Subject: [FFML] [fict][ranma/gargoyles] Time of changes 6
From: Brendan
Date: 5/7/1999, 11:07 PM
To: ffml@fanfic.com

Legal: The characters of Ranma 1/2 were created by the great Rumiko 
Takahashi.
The characters of Gargoyles are the creations of Disney.
I am using them without permission, hopefully for the purpose of 
entertaining someone.  If anyone who has a right to sue me has that 
desire, I have almost no money.

	C&C is appreciated, you can contact me at brenda02@sprynet.com
--------
What has happened so far: Ryouga and Ranma got into a fight, and Ranma 
was put in the hospital in order to keep Fox Xanatos and her son 
Alexander from being hit by some of Ryouga's attacks.  When Akane heard 
about this she decided that she had to put an end to the feud between 
Ranma and Ryouga.  In the hospital Akane demands that Ranma tell her 
the reasons behind his and Ryouga's rivalry.  Ranma evades answering by 
telling her that Ryouga has two reasons for fighting him, and gives a 
quick explanation for why he can't tell her either.  Ryouga had 
overheard her decision to end his and Ranma's feud, and left after 
leaving her a letter.  He wound up at Ucchan and on learning about what 
Ranma had told Akane decided to tell her his feelings.  Akane was angry 
with him for treating her like an object to be won, but told him she 
still wanted to be friends.  When she questioned him about the second 
reason Ranma spoke of for the feud between the pair; Ryouga bolted with 
the promise of resolving it with Ranma, and promptly wandered to Avalon 
and met the Wierd sisters.  They gave him the power to transport to 
other places when he REALLY wanted to go there.  And after discovering 
that Akane knew about P-chan Ryouga really wanted to be anywhere far 
away and found himself in New York.  Demona sensed his teleportation 
and is planing to learn more about him.

			Ranma, the Time of Changes
			By Brendan O'Donnell
			Chapter Six

	Ryouga sat in the back seat of the police car, wrapped in a 
tablecloth.  *I sure hope he did say something about getting me 
clothes.* Ryouga thought to himself.  He slumped, letting himself 
collapse into the seat.  *I'd better not fall asleep.*  He thought.  To 
distract himself he thought of how he had gotten where he was.
	*Akane knows.  She was holding me talking about what she wanted 
to do in retaliation, then there was a flash of light and I'm falling 
onto a table.*  He had glanced off the edge of the table, however the 
impact had overturned a pot of hot water siting on the edge.  A quick 
splash and he had been a naked man in a small restaurant.  Naturally 
his first instinct was to grab a tablecloth and cover up.
	Unfortunately for the coffee shop owners the disorientation of 
teleportation, the noise of New York city, and the way people screamed 
around him in a language he barely understood combined to scare the 
young martial artist silly.  When the waiter approached, Ryouga had 
shifted into a fighting stance, however as he lost his balance and fell 
on his back he had realized that he was too tired to fight anyone.  He 
used this feeling of helplessness as a focus to gather his 
Shishi-Hokodan.  Fortunately for the people in the coffee shop, Ryouga 
recognized that they weren't directing any hostility against him.  So 
he had released the energy he had gathered in the only direction he was 
sure it wouldn't hurt anyone, straight up.

	Elisa Maza walked toward the doors of the precinct.  Her shift 
was over.
	">Morning Maza.<"  Morgan called to her as she walked toward 
him.  He was walking just behind a young man with a white tablecloth 
wrapped around himself.
	">Hi Morgan, who's he?<"
	">Oh, weird thing, according to him one second he was in Tokyo 
the next he was standing naked in a coffee shop downtown.  Do you speak 
any Japanese?  He's not that comfortable with English.<"
	">Sorry Morgan, can't help.<"

