm herself. A sigh escaped her lips.

"Damn you, Ranma," she muttered. Her life already had more than enough
difficulties going on without this.

It was all the fault of a boy named Ranma Saotome, a male version of
herself, who had apparently been working on a means of contacting other
worlds by temporarily possessing the bodies of his analogs, and she had
been one of them. All she remembered of the experience was blacking
out for a time, and, when she came to, finding her clothes in disarray,
and she had apparently been about to undo her blouse.

"Pervert," she muttered darkly, blushing in embarrassment. Luckily,
there had not been another incident, and she had dismissed the blackout
as a sign of overwork. Then the accident in her lab had occurred, and
she had bigger problems to deal with. Nothing had seemed different
about her until quite recently, when something suddenly changed within
her, during a fight of all things.

Ranko closed her eyes, recalling that incident. Her small cache of
funds had run out before a transit to a world she was stuck on for over
two full days, an Earth ruled by militant feminists called the Solnoid
Matriarchy. Starved and desperate, she finally resorted to petty
thievery to get something to eat, sneaking into one of the pleasure
houses near a starport and swiping a few morsels of food from a table
while a party of some sort was going on. Her next transition was soon
coming up, and she wanted to at least fill her belly first.

Unfortunately, one of the guests, a uniformed Chinese girl with short,
lavender hair had spotted her, apparently taken great exception to her
theft, and given chase. Ranko recognized her from some of the worlds
she had visited so far in her travels. They ended up fighting each
other in a nearby alleyway, in what quickly turned into a pretty
vicious struggle between them, the other girl managing to press her a
bit as they both fought to gain the upper hand. Perhaps it was the
stress of the experience that triggered what happened next.

It was like something suddenly clicked into place inside her. She
found herself fighting much better than before, even without using that
strange adrenaline surge that sometimes came over her during fights of
late, like when she had battled some tricky little old pervert who had
groped her on another world, who she later learned was called Happosai.

After throwing a quick feint, her spin kick cracked across the other
girl's jaw, putting her out of commission. It had been just in time.
While the Chinese girl was still slumping to the ground, after having
bounced heavily off a nearby alley wall, Ranko had activated her device
and quickly left that world and that version of Shampoo far behind her.

However, in the days that followed, she discovered new memories within
herself, of two very different lives, both of male versions of herself.
One was from a world pretty much identical to her own, of a Science
cadet at Tokyo's Imperial Academy, and the one she blamed for messing
with her brain. The other was of a Jusenkyo-cursed martial artist, who
spent half his time as a girl that looked a lot like her, only maybe a
tiny bit shorter.

Blinking her eyes open, Ranko grumbled to think what Kaneda-baka would
say about her predicament. She knew she wasn't very feminine at the
best of times, but now she possessed memories of being male. While the
increase in her martial arts skill was really nice, things didn't end
there, not hardly.

She was now noticing other girls. Not noticing them as in admiring
their clothing choices or comparing herself to them, like how she had
viewed them before. No, now she was _noticing_ them, like a boy did a
girl, like she used to just notice boys. The other day was when she
finally realized it, when she caught herself checking out a cute girl
passing by her on the street.

Ranko cursed Ranma Saotome for doing this to her. How could he have
been so careless, for not using some kind of buffer in his device at
least? She curled her hands into tight fists. If she ever met the guy
face to face, she was going to give him a severe beating for what he
had done to her, at the very least.

Hoping to distract herself from her anger, Ranko picked up the remote
for the television. It came on with a flurry of colored snow that
quickly resolved into the late-night news.

"<...and Chancellor McCartney is still negotiating with the House of
Lords concerning the wording of the latest bill,>" said the pretty,
dark-haired newscaster in English. "<He continues to express his
support for the besieged German peoples and has threatened military
action if France continues with this aggressive course of action. In
other news...>"

Disinterested, she flipped to the next channel.

"...are seeing pictures showing the results of the latest attacks in
Kyoto," said a handsome man in Japanese. "Fear of what the Australian
regime will do next has everyone on edge. The Prime Minister has been
seen in the recent polls as a failure for..."

"Oh, great," she complained to no one in particular. "Just what I want
to see, more news." Switching the station again, she settled on the
next channel in rotation.

"...where you'll always find a friendly face prepared to fix you up a
piping-hot plate of our finest cuisine," said a smiling Ukyo Kuonji,
dressed in the traditional garb of an okonomiyaki chef and looking very
attractively feminine. "We're unveiling our tenth restaurant in the
Tokyo area this weekend, so come on down for the grand opening. We
promise our food will make you smile. So be sure to visit us at..."

"Ucchan's looking really cute," Ranko mumbled, then she hastily turned
the station again.

"...but I love you, Utena," said the handsome young actor on screen,
his facial expression one of obvious passion as he held the pink-haired
girl he was speaking to. "I simply can't deny my feelings for you any
longer."

Ranko snorted. Soap operas. Only housewives watched this stuff.

As the music swelled dramatically, the screen suddenly changed to a
station identification and a deep male voice announced, "You are now
watching 'Roses and Swords' here on Channel Six. We will be back after
a word from our sponsors."

"Pass," she said, flipping channels once again.

"...going to do, Yui?" said a concerned male voice in Japanese. On the
screen an animated drawing of a young man in a boy's school uniform was
speaking with an animated drawing of a girl dressed similarly. "Now
that they know you're really a girl, why are you still going to fight
that gang's leader? I know you're strong, but..."

"Girls can fight just as well as guys, jerk," she muttered, flipping
the television back off.

Ranko flopped back on the bed, arms spread wide on the thick quilt atop
it. It was still many hours until dawn and her next transit time, and
she needed to be as ready as possible. She closed her eyes and tried
to sleep again.

Maybe the next world would finally be home.

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

*** Earth 0.000,0.000

Home.

The word carried with it a winsome sweetness for most, especially when
one had been away from it for a long time. That sweetness became even
more poignant when one had willingly walked away from it, leaving it
behind as a sacrifice upon the altar of necessity in order to attain a
more valued prize. So it was with the individual that appeared on one
of the cliffs overlooking the valley of Jusenkyo, a young man named Mu
Tse (or Mousse as the conquerors of his people pronounced his name).

Darkness had already fallen as Mousse, dressed in worn white robes over
dark blue pants, paused to consider the scene before him, adjusting the
travelling pack he wore on his back. Thick glasses set in black frames
rested on his face, and he pushed them slightly upwards with a single
finger, letting them sit a bit higher on the bridge of his nose. The
weight of his pack seemed to lighten as he took a breath of the air,
and he imagined he could already smell the cooking fires of Joketsuzoku
village in it. He was looking forward to the end of his long journey
and the treasure he had prepared himself for years to claim.

For Mousse, that treasure, that one thing he prized above all else in
the world, was Shan Pu (or Shampoo as he had once heard an Imperial
magistrate visiting the village pronounce her name), the girl he had
adored and worshipped for as long as he could remember. For her sake
alone, he had left at age ten, leaving behind his family and his place
in the village, such as it was being a male with poor eyesight that was
not a very good fighter who lived among a group of indomitable warrior
women. To win her love, he had walked the "Path of the Outsider," a
rather obscure rite of passage described in the village laws that would
divorce him from all connections to his past, allowing him to return
after six years away and challenge any Amazon freely for her hand in
marriage, just as if he was any other outsider male.

