Hey! Hello there FFML!

Bet you all thought this was dead or something. No, going on, I'm just very busy at school. Leaving chapter 4 is coming as well, give me a week or so...


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Notes : This fic starts six months after the end of the manga, which
means characters are a little more grown up, especially Ranma, and
there are things that happened in-between that you'll find out as
the fic goes on. Comments and criticism are greatly appreciated and
can be sent at ranma_666@hotmail.com, or ICQ# 45118495, and flames
can go at someone@who-cares.com.

Previous parts can be found at:

Ranchan Totally Crossed Out!
http://home.earthlink.net/~tannim.
Kuraiko Kurohoshi's page.
http://members.xoom.com/_XOOM/Kuraiko/index.htm.

*******

Disclaimer

Ranma is not mine.
Sliders is not mine.

*******

What happened before:

Prologue : Ranma gets the timer from another sliding team, and
Nabiki unexpectedly tags along.

Chapter 1 : On a world devastated by nuclear warfare, Ranma and
Nabiki are forced into marriage. Ranma learns the breaking point by
an enslaved Mousse before escaping.

Chapter 2 : On a world where Ukyo was taken over by a demon early
on, Ranma and Nabiki strive to stop her and prevent further deaths,
while wondering what their relationship is becoming.

This chapter starts on the eleventh day of Ranma and Nabiki's
travels.


"  "  spoken
'  '  thought

*******

   Slider Ranma

   Chapter 3 : At the end of the tunnel

*******

   The sun was gently shining on the forest, the birds singing and
fluttering about in the soft wind with the sakura. The odd cloud
gently floated in the light blue sky, its fluffy shape bringing back
sweet memories to anyone observing.

   The clearing in the forest was covered in light pink petals,
which turned to a darker shade as a cloud obscured the sun. A few
bees fluttered about, wondering where the wild flowers were hiding
under this bed of rose. A rabbit looked up, two strands of grass in
its mouth, wondering if it was in danger. It suddenly blinked as the
sun came back in full force, and after a quick look around to make
sure returned to eating.

   In the center of the clearing, the large sakura tree continued
to lose its petals on the sunny spring afternoon.

   A flash of light and sudden wind created a storm of sakura as
the clearing was bathed in a blue glow. White streaks swirled in the
blue light of the tunnel, the whirlpool of energy going farther than
one could possibly imagine.

   From its swirling depths came two spots of light, which, once
crossing the tunnel's threshold, one after the other, turned into
people. The two rolled with the movement and ended standing.

   Ranma picked a sakura out of his hair. "What the-- I thought we
were in summer in the last world." He let it go, watching it twirl
in the air as it descended to the ground.

   "We were," Nabiki said, holding up four fingers, "but it was
autumn when we left and winter on the first world." Two fingers were
down. "It was summer on that last world and now it's spring. It's
like Cologne said," she continued, hands on hips, "we slide in the
same place but not the same time of year. Weren't you listening?"
She cocked her head to the side, waiting for an answer.

   He rubbed the back of his head. "Ah, you know I'm no good with
all of that technical stuff. I'd rather leave it up to you." He gave
her a weak smile.

   She smiled coyly, fluttering her eyelids. "Are you trying to
say something, Ranma dear?" Her hands went together in front of her,
giving her a coquettish air.

   "Not at all," he replied, surprisingly not blushing, "but we do
have to talk about this." He sighed, dropping his gaze, and,
noticing his pants had a few sakura stuck on them, began picking
them off. "Why did you say we were married?" he blurted out, then
sighed inwardly as he felt a weight disappear off his shoulders.

   Taking aback by his bluntness, she struggled with the words for
a few seconds. "I, hum..." She looked down herself. "I don't really
know myself, Ranma." He gave her a quizzical look. "It was... an
impulse decision. A spur of the moment kind of thing. They asked me
what was going on between us, and I tried delaying to answer by
taking a sip of tea. They saw the ring, and... well... I couldn't
deny it. They were so excited, and I..." She shrugged and smiled,
looking up at him. "I found myself taken along for the ride. The
concept of being married to you gave me..." She shrugged again. "I
found myself happy. I don't know why."

   Ranma looked at her, at her small, soft, genuine smile,
something he didn't recall ever seeing. No, he did remember seeing
it, once; a week ago, on their first night in the last world. They
had slept together in the small tent, and he had woken up in the
middle of the night. He had found Nabiki curled up in his arms,
sharing his warmth, and hers, with that very same small yet
contented smile.

   Now, Ranma knew he was an idiot in certain areas, especially
relationships, but by trial-and-error he knew it wasn't good to let
a girl hanging after she revealed some of her feelings. And he
didn't want his stupidity at figuring out his own feelings hurt yet
another girl. So he looked at her and extended a hand. "Why don't
we... start for civilization while we talk?" His head tilted,
towards the direction he assumed was Tokyo.

   She took it and started walking with him. "Take all the time
you need to think, Ranma. I need to think about some things myself."
She leaned forward to avoid a low branch.

   This brought out a confused "Huh?" from Ranma, who hadn't
expected Nabiki to know of his internal wondering. He almost didn't
see the very same branch Nabiki had just avoided, and ducked just in
time.

   "Ranma, Ranma, Ranma," she said with a smile, shaking her head,
"after almost two years, how much do you think I know you? Emotion-
wise, you take more time to decide than it takes a turtle to walk
across Tokyo." She didn't let his scowl slow her down. "I noticed
you were even more confused about your feelings than before lately,
after that date with Akane a month before we left. I can't expect
you to think things through right away." She slowed down as they
started going down a rocky hill.

   "That's where you're wrong, Nabiki." he replied with a sad
smile, kicking the rock that found itself in his way. "I've never
been so sure of my feelings since that day." He sighed, wishing the
subject hadn't been brought up, but knowing there was no chance of
avoiding it.

   She gave him a disbelieving look. "Really? You didn't look
particularly decisive, Ranma, and you didn't act different than
before." In her voice was the hidden question, the one she knew he
was trying to avoid.

   He looked at her. "Didn't Akane tell you what happened?" He
pushed her aside gently to avoid walking into a tree. She conceded,
but seemed to have forgotten to slightly step away afterwards.

   "She came home all angry yelling about how much of a pervert
you were." Nabiki shrugged. "Not very different from her usual
rantings about you." She looked at him, her free hand coming up to
replace a stray hair over her ear. "So what happened?"

   He took a deep breath in and let it out. "Things were running
smoothly until Shampoo spotted us through the window at the
restaurant and said something about waiting for her date with me the
night after." He paused, sighing again. "Akane splashed me with her
glass of water and took off, and Shampoo gave me a quick hug before
returning on her delivery." One hand went up to shield his face from
a branch.

   Nabiki blinked, pushing back a branch herself. "Well, aside
from the fact that Shampoo left you so easily, it's not that
different from what can be expected." She let go, hearing the
'whoosh' of the rapidly displaced air behind her.

   "That's *exactly* why it was so different! Shampoo didn't go
out of her way to ruin my date with Akane, she did it because she
was there and it was convenient! She didn't really care about me!"
He punctuated his point by punching sideways a tree he happened to
pass, leaving a large indentation.

   A few snickers on Nabiki's part evolved into full laughter. She
let go of his hand to hold her sides, staying in place. "You can't
honestly think Shampoo's not really in love with you?!" she barely
managed to say coherently between laughters.

   "How can you be so sure yourself?" he snapped back, turning to
face her. "Her affections were certainly not real when I first beat
her, and she never changed her attitude, did she?"