	Ryouga was siting on the floor leaning back against the wall.  
*Ok, this is New York City, which means I traveled almost halfway 
around the world without walking a step.  Of course walking to New York 
would be real unusual for me.  I mean New York isn't Honshu, or 
Okinawa, or Hawaii,  was that place Texas...?*
	">Hey Hibiki, your lawyer's here.<"  Said the guard as he 
walked up to the cell and opened the door.
	">Lawyer?<"  Said Ryouga as he rose to his feet.  He was 
wearing a plain white T-shirt and blue jeans with blue canvas sneakers.
	">Well, she says she's working for you.  She was even ready to 
pay your bail if that Cafe's owner wanted to press charges.<"
	">He didn't want to press charges though, so you have no reason 
to hold my client.<"  Said a serious faced brunette as she walked past 
the guard.  ">Shall we be going Mr. Hibiki?"
	Ryouga looked at her, then sighed and said in Japanese "It 
doesn't matter," as he walked out of the cell.

	Cologne sat in a room beneath the Nekohanten writing a letter 
to her daughter.

Channel,
	Thank you for telling me what Perfume is planing.  If she 
attempts to act I grant you this proxy to oppose her with my full 
backing and authority.  As for the question of my return, I consider 
the Saotome boy a prize of great value, but the cost of making him part 
of the tribe has been enormous, and we still have no assurance that our 
goal will be achieved.  Failure is unacceptable, however I have 
recently found a possible alternative.  It will take several months to 
explore the possibilities, during that time I will continue aiding my 
granddaughter in her pursuit of Ranma.  Should she continue to fail 
however, I shall accept it and return home.


	Ryouga walked down the steps of the police station following 
the woman who had arranged his release.  She glanced back at him.
	"This way sir.  My client wants to talk to you."  She led the 
way to a limousine and opened the rear door.
	The red haired woman inside smiled at Ryouga.  ">Come in, we've 
a lot to discuss Hibiki-san.<"
	After hesitating a moment Ryouga entered the Limo.
	">An associate of mine saw that energy display you put on last 
night, I was very impressed by what I heard.<"
	">Uh, thank you...<"
	">Destine.  Dominique Destine.<"

	Ranma walked into the Tendo home and shut the door behind him. 
 "I'm back."  he announced.
	"Ranma," Nabiki said as she walked out of the main room.  "You 
said something about Ryouga appearing with some flash of green light, 
didn't you?"
	"Was he here?" Ranma responded looking Nabiki in the eyes.  She 
looked calm and collected as usual, but here and there the mask was 
slipping revealing the uncertainty she was feeling.
	"Well P-chan was."
	Ranma scowled.
	" Akane and I were scaring him a bit when he started glowing 
green and vanished.  Now you've seen this, do you think he's OK?  I 
mean Akane's scared that he might have really hurt himself because of 
her."
	Ranma shifted to a thoughtful look.  "Hmm, the last time he 
didn't seem to be hurt by that green thing, just tired.  And part of 
that could have been from walking for however long he walks.  Still we 
can't be sure till we get some sort of confirmation.  Hmm."  Ranma 
thought a moment, then walked to the phone and dialed a number.
	"Who?"
	Ranma raised his hand.  "Obachan?  Yes it's me Ranma...  No 
he's not here...  Well you recall how I saw him appear the other 
day?...  Yes the green light...  Well Akane made him disappear while we 
were talking...  I don't know, I guess she was getting back at him for 
P-chan and he got scared...  Ok thank you."  He hung up the phone.
	"Who was that?"
	"Mrs. Hibiki.  She promised to call us when she hears from 
Ryouga.  And Ryouga always sends her postcards whenever he has the 
opportunity."
	Nabiki looked at the phone a moment then said, "Akane's in the 
Dojo."

	"Akane."
	Akane turned to look at her fiancee standing in the doorway of 
the Dojo.  "What do you want Ranma?"
	Ranma entered and looked around.  There was a pile of smashed 
cinderblocks visible through a hole smashed in the floor.  "Nabiki said 
that Ryouga teleported again."  *I'd better not give any indication 
that he might not be ok.*
	"Ranma...  What if whatever that green light was hurt him.  
What if he's...  It'll be all my fault!"  She roughly wiped away the 
tears from her eyes.
	"Akane, there's no way of knowing where Ryouga is so we should 
just assume that he's somewhere he can handle.  Anyone who can give me 
as good a fight as he can is pretty well prepared for most situations."
	"But he was a pig when he disappeared."
	"He's been a pig almost as long as I've been a girl.  He knows 
how to handle himself.  And when he gets the chance to mail his mother 
another postcard she'll tell us."
	"His mother?"