His glasses fogged over slightly as he tried to imagine her and what
she might be like now, his one, true beloved. For six years he had
carefully crafted and sculpted that mental image, imagining Shampoo as
she would surely be when he finally returned home, a girl who was both
beautiful and strong. When his own body’s strength flagged from the
hardships of his training or his resolve weakened in the face of his
trials, he had used that precious image to continue on, pushing himself
farther and harder than would have been possible for him on his own.

"<Ah, Shan Pu,>" he murmured reverently. "<How I’ve missed you.>" He
sighed longingly for her as he became lost in his imaginings. He gazed
out across the valley without seeing it, feeling its ancient ambiance
settle upon him like a gossamer shroud. The tranquility of the scene
put him in a reflective mood, and he thought about the path he had
followed and the irascible old man who had taught him so much over the
past five years, Master Ling.

As if by magic, a single blade appeared between his fingers and then
vanished again. Mousse smiled at the ease with which he performed such
a petty trick now. Master Ling had been one of the last of the lin
kuei, an ancient order of spies and assassins dating back to the first
emperors of China. Under his tutelage, Mousse had mastered the hidden
weapon technique among many other fighting skills. So now, like his
master before him, Mousse could conjure forth a surprisingly vast
arsenal of unsuspected weaponry that was concealed about his person.

Shampoo was certain to fall before him now, and then she would become
his bride. He could feel the winds of destiny flowing around him and
guiding him on. He snapped his arm out straight, and a sword appeared
in his grip. He shrugged his shoulder, and it vanished again. A smile
lit his face. Yes, Shampoo was certain to become his now. This time
she would not be facing the same pathetic, weak boy he once was, but a
skilled warrior, one tested in battle many times during his training,
the person he had forced himself to become for her sake.

It was their destiny to be together. Yes, Mousse mused, destiny. And
no one could change the destiny they were given at birth. No, one
simply fulfilled the role fate cast for them. So it would be with him.
He would take Shampoo as his bride, for that was his destined place in
the universe. She was to be his.

Far below him, a road followed an expansive fence which blocked off the
area of the valley where the legendary springs of Jusenkyo lay. Signs
in Japanese and several of the local dialects were posted on the fence
at regular interval, each one promising harsh penalties for attempting
entrance. However, the lights that normally illuminated the fences at
night were still darkened, and no movement could be seen within.

Mousse's reverie was abruptly cut short as a rabbit burst into view
near him and ran for all it was worth past him. He tracked it with his
eyes absently, his thoughts still filled with memories, especially ones
of his beloved Shampoo. Only moments later, a human figure appeared
just as suddenly, charging after the animal at full speed, a beautiful
girl with white hair. Even as quick as his reflexes had become, Mousse
was helpless to avoid her use of him as a springboard, as she planted
her feet on his forehead, bounced off, and continued her furious chase
after her prey, never even once looking back at him.

Suddenly blown back off the edge of the cliff by her actions, Mousse
found himself tumbling end over end as he angled downwards in a long
arc. His glasses and pack flew free, and then he plunged through the
light mists towards the pools of water waiting far below. A single cry
of surprise was the only sound he made before he vanished from sight
into the darkness. A few moments later, the sound of a distant splash
could be heard.

In the gloom surrounding the pools of Jusenkyo, Mousse pulled himself
free from the waters that had broken his fall, his body feeling a bit
strange. He had lost his glasses, so he could not even see his own
hands clearly as they grasped the grass and soil at the edge of the
pool he had fallen into. He hauled himself out and lay there, gasping.

What had happened? Why did he feel so odd? He pulled out a spare pair
of his glasses from the tatters of his robe and fumbled them on with
some difficulty, allowing him to finally see himself.

No! he thought in horror. This wasn't possible! This wasn't fair!
Not when he was so close to finally winning Shampoo's love!

Mousse's roar of rage suddenly resounded through the valley.

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

Herb lifted her head when she heard an animal of some kind bellowing
and looked around briefly as she walked back to camp with the rabbit
she had been chasing in her hand. The hunt had focused her, and the
chase had been very invigorating. While she and her companions had
liberated enough in the way of supplies to last a while, there was
nothing quite like hunting and living off the land to toughen the body
and strengthen the spirit. A few more weeks of this, and the trio
would be in proper fighting trim to face anything that this world could
offer in the way of adversaries.

Well, whatever it was, it was no concern of hers. She had much bigger
game to hunt than some beast, namely locating the source point of the
resonator signal that had come from this world. Then she could contact
the Dragon Claw and her other self. And when she finally found Sage
and rescued him, then this world could burn for all she cared.

The Musk would finally have the means to break through the Solnoid
Matriarchy's jamming of the relay stations. Relays would no longer be
required, allowing them to take world after world by simply creating
legions of agents using analogs of loyal Musk soldiers. With the new
resonator technology in hand, countless worlds would be within reach,
like this one. The Matriarchy would never suspect a thing until it was
too late, and there wasn't anything they could do to try to stop it.

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

Tonight had been an incredible experience for Shampoo, and she knew she
would have trouble sleeping. Having Ensign Shan's memories within her
had given her a totally new perspective on her own life, and how good a
life it was. She had won her match, of course, maintaining her record
as an undefeated contender. It had been a little scary at first when
her much larger male opponent had first stepped into the Arena to face
her, a feeling she was not used to having, but it had transformed into
exhilaration when they had begun mixing it up.

She had been struck once in the face early on, bloodying her nose, but
that had snapped her out of the fear and replaced it with anger. She
had fought the rest of the match with intense passion, which the crowd
always loved witnessing, losing herself in the sheer joy of facing a
strong opponent. Before tonight, she had almost forgotten how much fun
it was to fight, to give it her all in fierce struggle against another.

Then, when it was over, the crowd had loudly roared their approval of
her victory as she walked off the floor, waving casually at them. She
was looking forward to facing an even stronger opponent next time.

Grinning broadly at Running Deer, Shampoo poured herself another glass
of apple juice from a plastic carafe. She recalled that she still had
to read the latest letters from her great-grandmother and her little
sisters, LinLin and RanRan, who were probably her two biggest fans. It
would be nice to hear what was going on at home, although the letters
from her great-grandmother were usually comments on where she needed to
improve in her fighting skills, with the occasional compliment thrown
in on how well she was doing at proving to the world the superiority of
Amazon fighting techniques. There was still no letter from her mother
though.

That reminded her that she needed to send some more money back to her
great-grandmother. The village needed a few things from the outside
world, which always required money, and Shampoo was happy she could
help out. Sales of her new posters and video were doing very well, and
her fan club's ranks were gradually swelling, which only meant more
money coming in. All in all, it was a little bit overwhelming at times
the way her popularity was growing throughout the Empire, but it was
very nice too. She was getting a sack of fan mail every week, but her
inability to read Japanese very well had limited her enjoyment of it.