   She wiped a tear from her eye. "Oh, come on, Ranma! You can't
be THAT clueless about girls!" The look on his face told her that he
was. "Okay. Ranma," she began, putting a hand on his shoulder,
looking him straight in the eye, "Ukyo, Shampoo, Kodachi and even
Akane are genuinely in love with you."

   He snorted, batting her hand away. "That's not the impression I
got. After that date, I decided to wipe the slate clean and see how
those girls really felt about me on a daily basis. Shampoo and
Kodachi are just possessive and selfish, Ukyo only loves me as a
friend and Akane! Ah!" His voice was derisive. "If that girl's in
love with me, she's so much in denial that even the reversal jewel
wouldn't find it." He snickered at his poor joke, and started
observing the bark of a tree.

   Nabiki blinked, confused. "Then what was with that speech and
the kiss you gave Akane before leaving?" She pushed his shoulder so
they'd return to walking, nearly pushing him in a tree in the
process.

   "That was because she was in the lead." He kicked a small rock,
watching it fly ahead of him. "Not by much, mind you. She may not
know how to cook or sew to save her life, but I know she makes the
effort for me. That's worth something." He kicked the same rock
again, watching it go.

   "'Was'?" she questioned, curious about his choice of tense,
then bit her lip as she stepped on a sharp rock. She quickly hopped
once on her other foot before continuing, noting the pain was almost
gone.

   "Yeah. If this hadn't happened," he said, emphasing 'this' with
a finger waving between them, "I would have gone back to her once I
got home." He kicked the same rock a third time, sending it bouncing
against a tree, disappearing to his left.

   Her hand found his. "You mean... you want to give this marriage
a try too?" She rounded a large rock, using the opportunity to lean
on him a little.

   He blushed. "Umm... Yeah. I mean, you're the only real friend I
have. If this can't work..." Having no more rocks to kick around, he
opted to kick a tree instead. He quickly revised his opinion and
returned to looking for small rocks.

   "What about Ukyo? I thought you said she was your friend."
Nabiki knew better than to bring Ryoga in Ranma's circle of friends.
They hadn't been getting along great lately. Giving a quick look
around, she pointed a little to the left, where the forest seemed to
clear. He nodded and they diverted their course.

   "Ukyo's a friend, but..." He sighed. "She doesn't want to open
up to me. When I ask her how things are going on, she's always
saying that everything's fine and there's nothing to worry about,
even when it's obvious that there's something bothering her."
Instead of pushing a branch back, he simply snapped it with a quick
hand strike.

   "I don't recall ever opening up to you, Ranma, and I certainly
don't listen to your problems like she does." She picked a falling
sakura out of the air, looking at it as if it was the first time she
had ever seen one, before letting it go.

   "Oh? How about the time you cried in my arms on the first
world?" he asked with an amused smile, turning to look at her.

   "That was... from the shock of seeing Tokyo nuked. I didn't
have time to prepare myself to the possibilities of other worlds
like you did."  She squeezed his hand. "But you're right. You're the
first person after Kasumi I find myself able to open up to." She
gave him a weak smile, of gratitude, friendship, and maybe more.

   "Not even my mother?" he asked, confused. He knew his mother
talked regularly with all of the Tendo girls. He knew why because
she did it with him as well, though not as often.

   She shook her head. "No offense, Ranma, but your mother is a
little... too strict and honorbound for my taste." With her hand,
she blew away a sakura heading for her face, not bothering to touch
it.

   He nodded. "Yeah, she tends to be like that. I usually only
need a sad look to get her to agree to let me make my own decisions,
though." He had an amused smile on, wondering what reaction he'd get
from her at this confession.

   "Uh-- What?" Nabiki stopped, not letting go of his hand. "What
did you say?" He grinned at her. "You... manipulate your mother?"
She couldn't believe how shocked she sounded.

   "Well, I wouldn't say 'manipulate' per se..." he trailed off
with a smile, tugging at her to resume walking. "I just... convince
her not to pressure me." He glanced at her disbelieving expression,
his smile growing slightly.

   "Do you now? And since when have you had this 'convincing'
streak in you?" She leaned on him, finding a certain feeling, not
unlike electricity, running through her as she touched him. She
could honestly say she wanted to feel more of it.

   He shrugged. "Can't really say. I think it started in the month
after China. People were reluctant to disagree with me, and I kinda
liked the feeling I got from that, so when things returned to normal
I wanted to keep that." He looked down at Nabiki, who had now her
head leaning on his shoulder. He could only smile. "I'm not good
with words, but I'm a fairly good actor if I set my mind to it."

   "You don't say?" Nabiki let go of the hand to take Ranma's arm,
getting more of that feeling on her skin. It seemed as if his very
nearness was causing this reaction. "And what other hidden talents
do you have?" she asked, curious to know more.

   He glanced down at her. "Not much. You already know I can do
anything physical better than most people." A branch as big as his
arm blocked their way, and lazily extending a hand Ranma pushed
until it snapped, not breaking their stride. "It's not like I can do
anything much with all that power." He looked down at the branch;
all he could do was destroy.

   "Are you kidding?" Her head came up so she could look at him in
the eye. "You could be an action movie star or a tournament
champion. You could be world-famous!" There was excitement in her
voice, wonder, eyes shining with all of the possibilities she knew
existed for a man of Ranma's talent and skill.

   Ranma suddenly stopped, looking sad, and removed his arm from
Nabiki's. "Is that-- Is that why you want to be married to me? For
the fame and money I could make?" There was no pain on his face, but
the eyes -- the eyes betrayed the pain felt inside.

   She immediately regretted her words. "No! No, not at all!" She
tried touching him, but he shied away. She looked down, a sad and
painful look on. "Ranma... I was just listing possibilities. I just
wanted to say you could do anything you wanted with what you can do.
I didn't mean to sound so... money-hungry." She sighed, not
believing her old ways were returning at such a wrong moment. She
leaned back on a tree, needing its support.

   Time passed, neither moving or talking. "I'll just... go on
ahead." She turned around and started walking. 'Be strong, just be
strong, he's only a man, you can make it on your own, just be--' Her
musings were abruptly interrupted as two strong arms encircled her.
She unconsciously leaned back. "Ranma?" she asked weakly.

   "I believe you." he whispered in her ear, and he could feel her
relax in his arms. "Just... don't make me feel betrayed. I can't
stand that." His voice nearly cracked, full of sadness and pain.

   "Oh, Ranma," she began softly, turning around in his embrace to
put her arms around his neck, "I'd never do that. I l-- I like you
too much to do that, Ranma. Just don't do it to me either, okay?"
She put her head on his chest.

   He tightened his embrace. "Of course not. I *like* you too much
to do that either." he said with a smirk.

   She giggled. "Do you think we'll ever say that word?" she
asked, looking up to him, knowing what was going to happen.

   "Say it and mean it? I have no idea." He gave her a quick
squeeze before starting to lean forward. "I'm sure we'll try,
though..." They were millimeters from kissing when white light
flashed everywhere and a low rumble was heard. Ranma immediately
looked up in worry while Nabiki wound up kissing his collar.

   She pulled back in annoyance. "If you're so worried about the
rain, I have an umbrella in my schoolbag, you know." Inside, she was
cursing the elements for choosing that moment to make it known to
the world they were about to make it rain.

   "An umbrella isn't any good in the forest. Let's get going."
Hand in hand, the two started running towards the city, not letting
go of each other as they avoided trees and large rocks.