	"So he can't see his mother because he's scared how she'll 
react to the curse?"  Fox said to her husband.
	"It seems that when Genma left ten years ago on his training 
trip ten years ago he swore an oath that Ranma would grow up to be a 
'Man among Men'  If Ranma failed to measure up he and Genma would have 
to commit sepoku.  Ranma and Genma will use Tanto to slice open their 
stomachs, with Nodoka decapitating them once they've cut deeply enough. 
 Once she ends their suffering she would be obligated to use the sword 
on her own throat."  David Xanatos replied.  "It's a question of honor, 
and here in Japan it's counted as more important than life.  Especially 
for a martial artist like Ranma."
	"'Man among Men', that leaves some room for interpretation."  
Fox thought a moment then  turned back to David.  "We're treating the 
Saotome and Tendo family's to dinner in two days right?"
	"Indeed Mrs. Xanatos," Owen replied.
	"Good." she said as she opened her cellular phone

	"It's all Ranma's fault."  Ryouga said as he looked out the 
windows of the limousine.
	">Ranma?<" Dominique asked.
	Ryouga blinked a moment and glanced at her.  He scowled a 
moment.  ">Ranma is... Ranma is son of a thief and coward, He's 
dishonorable, cowardly,<"  Ryouga slipped back into Japanese as he 
became more caught up in his explanation, "He, he has three fiancee's 
and is always after more!  One of them is the sweetest woman in the 
world, and if it wasn't for him she might want me like I want her!  
RANMA!!"
	"RYOUGA!"  Dominique's sharp statement drew the lost boy's 
attention back to his host.  Who was now looking at him with an annoyed 
expression on her face.  "You break it you bought it."  She gestured at 
him and Ryouga realized he had manifested a fairly strong aura as he 
went on about Ranma.
	">Gomen, sorry Destine-san.<"  He said, dimming the aura to 
nothing with feelings of calm and embarrassment.  Then he blinked and 
looked at her.  "You speak Japanese?"
	">Not in a while.  And I think you'd better practice your 
English unless you're planing on leaving soon.<"
	Ryouga looked at her a moment.  ">Nowhere to go.<"  He looked 
out the window.  "There's nothing for me anywhere."
	">What are you moaning about.  After hearing what you did in 
that coffee shop I've come here because you're going to be swamped with 
job offers and I want you working for Nightstone Unlimited.<"
	Ryouga looked at her a moment then asked ">Uh, you offering a 
job?<"
	Dominique grinned at Ryouga.  ">I haven't decided on a position 
yet, but anyone with your abilities would be an incredible asset, 
especially with all the industrial espionage to deal with.<"
	Ryouga thought.  He thought of Nerima.  *I wanted to distract 
myself from Akane.  Maybe I can forget about her here.*  ">I accept.<

	Xanatos rolled across the floor again, then with a shift rolled 
to his feet instantly pivoting where Ranma had stood before he threw 
him across the Dojo.  The Dojo was empty.
	"Ok,  not bad," came Ranma's voice from above him.  Xanatos 
looked up as Ranma jumped off his head.  Xanatos looked at him with a 
slightly annoyed expression.  Catching it Ranma replied "Hey you are 
improving pretty fast, it's just that there's no way you could train up 
to my level in only a week."
	"I know,"  Xanatos replied, looking annoyed.  "It's still 
annoying when you do stuff like that."
	"Well let's call that enough for today."  Ranma said walking 
toward the entrance to the Dojo.
	Xanatos stared at him.  "Are you sure?"
	Ranma turned and looked at him.
	"Not that I'm questioning your judgment, it's just a real 
change to stop before all my limbs are feeling numb."
	"You have to be careful about getting to attached to any 
patterns."