Running Deer had won her own match tonight as well, the debut of one of
the new hopefuls out of Hong Kong's Arena. After their matches, they
celebrated by eating dinner in one of the local restaurants, and then
they went back to Shampoo's small apartment to watch some television
together and enjoy a private toast to their victories. It was now a
regular ritual between them, one that began when they had first become
friends, when Shampoo had arrived in Tokyo for her own debut match in
the Imperial Arena a few months ago.

That was also when she had first met the Korean girl, Mina Li, Shampoo
mused. Mina had been in Japan for only a month then, but her fame and
popularity were already growing, since she gave a good, if rather
brutal, show on the floor. She was the one selected to face Shampoo
when the Amazon made her own debut in Tokyo's Imperial Battledome, and
it had been advertised as a match of titans. Both of them were hot
commodities with undefeated records at the time, so the pairing was
played up by the media a lot.

While it had been a fairly challenging match, Shampoo had not doubted
the outcome after the first ten seconds of exchanging blows with Mina,
and she had left the Korean girl face down on the floor of the Arena in
under a minute. The crowd had been utterly stunned at the speed of her
victory, and Mina took that humiliating loss bitterly, having been
unexpectedly torn down from her previously unchallenged rise to the top
of the ranks of female fighters.

Running Deer had been the first to come up to Shampoo as she exited the
main combat floor and welcome her to the ranks of those who fought in
the Imperial Arena, even taking her out to one of the local restaurants
to celebrate with some of the other contenders. Ever since then, the
tall Apache girl and the Chinese Amazon had become the best of friends.
Running Deer reminded her of an Amazon in many ways, with an enjoyment
towards life and a passion for giving her best in a match that was
invigorating to be around.

Mina had lost her next two matches before she regained her pacing, by
beating her opponent to death. It was a renewed Mina Li who had then
walked off the Arena floor that night, splattered with the blood of the
other girl, the roar of the crowd filling the Battledome. She had
never forgiven Shampoo for winning against her so easily, not that the
Amazon particularly cared after seeing such a grim spectacle as that
other girl's fate, or the look Mina had directed her way as she passed
by her without a word. The message was clear.

"So what's with your mood tonight, Shampoo?" Running Deer took another
drink, finishing off her bottle. "You really got a charge out of your
match it seems."

"Shampoo just happy," she announced, leaning back on the couch and
taking a sip from her glass as she thought about more pleasant things
than a certain Korean girl. "Shampoo have good life and good friends."
She could have been drinking something alcoholic like Running Deer was,
but she preferred to keep her wits about her. The Amazon watched with
an amused look on her face as her friend popped open a fresh bottle,
her second for the night, and quickly took a deep drink from it.

"Yeah! That's the stuff!" Running Deer flopped back on to the couch,
her bosom bouncing nicely within the tight black T-shirt emblazoned
with the Tokyo Battledome logo she wore over cutoff bluejeans, and she
kicked her bare feet up on to the table. "I gotta say one thing for
the Impies. They can sure make a damn good beer. You should taste
some of the local swill they've got in bars in Angel City back home.
It's piss in a bottle compared to this."

Shampoo grinned, relaxing on her side of the couch in a set of light
purple silk pajamas. Her own feet were up on the table too as she
sighed and stretched, feeling her muscles loosen. The movie they had
watched tonight was good, a sappy martial arts-filled love story that
had left both of them crying by the end of it. She listened to Running
Deer start chattering about the latest gossip on their peers, nodding
absently.

One new thing lately was that the Apache girl had been keeping tabs on
the new boy, Ryu Kumon, and she had even been running interference for
him now and then. He had only been here a few days, but he was having
trouble fitting in. That was understandable. The Arena was a hard
world to live in. Shampoo counted herself fortunate in having made
several friends so far, even with those she had beaten in matches. Of
those, Running Deer was her best friend, a better friend than any girl
had ever been to her while growing up in her home village.

Unfortunately, Ryu was not proving himself lucky that way, not that
Shampoo felt responsible for his situation. He had faced her in battle
and lost, by his own choice. He had been keeping to himself a lot as
his injuries healed, so he had no allies right now except for Running
Deer. And it was pretty obvious from the start to Shampoo that the
Apache girl liked him, but she kept getting tongue-tied and calf-eyed
whenever she was around him. So, instead of talking to him properly,
she would just follow him around like a puppy, protecting him as best
she could while he healed.

Because he was Japanese, the less savory fighters in the Arena's ranks
had singled Ryu out for their abuse, especially their unspoken leader,
Tarou, Mina's current steady boyfriend. As the undefeated champion
among the male fighters, the Chinese boy had shown an immense ego, and
he enjoyed bullying other people whenever he could. It made him a
perfect match for Mina, and the Amazon found it difficult to say which
of them she despised more lately. While he was quite handsome, Shampoo
found his personality repulsive, and she hoped someone showed up to put
Tarou in his place soon, before she had to do it herself.

While Running Deer continued to ramble on, Shampoo sipped her juice and
nodded at the right moments to show she was listening. But her mind
had already begun to drift to her mission again. She knew she was
going to have to begin her search for any clues to the source of that
resonator signal soon. There was no telling where the Muskys might
have gone on this world, or what they were up to, so she had to find it
first. She could not let them beat her to it.

When the Huntress reported in at headquarters, the Matriarchy would
surely station a ship on patrol there, in the timeline tangent where
they had first detected the incoming signal. It had been pure blind
luck that they had found it, and the Musk vessel, when they had been so
far from the frontlines. The Huntress had been performing a random
jump exercise to give the crew experience in dealing with such things,
not actively hunting for Musk activity.

To discover another timeline variant that had apparently managed to
develop resonator technology on its own was an added bonus to the
situation. To Shampoo's knowledge, other than the Matriarchy itself,
only the Musk had ever shown knowledge of such technology until now.
To have discovered another resonator-capable culture was an historic
event, even if they were a patriarchal-based society instead of a
properly matriarchal order. But despite such a flaw, they seemed less
objectionable than the misogynistic Musk Dynasty and could likely be
indoctrinated eventually into a more healthy social dynamic, one where
women made the decisions instead of hormonally-driven males.

There had to be a vessel there, she decided, otherwise her mission was
already a failure. For without anyone there to listen for her, the
odds were slim that she would ever be able to even find the Matriarchy
again in her lifetime, not with countless millions upon millions of
inhabited timelines to choose from. No, she decided, she had nothing
to worry about. After the Musk vessel was destroyed, the Huntress
would have immediately initiated a phase translation towards home. Her
other self was undoubtedly there already, with a fresh kill on her
record and enjoying the camaraderie of her shipmates in some port bar.

Shampoo sipped her drink and thought about how she was going to locate
the resonator signal source on this world. It wasn't going to be easy,
but she was a Joketsuzoku Amazon, and quitting was not in her nature.
Somewhere out there was the prize she sought, those who had crafted a
new development in resonator technology with such incredible range.
She would not give up, no matter where her search took her, or to who.

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

Ranma slowly stirred to consciousness. With a groan, he realized that
he was laying on something hard and cold, but there was also something
soft and warm next to him. His mind was still a bit fogged from his
injuries, and he could not recall immediately where he was or how he
had gotten there. He reached out a hand to try and determine what it
was he was laying against, and the first thing he encountered was
something soft and rather squishy in feel, covered in cloth. Puzzled
by the odd sensations, he gently squeezed it as he opened his eyes,
trying to figure out what it was, and why it felt so pleasant to touch.