*******

   Cologne was furious. First her son-in-law ran off with a girl
she had never considered as capable of stealing his heart. Then her
great-granddaughter, her own flesh and blood, mopped around instead
of searching for him. At first, she understood; wait for the two to
return home, claiming to be married, and strike at the appropriate
time. But eleven days were more than enough, making it clear the two
had no intention of coming back soon. So it fell on her to make the
first step.

   She retrieved her center as she concentrated. She was not about
to let her misplaced anger destroy the only chance she had at
getting back her wayward son-in-law. Not if three thousands years of
Amazon history and three centuries of experience had anything to say
about it. Alone in the darkness of her room, Cologne focused on
images of Ranma.

   Once the picture was strong in her mind, one arm extended to
grab a purple vial, the other hand opening it carefully, and she
added a few drops to the bowl of clear water in front of her. The
entire bowl turned as purple as the vial was. She placed the bottle
away, mindful of its power.

   Next in the bowl was a few herbs that dissolved as it touched
the water, giving it a brownish hue. Cologne made sure nothing of
the dried herbs was left in her hand; it was an incredibly rare
ingredient, and if the solution didn't have the proper amount, it
would be all for nothing.

   Then, Cologne took a small cup full of a clear liquid, and with
an eye-drop, added seven and a half drops to the mixture of the
bowl. It slowly turned a pale gray, in a swirling counter-clockwise
motion. She smiled. The spell was ready.

   Out of her pocket, she extracted two strands of hair, one
black, one red. With the amount of work she knew Kasumi to put into
cleaning the Tendo house, she was surprised Shampoo had been able to
find those ten days after he had left. Not questioning her luck,
however, Cologne carefully intertwined the two, and then held it
over the bowl.

   She let it go. "I search the one named Ranma Saotome." she
said, loud and clear, ending just before the hair touched the water.
It quickly dissolved as the water turned black. Cologne allowed
herself to relax. Her part was done, now it was up to the spell to
search for Ranma. Or more precisely, his soul, because as much as
blood called blood, magic called magic.

   Time passed. At first, Cologne wondered just how far the boy
could have traveled, then grew nervous as a possibility entered her
mind. "No..." She stared at the bowl intently, mentally screaming at
it to prove her wrong. Innocently, the waters returned to pale gray.

   Cologne backhanded the bowl, sending its contents splashing all
over the far wall. She focused on her trembling fist, her face
scrunched up in anger. A year and a half... Nearly two years lost,
all of those efforts for nothing.

   'No... not all for nothing.' Cologne calmed herself. There were
other ways to prove or disprove what this scrying spell had told
her. It was a simple spell, one that practically never failed, mind
you, but a simple spell nonetheless. She had other options, but not
the necessary objects. First she had to send a message to the
Joketsuzoku village. Not losing a beat, she went to get her carrier
pigeon.

*******

    The skies were gray and the rain was coming down in sheets by
the time Ranma and Nabiki managed to get on the outskirts of the
city. Ranma was surprisingly still male, but that was in no small
part due to the large umbrella and the lack of wind. The two rushed
inside a bus shelter, seeking respite from their long run.

   "Whew!" Ranma rushed away from the entrance, letting himself
fall on the small bench, letting Nabiki shake the umbrella. "We
can't see a hundred feet in front of us!" He looked around through
the glass walls, the surroundings fading into a deep grey all
around. "That's a big storm."

   "I know." She sat next to him, leaning backwards on the glass,
rubbing her arms. "We can't stay here long, though. This storm won't
let up soon and it's getting kind of cold." She started rubbing her
arms faster.

   "I don't feel cold." Ranma remarked, shrugging. "But-- Isn't
that a motel sign over there?" he asked, pointing.

   Nabiki squinted. "It's hard to make in the rain, but it looks
like it." She looked behind her, then back at the sign in front of
her. "Didn't we come from that direction?"

   He looked around himself. "You know, I don't know." He
shrugged. "It's hard to orientate yourself in this. We better get to
that motel, though." He got up, offering Nabiki a hand.

   She gladly took it. "Okay." She took the umbrella and opened
it. "Let's go." They squeezed themselves under the small length of
cloth protecting them from the rain and ran for the motel. It turned
out to be pretty near, and they rushed like crazy in the small
admission lobby.

   Ranma regained his breathing, happy to still be male. He looked
around and spotted an old man behind the desk, looking nonplussed.
"Sorry, sir, but we just had to get out of this rain." Ranma tried
to explain.

   "Oh, no need for that, young man." the man said, reaching
behind him for a key on the large board. "I just thought you all had
arrived already. Why aren't you in uniform?"

   The two teenagers exchanged looks. "Uh... We changed so we
didn't get them wet." Nabiki answered, hoping she was vague enough
so the old man would understand it his way, because she certainly
didn't understand him.

   "Ah..." The man extended his hand to offer Ranma a key. "Here
you go, young man." He took it. "Room 37, that's on the second
floor. The stairs are outside to your left. Be sure to dry
yourselves before getting to bed." the old man sermoned, looking
serious.

   "Eh... Will do." After one quick glance at each other, the two
travelers got out, Ranma holding the door for Nabiki. The old man
looked at them depart. He raised a finger with a look of recognition
on his face, but shook his head and returned to his books.

   Outside, Ranma and Nabiki were hurrying along the balcony,
trying to find their room. "24, 25... Don't you think that was
weird?"

   "The old man? Yeah. Something's going on. 30." she pointed at
the door as she passed it. "I don't know, though. Might have
something to do with all of those military vehicles parked in front.
33." she pointed again.

   Ranma looked. Indeed, despite the rain, he could see jeeps and
trucks that could only be associated to the army. "So... what? The
old man has an agreement to house officers?" They got to 37, and he
started to fumble with the key, trying to get it in the lock.

   "Yeah, that sounds about right." Nabiki replied. "I guess we
can pay the man tomorrow morning." Ranma opened the door and
motioned for her to go first; she granted him a smile before
entering.

   Then Nabiki's comment registered. "You want to pay him, after
he gave us the room for free?" Closing the door behind him, Ranma
gave her a look as if he didn't know who she was.

   After putting her schoolbag down, she jumped on the bed and
turned to look at him, sitting. "Hmm... Did I say that?" She looked
at him slyly. "Perhaps I should take it back..." she trailed off
playfully.

   "No, no!" he immediately countered, putting his pack down. "I
rather like the Nabiki that's not trying to deceive people." he
said, smiling, as he sat as well on the bed. "She's a much better
person to be with..." One hand went up to her shoulder.

   Nabiki shivered under his touch, but not because she was cold.
She climbed on his lap and put her arms around his neck. "Are you
trying to suggest something, Ranma dear?"

   Having the distinct impression that *Nabiki* was the one trying
something, Ranma grew somewhat uncomfortable. "Um, Nabiki, are you
sure--"

   "Oh, come on, Ranma," she interrupted, "you can't possibly
still be hung up on this. We're married, aren't we?" she asked,
wiggling her left ring finger in front of him. She drew close, her
mouth close enough to his ear so he could feel her hot breath as she
spoke softly, "You do remember, don't you? Our wedding night?"

   Not trusting his speech, Ranma could only nod. Nabiki's
closeness was suddenly registering strongly to his every sense, and
he was getting shivers down his spine -- not to mention a tingle
somewhere else. "Nabiki, are you su--"

   "Shh." she interrupted, putting a finger on his lips, then
turning his head to face hers slowly. Her delicate fingers pulled
his chin forward and she leaned towards him.