	"And when the body is falling asleep the Chi flow in these 
meridians diminishes while it increases in these."  Cologne said, 
indicating several lines on a human shaped doll.
	Dr. Sevarius clicked the trackball on his laptop a second then 
sat back and took a sip from a glass of water.  "Yes..."  He peered at 
the screen.  "Yes, I think I've got it!  I'll have to custom build 
those completely new biosensors, and figure out a way to get him to 
wear them, but it looks like it can work."
	Cologne smiled as she looked at the Laptop's screen.  
"Excellent."

	Nadoka Saotome was walking along the stream that ran though the 
park.  The Saotome sword was wraped up and tied to her back.  She 
glanced at the flowers, turned to look at the stream, then sighed and 
just looked down at the path.  "Ranma,"  She wispered.  *My son how are 
you?  Has Genma succeded?  Will honor force me too...  NO!  You are 
manly, you must be...*  She blinked as she felt a presence right beside 
her.
	"Nodoka Saotome right?"  The presence asked in american 
accented Japanese.  Turning her head Nodoka looked at the woman who had 
just spoken.  She was about her height, dressed in a red and green 
Kimono.  Her long Red hair fell freely down her back, and there was a 
blue tattoo around her right eye resembling a geometric representative 
of a canine head.
	"Yes, how do you know my name?" Nodoka responded.
	"Actually your son told me about you,  I'm Fox Xanatos."  she 
replied with a grin.
	Nodoka looked at her a moment.  "You know Ranma..."
	"I met him a few days ago."  Fox responded with a grin.  "You 
must be very proud."
	Nodoka lowered her head and sighed.  "I haven't seen him in a 
long time.  I want to feel proud of him, but I don't know if I can 
yet."
	"I think you can, but since the first thing Ranma did when I 
met him was save my life I'm a little biased."
	"Ranma saved your life?  How manly of him!"  Nodoka replied 
with a happy expression on her face.
	"Oh yeah, that promise. I don't know how Ranma can handle it, 
knowing that his entire life is entirely dependant on the subjective 
judgement of one person."  Fox shook her head.  Taking a step along the 
path she added, "Walk with me for a bit and I'll tell you some of what 
I've seen about Ranma."  She slowly walked down the path, her natural 
agility only partially making up for her unfamiliarity with traditional 
Japanese wooden footwear.  Noticing Nodoka effortlessly keeping pace 
with her Fox smiled and began talking.  "You see I came here on 
business and I wanted to just relax and take Alex for a walk."
	"Alex?"
	"My son."  Fox smiled, then added, "It still feels so 
incredible to say, My son Alexander."
	Nodoka smiled.  "I remember when Ranma was born."
	"Right, Speaking of Ranma I was walking along this Canal when I 
managed to stumble onto a fight between Ranma and one of the folk who 
are regularly trying to kill him..."

	"Well David's no slouch when it comes to Martial arts, but he 
tells me that Ranma is deliberately reigning himself in dramatically 
and he still gets clobbered thoroughly in their sparing matches."
	"Well, then Genma was able to train Ranma well."  Nodoka said 
quietly.
	Fox looked at Nodoka, "Ranma is a great fighter, but he misses 
his mother.  Still his life is entirely dependant on your personal whim 
so it'd natural for him to be hesitant."
	Nodoka stopped and glared at Fox.  "You think I would�"  She 
said angrily.
	Fox looked at her with a slight smile.  "I know you're not like 
that.  The thing is I learned that something happened to Ranma in 
China.  It's temporary, it was unintentional, it's curable in theory at 
least, but because of it, Ranma has a  lot of fear that meeting with 
you could mean the end of the Saotome family."  Fox sighed.  "But 
that's not the only thing there is for him to be afraid of.  He hasn't 
seen you in years, and he wants to see you again.  But more than that 
he wants you to feel proud of him.  The thought of you being 
disappointed in him is what scares him more than anything."
	"From what you have said, I can't see how he could disappoint 
me."  Nodoka replied.
	"If you'd like to meet him David and I are taking them all out 
to dinner tomorrow night.  I'll send a driver to pick you up, OK?"