Feeling someone suddenly groping her breast and squeezing it, Nabiki's
eyes snapped open in surprise, at the exact same moment that Ranma's
were opening more slowly. She blinked once as her brain engaged, and
then her expression hardened. Her response was as quick as it was
brutal.

"Ow!" Ranma yelped, as Nabiki reared up and then planted her fist into
his face. When she pulled it back, he demanded, "What the hell did ya
do that for?" He rolled over on to his back and held a hand to his
jaw, a fresh bruise on his cheek. "That hurt, ya know!"

"Good!" Nabiki snapped, sitting up and putting some distance between
her and Ranma. "Keep your hands to yourself, Saotome."

Nabiki's body ached in a multitude of places, and it took her a few
moments to remember where she was. The last thing she could recall was
when Panther shoved a cat into her face. She suddenly began to shiver
and forced herself to stop.

Ignoring Ranma for the moment, she began checking her injuries, wincing
a bit at the pains of the bruises on her body. It felt like someone
had beaten her with a sledgehammer, but nothing seemed broken, which
was a relief. Ranma appeared to be much worse off than she was, she
noted, glancing at him briefly, and she felt a slight twinge of guilt
for punching him while he was in such a state.

Meanwhile, Ranma sat up gingerly, feeling like his entire body was one
big bruise. He winced as he felt several sharp pains in his chest, and
he touched his ribs gently. He grunted at the resulting pain, causing
Nabiki to look over at him again.

"What's the matter with you?" she asked, her tone still a little harsh.
"I didn't hit you that hard."

"I think it's my ribs." Ranma slowly lifted his shirt and was dismayed
to see several broad contusions on his chest, black and purple in
color. It hurt a bit to breathe, but he was relieved that nothing
seemed to be broken. He had broken ribs and other bones before during
training, so he knew what that felt like. Actually, one of the other
Ranma's had, he amended. While his chest hurt a lot, the pain wasn't
bad enough to indicate a break. "That psycho Kashuoh jerk really got
me good. I almost had him."

The bitterness of losing was almost as bad as the fierce aches still
racking his body. He looked away from Nabiki as memories of the fight
came to him. Despite the anger and regret he felt over losing, he
could still feel a dim echo of the fierce joys of the boost, and how
much the fight had thrilled him. It bothered him to realize how much
he had changed inside, how easily he could cast aside the joy he had
once taken in his studies, replacing it with this undeniable glow he
felt in physical competition.

No, not just physical competition, it was fighting that excited him,
and he realized how little he differed from Akane in that regard,
knowing how much she loved to fight. Suddenly, he felt he understood
the youngest Tendo a little better. He was certain that his eyes had
burned with the same fire he had often seen fill Akane's, and also
Nabiki's eyes. He had felt an intensity to life when fighting, one he
was growing more used to. And when he boosted, the sensations were
magnified manyfold, that thrill burning like a fire within him, like a
previously unlit candle existing within his heart suddenly igniting.

Nabiki had been a bit startled at hearing Kinnosuke's name from Ranma.
But suddenly everything made sense now, since the Kashuoh heir's three
biomechanical playthings had been the ones who had worked her over
pretty good. She cursed herself for totally overlooking him as a
possibility for her mysterious enemy, for letting him manage to fly
beneath her radar. He certainly had the money and the resources to do
it. But why would someone with all that money and power want to take
control of her network on campus? For that matter, why attack Ranma?

"Why would he attack you?" She tried to stand, and her knees wobbled,
forcing her to lean on Ranma for a moment to keep her balance. She
still seemed to be in a slight bit of shock from the damage, she
realized. She heard him suck in a breath at the sudden strain she put
on him, but he didn't utter a complaint.

"I dunno," said Ranma with a grunt, when she finally eased up on her
leaning on him, finding himself slipping into rougher speech patterns
again as he continued to pull himself together. He forced himself to
stand up as well, taking it slowly. "Man, you're heavier than you
look."

That remark earned him a quick fist into the face.

"Ow! What the hell did ya hit me for now?" Ranma held his nose,
hoping she hadn't broken it.

"First you grope me, and now you're calling me fat?"

"I never said that! I just said you're heavier than you look."

Another solid punch impacted into Ranma's face.

"Ow! Quit hitting me, damn it! You're gonna give me a concussion!"
There was an odd feeling of deja vu to the whole experience as Ranma
rubbed his face, but he was not sure why. "Man, not only are you
bossy, but you're at least as violent as Akane."

Nabiki glared at him and debated punching him in the face again. "Stop
making stupid remarks, and I'll stop hitting you. You brought it on
yourself." She huffed and turned away from him, irritated with herself
for letting Ranma get to her like that. She made an effort to regain
her usual cool poise and reign in her flare of temper. Why was Ranma
being so irritating? Why couldn't he be like that other Nabiki's Ranma
was? Sure, that one was a little rough around the edges at times, but
at least he didn't insult her analog and was certainly nicer than the
jerk next to her was.

Ranma grumbled under his breath, but he decided to leave well enough
alone for now. Three blows to the face in under a minute was giving
him a severe headache and rattling his thoughts, making it difficult to
stop himself from acting like his martial artist analogs. He still
kept feeling strong deja vu about the whole thing for some reason, as
if he had been in almost this exact same conversation somewhere, most
likely with some other world's Akane.

He shrugged. It was probably best to avoid making any more comments
about Nabiki within her hearing, even though he still didn't have the
slightest idea why what he had said could have made her mad enough to
hit him. Maybe he would talk to Ukyo about it sometime and get her
opinion.

As Nabiki walked in front of him, she stumbled a bit, but he caught her
before she could fall. They ended up leaning heavily upon each other
for support for a few moments, before abruptly letting go and moving
apart, neither one wanting to admit to any sort of weakness in front of
the other. Ranma decided to change the subject back to something safer
for him.

"Anyway, he just kept ranting about how I'd gotten in the way of his
plans for you. That he was going to-" He paused at that point and
looked away from her, his hands clenching into fists at his sides. "He
said he was going to hurt you."

"And you fought him for me, to protect me." Nabiki studied Ranma as he
stood there in front of her, feeling a fresh surge of annoyance with
him at the thought of someone else believing she needed defending. It
made her sound weak, like she couldn't handle her own fights. She
frowned at the whole notion, as her emotions swirled from a mixture of
that other Nabiki's fierce martial artist pride and the 'Iron Bitch'
persona she had crafted so long for herself. Her right hand clenched
into a fist at her side, but then it relaxed back open as she forced
herself to calm down. "I didn't need your help, Ranma," she finally
said.

"Hey!" Ranma snapped, glaring briefly at Nabiki. "The guy attacked me!
He trapped me in a room full of damn c-c-cats, and then he attacked
me!" He moved to stand right in front of Nabiki as he shouted at her,
feeling frustrated by her attitude, as if the fight was somehow all his
fault. The two of them glared at each other as they stood toe to toe,
Nabiki remaining grimly silent. He then looked away when he was done.
"Anyway, I didn't do it for you. Let's just be straight about that."