   The neighbors decided to make themselves known at that point,
by a loud, rythmic banging on the wall. This time, both turned their
heads towards the annoyance. "What are they doing, to make all that
noise?" Ranma asked.

   "You--" Nabiki was shocked. "You don't have any idea of what's
going on over there?" Moans began to come from the other side of the
wall, along with the banging. Ranma suddenly got a clue and blushed.
"Ahh. Now you get it."

   She kissed his cheek. "Say, are you up to a little challenge?"
she asked teasingly, not sure if she should hope for him
understanding or not.

   "Huh?" Ranma only half-heard the question, listening to the
moaning. He could swear that voice was familiar, but he couldn't
quite replace it.

   "Ranma, listen to me." She punctuated her sentence by turning
Ranma's head to face hers. He blinked and his eyes focused on her.
"Good. Are you up to a little challenge?"

   "Err... what kind of challenge?" he asked, confused.

   Nabiki tilted her head towards the noisy wall and shot her
eyebrows up, once. "Do I have to spell it out for you?" Ranma's
eyebrows went up as he understood, and then he grinned. Turned out
he understood her perfectly, making his point known several times
through the night.

*******

   *fiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii*

   The megaphone vibrated in the general's hand, every person
around covering their ears from the high-pitched sound. No one
complained, however. A five-star general was not a person one wanted
to anger. After shaking their heads to get rid of the ringing in
their ears, the soldiers returned to packing their things in the
trucks and jeeps.

   Not the least bit embarrassed, general Sato returned the
megaphone to his lips. "All personel are ordered to report to their
assigned vehicle IMMEDIATELY!!!" All around the motel's parking lot,
he could see the soldiers and officers scrambling to get ready to
leave. He knew there was only two officers missing, the two pilots
his unit had been assigned to escort to the Tokyo air base.
Yesterday, he had thought that their love for each other made them
the perfect pilot team, but now he wasn't so sure. Sighing, he took
the megaphone to his mouth again.

*******

   Meanwhile, in room 37, Nabiki was trying to enjoy her morning
in bed, laying next to her man. With the general screaming at his
troops to get ready outside, she wasn't succeeding very well. The
whining high-pitched sound of a badly used megaphone finally made
her patience snap, and she jumped out of bed, her half-closed eyes
searching for her clothes.

   Two screams from the general later, she had found her panties,
which had been hiding all bunched up on top of a lamp, and was now
searching for her bra. Another whining megaphone made her wonder why
she was bothering; she only wanted to scream at the man to shut up
and return to bed, after all. Spotting Ranma's chinese shirt, she
decided to go with the cliche thing and put it on, fastening only
the ties necessary to hide her bosom.

   After raising a sleeve so her hand was out, she took a firm
hold of the knob and opened the door in one quick motion. Her other
hand came up to hide her eyes from the rising sun, and she stomped
to the guard rail. "Would you shut up already?!?" she screamed, not
bothering to look for the offending voice.

   The general pointed at a group of soldiers, who were hanging
around a jeep, waiting for departure. "You over there!" His arm
moved to point at Nabiki. "Get her and her companion with their
stuff and put them in the truck!" He was now pointing to the only
empty truck left, one which didn't have so much as a tent as armored
plating covering the back. "Now!!!"

   The six enlisted took off running, knowing the one who got
there first got to carry the sleepy girl, and after seeing the pair
of legs on her, military regulations were flying out the window.

   Nabiki was surprisingly passive when a private picked her up
and carried her to the truck. Once she was put down, however,
sitting on the truck's edge, she raised a sleeve, pulled her arm
back and slapped the enlisted guy good. The sound made everyone turn
to look just in time to see the poor guy reel back from the blow,
stumbling backwards until he fell. The silence was absolute.

   The other soldiers had assembled the couple's things and
carefully put in inside the truck, under Nabiki's watching eye,
while the two stuck with taking Ranma had, though certainly not out
of decency, simply rolled Ranma in his blanket before carrying him
out.

   Nabiki picked her jeans from the pile of clothes and entered
the truck to put them on away from prying eyes. She was halfway
through pulling them up when the two privates dumped the still
sleeping Ranma inside, and she smiled as she saw that neither
soldier looked up at her.

   The general, a gruff of a man with a lushious mustache and
balding black hair, entered the truck, and two soldiers closed the
gate behind him. Nabiki felt and heard the motor start, and not long
after they were on the road.

   Sitting on the side bench, still in Ranma's shirt, Nabiki
wondered just what the hell they had gotten themselves into. She
wasn't about to ask questions, though, lest she find herself in even
bigger trouble. It was better to go along for the moment, but there
was one question plaguing her in her mind; just who the hell did the
general think they were?!?

   Meanwhile, in room 36 of the motel, Captain Ranma Saotome and
Lieutenant Nabiki Tendo, pilots extraordinaire, continued to sleep
contentedly in each other's arms, blissfully unaware of what had
gone on outside.

*******

   It was the longest three-hour ride in Ranma and Nabiki's life.
Once Ranma had waken up, the general had opened a small compartment
in the very back and told them to change in some blue overalls.
Ranma had gladly held up the blanket to hide Nabiki while she
changed. Otherwise, however, it was a silent and uneventful ride.
The general was more silent than a carp, and Ranma and Nabiki
couldn't talk for fear of being caught.

   The truck finally slowed down, then stopped. A minute later it
advanced again, then stopped. It happened a few more times before
the two realized; a check-point. They looked at each other in worry;
wherever their counterparts were, that was where the ID cards the
guard would ask for were.

   The truck stopped once more, and a soldier opened the gate. He
then saluted the general. "Sir!" The general saluted, and the
soldier stood down. "New regulation, sir. The enemy can copy our ID
cards, so we're doing fingerprint and DNA scans now." He extended a
flat palmtop. "Just put your hand on the screen, sir, the scanner
will do the rest."

   The general did as told, and a green line went up and down in
the screen, like a copier. The scan done, the soldier looked at the
result, nodded, and looked at Ranma. "Sir?"

   Nervously, Ranma obliged, his other hand ready to punch the
soldier's lights out at a moment's notice. The scan done, the
soldier looked at the results. Nodding, he looked at Nabiki.
"Ma'am?" Seeing that Ranma had gone through it perfectly, Nabiki
wasn't nervous as she passed the scan.

   The results positive once more, the soldier stepped back and
closed the gate. He nodded to his left, to the armed soldier hiding
from view, who motioned to another soldier inside the protected
guard post. He raised the barrier and the truck entered the air
base.

   The sound outside changed to an echo of motor sounds as the
lights diminished, and Ranma and Nabiki could see large warehouse
doors close behind them. The truck stopped and a soldier rushed to
open the gate. The general got off, and after cramming their clothes
in Ranma's backpack, they got off as well, taking their stuff with
them.

   The two found themselves in a huge warehouse, with trucks and
jeeps everywhere, a few fake walls in a corner to make an office,
but the eye-catcher was the fighter plane on the other side.

   The plane was barely the length of a limousine, and wings
nonwithstanding it wasn't even half the width. There was no landing
gear, the plane supported by two pillars hugging the underside near
both ends. The cockpit was open and they could see the top of two
pilots seats, one behind the other.

   The wings were forming a delta, attached to the fighter all of
their length, with a small tailfin over the two rectangle engines on
the back. The entire surface of the plane was gleaming black metal,
with no attachments or gadgets sticking out indicating weapons or
missiles.