	Demona sat at her desk, drumming her fingers and looking out 
the window.  *A little more than an hour and a half till sunset.*  She 
thought as she looked up at the fiery orb.  *This human body�*  The 
distaste she felt for humanity surged into an anger against Puck for 
giving her humanity during the day, then the anger faded as she looked 
at the sun again.  *I have wondered what the sun looked like for so 
long�*  She glanced at the clock in her desk and frowned.  *I set 
Ryouga up with that tailor in the room down the hall 45 minutes ago.*  
Demona frowned to herself.
	There was a knock at the door of the office.
	Dominique Destine looked at the door and said ">Enter.<"
	The door opened and admitted a secretary with Ryouga in tow.
	">Pardon me for disturbing you Ms. Destine, but this guy was 
wandering through our offices three floors down looking for your 
office.  After he asked me where it was the third time I decided he 
needed to be taken here personally.<"
	">Thank you, I can take it from here.<"  Dominique replied.  
The secretary opened left closing the door behind her.  Dominique 
looked at Ryouga.  ">Hibiki-san, you're now my employee.  Is there 
anything I should know that will affect how you work?<"
	Ryouga looked down.  ">Well�  I kind of�  It's a family 
problem�<"
	 ">Look me in the eye and talk plainly.<"  Dominique's voice 
was calm no louder than before, but it had a tone and force that 
resonated stronger than the loudest shout.
	Tearing his eyes from the floor Ryouga looked at his new boss 
and said, "I get lost and I turn into a pig!"
	">Good, now say that in english.<
	">Gomen, sorry I said�<"  Ryouga thought of his language a 
moment.
	">That you lose your way and turn into a pig.<"  Dominique said 
calmly.
	Ryouga blinked.
	">I think you'd better sit down and explain this to me in 
detail.  And you can explain about that energy attack and any other 
tricks you know.<"

	Demona walked into the hidden room behind her office, closing 
and locking the door behind her.  She glanced out the window.  *From 
the outside it's black as obsidian, but from inside�*  She looked at 
the sun, it's lower half concealed by the buildings of New York.  
Demona hated humanity with an intensity that had grown over the 
millenium she had walked the earth.  She felt a constant sense of 
self-loathing and revulsion throughout the day.  Except for the times 
she saw the sun and felt it's warmth on her face.  This was when she 
simply felt envious of the human who knew this wonder all their lives.
	The sun had dropped even further behind the buildings, and was 
coming into contact with the true horizon.  Demona calmly walked over 
to a nearby wardrobe and began carefully removing her suit.  *Just 
because I can afford to buy a new suit every day doesn't mean I have 
to.*

	Akane stood in front of the mirror in her room.  The Xanatos's 
had decided to take the Tendo's and Saotome's to dinner that night, and 
since they had chosen a fancy restaurant, they bought everyone a new 
set of clothes.  Akane was wearing an exquisitely crafted light blue 
silk dress; pulling on the long gloves she contemplated her appearance. 
 Raising the hem of her skirt she curtsied slightly, then spun into a 
quick piroet and thought about the live band and dance floor Fox had 
mentioned.  She frowned as she heard Ranma screaming about something in 
his room.  *What is he up to?*  She thought as she walked to the door.
	Traveling down the hall to the Saotome's room she listened at 
the door a moment.
	"Chikusho, goddamn, sulfurous felgercarb!"
	With a slight grin she knocked on the door as she opened it.
	"What?!"  Ranma declared as he turned to the door, dropping his 
hands from the worst attempt at knotting a tie that Akane had ever 
seen.  He froze, staring at his fiancee.
	Akane smiled.  "Trouble, Ranma?"
	"uh," Ranma shook his head, then turned away from the door, 
reaching for the tie as he attempted to mentally force the blush from 
his cheeks.  "Nothing I can't handle."  Ranma stated distractedly, as 
he began loosening the bizarre variant of a sheepshank he had tied 
around his neck.
	"Honestly Ranma, why can't men ever admit when they need help?" 
 She said as she walked in and pushed his hands away from the tie and 
eliminated the knot.
	"I don't need help."  Ranma commented in a surly tone, glancing 
away while crossing his arms across his chest.  "I just haven't had 
much practice with this sort of thing."
	"Don't make such a big deal out of it.  I haven't had much 
practice either, but it's easier to do this for someone than to do it 
on yourself."  Akane responded as she precisely tied the tie, and 
tightened it to his collar.  For a second she considered pressing the 
knot upward a little farther, then she dropped her hands to her sides. 
 "There, all better."
	With a slight grumble Ranma turned away, then paused.  Looking 
back at her he said, "Thanks Akane."