Nabiki sighed as she suddenly realized what she was doing, how twisted
up her feelings were getting at the moment. Was it always going to be
this difficult between them? This tense? She had proven in their last
fight that she was his better, restoring herself to her proper place
after the brief aberration that had occurred after her loss to him in
their first duel with each other. She felt again that part of her that
wished Ranma was more like the one she was familiar with, the one her
other self had as her fiancé.

The one who had been willing to stand in her shadow, she mused, turning
to look at Ranma with a new regard in her gaze. No, the Ranma before
her now wasn't like him at all, wasn't content to be her... inferior.
Instead, this Ranma had memories of experiences like hers, of ten years
spent travelling with Genma Saotome, of undergoing trials and training
methods that would turn him into a superior fighter. She knew he would
keep pressing her, striving and struggling with her to surpass her in
skill, a true rival in the Art, because that hunger to be the best was
now in his nature.

Nabiki knew just how good Ranma was in a fight, and she was genuinely
intrigued by the sheer challenge he presented her, something her other
self had never known with her version of Ranma. In fact, her other
self had never really had any rivals in the Art to match skills
against. So the thought of having him with her, both as a husband and
as a rival, watching her back and also competing with her as they drove
each other onwards to ever greater levels of skill, felt pretty good,
even kind of exciting. But she couldn't bring herself to say it aloud,
her stubborn pride refusing to let her give in to him even that much,
so she changed the subject instead.

"It's getting late," she said finally, glancing at her watch and seeing
that it was nearly ten at night. They must have been unconscious for
several hours now. "Let me take you to someone I know who can fix us
both up and keep it quiet. Then I'm going home to a bath and some
sleep."

"Is it Dr. Tofu?" Ranma asked with a sudden look her way, remembering
the man from two versions of his life. He was taken for a moment by
how cute Nabiki was in profile, even as bloodied and bruised as she was
right now. He quickly attempted to banish the thought. She was not
cute. It was only a biological imperative speaking, his brain reacting
to her pheromones due to the symbiotes within them both, nothing more.

Reminded about the symbiotes, Ranma briefly wondered if Nabiki knew
about Project Phoenix. She most likely did, seeing who her father was,
but now wasn't really a good time to talk about such things. Visiting
Dr. Tofu would be a better use of the time, if he wanted to be able to
move at all in the morning. He could always feel her out later about
what she might know about the Project.

Nabiki glanced at him and nodded, quickly realizing that Ranma must
have known of the man from one of his analogs. "He married Kasumi
about a year ago." She then looked away from Ranma, feeling somewhat
embarrassed to remember the crush she had once had on Tofu, back when
he had first become engaged to marry Kasumi. It was the first time she
could recall feeling such a strong physical attraction to a man, like
she did towards Ranma. Akane had felt it as well.

It had been something they had shared in private conversations with
each other. They had both been a bit envious of their eldest sister
for marrying a handsome doctor like Tofu Ono, but happy for her as
well. It had only been a little over a year now, but it felt like
forever.

Nabiki forcibly turned her mind away from thoughts of Akane, and her
mind was still regrettably blank on how she would explain her recent
engagement to Ranma to her little sister. She was certain that Akane
wasn't going to take it very well when she found out, no matter how she
presented it. So she would wait a while longer to tell her, when she
felt she had the proper words to do so. That would be for the best.

"Anyway," she said, moving away from Ranma and slowly making her way
down the hallway to the front door. "I'm sure we can trust him to fix
us up and keep it to himself. I don't want Daddy getting involved with
this. It's my problem." She felt her body aching with every step.

"Nabiki," Ranma spoke up suddenly behind her. "There's something you
should know about your father."

"What?" She turned back to face him, her look questioning.

Ranma couldn't meet his eyes, feeling a fresh wave of guilt for the
chain of events he had unintentionally set into motion on the day of
his father's accident. "Genma constructed another resonator unit. He
used it on your father."

She suddenly surged forward and grasped him strongly by the collar of
his shirt, and he looked up to see her glaring at him, their faces now
only inches apart.

"What did you say?!" she demanded.

Ranma swallowed. As he looked into her eyes, he thought she was going
to hit him again, but he didn't drop his gaze and met hers steadily.
"Genma switched your father for the one from the timeline where he came
from. It happened a day or two ago, I think." He then put his hands
on hers, beginning to pull them free of his shirt when she suddenly let
go. He was startled when Nabiki's shoulders slumped, her head drooping
down.

"No," she whispered hollowly, having seen the truth in his eyes. Brief
images of her father flashed across her vision as she stood there, of
his strength, his courage, and his willpower. She suddenly whipped her
face back up, glaring at Ranma fiercely. "How could he even think of
something like this? This is Genma Saotome we're talking about. If
he's anything like the man I know, he's an idiot!"

Seeing Ranma's eyes suddenly fill with compassion, the strength of her
fury tempered itself, and she dropped her hands to her side as she
looked at the ground. Her father had always been the one thing she
could depend on in her life, after her mother died. He was the stern
patriarch of their family, the one person in this world she had always
respected and could always count on to be strong, no matter what the
world threw at them. And now that foundation was gone, taken from her,
replaced by a much different Soun Tendo, one like the weak man of her
counterpart's life, maybe even far worse. Tears of rage began to roll
down her cheeks as she shut her eyes, her body beginning to tremble as
her fury built again, a fury at Genma Saotome messing over her life,
like the Genma her other self knew had so often done.

"We'll get him back, Nabiki," Ranma said firmly, putting a hand on her
left shoulder and squeezing companionably, absently noting its lithe
solidity under her clothing, a result of their intensive training so
far. He was certain her body would only get stronger and more capable
at fighting, as his own was doing, as their muscles continued to gain
in strength and their flexibility improved, becoming better able to
perform the maneuvers that their brains knew.

Nabiki had already improved enough to master the Amaguriken technique.
While it gave Nabiki a slight advantage at present, he was certain he
could match her speed, given time. He had to. He was not about to let
her advance beyond him, not in this life, not ever.

"You're damn right we're going to get him back, Ranma," she said slowly
as she lifted her face to look at him once again. "We're going to get
them both back, no matter what it takes."

Ranma was surprised to see the tears on her cheeks, underscoring the
determined set of her jaw and mouth. As far as he knew, nobody at the
Academy had ever seen her like this. Nabiki Tendo was near legendary
for her ability to maintain a stoic composure and remain in control of
a situation, no matter what. So it was a slight shock for him to
realize that inside the hard shell she always projected was a girl with
feelings and passions, that this was the same person who had coolly
beaten him up in a fight only days ago. He nodded as they looked at
each other.

Nabiki suddenly felt a bit ashamed of herself, for showing weakness
like this to anyone, let alone him. She was the Iron Bitch of the
Imperial Academy, and to show tears in front of Ranma, her rival, the
guy she had taken down in a fight only a few days previous, offended
her pride. But she just couldn't seem to bring herself to push him
away, to reassert that role, her pride be damned.

They stood like that for some time, Ranma's hand gently squeezing her
shoulder supportively, gazing at each other with a quiet intensity
there in the dimness of the hallway. Ranma felt tears of his own
welling upwards in his eyes, realizing that they had both lost their
fathers in a way, that they had that in common. He tried to regain
control of himself, not wanting to appear unmanly in front of her.