   "*THAT* is a fighter?!? It's so small it doesn't even have any
guns or missiles on it!" Ranma exclaimed, pointing. Nabiki looked at
him, arms crossed, but decided to keep her opinion to herself,
though she did agree the plane seemed a little too small. She gave
it another look and remarked it had wings that seemed a little too
thick.

   After signing some papers and handing them back to a private,
the general walked up next to them. "Do not be fooled by its size,
Saotome. I can assure you this plane has more fight in it that three
of your old fighters combined. We used still-experimental technology
to build it as powerful and as compact as we could. Surely at one
time or other you wished your plane had been smaller so you wouldn't
get hit." The general clapped Ranma on the shoulder.

   Ranma thought a few seconds to come up with an appropriate
'pilot Ranma' answer. "I don't remember ever being hit, sir." he
said, going with a scratch to the head to show confusion.

   The man chuckled. "Indeed. You should consider yourselves
lucky. And it's precisely why we chose you both. You two will be the
first to test this one. If everything goes well, you'll be going
back to the front with it. We'll show those Chinese scum what Japan
is made of."

   The dimensional couple managed to take this information more or
less stoically. That is, on the outside. Inside, they were more or
less in a state of shock. While flying a plane was something in the
midst of possibility, going to war with it was a completely
different matter.

   While they were staring, two young officers ran up to them and
stood in front of them, saluting. It took a few seconds for the two
travelers to get out of it, then after wondering another couple of
seconds what to do, they saluted back.

   "Captain, Lieutenant," the shorter one began, "I am Sergeant
Nakano and this is Sergeant Miramoto, we designed and built the
cockpit of the prototype. If you'll come with us, we'll show you the
commands." The two turned away and started walking to the plane.

   Following at a slower pace, Ranma and Nabiki exchanged a look.
Those two looked familiar. Nakano was a couple of inches shorter
than Miramoto, with black hair, while the taller one was slightly
shorter than Ranma, with brown hair that had a reddish tinge. Both
had standard military haircuts, and were wearing baggy fatigues that
seemed to hang from their small frame.

   Yet the faces were unmistakable. Ranma's hang-around buddies,
Hiroshi and Daisuke. "Gee, just how young can you get in this
world's army?" Ranma asked Nabiki, whispering while looking at the
two preparing the ladders up to the cockpit.

   "Good question, but I don't think that's relevant at the
moment. Let me ask you, are we really going along with this?" Nabiki
was feeling cautious and concerned, and it showed in her voice, but
by no means afraid. Not as long as she had Ranma next to her.

   Ranma shrugged. "I don't see the harm. They have to show us the
commands before we even attempt to fly it, and that should stall
things 'til tonight. Then we amscray before our counterparts get
here." He sighed. "No guarantees, but..."

   "As good as anything I could think of." Nabiki replied, now
feeling a little resigned. She knew that any attempts of force would
be answered just like in the first world, by firearms. It was better
to go along until the element of surprise was a larger advantage.

   The two reached the plane, facing the two eager sergeants.
Nakano smiled at them. "Before we go over your separate areas, I'll
inform you of the overall changes compared to your usual G-47s.
First of all, we finally managed to convince the higher ups to
automatize most systems once we perfected the AIs, so you won't have
to worry about little things anymore, like flicking 200 switches
before taking off. You still have manual control if you ask, and I
do mean ask, because every command is voice activated. For example,
Captain Saotome, you can switch between engines by stating aloud
which one you want, and you, Lieutenant Tendo, can choose your
weapon the same way. Do you understand?"

   The two nodded, albeit Ranma did with some hesitation. He was
more of a hands-on kind of guy. "Then if it's all right with you,"
Maramoto continued, "we'll move on to your specific areas. As usual,
the flyer is in the front cockpit, and the shooter in the back." The
man motioned to the two ladders, and after a look between
themselves, Ranma and Nabiki climbed to their respective places.

*******

   Cologne was seriously beginning to wonder if the boy was worth
all of her efforts. After tossing and turning all night, unable to
come up with a definitive interpretation of the spell's answer, she
had started to wonder what she should say to Shampoo, to the others,
to the boy's own mother. There were certain possibilities that
didn't allow waiting, and necessited as much able bodies as
possible.

   And so, after weighing carefully both sides of the coin, she
came to the decision of informing the others of the situation. If
Ranma was dead, it would be better to investigate right away, and if
his situation was amongst the few exemptions where the spell didn't
work, it was almost certain that he would need help. And even if
not, after twelve days, surely the others would be curious as to
Ranma's current whereabouts. It was more than enough time to elope
and get married.

   The sky seemed to match her mood, pale grey, promising rain. If
there was one thing she wasn't sure of, constantly wasn't sure of,
it was how this bunch of crazed teenagers and morally ambiguous
adults would take her news. With a resigned sigh, she knocked on the
Tendo door.

*******

   While Nabiki was thoroughly enjoying her new role as wife to
the greatest martial artist of all time, Ranma was seriously
beginning to reconsider his earlier decision, despite all the fringe
benefits such a state offered.

   In other words, Ranma was receiving his first nagging,
concerning his table manners. And while he didn't remember Nabiki
ever commenting on them, she sure was finding things to say this
time. To the enjoyment of the soldiers within hearing range in the
mess hall. And so it was with almost pure bliss that Ranma swallowed
his last meatball, excused himself and walked straight out of the
building.

   After wandering around for a little bit, Ranma found a
bathroom. After entering, he leaned heavily on the sink and looked
at his reflection. He sighed. "Don't turn into your father,
Saotome." he chastised the image. "You *have* to talk to her about
this."

   A toilet flushed and a soldier came out of a stall, grinning at
Ranma, who was now somewhat embarrassed. "Women trouble?" the guy
asked, going to another sink to wash his hands. Ranma remained
silent. "Ah, don't worry, it's perfectly normal to be nagged early
in a relationship."

   Ranma turned to look at the guy, surprise evident on his face.
"How'd you know?" His head quickly turned when he realized he had
just confessed his problem.

   The guy gave another grin Ranma's way. "Experience." he
answered, using a few paper towels to dry his hands. "Let me give
you some advice. Just agree with her, do as she says, and after
awhile slowly return to your usual habits. By that time, she'll have
deluded herself into thinking she changed you, so she won't notice."

   All consideration of the soldier's suggestion fell when Ranma
heard 'delude herself' and 'won't notice'. He snorted. "I doubt that
could ever work." he replied.

   "Whatever you say, man, but there's no girl in the world
that'll take you without wanting to change a few supposedly small
things, and if you give in, before you know it you'll be doing
everything her way." The guy leaned forward in front of the mirror
and, with a little cold water, adjusted his hair slightly. "You've
got to give as much as you get, you know." He started walking out.

   "I don't think deception is part of the deal." Ranma said.
"I'll find my own way..."

   "Your funeral." The guy shot back before disappearing. Ranma
shook his head. That was a rather dim view of the relationship,
though he had to admit he was rather new at this. But there had to
be something beyond mutual deception and animal sex. There had to be
an attraction on the intellectual, spiritual level as well as
physical. There had to be an emotional connection so deep all could
be said in a simple, fleeting look...

   He snorted. "Who am I kidding? There's nothing beyond animal
sex." He gave himself a smirk in the mirror. "And if I gave as good
as I got, she should be more than willing to stop nagging me. Let's
go have a talk with my wife."