	Ranma looked at the limos that had pulled up before the Dojo.  
Such cars were rare Japan where space was so precious, and the 
Xanatos's had commissioned two of them.  "Ranma!" Xanatos called as he 
stepped from the first limousine.  "I see the tailor did a good job."  
He commented as he looked over Ranma's suit.  His gaze moved to the 
three sisters.  Nabiki was wearing a deep red low cut gown, which made 
her confidence in her looks very clear to everyone.  Kasumi on the 
other hand was dressed much more modestly, yet her yellow dress was 
strapless.  "Well, always a pleasure to see money well spent."  He said 
with a smile on his face.  Glancing at the two fathers's in their own 
formal outfits he added, "Excuse me,"  and walked over to the pair.

	"Xanatos-san?"  Soun commented as the  billionaire simple 
draped his arms around the two men's shoulders.
	"Oh nothing to worry about, I just wanted to mention that I've 
heard about some of your matchmaking attempts with Ranma and Akane," 
Xanatos commented with a grin.  Shaking his head he continued, "I would 
prefer if you took the night off from doing that sort of thing, I would 
hate to have to make the effort to avenge myself if you abused my 
hospitality."  He squeezed both men's shoulders then released, walking 
to the limo that he and fox were sharing with Ranma and Akane.
	"Um, what sort of vengeance would he have in mind, Saotome?"  
Soun commented to his friend quietly.
	"I'm not sure.  He's an American so it's probably�"  Genma's 
mind conjured up an image of Xanatos in a pinstriped suit, hat pulled 
down to shade his eyes, and his mouth curled into a smirk as he pointed 
a tommygun at him.  "Let's not find out."
	Soun thought of Xanatos sitting in an expansive office, then 
with a gesture sending a hoard of ninja's with cowboy hats and old west 
pistols descending on him and his family.  "That's probably a good 
idea, Saotome."