Nabiki was the first to break eye contact. "You tell anyone about
this, and I'll kill you, Saotome," she muttered. She heard Ranma
chuckle for a moment as the tension between them lifted a bit, and she
felt a moment of irritation that he might have been laughing at her.

"I believe you, Nabiki," Ranma said sincerely after a pause. "Your
secret is safe with me."

She lifted her face and looked at him again, intending to laugh with
him at the situation they were in. Their gazes met for a moment, and
time seemed to stop for each of them. Nabiki felt her breath catch in
her throat.

Nabiki was barely in the lead to look away first, her heart pounding in
her chest, a bit overwhelmed by what she was suddenly feeling inside.
She had almost kissed him. No, they had almost kissed each other. She
turned away from Ranma as she wiped away her already drying tears, her
mind shying away from that thought to a sudden concern about her
appearance.

After suffering a beating a few hours ago and a brief bout of crying
just now, she was certain she looked like a horrible mess, and she half
expected Ranma to make some more smart-mouthed remarks. But even as
her mind sought to block it out with such concerns, to not deal with
it, she could remember when she had impulsively kissed him. He had
been unconscious at the time, during his accident with the resonator,
the one that had left him linked for most of a day to his analog in the
world where Professor Saotome was still trapped. Since he wasn't aware
of it, it didn't really count.

Boys had always been far too afraid of her, or her father, to come near
her and try to pursue a romantic relationship, at least until recently,
thinking about Kuno and Toga. Kuno she could dismiss right away, but
there was something about Toga that was interesting to her. He had a
certain quality to him that appealed to her strongly, as well as being
a marvelously handsome boy.

However, she actually wanted her first real kiss to be with Ranma, and
she felt shocked at how easily that thought occurred, and how natural.
It had almost happened now, but the circumstances were all wrong. Both
of them were too stressed right now.

Nabiki forcibly slowed her breathing. When she finally regained some
control over herself, she glanced at him out of the corner of her eye,
just as he looked her way at the same moment. Both of them quickly
blushed and turned their gazes away from each other again, and Nabiki's
breath caught in her throat again.

"A-anyway," said Ranma, feeling uncomfortable at the situation, unsure
what had almost possessed him to kiss Nabiki, wondering what it would
feel like to have her lips pressed against his. So what did that mean?
Did he like her? Maybe he did, a little bit, he finally conceded.

He put his hand up behind his head and rested it there a moment, a
nervous gesture he had inherited from his other selves. "We should get
going," he managed to finish.

While he acknowledged he felt a definite physical attraction towards
the middle Tendo daughter, Ranma still couldn't decide how much he
liked the person she was, or if he really even did like her at all,
beyond what his hormones were controlling. She was supposed to be his
fiancée, but they weren't exactly even friends yet. They were unlikely
allies at best, thrown together by chance. But the intense passions
conjured up within him during that brief moment when they had looked at
each other had thrown his mind into turmoil, filling it with many more
questions than answers. He backed away from her, hoping some distance
would clear his thoughts.

"Right," Nabiki quickly agreed, feeling her own confusion flaring up as
well. "Let's go." She took a few steps and then paused a moment, her
thoughts still shying away from thinking about kissing him and what it
might mean in order to focus on something easier. "Ranma?" Her tone
became a bit fiercer. "I want to deal with this Kinnosuke creep
myself. I want him to know he's picked a fight with the wrong girl,
him and his three overbuilt playthings. Just so you understand, I want
you to stay out of it. Okay?"

"Hey, I owe the guy too," Ranma protested as he caught up with her.
They began walking side by side. "I owe him big." Nabiki only grunted
at him in reply, feeling irritated again at his continual defiance of
her requests.

Luckily, when they got outside, they saw that the rain had stopped,
leaving behind numerous puddles to reflect the stars and the moon in a
now cloudless sky. They both sagged a bit when they reached the door,
and they helped hold each other up. Neither of them thought anything
of it this time. Nabiki glanced down at Ranma's feet.

"Where are your shoes?" she asked, curious.

"I must have lost them in the fight, or when I was brought upstairs, I
guess." He looked down at his feet, a bit distracted by the feelings
generated by holding his arm around Nabiki. Well, to be fair, she was
holding him up as much as he was supporting her, he thought. "I have
an extra pair in my locker. I'll go get them, and then we can go to
Tofu-sensei's place."

Nabiki sighed again. "That's going to be a long walk." It felt nice
to hold each other like this, she mused absently, deciding to tolerate
it for the time being.

"Gotcha covered," Ranma said with a grin, pulling his new set of keys
out of a pocket and jingling them in front of her. "I'll give you a
ride."

"With what?"

"I've got a motorcycle," he replied, as they started to head towards
the main academy building.

Nabiki's gaze narrowed slightly. "And where did you get that from?"

"Uh, I got it as a present from Kodachi's father," he said, and then he
felt Nabiki stop walking.

"I see." Nabiki's tone was calm, but irritation seared within her. It
was just like the nobility to try and buy loyalty with money or gifts.
Her thoughts flickered briefly to Toga again for a moment, and she
blushed, wondering why she had thought of him. Did she hope he might
send her a present? It would leave her indebted to him, and Nabiki did
not care to ever be in anyone's debt. She was grateful that Ranma
wasn't looking at her face at that moment as she fought down the sudden
blush that thoughts of Toga were causing her.

A few minutes after they had retrieved Ranma's spare shoes from his
locker, they were speeding along the road on his new motorcycle, Nabiki
sitting astride it behind him, her arms around him as the wind rushed
through her hair. It was an exhilarating sort of feeling. She leaned
up against his back, finding herself enjoying being this close to him.

Ranma's injuries were hampering his abilities to drive, so he took it
easy as they drove through the town. He glanced down at Nabiki's arms,
her hands locked firmly together at his waist, feeling her body pressed
up against him from behind. He felt the familiar tingles of desire for
her run up and down his spine at the contact, even over the pains of
his injuries.

Ranma still wasn't sure he liked her, but maybe that was because he was
not letting himself get to know her as she was now, instead of holding
on to the image of her former self, the Iron Bitch, or those other
versions of her that his counterparts knew. She could be nice, he
suspected, but they seemed to keep rubbing each other the wrong way.
Nabiki was almost a year older than him, but he suspected she was
feeling just as confused by all that had happened as he was. But he
could not bring himself to talk to her about it. He wasn't even sure
how to broach the subject.

Sighing once, Ranma leaned forward a little and concentrated on his
driving. He would give some consideration as to how he should deal
with this. He was sure some logical thought would give him an answer.
Maybe he would have another one of those dreams and talk to Ranko about
the matter. As it was, he was coming up empty on his own.

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

Miyuki and Natsumi were sitting in their parked patrol car, enjoying
some fresh pork buns on their break, when Ranma and Nabiki sped by in
front of them.

"Those kids looks like they're out kind of late on a school night,"
Natsumi commented, sitting up straight as she tossed the last bit of
her pork bun into her mouth.

"Saves us from a slow shift." Miyuki grinned as she started the engine
and pulled out of the side alley they had been parked in. She eyed the
pair receding away from them down the road, and her eyes glinted for a
moment in anticipation of the chase. She floored the accelerator and
switched on the lights. "Hang on."