   With determination in his eyes and on his face, Ranma marched
back to the mess hall. As soon as he was ten feet away from Nabiki,
she somehow knew it and turned to face him. "Ranma! And where were
you?" She rose to face him. "Do you have any idea how rude it was to
just get up and leave like that? Do you even know how I--"

   In Ranma's life, actions were always better than words, and he
proved it once more by shutting up his wife not with words, but by a
sudden, deep and passionate kiss. Once the element of surprise was
passed she quickly melted into his embrace. The witnesses started
wolf-whistling and cheering, and once it started to die down only
did the two stop.

   Nabiki was almost panting, struggling to retrieve her breath.
She swallowed loudly and looked at Ranma with a smile, still in
their embrace. "Not that I mind, but what was that for?"

   He smiled. "You have your faults and I have mine. Let's find
somewhere private to continue this." She didn't fight back as he
pulled her away by the hand, the crowd around returning to cheering.

   Which soon stopped as the alarms throughout the base started
blaring their annoying sound. Ranma and Nabiki stopped in their
tracks, looking around. "What the hell is that?" Nabiki asked,
letting go of Ranma's hand.

   "Damned if I know." Ranma replied, then grabbed a running
soldier by the back of the shirt, lifting him off his feet. "What's
going on?"

   The guy made gurgling sounds a few times before Ranma
understood he had to put him down. "That's the emergency siren!
We're being attacked!"

   Sooner than immediately, the boy was free of a shocked Ranma's
grip. "A-a-a-a-attacked?" Ranma quickly looked at Nabiki, seeing not
only a reflection of his surprise and shock, but a deep sense of
dread and foreboding, with a good part of fear. He was puzzled a
second at that, but he quickly understood.

   They were supposed to be pilots here.

*******

   Cologne looked at the assembled people. The Saotome parents,
the two Tendo daughters and their father, the Kuonji chef, and her
own great-granddaughter. She had managed to get rid of Mousse by
sticking him with the restaurant as punishment for his increased
'attempts' at Shampoo. As for the Kunos, how they had gotten wind of
the meeting she had no idea, but they had been promptly thrown out.

   "People," she began loud and clear, getting everyone's
attention, "I have asked you to come here today for a reason, and I
am afraid it isn't good news." she finished, lowering her head.

   "It's Ranma, isn't it?" Akane asked first. "Something happened
to Ranma." She was wringing her hands in worry.

   "Sadly, yes..." She closed her eyes and took a deep breath as
they all started talking at once. The next generation? Teenagers,
even? Ha! Children, that was what they were. Nothing more. Always
preoccupied with their own little things, never bothering to think
before starting to scream and whine. Sad, really. Even more so than
Ranma's situation, since it was the present and theirs was the
future.

   The noise reached an all-time high, as the various people in
the room began wailing, whining and accusing each other of something
they didn't even know yet. Cologne took two deep breaths to suppress
the bulging vein on her forehead, then took a deep breath.

   "Children! Calm down and let me explain! You can bicker about
it *after* I've told you what it is." To her greatest pleasure, they
all sat back, now calm and a little embarassed, except, of course,
for Ranma's mother, always the perfect example of self-control.
Another bad trait, really, but one that could be rubbed off on the
others to the benefit of the whole.

   "First, Cologne, perhaps you could tell us how you came unto
such information about my son?" Nodoka inquired, leaning ever-so-
slightly forward, even though she was rather sure she wouldn't like
the answer.

   Cologne would have smiled if she hadn't disliked the question
so much. It was nice to have a question concerning the means instead
of only the ends once in awhile, though she didn't particularly like
to reveal these means.

   "Well, yesterday, I began doubting if son-i-- Ranma would
return. If he truly had eloped with Nabiki, one week seems more than
enough for them to marry, have a honeymoon and return, and they
surely would have contacted their families. And so, I used what
little ressources I have at my disposal and attempted to locate him
through magical means." She could see the look of distrust on some
at the mention of magic. Well, it was their problems.

   "The spell is fool-proof, and yet... Nothing. The spell was
made to search for Ranma's soul, and it didn't find it." She shook
her head at their widened eyes. "Ranma is most likely dead."

   Cologne quickly covered her ears, which didn't lessen any the
ensuing cries of "NO!!!" from those around. She left them there, not
caring for their angry ramblings and denials, nor wailing, but when
it wouldn't stop, she spoke out. "Listen!" Amazingly, they calmed
down and looked at her. "I said 'most likely'. There is still a
chance Ranma is alive. That is why I am not waiting until I can
confirm or deny this. We need to go search for him right away."

   Three girls immediately got up, looking ready to go as ever.
"Stop! Sit down. You cannot go running blindly, children, you do not
even know where to start! We must be organized." Slowly, the girls
sat.

   "Cologne..." Nodoka began, looking at the older woman, "you
said you could confirm this... rather bad news. When?"

   She looked down. "The necessary elements will take a week to
arrive. We do not have such time, however. That is why I came right
away. If Ranma is where he cannot be detected, he truly is in need
of help." She got up. "We should ask around town first, see who has
spotted Ranma that day, and reconvene for dinner. Shampoo, come with
me." Cologne started for the door.

   "Yes, great-grandmother." Shampoo obediently followed, closing
the door behind her.

   Ukyo got up right after. "I don't know about you all, but I'm
going to find Ranchan, *alive*." Not wasting time for goodbyes, the
chef ran out, jumping over the backyard wall.

   Akane suddenly found herself looked at by two pairs of watery
eyes. "Akane! My sweet girl, you'll save your fiance, won't you?"
one said. "Yes! Go save the future of the school of Anything-Goes!"
the other continued.

   "Fine!" she shot back, crossing her arms, "but I'm not doing it
for that jerk! He can stay dead for all I care!" Angry, she got up
and stormed out, slamming the door.

   "Tendo, the school is secured!" "Yes! Ranma will finally have
to admit his feelings to his fiancee after she saves him!" The two
began a dance together for a moment, then took off to celebrate.

   Nodoka shook her head at the two. "When will they learn..." She
turned to Kasumi, who despite her calm face didn't fool Nodoka in
the least. "Do not worry, Kasumi, Ranma can take care of Nabiki and
himself."

   "I sure hope so, Auntie." Kasumi replied, her anxiousness not
diminishing in the least.

*******

   "Okay, so what the hell should we do?!?" Nabiki screamed.

   "How should I know?!?" Ranma shot back. "I've never done this
before!!!"

   "Fine, fine." Nabiki quickly said, taking deep breaths to
control herself. "We should... we should..." And not succeeding very
well, twisting and turning on herself, arms going from her waist to
passing through her hair like a caged monkey, making Ranma smirk
despite the situation. "We should get the hell out of here, that's
what we should do!!!"

   "I'm all for that." Ranma grabbed Nabiki's hand. "Let's go."
They started at an hurried pace in the opposite direction than the
other soldiers had run off to. Getting out of the mess hall, they
hugged the wall left, away from the soldiers they could see, and
rounded the corner of the building.

   Only to run into general Sato. "Ah! Capt. Saotome, Lt. Tendo. I
was looking for you two. As you can tell, we are under attack." One
corner of his mouth went up ever-so-slightly. "Well, not us
directly. Enemy fighters will reach the coastline within the hour,
more than enough time for you two to surprise them with your new
airplane."

   Ranma and Nabiki exchanged a look. They were trapped, unless
the general suddenly took a nap. Ranma was about to help him into a
restful sleep when the man called for two passing soldiers. "Men!
Escort these two to the prototype, and make sure they get in without
any trouble."