Ryouga sat on the roof of Nightstone Unlimited's New York office 
contemplating the stars.  He glanced at the handcuffs attaching him to 
a Rooftop vent with a frown.  *">Sorry, Miss Destine says this meeting 
has to be alone, and without me or someone else there you have to stay 
in one place<."*  The guard who had locked it on had been leading 
Ryouga around the entire day, even in the bathroom. Ryouga was glad to 
finally have a brief period of oh so familiar solitude; however the 
comforting embrace of quiet couldn't diminish the anger gnawing at his 
insides.  He hated the way no one trusted him to find his way only 
slightly less than he hated the fact that they had good reason to 
expect him to get lost.  *Dominique-san said that someone she knew who 
had studied Magic would meet me here to study my curses.*  He frowned 
and looked around.  *Why here!*
	"Ryouga Hibiki," A voice proclaimed from behind him.  Leaping 
to his feet and pivoting to face this potential threat, Ryouga barely 
noticed himself tearing the handcuff free of it's anchor.  As he saw 
what stood behind him he took a step back, dropping into a defensive 
posture almost as an afterthought.
	She was a full foot taller than he was, the black wings rising 
unfurled from her back towering over a foot higher still.  Her skin was 
a dark blue, and her feet and hands sprouted ferocious looking claws.  
A bat shaped headband held her fiery hair out of her face, and her 
loincloth and small top would have provoked a sever nosebleed in Ryouga 
if they had been worn by someone less intimidating.
">I am Demona, young human.<"
	"Wha� Wait ok,"  Ryouga lowered his hands, and forced himself 
to relax slightly.  ">Are you sorcer Dominique-San know?<"
	Demona considered Ryouga for a moment, looking at him 
appraisingly.  ">You of course are the boy I pointed out to Dominique. 
 She understands the power of Magic, she knows how valuable my aid has 
been to her.<"  Taking a step forward she added, ">You've never seen a 
gargoyle before, have you?<"
	">Uhh, no have not.<"  Ryouga replied, forcing down his fear.  
*It's not even her appearance that has me spooked; She shouldn't have 
been able to sneak up on me like that!*
	Demona pulled a golden cup from the satchel she wore across her 
body.  She poured the contents of two separate bottles into the cup.  
Speaking a sharp Latin word she made a sharp circle above the cup with 
her left hand.  A bright flame, green capped with blue rose ignited in 
the cup.  ">Hold still,<" she stated as she walked around Ryouga, 
spilling a trickle from the cup to form a circle around him.  When the 
circle was complete, she held her left hand above the flame and spoke 
three Latin words.  The flame became a rising plume of translucent 
smoke, shimmering with ever changing colors.  Demona brought the cup 
before her and looked through the smoke at Ryouga.
	Ryouga waited.
	">Quite the jumble.< Demona commented as she lowered the cup.  
She poured the remaining contents of the cup onto the circle, which 
evaporated instantly.  ">You are saturated with a great deal of magic, 
much of it the work of the children of Avalon.  Dealing with is will 
not be easy.<"
	">Children of where?<"
	">The third race, beings of pure magic.  Japan's legends of the 
Oni and more are based upon their existence.<"  Demona stated.  ">Their 
magic is powerful beyond description, and countering it is not a simple 
thing to contemplate.<"
	"If you can't help me why am I here!"  Ryouga responded with a 
scowl.
	Snarling Demona grabbed Ryouga by the collar, raising him so 
that he could look directly into her blazing eyes.  ">I care nothing 
for what you want, Human!  I am here for my own reasons, and if you 
give me cause I will turn you to stone and shatter you into dust!<"  
The crimson light faded from her eyes, and she lowered him to his feet, 
releasing him.  ">I do intend to help you however.  Dominique and I 
have exchanged favors at times and her aid is very useful to me.  Now, 
you will tell me about your curse.<"
	">R-Right.  There's a place in china called Jusenkyo�<"

	A somewhat disheveled Fox and David walked into their suite.  
Fox walked to one of the recliners, and collapsed into it.  David 
simply leaned against the wall and contemplated the mirror.  ">That was 
an unusual experience.<"
	Fox looked at him.  ">Didn't you encourage those labor unions 
to use the Ucchan and Nekohanten for dinner tonight?<"
	David Xanatos shrugged.  ">Of course darling, but you know 
there's always a chance of a plan going wrong.<"
	">Not as wrong as this plan.<"  Fox responded sourly.  She 
thought of the girls chasing Ranma, the fountain, the can of fabric 
dissolver...  *In all a plan completely shot to hell.*
	">Well at least everything  worked out.<  David commented 
shrugging his shoulder.
	Fox remembered Nodoka's reaction as everything fell completely 
apart.  ">David, if I ever show any willingness to let Nodoka Saotome 
discuss Manliness with Alex, please kick me in the shins.<"
	Grinning David replied, ">Only if you do the same for Me.<"

------
Note: I apologize for not describing the evening out, but I am no good 
at thinking deviously so I couldn't really envision a plan worthy of 
Fox.  If you can and want to try writing it be my guest.
	Anyway, the next part takes place a couple of months later and 
brings Ranma Company to New York.