Ranma blinked as he noticed the lights and siren quickly approaching in
his right rearview mirror. He glanced at the speedometer, which read
comfortably within the speed limit, and he was puzzled why they were
being followed by a Peaceforcer vehicle. "We've got company," he said
over his shoulder.

Glancing back behind them, Nabiki grimaced. This wasn't going to look
good. Both of them had obviously been in a fight, and were covered
with cuts, scrapes, and bruises. She turned back. "Better pull over
and let me do the talking," she suggested.

Ranma nodded and pulled the motorcycle over to the side of the road,
only realizing then that he was driving without a license. He had
never been in trouble with the authorities before. He felt a cold
sweat come over him and swallowed nervously as the patrol car quickly
slid up behind them. The siren switched off, but the lights were left
flashing as the occupants got out, both carrying flashlights. Even
through the glare of the beams shining on them, he could tell that they
were both women, the one on the driver side coming up with her hand
resting casually on the butt of her service pistol as she flipped open
a ticket book with her free hand. The other one was remaining by the
patrol car, but he could feel her watching them closely.

"Is there a problem, officer?" Nabiki asked pleasantly.

"Let's see some ID, kids," Miyuki said professionally as she stopped
next to them, shining her light over them. Upon seeing their beaten-up
condition, her eyes narrowed a bit. "What happened to the two of you?"

Nabiki pulled her Academy ID out of her pocket, handed it over, and
then replied calmly, "We had a little accident is all. We're on our
way home now."

Miyuki grunted, having heard the same thing from countless gang kids
before, and many of them came from good families. Her opinion of the
pair dropped as she took Ranma’s proffered ID as well. "License?"

"The idiot forgot it at home," Nabiki lied smoothly. She bapped him on
the head as Ranma tried a sheepish grin to look more innocent.

Miyuki paused as she saw the name on Nabiki's ID card. "Tendo?" she
asked, looking at Nabiki more closely. "Any relation to Soun Tendo?"

"He's my father," Nabiki said calmly.

Miyuki nodded. "You kids wait here. I'll be right back." With a calm
look, she headed back to the patrol car. Inside, her heart thudded in
her chest. She had just stopped Soun Tendo's daughter, the daughter of
the man who was thought by many to be first in line to become the new
Director of Imperial Security when the current one finally retired.
She sat down in the car, her hands shaking a little as she pulled out
the computer's keypad and started to tap in their ID numbers out of
reflex.

"What's the matter, Miyuki?" asked Natsumi in curiosity, taking her
eyes off the couple on the motorcycle to look into the car. Her
partner looked rather pale.

"That's Soun Tendo's daughter on the back of that bike." Miyuki looked
back at her partner. "She looks like she's been in a fight though, and
so does the guy with her. They might be involved in one of the local
gangs."

Natsumi whistled softly. Soun Tendo was a name a lot farther up the
bureaucratic food chain than they were. If his daughter was hooked up
in some kind of gang trouble, this could break his career. On the
other hand, that sort of scandal could get squashed rather quickly,
along with anyone who could report such a scandal.

"So what are we going to do?"

Miyuki thought for a moment, then said, "We're going to do everything
by the book." She went back to keying in their ID numbers. Ranma’s
file came up first, and she noted that he had just been issued his
license that day, through some kind of special permit. His record was
absolutely clean of any criminal activity, without any trouble with the
authorities listed, hardly the profile of a troubled kid.

She started to input Nabiki’s ID number, a bead of sweat forming on her
forehead from her nervousness.

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

Hinako Ninomiya relaxed in her car as she drove home, listening to the
radio playing one of Mozart's symphonies. Work had been stressful, and
rumors were starting to fly around that Director Sagara was going to be
making his announcement of retirement in the near future, which had
placed every upper-level bureaucrat in the Directorate on alert. If
that happened, there was going to be a major shakeup in the power
structure, after the Emperor and his inner council chose a new leader
to head up the agency. So, to relieve her tensions, she had visited
with Major Rokubungi, an unannounced one, finding him alone in his
office at Furinkan Academy as sunset faded.

The subsequent encounter on his desk had taken a little bit of the edge
off of her, and more had been dealt with at his apartment over the past
several hours. While she was still feeling a bit unsatisfied, she had
left him asleep on his bed after having taken all that he could give
her, enjoyed a long, steaming hot shower, dressed, and then left his
place without a word of goodbye. That was the way it was between them,
and it suited them both quite well.

What concerned her most was that the only person who had been quite
noticeably unconcerned with Directorate politics lately was Soun Tendo,
and he had begun letting his caseloads slide. His underlings reported
that he was more interested in this engagement going on between his
middle daughter and the Saotome boy for the past couple of days. Such
a breech in his character meant he was up to something clever, she was
certain of it.

Soun Tendo, no matter how she despised him, was no fool. No, he had to
know something. Could it be that he already knew he was going to be
selected as the next Security Director? Why else would he be acting so
calm about it? That could explain the recent change in his demeanor,
an attempt to throw his rivals off the scent. If he was to become the
new Security Director, that meant he had the trust of the Emperor
himself. That represented tremendous power in the Empire.

It would also mean that she would be under his command, she thought
unhappily, her fingers whitening as her grip tightened on the steering
wheel. If that happened, he could crush her ambitions, even block her
off from her plans for Ranma, and she was not about to lose such an
opportunity. She had been reading the files Ranma had been kind enough
to unknowingly decrypt for her, and the details of Project Phoenix were
proving to be fascinating material. The improvements that were caused
by the Eucharist symbiote matched her own abilities far too closely to
be coincidence, so she had taken a sample of her own blood to be tested
by a technician she controlled in the one of the Directorate's biolabs.

In a few days, she would know if there were any pathogens matching the
Eucharist's characteristics within her body. Regrettably, she would
have to quickly eliminate the technician in question once she had her
answer, to prevent any leaks, but years of experience dealing with men
and their weakness for a beautiful woman had taught her that they were
nothing more than an infinitely replaceable commodity, to be disposed
of as necessary. However, she mused, Ranma Saotome might prove to be
an exception to that rule, and maybe the first male to truly satisfy
her physical needs, since he was the first like herself she had ever
discovered.

An almost predatory smile brushed across her lips at the notion. It
had been a long time since she had felt this sort of anticipation about
spending time with a man (or boy in Ranma's case). Well, she mused,
she would make him a man soon enough, and she was confident that it
would only take a little coaxing on her part. She chuckled at that.

Hinako turned the corner to the street her apartment high-rise was on,
and she was surprised at who she saw sitting astride a motorcycle with
some girl who was vaguely familiar to her for some reason, parked over
by the side of the road. A Peaceforcer patrol car sat behind them, its
red and blue lights flashing. She started to drive past when an idea
came to her, and she pulled her car over to stop in front of Ranma's
parked motorcycle.

Miyuki looked up as the strange car came to a halt. She got out of the
patrol vehicle, and so did Natsumi. The two glanced at each other for
a moment, unsure what to make of this. The license plates on the car
were Security Directorate issue.