   "Yes sir!" The two chorused, freeing one hand from their
machine guns to salute to the general, and once standing down took
positions around the two travelers, one in front, one behind. "Sir,
ma'am, follow me, if you please." the one in the lead said before
walking with a decisive step. The two had no choice but to follow.

   "What do we do now?" Ranma whispered.

   "Well, unless you want to be full of holes, go along." Nabiki
whispered back.

   "I can't fly an airplane!" he hissed, looking at her
indignantly.

   Nabiki would have capitalized on Ranma admitting he couldn't do
something if the situation hadn't been so serious. "You don't have
any choice. We'll just fly some distance, land the plane somewhere
and disappear until we slide tomorrow."

   Ranma nodded slightly and stayed silent. He couldn't think of
anything else that would prevent them from being shot at, though he
wasn't sure if flying the fighter would be any safer. 'At least,' he
mused, 'that thing's got parachutes.'

   The two grunts led them directly to the ladders of the small
aircraft, and after passing between themselves a look of
resignation, the two climbed and took their places.

   Ranma sat, let out a deep breath, and touched one of the
screens in front of him, entering the command to close the cockpit.
He put on the helmet, adjusting the straps and the mic in front of
his mouth. "Nabiki, are we REALLY going through with this?"

   "It's that or be held by the military and miss the slide. I
don't want to be stuck 29 years in a world at war, so get over it
and fly this thing." Nabiki was not happy, putting on her gear. She
HATED losing control. To think if they had only attempted to leave a
few minutes earlier...

   *sigh* "All right." Ranma buckled his safety belt over his lap.
"How did that go again..." he asked himself. "Stupid protocol..." He
thought for a few seconds. "Activate, code Saotome alpha-tetha-4-7."

   Two beeps was the computer's acknowledgement, and all around
the cockpit, lights turned on. Then a low humming was heard, slowly
gaining in pitch, with a low vibration. One screen in front of Ranma
displayed a schematic of the plane, sections dark blue, turning
light blue as they activated.

   One large section of the belly of the plane turned light blue,
and the plane shook once, freeing itself from its restraints as it
rose in the air a few feet. Two high pitched metallic clangs were
heard, which Ranma assumed was the ladders falling, but didn't get
the thought complete as the giant warehouse doors opening distrated
him.

   One hand went up to block the setting sun. "Damn it!" He looked
around in the cockpit. "I need shades..." One small mechanic whirl
lowered black sunglass over his eyes. He blinked. "Cool..."

   "Jikken-5, Tower to Jikken-5, do you read me, over." Ranma
looked left and right for the voice, then slapped the front of his
helmet.

   He tapped the mic in front of his mouth, once. "This is Jikken-
5..." he said hesitantly... "reading you loud and clear." A pause.
"Over." he quickly added.

   "Jikken-5, you should be receiving your flight plan on screen
4. Do you copy? Over." Damn, Ranma hated that voice.

   "Yeah. I got it. Can I take off now?" Ranma replied, annoyed.
"Over." he added, this time without hurrying. He wanted this over as
soon as possible.

   "Yeah, hum..." The voice was hesitative, cautious. "Jikken-5,
you have permission to take off. I've been informed you don't have
to take a runway, just get out and take off. Over."

   "Allright. Taking off. Over." Ranma nervously put his right
hand on the right lever, lettig his fingers fall into their place,
and slowly closed his hand on it. The left hand went to the stick,
holding it in place firmly.

   Ranma licked his lips, heart beating in his chest. He was sure
he was making the biggest mistake of his life. 'Let's see... Hiroshi
said said that standard take-off speed was one quarter...' Slowly,
Ranma pushed the lever forward. Easily, smoothly, without any jerk,
the plane advanced.

   Gaining more confidence as nothing went wrong, Ranma pushed the
lever faster, and once it was safely at one-quarter he pulled on the
stick. The plane steadily rose in the sky, and Ranma suddenly tensed
when the horizon disappeared, leaving his hands deadly still on the
controls.

   When the plane passed forty-five degrees, Nabiki got worried.
"Ranma?" Fifty degrees. "Ranma!" Fifty-five. Nabiki quickly tapped
her mic two times, for private communication. "RANMA!" she shouted,
her voice carrying right into his ears.

   The whole plane shook for a second when Ranma jumped, then
quickly leveled as he took notice of his surroundings. He tapped his
mic twice. "Sorry. I... kinda froze." His right hand went up, trying
to squeeze inside his helmet to wipe the sweat on his brow.

   "Ranma, take a deep breath, relax, everything's gonna be fine."
Nabiki tried to be soothing. If she hadn't known it was Ranma in
front of her, she'd have said the pilot was on the verge of a
breakdown.

   "Easy for you to say! You're not piloting a goddamn airplane!"
Ranma shot back. A few seconds later, he took a deep breath. "Sorry.
I'm nervous."

   "I noticed." Nabiki deadpanned. She touched a screen in front
of her, bringing to life, and opened a map, the flight plan
superposed on it. "Really..." she said to herself. "Ranma--"

   "Jikken-5, come in, Jikken-5, this is the Tower. Over."

   He tapped the mic once. "This is Jikken-5. Over." He inwardly
sighed. 'I hate protocol...'

   "Capt. Saotome, this is General Sato. We have received a very
distressing message from the coastline base. They've received a
transmission from the enemy, saying they're fleeing from an unknown
assailant and they want refuge. We haven't been able to confirm this
info-- One moment." Ranma heard the link click. He blinked.

   *taptap* "Ranma, what do you make of this?"

   *taptap* "You don't want to know." Ranma said, shaking his
head.

   "Tell me."

   "No."

   "Come on! I'm your wife, damn it. You're supposed to be able to
tell me everything." She was getting upset.

   "Fine, fine." he replied, resigned. "I've got a baaad feeling
about this." he sighed.

   Nabiki groaned. "Why'd you tell me that? Now I'm worried." she
whined.

   Ranma wanted to find a wall and bang his head on it. He wasn't
going to ask. He wasn't. Getting closer to a woman had lessened his
understanding of the gender.

   "Jikken-5, this is General Sato. Intelligence has confirmed the
enemy's claim. There is a fleet of large crafts coming our way right
outside the coast of China. All that the Chinese said was that the
enemy fleet was a bunch of monsters. We're sending you ahead to
investigate. Over."

   "What? How? I'm not exactly the closest thing." Pause. "Over."
he remembered to say.

   "The experimental speed of the plane is mach 5, and the enemy
is coming very fast. You'll meet them--"

   "Wait a second." Ranma interrupted. "I was told it could only
go to mach 2!"

   "Safely, yes." the general replied, sounding annoyed. "The
plane loses stability pass that speed, so it can only be done with
an authorization code and controlled by computer." Pupils became
dots in their owners' eyes. "I'm transfering control in five
seconds, release the controls then. Five, four..."

   In all of his life, Ranma had only been truly afraid, still
outside but shaking like a leaf inside, three times. The time his
father had thrown him in a pit of starving cats, the time Akane had
almost died, and the third was right now. He went to do something,
anything, with the controls, but found them unresponsive. His
hearing registered once more.

   "-tally transfered to the computer successfully. For the next
half hour, you don't have to do anything. Capt. Saotome, do you
copy?"

   "Copy, general." Ranma said almost automately. "Will that be
all?"

   "One last thing. You are not to engage the enemy. You are only
to observe them. Understood?" the general finished, voice stern and
authoritative.

   "Yes, sir." Ranma said with relief, coming back to his senses.

   "Over and out." And the comm link died in Ranma's ears. Slowly,
the plane tipped to one side, turning and rising, and once it
redressed began accelerating. Both felt the pressure pushing them in
their seats.

   *taptap* "We're screwed, aren't we?"

   *taptap* "Most definitively."

   "What do we do?"

   "You hold yourself together, Saotome. Our lives are on the
line." she said sternly.

   Something suddenly hit Ranma. "Whatever you say, Saotome." he
replied, smirking.

   "Why are you calling me Saotome?" Nabiki asked, confused.

   Ranma was smiling. "If you're my wife, you're taking my name."
he said, quite amused in his voice.

   "What? I'm not taking your name!" she shot back, crossing her
arms, even if he couldn't see it.

   "Why not? I can't take your name, I'm the first and only son!"

   "Who said one of us had to take the other's name? This is the
nineties, you know."

   "What? Of course you're taking my name..."

   To both, the half hour passed rather faster than they thought.

   "Jikken-5, this is Recon-1, do you copy, over?" Both stopped
their squabbling and listened, confused.

   "Jikken-5, this is Recon-1, do you copy, over?" the man
repeated, a little more urgency in his voice.

   *tap* "This is Jikken-5, reading you loud and clear, over."
Ranma answered. 'I HATE protocol!'

   "Prepare to retake control, over."

   Ranma looked confused for a second, looking around, when he
remembered and put his hands on the stick and lever. "Ready, over."

   The plane slowed, they both felt the pressure lessening on
their chests, and there was a small jerk. Ranma felt the stick in
his hand return to being hard to move, and held it firmly. "I've got
control."

   A moment passed. "Err, that's good, Jikken-5, *over*." the man
replied, emphasing the protocol word as if to remind Ranma.

   Ranma suddenly found that he hated the man on the other side of
the comm link, even if he had never seen the guy.

   "Jikken-5, you are to activate stealth mode and keep radio
silence until you return to safe space, Understood? Over."

   "Understood. Anything else? *Over*?" Ranma said the last word
derisively.

   "No. This is Recon-1, over and out." The comm link died and
Ranma welcomed the silence.

   *taptap* "Protocol isn't *that* difficult to follow, you know."

   *taptap* "I thought you knew me."

   "Oh, shut up and fly. Mic off."

   Ranma chuckled, then thought of something. *taptap* "Nabiki,
maybe we should go through with this."

   "WHAT?!?" Nabiki screamed, then she remembered. She patiently
tapped her mic two times, then took a deep breath. "WHAT?!?"

   Having heard the first muffled, Ranma was prepared for the
second. "Calm down! Geez! You want to give me a heart attack?"

   "We can't do this, you know that! We're not qualified!" she
continued shouting.

   "We only have to take a look and report, nothing major. They're
counting us to warn them about this new enemy."

   "Ranma, the only thing we can do is get shot down! Not only
they'll lose their precious airplane, but we'll die in the process!
I don't want to die for my country, and I certainly DON'T want to
die for another world's country! Turn this goddamn plane around!"
she commanded.

   Ranma was feeling like that himself, and was about to do as
asked, when he decided that he would help out this world. It was a
martial artist's duty to help when he could. "No. We're doing this."
He touched a screen. "Activate stealth mode." On another screen, an
image of the plane became transparent.

   "RANMA SAOTOME!!!" Nabiki shouted at the top of her lungs.
"You'll turn this goddamn plane around or--"

   "Mic off." Ranma muttered, not caring for his wife's ramblings.
He had made his decision, if there were problems he'd take
responsability. He looked at the radar, and he saw the small
triangles appear at the top. One, three, six, ten... On and on.

   "I'm no expert, but I think I should rise a little." Pulling
the stick to him a little, Ranma waited until they'd gained a few
thousand feet before redressing. "This is easier than I thought..."
he said to himself.

   A few minutes later, he was flying over the enemy fleet,
hundreds of oddly shaped ships below him. "Damn..." he said, looking
at a camera view on a screen. *taptap* "Nabiki, you seeing this?"

   "I am..." she replied, a little wonder in her voice. "I
think... I think it was a good thing, doing this. Japan is going to
be massacred if we don't warn them..."

   "Yeah..." Ranma was about to turn around, when something began
nagging him about those planes, as if he should recognize
something... He squinted at the screen. "Say... What do those planes
look like to you?"

   "Huh?" Nabiki observed more closely. "The shape *is* a little
weird..." She touched the screen, magnifying the image. Her eyes
flew wide. "Nothing." she quickly said. "They look like nothing.
Standard planes. Turn around." Her mind was going crazy.
'Ohgodohgodohgodohgodohgodohgod...'

   "What's so urgent, Nabiki? I don't see the... Damn! Is there
any way to blow up the image?" The computer beeped and obeyed, the
image changing to a close-up of a group of 'planes'. They looked
animal-shaped, their legs moving as if running... And that long tail
flailing around... Nabiki whimpered at about the time there was a
click in Ranma's head and his eyes flew wide.

   "CAT! C-c-c-c-c-cat!" Ranma went crazy, both hands going wild
on the control stick.

   "Ranma! Calm down! Ranma! They can't hurt you! They can't see
you!" Nabiki was being tossed around with the sudden movements of
the plane, up, down, hard turns... She had to find a way to calm
him. To say something that would make him hold on his sanity.

   "Ranma! If you don't calm down, the three of us will die!" she
shouted. The plane suddenly became still, at an odd angle to the
side and losing altitude slowly.

   "What did you say?" Ranma asked slowly. "'The three of us'..."

   "Well, I'm not sure..." Nabiki said, breathing a sigh of
relief. "I haven't had my period yet, and those condoms you used ten
days ago weren't of very good quality..." She had done it, Ranma was
calm, but was it enough in front of an army of giant flying cats?

   "Are you saying you're pregnant?" Ranma asked again, even
slower.

   "Well... there's a good chance, yes..." Her voice was small,
and she was looking at her lap. 'Oh god please let him keep his
sanity...'

   "I'm... a father. I'm going to be a father." Ranma said in
wonder, looking straight ahead. Which was unfortunate as the plane
had been going straight for the enemy fleet in its descent. "Oh my
god! Cat!"

   'Oh shit.' Nabiki looked. "Pull up! Pull up!"

   Ranma did. 'Gotta stay calm, gotta stay cool, gotta stay in
control. Gotta stay calm, gotta stay cool, gotta stay in control.'
he kept chanting in his head. The plane's nose went up, levelling a
few hundred feet over the fleet of giant, flying and running cats.

   Bringing into view an even bigger giant flying cat, this one
with its mouth open, sharp teeth in plain view. Ranma freaked, going
mad with the controls again. "Catcatcatcatcatcatcatcatcatcatcat..."

   "Ranma! Stop! *bang* Oww!" Being tossed around with Ranma's
erratic flying had her banging her head every which way. She
desperately tried to think of something. There had to be an option.

   'Emergency eject!' She franctically looked around, even more
difficult while being tossed and turned worse than a rollercoaster.
'Ejectejectejectejectejectejectejecteject...' she kept thinking
while searching. Finding nothing, she screamed in frustration. "Damn
it, where's the eject?!?"

   A small second later, the plane ran into a giant flying cat,
barely having time to break in two before exploding, illuminating
the early night sky like day for a few seconds.

*******

   End chapter 3




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