Ranma and Nabiki watched as a rather stunning beauty of a woman emerged
from the car that had stopped in front of them, dressed in the familiar
gray uniform of a female Security officer. She was rather tall, with
long legs that seemed to draw Ranma's eyes to what he could see of them
below her knee-length skirt, and a generous bustline. Her hair was
worn long and hung straight down her back, ending a little below her
shoulders in a lustrous wave.

"Hinako Ninomiya," Nabiki whispered, her voice sounding hollow, sudden
memories surfacing of the woman, brought in as a special disciplinarian
in order to impose order at Furinkan High School in that other world,
shortly before the memories of that life had been downloaded into her.
Normally, that other Hinako appeared as a child, but she could grow to
look exactly like the woman in front of them after draining chi energy
from a human. But Nabiki also knew of her in this world, from studying
who was who among the top brass of the Security Directorate. This
situation she found herself in with Ranma had suddenly turned worse.

Ranma glanced back at Nabiki, wondering why she had sounded almost awed
when she said that name. She was just sitting there staring as the
tall woman strode forward, her heels clicking on the pavement as she
started to walk past them. Then she paused and glanced at them.

"I'll take care of this, you two," said Hinako with a neutral look, her
gaze briefly studying their appearance, noting their battered condition
with mild interest. Now that she was closer, she could tell that the
girl with Ranma was Nabiki Tendo. She eyed Nabiki and smiled coyly.
"Consider this a favor to your father, Tendo-san." Then she continued
on past them, her heels clicking as she reached into her jacket pocket
and casually pulled out her ID.

"Whatever it is you stopped them for, please forget about it," Hinako
said firmly to both women, flipping open the leather case and showing
her badge and ID. "This is Security Directorate business, so I'll take
it from here, ladies."

Miyuki and Natsumi blinked once, and then they pulled up straight and
snapped crisp salutes to Hinako. After receiving a brief nod from her
acknowledging the salutes, Miyuki hastily handed Ranma and Nabiki’s ID
cards over to Hinako. The pair got back in their patrol car and drove
away. Miyuki watched the scene receding behind them in her rear-view
mirror.

"Hey, Miyuki," said Natsumi, a little subdued. "What just happened?"

Her partner replied, "I don't know. But I don't think we should even
be asking. Let's just forget it. Our shift is over in a few hours,
and I think I’ll want a drink. Actually, I know I will."

Natsumi grunted once in agreement and settled back in her seat.

Meanwhile, Hinako calmly replaced her badge into her jacket pocket and
turned around. She strolled back over to the young couple watching
her. A single streetlamp lit the scene as she stopped in front of them
again. She handed them back their ID cards.

"Uh, thanks," said Ranma, looking confused as he took his.

"Yeah, thanks," Nabiki added, taking the proffered card. She studied
the other woman uncertainly while she maintained a cool demeanor.

"It was no problem," Hinako replied in a personable tone, and then she
smiled slightly at Ranma. "Please allow me to introduce myself. I'm
Assistant Director Hinako Ninomiya, of the Security Directorate. And
you're Ranma Saotome and Nabiki Tendo."

Ranma was surprised. "You know us?"

"My father's spoken of you," said Nabiki at almost the same time in a
flat tone. Her eyes narrowed slightly.

Hinako turned her gaze to Nabiki. "I'm sure he has, Tendo-san," she
replied more coolly, locking eyes with the Tendo girl as they glared at
each other in a subtle fashion. Both of their expressions were calm,
except for around the eyes. "I'm sure he has."

"If you'll excuse us," said Nabiki calmly, bowing her head slightly
without quite breaking eye contact with the other woman. "We have to
get somewhere." Still not moving her gaze from meeting Hinako's, she
said in a firm aside to Ranma, "Let's go, Saotome."

"Uh, Right." Ranma turned the key and kickstarted the motor back to
life. He bowed as best he could to Hinako, taking care not to strain
his ribs. He had never seen this woman before in any of his lives, but
he could feel tension practically radiating from Nabiki. The strange
woman's lush femininity was an almost tangible presence to him, quite
similar to how his three fiancées made him feel, so it was likely just
as well for them to leave this situation behind. He felt a bit nervous
around Hinako for some reason, even though he could not sense any sort
of threat to him coming from her. "Goodnight, Ninomiya-san."

Hinako stepped back a little from the pair. "Farewell, you two," she
said pleasantly, briefly breaking her staring match with Nabiki to look
at Ranma and smile rather sensuously at him. "Saotome-san, perhaps we
will meet again another time."

"Uh, sure," said Ranma, twisting the throttle up a bit as he put it in
gear. They accelerated away from the woman smoothly, Ranma keeping his
eyes on the road now.

Nabiki leaned against Ranma's back as she held him around the waist,
her expression one of worry. The woman had obviously wanted something,
and she had been entirely too friendly towards Ranma for Nabiki’s
liking. Her grip around his waist tightened imperceptibly.

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

After visiting with Dr. Tofu, Ranma dropped her off at her house and
left. Nabiki walked inside, feeling dragged out but no longer in any
significant pain. Her brother-in-law's skills were the best, she mused
with a tired smile. But now all she wanted to do was soak in some hot
water for a bit and then collapse into bed.

The next few days were going to be busy. Now that she had a name for
her foe, she could begin formulating a strategy to deal with Kinnosuke
and his trio of walking, talking sex toys. She practically crawled up
the stairs of the quiet house and went into her bedroom to undress for
her bath, the wood planks of the floor creaking very so slightly from
her footsteps. She could not remember ever feeling so tired before.

She wondered what she was going to do about her father. It was going
to take all of her skills at subterfuge, but she would not let him even
suspect what she knew. Until her real father was back, she would just
keep pretending that the man inhabiting her father's body was him. It
should only be for a few days, so she just had to hold out for a little
while longer.

As she started to remove her clothing, Nabiki noticed that the message
light was blinking on her private phone line. She reached over and
casually tapped the playback button before going back to undressing.
Most of the messages were minor things, messages from her subordinates
reporting in, and one from Yohko, wondering if she would be free to do
some shopping this weekend.

Then came a surprising voice.

"Nabiki Tendo, this is Toga Kiryu," she heard the message begin. "It
seems that Ohtori Academy's spring formal is coming up once again. I
would like you to attend it with me, and I promise you an entertaining
evening in my company. Please call me when you get this message, and
we can discuss when I shall pick you up for our date." He then recited
a brief series of digits. "That number is my private line. I expect
your call. Until then." The message ended there.

Well, that was interesting, Nabiki mused, pulling out the chair from
her desk and sitting down. When she gave him her telephone number
during the visit to Ohtori with Ranma, she had known he would call, but
she was not expecting an invitation to a formal dance. It sounded like
it would be fun, and it would help take her mind off things.

A smirk appeared on her face as she reached for her telephone. She
would show Ranma Saotome that he needed to treat her better, before
some other boy like Toga swept her off her feet. Not that she was the
type of girl to let herself get carried away like that, she amended,
but Ranma didn't need to know that. The threat of competition would be
good for him and should bring him around to trying to treat her better.

Nabiki began to dial the number Toga had given her, already thinking
about what sort of dress she would buy for herself while she was out
shopping with Yohko. It would have to be something stunning.

******************************
(to be continued in part 2 of 2)


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